Oh, Brother, You Don't Look The Same

A bit unusual for me but two TV Jumble blogs this month and here is the second one ...

Batwoman: The show took a two week break before coming back with a nice enough character piece that gave Ryan an old enemy to confront, a young boy's life to save and an ex-girlfriend to reconnect with. The same ex who also seems to be involved with Ocean, that guy that Safiyah wants Alice to kill who also has a romantic past with Alice to boot. On top of that, there's more hints of Black Mask coming, Jacob actually can work with a new Batwoman while Sophie, Mary and Luke all have different ways to deal with Kate's absence.

Bridgerton: I've finally finished the series and needless to say, I will be coming back for seconds. The second half of the season certainly put Simon and Daphne through the gamut while Eloise's hunt for Lady Whistledown surprisingly led to the latter's identity being revealed a lot earlier than expected. There was also the social downfall of the Featheringtons, a near scandal for Colin, Anthony reassessing his priorities and Benedict embarking on his own sexual escapades though sadly not with Henry. Maybe next season.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: I have to admit that while I liked the final season enough for the most part, there's no denying that it felt very rushed for it's own good. The Eldritch Terrors were often easily dispatched off and Sabrina and Nick's own 'happy ending'  was a questionable way to end the series. I did like the return of the original Hilda and Zelda from the 90s series and the show certainly had fun with the two Sabrinas angle but overall, this was hastily ended series.

Schitt's Creek: Finishing up the second half of the third season, I really have come to love this series and these batch of episodes were some of the best yet. The introduction of Noah Reid's Patrick has certainly been a great addition to the series and while I'm surprised they didn't hold off a little before David and Patrick got to share their big kiss, I can see why so many love this couple. Now it's time to move on to the fourth season.

WandaVision: These last two episodes have been quite the adventure for the show. Is Wanda really controlling everything? SWORD think so. Both Norm and Agnes have implied to Vision that she is and anyone who has threatened Wanda's newly created world has paid for it. However it does feel like someone else has been pulling the strings and the return of Pietro with a new face definitely raises more questions too along with Wanda and Vision's rapidly aging kids. Along with the brilliant trio of Monica, Jimmy and Darcy, things really are heating up now.

• Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay have been cast in the lead roles for HBO's upcoming adaptation of The Last Of Us.
• JJ Abrams and HBO Max will be doing a reboot of  Constantine with a BIPOC lead. Guy Bolton will be head writer for the series.
• CBS will be ending both Mom and NCIS: New Orleans with their current seasons.
• The CW have passed on the Wonder Girl pilot but will go ahead with Naomi.
• Alan Cumming will make a guest appearance on Prodigal Son.
• The Flight Attendant will air on Sky1 from March 19th.
• Jamie Chung has landed a role on the upcoming revival of Dexter.
• Simone Ashley will play Kate Sharma, who will be the love interest for Anthony in the second season of Bridgerton.
• Brooklyn Nine Nine will also be ending with it's eighth season.
• Angus Macfadyen has been cast as Jor El for Superman And Lois.

To Ruse Is To Confuse

I know, it's been over a month since my last TV Jumble blog but here's some of the shows I have been catching up on in the last few weeks.

Batwoman: Season 2 of this show has gotten off to a surprisingly strong start with managing to seam on Javicia Leslie's Ryan Wilder as the new Batwoman but at the same time not completely abandoning the idea that maybe one day Kate Kane will return to Gotham. The first three episodes not only saw Luke and Mary guide Ryan on her new role but also had both Jacob and Sophie aware of Kate's former identity, resolved the Tommy as Bruce plot very speedily and had Alice coax Safiyah out of hiding while giving us an entertaining version of Victor Zsasz. That's good work for only three episodes so far.

Bridgerton: Shonda Rhimes has spent the last fifteen years giving ABC many a glossy hit and it was only a matter of time before she moved to Netflix and would wind up giving them one of their biggest shows. I'm halfway through the first season of this soapy period drama and while  there are times, it can feel a bit silly, it's massively enjoyable with the ruse between Simon and Daphne causing more problems than solutions, the writings of Lady Whistledown being akin to Gossip Girl but there are some entertaining characters like Benedict, Eloise, Penelope, Lady Danbury and Queen Charlotte to watch here.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: It's the final season and the Eldritch Terrors along with Faustus (who has long since worn out his welcome) are among us. In the first half of this last season, we've seen Sabrina (x2) and the gang come up against terrors such as Uninvited, Weird and Perverse with the Void also getting closer and closer. We've had seen Hilda get married, Caliban try to get rid pf Lilith and Adam, Roz find out she's a witch and Nick declaring end game for himself and Sabrina. Let's see what the remaining four have to offer.

