My Review of The Exorcist (1973)

 

Written by William Peter Blatty

Directed by William Friedkin

Father Karras (to Chris): "There are no experts. You probably know as much about possession than most priests. Look, your daughter doesn't say she's a demon. She says she's the devil himself. And if you've seen as many psychotics as I have, you'd know it's like saying you're Napoleon Bonaparte."

One of the things I've always found extremely fascinating about this movie was the fact that it was so scary upon it's release that people somewhat passed out in the cinemas when seeing it. I've seen plenty of scary movies throughout my life (and I want to see so many more) but the question - is The Exorcist really that scary?

I think had I seen this as a child rather than an adult, I definitely would've been far more terrified of it but there's no doubt that this movie has had a lasting legacy on the horror front and it's easy enough to see why. It's all down to two incredible central performances, isn't it?

The first one being of course, Linda Blair. She had the unenviable task of playing a child possessed by the Devil or so she claims. It's never really stated but throughout the movie, Blair goes from playing an ordinary mild manner young girl named Regan into the entity possessing her and causing all manners of madness in her wake.

It's an incredible performance from a young actor with Regan alternating between a helpless child and an evil entity, attacking Regan's own mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn) while revealing some scandalous stuff about the very priests trying to save her soul. Then there's the aftermath where Regan seems unaware of the damage that she's had a role in.

The second great performance of the movie would then be Jason Miller in the role of Fr Damien Karras, the very man determined to save Regan's soul and facing an uphill battle as a result with his own faith and morality torn asunder as he's forced to take the most extreme measure in order to save the day. It's a performance that's just as powerful as Blair's.

The movie itself effectively feels like a two hander between Blair and Miller towards the second half, even with the support of others. It's those two actors who anchor the whole things and it's Karras and the possessed Regan's battle of wits with the raised stakes that genuinely makes the movie a captivating piece of cinema. 

-  The director's cut has a slightly different ending between the characters of Kinderman and Dyer.

-  Some religious zealots took this movie so seriously, there were even threats against Linda Blair, which genuinely startled me to read about.

- I think the most shocking scenes were some of the more sexual references in the movie and they were toned down from the original book.

- Chronology: This movie begins with scenes in Iraq before the main setting of Georgetown, Washington. 

The Exorcist is a stone cold classic. Had I seen this as kid, I definitely would've been terrified but even as an adult, this movie certainly holds up on the scares, the possession scenes, the music and of course, the central performances from both Blair and Miller. Easily a perfect choice of movie to watch over the Halloween weekend.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Arsenic And Old Lace (1944)

 

Written by Julius J. Epstein & Philip G. Epstein

Directed by Frank Capra

Mortimer (to Elaine): "I probably should have told you this before but, you see, well... insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops."

I've waited a while to review this one and with Halloween around the corner, of course it would make sense to review a movie actually set around the occasion itself. Of course, Halloween doesn't really play too huge a role in this film but I appreciate that setting nonetheless.

The film adapted from a play of the same name, see newlyweds Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) and his new bride Elaine (Priscilla Lane) finding their first night marriage in disarray when they head back to the former's old home and reunite with his delightfully scatty aunts Abby (Josephine Hull) and Martha (Jean Adair), who confess to having bumped off at least twelve different people and burying them in the basement.

Despite the trailers and promotional almost making this movie look like a screwball romantic comedy, Elaine isn't as focused as expected with her largely being absent during certain big scenes and reacting quite badly when faced with some other characters throughout the movie.

The other characters in question would be Mortimer's psychotic brother,  Jonathan (Raymond Massey)  and drunk plastic surgeon Dr. Herman Einstein (Peter Lorre) with the former also being a serial killer and in a moment that's played both for laughs and horror gets Mortimer bound and gagged to a chair with the intention of taking out his critical brother.

Cary Grant definitely gives one of his most interesting performances in this movie with Mortimer being a pithy enough protagonist reacting to the absolute insanity of his family (a family that also includes another brother who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, but he's the more harmless member) while also trying to stay alive and becoming a captive audience for an amateur playwright police officer in arguably the funniest scene of the whole film.

It's a madcap adaptation of a classic play, both terrifying in parts and absolutely daft in others and at the same time, never suffers as a result. Raymond Massey in particular perfectly captures that duality of Jonathan being genuinely menacing and then hilarious during the moments where his whole great scheme comes undone through a series of mishaps.

Similarly the aunts of the piece are  amusing too. Two dotty older women who look like they wouldn't hurt anyone, yet have quite the body count while there's a delightfully exasperated performance from Peter Lorre's Einstein. It's only really Priscilla Lane's Elaine who feels a tad short served by this film, which is probably the only negative I can give to an otherwise hugely enjoyable movie.

- The movie made quite the point (as did the original play it's based on) that Jonathan looked a lot like Boris Karloff along with Mortimer inadvertently predicting his own bondage fate.

- The most prolific female serial killer - Amy Archer-Gilligan was an inspiration for this play and movie, mainly as her weapon of choice was of course, Arsenic.

- This film was made nearly three years before it's actual release, though it did get showings in 1943.

- Chronology: Given it's setting, I'm going to assume the early 1940s for this to coincide with it's own release.

Arsenic And Old Lace is a perfect watch for the Halloween period if you want something a little madcap with also the right bits of horror into the mix. It's a career best performance for Cary Grant, it's incredibly funny at the perfect moments and it's gorgeously shot. An absolute classic of a movie. 

Rating: 10 out of 10

My Review of Addams Family Values (1993)

 

Written by Paul Rudnick

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Morticia: "You have gone too far. You have married Fester, you have destroyed his spirit, you have taken him from us. All that I could forgive. But, Debbie..."

Debbie Jellinsky: "What?"

Morticia: "...pastels?"

And the superior film would be the sequel. Not financially of course as this movie sadly bombed but in terms of pure enjoyment and really capturing the quirkiness of the Addams, this sequel more than delivered on that front, even improving on certain things from the first movie.

The biggest improvement would be of course the choice of villain. Black widow serial killer turned nanny, Debbie Jellinsky has got to be one of the best and most camp of movie villains and Joan Cusack clearly seems to be having the time of her life in playing such an over the top menace terrorising the family and in particular, Fester, who really does seem to have a habit of letting domineering women influence him.

Fester starts the movie somewhat envious of Morticia and Gomez's great love and it doesn't take long for Debbie to work her charms on him, get married and of course separate him from his beloved family. It's the bit where trying to kill Fester that Debbie seems to have great difficulty in, though it's not a lack of effort on her part.

