YOU Netflix Original Season One Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode read. Please proceed with caution.

Gossip Girl has gone rogue. My initial reaction to watching this series. The premise of the story is about a bookstore manager named Joe (Penn Badgley), who is the stereotypical nice guy with a twist: he is a stalker, murderer, and really obsessed with his love interest, Beck (Elizabeth Lail). Now what really makes this show work is the inner monologue of Joe and staying with him throughout the entire series.

We cringed, got uncomfortable, and yelled at Beck to get some damn curtains for her apartment. She literally does so many things from undressing to having sex in front of the huge window, it’s like she’s asking for Joe to stalk her and “protect” her. To balance out how creepy Joe is, the writers crafted Beck’s character to also have flaws like sleeping with the wrong men, having her best friend Peach (Shay Mitchell) take care of her, and claiming to be a writer when she barely writes anything.

This does not make Beck a bad person necessarily, but these traits are what lures Joe to her, and how in his mind, he feels it is his duty to make her fall in love with him. The best part about this story is the actor, Penn Badgley, also known as Lonely Boy aka Dan from Gossip Girl. The show is full of twists and turns that Joe sometimes can’t control. When his plans spiral out of control, the show spirals with him, making us the audience wonder if / when Joe will get caught.

This show failed on Lifetime… but thrived on Netflix as a binge-worthy series. YOU has been renewed for a second season as a result, but Joe will be embarking on a new story, as show wrapped up this first season in the most terrifying way possible.

Overall, YOU is a good show. I feel comfortable enough to call it that, and it opens up the audience’s initial thoughts / ideas of a romantic hero and how those traits don’t necessarily make “nice guys” so nice… The point is people lie and nobody can be trusted.

FAM 1x01 "Pilot" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

CBS’s latest sitcom, starring Nina Dobrev, is honestly nothing special. At least, FAM has everything a standard sitcom needs: unconventional family structure, cheap humor, and loads of puns involving marijuana. The last part is starting to become a standard in television lately.

The series centers around newly engaged couple, Clem (Nina Dobrev) and Nick (Tone Bell), who end up taking care of Clem’s half-sister Shannon (Odessa Adlon) after discovering how Clem’s father has been neglecting her over the years. The premise of this show reminds me of the sitcom What I Like About You starring Amanda Bynes, an old series I used to watch religiously. The major difference is the involvement of Clem’s and Nick’s parents, in addition to how the show mainly focuses on Clem’s adjustment to having her sister and father back in her life.

There’s nothing really unique about this sitcom, except when Nina Dobrev is allowed to have heart-to-hearts with Shannon about living with their dad, which screams “ELENA GILBERT” to me. The whole reason I watched the “Pilot” was solely because she was starring in it. I am not ashamed to admit this.

Rose and Walt, Nick’s parents, are really funny, but Nina and Bell cannot match them in terms of humor during the dinner scenes. It makes the interactions more awkward than they already are.

Overall, this is not a terrible show, but I wouldn’t classify it as amazing either. I’d say FAM is a solid okay to watch once in awhile. Maybe that’s just enough. If anything, I get to see Nina Dobrev on television. For me, that’s a big win.

Blog Update #2

Hello blog readers,

Apparently, I am no good at giving updates. My last one was in June 2018, which is not okay. In the future, I will try to write updates more often to keep you informed of how this blog will continue moving forward. I have big plans for this blog website. Let’s talk about the number of blog posts I’ve written so far. Including this very late update, I have written 291 posts. I am reaching for 300 posts tomorrow in order to have my 300th blog post be my review of Supernatural’s 300th episode.

I’m excited! I have to write the following nine reviews in order to reach my goal and of course, watch the damn episode when it airs tomorrow. Gotta plan these things out:

1. The Magicians Episode Review

2. Kingdom Hearts 3 Video Game Review

3. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Holiday Special Review

4. Legacies Episode Review

5. YOU Netflix Original Season One Review

6. FAM 1x01 Episode Review

7. Titans Season One Review

8. Fate/Grand Order Mobile App Game Review

9. Supernatural 300th Episode Review

   Wish me luck! Let me know if you have any shows, books, or movies you want me to review for you. I’m open to mostly anything from any genre.

Black Mirror Netflix Original 4x01 "USS Callister" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

While technically classified as an episode of Black Mirror, “USS Callister” feels more like a movie running at about 76 minutes long, and how the story plays out. The story is about Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons), a gifted programmer / co-founder of Callister Inc. alongside James Walton (Jimmi Simpson). Daly, shy and reclusive, is not recognized by his co-workers, while Walton takes all of the credit for their successful online video game.