Schitt's Creek: I'm halfway through the third season and I'm loving this show so much at the moment that I don't want it to end. So far I've seen both David and Stevie the gorgeous himbo Jake and was a little sad to see him go. Still, at least David and Stevie got businesses to run, the latter with Johnny, Alexis went back to school, Moira decided not to do another horror movie and Ted became a thirst trap for a few minutes.

WandaVision: Disney+ have had an excellent time with a certain Pedro Pascal show doing impressive numbers for them, so after an 18 month absence, it was time for the MCU to come back swinging with the first of many shoes they have lined up for the next few years. Four episodes in and this series has mixed wonderful sitcom tropes with an underlying darkness to come out as the Multiverse so being set up, Wanda's grief has made a fantasy dream/imminent nightmare for herself and Vision, while SWORD has roped in Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo into the mix to fix things. This is definitely one of the best things that the MCU and set the bar for the other shows to come.

• Superman And Lois will premiere on the CW from February 23rd. It will be now 15 episodes instead of 13 as originally planned.
• The CW have already renewed 12 shows including Riverdale, Charmed, Walker, Batwoman, Legends Of Tomorrow as well as The Flash.
• American Horror Story's tenth season has begun filming and Sarah Paulson has teased a different hair colour and cool name for the character she will play this season.
• Marilyn Manson's scenes from American Gods have been removed.
• The Stabler spin off is titled Law And Order: Organised Crime.
• Disney+ now plan to do a series set in Wakanda, expanding the Black Panther side of the MCU.
• Tian Richards will play Tom Swift for the upcoming Nancy Drew spin off on the CW.
• HBO Max will release all of It's A Sin from February 18th. The miniseries has pulled in over 6.5 million for Channel 4 and All4.
• The remaining episodes of The Walking Dead will air February 28th onwards.
• Azie Tesfai will write an episode for the finale season of Supergirl.

To End The Spellmans ... Eventually

And it's been a while but here's another TV Jumble blog, going on some of the stuff I've been watching over the last few weeks.

Batwoman: And this show continues to somewhat improve as it's progressed. Granted the other Beth situation was resolved in a predictable manner but having Cartwright out in force certainly meant that Alice could vent her rage at the right person for a change. I also liked the last two episodes respective depictions of obscure characters like Nocturna and Duela Dent and can I say that Sophie has somewhat improved the last few weeks? I mean the show's not perfect but it's definitely gotten better, post Crisis at this rate.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: The third season/part of this series has definitely upped it's use of Paganism as they made for rather decent antagonists among Sabrina and Caliban's ongoing battle for hell, Lucifer getting free, Lilith finding a stalling tactic and Faustus still being a general pain in the arse (can we please lose Faustus next season?). The finale had fun playing about with time, giving us two Sabrina (or is it three?), pairing Zelda with Marie (already a better partnership than her last one), separating Ambrose and Prudence while Harvey, Roz, Theo and Robin all seemed to be in better places. Nick on the other hand has felt too much like a spare part this season and Sabrina's lack of thinking her plans through continues to be an ongoing trend. While not as good as the first two seasons, this was still a lot of devilish fun to watch.

Good Omens: Ah, this was a fun series, wasn't it? Right now, I'm not sure if it'll be back for a second series but with the impressive banter between Michael Sheen and David Tennant, you'd think both BBC2 and Amazon would be chomping at the bit for some more. The finale certainly felt like it might have been meant to close things but at the same time, maybe one more series? Ah go on, BBC2/Amazon, you know you want to.

Supergirl: The show hit it's 100th episode and it did so by having Mxy device a few opportunities for Kara to change her current situation with Lena before Kara realised that actually calling out Lena's actions was the better course of action. Aside from that, we've got William as a love interest, Lena moving into human experiments, Alex working with J'onn, Brainy still be Lex's minion, Nia and Kelly both looking for a storyline, Andrea's Acrata plotline resurfacing and Lex and Leviathan trying to outsmart one another. It's a bit treading water at the moment.