Of course when electricity and house bombs don't work, Debbie takes the entire family captive, gives a strong delivery on her villainous path before being bested by the latest addition of the clan - baby Pubert, whose arrival did initially see both Wednesday and Pugsley take the term sibling rivalry to more extreme measures.

Speaking of Wednesday and Pugsley, Debbie did manage to take them out of a good portion of the story by having them sent to Camp Chippewa, managed by the doubly Gary (Peter MacNicol) and Becky Granger (Christine Baranski) and the bratty Amanda (Mercedes McNab). All three however soon come afoul of Wednesday and Pugsley as well as Joel (David Krumholtz) during a Thanksgiving play that no-one will likely forget any time soon.

Of course it's the theme of family that is prominent in this sequel with the Addams always being a stronger unit when together and we see that as they band together over Debbie being a thorn to their side and also towards the end when gathered for Pubert becoming a year old. There's also a nice subplot with Wednesday and Joel getting close to one another before that last moment at the graveyard. 

- Director Barry Sonnenfeld and Julie Halston played Joel's parents for a few scenes in this movie. There's a few familiar faces to keep an eye out.

- Carol Kane replaced Judith Malina for the role of Grandmama while Margeret and Cousin Itt had a baby too between movies.

- This was one of the final film roles for Raul Julia who died a year after this film's release.

- Chronology: Several months since the events of the first movie with a year passing by the end of this one.

Addams Family Values definitely is the superior movie of the two we got with this cast. It's a pity that it underperformed because it takes everything that worked well enough with the first movie and massively improves on it while also feeling a lot crazier in the best way possible. Not to mention a sublime villain with Debbie and some of the most pithy dialogue on offer. 

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of The Addams Family (1991)

 

Written by Caroline Thompson & Larry Wilson

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Gomez: "Think of it, Thing. For 25 years we've attempted to contact Fester in the great beyond, and for 25 years, nothing. I'm beginning to think my brother truly is lost."

I have to admit that my memory of this movie isn't as great as my memory of the second movie and catching up with both movies over the weekend, I'll admit that my preference tends to lean more towards the second than the first. Still though, this is a good first look into America's most lovable kooky family.

The Addams - comprising of romantic lothario Gomez (Raul Julia), his Gothic looking wife, Morticia (Anjelica Huston), their children Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), Grandmama (Judith Malina), butler Lurch (Carel Struycken) and of course, estranged Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) who went missing 25 years ago, only to come back for this movie. Or did he?

That's where I get a bit confused with this one. It's implied that "Fester" is actually a man named Gordon who along with his scheming mother, Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson) and family lawyer, Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya) find themselves plotting against the Addams Family in a bid to seize their fortune with a rather predictable turn of events.

As the movie progresses we see Gordon going from wanting to fleece our kooky protagonists to fully embracing the family to the point where the movie seems to skip over the idea of him being a conman to actually being Fester when a convenient bout of lightning restores his memories and the previous status quo with the Addams asserts itself. 

As a villain, I have to admit that I find Abigail somewhat lacking although she does for the most part have something of a restrictive hold on Fester and works to divide him from his family but the very dynamic while explored in the sequel with Debbie is somewhat better handled there than here.

The rest of the film plays out well with it's quirkiness as Wednesday and Pugsley along with Morticia find themselves adapting easier to life outside the manor than Gomez (another thing that the sequel tackles in a way) before the family are banded together to get their home and Fester back. 

- I notice that Mercedes McNab appears in this movie as an obnoxious girl scout. I genuinely didn't remember she was in the first movie as her role in the sequel is more memorable.

- Tully's wife, Margaret spends the movie being antagonistic towards the Addams before eventually getting romantically involved with Itt,

- This movie was not only Barry Sonnenfield's directorial debut but he also had a brief cameo in it as well.

- Standout music: Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd's take on Mamushka.

The Addams Family isn't quite as strong as the more iconic sequel that it would spawn two years later but it laid the groundwork well enough for this family getting their first cinematic outing. The sequel is far better but this still has it's moments.

Rating: 7 out of 10

He Gives The Worst Pep Talks

It's been a while and with another lockdown due for Ireland, here's a rundown of some shows I've been watching over the last few weeks.

911: Lone Star: I'm at the halfway point of the first season of this spin-off series and it's going pretty well. Now I don't love the show quite as much as it's parent series but the characters are coming along nicely enough, the cases are fun enough to watch in parts (that bachelorette party) and the show continues to make some great strides in diversity as well as we saw some insight into Paul's dating life and of course with TK and Carlos's relationship. Owen and Michelle's plots are solid enough but I don't see Owen actually dying and we already know that Michelle isn't coming back next season.

Derry Girls: With the last two episodes of Series 2, I have officially caught up and I'm ready to see what the show will bring for it's third series when it comes back next year quite likely. I loved the homage to Carrie as well as the girls ditching school to meet Clinton and of course, James finally being accepted as a member of the gang. I'll even go as far as to say that I think the second series was even stronger than the first one and the bar had been set pretty high there.

I Hate Suzie: And it's over. I don't know if this show will get a second series (it definitely feels like it needs one tbh), but I did see a lot of what the finale did coming a mile off. Suzie's marriage collapsed, her career is in a strange place and her friendship with Naomi has also become strained. This was a great vehicle for Billie Piper's talents as co-creator and lead actor and it definitely feels like it deserves some award love at some point. US viewers will be able to see the series on HBO Max pretty soon.

Lovecraft Country: I mentioned in my previous review that this show could be so confusing to watch and the last three episodes definitely felt the most confusing. This show has definitely been an experience to watch and I quite liked Atticus and Letitia as protagonists but it might hep next season if the plotline was a little clearer to follow though.

Schitt's Creek: I know, I'm probably the last person to actually watch this show but E4 got the rights to it and are airing at least the first season in double bills. My first thoughts: I don't love it yet but I definitely like it and I can see why Moira Rose especially has made such an impression on people as the Rose family have lost their fortune and seem to be stuck in the worst town in the US with the worst televised Mayor seen in quite a while. It might take a few more episodes for me to really get into it though.

The Boys: I decided to wait until the first two season finished up to actually watch the first season and now, I've watched four episodes in the last week. This somewhat cynical take on the superhero genre definitely gets very meta and extremely violent in parts with Homelander proving to be far scarier than most comic book villain. Still though, I'm not sure that Billy Butcher is much better but fortunately there are sympathetic enough characters with Hughie, Starlight, Frenchie, Mother's Milk and Queen Maeve to balance things out a tiny bit and the superhero costumes do look pretty good. 

