My Review of Empire's 2x13: "The Tameness Of A Wolf"

Written by Attica Locke And Joshua Allen
Directed by Paris Barclay

Jamal: "Sorry your birthday got ruined."
Cookie: "Yeah, well at least we were all together for a little bit before everything went to hell."

Well, that was a pretty incredible episode, wasn't it? We had Cookie's birthday as a backdrop to one of the most explosive moments in the series as the rest of the characters learned more about Lucious than they thought they knew.

First of all, I had actually forgotten that everyone except Lucious knew that Freda was actually Frank Gathers daughter so Cookie, Jamal and Hakeem's shock at the end of the episode when she revealed who she was actually surprised me. Cookie's reaction was perfect, in light of both Lucious killing Frank to protect her and also because we learned that it had been Frank who got Lucious into hustling back in the day.

I haven't been that interested in Freda as a character but suddenly this episode made her more interesting. When Lucious rightfully took her out of the Boom Boom Bang video shoot (made sense, it really was his story), pairing her up with Jamal for a song was a stroke of genius and I felt that even before the last scene that this episode had done a much better job of fleshing out the character than previous ones have done. It'll be interesting when she finds out her father figure murdered her father though.

Speaking of Lucious, this was a big episode for him. He may be the devil incarnate at times but I like that the show gave him some vulnerability as he let Cookie in about his past with his mother as he made the video for his song. Unfortunately any decency Lucious shows then got thrown out the window when he turned on Andre as the latter was rightfully annoyed with not knowing about his grandmother's history with bipolar before.

Then we had a stressed out Rhonda being conveniently picked by Anika at the end of this one as well. I get that Rhonda is at breaking point between losing a baby, fearing for Andre's health and her in laws general craziness but I'm not sure Anika is the best person to stay with at the moment either.

As for the rest of the episode, I didn't really the implication of a triangle between Tiana, Hakeem and Laura in this one and the engagement between Hakeem and Laura definitely feels like it's going to end badly, especially with Anika back on the scene too.

Also in "The Tameness Of A Wolf"

Hakeem's face is still in the logo for the opening credits.

Hakeem: "Make some noise for Anthony and Cleopatra."
Cookie (to Jamal): "Always hate that dumb name, come on, boy."

For anyone hoping that Camilla didn't die, the opening scene of this one confirmed that she most definitely did.

Jamal: "It's not good for a CEO to be banging his artists, Hakeem."
Hakeem: "What's the point of being a mogul then?"

Harper: "I'll be shadowing Lucious for the next few weeks."
Cookie: "I didn't know vampires had shadows."

Was one of the kids who rapped for Jamal and Hakeem pulled from a talent show? Good rapping by the way.

Cookie (re Frank): "We did what we had to do."
Lucious: "Damn right, cos he would've killed you twice."

Cookie (re her family): "How did you manage to pull this off?"
Lucious: "Well, apparently they love you more than hate me."

Standout music: The Lyons singing "Happy Birthday" to Cookie, Jamal's "Shine On Me" with Freda and Hakeem/Laura/Tiana's "All Nite".

Lucious (to Andre): "The real truth is that my mother was a nutjob. I was embarrassed by her, the same way I am embarrassed by you. How does it help you with that truth?"

Chronology: Not long from where A Rose By Any Other Name left off.

I loved this one. The Tameness Of The Wolf was anything but tame in terms of the material we got this week. Lucious might be an awful human being but he's a consistently a fascinating character who can still shock and horrify his family and audiences in equal measures. This episode certainly acknowledged that in spades.

Rating: 9 out of 10

When We Rise - Further Casting Announced

While we're still a bit off this seven part miniseries from Dustin Lance Black and Gus Van Sant from airing on ABC, more casting news has surfaced for the upcoming, When We Rise.

Kevin McHale, best known for his role as Artie Abrams in six seasons of musical drama Glee and for presenting E4 show, Virtually Famous will be taking on the recurring role of AIDS activist, Bobbi Campbell. However, McHale isn't the only former actor from a Ryan Murphy show that will appear in this miniseries.

Dylan Walsh, best known for his roles in both Nip/Tuck and Unforgettable has also scored a recurring role in the miniseries. Walsh will take on the role of Dr. Marcus Conant, a role based on leading American dermatologist Conant, a pioneer in the diagnosis and treatment of AIDS.

Also confirmed for a role in the miniseries, via his own Twitter and Instagram accounts is Rafael De La Fuente. The Empire hunk posted a script page where it appears he'll be playing a character named Ricardo but whether the character is a regular or recurring, I'm not yet sure. I'll post more spoiler information as it becomes available.

Press Release: http://deadline.com/2016/04/when-we-rise-kevin-mchale-dylan-walsh-cast-abc-lgbt-rights-miniseries-1201734520/
RDLF's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BEHJY_Wt2_m/

When We Rise is currently in production and will air later this year on ABC.

My Review of Gotham's 2x17: "Into The Woods"

Written by Rebecca Perry Cutter
Directed by Oz Scott

Nygma (to Gordon): "Guess what? I knew that you knew that I knew."

Oh boy, I did not expect to see this one happening. I mean, yeah, I expected that Gordon would somehow clear his name but I didn't actually think in one fell swoop that virtually all of Nygma's crimes would come back to haunt him all at once too. Then he tried and failed to kill Gordon, fell for an obvious trap and ended up in Arkham. This was definitely not Ed's week, was it?

On the plus side, Cory Michael Smith gave one hell of a performance as Nygma's mask well and truly slipped and he definitely felt like an actual danger when he knocked out Gordon and later confronted him in the woods. Sending him to Arkham now means that Hugo has another project to play around with, given his previous works on Galavan, Oswald, Fries and Barbara but more on two of them in a bit.

While I've hated the serial killer aspect the show has gone with for Nygma's characterisation, I do think he's felt a bit more like the Riddler in the last few episodes and his spell in Arkham should be a lot of fun to watch as well.

Speaking of the asylum, this week we saw Hugo (in spite of Peabody's open scepticism) release Barbara back into the general population after she gave a stirring therapy speech about being reformed. It's hard to tell whether Babs is actually sincere or just playing along but Hugo is delighting in finding out for sure and her return will give Gordon something else to do other than obsess about fulfilling his promise to Bruce about finding who hired the man to kill the Waynes.

Talking of Bruce, this was a good episode for him and Selina. Both were having the time of their lives outsmarting a robber and helping Gordon take down Nygma and then they were forced to go their seperate ways after we learned that Lucius finally fixed the computer. It's nice to see that plot being advanced but I was enjoying the Bruce/Selina scenes and it's a pity they've come to something of an end for the time being.

As for the rest of the episode, I knew Oswald was going to snap at the hands of being mistreated by Grace, Sasha and Charles but even I wasn't expecting him to go off the deep end so spectacularly though. I have to admit, I felt bad for the poor dog and horrified to what Oswald did to his nasty extended family but on the other hand, it's kind of nice to have the old Oswald back as well, even if the return was pretty gruesome.

Also in "Into The Woods"

The trailer for next week's episode showed that both Victor Fries and Theo Galavan are back.

Bruce (to Selina): "I saved enough for burgers."