Daly ventures into his online game every night as Captain Daly of the USS Callister, the name of his ship on Space Fleet. It was his favorite show growing up. His crew are digital, but sentient, clones of his co-workers, including Walton, and they have adventures together.

This set-up makes it seem like Robert Daly is our ideal protagonist. He is timid, unrecognized for his work, and his co-workers do not see him as an equal. He was giving off vibes like Walter White from Breaking Bad, which probably should’ve been my first clue on the twist following the opening scene. He is the stereotypical nice guy, who’d normally get “sweet revenge” on his co-workers…

Yes and no.

At the end of the opening scene, when Captain Daly kissed both girls with such creepiness, the twist was inevitable. Captain Robert Daly is the villain of the story, and not our hero. This set-up essentially exposes how the “nice guy” route is even distrustful with how Daly exerts his control over his crew by removing their faces and turning them into monsters for his own amusement.

The main protagonist is Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti), the newest employee at Callister Inc. She is honestly my favorite character. The first meeting between her and Daly was filled with a lot of tension, as his dark nature gradually unfolded for the audience. How he sprang into action to collect her DNA was just pure horror. I really appreciate how the writers of this episode flipped the script on us.

“USS Callister” was dark, but surprisingly, it had a lot of funny moments too, mostly from Walton. The episode was also a good take on the toxicity of men on the Internet. Daly, abusing his online powers, tortured his crew members and punished them if they did anything to upset him, especially Walton.

Overall, the writing, dialogue, and story were well-done. I felt the terror whenever Captain Daly logged into the ship, and having Cole take charge throughout the episode was fierce. She is a great actress on top of that too. I loved her performance on How I Met Your Mother, and how she finished out the story with her character taking charge. I’d recommend watching this episode that’s essentially a movie.

Novel Writing Update #3

Hey all,

Thought I’d write an update on my writing process, and how writing Crescent Regent is going… it’s going pretty well. I have finished the latest draft 2018 and on chapter 4 of the rewrite. A lot has changed since my last update in April, my apologies, but I have learned a lot in all of that time.

First, I have joined a Writer’s Group with two other writers about a year ago. We are celebrating our one-year anniversary this coming Sunday. It’s been a crazy year, and I think this is the perfect time to discuss with all of you where my novel currently stands.

My novel has been through hell and back, but it’s stronger than ever. A complete draft has been dissected by my peers and loads of advice have been dished out. I can never thank my Writing Group enough for their “generous support”… they have been incredibly patient with me and my writing flaws.

The latest draft is the toughest challenge yet, but this time, I’m really excited about the changes I’m implementing: new names for the same characters, cutting out half the novel, and replacing it with extended backstory to cover essential context I was lacking for the main protagonist.

SO MUCH TO DO!

I’ll write another post in the near future about how I’m no good at writing fight scenes. It’s a topic I wish to discuss, and the steps I’m taking to improve them.

Thanks for checking up on me. I really appreciate it! Happy Writing!

Good Trouble 1x05 "Parental Guidance Suggested" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

I had no idea how much I needed to see The Fosters return. Stef and Lena have made their grand return to the spin-off visiting Callie and Mariana. Everything that happened in the past four episodes was going to catch up with them, and they are not ready. Callie has Gael and Malika drama, Mariana has drama too, and on top of that, we get to learn about Dennis’s drama. He is the creepy resident who dates young girls. It sounds super creepy, but we’ll get to him.

Stef and Lena are magic. Their presence alone elevated this episode to a whole other level. The chemistry between them is incredible, and their charms win over the entire Coterie, including Dennis himself. To add onto that, they also ate weed cookies, which got them really high, because that’s a thing apparently.

The message of the episode is quite simple: No matter how old we all get, we’re going to need our parents. They want to be bothered by us because they miss us! I’m honestly crying over this episode.

We need them back. The Fosters ended too soon.

Callie plans to disclose her friendship with Malika to Judge Wilson, and her relationship with Gael advances past the causal phase. However, Ben, the male clerk, finds proof on Instagram about the friendship by the end of the episode. Callie’s going to get into serious trouble.

Side note: I’m still not a fan of how this show reveals the future and then backtracks to the present. This episode did it too many times.

Overall, beautiful episode, and those without context of The Fosters, just know Stef and Lena are great human beings. They raised the best daughters and have the ideal marriage. I miss them so much.