• Raffi Barsoumian has been cast in the role of Bishop, a sadistic scientist for the sixth season of Legends Of Tomorrow.
• The Flight Attendant will stream on HBO Max from November 26th.
• Paddy Considine has been cast in a lead role for House Of The Dragon, the prequel spin-off for Game Of Thrones. The show will debut in 2022.
• Dexter will return for a ten episode limited series on Showtime for Fall 2021.
• Euphoria will return for two special episodes ahead of it's upcoming second season. The first one will air on December 6th.
• Star Trek: Discovery has been renewed for a fourth season. Meanwhile UK viewers can currently watch the third season weekly on Netflix.
• Kristen Bell will star in The Woman In The House, which has been ordered to series to Netflix.
• Steven Krueger has joined the cast of Roswell: New Mexico for it's upcoming third season.
• Disney+ have ordered a series of Willow with Warwick Davis set to reprise his role from the original movie.
• Amazon will also be tackling a series based on I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Doctor Who - NYCC 2020 Highlights

And I use the word 'highlights' loosely because to be honest, there wasn't a lot actually revealed during yesterday's NYCC panel, featuring Jodie Whittaker (the Doctor), Bradley Walsh (Graham) and Mandip Gill (Yasmin), moderated by Melanie McFarland.

Definitely a case of keeping one's expectations tempered, although we at least got something in regards to the upcoming special, Revolution Of The Daleks.

The something being a synopsis for the special (which still does not have a confirmed date) and two pictures, which let's be honest hardly set things alight in terms of excitement. The first picture released showed the Doctor in prison fatigues, marking down the time she's been imprisoned and it seems a long time has passed for her since the events of The Timeless Children. 

The second photo showed the main companions - Graham, Yasmin and Ryan (Tosin Cole) all sat around a table, clearly doing research as the special will see them having to go up against a Dalek invasion without the Doctor to help them. Considering the title of this special was revealed back in March, would it really have hurt either Chris Chibnall or the BBC to have released one photo of a Dalek? What is wrong with the marketing team these days? 

I can see the logic in holding a trailer off as a date hasn't been confirmed yet for the special but at the same time, I'd be surprised if one doesn't materialise next month around the time we get Children In Need on BBC1 but it's a sad state of affairs when Star Trek can come out swinging by revealing a beloved character (Kate Mulgrew's Captain Janeway) returning for an upcoming animated series but Doctor Who can barely make the effort with a panel like NYCC. A serious missed opportunity. Anyways, we did get a synopsis for Revolution Of The Daleks, so here it is ....

The Doctor is locked away in a high-security alien prison. Isolated, alone, with no hope of escape. Far away, on Earth, her best friends, Yaz, Ryan and Graham have to pick up their lives without her. But it’s not easy. Old habits die hard. Especially when they discover a disturbing plan forming. A plan which involves a Dalek. How can you fight a Dalek, without the Doctor?

I really hate criticising the series at the moment but when it's given good media opportunities and squanders it, it only adds to the current frustration that this whole era has been generating for a long while and heading towards the end of the year, we're still none the wiser as to what's going on with the next series. It's time for the BBC and Chris Chibnall to up their game and stop being so secretive before they kill the enthusiasm for the series altogether.

NYCC Lookback: https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1314260519960932356

Revolution Of The Daleks will air on BBC1 and BBCAmerica over the festive period. Filming for Series 13 has yet to be officially confirmed. 

My Review of The Boys In The Band (2020)

 

Written by Mart Crowley & Ned Nartel

Directed by Joe Mantello

Michael: "What's so fucking funny?"

Harold: "Life. Life's a goddamn laugh riot."

There was a time when prominent LGBT content was a hallmark on HBO and Showtime and while both cable stations still do deliver from time to time, it seems Netflix (when they're not all cancel happy) are coming up with some content to get in LGBT subscriptions.

This is not the first we've seen Mart Crowley's infamous 1968 play adapted into a movie as we did have one all the way back in 1970 but I'm surprised that it's taken a while for another movie adaptation. A few years the cast who are in this movie performed this play on stage and now they're all back for this pretty solid take on a play that's stood the test of time.

The central premise revolves around the birthday of a reclusive Jewish man named Harold (Zachary Quinto), organised by his friend, a Catholic man named Michael (Jim Parsons). The two of them have a very strong love/hate dynamic and seem to take a little too much pleasure in needling the other. However by the end of the evening, it's Michael who finds himself in a world of doubt as the birthday party and games reveal a lot about everyone and not to Michael's liking either.

Keeping with the boys, you've got a couple on the brink of disaster with Larry (Andrew Rannels) and Hank (Tuc Watkins) with fidelity being a central problem to their relationship or the lack of it to an extent as well as book smart Donald (Matt Bomer), the rather effeminate Emory (Robin de Jesus) and librarian assistant Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington) all making their presence felt for Harold's birthday.

Added to the evening's events also include the adorably dim (and one of the few nicer characters) hustler Cowboy Tex (Charlie Carver) and Alan (Brian Hutchinson) - an old friend of Michael's whom the latter spent most of the movie attempting to out, only for the events to transpire that Alan might actually be straight after all - or is he? It certainly seemed ambiguous enough.

During the two hour adaptation we saw our main cast physically, verbally and emotionally rip each other apart that it was almost a shocker to see how any of them were friends to begin with. At times it was hard to pick a sympathetic party but at the same time, I actually found myself at some of the outrageously horrible things various characters were saying to one another.

In terms of characters - I guess Michael, Larry, Donald, Harold and the Cowboy were my favourites. Michael was at times unsympathetic but he was never boring to watch and the barbs between him and Harold were amusing and insightful to watch. Larry also had a brilliant moment where he broke down his relationship with Hank pretty succinctly while Donald and the Cowboy were the more consistently likeable characters throughout the movie while both Emory and Bernard had sympathetic backstories of unrequited love.

- This movie had a lot of actors who've worked with each other on other productions as well as the numerous of Ryan Murphy ones over the last few years.

- Playwright Mart Crowley had a brief cameo here as he did in the 1970 film. 

- Standout music: Miles Davis's Round Midnight and Herb Alpert & The Tuuana Brass This Guy's In Love With You.

- Chronology: New York 1968 as to when the play originally debuted as well. 

The Boys In The Band is certainly another triumph for Netflix with great direction from Joe Mantello, a cast completely on fire and an excellent script from both Crowley and Martel. I'll admit the trailer didn't initially wow me but sitting through the movie, it was a lot better than expected - funny in parts, uncomfortable in others. 