Bullock getting friendly with that woman so Gordon could get the tape, well I didn't expect that this week. I also liked seeing Barnes helping Gordon contact Leslie this week.

Oswald: "Where I should go?"
Charles: "Anywhere but there."

Barbara: "I don't feel insane now. I just feel sad."

Killing a dog and cannibalism. I kind of felt the show really pushed the ick factor in a big way this week.

Nygma: "Psychopath seems like such a strong word."
Gordon: "He bludgeoned a man to death with a crowbar in cold blood. He's sick."

Selina (to Bruce, re Gordon): "Great, a dead cop in my crib."

Will this season actually solve the mystery of who hired Matches to kill the Waynes though?

Alfred (to Bruce, re Selina): "It's either the work or her. You can't have both, do you understand?"

Chronology: Not long from where Prisoners left off.

A very strong and impressive episode. Into The Woods certainly brought some satisfying conclusions to particular arcs while nicely developing and setting up some more. Nygma's storyline in particular has gotten more interesting now that he's been exposed by everyone.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 2x12: "A Rose By Any Other Name"

Written by Ilene Chaiken
Directed by Michael Engler

Camilla: "Why don't you shoot me please?"
Lucious: "After the pain you caused my family, I don't owe you any favours."

It has not been a great few weeks for lesbian and bisexual women on television. We've seen the likes of The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries and The 100 most controversially bump off a slew of queer female characters recently and it seems that Empire got in on the action too as this episode brought about the downfall and deaths of Mimi and Camilla.

To be honest, I'm not angry about both characters getting taken out. I should be and there's plenty of other reviewers/fans who are but for me, while I liked Mimi enough as a character, I never believed her relationship with Camilla to be anything more than a convenience and this episode had Camilla effectively plotting behind Mimi's back before Hakeem dropped Camilla in it.

I am annoyed though that they couldn't get Marissa Tomei back for this episode and that she was poisoned by Camilla but other than that, I'm far less bothered than I should be. As for Camilla poisoning herself, it was dramatic enough but it mainly highlighted that Naomi Campbell just isn't that strong enough an actress to make you care for Camilla either.

I did like that ultimately Hakeem chose the rest of his family over Camilla and the latter's downfall was certainly deserved too. Lucious got to have his pound of flesh and take pleasure in Camilla losing everything before she did herself in. I am surprised the episode resisted the temptation to have Lucious be the one to directly kill Camilla though. Also for people lamenting the show killing off LGBT characters, we still have Tiana and of course, Jamal. Speaking of whom.

This week saw more fallout over that Skye subplot as the gay community gave Jamal a public bashing over flip flopping (with actual flip flops too) and Jameson himself needed some persuasion in order to give Jamal the benefit of the doubt. As for the public dissing of Lucious, I found it sort of amusing how Lucious managed to turn Jamal's rather justified public outburst of anger against him into an advantage but that's Lucious for you.

As for the rest of the episode, the hints of Andre heading for another breakdown are certainly coming into play. His paranoia over Rhonda is one thing but he lost it during the attempts of buying back more stock. I do like that everyone is aware and are trying to help Andre this time around. Despite Cookie's moment of horrific insensitivity, she did reach out to her son and Jamal/Hakeem's attempts of helping were quite affecting too. That being said though, Andre is totally right about Rhonda losing their baby by an attacker. I still don't think it's Anika though, who was absent this week.

Also in "A Rose By Any Other Name"

Lucious was planning a Richard II themed video which Cookie seemed to be mostly impressed by.

Andre: "I need you to have faith."
Rhonda: "Well, I don't need faith that's for sure."

Hakeem using his own image for the new logo was very him. It looked silly but I love that the title sequence for this episode ran with it.

Cookie: "That's the silver lining. Maybe Hakeem did you a favour."
Lucious: "I can't wait to return the favour."

Becky (to flash mob, re Jamal): "That's not even his song, stupid."

Carol and Porscha both want to be Cookie's assistant. There's a little subplot brewing.

Cookie: "I am trying to save Empire. That bitch can burn it down anytime she wants. Do you not understand that, Hakeem?"

Jamal: "I'm saying Lucious Lyon isn't even his real name."

Tiana's dislike for Mirage A Trois made itself known in this episode. That's going to be a fresh headache for Hakeem and Cookie soon.

Hakeem: "So now you believe in me, ma?"
Cookie: "Boy, I always believed in you. I made you my partner, didn't I?"

Standout music: Jamal's "Like My Daddy", Jamal/Hakeem's "Good People" and Hakeem's "Power Of The Empire".

Camilla: "He'll never forgive you."
Lucious: "What are you talking about? It was Hakeem who sent the videos to Mimi. How does that feel?"

Chronology: Not long from where Death Will Have His Day left off.

While I was surprised that A Rose By Any Other Name resolved the Mimi/Camilla a little too quickly than expected, I do think the episode was pretty strong though. There was some nice family moments with the Lyons and with the whole 'who pushed Rhonda' mystery looming, there's still a bit to go here. Not to mention everyone finding out about Anika's pregnancy.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 1x10: "Progeny"

Written by Phil Klemmer & Marc Guggenheim
Directed by David Geddes

Rip: "Did I do the right thing, Gideon?"
Gideon: "Not committing murder is generally considered the right thing, Captain."

It's strange. I thought if we were ever going to get one of those Let's Kill Hitler type of episodes, it would be the gang going back over 4000 years and actually trying and failing to kill Vandal Savage as a child. Instead, it's a boy named Per Degaton who is being heavily influenced by Savage nonetheless as the issue of whether to let him live or not is largely discussed.

These sort of episodes usually stick to a certain path and this didn't really deviate from that. You had most of the team against the idea of killing a child, which even included the mostly locked up Mick pointing out how murdering a boy isn't exactly heroic while Leonard seemed a bit more in favour of the idea as did Rip.

Sara wanted to see if Per could be brought out of the darkness and corruption that Savage had placed him in and even Rip faltered predictably enough at murder to try and reason with the boy. Except for all his good intentions, the situation was made worse with Per actually killing his father and releasing a virus years before he was originally meant to do so. Morally Rip did the right thing by not killing a child but it came at one hell of a cost though. Savage won this round pretty much.

Of course when we weren't dealing with child tyrants, we were also delving into Ray's future and Kendra's past and the overall impact that both have on their current relationship. I have to admit I'm finding their pairing a lot nicer and better written than expected and the stuff we got here was genuinely insightful.

I liked that we got some flashbacks with Carter and Aldus. In fact they were the best stuff we've ever actually seen of Kendra/Carter, despite the former's dodgy hairstyle while in the present day/future, Ray encountered someone who turned out to be his great grandniece rather than great granddaughter. Ray's reaction to this particular news while trying to his future suit/robot things from causing more carnage was absolutely priceless.

As for the rest of the episode, I liked that Sara slowly paved the way of both Cold and Heatwave to effectively kiss and make up. Provided you understand their version involved knocking seven bells out of each other before Mick informed the team that a group of Hunters are on the way to kill them. It might have been a quick way of getting Mick back on board but it had the desired effect though and I think he does genuinely want to be a part of the team in his own way.