The Flash 5x13 "Goldfaced" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Seems like a tradition to test Barry’s limitations as a hero. This is the second time it involves Ralph, who was taught about not killing people last season. Last night, Ralph (and Barry again!) learns how the end does not justify the means when these two go to the black market for a weapon to use against Cicada. This storyline wasn’t bad, just repetitive. There were small moments I found amusing like Barry channeling his inner Oliver Queen from Elseworlds, and the laser tag fight scene was pretty impressive, but it didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. Although, these two saved the day without their powers, so the episode gets points for pulling that off.

Caitlin is working on the metahuman cure without Cisco. Where the hell is Cisco? Are they going to write him out?

Anyway, Nora and Sherloque are in a complicated situation. Nora knows he knows about her working with someone and races to Eobard for a solution. He suggests throwing Sherloque off the trail by exploiting his weakness: love for the same woman. In this episode, Nora brings all of Sherloque’s ex-wives into one room via holograms and we discover they are all doppelgangers of each other! However, we are not informed of much beyond that. No specific Earths, distinct personality traits, and her name escapes me. The last part is more on me.

Anyway, this works to distract Sherloque, who is trying to romance the Earth-1 version of this character.

Iris West-Allen encounters Cicada! Candice Patton is killing it this season, and I cannot stress this enough! She is bringing Iris back to life after a few bad seasons with her being delegated to being a love interest, and her writing is becoming relevant again. All in time for her to face off against the main villain of the season in his own home. The tension, suspense, and how the audience gets the “vibe” that Iris is way over her head in this one. However, she manages to escape, stab him, and learn his weakness. Way to go!

Overall, the episode had borderline too much going on, but the storylines were all connected through the characters’ trying to stop Cicada in their own ways. Nora needed Sherloque distracted, Barry and Ralph had to get the weapon, Caitlin was on the cure to use against him, and Iris fought the man himself.

If Cisco is leaving, someone tell me. His character has ample opportunity to exit.

Blood Bound Book Review

Major Spoilers are included in this book review. Please proceed with caution.

If you want to check out my book review on Moon Called, the link is here.

I have officially finished the first two books of the Mercy Thompson series. Written by Patricia Briggs, she has crafted a somewhat believable fantasy world. I only put “somewhat” because Blood Bound was written in 2007, so a lot of things were outdated like no texting, social media, the newspaper, etc. That is absolutely no fault of the writer’s, and I actually enjoyed the old ways of communication like talking on the phone and using email to have a causal conversation.

The series is about Mercy Thompson, who is a walker. She can shift into a coyote and has resistance to vampire magic in addition to toxic werewolf masculinity. That’s what I call the werewolf submissive / dominance idea… It’s directly tied into Mercy’s love triangle with Adam and Samuel.

The plot of the second novel is about Mercy helping out her vampire friend Stefan with a problem involving his seethe. It then quickly escalates to a vampire hunt to stop the rising of violence in the Tri-Cities and to protect the innocent from dying. The main villain is a sorcerer vampire, a demon who has possessed a vampire.

I actually examined the drawn map for this novel, the Tri-Cities, and I was able to follow it pretty easily. Everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be, and having a map visual made reading this novel an interesting experience. Seeing how Mercy traveled from point A to B was made abundantly clear.

Mercy’s characterization was much stronger in this book. This is written in first person, so we are really inside her head, following her thought process out, and it was fascinating. Her naval gazing, the prose, sometimes felt too educated. When she used the word effluvia, it broke me out of the realism abruptly because I had to look up what that meant. Then I wondered how she would even know a word like that.

effluvia  means an unpleasant odor.

All the other characters are written consistently for the most part. However, no matter what I do, Stefan looks like Stefan Salvatore (The Vampire Diaries) inside my mind. This is a personal issue that I’m strangely okay with it. He got a lot more character development in this book, and the vampire seethes and their rules are explored further too. Similar to how we learned about werewolf pack laws in the first book.

Overall, I blasted through this book in two weeks and appreciated everything. If Kingdom Hearts 3 hadn’t come out last week, I would’ve finished way sooner. I’m jumping into the Iron Kissed, the third book, later tonight. Reading is fun!

Arrow 7x12 "Emerald Archer" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

The 150th episode was a reminder of how far this show has gone since the first season. I’ve been rewatching the first season lately to help with my writing, and it’s crazy to compare where it began and where the show is now. The returns of Quentin, Thea, Sara, Roy, Ragman, and Sin were well-done in the documentary format. It made the cameos more believable, and a lot of the plot moved forward too. Ricardo Diaz being included almost ruined it for me, but I guess he had to be in it.

