REVIEW: American Horror Story, Episode 705
American Horror Story is back with another great episode, the fifth of this season, entitled “Holes” and in it we finally learned a few things more about the cult.
Right in the first few minutes of the episode, it was officially confirmed that Ivy is a part of Kai’s cult. In fact, in this episode, we found out exactly who are its members: Kai, Winter, Ivy, Harrison, Meadow, Beverly, Detective Samuels, Gary (the guy who cut his arm to go vote in the last episode) and a guy who appeared for the first time, R.J. It was a bit surprising seeing that Ivy is a part of all this craziness. I know that I said in one of my previous reviews that maybe she was, but I don’t think I actually meant it. I really wasn’t prepared for this. But of course that it makes all the sense in the world, because even though their house was always full of evil clowns, Ivy was the only one who never seemed to see anything.
That one scene in the end of the episode made me wonder if there is someone else on the cult, and by “someone else”, I mean Rudy Richards, or better, Rudy Anderson. Apparently, Winter isn’t Kai’s only sibling, Ally’s psychologist is too. In fact, I think it is safe to say Rudy was the one who made Kai start walking downthe dark road he is on right now. I thought I saw some weird things in shows and movies before, but keeping your parent’s corpses in their old bedroom, lying in their old bed, definitely beats a lot of them. Not to mention the fact Kai goes there from time to time to speak to his mother. As weird families come, the Andersons really are very close to the top.
In contrary to what I thought, Meadow being missing isn’t really a scheme (at least not in the way I thought it was). Harrison was simply preparing territory to kill her, since she had been doubting Kai. The good news is that, before she was killed (at least I think she was), she told Ally that she can’t trust anyone: not the police, the neighbors… nor her wife. I am glad Ally knows about this now. I was a bit tired of seeing her continue to run back to Ivy every time. I hope she realizes she is alone in all of this, so she will have to toughen up, and fight if she wants to see her son everyday like she used to.
[WPGP gif_id=”7581″ width=”600″]
But Meadow wasn’t the only one the cult turned against in this episode. Because R.J. was showing some hesitation when it came to spreading fear, all the members joined forces and killed him, slowly and painfully. Even a hesitant Ivy helped, making up for the fact she didn’t help killing Bob.
Another thing I have to say is that it has been great how this season has been dealing with fear. I love this topic, and it has really been well developed. Sure people get scared when there is a serial killer on the loose, but they don’t really care that much, because we all think that is something that happens only to other people, never to ourselves. Sure they can make curfews, and start being a little bit more careful, but in end of the day, not a lot changes. Of course things do change when a tape of someone being murdered by very freaky clowns is shown on national television. Fear is definitely starting to spread and it probably won’t take long for the city to fall into chaos. And then Kai will be able to have the “kingdom” he always wanted.
Overall, this was really an amazing episode. Finally we have been receiving much needed answers. American Horror Story never really had very long seasons, and this one is already almost halfway through. Hope things start getting more and more intense. This season has been really great, and I am sure it will continue down this road. I am giving this episode a 9.2/10.
The sixth episode of the season will air next Tuesdays, October 10th, and it is entitled “Mid-Western Assassin”, so don’t miss it, because I won’t either.
REVIEW: The Gifted, Episode 101
One of the most awaited series premieres of this fall is probably The Gifted. Well, the wait is finally over, because last night this new show kicked off with its pilot entitled “eXposed”.
Because this is a show which has history behind it, and also doesn’t at the same time, I think it will gain a big audience real quick. By that I mean that a lot of people know about the X-men, and it has a big fandom, so that will draw attention. But it also doesn’t at the same time, because people don’t really need to have watched those movies to understand the show, and this is of course a plus, because it draws both kinds of people.
Moving on to the story now, this is a little bit classic X-men: 2 teenagers who find out they have the gene, and they drag their family on an escape from people who want them locked away. The only difference is that they don’t have Professor X to protect them. But, of course, that with the X-men gone, there are new mutant protectors: The Mutant Underground Headquarters. This escape requires two very different sides to work together, and that is always nice to watch: a mutant leader and a guy who hunts mutants. Of course, they didn’t trust each other (and they probably won’t for a while), and that is what is greater about it.
