REVIEW: Dead of Summer , Episode 104
Dead of Summer is once again back, this time with episode 4 entitled “Modern Love”, an episode that focused on Drew.
Back in the pilot we learned that Drew was having secret showers away from everyone because he wanted to hide the fact that he is a girl, so in this episode it was time for us to find out more about him. We saw that ever since he was little, Andrea wanted to be a boy. His mother found it cute at first, but after a while, she realized that Andrea actually meant it. Maybe a few months after taking him to a therapist, Andrea told her mom that his name was going to start being Drew, but the mother definitely didn’t take this lightly. I think it is understandable this mother’s position. Even in today’s society it can’t be easy to accept something like this, now imagine in the 80s. When this happens with a friend, maybe it would be easier, but this is this woman’s child we are talking about, the person who knows him from moment 1 and this isn’t really something parents wonder along the way. But unlike most parents, Beth grew to accept Drew and that was when she snuck into a party and saw him laughing and dancing, realizing that he was so much happier when not wearing a skirt. But even though she accepted Drew’s birth that doesn’t mean she accepted Andrea’s death. I am not sure what happened in the end of the flashback scenes, but Beth left a note in the back of a picture of Andrea saying that she doesn’t accept her daughter never existed and seeing Drew every day was a reminder of her lost. I don’t think she killed herself because they would have probably showed her body, so maybe she left. But if that is the case she is a terrible mom, just abandoning her son like that.
In present day, Camp Stillwater knows exactly what Drew has been through, and so it haunts him through Andrea, or more specifically, with the exact same girl who was on the photo in the back of which his mother wrote her goodbye letter. With Drew started to act in a strange way because of this, everyone starts to admit that they have been seeing things ever since they arrived. It doesn’t take long for them to start pointing fingers at Deb, because Joel found a mask at her cabin that was similar to the in Cricket saw in her dream. Looking through Joel’s videos, Alex, Amy and Cricket find out about a box she holds a lot of times, so they decide to break into her cabin to see what is inside it. But ultimately Joel was a lot more lucky than they did, because Deb showed him the thing that was inside the box: a book entitled, “Dharma Bums” (which is the title of episode 6), and it was given to her by someone she loves very much. She said all this right before they kissed.
While Drew’s secret showers continued, in this episode they started not being so much of a secret anymore, because Jessie found out that he was actually Andrea. Trying to get the upper hand, Drew dug into a letter Jessie had received and found out she has a court day coming up. If she says he is Andrea, Drew will tell Deb about it. But Jessie doesn’t give up so easily and afraid to be exposed, Drew left camp. Fortunately, for once, Jessie did the right thing and tried to make up for what she did and talked to Drew, not only convincing him to stay, but also to tell Blair who he used to be. Taking her advice, and Blair’s too actually, since he said Drew could trust him, he came clean, which made Blair run away. A lot of people really hated this, but I think that it can be understandable. Blair thought he knew what Drew was going to tell him, he thought he was going to say he is gay, but that was not at all what he heard. Afraid he was going to say the wrong thing, Blair preferred to run and measure his words before saying them out loud and risk hurting Drew. At least this is how I see it.
This was a good episode, and I felt like it was a rise compared to the previous one. It didn’t really develop the main plot (the camp’s secret I mean), but I found Drew’s struggle throughout his life really enjoyable to watch. I am giving this episode a 7.2/10.
Next episode is entitled “How to Stay Alive in the Woods”, it will explain a few things about Joel, so don’t miss my review.
REVIEW: American Horror Story, Episode 702
American Horror Story is back again this week with episode 2 of seven 7 entitled, “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”, in which the line that separates reality from illusion continue to be very thin.
It seems that we finally found out what Kai is up to and what he wanted to achieve when he attacked those Hispanic people last episode: he is trying to do what he advertised last episode, which means, he is trying to raise fear. A group of Hispanic people attacking a poor and defenseless man for no reason can definitely be scary. Of course this isn’t exactly what happened, but it is the only thing people know to be true. The fact that he got out of there with a broken arm was of course a plus, because people will look at him and think “Oh! Look at that poor man”, and this is exactly what he wants people to think. His goal now is to take that (convenient) empty chair in the city consul and make good in his word to spread fear.
The episode started exactly where it left off last week, after Ally saw a clown by her bed and started running and screaming. Of course that when Ivy got there, there was nothing, which makes them both wonder if Ally is crazy. “I think there might be something wrong with me. I don’t know what’s real anymore”.