The Flash: Speaking of treading water, this show certainly is feeling it too at the moment. I mean, we've got Thawne back again and there's a female Mirror Master with Eva McCulloch but too many episodes with Iris trapped in a mirror universe, Barry wallowing more than usual, the pattern of Cisco, Caitlin and Ralph sitting episodes out and Wally's all too bief return. Yeah, the show is better than the first half of the season but it's still going through the motions at the moment. I'm also not sure about Sue either, character wise, though I did like Grodd's return and Pied Piper's too. It's not bad but it needs to be a bit better.

The L Word: Generation Q: I'm near the end of this series and the highlight so far, still has to be the cast from the original show than the newbies. I don't dislike the newbies, but I don't really care enough about them either if I'm being honest. At the moment, the interesting stories are with Shane and her estranged wife, Alice getting into a throuple situation and of course, finally having Bette and Tina interact on the show. I'm hoping with Tina's appearance here that means the second season will have more original cast members pop up in guest roles.

- Despite the fact that it was meant to be ending this year, it seems that Netflix are closing in on giving Lucifer a sixth season.
- An upcoming episode of Legends Of Tomorrow will play homage to Supernatural.
- Harley Quinn's second season will premiere on April 2nd.
- Richard E. Grant has joined the cast of Disney+'s Loki series.
- Jon Bernthal will star in American Gigalo for Showtime.
- Gina Torres and Erin Richards will star in ABC's The Brides, which will centre on the brides of Dracula.
- RuPaul's AJ And The Queen has been cancelled after on season on Netflix.
- Clarice will see Rebecca Breeds in the lead role while Lucca De Oliveira and Devyn A. Tyler will star in the upcoming series.
- Maxim Baldry has been cast in Amazon's upcoming Lord Of The Rings TV series.
- HBO Max will be airing a reunion show with the cast of Friends when it becomes available for streaming from May. A UK broadcaster has yet to be announced.

Valentine's: Metal & Gold Style

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so here's goes, a look at some of the stuff I've been recently catching up with.

Arrow: Post Crisis, the final two episodes of this show really did end on a pretty strong note. First of all was another trip into 2040 to set up the likely to be picked up Green Arrow And The Canaries series with Mia, Laurel and Dinah while back in 2020, the gang said goodbye to Oliver and many, many characters returned to pay their respects. This wasn't always a perfect show but it's set up an incredible legacy for the CW and for a final episode, it was a good send off for the series.

Batwoman: Keeping with everything post Crisis, having another Beth was another complication I didn't expect the show to give us. It's a good one but also one that seems unlikely to last considering that other Beth and Alice clearly cannot co-exist with one another. I'm not wanting to jump the gun here, but there seems to be a bit of a slow improvement in the writing here. Losing Catherine and having Jacob in prison certainly hasn't hurt proceedings and I did like the lowkey introduction of Slam Bradley as well as Mary continuing to be fun to watch. Luke could do with a bit more development though and I'm beginning to tire a little of Mouse.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Part 3 was released last month and I'm slowly catching up with it, considering there are less episodes and I don't want to watch it too quickly. Two episodes in so far and it's pretty good. Nick got released from hell quickly, Blackwood and Lucifer are roomies in a dungeon, Lilith is clearly using Sabrina to try and keep Caliban at bay and Sabrina herself seems to be in a position now where her own morality will continue to take a darker turn as her mortal friends get roped into things. Really could do without the Ambrose/Prudence romantic pairing though.

Good Omens: This was released last summer on Amazon, never bothered with it and now that BBC2 have been burning it off, it's been pretty decent to watch. The banter and chemistry between Michael Sheen and David Tennant has obviously been the biggest selling point as the unlikely pairing of Aziraphale and Crowley as the two of them have been joining forces to prevent the next apocalypse. Aside from spotting the famous celebrity, it's mostly about these two.

Supergirl: A return to a world now merged with the main universe. Two episodes in and it's certainly helped this show as Kara and Lex have no choice to work together while trying to undermine the other as Lena's dark path continued. I did like the return of our Winn and the introduction of another Earth's Toyman but the Nia/Brainy break up felt a bit trite and I do think the show still struggles a bit with both William and Andrea as characters. On the other hand, at least the Leviathan plot has moved a bit along.

