REVIEW: Dead of Summer, Episode 101
When the fall is over all you can do is rely on summer shows to keep yourself entertained. As summer shows come and go, Dead of Summer was a very enjoyable one. It is creepy, sometimes scary, the characters are really well developed, there is a big mystery that ultimately makes sense, and not to mention that it is also very surprising, especially closer to the end. This now being the era of anthologies (at least that is what it looks like because there seems to be a new one at every corner) this show didn’t really add anything special to the world of television. If it had been done a few years earlier it would probably had been more successful and thus it would have been renewed. Dead of Summer was, in my opinion, a show with potential but which was cut down before it had the chance to make an impact, which unfortunately happens a lot. Who knows if this show would have been able to turn into the new American Horror Story?
“Looks can be deceiving” can definitely be this season’s mantra and we kind of start to see that in this first episode, entitled “Patience”. But of course that what is deceiving in this pilot is just a taste of what’s to come, because it isn’t even comparable to some plot twists that we will see throughout these short 10 episodes.
The main plot of the show happens in 1989, when a woman known as Deb decides to reopen a summer camp, Camp Stillwater. Deb was kind of a sideline character in this episode, so let’s move on to the people who weren’t: the counselors. The first one we meet is Amy, who is not just a newbie to Camp Stillwater, but to summer camp in general. Everyone else is in for the ride mostly for some nostalgia of the good old days. She has a bit of a hard time fitting in at first, but by the end of this episode she is a lot more into the camp spirit.
But everyone has secrets, and sweet Amy is no different: in flashbacks we found out that, while trying to sneak out of a party with a friend, Margo, because Amy couldn’t pull her back up nor hold her hand forever, Margo fell to her death. Camp Stillwater knows about this, and so it uses it against her in multiple times. While trying to restore electricity and later while she was just thinking by the lake, multiple creepy hands start reaching out to her. This is what Camp Stillwater does, it finds your most terrifying moment and makes you relive it time and time again.
But Amy was far from the only counselor we met in this episode. We also met: Jessie, who seems to be the camp Bitch; Drew, a boy who turned out to be a girl in the end; Alex, who seems to steal shirts; Cricket, who wants people to think she is way more naughty than she actually is; Blair, who actually doesn’t seem to be hiding much; Joel, who seems to live with a camera in his hand; and Blotter, who seems like the “consequences be damned” kind of guy. Even Deb seems to have some secrets of her own, because people with nothing to hide don’t usually go unbury boxes in the woods during the night. Aside from the camp people, we even got to meet Deputy Sykes, also known as Townie, who really seems to be interested in this new mystery surrounding Camp Stillwater.
Some people may think that it is too soon for bodies to start piling up right in the pilot, but the Dead of Summer writers beg to differ. Aside from a dead deer, Amy found the body of the Gardner of the camp, Dave, when she was swimming in the lake. This took her and Sykes to his cabin where they found lots of creepy pictures of dead people and a map that made the lake look like a beast. Apparently not everyone was OK with them finding it, so they burned down the cabin with Amy and Sykes still inside.
This was, in my opinion, a good pilot. It was full of mystery, some action, some creepiness. What is really interesting about this show is that each episode will focus on a different character, allowing us to see the story through their perspective, to see a glimpse of their past stories, find out how they decided to join Stillwater again and also discover what they are hiding.
Now looking at this episode in an isolate way, I will give it a 7.5/10. I don’t want to aim too high, because, even though this episode was cool, much better ones are coming.
Dead of Summer is just getting started, and so are my reviews. Episode 2 is entitled “Barney Rubble Eyes”, and it will be Alex’s centric, so don’t miss it.
REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 112
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland is closer and closer to the finish line and in the penultimate episode, entitled “To Catch a Thief”, Jafar finally gets what he wants when he forces some heroes to work beside him.
In flashbacks we find out how the beautiful and strong friendship between Alice and the Knave started, and even though Cora didn’t make an appearance this time, she was definitely the one pulling the strings. These flashback scenes weren’t actually very relevant to the story, since we already knew that Alice was the one who stole Will’s heart from Cora and that Will didn’t put it back in his chest, but it was still nice to see these two start bonding, and it was also quite funny in some scenes. But what I enjoyed most in these flashbacks was the very last scene of it. After Will helped Alice kidnap the Rabbit to show Edwin that Wonderland is real, these two mates go down separate paths and the last thing Will tells Alice is “A great girl like you won’t be alone for long. I have a feeling your happy ending is right around the corner”. And this was exactly what happened because Alice was then seconds away from meeting Cyrus and starting the greatest adventure of her life.
