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.
[WPGP gif_id=”6903″ width=”600″]
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.
REVIEW: American Gods, Episode 108
American Gods returns with episode 8 of season one, the season finale, entitled “Come to Jesus” and everyone is eager to have a meeting with Ostara.
It was time for Mr. Ibis to take a break and for Mr. Nancy to be the one in the spotlight (quite literally). Nancy tells the story of Bilquis, Goddess of love and character who is not unfamiliar to us viewers. This backstory was definitely something that we needed, we just didn’t know it. We saw that she went from a Queen who had everything she wanted, to a homeless woman who didn’t have a lot more than the clothes she was wearing. We were able to find out that she, like Vulcan, accepted the help of the New Gods in order to rise again, and that is something pretty much everyone would do. Maybe Bilquis isn’t as loyal to them as Vulcan seemed to be, but ultimately the new Gods took her out of poverty and starvation, and so she is in big debt to them. Moral of the story: “You need to get yourself a Queen”.
[WPGP gif_id=”6894″ width=”600″]
Wednesday and Shadow head to Kentucky to do just that. There, they find Ostara, commonly known as Easter, Goddess of Spring, resurrection and rebirth. Ostara was definitely not nearly as happy to see Wednesday as Wednesday was to see her, but she became quite charmed with Shadow and the feeling was clearly mutual. Nowadays, when we think of Easter we think of Jesus and the resurrection, but truth is that Easter existed long before that and, just like Christmas time, Easter celebrated the equinox. Ostara may be, among the Old Gods, one of the few who is doing fine, but, in the end of the day, she is just as forgotten as they all are. Even though people still celebrate Easter (which gives her some power), they don’t do it in her name anymore, and Wednesday makes sure to point that out.
It totally made a lot of sense seeing many Jesuses in this episode. In fact, there are many people who worship him, but everyone has a different tradition, a different interpretation of the bible, and so, without realizing it, people believe, not in one Jesus, but in several ones. And, as it is our belief that creates Gods, apparently it can also create more and more Jesuses.
Meanwhile, Laura and Mad Sweeney arrived to their destination, and who better to bring someone back from the dead than the Goddess of resurrection herself? But not all deaths are the same, and after looking into Laura’s case, Ostara realized she can’t bring her back to life because she was killed by a God (or as Sweeney put it, she was sacrificed to a God). It is this way that Laura finds out that she and Shadow have been manipulated by Wednesday for a while, at least since they came up with the “perfect plan” to rob the casino. For some reason, Wednesday wanted Shadow in a position where he had nothing to lose because he had already lost everything. This definitely proves that Shadow wasn’t the one picked to be Wednesday’s body guard just because he was the first strong guy Wednesday could find. There is clearly a lot more to it and I can’t wait to find out what it is.
It was after this that we got to see that amazing, crazy super scene in which everything was happening at the same time. Media arrived. Unlike the Technical Boy, Media doesn’t want to start a war (I am not really saying the Technical Boy wants to start one, but he probably wouldn’t mind it too much). Media wants to enlist Gods to keep them in check, to make sure they are not going to start a mutiny, but she is not willing to do everything to make this happen. Ostara feels misrepresented by the media and the new Goddess pretty much says that she doesn’t care, and tells her to adapt. This is how it has been and this is how it will continue to be.
After Media, it didn’t take long for the other known New Gods to show up, and I have to say, I always love Media and Technical Boy’s outfits. Media’s outfits are always very modern and fashionable but at the same time, historical and old. Technical Boy’s are always so futuristic and rebel teenage-like. The New Gods couldn’t be more confident they will prevail. As they said, they control everything. The only way the Old Gods would announce themselves would be if they went house by house knocking on doors and, even so, no one would listen to them, no one would care about them. The New Gods are “the flow”; the “platform AND the delivery mechanism”.