It is also clear that this whole clown craziness is starting to affect Ozzy, because clowns is all he seems to be dreaming of, including of course, Twisty. This all appears to be coming from Ally, and Oz seems to be a little afraid of her, since he made it seem like he doesn’t want to be alone with her. Of course that Winter isn’t exactly a comfort zone because she really freaks me out in some scenes, and I am sure I am not the only one. She started talking about fear in this episode, so I think that Kai managed to recruit her to his little coven.
And speaking of recruiting and crazy, Ally and Ivy now have new neighbors: Harrison and Meadow Wilton, two best friends who didn’t find anyone to spend the rest of their lives with, and so decided to marry each other. It appears to me that these two are a part of all this crazy, especially when Harrison started talking about bees. As we all know, bees have been a significant part on the posters and teasers of this season, and so here they are. According to him, a hive is the perfect community, because every member of the hive is 100% committed to a single task, with no complaints. And while watching this scene, my mind kept screaming “Cult” because this is definitely a great allegory for it.
This is American Horror Story, so the craziness never ends. Short after coming back from the new neighbor’s house, the alarm in the restaurant was activated and Ally went there to check it out. Even though I was expecting something crazy would happen, I really wasn’t prepared for what Ally found: a body of one of their chefs hanging in a hook next to animal meat. It didn’t take long for the police to start pointing fingers at Pedro, a Hispanic, because of an argument they had earlier that day, and, let’s face it, because of the fact that he is Hispanic.
Later in the episode, Ally and Kai had their second meeting when, while advertising his campaign door to door, he gets to the Mayfair-Richard’s house. While Kai talked to Ally, one of the problems of politics, and other fields of course, was exposed: Kai started speaking in numbers and, when Ally asked him where he got that information from, he answered Facebook. There are definitely a lot of information out there, but the thing is that some (not to say most) of that information isn’t based on facts, but in people’s opinions. People say whatever they want, and that is their right, but we shouldn’t really support important issues with intelligence we find on Facebook, and other social networks of course.
But the most intense scene of the episode is yet to come: closer to the end, electricity went down. After being left alone with Ozzy by Winter, and after learning, from Harrison, that that was probably a terrorist attack, because it happened in multiple states, Ally started freaking out. I actually doubt the veracity of this. As I said, I think Harrison is part of the Cult and this is just another scheme to scare Ally (Maybe he also heard of the terrorist attack in Facebook!!!). But this doesn’t change the fact that Ally trusts the neighbors, not much, but probably more than me, and that was exactly where she was going to when she opened the door, saw Pedro and shot him.
This was definitely a great episode. It was very intense from the beginning till the end and I really loved it. This season isn’t what I thought it would be, but I am really loving it, even though only 2 episodes aired. I am giving this episode an 8.8/10.
Episode 3, “Neighbors from the Hell”, will air next Tuesday, so don’t miss my review.
REVIEW: Midnight, Texas, Episode 108
Midnight, Texas continues with its season, and now gets to its final few episodes. Yesterday’s episode was the eighth and it was entitled “Last Temptation of Midnight” and with the vail being more and more fragile, both supernatural creatures and humans start to feel the effects of this.
The episode introduced a new supernatural creature: a faceless monster who can wear anyone’s face, quite literally actually. I think I don’t have to say that it was on its way to Midnight, because that crosses the line of obvious. But turns out that this monster is working for the Demon who is trying to ascend in Midnight, and so, on its way to that town in Texas, it kills multiple people and wears their faces as a disguise.
Meanwhile, Manfred continues to refuse to go back to Midnight, even after Xylda said that she told him to go there, not because he would be safe, but because it is his destiny to save it. This actually seems to make much more sense because if Midnight is a beacon for supernatural creatures, and if Hightower had powers, it was just a matter of time before he found Manfred, not to mention that he actually did. When fate calls upon you, there is no way you can run, and Manfred learned this in a very rough approach, when his RV died in the middle of nowhere.
I think the relationship between Xylda and Manfred, their bond as grandmother and grandson, was a bit ignored up until this point, but this episode gave us some flashbacks and I really loved them. And with Xylda’s departure to hopefully a better place, this was definitely the perfect episode to include these flashbacks. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to say goodbye, but like Xylda said, they already had, when she was dying.
At the same time, tensions begin to rise in Midnight. With the demon tormenting Fiji, a woman shows up at her house asking for help with her depression. It was later discovered that her dark thoughts and this woman’s actual attempt to kill herself, were all being caused by the same demon which was tormenting Fiji. The demon feeds on death, and so it is driving the weak to kill themselves. It is a shame that we didn’t get to see this sooner. Apparently the demon has been doing this for some time and the Revered even said that a few days back he had found a few dead bodies. It would have been cool to have shown these bodies in a previous episode and now we would all make the connection between that and this.