Back to the present now, Jafar is definitely the kind of guy who works alone, because for the past 11 episodes his partnerships never last long. In this episode another one of his companions leaves him. And the best thing about it is that when she does, he doesn’t even know it. Positively sure that Jafar won’t live up to his word, the Jabberwocky joins the heroes in an attempt to regain her freedom. In the scene they cross paths, we find out that a happy ending can also be provided to this villain. Once again, Evil isn’t born, it’s made, but so is good. The Jabberwocky thinks she might change once Jafar is gone for good, in a scene that made me feel bad for her. That is what Once Upon A Time does: it makes you love all characters, no matter in which side of the chess board they are on.
The serpent staff now being the last thing Jafar needs to complete the spell, this sorcerer enlists Will’s help to get it, giving him hope that perhaps he will bring Anastasia back to life. With no other option of getting his love back, Will goes to Alice and Cyrus to do just that. After another beautiful scene between Alice and Will, he realizes that there is always another way, and with the Jabberwocky’s help they come up with a plan to free Amara and stop Jafar. But plans never end up the way we want them to, and, though they were able to free Jafar’s father from prison and Amara from the staff, things take another very surprising turn when, like in the previous episode, another major character is killed by the ruthless Jafar, this time it was Cyrus. Proving that Cyrus and Alice share true love and are soulmates, Alice was able to feel Cyrus’ death, even though she wasn’t very near him nor wasn’t she seeing how things were unfolding.
Those last final minutes (expect Cyrus’ death) were very enjoyable to watch. With the season finishing it was to assume that Jafar was finally going down, but it turned out to be the other way around, because it seems he gets more and more powerful every episode, and especially now. I never get tired of seeing Alice kicking ass, and so I found it awesome watching her fight all those guards. Watching the magical battle between Amara and Jafar was also really great. I do love watching two sorcerers fight. Hearing Amara say that no matter who would win the fight, Jafar would lose anyway, made it seem even more like things were getting to a closing point, but as usual Jafar outsmarted everyone, doing with Amara the same thing he did with Will, doing something that is almost irreversible, unless you can break the laws of magic.
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland is really getting better and better and things are really getting to a looming point. I am giving this episode a 9.4/10.
With only the season/series finale remaining, and with Jafar finally getting what he wanted from the beginning, things promise to get really intense, so don’t miss my next review of “And They Lived…”.
REVIEW: Midnight, Texas, Episode 106
Midnight, Texas returns this week for another episode, the sixth, entitled “Blinded by the Light” and answers started to pop up while a manhunt was organized by our favorite midnighters.
Everyone’s got secrets and in this episode the characters took most out of the way and that will definitely help in the upcoming war. Fiji revealed that the demon wasn’t quite as gone as everyone hoped, Joe revealed his angel self to everyone and an enemy between the allies was unmasked. Maybe it isn’t very fair to call Connor an ally, since he wasn’t quite on the team, but he sure as hell wasn’t considered an enemy. It was great that there was only one storyline in this episode. Usually there are more than one (in pretty much every show, not just this one) but I think it feels more relaxing a bit to follow an episode with only one storyline because you know that nothing else will be introduced.
The episode started with yet another missing girl and it didn’t take long for the team to find a connection between this and Aubrey’s death. The team divided to conquer and instead of the girl they were searching for, they found another one, which made me realize that they had a serial killer in their hands. I actually thought that Aubrey’s death had already been solved, that Lowry did it, but apparently that was just the official story. Not sure how I missed this, but well…
It was nice for a change to see that the big bad of the week wasn’t a supernatural threat, but a human one. Sure that most of the times human threats are boring but I don’t think this was the case. Of course that this is a supernatural show, but humans can be monsters too, and in this episode this was the case. What wasn’t so nice was how they developed Connor’s new persona. Of course that there are psychopaths and sociopaths, but I think it is common knowledge that they are not born this way (especially psychopaths), they usually go through some sort of traumatic event that changes them forever. The writers could have made that to be the death of Connor and Creek’s mother, but Connor said, while Creek thought they were talking about their father, that he was always wired differently. That is the only thing that felt off in this episode. However, it was still great to see this twist, I definitely did not see this coming, but at least Connor won’t be around to stall any longer like he did in episode 4.
This episode had more focus in Creek’s family, and it was surprisingly good. I don’t really like any of them since I think humans don’t really fit in these kinds of shows (expect Olivia, she’s awesome), but the way it was played made it enjoyable to watch. Creek’s brother is gone now (in a way that was so smooth that it almost made it feel like we had never seen Connor before), but her dad is still around. I don’t think he will stay for long, though. Creek is the one that looks like will stick around, but I guess that is fine since she seems to be the less of two evils.