But the New Gods weren’t seeing the big picture, they were underestimating Ostara. After having her power increased because of a few deaths in her name, Ostara was able to take the spring away, and so the scene just got better and better. Apparently, the Old Gods didn’t need a delivery mechanism, because they have one that is more effective than any other. If people want to see flowers again, leaves on trees, crops grow, green fields… they are going to have to pray for it. “You give a little, you get a little”. That is how it used to be, and that is how the Old Gods want it to be again.
It makes all the sense in the world that the war between Old Gods and New Gods isn’t a physical one, but a war for everyone’s belief. First of all, because no physical war would live up to the audience’s expectations. Secondly, even if the Old Gods won and killed the New Gods, what good would that do? They would still not be important, and the New Gods would eventually be back because people would continue to believe in them. If the Old Gods want to kill their opponents, they will have to make sure that no one believes in them anymore.
It was also in this overwhelming scene that Wednesday revealed who he really is: his real name is Odin, Germanic God of all Gods. Like everything in this show, the pseudonym “Wednesday” didn’t come out of nowhere. “Wednesday” is derived from the old English “Wodenstaeg”, which means day of Woden (which is one of Odin’s many names).
I am going to apologize in advance for what I am about to say because not a lot of people share my opinion in this, but if I have to pick a team, I will pick the New Gods. Everyone likes their TV, their technologies, social media, oil… and that is what the New Gods represent. The Old Gods had their time of prosperity, now they either need to “adapt and survive” (like Media said), or disappear and die. It is a good thing that the New Gods are making sure some of the old palls still survive and still have some believers. They should be happy with that. It is definitely time to say: Out with the old and in with the new.
This was definitely an awesome episode. Finally Shadow believes, finally the war is on, finally Wednesday revealed his true identity, finally Shadow saw Laura again. There was only a problem with it, a very big one in fact: after watching it, we have to wait almost a year to watch a new one. I am giving this episode a 9.9/10 (I am saving my 10, in case there is a better one coming).
With this, I conclude my reviews of season 1 of this amazing show. It was, like any other, a season with its highs and lows, but overall a really amazing one. Hope it doesn’t take too long for season 2 to start.
REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 108
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland returns with episode 8, “Home”, and with the winter finale upon us, everyone wants to be the first to find Cyrus.
In flashbacks we saw Alice and Cyrus and learned a few things more about these two. I never get tired of seeing Alice kicking ass, and especially everyone’s face when they find out she can fight, and so it was very amusing watching that first scene. What wasn’t so amusing was seeing her injured. Luckily it was nothing Mrs. Rabbit couldn’t fix, but the Rabbit is right to point out that she may not be this lucky next time. One thing is true however: even though Alice didn’t choose to fall in love with Cyrus, she chose the life she was having, she chose to be with him, and she knew the consequences of that decision. And she would rather die a premature death on Cyrus’ arms than live years and years apart from him. And that is exactly what true love is all about. But even considering all this, it is obviously still nice having a place to call Home, somewhere to go to when things get tough and, with the help of the Caterpillar, Cyrus was able to build it.
And it is to their Home that Alice believed Cyrus was going to. But before getting there, she wanted to make a stop at the Rabbit’s place so that he would help them escape from Wonderland. Unfortunately, the Rabbit isn’t very keen on helping them, since the Red Queen kidnaped his family. With Will’s help (he knows Anastasia better than anyone) they manage to find them, and these 3 head to the Outlands.
Meanwhile, Jafar enlists the help of one of the Queen’s Tweedles to get Cyrus’s bottle. With this, all he needs is for Alice to make her last wish, and he will have everything he ever wanted. But he soon realized that the Queen was much smarter than he thought, and the bottle he was given was fake. So he gets mad as he had never gotten before and destroys the Queen’s castle after taking one of her hairs. The Queen’s castle was definitely a very beautiful and original castle, definitely one fitted to a beautiful queen such as Anastasia.