- Ray's great grandniece was played by Firefly's Jewel Staite. She didn't really do a lot here though. Ray has a brother named Sidney and he went under the name of Hannibal Lecter here. Jax's reaction to that was hilarious.
- While this episode did have a shippy moment with Sara/Snart during their armory scene, it was nice that Gideon (who can read dreams) pointed out that Sara was dreaming about a certain nurse from two episodes ago. When is Sara going to learn about Laurel though?
- Gideon certainly had more to do but both Stein and Jax felt a little underutilised and Kendra only really interacted with Ray.
- The action was mainly in 2147 Kasnia Conglomerate for this episode but next week, it's the Wild West.

I liked Progeny as an episode overall and while it didn't do anything too new with this particular sort of time travel dilemma, the pacing was decent enough and I certainly didn't mind the flashbacks with Kendra/Carter or Ray learning more about his future but it could've been a little better though.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Pretty Bird

You'll know who the title of this blog is referencing, right? Major spoilers, so if you haven't seen these shows, back away now.

Arrow: For months we were wondering which character would be unfortunate enough to end up in the grave and after weeks of initial fan dread, it turned out to be Laurel. I'm not going to pretend I've been the biggest fan of the character but I really do think the writers messed up big time with her exit, even if it finally cemented Damian as a baddie and had some poignant moments to boot. Bear in mind we've also had episodes centering on the Olicity angst, the unwelcome returns of both Cupid and Brie (two useless villains) as well as everyone else finding out the gang's real identities. With five episodes left and more insufferably dull flashbacks to wade through, can we just end this season with Malcolm also dying? Pretty please?

Marvel's Agents OF SHIELD: And it's back. Several months since that moment with Ward becoming something else, the last few episodes have been on a good form. The departures of both Bobbi and Lance were handled well and hopefully their upcoming spin-off fares better than Agent Carter has done. As for the rest of the show - we need more Joey, especially with Mack and I'm fairly lukewarm on Daisy/Lincoln but the Gideon plot is decent enough to watch unfold at the moment as he's proving to be a decent antagonist for Coulson and company.

Once Upon A Time: Memo to the writers: episodes focusing on Hook are dull. Same with Robin for that matter. Now episodes delving into how much of a bastard Rumple really is, having Snow get her fight back (and a past history with Hercules) and the completely rushed but still entertaining 'love' story between Zelena and Hades and you've got some winners there. Speaking of Hades, it's now five episodes in and he's shaped up to be the best villain since Ingrid on the show. The Underbrooke stuff itself is re-energising the show in a pretty good way for now.

Supergirl: So, that crossover with The Flash? If you've seen Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, it was probably a welcome contrast for you but for a meeting of Kara and Barry, it was a truly excellent piece of television along with the tag team baddie duo of Silver Banshee and Livewire. Of course the show has been getting better as it's been going along, doing some interesting things with the usual red kryptonite storyline, bringing Lucy into the fold with both the DEO and Kara's secret and then there's also Alex and Hank on the run to boot. I can't wait to see what the final two episodes bring to the table.

The Flash: Back for two episodes and then it breaks. I really don't know how US viewers put up with these stopping and starting moments. Anyways, the episode focusing on a female speedster was better for setting up Jesse's future (and perhaps hinting at Wally's) than it was for Trajectory herself while Barry going back one year and interacting with Wells/Reverse Flash, Hartley and Eddie again packed more of an emotional punch though. Now to finally tackle the Zoom problem when it returns.

- Patrick J. Adams has bagged a mysterious/recurring role for Legends Of Tomorrow.
- John Simm has been cast as the Benefactor, a recurring role for The Catch.
- Katie Cassidy will be appearing as Black Siren in the two part finale for The Flash.
- Grimm has been renewed for a sixth season by NBC.
- Ricky Whittle has discussed being bullied off The 100 by the showrunner. That show seems to be a hotbed for controversy at this point.
- Kat Graham has revealed she will leave The Vampire Diaries after it's eighth season.
- Elton John will guest star in Nashville.
- Echo Kellum has been promoted to a regular for Arrow's fifth season.

Class - Main Cast Confirmed For BBC3 Spin-Off

Six months ago, the BBC announced a Doctor Who spin-off set in Coal Hill, spearheaded by YA writer Patrick Ness, called Class and that it would be airing on BBC3 online and BBC1 respectively. Now today we finally know the main casting for the show and have been given a more intriguing synopsis for the series.

So far it seems that the show will focus on five characters - a teacher played by former Coronation Street/Mr Selfridge actress, Katherine Kelly while the students themselves will be played by Greg Austin (also from Mr Selfridge), Fady Elsayed, Vivian Oparah and Sophie Hopkins. The lack of names released for the characters aside, the press release indicates that Kelly's teacher character has been described as a powerful presence. Also rumoured but not confirmed in the press release is the return of Nigel Betts's principal Mr Armitage from the Doctor Who eighth series episodes Into The Dalek and The Caretaker. Ed Bazelgette is directing the first block of episodes, having previously helmed the ninth series episodes, The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived.

With filming due to begin on the spin-off series this week, the press release certainly had a lot of interesting choice descriptions as to what viewers can expect with Class ....

Like all sixth formers, these four Coal Hill School students have hidden secrets and desires. They are facing their own worst fears, navigating a life of friends, parents, school work, sex, sorrow - and possibly the end of existence.

Coal Hill School has been a part of the Doctor Who Universe since the very beginning, but that has come at a price. All the time travelling over the years has caused the very walls of space and time to become thin. There’s something pressing in on the other side, something waiting for its chance to kill everyone and everything, to bring us all into Shadow.

Fear is coming, tragedy is coming, war is coming. Prepare yourselves, Class is coming.

And there's also this gem ....

“Time has looked at your faces now. And time never forgets…”

What if your planet was massacred and you were the sole survivor?

What if a legendary figure out of space and time found you a place to hide?

But what if the things that want to kill you have tracked you down?


And worst of all, what if you haven't studied for your A-Levels…?

Possibly one of the students is a bit cosmic? Or perhaps Katherine Kelly's teacher?

Further into the release you have both Steven Moffat and Patrick Ness citing Class as a British Buffy The Vampire Slayer and with an older cast for the younger role (all of them are in their twenties, lol), it definitely seems that Ness might not have been kidding when he said this show would tackle some darker material. The tagline itself is telling us that fear, tragedy and war are coming and it'll be interesting to see if anyone from the main show (the Doctor specifically) will appear in the series. Coal Hill still might not have been my choice for a spin-off but I have to admit that after some initial reservations that I'm on board for this show.

Press Release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/c6c27089-2572-44f5-ae60-7b8ecc86761b

Class is currently in production and will air on BBC3 online, BBC1 and BBCAmerica later in 2016. Further casting is to be revealed in due course.

My Review of Empire's 2x11: "Death Will Have His Day"

Written And Directed by Danny Strong

Cookie: "You really gonna pick this bitch over your own family, Hakeem?"
Hakeem: "At least she doesn't beat me with a purse."
Camilla: "Unless you want me to."

This show has been off the air for a while now that a part of me had it to the back of my mind and given that I was focused on the DC world even more so this week, this is why this review is happening now. It's been four months since the mid season finale but this episode picks up from where it left off.