Rating: 9 out of 10

DC - Upcoming Movie Dates Moved (& More Spin-Offs)

Yup, because 2020 and Coronavirus ain't done fucking with us, it seems that DC's upcoming movie slate has been dramatically changed yet again. 

Also as I write this blog, I'm psyching myself for even more changes because we really living in the worst of times all round, aren't we?

Anyways, let's get on with it, shall we?

The Batman, which had the absolutely glorious spot of October 1st 2021 has now been moved to March 4th 2022, due to Dune being pushed back a whole ten months. Given how perfect this movie was placed for a Halloween audience, this one stings the most. On the other hand, the movie has only resumed production (and will be filming exterior shots in Chicago this month), so I can see the extra time being a benefit to this one. Saying that, it's still the move that I'm most disappointed by, even though I know Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson are truly going to give us something special with this take on the Dark Knight.

As for The Flash, it's now going from June 3rd 2022 to November 4th 2022 and this one I'm not mad about. First of all, it has yet to go in production, we're months away from filming actually taking place  and having a wider gap from Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness could benefit it a lot. If anything, this is probably a smart move on DC's part. Right now, in terms of casting all we know is that Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton are confirmed with Billy Crudup in talks to reprise his role as Henry Allen. Over the next few months, we will get more and more exciting casting, so this one I can wait longer for. Not that there's a choice in the matter.

Last but not least (for now) to be moved is Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods. Gone is the November 4th 2022 release date (The Flash called dibs on that) and we've got a June 2nd 2023 release date instead. I was wondering when we'd get a DC movie announced for 2023 and now I've got my answer. I've seen people wonder if the movie will recast the kids, but truthfully I think the movie should just age them up. Again we are a long way off from learning anything about this upcoming sequel, which is due to start filming next year.

Also in unsurprising news, Black Adam has lost it's December 22nd 2021 date (now given to The Matrix 4) and currently doesn't have a new date. If I were to make an educated guess, I think it'll end up as summer 2022 movie, but that's not a certainty right about now. Meanwhile we did finally get casting for Hawkman with Aldis Hodge landing the coveted role, which just leaves casting for characters such as Adrianna, Cyclone and Doctor Fate to be announced. I'm sure those roles will probably be filled out and announced before the year ends. 

As for everything else, movie wise, it seems for now (and I emphasize for now) that Wonder Woman 1984 will still hit cinemas on December 25th 2020 and The Suicide Squad on August 6th 2021. I expect the former to be pushed to early/mid 2021 while nothing has been said on the upcoming Aquaman sequel, which again for now will remain in the December 16th 2022 release but again, I can see that being pushed to 2023. 

On a final note, it seems that not only are HBO Max going in with the Snyder Cut of Justice League, giving Matt Reeves a Gotham Central spin-off for The Batman but John Cena's Peacemaker will also be getting a spin-off. James Gunn will be writing and directing most of the eight episode series but if you're expecting this series to confirm the character's fate in the upcoming The Suicide Squad, there are rumours this series will be a prequel, so perhaps not. I'm not gonna lie, Peacemaker isn't a character I feel really warrants a spin-off but I'm curious enough to give it a try though.

Link: https://deadline.com/2020/10/dune-drifting-away-from-december-to-october-2021-1234591593/

Thoughts on the ever changing release patterns? Will this finally be it or do you expect more movements to happen in the next few weeks/months?

My Review of Ratched's 1x08: "Mildred And Edmund"

 

Written by Ian Brennan & Evan Romansky & Jennifer Salt

Directed by Daniel Minahan

Mildred (to Edmund): "Well, let me tell you something, little brother. You are the one who should be afraid because I am coming for you, Edmund."

Well, that escalated reasonably enough. This season might have started with Mildred wanting to do everything in her power to save Edmund but next season (which Netflix seem to have guaranteed) will clearly see her do everything in order to take out brother dearest as well. I'm also imagining there's going to be some casualties on both sides of this bloody sibling rivalry to boot.

With Mildred, she's gotten the happy (for now) ending with Gwendolyn, living it up in Mexico and in events that weren't predicted at the start of this series, a friend in Nurse Bucket. I really liked seeing the three of them working together initially to save Edmund before banding together at the end far away from Lucia State Hospital. 

Edmund was always going to make it out of the series alive but having Charlotte being the one to save him was a nice enough twist. Edmund having a team of both Charlotte (believing she's Hanover) and Louise (how did she make it out of this season alive?) to counter Mildred's own team will be very interesting to see unfold next season. I'm hoping Louise is an early season casualty of course.

Speaking of casualties, the only likable/not psychotic male character of course had to be killed off. Poor Huck. He finally got the promotion and respect he deserve, only to get shot in the head when trying to calm Charlotte. Huck deserved better but next season, the show needs to address it's issue with male characters. 

As for the Governor, at least he didn't get to fry Edmund but he definitely took too much pleasure in killing that other guy, especially when the electric chair backfire and set the guy alight. His comments when he realised that Mildred and Gwendolyn were a couple though did somewhat surprise. It was the only time during the series he displayed even the tiniest flicker of empathy. Saying that, I still wouldn't be sad if he doesn't return next season.

- Gwendolyn was losing her hair at the start of this episode but two years later in Mexico and something involving mistletoe and she's possibly cured.

- Louise joining up with Edmund and Charlotte really didn't shock. She's been off all season and that 'therapy' she was doing at the hospital was pretty disturbing.

- Standout music: The Andrew Sisters & Bing Crosby's Don't Fence Me In.

- Chronology: A month after the events of the previous episode before moving to 1950 for the last quarter of the episode.

Mildred And Edmund definitely set things up for what could be an interesting second season between the warring siblings. Overall, this show has been hit and miss and while I don't approve of trying to frame an iconic cinematic villain as some kind of feminist heroine (feels misguided), Sarah Paulson did carry this series rather well, so I'll stick around for some more.

Rating: 7 out of 10

It Can Get Worse Elsewhere

It's been a few weeks but here's a round up of things I've been catching up over the last few weeks.

911: It might have taken SkyLiving a little longer, but the third season has finally finished up and it was a rather satisfying way to end the current season. The return of Abby in the final two episodes seemed to offer needed closure between her and Buck while Chimney and Maddie will be parents in the next season and Michael has gotten the all clear. I've really enjoyed this third season a lot and the show continues to impress with the stunts they've pulled off this season. It's also a good thing that while filming for the next season is underway, I've got the spin-off to catch up with. Speaking of which ....