But the humans aren’t the only ones being affected. Reverend Emilio, who was a vegetarian, started eating meat, probably trying to prevent himself from easting human meat. For Lemuel, feeding on emotional energy started to not be enough and he began to get hungry for blood, making Olivia have to defend herself against him. It was really amazing that fight scene between the two. I was very impressed by how long Olivia lasted against a powerful vampire who wasn’t pulling many punches. I knew she was badass, but not that much. It was great how the conversation they had last episode popped up, making Lemuel wanting to turn Olivia, which made me realize that she would definitely be unstoppable as an immortal, since she is already such a fighter as a human. Lemuel loves her, and deep down he simply wanted to live with her forever. Is that such a bad thing? Fortunately Fiji made a potion that made people return to their own selves, but nothing was going to take back what Lemuel tried to do, so seems that Olivia broke up with him.
Getting a “ride” from the faceless beast, Manfred returns to Midnight, where the creature plans to sacrifice the bodies it gathered on the road trip in the name of the demon that is tormenting Midnight. And it was finally in this scene that we learned the demon’s name: Colconnar. But even though they stopped the creature from burning the bodies, making them sacrifices to Colconnar, the ground opened and the bodies burned anyway. Enjoying this queue, Manfred called for some spirits to help him and drag the creature back to hell, proving that he does have the power to lead an army against this demon, as the prophecy says he does.
This was definitely a great episode, and I really enjoyed that last scene I described, because it shows that Manfred might actually have the power to stop what is coming, with everyone else’s help of course. I am giving this episode an 8.5/10.
The good news is that we won’t have to wait another week for a new episode, because “Riders on the Storm”, the ninth episode, will air tonight, so don’t miss my review tomorrow.
REVIEW: Stranger Things, Episode 102
The second episode of Stranger Things is entitled “Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street” and while everyone continues to look for Will, Mike and the others seem to find clues to his whereabouts through Eleven.
The episode begins with Mike, Dustin and Lucas trying to find out what they are going to do with Eleven. Mike really wants to help her, but Dustin and Lucas, especially Lucas, don’t like her very much and they just want to tell their parents about her so they can go back to look for Will. But Eleven doesn’t want any parents knowing about her, so that plan goes to the trash. Even though they didn’t actually start with the right foot, this was the beginning of a great friendship and we start to see that in this episode, especially the friendship between Mike and Eleven, and I have to say that I love them all. These kids are really talented and definitely bring some great things to these characters.
In this episode, we also started to understand Will’s situation a lit bit better, but not too much of course. Eleven recognized Will from a photo, so everyone became eager to found out how she knew him. When asked where he was, Eleven turned the Dungeons and Dragons board upside down and said that that’s where he is, adding that Will is hiding from the Demogorgon. This obviously didn’t make much sense for the gang, but it was enough to freak them out, but of course not enough to make them give up. They will do whatever they have to in order to find Will, no matter how many Demogorgons they have to face. And that is exactly the strength of their friendship.
Meanwhile we got to continue to see Joyce’s struggle with everything and everyone. Of course that seeing your child dead must be a horrible experience, but just losing sight of him, not having any idea where he is or what happened to him must be worse. Winona Ryder does a really amazing job portraying Joyce and even though we started to see that in the pilot, it is much clearer now that she is an amazing actress. A desperate mother will do anything she can to find her lost son, so that is exactly what we are going to see her do this season.
It is obvious from the beginning of the episode that Joyce is devastated and that is even clearer in that amazing scene at the supermarket when she goes to buy a new phone. This scene was really incredible to watch, because it really made me feel the despair and misery that Joyce was experiencing. After waiting all day by the phone, Will called again, and this time he even spoke, only one word, “Mom”, but that was enough to make Joyce a lit bit happier. But it was only after the phone fried again that stranger things started happening. The lights flickered, Will’s radio started turning on and off by itself and something started to come out of the walls. Stranger Things really started to welcome the audience to all kinds of weird in just this one scene.
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But it became clear that Hawking’s inhabitants aren’t the only ones trying to find Will, because those weird scientists(?) are too. When Joyce left to the supermarket they started scanning her house and it seemed like they found something in the same place Will disappeared. We also found out in a shocking revelation that a man who seems to be one of the bosses is Eleven’s father. That I really didn’t see coming. Usually parents chicken out when it comes to making their children lad rats (even parents who usually do that to other children), but this one clearly didn’t get the memo.