Another great thing about it, was the scene in the high school dance. It was really a very intense scene, full of suspense and emotions. I think it makes sense the gifts first reveal in an intense moment of people’s lives, since that is usually when we do things we didn’t know we could (of course that in the daily life it isn’t such unlikely things). It was even greater they added, before all this, that scene in which Andy and Lauren were talking about mutants, and how Andy was a bit racist.
In this pilot, we were able to see some mutants already, and I have to say that I always love seeing people with different abilities work together. It is so amazing how some people/powers complement each other when fighting the bad guys. I think this really is something I will never get tired of watching.
This is still the pilfirst episode, but I can already see a great story unfold. There are really many great possibilities for future episodes/seasons, and, unlike some shows, I think this show will be able to tell a long story, without getting cut off. The story is great, the cast is great, the special effects too. There is really no reason for cancelation here (adding what I already mentioned about the X-men connection).
Also, I think this show can even be something we can connect to our daily life, if we see the mutants as a metaphor to other outcast people in the community, like black people or LGBT members. As long as there is an “us” and a “them”, there will always be trouble and war (maybe not like a world war, but nevertheless a fight between the two sides). And this is exactly what we see in this show: people who see things in sides and that are not able to give in, always seeing themselves as superior and the others as a threat. The thing is that, of course, things always change when it is someone you know, like what happened with Reed. People can say they hate mutants all they want, but this is all up until a certain point. “Things change when it comes to your kid”, as Jace said, and this is really true for everything.
Overall, as I have been saying, this was a great pilot, full of action, suspense, thrill… everything a pilot needs to get people’s attention. The story was set in a good way, and we can hope all this will continue. I am giving this episode an 8.3/10 (I don’t want to raise the bar too high, since this is just the beginning).
Next episode is going to air next Monday, October 9th,and it is entitled “rX”, so don’t miss it.
PREVIEW: Once Upon A Time, Season 7
After a really amazing season (the best one yet, in my opinion), Once Upon A Time is almost back with its seventh season. A lot of things are changing, and there is a lot of misconception out there, which is why I decided to make this preview.
First things first: Once Upon A Time isn’t erasing these last 6 years, and these new characters aren’t recasts. To make the plan for season 7 simpler, we can look at it like Disney movies (or marvel ones too). There are many versions of the same story: there is the original Cinderella movie from 1950; in 1997 a musical adaptation of this same story was made; and now more recently, in 2015, we had another remake. We had a Cinderella in the first season (and also in one episode of season 6), but the one we will see now is a parallel version of her. With Cinderella, some other characters will be rebooted as well, so we will see them “again”.
Now that this is out of the way, there is much more to talk about. To make things less confusing and more organized, I will divide the rest of the preview by topics.
Cast
Not everyone we have been seeing in the past few years will remain as show regulars: Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan), Jared Gilmore (Henry Mills), Josh Dallas (Prince Charming/David), Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White/Mary Margaret), Rebecca Mader (Zelena) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle); are all leaving the main cast. But, of course, this doesn’t mean they aren’t coming back. Jennifer Morrison is returning for the second episode, Jared Gilmore is coming back for at least the first two (and maybe some more), Emilie de Ravin is going to be back for the forth episode and Rebecca Mader is also returning for multiple episodes (possibly a little later in the season).
This isn’t official, but I really think (and hope) Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin will also return for at least one episode. With this, we will have all our old cast back.
Continuing as regulars we have: Lana Parrilla (Regina Mills/Evil Queen), Robert Carlyle (Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold) and Colin O’Donoghue (Captain Hook/Killian Jones). But even as awesome as these actors/characters are, they could never make a season by themselves. Joining the regular cast, we have: Andrew J. West (older Henry), Gabrielle Anwar (Lady Tremaine/Victoria Belfrey), Dania Ramirez (Cinderella/Jacinda), Alison Fernandez (Lucy). Later, Mekia Cox joined the regular cast, and she will be playing Princess Tiana/Sabine.