First off all, the horrible stuff - Andre and Rhonda lost their baby and it was devastating to watch. Not only did Andre have his faith shattered as him and Rhonda lost their child, but Rhonda blamed herself before she realised that someone attacked her. I know the show is making it look like Anika was the attacker but I would be shocked if it were her. Anika is a lot of things but even I don't think she's capable of doing that, despite her insensitivity when visiting Rhonda in the hospital.

Of course with Andre and Rhonda losing their baby, Anika now is carrying a heir to the Lyon throne and it's obvious that she's going to pose more of a problem within the next few episodes now that she's done brooding over Hakeem at the moment. Speaking of Hakeem, this was a bit of a mixed bag for him, episode wise.

Betraying his family for Camilla certainly did him no favours. Lucious threatened to kill him at the end of the episode and Cookie put her skills with both a broom and a purse into handy when she attacked him. Not to mention the fact that Hakeem was a jerk to Laura before he became CEO of Empire thanks to a little persuasion from Camilla.

Of course, Camilla didn't get her way with everything. Cookie and Jamal's scheming against her worked like clockwork as Hakeem brought the rest of his family into Empire once again, which means that provided Lucious doesn't screw up (which means he clearly will), Cookie's plan to flush out Camilla should more or less go off without a hitch. The show is clearly gearing up between a physical smack down between Cookie and Camilla, aren't they?

As for the rest of the episode - I liked that there was some consequences in relation to Jamal sleeping with Sky. As much as I wished that storyline hadn't happened, at least we had Jamal reaffirm that he's a gay brother looking for a man (his words, not mine) but Jameson's annoyance over him sleeping with Sky had some justification behind it. Now can we have a male love interest for Jamal? Or Michael, who judging by the trailer for next week is back once again.

Also in "Death Will Have His Day"

There was two callbacks with the pilot - Cookie's beat down on Hakeem and Lucious taking his son to the same spot where he killed Bunkie.

Thirsty: "Excuses are the tool of the incompetent."
Andre: "Doesn't help, Thirsty."

Rhonda's attacker was definitely female if we're going her remembering the shoes. Maybe it's that deputy major who Andre slept with. I really don't think it's Anika.

Camilla: "Get out of my office."
Lucious: "Bitch, you're gonna have to drag me out of here."

Rhonda: "God doesn't exist."
Andre: "Don't say that, Rhonda."
Rhonda: "If he did, the baby would still be here."

Cookie mentioned having miscarried a baby girl to both Jamal and Andre in this episode. Cookie may have also slept with a woman too if her conversation with Jamal is anything to go by.

Jamal: "I'm still a gay brother looking for a man."
Cookie: "Yeah, me too. All night long."

Camilla: "Hello Cookie. It's never a pleasure to see you."

Standout music: Jamal's "Heavy" and "Freedom" as well as Menage a Trois's "Crown".

Lucious (to Hakeem): "If you want to be king, kill your father and sit on his throne."

Chronology: From where Et Tu, Brute left off.

Death Will Have His Day was a superb mid season premiere. It heavily focused on the main cast, abandoned the special guests of the week, had great music. Definitely one of the strongest episodes the show has done.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)

Written by Chris Terrio And David S. Goyer
Directed by Zack Snyder

Lex: “Bruce Wayne meet Clark Kent. I love it. I love bringing people together.”

If ever there was a movie that seemed divisive in it’s inception, never mind actual release, it could possibly be this one. It would seem odd that the meeting of two of DC’s biggest superheroes on the big screen would generate such a reaction but when you have a director as polarising as Zack Snyder helming this movie, what can you expect?

I promise this review isn’t going to descend into a Snyder bashing fest but saying that, it’s hard to ignore the controversy his contributions to the DC movie universe have been so far. This movie however is not quite the disaster area that some more vocal critics seem adamant on claiming it is though and that’s something I feel should be emphasised.

It’s far from perfect and some of the mistakes that Snyder previous made with Man Of Steel resurface here as the director does seem to have an appetite for wanton city wide destruction during his climatic moments and it’s fair to say that Metropolis is possibly subjected to even more damage here than when it was just a guy in a red cape making his presence known to the world. Even I didn’t know what to make of the onscreen carnage we got during a certain segment when our heroes banded together to fight off a dodgy GCI version of Doomsday.

The main plot itself is a bit convoluted but the nuts and bolts seemed to be having Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) going to some of the strangest lengths in order to get both Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) to respectively annihilate each other and it’s a plan that almost works too, sadly enough.

Eisenberg is possibly one of the most vile incarnations of Luthor we’ve seen in a long time. He doesn’t quite exude menace, in spite of his actions and many horrific acts but put it this way, even Joffrey Baratheon would side eye the little shit from a great distance. By the end of this movie, you’ll honestly want to bludgeon his Lex to death but revealing the actual fate of his character would be a bit too much of a spoiler, amongst many other things I’ll allude to but won’t reveal. Out of the two villains though, Lex does ultimately work better than Doomsday.

In terms of the heroes, this movie has essentially four of them. I wasn’t particularly enamoured with Amy Adams previous outing as Lois Lane but in this movie, she actually improved dramatically even if she was placed in three situations where she had to play the damsel in distress. Aside from those moments, she’s given plenty of opportunities to shine, help save the day and even break your heart and that’s a Lois Lane I can get behind.

As for the man of steel himself, I initially feared the worst for Henry Cavill with this one. I genuinely thought Superman was at risk of being sidelined in his own shared movie but thankfully I was wrong. Yes, there were certain things I didn’t like (his public shaming etc) but overall, Cavill really excelled himself, especially during the last half hour of the film.

Then there’s Ben Affleck. While I admit that I kept an open mind to his casting as Batman, a part of me did wonder if he was truly right for the part. Thankfully those reservations were allayed because Affleck genuinely felt like Batman to me onscreen. An older, more brutal version of course, semi—retired and scarred from losing many battles but motivated into maintaining his vigilantism as he feared that Superman could be a bigger threat to society before seeing the light. The movie rethreads some familiar territory with the caped crusader but not at the expense of slowing things down either. Basically, Affleck turned out to be a perfect choice to play Batman.

And of course, there’s also Wonder Woman. If there’s almost one thing all critics of this movie have been consistent of in their praising, it’s that Gal Gadot is perfect as the Amazonian demigoddess/princess/warrior and I’m not rocking the boat by suggesting otherwise. She genuinely is brilliant in the role, exudes warmth and charisma, lights up the screen and is great with both Batman and Superman during their fight scene with Doomsday. My only complaint is that I wish she had appeared in more scenes but it’s a minor quibble though.

In terms of supporting characters, the movie isn’t devoid of them. Holly Hunter is quite strong as a temporary antagonist for Lex in her role as Senator June Finch and Diane Lane has some choice moments as Martha Kent. Scoot McNairy has a bit of a pivotal role in Lex’s overall but I don’t feel much was really done with Laurence Fishbourne’s Perry White to be honest. The best supporting role however will go to Jeremy Irons as Alfred, subverting the role in a different way to Sean Pertwee’s take on the character in Gotham at the moment.

As for the cameo appearances – by now you definitely know who they are and they’re handled pretty well. They don’t intrude on things too much but they do whet the appetite for the Justice League nonetheless. The dream sequences/hallucinations on the other hand are a bit too distracting for some and probably should’ve been trimmed or scrapped altogether.