Lastly, we also saw Nancy and her “friends” at Steve’s party. In this night Steve finally got what he wanted from the beginning, he simply didn’t know that Jonathan was taking pictures (which definitely crosses the line of weirdness). It was also in this party that a smaller character made major, Barb, disappeared, being this the beginning of a controversial subject. Not controversial in Stranger Thing’s world, but in ours, and all because of Jimmy Fallon.
This episode was really amazing, as all episodes of this show will be. All scenes were great, but as I said, I especially loved the scenes with Joyce. It is really incredible to watch her struggle not to go crazy while trying to find her son. I am giving this episode an 8.8/10.
But if you think this episode was full of strange thing get ready because in the next episode (“Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly”) things will get even stranger.
REVIEW: Dead of Summer, Episode 103
Dead of Summer continues its first and only season with a Cricket centric episode entitled “Mix Tape”, which means that it is time she starts seeing things that aren’t there.
In flashbacks we find out that writing on walls of Camp Stillwater isn’t Cricket’s first attempt to pass on a wrong image about herself, because she used to do the same in her school. Why? It wasn’t very clear the reason why she used to do this. Apparently she wanted boys to think she is up for anything, but the truth is that she isn’t. Maybe she thought that people would like her more, but if that is the case, then she doesn’t like herself that much because you should want people to like you for who you are and not for someone you occasionally pretend to be.
But the most uncomfortable and shocking scene in these flashbacks is yet to come: after Cricket found out that her dad was having an affair with the neighbor, she goes to tell her mom but she already knew. She knew, but she didn’t do anything about it and she also didn’t intend to. “Women like us, sometimes we gave to settle”, and so that is what she is doing. Even though this shows takes place in the 80s and we are now in the 21st century, this is, unfortunately, still something very real. And someone ignoring their significant other while they are having an affair is probably the best case scenario, because there are definitely worst situation in which people simply decide to settle. The most unfortunate of all this, is that people like Cricket’s mom will always exist, no matter in what century we are nor how much progressive the world is.
In present day Cricket continues with her “wall art” in an attempt to get Alex to notice her, but instead of him, she caught somebody else’s attention: Damon’s. Even after she ignored him the first time, Damon didn’t give up and, for him, the second time was the charm. Of course Cricket only went out with him to make Alex jealous, and her move definitely worked because Alex and Damon ended the night fighting. After this, they were both in a cabin making out, and that is when Cricket finally realized that she doesn’t want a simple hook up, but something that would last a lot more than one night; she wants a Mix Tape. And a mix tape was exactly what Blotter had made for her before he left, making Cricket regret ignoring him while he was still in the Camp.
Meanwhile, Joel and Deb continue bonding and I have to say that I love seeing them together now. It was great watching them interact with each other and talking about old movies and how they love them. Jessie and Garrett also shared a few moments together and it was also sweet when they went back to a bench they had carved when they were at the camp. Near the “Townie and Braces” these two almost shared a kiss. Unlike Jessie and Garrett, Drew and Blair actually kissed (finally).
But even though love is in the air, there is no rest for the wicked, so Damon and his gang continued with their ritual and in the end of the episode we found out why he was so interested in Cricked: he thought she was the one they needed, but turns out that is Amy because she is the one who was at the lake when they started performing whatever it was that they were doing.
Of course that when bad guys don’t take a day off, good guys can’t either, so Garrett continued to try to find out more myths about the lake, and by doing so he found out the name of the “Tall Man”: Holyoke. I really do admire Garrett’s persistence and dedication to this case. If all cops worked half as hard as he does, I am sure the world would be better than it is now.
Overall, this was a good episode, but I feel like the show so far isn’t getting better, out of the contrary. I liked the pilot because, as I said before it was mysterious and creepy, but that seems to have lost its way. The show will get better closer to the end, but it is a shame that it is a bit stopped now. I do like how they are developing the characters, because I think they are really well written, but they were able to develop Amy and still make her episode creepy. Because of that loss of goosebumps, I am giving this episode a 7.1/10.
But as I said, the show will get better, so stick around for my review of the forth episode entitled “Modern Love”, which has Drew as a centric character.
REVIEW: Stranger Things, Episode 101
I don’t watch that many shows from Netflix, but Stranger Things is definitely my favorite one from this company. This show is that kind of great combination between clichés and something you have never seen before. Even though it is inspired by some of Stephen King’s works, I don’t think Stranger Things’ goal is to terrify us and provides us with sleepless nights, but else to make us want to binge watch all of the episodes as soon as possible, and then hate Netflix for taking so long releasing the following season. And that is exactly what we are doing right now, because it usually takes about a year to release another season, but this time we will have to wait 15 months instead. The good news is that it is almost over (only about one and a half month away), so in the meantime, let’s take a look back into its first season.
