My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x14: "Amazing Grace"

Written by Matthew Maala & Tyron B. Carter
Directed by David Geddes

Elvis (to the ghosts): "Come on in. All are welcome here."

Well, this was another fabulous episode. Having the King himself appear, bringing in the final totem and the death of a rat all made for one hell of a great episode. This is what I've consistently grown to love about this show. All these strange ingredients that shouldn't work but ultimately do but where do I start?

I guess the obvious place is to talk about the King himself - Elvis Presley. Guest star Luke Bilyk might not entirely look like the infamous rock and roller but I think he did a fantastic job in the role that Nate's fanboying while a tiny bit much actually worked a treat even if you had Amaya's gentle scepticism to counter the former's overt enthusiasm.

I did like that Amaya had her own connection with Elvis when he was talking about his own twin brother, Jesse (who we briefly saw as a ghost here) and his comments about objects connecting to the deceased clearly resonated with her. It was also perfect considering that the final totem was actually in Elvis's guitar as well.

Having Death be the final totem actually makes a lot of sense and this episode we saw it cause chaos by raising the dead before Elvis sang them back to existence. Also if the trailer for next week hadn't given things away, then I think we all could've guessed that Sara will end up being the one who'll have to wield that particular totem fairly soon to deal with Mallus.

As for the rat part of the episode - alas, poor Axel. I had forgotten about the little guy, so having him die here came as a bit of a shock. I love that Ray actually organised a funeral for Axel and that Mick and Sara attended it too with the former being genuinely mournful for losing another friend. Plots like this shouldn't work so well but on this show even a funeral for a rodent seems to provide some of the best moments for our main characters.

Keeping with great moments, I am loving Wally's addition to this show. This was basically his first episode as a team member and they already found a way for him to use his speedster powers and actually take the slow path in order to solve a problem (reasoning with Elvis's uncle). Anyone who was worried the guy was going to be shortchanged on this show really shouldn't be if this episode is anything to go by. Plus, his budding friendship with Zari is pretty fun to watch as well.

- I liked the music store owner talking to Elvis about Robert Johnson at the beginning of this one. Now that's another future episode possibility in the making.
- Zari feigning ignorance over Ray's chore chart was funny. Constantine also got a shout out here, which nicely sets up his return next week.
- No Ava, Gary, Rip, Damien, Nora or Kuasa this week. I was genuinely surprised that Damien and Nora alone didn't pop up to snatch the death totem.
- Chronology: 1950 Memphis for most of this episode.

Amazing Grace definitely pushed the lines of cheesiness even for this show and there were times when it really could've been too much but I think they did well getting the right heartfelt moments and pushing the main storyline along. I also think there's no doubt that Nate and Amaya will definitely be going back to Zambezi together at some point too.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x14: "The Day Before He Died"

Written by Joe Fazzio
Directed by Scott Printz

Laurel: "Tell me who killed Wes?"

Um, we had the answer for that question last season but it seems that we're getting it again with Sandrine also (and not surprisingly considering the last few weeks) had some role in Wes's death when she called Jorge who then got Dominic to deal with Wes. Dramatically, the scenes played out well but it didn't leave quite the impact it was hoping for.

Probably because as I pointed out the whole thing was telegraphed from the last couple of weeks and also here during the flashbacks to Wes and Sandrine interacting with each other as the latter tried to pay Wes off so he'd dump Laurel, only for him to refuse and eh, the rest is kind of history at this point.

I did like the scenes with both Laurel and Sandrine when the latter was confronted by her daughter and those mischievous phone records but it was oddly the weakest point of an episode that fortunately had a few more things going in it's favour.

First of all, Bonnie managed to figure out that Denver stole the hard drive and has been playing the Keating 4 and Jorge against one another. Unfortunately the episode then ended with a car crash so it seems that perhaps the show has killed Bonnie off for good. Except knowing this show, it'll probably turn out to be someone else who was killed but either, it doesn't look too promising for Bonnie.

Not that Denver was the only problem for the Keating 4 this week. Simon was wake and the gang went from contemplating putting a pillow over his head to having Oliver marry him for a green card, which shows there's no in between for this lot at times. Thankfully Annalise had a slightly better (but still risky) plan with forcing Simon into agreeing into being a whistle blower. I have to admit, I actually felt sorry for Simon here.

As for the rest of the episode, I'm glad that we got some lovely scenes with Annalise and Frank and her and Isaac as well with the latter taking responsibility for his recent relapse. I'm also glad that Asher found out about Michaela and Marcus and that the show seems to be addressing her own issues with what she wants as well. Whether or not those two get back together, I'm not sure if it should happen even though I do like the pairing.

- Sandrine's comments on Laurel's need to fix men actually did tie in nicely to that argument she had with Wes before he died. Good one, show.
- I liked Michaela and Tegan's conversation in the bathroom. When this whole Denver/Jorge storyline is done, maybe she could be a future ally to Annalise.
- Wes's little shower moment was clearly a nod to a classic Dallas storyline, except Wes is still death.
- Chronology: Not long from the previous episode left off. Also eight months since Wes's death.

The Day Before He Died isn't the strongest penultimate episode we've had but it's definitely got enough going for it to be engaging though. I will be happy though to see the back of Laurel's family after next week's finale and let the ghost of Wes rest properly next season as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Gotham's 4x13: "A Beautiful Darkness"

Written by Tze Chun
Directed by John Stephens

Ivy (to Gordon): "First I was a seed, then a sprout and now I've bloomed."

Last week gave us something of a taster of Ivy 3.0 in action and this week went full bloom with her being the main antagonist and let's just say, if you're a fan of the traditional version of the character, this episode might appeal to you a lot.

Peyton List could still do with emoting a little better but so far, she's doing a pretty decent job as Ivy opened the episode by paying poor Wayne Enterprises employee Roland a house call and murdering him in front of his family and a horrified Selina, who quickly turned on her and was forced to team up with Gordon in order to stop Ivy from causing more havoc this week.

Of course, Gordon wasn't really that effective against Ivy. Before he got to her, she had already the GCPD into her super fans, kidnapped Lucious in order to take Project M, paid Bruce a visit to poison him and oh, also came up with a way to amplify her already impressive powers. How the show plans to defeat next week should be very interesting to be honest.

I quite liked seeing Gordon and Selina working together against Ivy and I also liked the latter addressing her not very pleasant history surrounding her parents and Gordon during her face off with Jim as well. I also liked Lucious getting a bit more screen time, even if he was Ivy's love slave for most of his appearance this week. As for the Project M being Lazarus water, well, this along with a certain nightmare sequence will ensure that Ras will be back very soon as well.

Getting into the nightmare sequence - I guess we should thank Ivy for poisoning Bruce. Aside from the fact that it's clearly snapped him out of his bratty phase that was wearing thin, there's also the fact that when he wasn't seeing both Jim and Oswald in future looks along with Selina, Barbara, Bullock, Leslie and Alfred in other roles (as well as Ras slicing his face off), he also got a glimpse of his own future. I know the trailer already spoiled it but seeing those bats was still a surprise moment nonetheless.