The Flash: I've actually liked the last two episodes of Season 6 than most of the first half of the season. The reintroductions of characters like Doctor Light, Amunet and Goldface have been interesting along with Iris now being trapped in the mirror universe to set up the arrival of Eva McCulloch. Saying that though, some of the other characters need better focus, Nash's connection to Allegra was somewhat predictable and Barry seemed a bit ineffectual in his own show, which isn't a good look.

The L Word: Generation Q: And it's back again. Ten years later and one reality based show hardly anyone watched, one of Showtime's most known hits has returned for a sequel series that attempted to blend the old (Bette, Alice, Shane) with the new (Micah, Dani, Sophie, Finley, etc) and two episodes in, it's mostly a mixed bag. It's nice to see the older characters back and get that insight into their lives over the last decade while missing some other characters but so far, none of the new ones have really stood out and despite the taglines going on about being more relevant to the current year, it doesn't feel that different to the original series in terms of representation. So far though, it's okay.

- Gugu Mbatha-Raw has been cast in an undisclosed role for the upcoming Loki series for Disney+. The series will premiere in 2021 but closer to that will be The Falcon And The Winter Soldier in August and WandaVision in December.
- American Horror Story has been renewed for a further three seasons.
- You's third season has begun filming but will be released in 2021.
- John Glover will be appearing in the final season of Lucifer.
- Superman & Lois is officially a go for the CW.
- Hulu will be taking on The Hardy Boys as a series while the CW will attempt to tackle Lost Boys yet again.
- Ray Donovan has been axed after seven seasons while Shameless will end with eleven seasons.
- E4 have gotten the rights for both Batwoman and Harley Quinn TV series.
- Odette Annable and Chris Wood have been cast as siblings for the upcoming Thirtysomething sequel series.
- The prequel series for The 100 will not be called Anaconda, despite previous media reports of that title.

Was the Throne Actually Worth It?

Basically, it's finale time for every single show that I'm discussing in this blog and for one show, it's a series finale that will leave a lasting impression.

911: The last five episodes have been mostly solid stories with more flashbacks for Bobby, an interesting take on Ocean's Eleven in one off-kilter episode and some tragedy for both Eddie and Buck in different ways. We did also see a brief separation between Maddie and Chimney before the finale brought them back together as well as a low key but sweet wedding for Bobby and Athena at the last minute. I'm not too sure what the third season will bring (aside from an upcoming spin-off with Rob Lowe) but I'll definitely be tuning in to find out.

Arrow: Season Seven has been as close to a return to the good old days as the show could do and while not everything worked (Emiko turned out to be a lacklustre baddie, got a rushed redemption and still died), this finale was still a strong note to end things on. We know that the Monitor has Oliver and soon Felicity in the not so distant future but next season will be building up towards Crisis On Infinite Earths and the CW's DC universe will come to the beginning of it's slow but sure ending of sorts. It's going to be one hell of a bumpy ride in the next few years.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Whether these nine episodes that were just released Season 2 or the second half of the first season, I'm still confused but I'll admit, a few little bumps here and there aside, this was a solid enough return for the residents of Greendale nonetheless. The brief arrival of Lucifer in human form gave us more about Sabrina's origins in a manner that felt predictable but props to both Lilith and Zelda for getting their own way with ruling hell and the Church of Night. Getting Nick back next season should be interesting enough and it's nice that after several episodes of being at odds with them, Sabrina has her support system with Harvey, Roz and Theo.

Game Of Thrones: It's undeniable that the final season of this show has been controversial, has been rushed with only six episodes to tie up all the main threads and has made some questionable decisions with the actions of some of the main characters. Still though we've had some stunning battles with The Long Night and the polarising events of The Bells while The Last Of The Starks almost seemed like the calm between storms. The Iron Throne, while far from the worst series finale ever to befall a show is definitely a finale that should've been better and regardless of hints in prior seasons, I do think the show massively dropped the ball in it's depiction of Daenerys turning to the dark side and Jon being the one to stop. I won't go into the decision with Bran because it's still a terrible one but even though this season was a disappointment, it still pulled in record numbers, rating wise and I think we'll all be glued to the upcoming prequel series too.