For a show that almost wasn’t advertised (I think they only released a poster and a trailer a few days before the show premiered), Stranger Things was a huge success. Younger generations liked it, probably because it has so much suspense, mystery and science-fiction; while older generations also liked it, probably because it reminds them of the good old days, because I hear that the details (wardrobe, scenarios, relationships…) are really well represented, since that is how things were in the 80s, but don’t ask me about this, because I really wouldn’t know.
Some people ask what the point is of making this show take place in the 80s while it could be done in present day, and for that I have a few answers. Firstly, it seems like much more fun to play Dungeons and Dragons like Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas were playing right in the beginning of the episode, than playing it alone (or even with online friends) in your computer or PlayStation. Secondly, I think it is a lot more entertaining to mess with the past than with the present. Some weird and unexplained things have happened many times in the past, and I like it when a show/movie tries to “explain” it. Of course that in the end of the day that is still left unexplained, but it really does make you wonder “What if that is what really happened?” And especially when the movie/show has science-fiction and/or fantasy as a gender, that just makes the world much more magical. Lastly, because I think in the past there isn’t such a sense of safe as there is now. Of course that, like before, people can still be kidnapped, murdered, get lost somewhere… but now we all have phones and that is where the sense of safe comes from. If we get lost in woods, our phones have flashlights and it is just a matter of time before we get signal and call help. In the 80s the only phones they had were in the walls and had to be plugged, so they couldn’t just carry it around. Can you imagine if Will and the others had a cellphone? The story would definitely take some different turns.
But anyway, the pilot of Stranger Things is entitled “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” and it is definitely an episode full of mystery and suspense. As the title suggests, the episode was mostly about Will, even though he was only in 2/3 scenes. Unfortunately, most people’s favorite character (including mine) was a bit sidelined, but that didn’t make the episode any less great. I am talking about Eleven, of course.
Because it couldn’t happen in any other way, everyone was worried about Will and so everyone started looking for him. At first people wanted to believe that it was nothing, that he would eventually show up, but, even though that happens 99 times in every 100, that obviously does not apply in this case. But not all hope was lost, and there was an amazing scene close to the end of the episode in which Joyce became convinced that she got a call from Will. This was really an incredible scene where we saw a truly desperate mother who wanted nothing more than being with her son again.
Everyone knows that kids who are good students and who play nerd games in their parent’s basement have to be bullied, and so the 4 (now 3) friends are no different. I really hate bullies and I really hope they find out through the Stranger Kids that it is better to be a Nerd, than being like them. What I liked most about this scene was that they kind of don’t care about the bullies, and just think of them as a normal morning activity.
As I said, I really enjoyed this episode. There was mystery, death, action, girls with powers, confident Nerds, not to mention some funny scenes too in the middle of all this. Stranger Things is really a great show, and this pilot sets up Season 1 in a very good way. I am giving this episode an 8.6/10.
Don’t go anywhere because in episode two the Strangers and the Nerds won’t either, and the title of episode 2 is a proof of that: “Chapter Two: The Weirdo in Maple Street”.
REVIEW: Dead of Summer , Episode 102
Dead of Summer takes another step in its season with the second episode entitled “Barney Rubble Eyes”, in which the campers arrive to Stillwater, making all things even weirder.
Like last episode, and like most episodes in the future, we saw some flashbacks, this time telling Alex’s story, and it surprisingly started in Russia. The episode begins with his grandfather telling him that if Alex wants something in this world, he is going to have to take it, because this world bears no gifts. This is actually not a bad advice, and Alex made into its life mantra. We even saw him applying it: when he started working at a Dry Cleaning shop he found out that his boss was having an affair with another employee, and so he threatened he would tell his family about it if the Boss didn’t let him take a few shirts every once in a while. And this makes the mystery of the shirts, presented in the last episode, solved. Of course that this was a smaller mystery and no one actually thought it was connected to THE main mystery, but it is a nice way to start.
Of course that when there are creepy mysteries there has to be children around, and so, as I said before, the campers arrived and in the midst of them there was a very peculiar kid, Anton. Like Alex, Anton is Russian so, for this and other reasons, he reminded Alex of himself. As the episode unfolded, we could see that Alex identified himself in that kid more and more, but he didn’t want to say anything to him while there were other people around, probably because no one knew Alex is Russian. But in the end Alex helped him, which was great: he told Anton he should change his name to something a bit more american and even helped him stand up to the mean kids.
