Supernatural - "Hell's Angel" - Season 11 Episode 18 Review

April 7, 2016

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this week we are finally going back to the main plot of the show this season, the threat of the Darkness/Amara. And I for one, couldn’t be more excited about this after the slight deviation in the past few episodes. The episode begins with Crowley, who has some sort of plan hatched, I’m assuming, because he went all the way to Saudi Arabia to be at a dying man’s side to ask him for something. I can’t even imagine what this crazy old Demon King is up to. And I didn’t need to wait long. Of course, he tracked down another artifact touched by the hands of God! Thanks to the sacrifice of this person who we now know as Noel, Crowley now has “The Horn of Joshua.” So we are just minutes in, and we already have a weapon? This is going to be good!

When we see Amara for the first time, it looks like she found herself a friend, one who has healing powers. Who was this mysterious new friend? Turns out it’s the once thought to be dead, Rowena, Crowley’s mom. She’s got more tricks up sleeve than her son. She has gained Amara’s trust, or so it seems. Rowena let her in on her little secret of coming back from the dead, a spell she had put inside her leg to bring her back if the time came. This witch is ingenious I’ll tell you!

Crowley gets ahold of Dean and tells him he has a game changer, and they need to meet up. He leaves out the part about being hunted down by his own demons, for now. Once Sam and Dean meet up with him, he tells them about the “Hand of God” in his possession. He says they can have it, if they help him with one tiny thing. Lucifer needs to go back to his cage in Hell and get out of Cas’ vessel, and they need to track down Rowena, who they all think is dead, no biggie. I can’t wait to see how they react when they see she is still alive, or to see her face when they tell her they too are going against Lucifer. There’s just that one small detail of Amara being crazy that may put a kink in all of this.

And in his typical fashion, Lucifer has a plan of his own. He crashes into Heaven, and used his intimidation to trick them into making a deal. He will help them get Amara locked up, like he has done before, and he gets stick around. This is not going to end well; I see a lot more Angels going up in smoke… As Lucifer said, “He who hesitates, disintegrates.” Which I can’t help but chuckle at, because as twisted as he may be, he is seriously on point with the one liners. Little does Amara know, she lays right into Lucifer’s plan when she tries out her power after Rowena heals her. The Angels are now fleeing to him.

Now Rowena is terrified. Maybe she will help with Crowley’s plan after all. It seems as though she will when she denies Amara an accurate depiction of what she saw when spying on the Winchester’s plan of attack. She is a survivor, and right now, playing like she is on Amara’s side is her only plan of action. She saw that they plan to let Lucifer take out Amara and then step in to take him out. She seems relieved, and I don’t blame her. Now if only she could talk to her son? And she does, by sending him a short message, “Back from the dead, Fergus!” Again, just as I am asking myself questions regarding what will happen, the answers are coming.

How the heck did Rowena sneak away to meet up the Winchester’s? Isn’t Amara keeping a close eye on her? This is not going to go well… When they started to call on Lucifer, I was left hoping it would go well! They try to talk to Castiel to get him to expel Lucifer, but he’s too weak. Now the sigil they put to hold Lucifer is wearing thin too, so he will be able to get out soon and get the “Hand of God” for himself, without being part of the plan. Not cool, maybe they should have done more research for a longer lasting hold? Before I even finish this thought, Lucifer steals Crowley’s soul, sucks it up like a creep, then trances out. What the heck is going on? At least Crowley can talk to Castiel now, that’s the only positive. That is until Lucifer pops in and over hears them.

Rowena needs to snap out of her current paralyzed state and get it together! She has to have some kind of magic to help, right? Right now her very only son is in the grasp of the man she fears most, so this has to invoke some kind of motherly instinct, even if she loathes him. I can’t believe Castiel is so broken he won’t do anything but veg out in front of his little T.V. He knows he should help, but just doesn’t. Now Crowley sends a message, “Help me.” Surely now his mom is going to help?

Nope, it’s Sam and Dean to the rescue! They start the eviction process which slowly peaks the interest of Castiel, Lucifer, and Crowley. Crowley escapes just in time to see the fire holding Lucifer go out. Are they going to finish this fight here? Or is Castiel finally going to snap out of it? Nope, Lucifer steals the “Hand of God” first. Oh boy, this is not going to be a good thing for this trio, especially with Rowena refusing to come out of hiding. Just as I was hoping Rowena would step in, somebody busts in. I’m not going to lie, for a second I wondered if it was God by the way the light shined through. No such luck, he is still M.I.A. It’s Amara. Now Rowena should really be scared! Lucifer activates “The Hand of God” while provoking Amara-- not a good idea, bro. What the heck happened? Did she absorb God’s energy? If she did they’re more screwed than ever. Right? She steals Lucifer, still in Castiel’s vessel, after saying they needed to “Have a nice long chat.” And being that she is such a loner, I’m guessing it won’t be much of a talk. And now the Winchesters need to find yet another elusive, “Hand of God.” And apparently Lucifer is God bait? Who knew? This fight is getting intense, and right now I wouldn’t want to be Rowena or Lucifer.