911: Lone Star: Moving the action from California to Texas for a spin-off that probably wasn't really needed but certainly doesn't hurt either. I'm wondering if FOX are trying to build a franchise here (if another spin-off happens, then the answer will be a resounding yes). The first two episodes of this show weren't as strong as the parent series but did the job to keep me interested. Rob Lowe is decent lead as Owen Strand (who may or may not die as this series progresses) while Liv Tyler's Michelle is an okay secondary protagonist. I'm quite taken with the slow burning love story between TK and Carlos and the show's diversity is great to see. I don't know if I'll love this show as much as 911 but it's off to a decent start so far.

Derry Girls: It's a good job that when it comes to their own homegrown comedy that E4 will repeat these shows a lot because now I can finally see the second series of this brilliant show and the first four episodes were fantastic. Between the girls meeting lads from another school, a very unprofessional English teacher, a disastrous journey to see Take That and the antics at a neighbour's wake, this show has hit every funny bone. Looking forward to what the last two episodes have in store.

I Hate Suzie: It's interesting to see how much this series seems to have mirrored or lifted certain elements from Billie Piper's own career trajectory and personal life. It's also further proof of how much of a truly underrated actor she really is as the last few episodes have introduced us to Suzie's extended family, seen her career opportunities go up and down in equal measures as well as her relationships with her agent and family spiral big time. With the ads being initially underwhelming, the show itself has turned out to be quite gripping. I just hope the finale can stick the landing though.

Lovecraft Country: Every week I watch this show both in fascination and with absolutely no idea what's going on. I don't think I'm the only person who view this series this way. It's a genuinely interesting show but it's also massively veered from what it originally seemed to be about, hasn't it? The last few episodes focus on characters such as Ruby, Ji' Ah and Hippolyta while Letitia and Atticus have been more in the background has been a mixed bag but at the same time, at least it's not boring. Just more of a fascinating but messy series. 

• Not only has The Boys been renewed for a third season but Amazon are also planning a spin-off focusing on a younger group of characters. 
• Ryan Murphy will be tackling a miniseries based on Jeffrey Dahmer for Netflix. The show will be titled, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
• Adam Tsekhman has been promoted to a regular for the sixth season of Legends Of Tomorrow, having recurred in the previous three seasons.
• Russell T. Davies upcoming LGBT themed series has been retitled It's A Sin and will air on Channel 4 and HBO Max from 2021.
• Cobra Kai's third season will be released on Netflix from January 8th 2021 and the show has been renewed for a fourth season.
• Alex Morf, Leah Gibson and Nathan Owens have joined the cast for the second season of Batwoman, playing Victor Zsasz, the Whisper and Ocean respectively.
• Iman Vellani has been cast as Ms. Marvel for the upcoming Disney+ series. A show focusing on Nick Fury is also in development.
• The Walking Dead will end with an eleventh season, consisting of 24 episodes to be aired over the next two years. A spin-off focusing on Carol and Darryl will also happen.
• Pennyworth's second season will begin airing from December.
• Family Guy has been renewed for a 20th season while it's 19th season has started airing on FOX.

My Review of Ratched's 1x07: "The Bucket List"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Jennifer Lynch

Nurse Bucket (to everyone): "But make no mistake, it is a new day at this hospital and I am overjoyed and humbled to be given the opportunity to provide you all with an example with leadership, grace and world class care giving for the neediest among us. Now, let's get to work."

Penultimate episode in and it felt like some decks were cleared as three threats were swiftly eliminated and Mildred found herself with an unexpected ally. I guess things between her and Nurse Bucket had to take an interesting turn and they did as the two of them of them worked together to remove Hanover from their lives. With a little help from Charlotte, though that was not entirely intentional.

I have to admit, it felt like a bit of a cop out having these two rivals band together under the common enemy trope but at the same time, at least Hanover's downfall was swift enough. Mildred and Betsy got him fired from Lucia State Hospital, he went on the run with Charlotte and she reverted to Ondine and killed him. 

Hanover was such a poorly done character that I felt nothing for his death. He wasn't sympathetic or horrendous enough to generate any type of emotional response, but there was something amusing in Lenore's delight of his severed head being shortlived.

Lenore, who was another poorly developed character also suffered from her hubris this week when her psychotic manchild son, Henry had the help murder her. Again, Henry also not being well developed also suffered when his mother's will resulted in him being institutionalized and Petunia the monkey getting everything. Personally, I liked Petunia so I'm fine with this particular outcome for this plot strand.

With those three characters all dealt with, Nurse Bucket got the chance to run the hospital, Huck got a well deserved promotion and Mildred at least has a bit of a chance to save Edmund. Then there's also the situation with Gwendolyn as the two of them finally declared their love for one another, only for Gwendolyn to reveal that she might not have much longer to live. Oh dear.

- There was flashbacks to Mildred and Edmund's reunion a few years ago as well as to a sponsor's history with the hospital.

- Trevor went from being mad at Gwendolyn ending their lavender marriage to already being involved with someone else. Huck also took it well when Mildred revealed that she was into women.

- Standout music: Brick Fleagle Orchestra's Swamp List.

- Chronology: Flashbacks to 1943 highlighting Hanover losing custody of his daughter as well as his first meetings with Lenore and Henry.

The Bucket List did feel like it was checking various things off the menu. While some of them were hastily done and failed to generate the reaction probably hoped for, I do think it made sense to get certain characters out of the way, so that we can see whether or not Edmund will make it out of the series alive and the price for that as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Superman: Man Of Tomorrow (2020)

 

Written by Tim Sheridan

Directed by Chris Palmer

Superman (to everyone): "My name is Kal El of Krypton and I come in peace."

We do seem to have something of a Superman problem, don't we? Despite nearly everyone wanting Henry Cavill to continue his role in the DCEU, we still haven't gotten much closer to him coming back for more movies and when it comes to the animated movies, if we're not repeating a famous death arc, then it's another trip down origin lane.

This is where Superman: Man Of Tomorrow comes into things. It's another trip down that particular area but fortunately, it's done in a somewhat refreshing way. No over extended opening sequence of Krypton's final days or Lex Luthor (Zachary Quinto) as the main threat. Nope, thanks to Lois Lane (Alexandra Daddario), this movie decided to put Lex mostly on ice, though he does get at least one moment to highlight what a magnificent bastard he really can be, even when working with Superman (Darren Criss) to save Metropolis.

I liked that we sped through Clark's childhood with Martha and Jonathan Kent (Bellamy Young/Neil Flynn) and simply got on with the main story of Clark being an intern at the Daily Planet, making friends with the likes of Ron Troupe (Eugene Byrd) and Rudy Jones (Brett Dalton) before having his first very public smackdown with bounty hunter, Lobo (Ryan Hurst) for good measure. 