Away from the Ivy and Bruce storylines this week, Oswald was having a rather rotten time in Arkham with Jerome going out of his way to make him his pet project and Edward being a bit too happy to gloat while also asking for help in his own way. I'm not surprised that Jerome is playing a long game of his own while having his own way in Arkham but I also think whether Oswald likes it or not, he's probably going to end up needing Jerome's help for his own escape plan too.

As for Sofia, she's enjoying the queen of the underworld role a bit too much and right now, she's got no threats to worry about. Oswald's locked away for the present, the Sirens are on her payroll and she has Gordon where she wants him over the Pyg situation. Not to mention the fact that Leslie is also being pulled into her orbit, which can't be good for either of them.

- Oswald in the clown costume and the mime act with Jerome. I'm not even going to question how things are let slide in Arkham.
- Why the heck was Bullock holding onto a rooster in Bruce's fantasy sequence? Actually come to think of it, why was Leslie dressed as Cleopatra too?
- No Tabitha or Butch/Grundy this week.
- Chronology: Six weeks since the events of Queen Takes Knight.

A Beautiful Darkness did a great job in setting up Bruce's future and while the Oswald/Jerome and Sofia subplots worked rather well, this was definitely Ivy's moment to shine and cause mayhem and she did it with aplomb. I am hoping that when her arc ends in the next episode, it won't be too long before she sprouts up again.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Ascent

Written by Tom Rob Smith
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Andrew: "If they could see me now."
Norman: "Who?"
Andrew: "Everyone."

Credit given where it's due, this episode felt slightly more like an even split between Andrew and Gianni with both of them getting nearly equal amount of screen time, instead of the focus being predominantly on Andrew as it has been for the majority of the season.

Delving into the Versace aspect of things first, we saw him in Milan running his business and also arguing with Donatella on what would actually sell, fashion wise with Antonio trying to be a neutral party with the conflicting siblings for the most part.

It was nice to see both Edgar Ramirez and Penelope Cruz properly play off each other this week and I think they did a great job in the scenes where they designed that rather risque dress, only to later fall out over it when Gianni's ear cancer storyline also came to a head in this episode as well, forcing Donatella to take over the company while her brother recovered in Miami. Giving the siblings the focus they needed was something of a nice change for this episode.

Of course seeing as this series has mainly been about Andrew more than his famous and final victim, the focus also went back to his disdain at working at Thrifty and his mother buying cheap ice cream, so he decided to do a little escorting on the side, only to be told by a madame that he wasn't what they were looking for.

Giving that Andrew's biggest issue is people saying no to him, it wasn't too much of a surprise that he decided to go independent on the escorting front and with this plotline we saw him meeting and seducing Norman Blachford and Lincoln Aston (Todd Waring), the latter whom also had grown weary of being used by Andrew before he was murdered by another man.

I have to admit I was actually shocked to see a grisly murder in this episode that didn't actually involve Andrew (even if he did tell Bond to run after killing Lincoln) but the latter's violent streak did come out when he attacked his mother though and next week, it seems we're getting more from that destructive relationship as well.

- Jeff made another appearance here as did David, given that we finally got to see his first meeting with Andrew. The latter then stole his story in order to charm Norman into moving into Lincoln's house after his death.
- The episode mostly got things right - Donatella's dress, Gianni's ear cancer, the extent of Andrew and Lincoln's relationship and the latter's murder.
- The escort scene however and the ex-wife bits were somewhat exaggerated regarding Andrew.
- Chronology: 1992 for most of this episode.

A bit stronger than last week's episode, I did like that Ascent was a bit more balanced between the screen time allotted to both Andrew and Gianni this week. I also appreciated more on Gianni/Donatella this week and that bit with David Madson was still a nice highlight but it is a good thing that we're heading into the final hurtle with the series now.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x13: "No Country For Old Dads"

Written by Keto Shimizu & James Eagan
Directed by Viet Nguyen

Damien: "I'm so going to kick my ass."

There's something rather reassuring in the knowledge that even Damien Darhk can find himself rather hard to deal with as this episode decided to treat us to two versions of the guy and play daddy/daughter mission with himself and Nora. With Ray as their occasionally cheerful and rather useful hostage. Hell we even got a scene where Ray told Damien how to tie him up before he got himself gagged and left to get himself out of his bind.

I have to admit there was something rather amusing about seeing Damien and Nora talking about dating apps and the latter giving her father hell for underestimating her at times. Even though the character has arguably been overused by now, I genuinely found myself actually enjoying Damien this week, especially when he was determined to fight his younger self in order to save Nora, who needed a moment of selflessness in order to activate Amaya's totem.

For the majority of the episode though we had Ray and Nora forced into an alliance in order to get a scientist to hand over the secret to cold fusion for Damien's maniacal plans to work and taking out the obvious fact that Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford are married in real life, the two of them worked well together. Ray's charming self even rubbed off on Nora, much to Damien's chagrin but it wouldn't be the first time though.

Even though Damien is basically a dictator in waiting, I did like that the episode explored his genuine concern for Nora and that he expressed some regret in using her as a vehicle for Mallus. Of course the moment he does something delightfully mundane for Nora as to bring her a hot chocolate, that was the same moment when Mallus decided to take an even bigger grip on Nora.

I have been wondering in the last few weeks if we're going to get some form of redemption for Nora and Kuasa and this episode seemed to push the idea a little further. With Ray seeing the potential good in Nora and confiding in Nate about it, we also had Amaya and Zari meeting one of the former's ancestors who also hinted at Kuasa also being a future ally as well, even if she seemed more than keen to torture Ray at the start of the episode.

As for the rest of the episode, Wally finally joined Team Legends and despite some tension with other members (he really put his foot in it with Amaya), Sara seemed more than happy to have him on board while Ava got a promotion following Grodd making an appearance to kill Bennett off screen. However thanks to Rip being his usual secretive self, we now know there's something up with Ava and considering the title of an upcoming episode, I think I know what it is.

- That Upswipe company Ray worked for at the start of the season made a reappearance. I did laugh at Damien swiping past Cupid too.
- Wally proved himself by swiping the fire totem that Damien was trying to get repaired this week as well.
- Don't worry, Ava, I have yet to see Hamilton too. I feel your pain.
- Chronology: 1960s Berlin for most of the episode.

No Country For Old Dads was certainly the most Damien/Nora heavy episode going but it was also rather entertaining to boot. A good episode for Ray as well and a good way to add Wally into the team. Yeah, I think I rather liked this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x13: "Lahey V. Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania" (& Scandal's 7x12: "Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself")

Written by Morenike Balogun & Sarah L. Thompson
Directed by Zetna Fuentes

Olivia: "If you lose this case, it will set criminal justice reform back decades."
Annalise: "You don't think I don't know that?"
Olivia: "Then think about accepting some help. That's all I'm suggesting."