Barry Allen’s cameo from Central City was a nice touch too. He is Oliver’s crossover best friend, and one of the few people who knew about his heroism back during his Hood / Arrow days. He is always believing in Oliver Queen, but never forgets about how much darkness he’s actually gone through.

Team Arrow is officially reassembled in this episode. They are also an official task force for the Star City Police Department. The only way to avoid going to prison for being vigilantes. I did love Diggle’s speech on how Oliver needs a team. Diggle’s has Oliver’s best interests at heart, and the only person who can steer him on the right path… but I wonder if he’ll still be involved at ARGUS with Lyla. I guess we shall have to see what happens there.

Emiko Queen is (probably?) exposed, at least to Team Arrow. Dinah and Rene learn from Oliver and Emiko respectively about being brother and sister. They take the news with shock but accepting… I think Rene and Emiko might fall in love with each other… This is the CW after all.

William and Zoe have a great friendship, which was hinted at in the flash forwards. We are seeing the fallout of William being sent to boarding school, and how being away has affected his behavior. I got annoyed when Felicity causally called herself a “mom”… their mother-son bond feels more forced than anything else.

Glad the show didn’t stay in the documentary format the whole time and knew when to go back to their usual television format to flesh out the story. Honestly, The Office meets Arrow is the best way to describe this celebration of reaching 150 episodes. The running from guns and explosives fight scenes from the camera angle were well-done. Arrow gave more effort to their fight scenes, which impressed me for the most part.

Overall, the 150th episode gave us a reminder on why we continued to watch this show. The numerous references to the spin-offs, Oliver’s initial flaws in his crusade, the team reforming to save the day, and then the Arrowcave made a grand return in the present and flash forwards.

Clary—Blackstar and Connor (Hawke?) arrive in the flash forward Arrowcave for malevolent reasons. They are confirmed to be anti-vigilante haters. In my opinion, the seventh season missed with how they handled the flash forwards. I mean, no Roy lately? Lame! I need my Arsenal screentime.

Dynasty Season One Review

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

I watched the entire first season last summer, and planned on waiting for season two to conclude, but I have recently discovered one of my favorite characters is no longer with us. So, I have made a change of plans and have no desire to watch the second season.

Dynasty is about Fallon Carrington (Elizabeth Gillies) being furious with her father about his engagement to Cristal, who also works at their company. This is a 2017 reboot of the original series with the same name. I was not really into this first season until they reached a Cristal-centric episode exploring her background and how it was connected to the initial mystery they set up with her.

There are other members of this family in this show too. Blake Carrington is Fallon’s father and the current CEO of the company. Steven, Fallon’s brother and Blake’s son, who is also gay, and gets into political scandals that directly hurt the Carrington reputation. That sounds about right for a soap opera type of show.

To be honest, what they do at the company is not really relevant to the plot, and it’s used more as a vehicle to larger family issues.

Michael Culhane is the limo driver, and Fallon’s lover. They have an on-off relationship throughout the first season, that gets left on a cliffhanger when Fallon is torn between him and another man. What a typical situation for our heroine to find herself in. She also hooks up with Jeff Colby, who has a mission of his own that tries to get involved with the main plot of the series. There’s drama upon drama.

The best story told in the first season was Cristal’s background, and how that tied in her struggles to move up in the Carrington company, and later expanded to how she survived escaping an abusive situation plus her hardships as a Latina woman. I was sobbing during her first background story, but shortly after being introduced, it was pushed to the side during the second half to make room for the other stories pushing toward the surface.

Her romance with Blake is tested in almost every episode, and her rivalry with Fallon is classic fun… honestly the dynamic between these two fierce women made the show binge-worthy to me.

Overall, the drama never stops coming, gets convoluted at times, but that’s to be expected (?), but the cliffhanger at the end was pretty insane. I remember screaming for everyone to get out of there. But, whatever. I will not be tuning in for a second season for quite some time.

The Magicians 4x02 "Lost, Found, Fuck" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Everyone got separated again! Margo is in Fillory! Quentin is stuck with Elliot Monster! Kady, Josh, and Penny 23 are with Marina! Julia is failing out of Brakebills! Things are getting crazy everywhere! However, I do like how all of them are connected through their sense of lost identity. This glamour spell links all of the stories together because it gives them a collective goal.