Lobo can be something of a mixed bag, character wise. He's never a candidate for a big bad but at the same time, he's not someone who you could trust with your life either. The fight sequences with Lobo and Superman are a highlight and it's during one of these fights that poor Rudy has a horrifying transformation of his own when he becomes Parasite, who then becomes the main villain of the movie.

Having Parasite as the main baddie was such a relief and as a baddie, he was legitimately dangerous and tragic in equal measures, especially during the scenes where it looked like he killed both Lobo and of course, Martian Manhunter (Ike Amadi) but you can guess what really happened with both of those characters.

While the parallels between Superman and Parasite were not subtle , they were effective, especially during a glorious speech where Superman properly introduced himself into the world. Darren Criss did such an amazing job as Superman throughout this whole movie, the DC Animated Universe would be foolish not to bring him back for more animated movies in this particular continuity.

Also brilliant was Zachary Quinto's version of Lex Luthor. This is the very of the character that the DCEU desperately needs as Lex quickly tried and failed to enslave both Superman and Parasite, only to come afoul towards the end of this movie. As for Parasite, it seemed like the character was temporary taken out but at the same time, this movie showed that giving another member of Clark's rogue gallery the spotlight and putting Lex to the side was the best solution all round.

As for Lois Lane - I thought Alexandra Daddario did fine in the role. Her look was somewhat different for the character and while they didn't hint at a potential romance between Lois and Superman/Clark, it did seem like a future movie would do something on that front. The banter with Lois and Superman/Clark alone was another highlight along with the bonding between Superman and Martian Manhunter. 

- Not surprising but they managed to slip in a Batman cameo here, along with Martha being responsible for making Superman's costume here along with Lois naming him.

- This movie was loosely based on Max Landis's Superman: American Alien comic.

- While this movie wasn't as violent as previous DC animated movies, we did get a sequence where Clark was nude for quite a bit with only Lobo covering up down below. Ahem.

- Chronology: I'm going to assume 2020, given the technology we saw throughout the movie. 

Superman: Man Of Tomorrow might not have been needed as an origin movie but oh my God, it was the best animated origin take we could've had. I absolutely loved this movie from start to finish. The animation was similar to Archer, which I felt worked really well, the voice acting was fantastic and I just loved having Parasite as the main baddie of the piece. Just brilliant.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x06: "Got No Strings"

 

Written by Jennifer Salt & Ian Brennan

Directed by Jessica Yu

Mildred (to Gwendolyn): "He's a patient at Lucia State Hospital. My brother is Edmund Tolleson."

Except, here we just found that Mildred and Edmund are not actually sister and brother in the biological sense but if this episode wanted us to feel sorry for Edmund, then it somewhat succeeded in a way, both through Mildred giving some context to Gwendolyn and Edmund's own behaviour while shortly on the run.

Now I hate puppet shows so I was definitely on Mildred's side in not wanting to go to a puppet show and found it somewhat odd that Gwendolyn herself seemed keen on the idea. This episode also managed to make puppet shows even more disturbing by using it as an allusion to describe the abuse that Mildred and Edmund suffered at the hands of the foster care system in horrifying detail.

Speaking of Edmund, I found it interesting that Dolly quickly pointed out his ease in murdering priests and a security guard while at the same time having a problem with killing a rooster for dinner. Dolly certainly hinted at her own dark side throughout their time together but things came to a brief end with a shoot out that resulted in Dolly's death. I didn't mind the character but I can't say I'll miss her in the grand scheme of things.

As for Edmund, he's back in Lucia State Hospital, having surrendered to protect Dolly (which didn't pan out), lost his alliance with Mildred and thanks to the governor deceiving Hanover, it looks like he'll be toast in the next two episodes. Or will he? Eh, probably not.

Continuing with the trend of terrible male characters in this show, Wilburn managed to be even worse than Hanover this episode with his condescension towards Mildred and the spiteful way in which he also fired Gwendolyn at the end of this one. If Mildred or Edmund want to bump him off, I won't object here. 

- Bucket gave Hanover the cold shoulder in this episode while Huck, Lenore and Charlotte were nowhere to be seen here.

- This episode was mostly away from Lucia until the last ten minutes. I liked the shift in format for this one.

- Standout music: Isham Jones And The Ray Miller Ocrchestra's I'll See You In My Dreams.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Got No Strings definitely used the concept of a puppet show (and that creepy puppet guy) in an effective way to explain Mildred and Edmund's backstory while also putting Gwendolyn in something of an awkward place as well. As for Mildred, the pressure really is on for her now to save her brother, whether he deserves it or not.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x05: "The Dance"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Hanover: "From this day forward you will never bark another order at me again, do you understand? I am your superior."

Mildred: "Of that, you are very, very mistaken."

And with that, Mildred let her mask slip off a bit more. I think if Hanover wasn't written to be such an idiot, it probably wouldn't have taken him five episodes to stand up to Mildred but whether he likes it or not, she's basically got him exactly where she wants him, even if this week she did push her luck by a lot.

Mildred began the episode by blackmailing Hanover into demoted Nurse Bucket and promoting her as Head Nurse while also making sure that Hanover accompanied Bucket to the Spring Fling dance at the hospital, all at the same time devising a plan for Edmund to prove his insanity.

Of course while Mildred had Hanover in the palm of her hand, several things went south for her. Hanover exposed his true colours to Bucket, which put Mildred in the position of trying to comfort a woman she had set up for humiliation while Dolly proved to be the worst influence on Edmund than Mildred anticipated.

I'm surprised if took five episodes for Edmund to actually go off script and escape the hospital and I felt bad seeing Harold die in front of new patient but at the same time, while Edmund had no problem murdering an innocent security, he seemed annoyed that Dolly shout Gwendolyn. I'm not worried about the latter though. If anything, Gwendolyn's near death experience at Dolly's hands seems to be a motivator for Mildred to embracing her feelings for the woman.

Keeping with the female characters this week - can I just say that Sophie Okonedo was absolutely amazing as Charlotte Wells? Her backstory was harrowing to the point that even Hanover seemed genuinely happy when he thought he helped her and devastated when she regressed at the dance. Not to mention meeting Charlotte's other personalities as well. Sophie really stole this entire episode right out from under everyone. 

