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.
Check Out These New Awesome Character Posters for The Gifted
We’ve had so many character posters/promos for the upcoming series The Gifted, but these ones… these ones stand out.
These posters, however, don’t focus on the Strucker family, but the mutants who are supposed to go on this journey with them: Polaris, Blink, Eclipse and Thunderbird.
Check them out:
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.
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”.
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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”.
Julian McMahon Joins Cast of Marvel’s Runaways
Marvel-Hulu’s upcoming series Runaways has cast Julian McMahon.
This would not be the first time McMahon works with Marvel, as he previously played Dr. Doom in Fantastic Four (2005).
The actor’s character will be named “Jonah,” and according to Variety, “he is a pivotal player in the main characters’ rebellion against their parents.” No further details have been revealed about McMahon’s character.
Marvel’s Runaways is about six teenagers from various different backgrounds who unite to stand against their parents after discovering they’re part of an underground team called the Pride.