But things took all kinds of turns and in this episode we learned that the enormous amount of ghosts in Midnight is making Manfred sick. This was later announced to be another consequence of the vail being very fragile. In fact, that is why all kinds of creatures have found their way to Midnight recently. I do love it when a show explains why they are always dealing with different threats. Sometimes monsters just pop up, and though they have their reasons, creatures showing up one after the other doesn’t often seem very realistic.
It appears that Midnight, Texas is back to what seems to be its main storyline: the demon and the prophecy. With Joe linked to this prophecy and with a Joe centric episode next week, it looks like this focus will continue. I don’t know why, but I really like Joe’s character, and in this episode he definitely helped to save the day. But now that he revealed himself it looks like “they” will come for him. It is unclear who “they” are but I think we will found out soon. Another great twist was that final scene. Joe made it seem like Chuy may not be human. I am not sure if that is what he meant, but it looked that way. Can’t wait to have answers.
This was definitely a really amazing episode, the best so far in my opinion, and so I am giving it an 8.3/10.
The seventh episode of this first season is entitled “Angel Heart” and it is due to air next week, so don’t miss my review.
REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 111
With the season closer and closer to the end, in Once Upon A Time in Wonderland’s episode 11, “Heart of Matter”, there were a few connections with the original show.
In flashbacks we got to revisit Cora, aka the Queen of Hearts, and realized that she is actually the reason why Will and Anastasia are still separated. Cora actually mentioned her daughter many times, and even said that, if she would have been able to pick, she would rather Anastasia to be her daughter. Of course that by then Cora probably didn’t know what her actual daughter was up to, because if that was so, she wouldn’t be much of a disappointment anymore. But for someone like Ana, hearing this must have felt better than good, because it seems like she never really got much love from her mother. Since Cora never had the chance to make her daughter a Queen and help her adjust to the Queen’s life, Cora desperately wanted to do that with Anastasia. So desperately that she even made sure that her and Will wouldn’t end up together ever again. Cora ultimately convinced Anastasia of her mantra, “Love is Weakness”, and she was even the one who taught the new Queen, magic.
But to pull the strings on Ana, Cora first had to pull them on Will. Cora lied saying Anastasia wasn’t planning on coming, and that is what made Will ask the Queen of Hearts to do what she often does and rip out his. Will preferred to feel nothing rather than have a heart that got broken, saying that he couldn’t live like that anymore.
Cora was also, in a way, the reason why Jafar couldn’t begin the spell. Last episode he thought he had everything he needed, but he didn’t know that all genies needed to have their hearts for the spell to work.
Alice and Cyrus begin the episode searching for the Lost and Found, so that they can continue what they started the previous episode and find Amara. That scene in the Underland was really enjoyable to watch: seeing Cyrus and Alice outsmart the Caterpillar and stealing from it literally right under its nose. But the mission to find Amara soon had to be sidelined because this couple found out that Jafar was going to go after Will’s heart. If he laid his hands on it, he would have everything for the spell. So, for the second time in this show, we travel to the awesome town of Storybrooke. Storybrooke is said to be a place that is lost in time, and a lot of us already noticed in Once Upon A Time that the technology they use is far from being up to date, but for Alice and Cyrus it was so futuristic already that they thought that it was all magic, but the Rabbit simply called it electricity. I guess it is all about points of you.
After they found the heart and got back to Wonderland, Alice and Cyrus were intersected by Jafar who managed to steal Will’s heart. At this point, Jafar doesn’t need pretty much anyone but himself alive and so, when he prepared to kill Cyrus and Alice, his staff fought back and Jafar was forced to retreat without it. Thanks to the Lost and Found, Cyrus and Alice found out that Jafar’s staff is actually Amara, and so they will now try to put her back in human form.
There are always some characters in a show that the viewers believe will never die, but sometimes they do and it usually is as much surprising as it is painful. Accepting his lost for now, Jafar went back to the dungeon and put Will’s heart back. Will and Ana shared their first kiss in a long time, but quickly got stopped by Jafar, who, in a very big twist no one saw coming, killed Anastasia right in front of her lover, putting an end to the episode.
This episode was really great. Once Upon A Time sometimes comes out with some really amazing and shocking twists, and Anastasia’s death was most certainty one of them. I am giving it a 9.2/10.
With only 2 more episodes before the end, everything is going to start happening at the same time, so brace yourselves for my next review of episode 12, “To Catch a Thief”.
REVIEW: Big Little Lies, Episode 107
All good things must come to an end, and Big Little Lies is no different. The show (season?) ended with this seventh episode, “You Get What You Need”, and if the show was waiting for an episode to give answers to the audience, it was clearly this one.