Then there was Lenore. Sharon Stone is having a ball, playing this overly campy villain and the back and forth between Lenore and Mildred was entertaining enough. I do think Mildred needs to keep an eye on Lenore as she did prove not be so easily swayed in this episode. Saying that, Lenore should also keep an eye on Mildred too. 

- Charlotte's other personalities included Baby Taffy, Ondine and Apollo. I also felt so bad for that violin player she berated in public.

- I could be wrong but I think Huck might have a bit of a crush on Mildred and Bucket also suspected that something was going on with Mildred and Gwendolyn.

- Standout music: Gerald Wilson's Moon Rise and Dinah Shore's Shoo-Fly Pie And Apple Pan Dandy.

- Chronology: It seems we're in the Spring of 1948 going by this episode.

The Dance definitely was the strongest episode so far in this series. Largely down to an incredible central performance from Sophie Okonedo and really upping the ante with everyone else as well, especially as Mildred suffered some big set backs with this episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x04: "Angel Of Mercy: Part II"

 

Written by Evan Romansky

Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Huck: "Mildred Ratched, you're an angel of mercy."

Mildred: "Thank you, Huck. I've never heard that before."

I'm not sure I'd go with that description myself but to be fair, Huck has only seen the good side in Mildred and they did make for a great team with this particular episode. Huck's disgust at the mistreatment of patients was highlighted previously and here, both him and Mildred decided to do something about it., which just goes to show the latter's scheming side can be a source for good.

Huck obviously tampered with the hydrotherapy in order to prevent Ingrid from getting a scalding but when Bucket managed to get the machine fixed quicker than expected, it was up to Huck and Mildred to act fast in order to get both Ingrid and Mrs Cartwright out of Lucia State Hospital. The only thing standing in their way was of course a rather snoopy Gwendolyn.

I'm not sure what happened but obviously Huck managed to appeal to Gwendolyn's best nature as both him and Mildred were successful in getting Ingrid and Mrs Cartwright away. Speaking of Huck - way to have the episode belabor the point of telling Mildred she was an angel of mercy, before cutting to that very heavy handed flashback where she relieved a soldier's suffering in order to emphasize the point.

Of course when Mildred wasn't helping lesbians escape, she was also serving as a gateway between Edmund and Dolly getting time together from prying eyes. I have to admit I thought that scene was being set up so that Dolly would be caught by Bucket but seemingly not though. Still Mildred did manage to get some pointed barbs at Dolly for being a nymphomaniac. 

Speaking of Edmund, while Mildred might be determined to make sure he doesn't die, Governor Wilburn has made it his mission to have Edmund or else he'll defund the hospital. Hanover probably would pay attention to this if he didn't spend most of the episode being led by Mildred and avoiding death by Wainwright.

I have to admit that Wainwright has got to be one of the dumbest PI's/would be assassins out there. Lenore would've saved herself a lot of money if she had just bumped off Hanover herself because Wainwright was so easily manipulated and led to his doom by Mildred, it bordered on the embarrassing. I suppose he was sort of lucky he made it to halfway in the season but in the end, Charles was clearly too stupid to live.

As for Lenore, well the show has set the ground for her and Mildred to meet and I'm looking forward to the inevitably campy showdown we'll get between Sarah Paulson and Sharon Stone in the next episode. Lenore definitely did not seem pleased with Mildred inserting herself into her revenge campaign and Mildred may have underestimated getting involved as well. Then again, they just might team up as well.

- Gwendolyn left Trevor in this episode and even managed to get a date with Mildred. The latter herself also seems to be slowly opening to the idea of getting involved with Gwendolyn.

- Peter popped up here more prominently than previous episodes. What exactly is he dreaming of that should be cause for concern?

- Standout music: Kitty White's Mine All Mine. 

- Chronology: More or less from where the first part of the story left off.

Angel Of Mercy: Part II definitely upped the gore factor with Wainwright's downfall and while it was nice to see both Mildred and Gwendolyn get closer, I'll admit the circumstances also came across as a touch contrived and in reality, Gwendolyn would be less inclined to help Mildred and Hanover than what happened in this episode. On another note, Huck continues to be the best male character here and not just because the bar is so low for men on the show, but because he's genuinely a fantastic character with Charlie Carver really showing his strength as an actor in the role.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Scream 5 - Full Cast Announced

A few weeks ago, I did a piece on some of the casting for the upcoming fifth Scream film, but now, the rest of the official cast has been revealed.

Returning along with Courtney Cox and David Arquette, it has been revealed that Neve Campbell will officially reprise her role as Sidney Prescott and somewhat more surprising was the reveal that Marley Shelton will be reprising her role as Judy Hicks from the fourth movie. I know some fans were hoping for another return, but I think this is great news.

Also joining the previously confirmed Jack Quaid, Melissa Barrera and Jenny Ortega are Mason Gooding (Love Victor), Dylan Minette (13 Reasons Why), Kyle Gallner (Smallville), Jasmine Savoy Brown (The Leftovers), and Mikey Madison (Better Things).

While there's no details on who any of the newcomers are playing as of yet (though I'm sure Reddit will have lots of fun theories), filming has also began, so I expect we'll have plenty to mull over until the movie's release.

Press Release: https://movieweb.com/scream-5-cast-marley-shelton/

Scream 5 has begun filming and will be in theatres (hopefully) by January 14th 2022.

Supergirl - CW To End Series With Season 6

Okay, I sort of saw this one coming but I also expected at least one other CW DC series to end before this one. This is going to be interesting.

On Tuesday, the WB and CW announced that the upcoming sixth season of Supergirl will in fact be the final season for the ongoing superhero series. With filming due to start in the next with a planned airing in 2021, lead actress Melissa Benoist took to social media to confirm the show's imminent ending with several cast members following suit.

The final season, rumoured to have 20 episodes will ensure that the show goes out on it's own terms, though details in relation to specific stories and casting has yet to be confirmed, though with the show back in production, I imagine we'll be getting more news on that front pretty soon.

The show debuted back in 2015 on CBS before moving the CW from it's second season. It's no lie that the change in networks has seen the writing take a nosedive but having any show go to six seasons and getting the chance to end on it's own terms is something every series would like to have. I personally think it's right that the CW are ending the series and it's also got me thinking.

The future of the CW's DC universe certainly should be looked. Arrow ended back in January and with Supergirl ending next year, I think it's safe to assume with shows like The Flash, Legends Of Tomorrow and Black Lightning no longer new to audiences that they themselves are likely to be next on the gradual chopping block.

This would leave the likes of Batwoman, Stargirl and the upcoming Superman And Lois the last few DC shows for the CW. I can see the CW having to look into other properties over the next few years as HBO Max becomes the place for live action DC content, TV/streaming wise but that's just a theory on my part. Maybe the CW have other DC properties waiting in the wings. It's possible.