Location
With a new curse, comes a new city. The next Once Upon A Time locale will be Hyperion Heights. This new city really is very different from Storybrooke. First, because it isn’t a small town anymore, this is really a big city. Second, and I find this bit quite interesting, not everyone in Hyperion Heights will be a fairy tale character, since this seems to be a city created before the new curse. Third, because bad things don’t happen if people try to leave. Out of the contrary actually, since Tremaine would be quite pleased if they did (more on that later). This means that Hyperion Heights is definitely not lost in time, so we will start seeing some up to date technology.
Characters
Like in season 1, we will see different versions of each character. They will all be up to something, so here is a little summary of each character.
Regina is now Roni, a bar owner (kind of like Granny’s but with a lot more alcohol). Even though she doesn’t remember her former self, Regina is still going to lead the front against Lady Tremaine’s evil acts. She is saying goodbye to pantsuits and perfect hair, so it seems she will be a little freer of the responsibility of being a hero.
Hook is going to be Rogers, or better, Officer Rogers, since he will be a part of the police department. In the beginning of the new season he will be very focused on finding answers to a case, and that might just mean he will ask for Rumple’s help.
Knowing Rumple is going to help Rogers, is pretty much all we know about him, which means he continues to be very mysterious. We don’t even know his new name. Some people say he will be the next “Godfather” but we really don’t know. We are definitely going to have to wait until Friday to find out.
We will also meet an older version of Henry. We know that a few years after the ending of season 6, Henry left to a parallel universe to find his own story, and it seems he did, with Cinderella. Years later they have Lucy, and the curse is casted. In our world, after writing a failing book which tells the story of the first 6 seasons of the show, Henry became a Swift driver (kind of like Uber), until Lucy came knocking on his door, dragging him to Hyperion Heights.
Lucy’s job in this new season seems to be very similar to Henry’s, back in season 1. Her father lost belief, so it is now her job to get that back, to make him believe in hope, faith, Happy Endings (or beginnings) and fairy tales. In other words, Lucy will be the new crazy kid of the show.
Like most of the women in Once Upon A Time, Cinderella isn’t a damsel in distress, out of the contrary, she is a very badass princess who really doesn’t need anyone to protect her. This means that, as usual, the epic romance between her and Henry will definitely not start with the right foot, but they will warm their way to each other. In Hyperion Heights, Jacinda apparently won’t be very different from her original self, except for the fact she will have a daughter to protect this time.
As rebellious as Cinderella may be, Lady Tremaine seems to be the one who puts her in her place. She is that kind of woman who was wanted by every man in happier years, but as she got older, she ends up alone. We don’t know who casted the curse, but she does seem to be a good candidate. In present day, Victoria is a woman of power, and her goal is to push the fairy tale characters out of Hyperion Heights and into the real world so that they live on the rest of their days miserable, not knowing who they really are.
Now introducing the main character from The Princess and the Frog, Tiana is also popping up in the new season. We don’t know a lot about her, other than the fact her centric episode will be the fifth, and in it we will meet her mother. In Hyperion Heights, Sabine is Jacinda’s roommate, and we can totally expect to see the two of them bond.
Aside from these, Drizella and Alice are going to guest start in some episodes. We really know nothing about Alice, other than the fact her cursed name is Tilly, but we can totally expect some wickedness coming from Drizella. She is definitely going to help her mother make Cinderella’s life a living hell.
With all this said, now we simply have to wait. Hope this preview made the plans for season 7 a bit clearer, and also made you guys excited for it. The season premiere of the show is entitled “Hyperion Heights” and it will air next Friday, October 6th, at 8 pm, so don’t miss it.
The Gifted Episode 1.03 Promos + Synopsis Revealed
The Gifted premieres tonight, and FOX is doing as much as possible to promote the upcoming show.
This time, they’ve released 23 promotional images and a synopsis for episode 3, titled “eXodus.”