At the same time, after learning that Cyrus was caught in one of her traps, Anastasia goes to get him. They make a stop to go get the real bottle and, after convincing Cyrus to tell her where he was going to, they also make way to the Outlands. Obviously Anastasia never trusted Jafar, but when he got the fake bottle was probably the moment she realized Jafar didn’t need her for the spell, and that she was simply the means to an end.
Alice was the first getting there and after she couldn’t find Cyrus she started making all sorts of other plans to search for him again. It was a bit weird that she didn’t think that the reason why Cyrus wasn’t there was simply because he hadn’t arrived yet. But it was still nice seeing that Alice didn’t lose hope that she would find him, I think she simply thought they wouldn’t reunite that day, but she was wrong. After 8 episodes apart, Cyrus and Alice were reunited at last, and it was just as beautiful as we had imagined. But the sweet nothings soon came to an end when Alice saw who Cyrus’ travel companion was.
It is finally in this scene that we realized what Anastasia was trying to get: she wanted to travel back in time and stop herself from accepting the King’s offer to become queen, so that she would continue living with Will. She probably thought she didn’t have many chances of getting him back in present day, so a trip to the past was her only option. Anastasia begged everyone to leave Wonderland immediately but anyone trusted her at first, and I definitely don’t blame them after everything she put them through.
Wanting to get rid of the Red Queen, Jafar performs a spell to kill her. Anastasia is able to dodge it, but the lightning strikes Will. Because of the first wish Alice made, they both find themselves dying, and Alice doesn’t want to make a wish because that will take Cyrus back to the bottle and Jafar will have what he wanted from the beginning. But what she didn’t remember was that she had promised Will a wish, and so he wished to “end Alice’s suffering”. As wishes go, this was kind of a smart one, since I don’t think anyone can take back wishes, and so, for Alice to stop suffering, Will would have to stop too. But what no one remembered was that physical suffering isn’t the only kind of pain, and thanks to Will, Cyrus is no longer a genie. But wishes come with a price, and Will payed his by taking Cyrus’ place in the bottle.
This was certainly an amazing episode, and that twist in the end was an incredible one that I definitely did not see coming. I am giving this episode a 9.0/10.
I will be back soon with my review of episode 9 entitled “Nothing to Fear”, where we will find out who Will’s first master will be.
REVIEW: Midnight, Texas, Episode 104
Midnight, Texas is back this week with the fourth episode of its first season and we got to meet a “Sexy Beast”, which was the trouble-bringer of the episode.
There were, fortunately, a few developments in this episode and Manfred and Creek continued their “relationship” (not sure if you can call it that, but why not?). It is nice that the writers have made it normal by now to watch more intimate scenes between these two (especially because the pilot didn’t make it seem like we would get scenes like this anytime soon). It is also nice to see that mundane things still matter (sometimes supernatural shows forget the most natural things), and Manfred still obviously needs money. What he didn’t expect was that it would be knocking on his door. And with a new client, came a new case. Manfred started working on it but soon realized he couldn’t do it alone, so he brought the team back together again. I really like to see this team in action. We got to see them joining forces on last episode and now again in this one. On episode 3 it was definitely more badass and each one of their skills was required. This didn’t happen as much this time, but it is understandable, because last episode they were fighting many vampires at the same time.
Speaking of monsters, this week we met a new one: a succubus. In folklore a succubus is a demon in female form that appears in dreams to seduce men. The myth of this creature evolved and, as we saw in this show, it doesn’t always appear in dreams. Considering this, the show did a great job creating it. It was also nice seeing a creature that is a bit more unknown, rather than other classic creatures we are used to see in supernatural shows (like ordinary demons, shapeshifters, ghosts…).
I am liking Olivia more and more, and she was amazing in this episode. It was great seeing her perform that little job, and also watching her do it like it was an ordinary Wednesday. We even got to know a little bit more about her and her origins. It would be to expect that a girl as badass as her came from a broken home, but it was still heartbreaking hearing what she went through. But she doesn’t have to worry about it now because she has Lemuel and he is not going anywhere (at least I hope he doesn’t). The dynamic between these two has been great from the beginning, but it was especially amazing in this episode. They looked like two partners in crime and it was funny seeing the looks they exchange while torturing that poor guy.