-  Opening and closing narrations truly set the tone for the movie in a big way. The retelling of Bruce’s back story was done nicely in this movie.
-  I’m genuinely surprised by one death in this movie and it’s not the one you think it is. Can you guess which one? As for the Easter Eggs we got here, nicely played.
-  Some of the stuff cut from this movie (namely the Jena Malone material) will surface on the DVD release.
-  Was it me or was there a lot of celebrity cameos in this movie? Looks like it’s not just Supergirl that’s tuned into the real world. Most of them I didn’t even know were happening until I was watching.

Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice was never going to be a perfect film. It always seemed destined from the start that it would not receive the type of love that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy did and while a lot of the criticism for the movie and Snyder’s approach is certainly justified, I still think there was a lot to love here. All the main cast members were on fine form, there were some genuinely beautiful moments, character wise and the final act was an incredible mixture of action and heartbreak. It’s not going to be every DC fan’s cup of tea and it may alienate casual cinema goers but I definitely would recommend seeing it nonetheless.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 1x09: "Left Behind"

Written by Beth Schwartz & Grainne Godfree
Directed by John F. Showalter

Kendra (to Sara): "You're not a murderer or an assassin. You're the White Canary."

And we're back. Three weeks for us, two years for Sara, Ray and Kendra and an eternity for Chronos or as we now know him to be ... Mick Rory. If you predicted that outcome for the character, congrats. Better yet was how swift the show was in revealing the information too as Snart found himself captured and reunited with his old partner in crime.

I'm perfectly cool with the idea of Mick being Chronos and I'm definitely fine with the team attempting to rehabilitate him as well. Maybe Mick can be saved, maybe he is a lost cause. I'm guessing by the finale if not before then we'll know either way. Of course Mick wasn't the only one who went through a conversion process in this episode.

Sick of playing house with Kendra and Ray, Sara took off and rejoined the League of Assassins and impressed Ras Al Ghul with her warrior skills. I wasn't a big fan of Matt Nable's version of the character in Arrow's third season but here, he was actually enjoyable. As for Sara, getting through to her wasn't particularly easy but it still happened.

Granted it took a whole fight sequence between Sara and Kendra (the latter whose powers had been dormant but reactivated fairly sharpish) before the former finally realised that she belonged on the Waverider rather than with the League of Assassins. Of course Sara did take some measures to ensure that her past with them (or future) was ensured nonetheless.

As for Ray and Kendra - we got some snapshots of them living in domestic bliss and then some bits of conflict as Kendra was more ready to get back to the mission than Ray was. I actually sided with Kendra for the most part, even if she was a tad harsh with Ray. Then again, they did make up towards the end of the episode and seemed to be taking things a little further into their relationship.

As for the rest of the main cast - Snart spent most of his time tied up, lost a hand, had it regenerated it (yup, that really happened) and showed some scepticism over the idea of Mick being reformed. Rip, Stein and Jackson on the other hand didn't really do that much, although the latter now seems to have a more direct plan for taking out Vandal Savage than before.

- Nyssa got mentioned in this episode but it was Talia who we finally met in the series. I do wonder if this means we'll see a more current version of the character in the Arrow universe soon.
- They got a Bill Gates joke into this episode. I guess they had to while Ray was a professor.
- It seems a bit convenient now that Rip had equipment that can regenerate missing limbs. What else can it do?
- Most of the action was in 1960 for this episode but we're going to 2147 next week to deal with Savage properly it seems.

This was a great episode to bring us back to. Left Behind nicely looked into the consequences of abandonment and while Ray and Kendra coped better, both Sara and Mick did not. I liked the return of the League of Assassins and having Vandal Savage be absent certainly didn't hurt things either.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Gotham's 2x16: "Prisoners"

Written by Danny Cannon

Directed by Scott White

Oswald: "You have demons?"

Elijah: "Sadly I do. You too I fear."

Wow, this was a bit of a departure from the usual, wasn't it? You know you're watching something out of the ordinary when even the bulk of Gordon's storyline is genuinely compelling and sending him to Blackgate certainly managed to do that. I wasn't expecting myself to be that immersed in his scenes but there you go.

Yes, there was some predictability to be had - inmates who wanted to kick the crap out of him, making threatening comments about Leslie and a corrupt warden who seemed fine with the idea of Gordon not surviving the World's End wing but none of that took away from how great the storyline actually was.

First off all, Bullock's unwavering loyalty to Gordon reach new heights this week when he willingly broke the law and allied himself with Falcone (nice to see him again) in order to break Gordon out of Blackgate so the latter could clear his name. I was wondering when Falcone was going to resurface in the series and this was a good way of adding him back into the mix. As for Gordon, I really hope he does manage to clear his name (even if he can't implicate Nygma) by the end of the next episode.

Keeping with the prison, I also quite liked Puck as a guest character. I thought at first he might have been pretending to side up with Gordon to later betray but he was actually a nice guy and I found his death at the end rather poignant too. That's some great guest acting work there.

Of course, this episode wasn't completely focused on Gordon's spell in Blackgate. We also had Oswald getting to know his family of sorts and they're an odd bunch. I mean, Elijah turned out to be genuinely remorseful for abandoning Oswald and seemed eager to make things right with him. Grace, Sasha and Charles on the other hand were less charitable.

Keeping with the cliches, the three of them were with Elijah for the money and their attempts to kill off Oswald only resulted in the latter being done in rather quickly than they expected. I really liked that Elijah wasn't a bad man and seemed genuinely sympathetic towards Oswald's darker impulses. I also get the feeling that his death is going to be the thing to break Strange's conditioning on Oswald pretty soon, especially when he finds out who murdered his father.

Also in "Prisoners"

Leslie lost the baby. I genuinely wasn't expecting that to happen but I guess the writers need a reason to write out her character for a few episodes.

Warden (to Gordon): "Follow the rules and perhaps you'll survive. Break them and you certainly won't."

For a moment, I thought Nygma was going to let slip to Bullock that he was involved in framing Gordon. 

Oswald: "Believe me, I've done bad things."

Elijah: "We're all sinners my boy."

Oswald: "To be fair, I never raped anybody."

Grace: "Oh, that's a mercy, now isn't it?"

Sasha's attempts of seducing Oswald were daft. The fact that Charles offered to do it - does that possibly mean we finally have a gay male character on this show?

Oswald (to Sasha): "Restrain yourself woman. I'm practically your brother, what are you thinking?"

Bullock: "You have every right to tell me to go to hell but I got no-one else to turn to."

Falcone: "You know Harvey, it's rude to wear a hat indoors."

No Bruce, Selina, Alfred, Barnes, Leslie, Butch, Tabitha or Barbara in this episode.

Grace (re Oswald): "The vermin has to go."

Charles: "But he likes it here. How can we persuade him to go?"

Chronology: A few weeks since the end of Mad Grey Dawn.

Something of a departure episode, Prisoners was a nice little shake up from the normal stuff with both Gordon and Oswald getting their moments to shine. I actually having episodes that are lighter with the cast could be a good thing, especially if they're as great as this one.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Game Of Thrones - Season 5 Review

US Airdate: April 12th - June 14th 2015

Changing Events: In this season alone, the writers had found themselves at a point where catching up with the books hadn't been an obstacle. It was a case of doing some things differently along the way too. This season mostly followed some of the events seen in A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons but there was also some deviation from the material that was truly noteworthy. Some of this worked better than others did admittedly.