Killing Eve: I hate to admit it but this show has suffered from difficult second album syndrome. The first season was consistently gripping from start to finish but this season despite some of it's best efforts has felt rather sluggish in parts. Having Villanelle and Eve working together in order to take down the tediously dull Aaron Peele wasn't quite as fun as it could've been, Carolyn and Konstantin's motives never seem to be clear, characters like Hugo and Niko add nothing to the show, Kenny was mopey and the last scene in the finale was a reverse of the previous finale but not quite as effective. Hopefully the third season due to film soon enough will get the show back on track.

Pose: Given how bad the ratings have been for BBC2, I'm slightly worried they won't air the second season or relegate it to a godawful timeslot and that's a shame. This show might be one of the most niche of television shows but it's still pretty great drama and the last two episodes of the first season were brilliant to watch. Predictable as it might have been, it was lovely to see Blanca win Mother Of The Year, to see Pray Tell get a new love interest and for Elektra to take a bit of a downfall before stylishly getting herself back up again. The Angel/Stan bits were less interesting but overall, I'll be back for seconds.

Supergirl: Without a doubt, the weakest season of the DC shows on the CW has ended and for the love of Zod, please let the writers be either a) fired or b) given a crash course in the nature of show, don't tell. The political backdrop was abysmally handled this season and with Agent Liberty being one of the dullest villains ever to grace any of these shows, I was disappointed that he wasn't killed off to be honest. On the other hand Brainy/Nia and Alex/Kelly are nice pairings, Lena FINALLY knows the truth about her best friend, Lex was a magnificent bastard in the finale, more Crisis stuff was hinted and we've got Leviathan to look forward to next season.

The Flash: Season Five has been pretty hit and miss in parts and the resolution to the arcs for Nora, Cicada (x2) and Eobard felt rather unsatisfying and the less said about Cisco's idiotic decision to remove his powers, the better tbh. Still though, at least we finally had Singh reveal that he knows about Barry being the Flash, more Crisis hints and a few cast departures as well. I am intrigued to see who will be the next main villain for the series and going by one scene, I think it's a safe bet that a significant person from Ralph's comic history will be appearing next season.

- Drew Van Acker will be guest appearing in the second season of Titans, playing Aqualad (Garth).
- Jessica Jones third and final season will stream on Netflix from June 14th while Orange Is The New Black's last one will be July 26th.
- The prequel series for Game Of Thrones has the title (for now) of Bloodmoon and has begun filming in Belfast.
- Empire's sixth season will be it's final season on with Jussie Smollett axed from the series.
- Amazon have the rights for Star Trek: Picard. A trailer for the series has been released.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar guest starred in the series finale of The Big Bang Theory.
- The Judoon will be returning for Series 12 of Doctor Who. There are also rumours of a musical episode for the series as well.
- Beverly Hills 90210 reboot is still on track to air in August on FOX despite losing showrunner and some writers.
- Criminal Minds fifteenth and final season will air on CBS in 2020 with only 10 episodes.
- Grey's Anatomy has been renewed for two more seasons while How To Get Away With Murder has been renewed for a sixth season.
- Humans has been cancelled by Channel 4 and AMC after three seasons.
- Gentlemen Jack has been renewed for a second season by BBC1 and HBO.

She's Back And Slightly Badder Than Ever - EDITED

Ah, it's been a few weeks of some interesting returns and picking up from where other shows have left off, so here's a roundup of some of the show I've been watching lately.

911: It's been several months since the first half of Season 2 but kicking things up a gear, I'm glad the latter half of the season will not overly hinge on the Doug storyline as it seems that after stabbing Chimney and terrorising Maddie, his story has been brought to a rather swift and deserved ending. Speaking of Chimney, I quite liked the flashback episode he got, even if elements of it felt a little similar to Hen's from earlier in the season. Still though, the second half of the season is looking good so far.

Arrow: This show can give and take in equal measures at times. Positives first - that Lost Canaries episode was freaking amazing and finally gave Laurel the justice she deserved, even if it came three seasons too late. Then there was meeting Diggle's stepfather, throwing in a sneaky Green Lantern reference and of course calming Mia down a little in the flashforwards. I still find her annoying but Emiko in the present is actually more annoying. As a big bad, she's kind of lacking and the show managed to waste a good actor like Adrian Paul like they did with Michael Emerson last season. Still though, it's on better form than two other CW DC shows at the moment.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Confusion over whether these nine episodes are a second season or the second part of the first one aside, things are certainly getting more interesting here. I'm liking Sabrina's budding relationship with Nick and Adam's introduction is working as a way to slightly humanise Lilith a bit but at the same time, Blackwood is working my last nerve as an antagonist and while the show is giving us a more badass Hilda, both Zelda and Ambrose don't seem to be as well served so far. Other positive though have been the experimental episodes, the show's handling of Theo's transitioning, the Harvey/Roz romance and the use of Dorian Gray as well.