Speaking of relationships, it was also nice that Bobo and Fiji finally accepted that they were in love with each other. It took a while, but nothing we couldn’t wait. It appears that they bring out the best in each other and that was clear as water when Fiji convinced him to stop going after the Sons of Lucifer (not the first time, but the second). I just hope they continue this dynamic instead of lying to each other and saying it was a one-time thing and they can’t ruin their friendship.
Another thing that was nice to see was Creek working with the team and not being afraid to make a stand. Alone in the parking-lot and seeing the succubus escaping, she could have stayed hidden (which was something I was afraid she would do), l but instead decided to not be afraid and injected some magic gas into the succubus. What was not nice to see was that there are people (and by people I mean Connor) who are a liability, but still always get in the way, even though they don’t know how to deal with the situation they are getting themselves into. He was trying to protect his sister, but it is clearer every episode that she can, unlike him, take care of herself, and so he should just stay home and do whatever it is he likes to do (that or toughen up and help). I hope he chooses the second, because he seems like a nice and smart kid.
Overall, this was a good episode, but I feel like the previous one was a bit better, and so I am giving it 7.5/10.
I will return next week with my review of episode 5 entitled “Unearthed”.
REVIEW: American Gods, Episode 107
American Gods continues the season with episode 7, “A Prayer for Mad Sweeney”, which seemed a little like a standalone episode, but a good one nonetheless.
“The American colonies were as much as a dumping ground as they were an escape”. It is like this that we begin a new chapter of Ibis’ “Coming to America” story. America was in fact the land of dreams, but for some to be living the dream, others would have to work for both themselves and for the dreamers, and that was not forgotten in this episode of American Gods.
In this very peculiar chapter, we meet Essie McGowan and a comparison between her and Laura is inevitable, since they were portrayed by the same actress: they both struggle for the life they think they deserve, neither one of them forgets what matters to them (at least they rarely do), and both of them always seem to want more, no matter how much they have. Something that is also inevitable to compare is their beliefs: Essie seems to fully believe in a lot of things, but mostly leprechauns; while Laura doesn’t believe in anything (at least she didn’t use to, but that is probably different now).
What I enjoyed most about Essie’s character was her belief. As I just said, she believes in a lot of things, but, unlike a lot of people, she doesn’t believe as a hobby. Every day (sometimes maybe more than once a day) she would spare some food, put it on a plate and serve to the leprechauns. Of course this was definitely not a very big deal when she had lots of food to eat, but she didn’t always, and she would still remember them. There were in fact a few occasions in which she forgot this, but not because she kept all the food for herself, but because she was busy. It is probably because of Essie that a certain Irish leprechaun found himself in America. Leprechauns have been nothing but a myth for a long long time and so they would have to follow the believers wherever they went. I also even wonder if the coin that Mad Sweeney says to be his lucky coin (the one that is now inside Laura) isn’t the one that Essie gave him. That would be interesting.
But though there were a lot of scenes from the past, the present was not forgotten. We continued to see the trip that Laura, Salim and Mad Sweeney share. But Salim didn’t stay long in this episode because he was given what he wanted sooner than he expected: the location of the Jinn in House of the Rock. I am not yet sure what this is, but we will probably see it next season. I was told this is an amazing part of the story, so I am looking forward to it.
With Salim gone, Laura and Sweeney continued their journey in an ice cream truck, which was probably great for Laura because her body is rotting really fast. But most journeys have detours and this was no different: because of a little bunny (which means they are close to their destination), the truck crashed. Sweeny was fine, but the same can’t be said for Laura, because her body was opened and the coin jumped out of her. Our favorite leprechaun picked it up and was definitely thinking of just going away, when he looks back and starts thinking of what he should do. And this is the moment we find out that he was actually the one who killed Laura in the first place, by Wednesday’s command. That’s right! Even though Wednesday wasn’t physically in this episode, he will always be the one pulling the strings of the other characters.