The episode begins with Perry’s retaliation on Celeste for what she did to him before. Celeste was crying on the floor, while Perry was already apologizing for something he probably didn’t regret doing. Celeste goes to the therapist again and we see a scene that has practically no words, and, since those are usually some of the best, this one was no different. Celeste says Perry will go on a trip on the following day and she will then move out with the kids. But a lot can happen in a day, especially that day, because it was when the school dinner was going to happen.
I was very surprised when we found out that Perry knew about Celeste’s new apartment. The way he said it, like it was a mundane thing, made it look even more threating than if he had actually tried to be threatening. Perry tries to convince Celeste to stay, giving her the talk that he will change, that she has to help him fight the demons inside him, but Celeste had made up her mind about and it was great seeing her finally (almost) free of Perry.
The first major reveal of the episode was the identification of the bully at school: Max, one of Celeste’s twins. It made a lot sense that it was him. Firstly, because the bully would have to be one of the 5 (Ziggy, Cloe, Skye, Max or Josh), since it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to throw in some random kid when the show is about to end. Secondly, because even though both Perry and Celeste always said that the kids had no idea what was going on, hiding things from children usually only makes them more aware of it. Maybe they never saw anything, but they heard it and put two and two together. I really thought Renata was going to make a huge deal about this, but she was just surprised. And it was so great that she went to find Jane to apologize to her about how she treated her son. Renata definitely came a long way in these short 7 episodes, and I am glad the show didn’t end with her continuing to be the villain.
In the meantime, Madeline is convinced that Tori knows about her and Joe, while Joe says that there is no way that she knows. I think, actually I am sure, that Tori does know, since she said so to Madeline’s face in the previous episode. It is really a shame that Madeline didn’t tell Ed about it. I choose to believe that she did tell him and that he forgave her, but it would have been great to see Madeline admit that in front of her husband. Ed is a great guy, and I think he would forgive her.
Speaking of Ed, that scene in which he sang “Wonder of You” was so so good. Adam Scott has an amazing voice and that performance was priceless. Sure Nathan did good too, but nothing compared to Ed. It was a shame we didn’t get to see Madeline, Celeste or Jane sing too.
And while Nathan was singing, we got our second big reveal. Celeste joined Renata, Madeline and Jane while Bonnie followed Perry, putting all 5 warrior moms in the same place. While Perry was telling Celeste they needed to go home to talk things out, Jane realized that Perry was the guy who raped her, Ziggy’s father. I honestly didn’t think Perry was Ziggy’s father, because it seemed a bit obvious, but I am glad that, like the bully, Ziggy’s father wasn’t just a character that was thrown here, coming out of nowhere. After Jane, and without a single word spoken, everyone got to the same conclusion she did.
After a cut in the scene, we get to our third reveal, the reveal we had been waiting for since the first scene of the first episode: the dead body. Or should I say, Perry’s dead body. When we realized that they were lying about the fact that he fell, I thought that Jane was the one who had pushed him, and so they were trying to make sure no one found out that Perry was Ziggy’s father. But the final reveal turned out to be even better. And the way it was shown made it so much better still. We got to see flashes of Perry’s fight against the moms intertwining with shots of waves hitting the rocks. The ocean is the combination of millions and millions of small drop. One small drop would never stand a chance against a big rock, but when they all join forces, they slowly make the big rock disappear. Bonnie was the one who pushed Perry. He was beating all 4 of the women there, and Bonnie pushed The Monster (how ironic is it that that was what Perry used to call himself?) causing him to fall to his death.
Big Little Lies finished with a great scene showing all moms who had overcome their differences and their problems for a woman in need. And that new formed bond led them to the beach, each with their significant others (no, I don’t mean their husbands/lovers, but their children, because ultimately it was through their kids that they met each other). These women don’t need husbands nor lovers to protect themselves, they never did, and they never will.
It has been said that this may not be the end, that a second season might be coming. I am not sure how to feel about this. From my experience, a miniseries should remain a miniseries. This season was really fantastic, and I am worried a second one might take that away, because a bad new season would make the whole show drop. I hope that, if a season 2 is coming, that is not this show’s fate, but I am worried it might be. I am also concerned that season 2 will turn this show into a cop show. The cop made it clear that she knew the mothers were lying, so she could come back and start investing Perry’s death, and they would all end up screwed. I really hope this isn’t be the case, because the show was great without any cops knocking at the mother’s doors.
This episode was absolutely fantastic. Lots of reveals, lots of drama, and lots of women strength. It is definitely worthy of a 9.7/10.
With this I conclude my reviews of the show (or maybe just of season 1). I really hope Nicole Kidman will win an Emmy for this. Sure all actors and actresses were great, but Nicole was especially great. The awards will be delivered on September 17th, so root or her (or another favorite of yours), because I will too!
REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 110
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland returns with episode 10, “Dirty Little Secrets”, and our favorite team of heroes and villains decides to split up in order to cover more ground.
If we can always count on something when it comes to Once Upon A Time is that pretty much everyone is related to each other, and characters that pop up out of nowhere and with no ties to anyone don’t exist. In this episode the family tree grew a little bit more: we met Cyrus’ two brothers (which wasn’t much of a surprise since he had mentioned them last episode) and also their mother, Amara, who was spotted on episode 4 as Jafar’s partner and in every other episode of the show as Jafar’s serpent staff.
Fate is a very tricky business. It may not always be fair, we may not always agree with it, but in this show’s universe, fate usually prevails. This episode wasn’t one of those cases, though. The water from the Well of Wonders can only save people whose fate wasn’t yet written, but Amara’s fate was apparently to die on that day. Her sons didn’t agree and went to save her anyway, making a choice that changed the entire history of multiple worlds. When we think about it, if she had died, then there would be no Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, because Jafar wouldn’t be a threat that wanted to change the laws of magic, hurting everyone that stood in his way.
Meanwhile, in present day, two plans come up, and so the team goes down separate paths. Cyrus and Alice go to the Well of Wonders to beg the Nyx, the Guardian of the Well, to break the genie’s curse (which was a bit of a foolish idea), while Anastasia and Will go try to raise an army to break into the palace and steal the genies Jafar already has.
It doesn’t take long for the Jabberwocky to find the genie and the genie’s new master. Anastasia tries to fight her, but without luck, and so they are both kidnaped and taken to the palace, where we see the scene which, in my opinion, is the best of the episode: the Jabberwocky breaking Anastasia and forcing her to make the three wishes, while Will can do nothing but watch. This scene was really intense and full of amazing acting, dialogue, direction… It was also great to see that the Jabberwocky was smart enough to force Ana to wish for small things (crown, joules), making sure that no one (especially she and Jafar) don’t pay the price for these wishes. With Will back in his bottle, Jafar has now everything he needs to complete the spell (or almost everything).
At the same time, Alice and Cyrus find their way to the Well of Wonders. While they walk, Alice makes a lot of questions about Cyrus and his past, and he manages to dodge them all. Cyrus doesn’t want to tell Alice the truth because he feels like that whole thing is his fault, and maybe that Alice will think so too, if she was to find out the truth. Sure he could have acted better, he could have not cheated in the poker game, but even he if hadn’t cheated and had won anyway, those men would probably still think that he cheated somehow, and nothing would have changed. But it is safe to say that Cyrus didn’t really know the strength of their love, because if he had he would have known that Alice doesn’t care about a mistake he made a century ago.
The trip to the Well of Wonders was more profitable than I thought it would be. I, of course, never expected the Nyx to lift the spell out of the kindness in her heart, but at least she told Cyrus a way to do so: return the water. The Nyx also even told them that Amara is alive, and so a search party will have to be organized.
This was a great and intense episode. That scene I mentioned totally made it much better and so I am giving it an 8.4/10.
With only 3 more episodes to go, things in Wonderland promise to get even more intense, but next episode, “Heart of Matter” promises a visit from an old acquaintance and a trip to the best town in the whole state of Maine (not to say in the entire world).
REVIEW: Big Little Lies, Episode 106
Big Little Lies continued with episode 6, “Burning Love”, and in it we saw that tensions continue to rise, getting into a whole new level of high.
With only one more episode to go, it was to realize that in this one some arcs were closed, like the one involving Madeline’s play. Opening night finally arrived and everyone seemed to like it. In the end of the play, we find out a shocking truth: Madeline cheated on Ed with Joseph the previous year. After thinking about it a bit I realized that this wasn’t so shocking after all: Ed and Madeline don’t seem to have a lot of love and sweet moments in their relationship. Even Perry and Celeste have more sweet moments than they do. But there was finally something in this episode that I really enjoyed. After arguing a bit, Ed told his wife: “Madeline, I’m the lucky one. I get to wake up every day next to the girl of my dreams”. This may not look like much just reading it like I put it here, maybe just something anyone would say in order to stop arguing, but what really made it sweet was how Ed said it, like it was the most natural thing in the entire world. Even though there aren’t many sweet moments to compare this one to, it was definitely the sweetest this couple shared (so far) in my opinion.