Synopsis:
ALL-NEW “THE GIFTED” MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, ON FOX In an effort to reunite with one another, Reed cuts a deal with the Sentinel Services and Caitlin and the kids seek help from someone outside the compound. Meanwhile, Thunderbird begins to teach Blink how to control her powers in the all-new “eXodus” episode of THE GIFTED airing Monday, Oct. 16 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
Promo pictures:
The Gifter premieres tonight (October 2) on FOX.
Episode Title 7.09 of Once Upon a Time Revealed
Adam Horowitz has taken to Twitter one more time to announce an episode title for season 7 of Once Upon a Time.
This time, the screenwriter went ahead and revealed the title for episode 7.09, “One Little Tear.”
The title could very well be a reference to Rapunzel’s origin story, where her tears have magical healing powers. We’ll have to wait and see.
Here's another #OnceUponATime #titlespoiler — hope to see ya 10/6! pic.twitter.com/04i6YSVcdJ
— Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) October 1, 2017
The Walking Dead Episode 8.03 Title and Synopsis Revealed
The Walking Dead season 8 is quickly approaching, and with it, more information about the upcoming season is being dropped.
AMC revealed the synopsis and title of the third episode of the season.
Check it out:
“Monsters”
Air Date: 11th November 2017
Conflict with the Saviors leads to unintended consequences for the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and Alexandria; morality proves tricky in wartime.
AMC’s The Walking Dead returns on October 22.
REVIEW: How to Get Away with Murder, Episode 401
How to Get Away with Murder is finally back with this season four premiere entitled “I’m Going Away”, an episode which focused a lot on the relationship between Annalise and Ophelia.
Close to the beginning of the episode, Annalise went to her mother’s house for a visit, and I have to say the scenes with the two were great. Both of these actresses are brilliant and they do an amazing job with these characters. Like usually, the scenes with the two were very heartfelt and incredible to watch. It was even funny seeing that, even though she is the one who was mentally ill, Ophelia is still the person who brings balance to the family when things start to heat up. The family started to consider taking her to a Memory Care Center, or at least Annalise and Celestine did, since their dad said he could take care of her alone. At first, Ophelia didn’t like the idea very much, but she later realized it was really for her safety and other people’s.
Even though it seemed like the best thing to do, we realized where Annalise got her stubbornness from: her father. Mac really didn’t like the idea of having his wife away, so in the end, Ophelia continued to live at her old house with him. I really hope none of them live to regret this. Annalise’s mother really needs treatment, and I think it is obvious she won’t have that in her house (or at least never enough to get better). One day she really can end up hurting someone, herself included.
On a related note, it was really not fair for Mac to blame Ophelia’s dementia on Annalise. We are not sure if she is the one causing the “visions”, maybe she is, maybe she isn’t, but if she is, then that is not her fault. Mac really went over the line there. Should Annalise stop visiting her mother just for her not to relive things? What she needs is treatment, and not people who simply ignore her problems or blame them on someone/something else.
Moving on from Annalise (at least for now), Laurel’s father is in town, and I was really surprised they just dropped the abortion bomb like that. Laurel told her father she didn’t keep the baby, like this was the most natural thing in the world. But later in the episode we found out Laurel did not abort, and she really intends on keeping the baby. This was really a relief. Another relief was realizing Laurel knows her father ordered Wes killed. I was wondering throughout the episode when they were going to find this out, but Laurel already did. We don’t know how, yet, and I don’t think no one else knows about it, but the important thing is that she knows, and I am sure she has a plan to make this secret come to light. Maybe she even already started that plan by telling her father she did the abortion.
On happier news (even though it probably didn’t felt like happy news for some people), Connor denied Oliver’s marriage proposal. As I said, this may not sound like happy news for everyone, but it did feel kind of right. Connor does want to get married, and to have children and pets, as he said, but from what I understood, he wants to do this when the time is right, not because one of them is afraid of being murdered or going to jail or something equally as terrible. He wants to get married because they both love each other and because they are in the right place to do so. Plus, married life wouldn’t probably change that much in their relationship, so I am fine either way. As long as they are happy, I am happy too.