It was nice seeing the interaction between Laura and Sweeney, both in the present and past. Both actors do in amazing job (all cast does an amazing job in this show actually). It was curious that the writers made this episode to be the penultimate, because those are usually more shocking episodes that set up the season finale. But Americans Gods is now expected to the unexpected, so we shouldn’t really be shocked about something like this. Of course that I don’t have to say that Wednesday and Shadow were both missed. As much as I like Laura and Mad Sweeny’s interactions, I love Wednesday and Shadow’s relationship more.
This was a good episode, but a bad one by comparison. Even among the greatest of the greats there is one which comes as the worst, and that is the case of “A Prayer for Mad Sweeney”. I am giving it a 7.4/10.
Episode 8, “Come to Jesus”, is the season finale and a new battle between old Gods and new will take place, so don’t miss my next review.
REVIEW: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Episode 107
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland is back with episode 7, “Bad Blood”, which made all blood ties between characters become a burden.
In flashbacks leading to maybe a few weeks before what was seen in 104, we meet Jafar’s parents. There is nothing particularly interesting about the mother, but the father is a totally different story: Jafar’s father is the Sultan, making him a bastard to the throne. Jafar goes to the palace hoping to be welcomed with open arms, but his father says he is lucky enough to become a servant. We also saw a scene in which Jafar called the Sultan father (or almost did) in the middle of a business reunion. This scene didn’t seem very realistic, because it can’t be easy calling someone we have never seen before “Father”, and it’s not like they were very close to each other. But I’ll let this one slide. But the Sultan is definitely not as OK with this as I am, and he did not let it slide, in fact he drowned Jafar for it (of course Jafar didn’t actually die, or we wouldn’t be here).
Flashback stories like this is one of the reasons I love Once Upon A Time. The writers develop both heroes and villains the same way. If heroes had a moment in their lives that made them a hero, then villains should have one too. And that makes us understand what drives them to do whatever it is they are trying to do. In this case, Jafar is trying to break the laws of magic, so that he can make his father love him. Of course this is totally a very desperate attempt for love. “What good is love and respect if it has to be stolen?”. This is something Jafar’s father says, and it couldn’t make more sense, but it looks to Jafar that he ran out of options, and force some love into his father is the only chance he has to be loved.
But Jafar’s father wasn’t the only one who popped up in this episode, Alice’s father, Edwin, did too. Jafar kidnapped him and pretended he was him so that he could tell Alice all those things she wanted to hear, but it didn’t take long for Alice to find out the truth. The only disappointment in all this is how Alice and Will made it obvious they knew what was happening. Alice actually gave a good excuse to leave with Will, but talking to each other and occasionally look at a man who has something to hide is definitely not the way to go.
But Jafar was still not done, and so he went to get Alice’s real father and we were able to see a beautiful scene between this father and daughter. Edwin said he blamed Alice for his wife’s death, that he shouldn’t have needed proof to believe his own daughter and finishes by telling Alice that Cyrus escaped. Finally Edwin served a purpose other than always being the one doubting, and embraced his daughter, her belief and her love. I said before that it would have been very hard for anyone to believe what Alice used to say, but of course that Edwin could have been a little bit more understanding and flexible than sending his daughter almost immediately to an asylum.
Tired of listening to all this sentimentalism, Jafar threw Edwin from the cliff in which he was over, and this forced Alice to make her second wish: she wished her father back home. Two down, one to go. But don’t forget that wishes come with a price and, although her father did in fact return home safely, he thinks all the impossible things he saw were nothing but a dream.
It was just a pity that we didn’t get to see much of Will and Anastasia, but this was still a great episode. Of course that for some characters to shine, others have to be sidelined, since there is no time in one episode for everything. But that is exactly why there are still some episodes to go through, and I am giving this one an 8.1/10.