As for Supergirl, it's been a great run for the series but like I said earlier in this post, I think the right decision has been made here. Good luck to the cast and crew in future projects.

Melissa Benoist's Statement: https://twitter.com/MelissaBenoist/status/1308507326752514048

Supergirl's final season has entered production with filming due to start towards the end of the month. Season 6 will air on the CW from 2021, exact date to be confirmed.

My Review of Ratched's 1x03: "Angel Of Mercy"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Nelson Cragg

Hanover (re Henry/Lenore): "His mother wants me dead and I don't imagine it's a gentle death she has planned. She's never going to rest until she finds me."

Mildred: "Then we have to make sure that she never does."

So, this episode finally debuted Sharon Stone's Lenore Osgood and seeded her character into the backstory for Richard Hanover with results that easily could've came out of any season of American Horror Story. Hanover, you really are too dumb to live and I imagine you haven't got much longer on that front.

This episode quickly revealed that Hanover played a role in Lenore's son, Henry (Brandon Flynn) having lost his limbs but Hanover's version soon indicated that Henry was more responsible for his current situation though Hanover didn't exactly help matters.

When I reviewed the first episode of this series, I brought up comparisons to both Asylum and Hotel. We can now add Freak Show into that mix as Lenore and Henry's dynamic feels like a rip off of Gloria and Dandy's from that particular season. Henry literally comes across as Dandy 2.0 - a petulant, murderous, overly sheltered manchild with an enabling and campy glamorous mother to boot. I can already tell that Lenore's indulging of her psychotic son will be her undoing as the season progresses as well.

This week, Lenore got PI Wainwright to try and kill Hanover. Wainwright failed in his first and very public attempt and then indulged in some weird roleplay with Mildred. The only good to come out of that particular scene was that we got some flashbacks to Mildred's days in the army and the fact that she's developing an attraction to Gwendolyn and that was it really. As for Hanover, he's now got Mildred in his corner when it comes to dealing with Lenore and Wainwright but he'll no doubt live to regret letting Mildred infiltrate his life more and more.

Speaking of Gwendolyn though, this episode revealed that she's in a lavender marriage with Trevor (Michael Benjamin Washington) and she wants to end it, due to her growing attraction to Mildred. I quite liked Trevor in this episode, but I'm all for seeing Mildred and Gwendolyn just hooking up at this point, even if the former is in denial about her sexuality at the moment.

Getting back to the hospital side of things - Dolly made herself a bit too familiar with Edmund, which Mildred did not seem happy about while Huck seemed to be an audience point of view with the way he was openly horrified by Nurse Bucket's administering the hydrotherapy treatments of a lesbian patient in this episode. It's nice to see at least one stand up main male character so far this series as the rest of have been anything but. 

- Mildred removed a book from Lily as she felt it encouraged her lesbianism but then later fantasised about being with Gwendolyn when she was having bad sex with Wainwright.

- Nothing better happen to Lenore's pet monkey. Seriously, just don't go there, show. It's so adorable. 

- Standout music: Gabriel Yared's Une Novelle Famille.

- Chronology: Spring 1948 it seems, going by a brief conversation between Bucket and Hanover. The former's crush on the latter is depressing to watch.

Angel Of Mercy showed further improvement by fleshing out Hanover's character. I still don't like the guy and he clearly needs to be removed from Lucia State Hospital but at least there's more to go on with him. It does feel like this show wants to depict Mildred's sadistic side but at the same time, have her as this "heroine" of the piece. I'm not sure if it can have it's cake and eat it but it's certainly going to try, isn't it?

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x02: "Ice Pick"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Ryan Murphy

Mildred (to Father Andrews): "You see Father, Edmund Tolleson is my brother. He wasn't born a monster. Someone turned him into one. God bless you, Father."

Ah, the lengths someone will go to protect their sibling. It's not that Mildred isn't aware that Edmund is a cold blooded monster, if anything she seems all too aware of that, even if there's the impression that Mildred thinks she can control her brother. Of course, it's obvious that we'll get to a point where Mildred won't be able to keep Edmund under wraps.

However, she was desperate to prevent him from getting the electric chair and while she was able to have influence over Hanover who even chatted to Edmund this week, there was the problem of Father Andrews (Hunter Parrish) to deal with head on.

In the first episode, we saw Mildred nearly kill one patient and directly cause another to commit suicide. Here she perfectly the transorbital lobotomy that Hanover himself didn't seem widely adept on the traumatised priest, leaving him unable to send Edmund to his deserving fate. While I felt sorry for Father Andrews, at least the show is cementing on Mildred's evilness here.

Of course with Mildred going to the extremes to protect her brother, the episode saw Edmund putting on an act of schizophrenia that even Hanover wasn't fooled by. Some brilliant acting between both Finn Wittrock and Jon Jon Briones in that particular, even if my opinion on the latter's character has not changed since the first episode.

Moving away from the Edmund plot, we also got to see Mildred forming a connection with Gwendolyn Briggs and promptly being terrified by it when she realised the latter assumed she was a lesbian. I'm pretty sure Nurse Ratched was not an LGBT character in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest  and I'm not sure about the show going there but at the same time, there's no denying that Sarah Paulson and Cynthia Nixon are electric in scenes together.

As for Nurse Bucket - I'm really enjoying her and Ratched's rivalry and this week's kerfuffle over a peach added some nice comedy to the episode as well. Mildred didn't even have to enact any direct revenge as Bucket's own squeamishness became her undoing. As for Dolly, she probably shouldn't go out of her way to antagonise Mildred. Bucket may be a worthy adversary for Ratched but Dolly strikes me as someone that Mildred could easily crush without putting much thought into it.

- We got the title sequence in this episode (why wait for the second episode to do this? Anyone else find that a bit annoying?) but no Sharon Stone as of yet.

- The episode nicely depicted Gwendolyn's opposition to lobotomies before outing her as a character while two of the current patients are also lesbians, one of whom an actor named Ingrid played by Harriet Sanson Harris.

- Standout music: Glen Miller's Moonlight Serenade and Sandy Williams Afterhours On Dream Street.

- Chronology: Not long from where the pilot episode left off.

Ice Pick was a bit of an improvement on the first episode. It was nice to get some insight into characters like Gwendolyn, see Mildred plummet to another low as well as the intense scenes with Hanover and Tolleson and those lobotomy scenes were not easy to watch either. 

Rating: 7 out of 10