Game Of Thrones: The biggest show on television is back for it's final season of six episodes and the first two so far were surprisingly more quieter, slightly bloodless affairs. They were however not boring especially with the second episode having some truly beautiful character moments as our band of heroes and former villains are holed up in Winterfell awaiting a big battle with death itself. I have liked the questioning of Dany's leadership skills and now that a certain revelation is out of the bag, it's going to be interesting to see who ends up on that bloody throne in the next four weeks.

Killing Eve: It's back for a second season and while BBC1 are stupidly not airing it alongside BBCAmerica/AMC, RTE2 thankfully are. The first three episodes have shifted dynamics a little with Konstantin not actually being dead, Villanelle dealing with a new handler in Raymond, Eve getting more team members with Jess and Hugo, the arrival of a new assassin named the Ghost and Carolyn being as morally ambiguous as ever. The first episode felt a little sluggish but the second and third ones were made of stronger stuff. We do need to see Eve and Villanelle interact again and the sooner the show loses Niko the better.

Pose: I wish the ratings on BBC2 were better for the show than they actually are, but given it's unique premise and the fact that BBC2 waited too long to air it, I'm not surprised they're not so good. The show itself however is definitely going from strength to strength. I loved the confrontation scenes with Patty and Angel as the latter's involvement with Stan was exposed and the further backstories for Elektra and Blanca were handled perfectly. Then there was the death of Pray Tell's boyfriend in the last episode I watched, which was poignant. I can't wait to see how the last two episodes wraps up this first season.

Supergirl: I'm getting a sense of deja vu here. I mean, didn't we already have Supergirl framed for something someone else beforehand? It certainly feels like it and without Lex, who honestly gives a toss about Agent Liberty? He's just a lacklustre villain and with four episodes left, I really cannot wait to see the back of the guy. Next season really does need to reign some of the political slant and focus on some decent storytelling instead. On the other hand, I am loving Nia's journey into her heroic persona and the show is clearly setting up a pairing with Alex and Kelly which could be good to watch but right now, we need more of Lex and Russian Supergirl now.

The Flash: Okay, I'm getting bored of everything. I'm bored of the Eobard Thawne sitting in a cell and doing nothing. I'm bored of Nora as a character and I'm bored of Cicada. Right now, both Nora and Cicada need to leave the show and I really do mean that. On the other hand, we did get a little bit on Caitlin's family (including the rise of a new Icicle no doubt) and a quite glimpse of Godspeed, but even the latter could've been used better. Right now, I'm just bored but hopefully the next three episodes can finish up this whole arc on a decent note.

- Both Roswell: New Mexico and The 100 have been renewed for second and seventh seasons respectively by the CW.
- Santa Clarita Diet is the latest show to be dropped by Netflix after three seasons.
- Swamp Thing will be now 10 episodes instead of 13.
- Iain Glen has been cast as Bruce Wayne for the second season of Titans.
- Killing Eve's third season will be seen over by Suzanne Heathcote.
- Star Trek will be getting another animated spin-off to air on Nickelodeon.
- Shannen Doherty will reprise her role as Brenda Walsh in FOX's upcoming 90210 event series.
- In further shark jumping antics, Dynasty have replaced Nicollette Sheridan with Elizabeth Gillies as Alexis Carrington. Even by this show's standards, this is somewhat taking the piss.
- FOX have cancelled The Gifted after two seasons.
- Alex Landi has bagged a recurring role in the upcoming second season of Netflix's Insatiable.
- Emily Bett Rickards will be departing Arrow after it's seventh season.
- American Horror Story's ninth season has the subtitle of 1984 and will be influenced by the slasher genre.

Children Behave

Last blog for the month of February and a look into some of the show I've been recently catching up on as well.