Okay, on a scale of things that were always inevitable at ABC, a crossover special with Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating happening was always going to happen. I think the fact that it took until Scandal's final season and How To Get Away With Murder being truly established perhaps was the best time to do this.

With the former show, I haven't been watching as avidly as I had done in previous seasons but I made an effort to watch both episodes and it seems that Mellie Grant is President and both her and Olivia had a rather public falling out that saw the latter resigned from being the President's fixer while Olivia's former Gladiators (Quinn mainly) seem a little too hell bent on sabotaging her, only for them to have a bit of a change of heart towards the end of the first half of this story.

The nuts and bolts of the first half involves both Annalise and Michaela coming to Washington DC in order to get Olivia on board to help overturn the Supreme Court with the face cases surrounding Nate's father. It would've been a little predictable for Annalise and Olivia to clash and that's exactly what happened throughout the crossover in various parts.

To be honest, I liked that there was some tension with the two of them. Aside from it being a great way for each of them to deconstruct the other before realising they actually work pretty well together. To say both Viola Davis and Kerry Washington play off each other brilliantly would be underselling but damn it, they do and every Annalise and Olivia scene is marvelous to watch over and over again.

As for the face cases itself, there were a few predictable bumps along the way, which was good for putting both Michaela and Marcus to use and we had both Olivia helping an initially crumbling Annalise along with the latter delivering an impassioned speech that certainly helped to postpone things for a bit. While the face cases was the thing to engineer this crossover, there were plenty of other things to keep things ticking along rather nicely.

For Olivia, there was an element of using her team up with Annalise to curry herself some favour and rebuild herself which several characters seemed more than happy to point out while Annalise also had to deal with her ailing mother appearing on the scene, news about Isaac taking an overdose and the episode ending with Simon waking up, which was definitely not the news that Annalise was expecting to hear at the last minute.

- Liza Weil was previously Amanda on Scandal, so it's a bit disappointing that Bonnie didn't get to interact with Olivia.
- Michaela and Marcus had sex with each other and Connor/Laurel/Oliver realised it quickly. I'm also glad that Frank told Laurel about her mother's connection to Wes though.
- Pretty clever of ABC to get an actual re-enactment of the TGIT promo with Olivia and Annalise actually having some wine and popcorn in one scene.
- Chronology: Not long since Ask Him About Stella.

Crossover wise, both Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself and Lahey V. Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania did an excellent job of having both Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating's worlds come together in a rather solid way. I don't know if we need a repeat of this next season but I certainly wouldn't object to one either way though.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Gotham's 4x12: "Pieces Of A Broken Mirror"

Written by Danny Cannon
Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper

Ivy (to Selina): "Let's make Gotham our bitch!"

It's been three months since the last episode had Sofia Falcone become the crime boss of the city and Oswald Cobblepot got shipped back to Arkham where he soon interacted with Jerome Valeska. I bring these two bits up because neither of them are surprisingly addressed in this mid-season premiere episode.

Instead the focus goes towards Edward Nygma and his Riddler persona fighting the other. Ed seems content with being Leslie's right hand man (while holding a torch for her) while the Riddler wants her out of the way and hires the Toymaker in order to get the job done, so that he can take over the Narrows and whatnot.

Of course, Ed is unaware that his other side tried to take out Leslie until the Toymaker confessed and was promptly killed by a "shoot first, maybe ask questions later" Gordon for not so good measure. Of course before the death, there was the delightful commentary on how one person can be both a toy maker and an assassin for hire, because after all, this is Gotham.

It's been good that with the exception of a nightmare sequence earlier in the season that Gordon and Leslie's interactions have been pretty minimal. When they interacted here, there was a bit of tension but not a lot as Leslie wasn't going to let something like a hit on her life deter her from wanting to make the Narrows into a better place for everyone involved. Plot wise, this seems to working in her favour this season. As for Gordon, even a bar tending Bullock didn't want to get sucked into his secrets and lies by the end of this episode.

Outside of the assassination plot though, this episode did however have a much welcomed return for Ivy Pepper. In her third incarnation, Peyton List might not be a ginger as her previous two counterparts but this is certainly an Ivy that's closer to the comics as we got to see her poison at least one person, nearly kill Selina before trying to get her on board to take over the city while also using her charms to get two men fighting over during the relaunch of The Sirens club.

While I'm a bit annoyed the show unfairly axed Maggie Geha, I am hoping that this will finally mean Ivy will get something interesting to really do on the show. I can see Selina being conflicted with helping her friend and also staying loyal to both Barbara and Tabitha and given that Ivy has her sights on Bruce next week (whose bad boy antics are amusing but in danger of wearing thin), it seems these two might become enemies rather quickly as well.

As for the rest of the episode, Alfred got something of a cliche but decent enough subplot involving a woman who was murdered by her abusive boyfriend, who then framed Alfred for the killing. I was relieved to see this storyline quickly dealt with and it was a nice way to reintroduce Bullock into the mix as well.

- It seems that the show is maintaining the A Dark Knight subtitle for the remainder of this season.
- I loved the absolute cheesiness of that Sirens television ad. Ivy hates Tabitha, the latter who also realised that her attempts to get Butch to remember actually worked.
- No Oswald, Jerome or Sofia this week.
- Chronology: Not so long since the events of Queen Takes Knight.

For a mid-season premiere, this was a lot of fun. Pieces Of A Broken Mirror set up a good arc with Ivy, which I can't wait to see happen and the Narrows main plot worked well in the episode itself. However, it's Oswald and Jerome that I think we're all looking forward to seeing again next week.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Descent

Written by Tom Rob Smith
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Andrew: "What else you got?"
Gianni: "I'm loved."

We're definitely at the point in the show where the pretense has been dropped about Versace himself being the main character as for the fourth episode in a row, it's more of a look into Andrew's descent in madness and murder as he faced a birthday party from hell and rejection from two lovers for the price of one.

First of all, this episode opened with Andrew having a friends with benefits style relationship with the much older and influential, Norman Blachford (Michael Nouri) but unlike some of the older guys that fell prey to Andrew's orbit, it seems that Norman wasn't entirely daft enough to believe Andrew told him.

I did like that Norman actually did his own research into Andrew and despite a foolish willingness to let some of the latter's lies slide, Norman was also willing to cut Andrew loose when the fantasist got too demanding for him. One of the end scenes where Norman rejected a strung out Andrew did more to generate less sympathy for Cunanan than before.

Of course it wasn't just Norman that rejected Andrew in this one. Because things are playing backwards yet again, both Jeff and David were also around to witness Andrew's erratic behaviour. Jeff rightly decided to cut Andrew loose when the latter tried to maliciously out him to his family and while David indulged Andrew's expense date, he halted the breaks on any sort of potential relationship when the latter's inability to stop lying became too much.

This episode certainly lived up to it's title as even later on in the episode, Andrew's non stop lying was starting to weird out the cute barman while his descent into drug abuse saw him harassing Norman before the latter rejected him again. Then there was the brief sequence with Versace, while not real was still rather disturbing nonetheless.