Something else that was wrapped up was The Dinner (which was turned into a Lunch). It is inevitable to talk about Abigail’s project while talking about The Lunch. We learned last episode that Madeline’s oldest daughter was working on a secret project. I honestly didn’t give it a lot of thought because it didn’t seem very important at the time, but I was absolutely shocked when I heard what it actually was. Sure it is for a noble cause, sure Abigail is trying to fight sex slavery, but what she tried to do is beyond wrong. One of the first things I thought about when I learned about this was how Madeline would react, and that did not disappoint, in the funniest way possible. But it was really cute to see the heart-to-heart conversation that mother and daughter had after The Lunch.
Jane’s storyline began in the most unfair way possible: there was a petition going around and gathering signatures to get Ziggy suspended. There is only one word for whoever created this petition: they are an asshole. At first it seemed like it was Renata, but closer to the end we were made to believe that it was someone else. It was also nice seeing Jane go apologize to Renata. We had seen all the women in this show being venerable, and in this one we also got to see Renata do the same. She is of course just trying to protect her daughter, same as everyone else. She is simply doing it in her own unique way, just as we all do.
Celeste’s journey in this episode was, as usual, really great. Nicole continues with her amazing work, and that totally reflects on the character. As it always does, the couple begins the episode with some romantic moments, but things escalated very quickly in this episode. Celeste goes back to the therapist and she provides her with some advice on what she should do: rent an apartment and tell a friend about the abuse. It was great seeing how professional and convincing this therapist is, trying to convince Celeste of all this, by using reason. Celeste doesn’t really believe what the therapist told her, she still edto want to try to make things work, but the last drop was when, after they fought and came from the hospital, Perry said that Celeste is lucky he didn’t kill her. This made Celeste start looking for apartments for her and the kids, making it now one step closer for her to leave her husband.
It was nice that in this episode none of the 3 main mothers were sidelined, they all seemed to have about the same amount of screen time. One thing that is really unique about this show is how the episodes end. Usually episodes of most other shows end with a plot twist, or a badass line that really makes you want to watch more, and that is great, but Big Little Lies ends really naturally, making you wonder if the episode did really end. This show doesn’t need a plot twist in the end of each episode to make people keep watching it, because each episode is already a plot twist in itself.
This was, as always, a really great episode. This show is really getting better and better and so I am giving it a 9.0/10.
Only one more episode left, and it promises to be a really great and mind-blowing one. We will finally find out who is dead, we will see Ed and Nathan go on a singing battle, we will find out who is the bully, find out what Celeste will do with her life… Next episode really seems like it will overcome all the other previous ones combined. The episode is entitled “You Get What You Need”, so don’t miss it, along with my review.
REVIEW: Midnight, Texas, Episode 105
Midnight, Texas is back again this week with the fifth episode of the season entitled “Unearthed”, and in it we finally met the so mentioned and feared Hightower.
This was in fact an enlightening episode. Finally we saw Hightower. Finally we realized the true reason why he was after Manfred. This was a storyline that we have been waiting for to unfold since the very beginning of the show. I think this was perfect timing to show the audience this piece of the story. If it had been sooner, it would have had less impact. If it had been later, it would have felt a bit boring to hear them mention this Hightower many times and not yet have seen him.
It was nice seeing the Midnight Team be split in 2 teams: Olivia, Manfred and Creek; Lemuel, Bobo and Fiji (kind of). We have been seeing them all working together, but this shows that they can handle more than one problem at once, since it all was solved by the end of this episode. It was just a pity that Joe wasn’t a part of any of the teams. I think he is one of the characters with most potential, and he is also the most sidelined one. We still don’t know pretty much anything about him, except that he is a fallen angel and that he has a boyfriend. But there seems to be a Joe-centric episode coming (episode 7, “Angel Heart”), and so I am looking forward to it.
It was great knowing more about Manfred’s past, since he seems to be the lead character. We knew he was on the run, we knew who he was running from, we thought we knew why, but it is sure know that we didn’t know the whole reason. Hightower blamed him for his daughter’s death. This may seem a bit unfair, which is, but it is understandable that he needed to blame someone, and of course he wasn’t going to blame himself. We also learned that Hightower was kind of the reason why Manfred’s grandmother died, but that still didn’t make things even for him, because Manfred can still talk to Xylda whenever he wants. One thing that didn’t make much sense was that we never knew what exactly Hightower was trying to accomplish by going after Manfred. We first thought it was about the money, that he wanted his money back, but that wasn’t Hightower’s biggest concern. So, did he go to Midnight to kill Manfred? I am not sure if I missed that, or if it was never explained, but if the second option is the correct one, then the writers should have made a better job.