But reminding Alex of himself wasn’t the only thing Anton was up to during the episode. On several occasions, this kid spoke to someone he referred to as “Tall Man”, who is actually the ghost we saw in multiple occasions during the pilot. Of course that no one believed him, and they all started to think about living people that Anton might have seen, and so Sykes started pointing fingers to Damon, a character we only met this episode.
Another episode, another death. Even though everyone thought Anton’s mystery was solved, Alex and Blotter still lost sight of him in multiple occasions, so someone had to go down for it. Because Alex wanted to keep the job, he drugged Blotter with his own stuff, so Deb would think he was stoned all the time. Deb fired him and, on the way home, Blotter found the Tall Man, looked back and we only had time to hear him scream. Even though we didn’t see his body, I am sure he is dead.
One thing this episode did really well was pairing people up, of course not simply in straight lines, but also made some triangles. Alex and Amy seem to have started something real, but now Amy knows it was all a bet. Amy and Sykes also made a connection last episode, something Jessie isn’t very happy about. Cricket is now going after Alex. Summing up: things are very confusing to what it comes to romances. The ones that seem simpler are Blair and Drew, who seem to have made a connection, however small. Aside from all these, there is also a little blue bird between Joel and Deb, but for now it seems like the chemistry is mostly in Joe’s side, even though he knows she is hiding a few things.
All things considered, Dead of Summer is developing its story slowly for now and that seems to be a plus, because overwhelm the audience with a lot of mysteries right in the first couple of episodes would definitely have had an even worst impact. I think these two episodes so far have been kind of equally good, but because last episode was a bit scarier, I am giving this one a 7.3/10 (a little less compared to the previous one).
The third episode is entitled “Mix Tape” and it will have Cricket as centric character, promising to also answer a few mysteries.
REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 113
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland closes its season/series with episode 13 entitled “And They Lived…” and while our heroes prepare to fight their final battle, Jafar is more powerful than ever.
Right in the beginning of the episode we found out what Jafar actually wanted to achieve with this spell. Apparently his plan wasn’t just to force his father to love him, what Jafar actually wanted was to let his father know what was like to be murdered by someone you love. So, in what was a bit of a twist, Jafar killed his father in cold blood.
In an episode in which laws of magic didn’t apply, rules were broken several times, far from just the example I mentioned above. Because it couldn’t happen in any other way, both Cyrus and Anastasia were brought back to life, but the latest was resurrected by Jafar, and because he never does anything from the kindness in his heart (because he doesn’t have it), he decided to torment Will by making this Knave watch himself and the former Queen, “in love”. Jafar even promised Alice that he would change the past and make sure that she would never meet Cyrus, but Alice wasn’t very worried about this, because she knew something Jafar didn’t, which brings us to the next topic of conversation.
Like Snow and Charming from the original show usually say (or even sing sometimes), Love is the most powerful magic of all and love can break any curse, and in this episode that was a clear message. This is why Alice wasn’t worried about whatever Jafar might do to her, because she was sure that what he did would either not work, or be reversed eventually. But Alice and Cyrus’ love wasn’t the only one featured in this episode, and as hope speeches and virtues of blind faith come, I did love what Will said to a cursed Anastasia. I loved it so much that I am going to have to remind you guys of it: “[Love] is messy. It means arguing and making up and laughing and… and crying and struggling. And sometimes, it doesn’t seem worth it. But it is. And, at the end, when you’re in love, no matter what happens, you forgive each other. I forgive you, Ana, for what you did to me. Because I love”. And because true love’s kiss can break any curse, this speech was followed by one that woke Anastasia up from Jafar’s spell. Even though this episode had many sweet moments, this speech followed by the kiss was definitely my favorite one.
Even though villains on Once Upon A Time are usually very well developed, making the audience love them and feel sorry for them even when they plot to kill everyone, it is always nice to watch a villain being defeated and this time it was Jafar’s turn and the most satisfying part about it was that he was the one who caused it. When Cyrus was about to return the stolen water to the Well of Wonders, Jafar caught and destroyed it. When asked what she was going to do then, Alice replied with one of those badass answers; answers which, even though sometimes are a bit cliché, I always love: “I plan to do nothing”, she said, “Because you didn’t steal that water from me. You stole it from her”. It is really these kinds of lines that make me love these moments when villains are defeated. Plus, it is always very satisfying to watch because usually they deserve what they get. The Nyx appeared and Jafar was turned into a genie.