Arrow: 150th episodes are not as big a deal as other monumental episodes but they're still a good mark for a show to make and for this show, we were treated to a documentary style adventure with so many returning faces that it easily made this episode the best of the season. Actually the last few episodes have been pretty great with Stanley popping up and proving to be a chilling serial killer while the flashforwards revealed the most obvious outcome for Maya as well as confirming that William is in fact gay. Then there was Curtis's low key departure and Fauxcide Squad with the Ghost Initiative, both of which are decent-ish development.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: The remaining five episodes (including Christmas) certainly elevated the first season. I'm so glad that this has been a successful reboot and it's great that we've got more to look forward to when the remaining nine episodes drop in April. While it was a little too convenient to break up Sabrina and Harvey, I did like both Roz and Susie's own growing prominence in the supernatural stories while Madam Satan's reveal was also delightfully creepy. As for the Christmas episode - it might not have advanced many stories but it's definitely one of the better festive episodes I've watched over the last few months.

Daredevil: While the show has now been sadly cancelled, I am really glad that I bothered to watch the third season. Having Fisk back second time around as a baddie worked surprisingly well as did the Bullseye storyline and the backstories for both Karen and Sister Maggie. The last few scenes of the finale felt like a set up for a potential fourth season which we're probably unlikely to see now but at least we got three seasons and while the Marvel Netflix era is coming to an end, this was the show that started a fun journey.

Supergirl: A mixed bag of episodes here. On one hand, Nia's Dreamer storyline and her budding romance with Brainy is actually the strongest components of the recent stories we've had while everything else has fallen rather flat. We're back to the uninspired Children of Liberty story, Alex's memory wipe of Kara being Supergirl is annoying and the less said about the chemistry free on and off pairing of James and Lena the better to be honest. Right now, the show seriously needs to get itself together. Hopefully Lex's imminent arrival and Manchester Black's return will help turn things around.

The Flash: While the season is still better than another CW show I could mention, I'm already losing interest in the Cicada plot. Plot wise, it greatly hasn't advanced anything and it's feeling like a holding pattern for Nora's unwise alliance with Eobard to inevitably go bad as well. There has been some nice moments though with the gang, even if Barry himself has felt a little short served at times and some of the beats with Nora have felt a little repetitive. With some major cast changes rumoured to be happening though, things should hopefully pick up for the remainder of the season.

The Good Place: I absolutely loved the first season of this wonderful show and the last two episodes have certainly made me want to catch up with the second and third seasons pretty soon. I guess the twist surrounding Michael maybe should've been obvious in retrospect but it was a rather nice game changing moment as Eleanor realised exactly what was going on before things were shifted once again. I am going to make the effort to play catch up sooner rather than later, unless E4 starting the next season pretty soon. Overall though, while I was a little late in the game with this show, I am glad I did get into it nonetheless.

The Umbrella Academy: Recently released and already renewed for a second season, I've never read a single issue of Gerard Way's comic book series, but after watching the first four episodes, it's clearly something I should look into. While the series itself isn't exactly subverting any superhero tropes as such, the main seven characters (including dead Ben) are certainly a dynamic and messed up bunch of people with the likes of Klaus, Allison, Diego, Luther, Vanya and the Boy all managing to maintain interest while an apocalypse is looming in the background. Overall, it's a fun series and I've got another six episodes to savour over the next few weeks.

- Tyler Posey, Dakata Shapiro, Kiele Sanchez and Medalion Rahimi will star in the CW's adaptation of The Lost Boys. The pilot begins films next month.
- Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends Of Tomorrow and Black Lightning all have been renewed for further seasons.
- Netflix have (unsurprisingly) confirmed that both The Punisher and Jessica Jones have been cancelled.
- Jussie Smollett has been suspended from the last two episodes of Empire's fifth season.
- Natalie Dormer and Nathan Lane have joined the cast of Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels for Showtime.
- Cameron Monaghan will rejoin Shameless for it's tenth season.
- Robin Lord Taylor has bagged a recurring role in the second season of You while Cory Michael Smith will be a regular in the US version of Utopia.
- Joshua Orpin has joined the cast of Titans as Superboy for it's second season. The show will also be adding Deathstroke, Rose and Jericho as well.
- Stephen Fry is rumoured to be guest starring in an episode of Doctor Who's twelfth series, due to air on BBC1 in 2020.
- Brooklyn Nine Nine has been renewed for a seventh season on NBC.