The last few moments of the episode then focused on Andrew reconnecting with his mother as she indulged some of his whim and believed his success story lies to boot. It was a good way of ending another strong episode, although it was also blatantly taking a bit more creative licencing as this series has been doing from the start.

- Having Andrew in a birthday picture with three of his victims (David, Jeff and Lee Miglin) as well as Norman was pretty unsettling and not actually accurate.
- Most things here such as Andrew having a master bedroom and working in a thrift store pharmacy were actually true though.
- Another episode where both Donatella and Antonio sat out.
- Chronology: 1996, mostly LA.

Descent isn't quite as impressive as the previous two episodes but it's still a rather engaging episode with some good direction as Andrew's descent into madness is keenly felt here. It's the characters who see through his lies that are compelling me the most now, even if you fear for some of them.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x12: "The Curse Of The Earth Totem"

Written by Grainne Godfree & Ubah Mohamed
Directed by Chris Tammaro

Sara (to Ava): "Sometimes we screw things up for the better."

Possibly but going by the end of this episode, this might not be one of those times, Sara. Let's see - you guys got the Earth totem but Damien and Nora managed to swipe Amaya's totem and get themselves a hostage in a reckless Ray trying to save Nora. Bless Ray, the guy means well but this should've been the one time he stayed out of things.

Of course prior to Ray's capture at the end of this one, this episode could've easily been split into three different parts. The main part being Nate wanting to collect the Earth totem and getting the gang to head to the Bermuda/Devil's Triangle where an encounter with Blackbeard (Jonathan Cake) was also imminent.

Seeing Amaya in Captain Jiwe mode with Mick as her right hand man was absolutely fantastic. We haven't had as many interactions with Amaya and Mick this season and this episode served as a great reminder that they're an excellent team, so I'm hoping there's some more interactions with the two of them in the future.

The duo's interactions with Blackbeard, who was used more for comic relief and skulduggery than being an actual menace was amusing but the arrival of Damien and Nora soon meant that things took a serious turn. I am hoping that once this season is done with that Damien is rested as a character. As for Nora, given how quick she was to subdue Ray, perhaps she's too far gone to help. Then again, given the synopsis for next week's episode, maybe not.

Of course when we weren't dealing with pirates, we were also on a date with Sara and Ava. The writers really have sped up the ladies budding relationship and we had some light flirting and embarrassing stories on display before both Gary and a crashing Waverider interrupted things. I do like that we saw a bit of the old Ava in the mix as well this episode before both her and Sara realised they didn't want to be normal. Also, they were pretty great at taking out Blackbeard and his own pirates.

As for Rip and Wally - I absolutely adored their scenes together. I don't think Wally really needed that much persuading to join the Legends but seeing Rip on the charm offensive while admitting his shortcomings was great though. Seeing the two of them also getting drunk on rocket fuel and breaking out in karaoke to Careless Whispers was priceless.

- The Earth totem corrupted Blackbeard's lover, which was why he killed her and left it alone. The sixth totem has been spoiled online but it'll be revealed in the next two episodes.
- Why didn't Sara stop by and talking to her father/meet her sister's Earth 2 counterpart, prior to her date with Ava? Gary once again popped up to be humiliated and give some vital information, this time regarding Rip to Ava.
- Amaya, Zari, Ray and Nate all had different hair looks this week. Zari was the only one other than Sara not to actually set foot in the Bahamas.
- Chronology: 1717 Bahamas, 1992 Tokyo and 2018 Star City and China.

The Curse Of The Earth Totem worked all of it's three separate but interconnecting storylines well with the right amount of time being dedicated to all three of them. I don't think it's as strong as the previous two episodes and I kind of felt Kuasa should've had some role in this one but overall, it's still a pretty hearty adventure.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Batman 66 - Episodes 17-20 Reviews

Sorry it's been a few weeks since my last post but getting back to this little project, the selection of episodes here range from the debut of a new villain for the show to the debut of my favourite villain of the series too.

1x17: True Or False False

Okay, so False Face isn't entirely new for the show but he's one of those rarer, lesser known DC villains and this one here is it's own iteration for the show with Malachi Throne taking on the role. However this episode alone took some delight in having him credited as ? as we didn't see False Face's real visage, instead the episode relying on him using that melted and creepy looking mask as he plotted against the Dynamic Duo and disguised himself as a few different characters before leaving both Batman and Robin glued to the train tracks. 8/10

1x18: Holy Rat Race

A good concluding part to this two parter, though there's the somewhat cliched trope of False Face's female accomplice, Blaze falling in love with Batman and wanting to redeem herself while also being relegated to damsel in distress as well. The second half does take on a robbery plot line with False Face even disguising himself as Commissioner Gordon at one point before he's taken down. I have to give props to that mask though, it's absolutely terrifying to look at for too long. 7/10

1x19: The Purr-Fect Crime

Ah, the purr-fect two parter. Catwoman is undoubtedly one of the best members of Batman's Rogues Gallery, if not the best as she dips between baddie and anti-heroine but for this show, it's mainly the former with occasional hints of the latter. While this show has given us three versions of the character in it's three season run, the best version for me has always been Julie Newmar's take on the Princess of Plunder. In this story alone, she's deftly introduced by stealing golden statues, shamelessly flirts with Batman before putting both him and Robin in a dangerous pit. Of course, for Catwoman, that's merely her way of saying hello. 9/10

1x20: Better Luck Next Time

Well, Batman and Robin managed to survive the pit of doom and Catwoman herself was a bit too quick to betray her henchmen and keep the loot for herself. The second part of this story is every bit as great as the first one with the focus going to Catwoman's search for Captain Manx's treasure, which ends up costing her given that this episode ended on a rather dark turn. Of course, even if we didn't know or were reminded about cats having nine lives, I think it would've been a safe bet that this wouldn't have been the Dynamic Duo's only encounter with the expert cat burglar. 9/10

Next blog I'll delve into The Penguin Goes Straight/Not Yet, He Ain't and The Ring Of Wax/Give 'Em The Axe.

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x11: "Here I Go Again"

Written by Ray Utarnachitt & Morgan Faust
Directed by Ben Bray

Zari (to Gideon): "Who knew you were such an evil genius? And a bit of a perv."

Oh Mamma Mia. A time loop episode was an inevitability for this show and references to a certain Star Trek episode and of course, Groundhog Day to one side, there was a lot of fun and pathos to be had, mainly at the expense of one particular character.

Since her introduction in the third episode this season, Zari has been an interesting addition to the team. She's reckless and impulsive and I'm surprised that it took until this episode for Sara to confront Zari on this but the results of the two of them sparring were interesting as Zari tried to run a simulation on Gideon, only to be caught up in one herself.

Having Zari pitted inside an exploding time loop on the Waverider could've been tedious but this was a premise that the show truly had fun with. For instance, aside from the fact that it gave Zari a lot of insight into Sara's leadership skills, Ray being secretive, Mick's creative writing and Nate and Amaya's relationship, it also led to Zari not so shockingly finding her own place on the team.