Meanwhile, we also saw that the Sons of Lucifer came back and kidnapped Fiji. I didn’t know that they knew about the supernatural and I thought that kidnapping a powerful witch was far from being the brightest idea, but they were actually more than ready for it. Good for them! It was weird that they kidnapped her to get revenge on Bobo for something that they are probably the ones responsable for (Aubrey’s death), but stupid people can only do stupid things. Plus, they also wanted guns and money, and that is more logical. With Fiji’s life on the line, Bobo did not hesitate for a second to give up a lot of what he had to save her. Lemuel didn’t also think twice about offering his help, and this definitely shows that all members of the Team are willing to risk their lives for each other, and to help one another in dark times. Taking Lemuel was totally a super great idea, because he is now the reason why the Sons of Lucifer are dead (at least most of them), and that Bobo and Fiji survived to tell the tale. Lemuel and Olivia are without a doubt the most badass couple on the show, and they continue to prove this, episode after episode.
It seems to be taking a lot of time to continue what they started on episode 2, with that demon that wasn’t so much exorcized and which seemed to have an interest on Fiji. With 3 episodes after those events, that wasn’t even mentioned again, and that is the least they could do in order for us to fully realize and expect that that is coming back. In the end of this episode it seemed like the floor was opening near Manfred’s house, so maybe that was because of that same demon. This show seems to have potential, but it appears they are wasting it a bit. I know this is still the beginning, but as I said, they could mention the demon and that prophecy we never heard of again, to make sure that the audience still remembers it when they decide to bring it back.
This was still however a good episode, and so I am giving it a 7.6/10.
Midnight, Texas will return next week, and so will I with my review of episode 6, “Blinded by the light”, so don’t miss it.
REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 109
With the arrival of the ninth episode of Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, “Nothing to Fear”, the race is on, and this time the goal is to find the newest genie in Wonderland, Will Scarlet.
There were no flashbacks in this episode, and that was great. Of course that, as I said before, knowing the character’s history is always important, but sometimes it is also important to take a break from what already happened and focus only on what is happening right now. Plus, I am not sure if there was anything they could have added to the episode to make it more understandable (which is what flashbacks usually do). Maybe they could have shown one of Will and Lizard’s adventures, but that wouldn’t contribute much to the major storyline, and would only allow us to see that they were in fact good friends, but we will take their word for it.
It was also nice to see that Will’s first master wasn’t just some random man or woman, but someone that we had met before: Elizabeth, also known as Lizard. Not that we know her very well, but at least we got to see a familiar face. This episode really seemed to focus on the fact that wishes come with a price. The first two wishes were harmless ones (Will wished for beers for everyone, and Lizard made a wish that gave her a new dress and some fireworks). The last wish however, came with the ultimate price: Will knew Lizard was in love with someone, but apparently he wasn’t smart enough to realize he was that someone. During a conversation, Lizard accidently wished that Will would feel something for her, and the wish totally made that happen, but in the most devastating way: Lizard died while Will could do nothing but watch. Even though Will wasn’t in love with her, the two of them were “good mates”, and it can’t be easy seeing a friend die in front of you.
Knowing that Alice already made the third wish, Jafar wants desperately to find the bottle so that he can complete what he wants. He is willing to go to distance to get it, including going after the one creature everyone seems to be afraid of, the Jabberwocky. This creature is originally from “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There”, the sequel to “Alice’s adventures in Wonderland”. In this show this creature is more humanized and possibly more powerful. It is said that it took Wonderland’s most powerful magic and the strength of 500 men to imprison it. In this show the Jabberwocky is really a fascinating creature. She can read everyone’s fears and get inside their heads, no matter how powerful that person is. Everyone is afraid of something, and, as a reward of setting her free, the Jabberwocky made Jafar relive the worst day of his life: the day he was almost killed by his own father.
Cyrus and Alice were reunited at last on last episode and so now there is no way they will voluntary part ways again. In this episode, this couple really reminded me of Snow and Charming, from the original series. Alice never gave up hope that they would find each other, but now that they did, she is afraid that the battles will never end, that they will have to always be fighting an enemy, and so she is afraid they will never get a Happy Ending, just like Snow used to think. Cyrus in the other hand, is sure that that is not true, and they will eventually stop fighting and start living, just like Charming used to say. But the highlight of this couple in this episode was without a doubt the scene in which Cyrus proposed (again). Even though it wasn’t that much of a surprise seeing Cyrus go down on his knee, it was a very sweet scene that was full of hope and romance, one that will definitely stand aside in Once Upon A Time’s sweetest moments ever.
Also just like Snow and Charming, Cyrus and Alice have a Queen to babysit, and it is not easy to do so, especially after she got kidnapped by angry peasants who wanted to see her dead. Fortunately, they escaped (in a bit of a stupid way, since peasants would how to tie knots that would prevent people from untying them), and later found Will, who met his second master: Anastasia. It was certainly very interesting to make her Will’s new master, adding a new twist to the show. But Cyrus found out that the genies Jafar has in his possessions are his brothers, so no one will be leaving Wonderland just yet.