The most unfortunate thing is yet to come: Annalise, after being again able to teach, ditched literally everyone. It really sucks this happened, because I love the team working together and being badass, kicking their enemies’ buts. On one hand I understand Annalise’s side of things: she blames herself for Wes’ death, and she realized this kind of tragedy happens around her, so she doesn’t want to be responsible for any other person’s life shattered. On the other, I also understand everyone else’s perspective: they have worked a lot for Annalise and the gratitude they get for all that is a recommendation letter after being “fired” for no reason. I think (and hope) we will see them all working together again not very far from now, but it is definitely not going to be fun seeing them apart while this doesn’t happen.
Lastly and as usual, How to Get Away with Murder introduced us to flash-forwards of 3 months later. We didn’t yet see much, but it is already possible to say that Annalise’s therapist is going to play a major role than he did in this episode. I don’t know why, but I don’t trust him, and I usually tend to trust people, so I don’t think I will be liking him very much. But there is something that left me confused: I read on an article the producer of the show saying that the big question this season is going to be “where”, and it was with this question the episode ended. Is the question “where is Laurel’s baby?” Maybe it could have died, and the question is a totally different “where” but it could also have been taken(?). I don’t know. Looks like we will have to wait and see.
Overall, this was a good start for the season. Could have been a bit better, but it was nice enough. I am giving it an 8.5/10.
The second episode will air next Thursday October 5th and it is entitled “I’m Not Her”, where I hope we will have a few more answers about the flash-forwards, so don’t miss my review.
Synopses for Upcoming DC Shows Second Episodes Released
All of our favorite DC shows come back very soon, and to get us a bit more excited, the CW released synopses for the second episodes of all four shows.
Check them out:
Arrow – Episode 6.02 “Tribute”
ANATOLY RETURNS TO STAR CITY — Oliver (Stephen Amell) tries to balance being the mayor, the Green Arrow and a father to William (guest star Jack Moore). Anatoly (guest star David Nykl) returns to Star City with a deadly agenda.
Arrow premieres October 12 on the CW.
The Flash – Episode 4.02 “Mixed Signals”
BARRY AND IRIS GO TO COUPLES THERAPY — Barry (Grant Gustin) has his hands full when he takes on a dangerous meta (guest star Dominic Burgess) who can control technology, while also confronting an obstacle in his personal life: the ramifications of abandoning Iris (Candice Patton) for six months to balance the Speed Force. Meanwhile, Gypsy (guest star Jessica Camacho) breaches in for a hot date with Cisco (Carlos Valdes), but she gets annoyed when his work keeps them apart.
The Flash premieres October 10 on the CW.
Legends of Tomorrow – Episode 3.02 “Freakshow”
IT’S ALWAYS A CIRCUS — The Legends find themselves in 1870 to fix the anachronism which happens to be at P.T. Barnum’s fledgling circus. However, Nate (Nick Zano) and Ray (Brandon Routh) accidently free a saber toothed tiger, creating a bigger problem. Meanwhile, P.T. Barnum (guest star Billy Zane) is on the hunt to capture Nate and Ray to make his show even more exciting for the crowd. Caity Lotz, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Victor Garber, Dominic Purcell and Franz Drameh also star.
Legends of Tomorrow premieres October 10 on the CW.
Supergirl – Episode 3.02 “Triggers”
YAEL GROBGLAS (“JANE THE VIRGIN”) GUEST STARS — Psi (guest star Yael Grobglas), a thief with psychic powers, attacks National City. Able to immobilize people by tapping into their worst fears, Psi proves a formidable opponent for Supergirl. Meanwhile, James (Mehcad Brooks) and Lena (Katie McGrath) are at an impasse, and Samantha starts her new job at L-Corp
Supergirl premieres October 9 on the CW.
First Six Minutes of FOX’s The Gifted Released Online
Okay, The Gifted, we’ll watch.
Since the early receptions for the series have been outstanding, fans have hope that this upcoming series will have the critical acclaim Legion had, just with a higher TV rating.