I guess it should've been obvious that Gideon was responsible for the whole thing and it certainly was a lot of fun seeing Amy Pemberton pop up on screen for a few minutes as she revealed her "evil genius" to Zari before the latter woke up and gave the rest of her team some sound advice on their various issues.

I've enjoyed Zari a lot as a character this season and this episode made me more than glad that she's going nowhere. I also liked the fun little montage she got to have during her experience along with the reveal that she might get to save her brother after all. Not to mention that the episode again reminded us that she's going to play a vital role in taking down Mallus as well.

As for everything else, I'm really glad that Ray told Sara about Constantine's plan from the previous episode and that Sara herself seemed fine with it. The episode also delved a bit more into Nate and Amaya's own dynamic with their future along with giving the Sara/Ava a bit more to look forward as well. The only other person not to fare well from the episode was Gary who got consigned to the rubbish, via Gideon and her mischievous nature.

- Last scene of the episode saw Rip heading to China to recruit a man bun wearing Wally for the Legends.
- Surely the next bottle episode has to be a version of Mick's future best seller, right? I love that he was writing the thing on a type writer with booby traps too. Zari's impression of the other Legends along with her reaction to Nate/Amaya's sex noises made me howl with laughter.
- Tala Ashe can actually play the violin in real life so it's nice the show found a way of incorporating that into this episode.
- Chronology: 2018 mainly on the ship and during the last scene but we did have the gang save Waterloo and Mick saving Napoleon off screen. Loved most of the gang in their ABBA gear for this one.

Here I Go Again was a riot of an episode. It's blatantly the bottle saver one for the season but those episode do force shows to be a bit more creative and this one certainly had a lot of fun in that. As well as being another brilliant centre piece for Zari, it worked as a character building one for the rest of the team to boot.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Black Panther (2018)

Written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole
Directed by Ryan Coogler

T'Challa: "We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

Following the rapturous reception the character got when he first appeared in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, this was always going to be a film that would impact audiences beyond the usual comic book fans. It was also going to be a film that would generate a lot of hype to the point where you'd wonder if said hype would be justified.

The answer to that though is a resounding yes though. While I'm more of a DC film universe guy, I do like the Marvel universe as well and even I was anticipating this movie. I really wanted it to be great. However it was more than that. If you see only one comic book movie of the year, then this is the one to see.

Following the death of his father, T'Chaka (John Kani), it now falls to the current Black Panther, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) to take up his father's mantle and become king of fictional African technological wonderland, Wakanda and after enduring a rather challenge trial, including temporary losing his powers, beating a would be challenger in M'Baku (Winston Duke) and going on a quest to the ancestral plane, T'Challa assumes the role and is determined to be a fair ruler and to learn from his father's mistakes.

One of the mistakes being the failure to apprehend arms dealer, Ulysses Klause (Andy Serkis) and along with former girlfriend/activist, Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), the head of his female led army the Dora Milaje, Okoye (Danai Gurira) and CIA operative, Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman), T'Challa comes close to taking down Klause, only for the arrival of Michael B. Jordan's antagonist Erik "Killmonger" Stevens/N'Jadaka to enter the fray and cause even more mayhem.

In terms of ongoing villains, the MCU have had their hit and misses, but it's safe to assume that Killmonger will definitely fall into the former category even after the dust settles with this movie. He's an engaging and reasonably sympathetic baddie in the sense that he actually wants justice and feels that with Wakanda's advanced technology they should be making more of an effort to help those who are oppressed but his methods are also a stark constrast to T'Challa's and he wastes no time in nearly usurping the current King in order to take over as both rule of Wakanda and as the Black Panther.

While the movie does move a little quickly in Killmonger's victory to defeat, the journey there is rather compelling, especially in light of the connection that he shares with T'Challa and the latter's convictions in not wanting to repeat former mistakes from previous monarchs. I really did like that T'Challa showed his willingness to learn and try to make things better, even if Killmonger himself couldn't do the same himself.

In the title role, Chadwick Boseman is excellent as T'Challa/Black Panther as is Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger but this film has so many excellent performers and moments throughout. For example, both Nakia and Okoye are wonderfully drawn out characters but the standout female character easily has to be Letitia Wright's Shuri, the younger sister of T'Challa and Wakanda's tech genius to boot. She's warm, clever, engaging, funny and easily one of the best female characters ever seen in a comic movie. She's a character you'll leave the cinema wanting to see more of.

As for Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker, both of them do excellent jobs as T'Challa's mother, Romanda and statesman Zuri while Daniel Kaluuya was on good form as T'Challa's ally briefly turned traitor, W'Kabi. Both Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis put in strong performances as both Everett and Ulysses alike and Winston Duke was another standout for me as M'Baku but to be honest, there's not a single bad performance in the entire movie.

For a movie with a very big political slant (one that too many media outlets have seized in an attempt of baiting people), it never feels like the audience is being patronised. The issue about what to do to help other places in need is skillfully handled and it's poignancy is truly felt in one of the two post credits scenes on offer here as well.

- The opening weekend for this movie is a strong indicator that this is going to be another billion hitter for the MCU.
- Post Credits for this movie include T'Challa taking to world leaders about helping out with Wakanda's advanced technology while another scene had Shuri looking after Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan).
- Most of the action in this film might have been in Wakanda but we also saw London, California and Korea during prominent scenes as well.
- The soundtrack is one of the best movies ones we've had recently. There's a few musical highlights but my current favourite would be Kendrick Lamar/SZA's All The Stars.

Black Panther is a triumph of a movie. Both entertaining and topical in equal measure with plenty of pathos, humour, heart, jaw dropping stunts, gorgeously shot sequences (the ancestral plane ones being the obvious case in point), engaging characters, a hero willing to change and an engaging villain. The best thing being as well that we won't have to wait long to catch up with some of these characters too before the inevitable sequel is commissioned given that Infinity War will be out in a few months time.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Stepping Out Of Retirement

This is mostly a superhero CW DC thread with one exception but two of the show I'm talking about do tie in with the title of this blog piece though.

Arrow: This season since it's return has been treading water a little bit. After a promising start, Michael Emerson's Cayden James has been something of a disappointing villain and the last episode just killed him off randomly to elevate Dragon guy as the Big Bad for the remainder of the season. Along with the newbies being on the outs with the original gang, not much has really stood these last few episodes. Black Siren's redemptive path on the other hand has been a bit of a highlight, even if it's largely wound up the obsessive Olicity fans but mainly it's been the only storyline that's really generated any good feeling for this season so far.

Black Lightning: The first five episodes of the CW's latest DC superhero drama series and while it's been doing it's best to distance itself from the Arrow universe (despite being as grounded as Arrow), it's still a worthy addition to this universe. Freeland feels every bit as alive a city as Star City, Central City or National City and Jefferson's journey to step out of retirement and resume his role as Black Lightning has been as compelling as Anissa's tentative journey towards becoming Thunder. Even Jennifer's own storylines have been worth watching while Gambi has made for an interesting if ambiguous ally for Jefferson. The weaker elements include Lynn, who needs better writing and Tobias, whom I don't find really that intimidating but at least characters like Tori and Lady Eve (who I do find genuinely menacing) add to his scenes.