With 6 more episodes before the story comes to an end, things are definitely starting to get more and more intense, and episode 108, “Home”, was the winter finale, thus I promise that there will totally be a few twists and turns. So don’t forget to stick around.
REVIEW: Big Little Lies, Episode 103
Big Little Lies continues to surprise and conquer with episode 3 entitled “Living the Dream”, which sounds a bit ironic since all characters are definitely far from living their dream life.
The episode continues with Madeline’s attempts to sabotage Amabella’s party, organizing and founding “Disney on Ice” tickets. I continue to say that this is unfair for Chloe, because she makes it clear she would rather go to the party, than that “stupid show”. Chloe is a smart girl and she is also Ziggy’s friend and I think if Madeline had talked to her about it, she would be OK with doing this.
But while Chloe preferred to stay, Perry would like to go to the “Disney on Ice”, but Celeste is not particularly fond of this idea. Of course Perry didn’t want to go to see all those princes and princesses dancing on rollerblades, but to spend more time with his two sons. I think Celeste loves her husband, but she prefers the long distance relationship they have while he is away, than while Perry is in town. And I also think that Perry loves his wife too, he simply doesn’t really know how to love her and how to continue to make her love him, so instead of the Sweet Nothings, Perry uses violence. This may seem illogical to all of us in the outside, but maybe in his head it makes sense, maybe he doesn’t mean to hurt her. Maybe this is the language he speaks because that could be what he used to see in his home, and so it is normal to him. All of these could be explanations. Of course none of these makes the beating OK, but it helps us understand his situation. I don’t want to judge Perry (at least not yet) because we don’t really know a lot about him. But it seems like we will find out.
Speaking of this problematic couple, it was really amazing the scene in which they go to the couple’s therapist. It looked like Celeste didn’t want to tell the therapist about the fight, and she also made it seem like the beating was her fault too, because she put it as “we fight” and “we get angry”. It is totally not unusual that couples fight (it may even be one of the most common things there are), but what is not normal is that it leaves bruises (both psychological and physical). At least Perry had the decency to admit what he does, which is definitely a step in the right direction. Making him the one who mentions this might mean that Perry wants to change, but he simply doesn’t know how. One thing is for sure: going to see a therapist was definitely a great idea and it also seems that it started paying off, because Perry and Celeste finished the episode dancing, so maybe things will change. Or not, since it seems like those two go back and forth. We’ll see.
But Perry and Celeste are definitely not the only ones with troubles in paradise, because it looks like things are starting to blow up on Jane’s face. I think it was last episode that the teacher asked the first grade class to make a family tree and I thought that meant more complications for Jane and turns out I was right. Seems like Ziggy doesn’t know much (or at least much of the truth) about his father, but he really wants to know at least his name, giving the excuse of having to put it in the tree. This leads us to find out what happened: Jane tells Madeline the actual story and we find out that Jane was also a victim of domestic violence (or kind of). I read some comments of people saying they think Ziggy’s father is Perry, but I don’t think so. Jane knows Celeste and, even though we didn’t see a scene that showed that, I am sure Celeste showed Jane pictures of her family and Jane would have recognized him. There was also a really great and intense scene in the end of the episode in which Jane saw someone breaking into her house and so she grabbed a gun to protect herself. This turned out to be kind of a hallucination, but it showed that she is afraid Ziggy’s father might come back someday, or she wouldn’t have a gun.
Not being able to happen in any other way, Madeline is also far from “Living the Dream”. Her play is looking more and more in danger and, like this wasn’t enough, Abigail left to go live with her father and Bonnie, because she feels like she is living the life her mother wants her to live, instead of living it in her own way. It was really funny when, while “handing over” Abigail to her ex-husband, Nathan said that Ed was always looking at him, watching him. Nathan is starting to feel threatened by Ed, and he definitely should be, because Ed looks like that kind of badass that no one sees coming.