By episode’s end, all the fake identities disappear, and everyone remembers who they really are. I have to agree with Monster Elliot. I was getting tired of the “Brian game” too. Most shows would’ve done the mistake of extending this to the point of no return, but The Magicians knew the “amnesia” story arc couldn’t last beyond two episodes.

Alice and Henry Fogg have roles to play in this episode too.

How Alice used the cockroach was revealed, and it was super clever to be honest. It was also a good tie-in to the “approved” Metamorphosis book The Library allowed her to read. The episode didn’t expand on this part of the story too much, but I hope we get more Alice / Nick time. Being paired up with Santa Claus on this show is so fun.

Henry Fogg, Todd, and Marina scenes were incredible. The development of Henry Fogg in this episode was fantastic. I felt really sympathetic for him toward the end of the episode. He was homeless and was Marina’s father!! I was screaming at the screen… I hope Marina doesn’t go anywhere this season. It’s a different timeline Marina, but she’s exactly the same as far as I’m concerned.

Julia’s story was interesting. I love how she figured everything out through her talks with Henry Fogg. Their relationship is so strange, but I’m glad they readdressed Fogg’s initial rejection of her entry into Brakebills and his guilt about the path she went on with the Hedge Witches. She ends up being the one to restore everyone’s memories while also discovering she can die and come back to life. Plot armor to the max!

Margo’s journey into Fillory was amazing too. She is getting tired of all this magic nonsense, and her return to being High King was pretty epic. Like I mentioned before, I am loving her character and how fierce she keeps coming off as. She doesn’t take shit from anyone… literally no one, not even Elliot…

Speaking of Elliot, we have to save him from the Monster! He has a motive to his madness. Elliot Monster is looking for something the Gods took from him. But he back tracks on that mission when Quentin wakes up from being Brian. Elliot Monster decides to reunite with the rest of the group, and that’s how it all ends… I’m so stoked for the new episode this week.

I shall be reviewing this show weekly moving forward. Thanks for reading!

The Magicians 4x01 "A Flock of Lost Birds" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

I am on board with The Magicians’ fourth season! The entire time I was watching this episode, I was feeling with such joy and nostalgia of the first season. Brakebills University is relevant again with the familiar intro scene. Kimber D’Antoni is drawn to Brakebills like Quentin and Julia back in the series premiere, except the rules are different with The Library having absolute control of magic.

If you need a refresher on what happened last season, my review on the third season is here.

Let’s carry on.

Kim is revealed to be Julia in her new identity. The new identities opens up a whole narrative for all the characters, and the rules behind the glamour spell is annoying, logical, and dangerous all wrapped into one… this is a whole lot of fun for the former students whenever they attempt to “poke” the new identities in any way. How the characters are brought together also stems from an unexpected twist.

Turns out Kady is not a drug dealer in this new life. She’s an undercover police officer who looks into Hedge Witches, which leads her to finding “Janet” (Margo) and consequently to the rest of her friends, who discover their identities are based on a comic book. Penny 23’s new identity as a DJ mellowed him out. Josh is still kind of Josh… they didn’t really work on him beside dick joke and limo driver.

Quentin, known as Brian, is moving along with Monster Elliot. The dynamic makes it appear that they’ve been traveling together for quite some time. Brian is terrified getting ice cream and well aware of the violence Elliot is capable of… So far, I’m loving it.

Margo is officially my favorite character. She is a hard-core woman who takes bullshit from no one, no matter what timeline or alter ego she is in. Her dialogue is incredibly sassy and well-delivered, plus her interactions with Ember in this episode were top-notch.

Sticking Alice with “Santa Claus” was strangely reassuring. Nick, his preferred name, promised Alice that she was a good person, and it prompted her to slit her wrists. Yes, Alice even disappoints Santa Claus, but she manages to grab a cockroach from the infirmary. My guess is that the bug has magic inside, and Alice has to find a way to extract it. Of course, there are probably more possibilities the show can go with this concept.

Overall, I was entertained by new identities, questioning the direction of the show, and jumped right to the next episode because I am hooked again. My episode review on the second episode can be found here.

Marvel's The Punisher Netflix Original Season Two Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Finally got around to watching this second season, and overall, I’m really disappointed. Not going to lie, most of the season was a letdown. The characters were forgettable, the motives tended to get blurred, and how the writers approached Billy Russo’s arc in becoming Jigsaw was messy. In fact, I think they could’ve made him pushed him to the background to make more room for the antagonist Pilgrim and his quest to retrieve Amy, the new character / sidekick to Frank’s Punisher.