Supergirl: Eh, the four episodes we've had before it's break to make way for the second half of Legends Of Tomorrow's third season have been a mixed bag in a way. Reign is still a decent villain with sympathy being shown for Samantha (unaware of her true identity) but the Worldkillers plot hasn't moved too much ahead even with the arrival of another in the shape of Purity/Julia. On top of that we've had more on the Kara/Mon El/Imra triangle, Alex brooding over Maggie while Wynn, Lena and Jimmy have been a little underused. Plus side, at least Brainiac has been fun to watch so far.

The Flash: Credit to the show where it's due. They did not drag out the trial of the Flash storyline too long and they certainly didn't go overboard with the angst either. They even found a clever way (via Ralph) to exonerate Barry while at the same time, maintaining that DeVoe is still around to hijack more meta bodies for his endgame plan. I did like all the sideplots with the Axel and his mother working together, Iris leading the team as best she could and Barry working with other rogues to escape getting auctioned to Amunet. Just a shame poor Becky came a cropper as she was getting a redemptive storyline though.

Will & Grace: I can't believe it's actually been eleven years since this show first ended and now it's back. I was a fan of the series back in the day but it also wasn't one of those shows I was clamouring to see return as I felt it had ended well enough and had ran long enough with eight seasons under it's belt. This first episode was a good return with the previous finale retconned as the title characters had a pillow fight in the White House along with Karen and Jack providing their own witty comments on things. Overall, a fun first episode for a series that didn't need reviving but at the same time, I'm kind of glad it's back nonetheless.

- Ben Platt will star in a musical series called The Politician for Netflix along with Barbara Streisland. The series is one of two created by Ryan Murphy, the other being Ratched, starring Sarah Paulson.
- Once Upon A Time will end after seven seasons. The remaining episodes will air from next month onwards.
- David W. Thompson will play Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow in another episode arc of Gotham. The show is certainly on a recast spree.
- DC's digital streaming service will be doing another prequel series - this time it's Metropolis which will focus on Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.
- Titans meanwhile will introduce the Doom Patrol in the fifth episode with Bruno Bicher playing the role of The Chief.
- Matt Ryan will reprise his role as John Constantine for the Legends Of Tomorrow third season finale if recent set pics are anything to go by.
- Jeanine Mason will star in the CW reboot pilot for Roswell.
- Keeping with reboots, the CW's reboot for Charmed will have the Pruitt sisters called Madison, Mel and Macy. Ser'Darius will play Galvin, the ideal boyfriend to one of the sisters in the pilot.
- Michelle Gomez, Lucy Davis and Chance Perdomo will play Mary Wardell/Madam Satan, Aunt Hilda and Ambrose Spellman in The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina. Kiernan Shipka will play the title role.
- Alfre Woodard has been cast as Cookie for Empire's fourth season.

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Written by Tom Rob Smith
Directed by Daniel Minahan

Jeff (to Andrew): "You destroyed me. I wish I had never walked in that bar. I wish I had never met you."

Last week the focus was on David Madson (Cody Fern), so it was only fair that for this week's episode, we went backwards and put the spotlight on Andrew's first victim, Jeff Trail (Finn Wittrock) as his life took one hell of a bad turn upon meeting Andrew two years prior to his death along with his Navy career coming to a messy end in itself.

Focusing on the Navy aspect first, those scenes were genuinely uncomfortable to watch. Jeff did the right thing by standing up for a fellow officer who was being tormented and beaten for being gay but by doing this, he inadvertently exposed his own sexuality and while he didn't receive beatings like the officer he saved, Jeff had come to the realisation that his career was over.

The fact that he volunteer to speak on the side of things with his image blackened and voiced distorted meant that he knew on some level that he was never going to progress in the Navy. Andrew in a moment of clarity, even pointed out the risks Jeff was making with that video and it was clear that prior to his death that Jeff craved to go back to his old life again.

Jeff's meeting with Andrew felt low key but it was easy to see why the pair of them were drawn to each other. However like David, Jeff had also become aware of how much of a fantasist Andrew truly was and had done his best to avoid contact with him until the night of his death. Even David had to make it abundantly clear to Andrew that he had no desire to marry him as well during a night out with David's work colleagues.

The episode nicely builds back to the final moments of Jeff's life and while there are some liberties taken with the juxtaposition of Jeff's sister going into labour as he's being killed, again the show has to be credited for putting more focus into Cunanan's other victims and while Cody Fern stole the show last week as Madson, Finn Wittrock indeed was excellent here as Trail.

As for the Versace segment of the piece, Gianni was back this week as we went back to when he decided to come out with Antonio for an interview for The Advocate magazine, despite Donatella's reservations. This of course cut into Jeff's own public outing as well, showing the contrasts between both of Cunanan's victims and the lives they lead.

- The episode mostly got things right, except for Jeff already being an uncle and his sister giving birth the day before he was murdered by Andrew.
- Andrew was a regular in the Flicks bar that he met Jeff in this episode.
- UK viewers will be able to watch the series from February 28th on BBC2.
- Chronology: June and November 1995 as well as April 1997, San Diego and Minneapolis.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell was another powerful episode. A sublime performance from Finn Wittrock as Jeff Trail but unlike the last two episodes, there was also a sizeable focus on Gianni himself as we saw Cunanan's anger over his rejections from both David and Jeff manifest in the worst way here. With a break next week, it'll be interesting to see how the final four wrap up the season.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x10: "Daddy Darhkest"

Written by Keto Shimizu & Matthew Maala
Directed by Dermott Downs

Constantine: "You want to tag along for an exorcism?"
Sara: "Yep."
Constantine: "That's out of the bloody question, luv."

The first thing John Constantine probably should learn is that saying no to Sara Lance is a no go area. She wanted to tag along to an exorcism and along with Earth X Snart, she got her wish. Sara also got another encounter with Mallus and of course, a not so surprising moment with Constantine during the halfway point of this episode.

While I would've preferred to have seen John hooking up with Leo (though I did appreciate the flirting he did with Snart to begin with), the sexy times between him and Sara were actually pretty fun. When was the last time we saw two bisexual characters hook up with each on a network show? I honestly don't remember.

Hooking up to one side (and Sara's comments on John's prowess to another), this episode was about Constantine needing the Legends help with a distressed girl named Emily who was rotting away in an asylum in Star City. It didn't take long though for the episode to reveal that the girl actually is Nora Darhk and through Mallus, the latter was powerful enough to send Sara, John and Leo back in time for the second half of the episode.

Not too far back in time - just to 1969 where a younger version of that psych doctor looking after Nora was more than happy to perform a lobotomy on Leo before being later revealed as a member of the Mallus order when Damien popped up in the presence to take Nora away from Zari and Ray. Speaking of Zari and Ray - those two really do work well together.