Sansa's storyline for example was merged in with both Theon and Ramsay's scheme to rule Winterfell and considering how that played out in the books, involving Sansa in this storyline actually seemed like a smart idea at the time. Then that wedding happened past the halfway point of the season and the audience's tolerance for this show's penchant for strong violence finally snapped in a big way.

With the absence of Joffrey, Ramsay really has emerged as the most deplorable villain of the bunch and his mistreatment of Sansa certainly upped the ante. On the plus side, at least Sansa was finally able to get away from him even she had foolishly rejected Brienne's help at the start of the season. As for Theon, yeah, still don't really care for him that much but he had some alright moments in the season.

Then there was Daenerys and Tyrion. Bringing these two characters together was a stroke of genius and the episodes leading to it with both Tyrion and Jorah as a grudging team was also a genius moment but naturally things went a little to pot during the finale when Dany herself managed to reunite with the Dothraki and they kind of seemed a little less than welcoming to see her. Dany has had stronger seasons and moments and while her affair with Daario is far from thrilling, at least she was spared a dull marriage to an even less engaging character.

Keeping with the great team ups, I loved seeing both Jaime and Bronn heading to Dorne in order to get Myrcella back (less said about the better), even if Oberyn's daughters, the Sand Snakes and Ellaria were less than exciting characters to watch onscreen. Still, it was a good team as was the one with Brienne and Podrick, even if those two were largely kept out of the main action until the finale.

As for Arya, well she had a learning curve in this season following her entry into the house of black and white. Arya's been getting colder and colder with each passing season but the way things panned out for her following her murder on Meryn Trant, Arya might have finally bitten off more than she can chew for a change.

Cersei was also someone who massively bit off more than she could chew this season. Her attempts of getting rid of Maergary and Loras with the Faith and Jonathan Price's pious High Septon led to the show keeping with the controversial walk of shame scene in the finale but it was also the first time that Cersei genuinely had to suffer consequences for her many misdeeds. In a lot of ways this season really was Lena Headey and she truly excelled as Cersei's downfall really came into the fore.

Then there was the Wall stuff. Not hugely compelling, other than Stannis truly losing the plot and sacrificing his own child before meeting a well deserved death along with the possible demise of Jon Snow and the events of Hardhome. I'm not sure where they'll go next season if Snow isn't brought back but at least Sam and Gilly had the sense to get out of there.

DVD EXTRAS

Again there are commentaries for the majority of the episodes (some with more than one) from various cast and crew members but there are also a smattering of other enticing features focusing on the poisons of Westeros, the set designs, Dorne (both weapons and an introduction to the place), a showcases of the locations for the season, new characters, trailers and a recap on the previous season. Once again, there's a wealth of stuff to enjoy.

EPISODE RATINGS

5x01: The Wars To Come 7/10, 5x02: The House Of Black And White = 8/10,
5x03: High Sparrow = 8/10, 5x04: Sons Of Harpy = 8/10,
5x05: Kill The Boy = 7/10, 5x06: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken = 9/10,
5x07: The Gift = 9/10, 5x08: Hardhome = 8/10,
5x09: The Dance With Dragons = 9/10, 5x10: Mother's Mercy = 10/10

Season 5 is currently available on DVD.

When We Rise - Cast Announcement

While there are still a few more members to be confirmed for Dustin Lance Black's LGBT rights miniseries, When We Rise for ABC, the casting announced so far though is impressive.

Best known for her roles in The West Wing, Weeds and Angels In America, Mary Louise Parker has been cast in the role as women's right leader Roma Guy with Emily Skeggs playing a younger version of the character.

Playing the role of Roma's wife and social justice activist will be Rachel Griffiths, best known for her roles on Six Feet Under and Brothers & Sisters. Griffiths will take on the role of Diane with Fiona Dourif playing a younger version as well in the eight hour miniseries.

Also heading up the cast is Memento's Guy Pearce as LGBT activist Cleve Jones (Austin McKenzie playing a younger version of the character) while Jonathan Majors will play a younger version of African-American community organiser Ken Jones while former True Blood actress Carrie Preston will take on the role of gay rights activist Sally Gearhart as well as Teen Wolf's Charlie Carver in the role of Michael. The roles of an older version of Ken Jones and transgender activist Cecelia Chung are still to be cast, among a few others. That being said though, casting so far for this miniseries is seriously impressive. I'll post about the remaining cast and airdate when the information is made public. The miniseries is executive-produced by Black, Laurence Mark, Bruce Cohen and Gus Van Sant for ABC.

Casting Information: http://www.playbill.com/article/mary-louise-parker-emily-skeggs-rachel-griffiths-cast-in-when-we-rise

An airdate has yet to be confirmed on ABC for When We Rise.

My Review of Gotham's 2x15: "Mad Grey Dawn"

Written by Robert Hull
Directed by Nick Copus

Elijah (re Gertrude): "She never told me."
Oswald: "Told you what?"
Elijah: "That I had a son."

If there's one thing that can be said about this episode, it's certainly that it wasn't an eventful one. In fact, I think this might be the most eventful episode Gotham has ever done because so much actually happened here that I have to process things.

First of all, Nygma went into full Riddler mode, setting up traps, bombs and question marks to bamboozle Gordon and coupled with the bloody death of Pinkney, Gordon is now looking at a forty year stretch in Blackgate. Jeez, Ed - Gordon didn't even suspect you in the first place. Maybe you should've until after he had his conversation with you before embarking on his downfall, huh?

While I'm still mixed on Nygma's transformations (love the riddle/question mark bit, hate the serial killing aspect they're going with), this was certainly an interesting episode for Cory Michael Smith as Ed tilted further and further into the dark side. As for Gordon - I should feel bad for him but let's be honest, he's not going to be prison for long. He'll probably be freed by next week, not to mention the fact that he has both Bullock and Leslie on his side even if he was annoyingly defeatist by the end of this one.

As for Barnes - he might be right about Gordon killing Galavan but he seemed way too quick to believe that Gordon was capable of murdering another cop. Can we please just lose Barnes as a character? I keep saying it and only because it's true, the guy literally adds nothing to the show and all he's done is actually make me miss Essen even more. I hope he's gone by the finale if not before then.

Gordon's arrest also contributed to another interesting factor - Barbara finally waking up. Yup, Sleeping Beauty managed to snap out of it and given that we've got seven episodes left this season, I'm curious where they're going to go with her. Will Barbara be more evil than ever or do we have a redemption storyline in the works? Then again, she's also due an appointment with Hugo Strange too, which should be fun.

Keeping with the fun, Bruce is certainly adapting to the mean streets pretty well with Selina. This week he saw Ivy at work with magic mushrooms and took a beating from Butch's irritating nephew Sonny (please do not recur that character) all while throwing further hints to Selina about his imminent future.

Then there was Oswald himself. The scene where he was trying to be peaceful with Butch and Tabitha was certainly odd but I did like him trying to advise Nygma away from violence and anger, even if it didn't work. As for the meeting of his father Elijah and new family, well, I'm not expecting happy families in spite of the talk of it towards the end of this episode.