Let’s talk about the positive… which is pretty much the first three episodes. The structure was not that bad when it came to Frank’s action-packed journey to protect Amy, known as Rachel during this arc, from all the assassins trying to kill her. The season opens with Frank trying to live a normal life, constantly traveling, until he meets a woman and her kid. He grew attached, made love, and considered settling down with her.

Then, Amy rolled in with her drama, and immediately, Frank reverts to his violent behavior. He jumps to protect her and pummels the assassins in a violent bathroom fight scene. I was in awe on how this was structured, and how Frank used full force to subdue them all. This was a strong beginning to the season, but when they returned to New York City after the three episode arc, everything went to shit.

We were quickly reminded of what Frank left behind, and how he became involved with Billy Russo, while at the same time, he had to deal with the Pilgrim and every other assassin coming for Amy. I thought the disconnect between the two storylines was too large, and in the end, they didn’t intersect, which made the entire season crumble.

Billy Russo’s arc was a mess. First, his face was somewhat decent. I expected it to be unrecoverable based on what Frank did to him. I guess, the show was aiming for a mental Jigsaw rather than a physical one, and ended up missing. His relationship with therapist, Krista Durmont, was somewhat predictable. He ended up twisting her to embrace her own dark past, similar to a Joker-Harley situation.

Frank was the only consistent character throughout the entire season. Whatever dumb situation he was put in, he handled it with violence but made sure to commit to his code of only killing the evil. The short moment of crisis when he believed he broke that code was well-done, and made the return of Karen Page seem more natural than forced.

Overall, I would just watch the first three episodes of The Punisher. It had the right amount of tropes to classify it more like an action movie.

How To Get Away With Murder 5x11 "Be the Martyr" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Okay. This is the perfect episode to discuss how Annalise Keating, Bonnie Winterbottom, and sometimes Frank are the only characters doing things right. They are doing so much to cover their tracks, and really pushing for the Keating Group to get on board. The scene where Annalise literally tells everyone to get on board with the plan is priceless. She is not messing around with anybody, especially Nate.

Nate is the most inconsistent character on this show. For the past four seasons of this show, he has been shaped based on what the plot needs him to be. He didn’t really stand out to me as an individual until we learned about his father, which helped somewhat to making him a relevant character. But damn, how he is trying to convince everyone that Miller was innocent was not smart. He got played hard on this episode, but that was mostly because he set himself up like a fool.

Bonnie, bless her soul. She is grappling with her guilt and almost kills herself… Frank is too good to her most of the time. I believe their complex friendship / romance is getting more fleshed out with this storyline they have going… If Miller turns out to be an innocent victim, it’ll really crush her.

The subplot with Emmett and his misconduct is in this episode too. Annalise is helping him out, and is able to get this handled. I wasn’t too invested in this, and was more curious about Tegan’s phonecall to the FBI.

Gabriel and Miller worked together, but the details aren’t clear yet. By episode’s end, Gabriel is in a jail cell calling for Annalise to be his lawyer. He might have the answers on why the DNA evidence was tampered with, the one involved with Nate Jr’s death.

Also, Laurel and Michaela’s scene about childhood trauma was strangely endearing. Their friendship is undervalued at times.

Grey's Anatomy 15x11 "The Winner Takes It All" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

The feels are real. Meredith and Jackson had a rough time dealing with their parents: Catherine Fox and Thatcher Grey. They are both running out of time, and only one survives by the end of the episode. However, the emotions are all the same: sorrow mixed with solemn happiness. For a long-time Grey’s fan, being able to see Thatcher again was a real treat. We also got a Lexie Grey mention, and what his life was like after she died back in the season eight finale (the plane crash).

Thatcher lived out a pretty simple life, but he left everyone else behind, including Meredith. She is distraught at how content he is in his last moments, and how Thatcher is absolving himself of all the abandonment. He abandoned her when she was a kid, and then he ditched her again after Lexie died, when Meredith needed him the most.

Seeing Thatcher so old and weak was devastating. I couldn’t believe how far he fell, but I’m glad he was able to reunite with Meredith before he died. Meredith, touched by the meeting, starts referring to him as “Grandpa” to her kids. Funny, I love it. Funny, that’s amazing. Funny, Bailey is too cute.