It is also starting to look like the murder that will happen will be a rushed crime of hate, since it is said that there is a lot of blood and broken bones. Will Perry lose control and kill Celeste? Will Celeste kill Perry in an attempt to protect herself? Will Ziggy’s dad come back and kill Jane, or Jane ending up killing him? Is this related to Madeline and Renata’s war? Looks like we will have to continue to tune in for answers.
This was a great episode and I can’t wait to see more of these 3 moms and their struggles through life. I am giving this episode an 8.2/10.
Stay tuned for my next review of the fourth episode entitled “Push Comes Shove”.
REVIEW: American Gods, Episode 106
American Gods returns with episode 106, and looking back now, one may realize that this episode’s title is a bit heavy on spoilers: “A Murder of Gods”.
In another “Coming to America” chapter, we see Mexicans trying to illegally cross the border to get to the new land. To do so, they need to cross a river and, even though no one said anything, not everyone could swim. But in the end this didn’t turn out to be much of a problem: you don’t need to be able to to swim if you have a friend who can walk on water. The real problem appeared when they were all setting foot in America: border guards (at least I think they were border guards of some sort) started shooting everyone. Jesus tried to protect the man he had just saved from drowning and gets shot in the hands and then in the chest in the best Jesus-like way. We didn’t see what happened to the people he was trying to save, but it is likely that they died (I am an optimistic, but also realistic). But none of what I said some far fits the Most Interesting Things category, but here is something that does: the bullets the guards used to kill everyone had the name Vulcan on them. Yeah, that’s right, Vulcan, God of fire and the forge, the God we meet later in this episode. Maybe he wondered why he was a bit more powerful the day that happened, and maybe he didn’t know why, but we do: someone sacrificed a Jesus in his name. The irony in all this (and this also fits into the Most Interesting Things category) is that the guards were also religious, and probably believed in the same God the Mexicans did.
[WPGP gif_id=”6709″ width=”600″]
“What came first: Gods or the people who believe in them?”. This is something Wednesday says early in the episode and definitely something that will allow everyone to think about until their head hurts. In the most “chicken and egg” scenario, this may be as impossible to prove (unless you ask the Gods themselves). If it is people’s belief that creates Gods, then maybe Humanity came first. But if that is so, Humanity got it wrong, because no God created the Universe, let alone Earth.
While we think about this (im)possible situation, Shadow and Wednesday make their way to Virginia, more specifically, a small town named Vulcan. When they arrive they witness a funeral, or, as Wednesday put it, the celebration of a sacrifice. In the lead there is Vulcan. Coincidence that the Mayor’s name is the same that the town’s? The residents might think so, but we know better. Unlike many of the Old Gods, Vulcan is going tremendously well. Every death by those Vulcan bullets (or by the forge itself) is a sacrifice in his name, every bullet shot to the air is a prayer. But of course Vulcan didn’t manage to do this on his own, he had the help of the New Gods. They probably made him a deal similar to the one they made Wednesday, the only difference is that Vulcan took it.
Wednesday definitely goes by many names and in this episode we find out one more: “Grimnir”. This is what Vulcan calls him before Wednesday asks him to join the upcoming war. Putting on a masquerade, Vulcan accepts and even forges Wednesday a blade, but that was the last thing he ever forged because Grimnir cuts his head off with it, after finding out where Vulcan’s loyalties lie.
In the meantime, we see that Laura and Mad Sweeney’s journey continues. They find each other again and also, while trying to steal his taxi, find Salim. With the promise of resurrecting Laura and point Salim towards a Jinn, they go on a road trip. We also saw that the connection between Shadow and Laura was bigger than we thought, because Shadow was able to actually see her in his mind. Maybe what Laura needs isn’t a resurrection from some Jesus, but to be with Shadow for a few minutes.
This was a great episode and a bit of a shocking one too (not as great and shocking as the last, though), and so I am giving it an 8.7/10.
Gods aren’t the only ones who need you, and in next episode we will also see “A Prayer for Mad Sweeney”, so stick around.