I liked that both of them tried their damndest to actually help Nora and the tragic part was that had Damien not popped up when he did, they might have actually changed Nora's fate for the better. It also tied into Amaya's desperate attempt to actually help Kuasa this week, only for the latter to try and kill Nate. Except that Kuasa did actually back down, so I'm guessing that Amaya might have a chance of actually reaching out to her granddaughter by the end of the season.

The strongest aspect of this episode along with our bisexual trenchcoat wearing exorcist being at his absolute best was the fact that things are advancing with the Mallus storyline. Nora is a crucial part of it and Zari is one of the six totem bearers (Amaya and Kuasa being two others I assume) and that might factor into Mallus's eventual downfall. There's also the fact that despite appearing fine, Sara too will also succumb to Mallus's power as well, which was why Constantine was quick to make sure that Ray kept on to the anti magic weapon he had.

Of course with all the Mallus stuff affecting most of the storylines and John just being a one episode (and a bit) guest star, the episode also saw the departure of Leo, who decided to go back to his Earth and marry his Ray. I am hoping we see those two guys again in the future but in the meantime, I'll be looking forward to what Wally will bring to the team when he soon shows up on the Waverider.

- While Sara/John might have hooked up this episode, the signs of her and Ava getting it on soon were also being fired at us in a big way. Oh and Rip has managed to escape from Time Bureau prison.
- The six totems are Air (Zari), Spirit (Amaya), Water (Kuasa) as well as Fire, Earth and another unknown one for now.
- For those who didn't actually watch Constantine, the basics about John were nicely covered (Astra, soul being damned to Hell etc). Now we just need the CW to release his animated series and be done with it.
- Chronology: Star City, in both 2017 and 1969.

Daddy Darhkest was a great return for the show. It slipped nicely into the horror territory while also adding some extra dimensions to both Nora and Kuasa's characters along with advancing the Mallus a bit more for viewers. Constantine's appearance was every bit as brilliant as his previous stint in Arrow and we got some beautiful character moments as well.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x12: "Ask Him About Stella"

Written by Tess Leibowitz
Directed by Stephen Cragg

Isaac: "You need help!"
Annalise: "Not from you!"

Okay, I really want to talk about the final scene of this episode first and normally I would but sticking with the title for this one, let's discuss the Isaac segment instead as it turns out his addictive personality has resurfaced or maybe it never went away in the first place.

The episode started with him getting a fix and then confessing to Annalise that he's been high again, so the two of them go and get something to eat as Annalise spends a good portion of this episode trying to actually help Isaac but you could already tell that her efforts were going to be in vain, even with Bonnie putting her head in a noose with Denver in order to prevent Isaac being arrested for his daughter's death.

Flashbacks did show Isaac's role in Stella's death and while he didn't directly kill her, his addiction is what led to his child being able to take her own life though. Seeing Isaac unravel as his lies became exposed was an interesting change of pace from the Laurel heavy scenes we've had but I genuinely did think he was going to attack Annalise before she managed to get away from him.

I'm not sure if this is the last we'll see of Isaac given that Annalise did drop another bomb on him by phoning his ex-wife to ask about Stella and I suspect it's probably not either. Of course, Isaac wasn't the only set back Annalise had to deal with this week.

Her Face Case with Nate's father also kept taking bad turns, even to the point where Nate Sr was losing even more faith in his son and the justice but this plot did result in some of the best scenes of the episode. On one hand we had the Keating 5 being their competitive best to try and write the best statements for Annalise and when things truly went south, Michaela was the one to put Annalise into contact with someone who could fix(er) their problems.

For the last few weeks, ABC have been shamelessly hyping up the crossover event this show will have with Scandal and for a few seconds we got to see Annalise attend a lecture of Olivia Pope's. However we're all going to have to wait another three weeks before we get to see both Viola Davis and Kerry Washington go toe to toe with each other, but it was hard not to feel excited during that final moment.

- Laurel got to see her baby this week, which she named Christopher while Frank confronted Sandrine over her connection to Wes.
- Connor is going back to law school and the wedding is back on with Oliver, though I'm starting to doubt it'll actually go ahead.
- I have to admit that Asher was pretty funny as the cook for most of this episode.
- Chronology: From where He's A Bad Father more or less left off.

Ask Him About Stella didn't really advance too much with Jorge's ongoing schemes and I have a feeling that even the crossover might not advance Sandrine's connection to Wes as much but episode wise, there were plenty of good moments to go over.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - House By The Lake

Written by Tom Rob Smith
Directed by Daniel Minihan

David: "You can't do it, can you?"
Andrew: "Can't what?"
David: "Stop!"

For the second week running, the show decides to rest the title murder of the piece in order to focus on two of Andrew's earlier kills and like last week, it's an interesting direction that pays off and results in easily the best and most harrowing episode of the series so far.

Going back a month earlier from Lee Miglin's death, we're now in Minneapolis where Andrew has been involved with both Jeff Trailer (Finn Wittrock) and architect, David Madson (Cody Fern) and sensing that both men are becoming increasingly weary of him, he arranges it so that David is forced to witness Andrew's pretty violent murder of Jeff within the first ten minutes of the episode.

The tone for this episode almost took a horror style route with the way Andrew arranged to have David witness seeing Jeff being killed and I even thought we were going to have a moment where David's poor dog Prince was also going to end up on Andrew's kill list as well. Fortunately the dog actually survived the episode when Andrew took David captive and was forced to flee from the latter's apartment.

If last week's episode was successful in giving audiences familiarity with both Lee and Marilyn Miglin, then this episode does one better with David. Not only do we actively fear for the guy during his forced road trip with Andrew but we have both his landlady and co-worker give us insight into the kind of man he is along with flashbacks with his father (along with detectives later talking to his parents).

It would've been easy for this show to have portrayed Andrew's non famous victims as an afterthought but kudos to the show for now doing that with them. David's fate is treated with the utmost of seriousness as he goes from being passive to Andrew's increasingly erratic behaviour to finally getting the chance to call Andrew out on the fantasist that he is.

The death of David itself is pretty bleak, encompassing the last few minutes of the episode as his attempts to reason and escape from Andrew end up being rather futile. Cody Fern gives a pretty powerhouse performance throughout the episode and while this episode might have killed off both David and Jeff, it seems that we're not done with them yet as the trailer for next week indicates.

- The show mostly got David and Jeff's backstories, including the thing about the buzzer right.
- Again no Gianni, Antonio or Donatella for this episode but they're all back next as are David and Jeff.
- Aimee Mann was singing in that bar that Andrew and David were in before the latter's death. Nice cameo there.
- Chronology: April 1997 Minneapolis.

House By The Lake in some respects reminded me of that Six Feet Under episode, That's My Dog, despite the events here actually being true and far worse than said episode. With some truly excellent performances from Darren Criss and Cody Fern, this is easily the best and most harrowing episode from this season so far.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x11: "He's A Bad Father"

Written by Maya Goldsmith
Directed by Marta Cunningham

Laurel: "I love my son. I just want a chance to be his mother."