Catherine Fox, Jackson Avery, and Richard Webber are one big happy family. The support, love, and fun they had with each other was too much. Adding Koracick and Amelia into the mix elevated the emotional tension, especially the church scene with Koracick speaking to his dead son. I am so grateful for Koracick and his tragic backstory. Bonus: Teddy and Koracick are too awesome. I’m on board with them.

Overall, the stories in this episode were told beautifully. Most of the other characters like Link, DeLuca, Nico, Alex, Jo, etc. were not present in the episode to give Meredith and Jackson the time to breathe without much other interference. I will forever love how this show uses surgery to create great stories.

Legacies 1x09 "What Was Hope Doing In Your Dreams?" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

I miss Josie and Lizzie Saltzman. It has been three episodes (?) since we last saw them, sobbing over their biological mother I might add, and their lack of presence is troubling. Good thing they’re returning in next week’s episode. Anyway, let’s dive into the title of the episode, and how loaded the question really is, when Landon asked Rafael it.

That’s right! Rafael has romantic feelings for Hope, kissed Josie multiple times, and had sex with Lizzie. He also accidentally killed his girlfriend who somehow forgave him after coming back to life. His love life is really complicated, and it’s only been nine episodes. Rafael is involved in two active love triangles, which might explain why Josie and Lizzie were absent. There would’ve been too much going on if the Saltzman Twins were involved in the plot of the episode.

The chemistry between Rafael and Hope has been intense, which I had noticed when they forged their friendship. I have noted all of the main teenage characters have insane amounts of chemistry between them all, so I have no doubt the show will explore every imaginable pair among them.

Landon might even get more love interests beyond Hope Mikaelson. That scenario honestly seems unlikely after the fireplace scene between him and Hope. Seriously, most of the best scenes from The Vampire Diaries happened in front of that fireplace… or Damon just drinking booze contemplating the latest awful deed he committed in the name of Elena.

The monster of the week was a demon who had to follow Freddy Krueger’s rules. Whatever happens to you in the dream will happen to you in real life. Ergo, if you die in the dream, you die in real life. Seems simple enough. MG and Kaleb get involved in the fight too, facing their nightmares / insecurities as two young vampires. I am invested in all of them: MG’s struggles to avoid Ripper status and Kaleb’s feelings about being a vampire.

Hope is also a bad ass tribrid. The boys called her slaying the nightmare monster “kind of sexy”, and her walk down the hallway was amazing. This seems like a recurring trend for her character, which I “hope” they keep doing. Hope also had a dramatic walk in episode 2 with Josie and Alaric to fight the Gargoyle.

Finally, there is another man after Landon Kirby. At the end of the episode, the mysterious stranger finds Landon’s last foster parents, and quickly figures out that they’ve been compelled. I don’t know if he’s a vampire, but he didn’t step inside the house until after he was invited inside. Was it good manners? Then again, the man could’ve compelled himself an invitation. I’m overthinking this.

Overall, I love this show. It’s been officially renewed for a second season! Well-deserved!

Supernatural 14x12 "Prophet and Loss" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

The 299th episode was well-structured in my opinion. I am excited for the 300th episode coming next week. John Winchester is finally coming back to the show after 12 years! First, Kingdom Hearts 3 returned, and now Jeffrey Dean Morgan is making an appearance. Sam, Dean, Mary, and John together in the bunker is a dream come true. The whole premise of the show is based on this family’s tragedy, and now we’re going to see them happy / find closure with each other.

Sorry. Let’s back track to what’s been going on in this episode. Dean is ready to accept his fate to save the world, but Sam isn’t ready to give up. The typical formula that we love and hate at the same time. We get strong emotional scenes from the boys, and they reaffirm what they mean to each other. When Sam and Dean hugged each other, it’s always a good moment.

This decision weighs on them throughout the episode. Hell, they’re carrying the archangel box with them. Literal weight that also acts as metaphorical weight.

Nick escapes the hospital and returns to his home, where he first met Lucifer. This man is too far gone to the point that when he reunites with his dead wife, he immediately believed she was the Devil, a callback to their original meeting back in season 5. I love the character development for Nick, such a weird move to have this season flesh out this human and not Lucifer, but I got a feeling the show is preparing for Lucifer’s resurrection.

Castiel’s involvement in the episode was a reminder on how far he’s gone for Dean in the past, and what the man has taught him about Free Will. The ending with Dean, Sam, and Castiel felt earned because of what their team stands for. I was thoroughly impressed with all the characters, and how the case of the week was tied closely to Dean’s decision to keep fighting for his body and the world at large.