Another very satisfying thing after seeing a villain defeated is watching our heroes be happy, even if sometimes it is for just for a few moments. The Rabbit married Alice and Cyrus and everyone was there. Yes, even Edwin. Alice forgave him and we watched him walk his daughter down the aisle. Anastasia put her red dresses aside, and became the White Queen, making Will the White King.
Alice and Cyrus stayed in her world, while Will and Anastasia went back to Wonderland, but not before the two close friends that we got the chance to watch in these past 13 episodes shared a hug and said an “I’ll see you soon”. I feel like the friendship between Will and Alice was a bit underrated sometimes, but maybe that is still realistic because we don’t usually give much value to the things/people we see every day, only to those that we don’t. It is only when those people leave that we realize we will miss them a lot.
This season finale, as I said before, turned out to be a series finale, and even though it sucks that it got cancelled, I sometimes feel like it was for the best. This show was supposed to be an anthology of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, which means, even though we would probably still see an Alice, and a Knave…, it wouldn’t be our Alice nor our Knave. Also, there would probably not be a Cyrus next time (since he isn’t part of the original story). And it would also make things confusing while we would try to realize which season would be considered canon to the main show. That is why I like to see Once Upon A Time in Wonderland as a miniseries, because that is really what it looks like.
This was definitely an incredible episode, the best of the show in my opinion, and so it is worthy of a 9.7/10.
Sadly, I now conclude my reviews of this amazing show. I keep on saying that it was really great it finished well, with everyone happy, because pretty much every cancelled show doesn’t have that much luck. I am sure Alice and Cyrus started living their Happy Beginning, until some other villain decided to try to take away their happiness (but don’t worry, because I am sure he/she didn’t succeed).
REVIEW: American Horror Story, Episode 701
After a lot of anticipation, creepy teasers and the promise of a great season, American Horror Story is back with its seventh season, more specifically with “Election Night”, which is the title of this first episode.
The season did promise to get very political and that did not disappoint. Right in the first seconds we were able to relive some of the moments of the campaign of Both Clinton and Trump and that led us to election night and to the surprising announcement of Donald Trump’s victory. It is in this moment that we meet the leads of the season: Kai Anderson, who couldn’t be happier with this; and Ally Mayfair-Richards, who couldn’t be more shocked and pissed at everyone. These two definitely represent the extreme of both parties. Kai now feels very powerful and like he can do anything he wants, while Ally feels like this is all the most stupid joke of all time, not sure how she is supposed to survive for the next 4 years.
Fear is quite an effective tool, and that is something else this season promises to deal with. After election night, Ally’s phobias are back, stronger than ever, and she now sees clowns pretty much everywhere she looks. It sure seemed for most of the episode like she was going crazy and seeing things that weren’t there, but closer to the end, her son Ozzy also saw clowns murdering the neighbors. Are they both crazy? Did Ally’s fear start affecting her son in a similar way? Or is this all part of a major conspiracy? Nothing is black and white in this show, and so maybe the answer to all these questions could be “Yes”.
Meanwhile, Kai also seems very interested in fear. I really liked the speech he gave to that little counsel about how fears run the world and how we love it. The reason why I liked it is probably because it is true. A bit extreme, but true. What was also a bit extreme was his reaction when they pretty much ignored him, because it seemed like he thought they would actually listen to that. “There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a humiliated man”, and Kai really seems invested in making everyone see that he is right.
Of course that this couldn’t be a season about clowns if our favorite murderous clown from American Horror Story didn’t show up, but, as promised, he did. Twisty the clown is back with more murders and even though he is just a comic book character for now, that doesn’t make it any less great nor terrifying. Thanks to the clown sightings last year and to the upcoming remake of Stephen King’s It, clowns are getting more and more creepy, and it would definitely be very hard to find a better moment in time to present people with a season like this.
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One thing that seems great about this season is that it doesn’t seem like supernatural is going to be a big part of it. Sure that ghosts, aliens, witches, vampires and spirits (which is what was featured in previous seasons) can definitely provide a few scares, but in the end of the day they aren’t real (or are they?). But the same can’t be said for people who want to rise to power at all cost, no matter if they have to make everyone lose their minds to get it (like Kai said). This is definitely the perfect season for the supernatural to be sidelined, because talking about something devastating and controversial that took place 40 years ago (for example) sure that it hits close to home, but it is still at the neighbor’s house. Talking about something that is happening right now will totally hit straight at everyone’s homes and if monsters were added to the equation it would lose a lot of significance and connection to reality.
Another great thing about this season is that there doesn’t seem to be many major characters, maybe only a hand full of them, and that will make everything much easier to understand. There is Ally, Ivy, Kai and Winter: these seem like the most major characters so far. There only seems to be two others who will maybe be more relevant than they did in this episode and those are Dr. Rudy and Detective Samuels.