Before we were even halfway through this episode, it was pretty obvious that the outcome for Laurel wasn't going to go in her favour. Dramatically, it makes sense for now to have Jorge being the guardian of her premature son and given how easily Isaac alone was torn apart on the stand by Jorge's lawyer, everyone could've seen this particular verdict coming a mile off.

If Isaac hadn't relapsed into heroin before being torn to shreds on the stand about his daughter's suicide (which has now been reopened as a murder investigation), then he's definitely back on the gear after this one. That said, given that we've already got more mysteries on this show, do we really need to add another one as to whether or not Isaac might have killed his own daughter in the mix too?

Annalise did however seemed to believe Isaac's innocence and even made an attempt to reach out to him as well. Speaking of reaching out, this week we also saw both Annalise and Nate reach to the latter's jailbird father (Glynn Turman) and that led to some rather revealing scenes about Nate's past and his current relationship with his father.

The show has struggled for a while to give Nate something meaningful to do, so this plotline with Annalise wanting to use his father for her other cases storyline is actually a pretty good move for the show. The scenes with Nate and his father were pretty uncomfortable but also rather effective. The only bit that slightly spoiled the plot was the near reunion between Nate and Annalise but at least the latter put a stop to that one.

Getting back to the Laurel segment of the show, this episode also introduced us to her mother, Sandrine (Lolita Davidovich), who wasn't exactly torn on the stand by Jorge's lawyer but instead wasn't even talked to at all. Laurel's mother seemed to be scatty throughout the episode, despite delivering an impassioned defence of her daughter's mothering abilities, the episode also had Bonnie reveal to Frank that Sandrine and Wes had previously met before the latter's death last season.

- Oliver set up a page to help get Simon's parents over to visit him. I do like that Connor tried to talk some sense into him this week.
- Bonnie's paranoia about being watched by Denver might be justified, considering that her computer was tampered with and the fact that he dropped her in it with Jorge last week.
- Though the boys didn't much this week, it was nice to see them take delight in wanting to help Nate's father, before Michaela dropped the Laurel bombshell. Oh and Sandrine doesn't seem to like Frank either.
- Chronology: Not long since the previous episode.

Not the strongest episode we've had this season. He's A Bad Father though did score points with Nate Sr and Sandrine adding to the mix, even if Laurel's custody hearing for her son went the predictable route. Still though, at least they're intensifying on what happened to Wes before he died.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Batman 66 - Episodes 13-16 Reviews

In the episodes I'm about to look into, we've got the quest to punish a jury, steal a cowl while at the same time, someone also starts recruiting the youth for the criminal life.

1x13: The Thirteenth Hat

Another familiar member of the Rogue Gallery makes their debut in this two parter, but instead of the whimsical and unsettling version of Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter, David Wayne's take on the character is a lot less interested in Alice In Wonderland type of hijinks and themes and more interested in getting revenge on both the Jury and Batman who previously sent him to prison. His revenge plan is pretty decent too, considering that he managed to pose as sculptor Marbot and the first part of this story ends with Robin tied up and Batman encased into some Super-Fast Hardening Plaster. 8/10

1x14: Batman Stands Pat

Onto the second part of this story and things did look dire enough for the Dynamic Duo, except that Batman held his breath and broke out of his entombment rather sharpish. This episode was of course great for Alfred who managed to go undercover while Jervis was attempting to abduct the final juror, even if the ploy was quickly seen through and a trap was set for Batman. I have to admit that I do slightly prefer this take on Tetch more than Gotham's version or the usual depictions we tend to have with the character. 8/10

1x15: The Joker Goes To School

And he's back. With the Riddler getting his second story in no short time at all, the Joker has also returned and for this two part story, it seems that he's looking towards the younger population of Gotham to lure into a world of crime. With cohorts such as  Nick and Two-Bits (both high school dropouts) and head cheerleader Susie on his side, it's not like he's lacking in assistants. Heck, Susie herself even plays her role in getting both Batman and Robin at the end of this one to boot. 7/10

1x16: He Meets His Match, The Grisly Ghoul

I think the obvious highlight in this episode and hence the image I'm using as well is having Burt Ward trying to play Dick Grayson as a would be rebel to both Susie and the Joker's other henchman, Nick. He's totally unconvincing but it's not a bad thing in the slightest as Susie's loyalty to the Joker is tested after he tries to murder her for following his orders. I have to admit, it's pretty dark seeing this Joker nearly kill a teenager, even if his plan ultimately fails but it does give the episode something of a boost nonetheless and it helped to add a little menace to this Joker as well. 8/10

Next blog I'll delve into True Or Face False/Holy Rat Race and The Purr-Fect Crime/Better Luck Next Time.

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - A Random Killing

Written by Tom Robb Smith
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Marilyn Miglin: "Just think of the little red light as the man you love."

I have been wondering if the titular character's life and death would be hard for the show to sustain over the course of nine episodes and to a certain extent, this episode somewhat proved a point as the focus moved away from Cunanan's obsession with Gianni to pay focus on two of his victims in an episode with a rather pointed titled.

Husband and wife business tycoons, Lee and Marilyn Miglin (Mike Farrell and Judith Light) were the primary focus of this episode as they appeared to be the ideal couple to their friends, family and media but in private, theirs was a marriage filled with secrets that threatened to come out in a big way, following the gruesome murder of Lee by Andrew's hands.

I found this somewhat change of pace rather interesting with Farrell perfectly conveying Lee's internal struggles between wanting to be a good husband and deny his true feelings to also trying to impress a visiting Andrew by taking about a famous building he was modelling. I think because of all this, it made Andrew's murder of him even more horrific to watch, despite not actually being that gory onscreen.

The aftermath of Lee's death was where the episode did excel though. Judith Light gave a wonderful guest performance as Marilyn was blatantly in denial about her husband's other life while at the same time, she was given a beautiful moment to break down and mourn his murder. The final scene where she spoke on television about her husband was just a lovely moment to end the episode on.

As for Andrew himself, this was clearly the time in his reign of terror that he was coming apart at the seams. His killing of Lee was sloppy, given that he also went out of his way to humiliate the man in death while the cops also managed to quickly figure out it was him and nearly came close to tracking him. This forced Andrew's hand into murdering another man - Reece Williams for his truck and while that death was less planned out than Miglin's, the episode did show that Andrew didn't always use his charm offensive to get what he wanted.

- Whether or not there was a real connection between Andrew and Lee seems to be up for debate by the family of the deceased.
- Going by next week's trailer, the focus will be shifting onto both David Madson and Jeffrey Trail, Cunanan's first two victims.
- The only thing Versace related to appear in this episode was Andrew briefly looking around in one of his stores.
- Chronology: May 1997 in Chicago, Illinois.

A Random Killing seemingly took a change of pace from the Versace/Cunanan focused first two episodes. For the most part, I think this actually worked well and while this wasn't Darren Criss's best one (though he can convey menace quite well), the guest performances from both Mike Farrell and Judith Light were second to none brilliant.

Rating: 7 out of 10