Also in "Mad Grey Dawn"

The title of the episode came from one of the paintings that Nygma wrecked at the start of this one. Art heist - Batman 1989 anyone?

Barnes: "Lies, huh? Tell me the truth again."
Gordon: "I didn't kill Galavan. I wasn't there."

Paul Reubens previously played the Penguin's father in the opening scene for Batman Returns. I love history repeating itself here. Oswald's 31 by the way.

Nygma: "I have the utmost faith in your abilities, Detective Gordon."

Butch (re Oswald): "He's a pathetic loser. He doesn't pose a threat to anyone."
Tabitha: "Are you serious? No way, he has to die."

Tabitha is so going to pay for mocking Oswald's mother. She's smart enough to know Oswald is still a danger and Butch should've listened to her.

Oswald: "I'm here to tell you, Ed as a friend, violence and anger are not the answer. I'm a changed man, better. You can change too."

Sonny: "The Gilzeans are all about consequences."
Selina: "More like all about pizza."

Oswald: "Sir, please tell me truthfully, is this a dream?"
Elijah: "Not a dream my boy, you're home."

No Alfred in this episode. I'm actually surprised that he seems to be obeying Bruce's wishes. I thought he'd be spying on him from afar.

Selina (re Gordon): "You okay?"
Bruce: "This isn't right. This can't be right."
Selina: "Tell me something that is."

Chronology: There was a four week time jump in this episode between Gordon getting arrested and then sent to Blackgate.

Mad Grey Dawn certainly lived up to the first word of the title. I don't think we've had an episode this busy since the very first one and it certainly went into some interesting places. Oswald's new found family have good potential while Nygma's descent into Riddler territory is heating up nicely enough along with Bruce embracing his destiny.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Recap/Review: How To Get Away With Murder's 2x15: Anna Mae

And for this finale we've solved one murder mystery, set up another one for next season, revealed a massive betrayal and spent some time with Annalise's family.

Written by Pete Nowalk
Directed by Bill D'Elia

The Homecoming: In an almost unusual change of pace, the majority of Annalise's scenes in this episode were actually in Memphis where she was staying with her mother, reconnecting with her siblings and be heavily wary of her father's motives while interacting with Nate and confessing to her mother about losing a baby. The last scene lead to a truly poignant moment in the back garden between Annalise and Ophelia and if you thought that Viola Davis and Cicely Tyson worked well last season, they're even better to watch again in this episode. I genuinely enjoyed all of the scene with Annalise and her family this week but there was also a mystery to finally put to bed and this episode thankfully did that.

He's The Killer: As in Caleb and not Philip - the latter of whom conveyed this information to Annalise. Caleb also killed his racist aunt and he was the one informing on the Keating lot as well. However while Caleb was revealed as the murdered and Catherine/Philip probably freed, he didn't actually get sent down. Instead he killed himself in the bathtub but after 15 episodes, at least this storyline has finally been put to rest, even if Michaela felt stupid for massively misjudging Caleb though.

Carrying That Guilt: Keeping with mysteries, for those who were curious as to how Sam was able to coerce Frank into murdering Lila, this episode enlightened us on that one. It seemed that Frank was paid to bug Annalise's hotel room and then Mahoney arranged for her to be hit, causing the death of her baby. While Bonnie filled Annalise in on this little fact, Frank did a runner by the end of the episode. Conveniently around the same time as something else pretty major happened.

I'm Your Son: History really does have a habit of repeating itself, doesn't it? We witnessed his mother dying and now he witness his father getting shot right in front of him. It obviously could've been Frank in a twisted way to make amends to Annalise. More than likely it's going to be someone else but either way, Wallace Mahoney's death will definitely be the ongoing mystery strand for the first half of next season.

Naughty, Naughty: I'm not sure what the writers intend to do with Asher and Michaela and while it doesn't bother me as such, it does still comes across as a bit random though. Then there was Frank finding out about Laurel and Wes's brief kiss and Oliver sabotaging Connor's attempts of getting into Stanford, which wasn't his best move. I have a feeling that Oliver's new found thrill seeking is going to backfire on him spectacularly next season, especially now that Conrad Ricamora has been elevated to regular status.

The show will be back on ABC from late September for it's third season.

Slash: The Movie - A Perspective On The Genre

Note, this is not a review of the movie but more of an analysis of some unfair backlash I've seen in relation to the actual movie itself. For those of you who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, I'll soon enlighten you.

Written and directed by Clay Liford and screened at SXSW (South by Southwest) last weekend, Slash is a coming of age movie focusing on a teenager named Neil Shafer aka Van_Fan_42 (Teen Wolf's Michael Johnston) who is into writing slash fiction for a galaxy hero character named Vanguard and it's a secret that becomes public knowledge within the film as Neil befriends a fellow slash fiction fan in Julia (Hannah Marks, Awkward) who actively encourages him to write his material online and find himself attending some fanfiction conventions, hosted by Denis (Michael Ian Black). Other cast members in this movie include Jessie Ennis, Peter Vark, Missi Pyle, Sarah Ramos, Nate Rubin and Ben J. Pierce.

Fanfiction has often gets an unfairly bad rap and over the years a certain book/movie franchise that shall not be named hasn't exactly helped portray it in a positive light either but having seen the trailer for this little movie, I have to admit that I'm actually looking forward to it. It seems charming, has a likeable lead character/protagonist and it's one of the rare times that slash fiction is actually looked at from a male perspective, so the comments from a certain fandom reporter in relation to the movie actually irked me and motivated me into writing this article and promoting this movie.

According to this reporter, while they liked certain elements of the movie, they didn't seem to like the idea that the notion of slash fiction was actually given a male perspective. Considering that the majority of slash fiction is male characters/often real life people written into sexual situations with other men regardless of their own orientation and so on, I think it's actually a lot more interesting that this movie is focusing on a male perspective instead of the usually known female perspective of the genre. Last time I checked, a lot of men (myself included) have read, enjoyed or even written slash itself.

However this fandom reporter and some of their followers seemed to take exception to the movie's outlook on a genre they feel specifically belongs to them. I'm not trying to be mean or harsh here but seeing as the subject matters usually tends to be men in this particular genre, I actually find myself quite annoyed by the prospect that according to this reporter, another point of view of the genre cannot be explored. More ludicrously is the assumption that going with a male perspective for a film like Slash is somehow the eqivalent of erasing any female involvement within the genre, an accusation that holds no credibility as the movie acknowledges female slash writers with the Julia character of the piece. Simply put, slash as a genre isn't just for women and given that the genre tends to fetishise gay men to a certain point, maybe it's actually a good thing to see a movie that actually focuses on it from a male perspective for once. Aside from the slash element, there's also the coming of age and friendship themes between the main protagonists as well to give the movie that extra boost.

I'm linking the official site to this movie where there's a tonne of cool content and some great interactive stuff too as well as interviews and insight from cast and crew members. I'm also providing a link to the official YouTube channel where there is one video of the cast reading slash fiction that should be seen.

Official Site: http://slashthemovie.com/
YouTube Site: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvmpkF5D2Q4e6ASTEy6CuzA/videos?sort=dd&shelf_id=0&view=0

Slash is looking for more distribution but fingers crossed, it'll become available within the next few months.