This was definitely a very nice episode that set up the season in a very satisfying way. I am sure that if Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters continue to go down the road they started in this premiere, they are sure to make way to the Emmys next year. I am giving this episode an 8.5/10.
As satisfactory as this episode was, it was just the beginning and I am sure that more clowns and craziness is coming towards us. The second episode of American Horror Story: Cult will premiere next Tuesday and it is entitled “Don’t be Afraid of the Dark”.
REVIEW: Midnight, Texas, Episode 107
Midnight, Texas is once again back, this week with episode 7, which was given the title “Angel Heart”, an episode that added a lot of mythology to the show.
In the beginning, this episode seemed like it was going to be similar to the third episode, Lemuel’s centric, meaning that I thought we would see flashbacks of Joe’s early days, since the first scene took place a thousand years ago. But apparently this scene was just a standalone flashback, which makes me wonder why it was even showed. It was definitely a very small scene and the only things we learned from it was that angels hunt demons and that Bowie was older than Joe, things that could have been explained in present day. Not that I have anything against flashbacks, out of the contrary, I usually find them very enlightening, but if you want to make an episode with flashbacks, you better do it right.
It seems like the “them” that Joe mentioned last episode turned out to be a “she”, and Bowie really seemed very focused on finding and killing Joe. Sure that he would need him, Chuy came back and convinced his boyfriend to ask for help, which seems like a reasonable thing to do. By now they are all a team, and Joe already helped them in numerous occasions, so I was sure they wouldn’t mind lending them a hand. And turned out they absolutely didn’t, some of them were just a bit disappointed that Joe hadn’t told them about everything sooner.
As I said, this episode added a lot of mythology to the show, and Know we now a little better how some things work. Chuy is half-demon, so that is why he can control his demon self most of the times using strong connections between him and others (used to be his mother, and now it is Joe). Angels can’t be killed by humans, only by other angels or demons. I actually thought that Joe was the one who was going to kill Bowie when they started fighting, making him realize that he is stronger than he thinks, but turned out that Chuy lost control and let his demon out, making him the one who killed Bowie. I have to say that the way the she angel died was a bit weird. All Chuy had to do was bite her and she just exploded.
It is never as easy to imprison your demons as it is to let them go, and for another part of the episode everyone was trying to stop Chuy, and in the end Joe was almost forced to kill him, if it wasn’t for the bond that they both share. Speaking of bonds, some people may still think that it is weird and unacceptable watching a relationship between two people of the same gender, so now imagine a relationship between an angel and a demon. That would definitely blow those people’s brains out, because it definitely almost blew mine. And this is most likely to be the reason why Joe was kicked out of Heaven and was made Fallen.
But this relationship was far from the only one that was featured in this episode. In fact, all current relationships were, one way or another, discussed in this episode. Olivia is sure that the relationship between her and Lemuel is one with and ending in sight, because she is mortal and doesn’t want to be turned into a vampire. She plans to enjoy her boyfriend for a little while longer, but not too long. Fiji and Bobo started to bond again after their breakup (?), and I am looking forward to see them back together again.
The couple that, as usual, had more screen time in this episode was Manfred and Creek. Even though no one agreed with her decision, Creek started working again at the bar. But things didn’t take a nasty turn for them until Creek was kidnaped by Bowie. After reading her mind, the angel said to Manfred that Creek kind of blamed him for what happened because even though he is a psychic, he didn’t warn her that her brother was a serial killer and that her father was just as crazy as he was. This definitely is not fair for Manfred. Sure he is a psychic, but he can’t see the future, all he can do is talk to the dead. It isn’t his fault that any ghost of the dead girls told him who the actual killer was.
Last but not least, Joe finally told Manfred about the prophecy and how he thought that the psychic who was going to save Midnight was him. Manfred didn’t seem very convinced at all, but Joe tried to persuade as best as he could that that is in fact his destiny. Unfortunately, after losing the one thing that was keeping him in town and not wanting to be a part of any of that anymore, Manfred left Midnight. But don’t sweat too much over this people, because I am sure he will be back very soon.
Overall, this was a nice episode. Seems like the show is done with fillers for the rest of the season and I am very glad about that. I am giving it an 8.1/10.
Brace yourselves, because next week there will not be one episode of Midnight, Texas, but two. That’s right, both episodes 8 (“Last Temptation of Midnight”) and 9 (“Riders of the Storm”) will be released next week, one on Monday and the other on Tuesday, so don’t forget to check up both my reviews.