This was definitely a very enjoyable episode, with a fast pace and also a few twists. I am going to give it an 8.2/10.
In episode 10, “Dirty Little Secrets” we will find out who Cyrus’ brothers are, and how they were all turned into genies, so don’t forget to check my review.
REVIEW: Big Little Lies, Episode 105
Big Little Lies returns with episode 5, “Once Bitten”, in which tensions continue to rise and matters of violence (both domestic and bullying) continues to be a pressing concern.
The episode title is a reference to Amabella, because Renata found out she was bitten. Amabella didn’t point fingers to who did it this time, but her mother did that job for her and blamed Ziggy. This is something that was extremely predictable since this storyline for Ziggy has been playing since the beginning of the show, but it still continues to be unfair. I understand that, the same way Jane believes in her son when it comes to this matter, Renata believes in her daughter, but I think she still uses this to continue to get back at Madeline, since Jane is her friend. It seems that in this show the mothers (especially Madeline and Renata) use their children to get in each other’s way, and that is, in my opinion, a little bit over the line.
This accusation totally got under Jane’s skin and I would, of course, be surprised if it had happened in any other way. But this part of the episode wasn’t where Jane shined. Celeste and Madeline were originally going to go with Jane to meet Saxon (the guy they believed was Ziggy’s father), but Jane soon changed those plans. She called Madeline to go pick Ziggy up from school because she had work to do, and so she went on her trip to visit Saxon. I kind of blame Madeline for not realizing that Jane was going to go after Saxon (because I did realize that when Jane called her), but maybe Madeline simply wanted to believe her friend was telling the truth, and so she did. Jane gets there and, from what I understood, she realized that Saxon wasn’t Ziggy’s father after all. I am not 100% sure this is what happened, but I am positive it was, because after smelling him, Jane just left, and I don’t think it was because she was scared.
After that really-nice-to-see scene of the meeting with the mayor last episode, the play is finally good to go, they are free to present it. It was definitely a wise choice, because Celeste said they didn’t have anything to support them in a trial. But this is not what Madeline and Joseph were talking about in this episode. What really was on their minds (especially on Joseph’s mind) was the kiss(es). The accident scene was really intense and amazing. The car totally came out of nowhere and I barely had time to be surprised. Happily Madeline was OK (Joseph was too by the way). But sometimes bad things have good consequences and Madeline was more than happy to have Abigail visiting her and sleeping in her old room (even if it was just for one night).
One thing I feel that is lacking is Madeline and Ed’s relationship. We see them together sometimes, but it doesn’t really look like they are a couple, they just seem like two friends living together (if it wasn’t for their daughter). We saw in this episode a hilarious attempt to have sex, but it failed and they didn’t seem very eager to try again. With only 2 more episodes to go, I really hope that there will be more focus on them.
Lastly, there is the couple that gets the most screen time: Perry and Celeste. If they had almost decided to take a break from violence last episode, they definitely didn’t do the same this time. The thing about these two (and that still makes me ship them) is the fact that they have sweet moments together pretty much every episode (like the moment they were having lunch and started attacking Celeste, or when this couple hugged in the airport close to the end). But sometimes the cute moments don’t overcome the bad ones and this was one of those cases. Perry definitely lost his temper and Celeste even admitted that she was afraid for her life in the moment he raped her. There was also something that I thought was really interesting: I am not sure if it was done on purpose or not, but there was a scene in which Celeste was alone at “Blue Blues” listening to music and we hear Perry’s voice saying that he will change. This made it feel like “Perry will change” is a tune that he plays over and over and Celeste hears it every time and believes it.
The scene with Celeste in the couple’s therapist was definitely the best of this episode, in my opinion. It was finally in this scene that Celeste realized that she is a victim of domestic violence. At first she refused to believe it, saying that she hits him back and so she takes her share in the violence. “I am not a victim”, she sayed. But as the scene unfolds, she got to the conclusion that what she is put through every day is far from being normal. But it seems like Celeste still wants to make things work between the two of them and I would actually like to see that. As I said, I like their relationship (aside from the violence and rape) and I think their family is really sweet. But it is obvious that something drastic will need to happen for this to actually work.
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This was a great episode with great acting (as usual), and someone definitely needs to win an Emmy out of this. This show is really getting better and better, and I am giving this episode an 8.8/10.
I can’t believe there are only 2 more episodes to go, but that is the hard truth. Episode 6 will be all about “Burning Love”, so miss my review.