My Review of Gotham's 2x14: "This Ball Of Mud And Meanness"

Written by Jordan Harper
Directed by John Behring

Jeri (to Gordon): "You are a lot less fun than advertised."

This episode on the other hand was a lot better than advertised. I'd even go far as to say that it might be the best episode of Gotham's second season so far and we still have another eight episodes to go. Why was it so good? Let's count the ways, shall we?

First of all, I never had any doubt that for all his determination that Bruce wasn't going to go through with killing Matches Malone. Just like last week we had Selina, Alfred, Gordon and even Jeri (more on her in a bit) challenge Bruce's supposed killer instinct but none of the above could stop him from facing off Matches. Jeri herself even lead Bruce directly to Matches's run down little apartment and there's where the best scene happened in this episode.

Bruce got to Matches's place with the intention of murdering but not before Matches gave him a rundown on the ways he's killed people, the rates he has for killing men, women and children (not babies though, even Matches has limits) and when confronted about killing Thomas and Martha Wayne, Matches lets Bruce do most of the talking before adding his own bit into things.

The way the episode played out it seems more that Matches might have known who killed the Waynes rather than having done it himself. He did however challenge Bruce's killer instinct and while it was predictable that Bruce couldn't kill Matches, it didn't stop the latter from ending his own life. As for Gordon, he seemed curious about who hired Matches to bump off Thomas and Martha compared to Bullock being less than interested in things.

The end of this episode though did genuinely surprise me. Having Bruce leave home to live with Selina in the streets as part of his future Bat training was a nice twist. The episode might have really hammered home Bruce's future but I don't care. The whole plot really came alive and even with the limitations of what they can realistically do with Bruce's training at this stage, this is still an interesting turn of events.

As for Gordon - did anyone else like how both Jeri and Nygma seemed to have his number this week? Jeri is this half of the season's hint of a possible Joker in waiting and Lori Petty is brilliant during her scene with both Bruce and Gordon, especially when she called the latter out on being less fun than advertised. She also survived the episode so hopefully another appearance isn't too far off because like Jerome, she was a lot of fun to watch here.

As for Nygma - paranoia really does bring out his twisted side, doesn't it? With both Leslie and Gordon realising that something isn't right with Kringle's absence, Ed spent most of this episode not so quietly seething about Gordon closing in on him. I like that they're delving into the Riddler side of things with Nygma but it also reminds me of the fact that I hated them making him into a serial killer as well.

Last but not least - anyone else find it a little too convenient that Oswald became a free man after passing a few of Hugo's insane tests? I'm not complaining by the way. Three episodes of Oswald in Arkham is more than enough and Hugo did hint at a long game he had for Oswald, something which even Peabody seemed sceptical about as well. Now Oswald has to do is take Butch and Tabitha down and reclaim Gotham for himself.

Also in "This Ball Of Mud And Meanness"

Given the title of this episode, did anyone else think this might have been a Clayface origin story? Just me then.

Bruce: "That's too much."
Cupcake: "The boy's cheap."

I found Mr Cupcake an amusing side character and was it me or did Jeri's look seem like a mash up of both the Joker and Harley Quinn? Jeri also had the Maniax playing in the background during her performance too.

Oswald: "I want to be normal. I want to be good. You must think I'm lying to you."
Hugo: "No. I can tell when somebody's lying to me."

Nygma: "So that's the game is it, Jimbo? Trying to outsmart me? Play me for a fool? I don't think so!"

Along with Nygma really signalling his move into Riddler territory, there was also a Crane reference from Hugo Strange during Oswald's 'therapy' scenes.

Jeri: "Hi Bruce. What took you so long?"

Matches: "You're kind of young to be putting out a contract."
Bruce: "I'm old enough."

Speaking of the Maniax, we saw one of them again, didn't we? The guy who didn't like Oswald having ice cream.

Jeri: "Everybody knows about your temper."
Gordon: "This isn't about me. There's a kid out there in danger."

Bruce: "Who hired you?"
Matches: "Maybe nobody did. Maybe I just saw some rich suckers."

No Barbara, Butch, Barnes or Tabitha in this episode. We did briefly see Mama Kapelput at the start of the episode though.

Oswald: "I'm sane?"
Hugo: "You're as sane and normal as any other citizen."

Chronology: Two years since the "Pilot" episode according to Bruce during his confrontation with Matches.

I absolutely loved this episode. This Ball Of Mud And Meanness really felt like a true turning point moment for Bruce and it showed just how great David Mazouz can be in the role when given the right material to work with. Jeri might not be a future Joker but like Jerome before her, she's a character I really want to see once again though.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Recap/Review: How To Get Away With Murder's 2x14: There's My Baby

Penultimate episode and was it me, or did it feel like a finale? Maybe if they drew a line under the Hapstall case it would've been, but dammit, a lot really did happen here.

Written by J.C. Lee & Erika Harrison
Directed by Stephen Williams

The Loss Of A Son: Last week we saw Rose kill herself and this week we saw the death of Annalise's unborn son following a car crash as she was determined to get back at Wallace Mahoney and his role in Rose's suicide. Viola Davis has always been incredible and this episode she was absolutely stunning as Annalise and Sam had to cope with the death of their child in flashbacks while in the present day, she fought off Philip, confessed everything to Wes, dealt with both Eve and Nate and then went to her mother in the final scene of the episode. Some truly incredible acting from Viola throughout this episode.

He Knows Everything: It might have taken 29 episodes, but throughout them Wes now knows exactly happened to his mother (when he wasn't venting his anger at Laurel) as Annalise not only told him about how Rose really died but also that the rather horrible Wallace Mahoney is his father, which means we'll be seeing that unpleasant character in the present day at some point. I like that they've moved forward with that storyline but it does make you wonder if this was the original intention with Annalise and Wes all along, story wise.

Bad People In Common: Well, because of Sam and Annalise, both Frank and Bonnie have murdered people - Lila and Rebecca and in this episode, both of them had the opportunity to call the other out on their respective kills. Bonnie also managed to figure that it was Sam who ordered the hit on Lila with little prompting from Frank as well. I also liked the flashbacks with Frank calling Annalise out on her mistreatment of him and Bonnie having therapy with Sam to deal with her esteem issues. The flashbacks in this second half have been interesting, especially as we also had Sam and Eve briefly interact with each other in flashback too.

The Hook Up: Oh ABC, sometimes you really do oversell a moment. Asher and Michaela hooking up with each other came across as more random than actually shocking. Saying that, I would've been furious if it had been Connor/Michaela and Connor/Asher just would've come across as fan pandering as well, so I'm cool with Asher/Michaela for the time being. It's no worse than Laurel/Wes now is it? Still though, it was a little jarring considering that Michaela spent most of this episode freaking out about Caleb disappearing. Speaking of which, anyone else find that a tad suspect?

Carpe Diem: We haven't had that many Connor/Oliver moments in the second half of this season so in a lot of ways, this episode was a blessing. Not only did Oliver get to witness Annalise drunk and ranting but he got a little spooked by Laurel blaming Frank for shooting Annalise but he also reminded Connor that he's stronger than the latter thinks he is and he also quit his job. This was basically a great episode for these two.

Next week, it's the finale and the resolution to the Hapstall case once and for all.