FOX has released the first six minutes of its upcoming series, The Gifted, and it looks thrilling. It all starts with Blink (Jamie Chung) running away from the police, which develops into a showcase of Polaris’ (Emma Dumont), Eclipse’s (Sean Teale), and Thunderbird’s (Blair Redford) powers, and ends with a lesson: do not mess with Polaris.
Check it out:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaNXf75-MDY[/embedyt]
The Gifter premieres October 2 on FOX.
REVIEW: American Horror Story, Episode 704
American Horror Story is back with its fourth episode of season seven entitled “11/9”, an episode which didn’t really continue what we have been seeing in the last 3 episodes, but it was still a great one.
To make things a bit clearer, I will comment on the events by chronological order, since the scenes in the episode were a little all over the place. By the way, I am not saying this is a bad thing, I actually liked it because it made my brain start working right in the first hours of the morning.
In this episode politics definitely had a major role, since we were put through the last few hours before Election Day. Ivy asks Ally to go with her to a rally, but she doesn’t want to since she is sure Hillary is going to win, so the rally is pointless. It is precisely because of people like her that nothing gets done, not just in America, but all over the world. People who just think “Why bother going if I can stay home and do whatever I want?”. And when something they didn’t want to happen, really does happen, they complain. This is exactly Ally’s case. She was so sure Hillary would win that she didn’t even vote for her. Then she cried her eyes out and screamed until her lungs hurt when Trump won. Even though she is probably the character who complains most about Trump’s victory, she seems to be one of the few who can’t say anything about it, because she didn’t try to prevent it.
[WPGP gif_id=”7496″ width=”600″]
But anyway, these flashbacks for the day before the election focused, for once, on Ivy. A Trump supporter harassed her right in the middle of the protest, and this was really the first moment she met Winter. Probably for the first time in the show, Winter didn’t act weird and even helped Ivy catch the man who did that to her. Even though what they did to him may have seemed a bit extreme, it was definitely nothing he didn’t deserve. The most unfortunate thing about this is that this man may be fiction, but there are real ones out there who think it is OK to do whatever they want to women and get away with it.
If there was a main character in this episode, that was Kai, who popped up in every time line. He made the harasser so desperate to vote, that he cut off his own hand. I think Evan Peters really nailed it in this episode. We hadn’t had the chance to really see Kai before. Sure he was in all 3 previous episodes, and we knew he was weird, but we never got to see how far he is willing to go to get what he wants. Not really at least. Kai managed to make that man think the entire result of the elections, the choice between Clinton and Trump, rested upon his hands, and if he didn’t vote he would have to see a woman lead the most powerful country on Earth.
It was with these kinds of arguments that Kai managed to recruit Harrison and Meadow Wilton. The couple had just lost everything, so Kai comes in with his ideas of world domination, and about the fact that there should be no labels. Sure it would be great labels didn’t exist, that we were all simply citizens of the same country/world, but labels will always be there. When we look at a person we label her/him immediately, from the most obvious: gender, color; to the ones we find out later: like sexual orientation, among others. If Kai thinks he can change this, he is very wrong.
But this weird couple weren’t the only people he recruited to his little cult. A reporter featured in the previous episode, Beverly Hope, also made it into Kai’s secret group. Understanding she had a lot of rage inside her, after looking into her past, Kai went to talk to her continuing to advertise his ideas: starting in the city council, and slowly climb his way up until who knows where. To prove he is serious and not just some guy who likes to talk crazy, Kai orders the death of Serena Belinda, Beverly’s rival, while the camera filmed it. I have to say that recruiting a reporter was a great idea, because, as we started seeing later in the episode, Beverly is slowly trying to spread fear while telling the news.
As I said before, even though this episode didn’t follow the footsteps of the previous ones, it was still a very nice one. The change of pace felt like a welcoming change. This wasn’t my favorite episode so far (I prefer the previous one because it was more intense), but I it will take the second place. Really looking forward to see this newish character of Beverly. I am giving it a 9.0/10.
The fifth episode of the season is entitled “Holes” and it does seem it will continue to mess with Ally’s fears, because we already know that she and holes don’t really get along.