I will tune in with you all next week for the 300th episode. This will be fun!

Good Trouble 1x04 "Playing the Game" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Good Trouble allows the supporting characters to exist outside of Callie and Marianna. Davia, Alice, and Malika got scenes without Callie or Marianna, letting them be people outside of the sisters’ dramas. I’m excited to see where this development goes, especially with Alice and Davia, who are getting more content to work with. Malika already has a complex backstory, and she is mostly there to help Alice stand up to the other residents who take advantage of her.

Alice is easily becoming one of my favorite characters on this spin-off. She is such a nice person, but she has to learn how to take care of herself too. She also needs to cut Sumi out of her life. I also thought her moment in the bathroom was brilliant, when the toilet paper ran out. We need more Alice in future episodes, and I hope the show will deliver.

Davia is a plus-size character, but she isn’t defined by it, unlike say, Kate Pearson from This Is Us. The show also gave us a sex scene between her and a married man. It wasn’t as steamy as the ones with Callie and Gael, but it’s better than nothing. When Marianna tries to warn Davia about her friends with benefit being married, she throws us a twist by revealing she already knew about it. She doesn’t care, which tells me that this relationship will not last forever.

Marianna and Callie have their own separate dramas this week.

Callie is invited to Judge Wilson’s house for a BBQ, which turns into “Twenty Questions”, and that is filled with a lot of boring lawyer stuff. I’m not even going to pretend I understood anything they were talking about, but I recognize a sore loser when I see one. Judge Wilson kicked Callie, Rebecca, and Ben out of his house because he couldn’t guess their case. His wife was definitely not pleased. Then they ended up at a bar, which was an actual nice scene between the three of them.

Callie also learns Judge Wilson’s son has an ankle monitor, but does not disclose that bit of information to her fellow clerks. Knowing this girl, she’s going to find herself involved, make things worst, and maybe get a happy ending for the family at her expense. She’s always doing crazy stuff like that. I mean, just watch the first episode of The Fosters. Seriously, Callie will smash a car to get your attention.

Marianna is dealing with white, sexist / racist assholes who do not appreciate her. She is tired of trying to fit in and plans to tell the truth at the “diversity” job interview. However, she does not go through with it, and instead bonds with Raj over how they’re outsiders at the work place. They agree to become friends, and Raj misreads the signals (so did I, buddy) about it. He is visibly disappointed to find Marianna had brought along her friends to their “date”.

This episode was almost perfect. If I could change at least one thing, I’d take out the “fake-out” scenarios where the characters want to say something, but the “real” scene reveals they didn’t actually say any of that. This needs to be removed and never used again for the rest of the season. It’s annoying at this point, and the show did it multiple times in one hour.

The Flash 5x12 "Memorabilia" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

I thought this episode was the turning point. We got a lot of information about Nora West-Allen, and how she is trying to change the future with Eobard Thawne’s help. Yes, she is trying to stop Cicada to save her father from his fate (presumably), and is convinced that keeping her parents in the dark is a good idea. Having Nora speak to Gideon at the beginning and the end of the episode worked. I think everything else going on: the development of the metahuman cure, Ralph and Cisco, Iris’s random plan to expand her blog into a business, and Caitlin’s weirdness with Killer Frost, were all annoying distractions to the best part of the season: Tom Cavanagh playing the Reverse Flash again and manipulating Nora.

I do commend the writers for improving Ralph’s character and having him help Cisco with his love life. He even smiles so proud when Cisco bonds with the cute bartender.

Exploring Nora’s memories was filled with tension. Barry and Iris were in awe of the future, and how The Flash has become so famous. It was all getting to Barry’s head, and rightfully so. Then we get to Young Nora and Future Iris being cold to each other. Crafting Iris West-Allen into a mother and a reporter again worked out great for the character. Candice Patton is delivering not only her best performances since the first season, but delivering them somewhat consistently.

Cicada doesn’t feel like the main villain anymore. After the Reverse Flash reveal, he just doesn’t have the vibe anymore. He barely had it to begin with, but now it’s totally extinguished. Although Grace having the dark matter shards inside her head is an unexpected development, which also prevents Team Flash from saving her again.

Hopefully, future episodes focus more on Nora West-Allen and get the tension going on for this second half of the season. Iris West-Allen started a newspaper business from a small blog. I don’t think the world works that way, but then again, I don’t live in the Arrowverse. She even got the business going two years earlier, changing the future. This could be a good / bad thing, considering that means Crisis on Infinite Earths can move closer too.