Written by Kaylynn Kasandra. Awkward hippie who enjoys helping people, creating things, reading, sci-fi, fantasy, and Thor. Find more from her at kaylynnkasandra.com and
http://www.youtube.com/c/tiedyesmurf

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - "Spacetime" - Season 3 Episode 15 Review

April 7, 2016

If you're a TV show, and you want me to like you, there are three things you can do that will always guarantee my fandom. 1) Give me a strong, assertive leader of a ragtag group of survivors, who at some point in the series might pay one too many visits to crazy town (see Lost, Jack and The Walking Dead, Rick). 2) Make me feel like I can relate to one of the characters. I'll take a likeable everyman, with two parts Jim Halpert and just a sprinkle of Liz Lemon, please. 3) Anything involving time travel, regardless of how little it makes sense. CBS wants to throw Téa Leoni into a DeLorean and gun it to 88 miles per hour? Sign me up, Madam Secretary. Joey Tribbiani gains the ability to see into the future, causing him to stop his spin-off from ever happening? If so, I'm binge-watching Friends like it’s season one of Game of Thrones.

This week's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. introduces an Inhuman with the power to cause anyone who touches him to have visions of the future- visions that can depict their death or someone else's. It's made clear early on that this Inhuman's power is no joke, and the premonitions he creates are a true look into what the future holds. When Daisy touches him as he's being kidnapped by Hydra, she sees his own death, and spends the rest of the episode piecing together clues from the vision to race and save him. Fitz tries to dissuade her, explaining that time is not linear, and that everything that will happen, according to the vision, has already happened and always will happen. But of course, if there's anyone who can defy the laws of space-time, it's our very own Daisy Johnson, and she righteously takes Fitz's warning for the challenge that it is. As confusing as this all might sound, this storyline is actually very straightforward and easy to follow. So, even if you’re not as crazy about this episode’s use of time as I am, you should have no problem enjoying it. There’s a "race against the clock" aspect that's quite thrilling, and the multiple action scenes are great; consistent in quality with what we've come to expect from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Somewhat surprisingly, the May and Simmons' Andrew side mission wraps up after just one episode. I had hoped that this shared plotline would continue for at least a few weeks, giving the show some room to explore these two outside of the characters they typically interact with. But, the May-Andrew subplot quickly has its bow tied, allowing Simmons to return to her dynamic with Fitz. And, after over a year of 'will they, won't they,’ the FitzSimmons ship seems to have finally found safe harbor with the two holding hands in the falling ashes of a burning building (how romantic!), during one of the episode's closing moments. Obviously, we’ve been down this road before, but the hand holding scene was subtle and genuinely unassuming enough to make me think that this time, things might finally stick between them.

After making his first appearance back in episode six, Gideon Malick finally gets some actual character development, a rarity for the show’s generic Hydra leaders. Before this episode, there was little distinguishing Malick, either physically or conceptually, from his predecessors. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been squeezing every last bit of Hydra toothpaste out of the tube as they can, providing us with a revolving door of big bads who magically pop into existence once the previous one goes down. And, I get it. Hydra is based on the principle that "when one head is cut off, two more take its place," so the idea that each defeated leader is replaced with someone new makes sense. But there are only so many times the writers can introduce yet another grey-haired, lawful evil head of Hydra before the organization as a whole starts to lose some of its bite. To their credit though, Malick appears to be on the road to bucking this trend; and by episode’s end, he actually transforms into quite the menacing villain. I'm interested to see where his arc takes him, and how he plays into Hive-Ward’s sinister master plan.

We get to see a lot of Hive-Ward after his noticeable, though non-impactful, absence from the last two episodes. His exact plan, beyond recruiting Inhuman followers, remains unclear, though we do get a satisfying up close look at his powers. Hive-Ward briefly makes his presence known to team Coulson, with predictably shocked faces all around, and Fitz is astute enough to recognize that the Ward they see is not truly Ward but "something else." Initially, I was critical of the writers' decision to stave off Ward's demise and resurrect him as Hive. I thought (and still think) it was lazy writing, though I now recognize the strategic angle they were trying to leverage. By tying a brand new villain, Hive, to a familiar one, Ward, we are intrinsically more invested in the new character due to our previous run-ins with the old. This allows the writers to spend less time developing Hive, and more time on other characters and storylines.

Unlike last week’s episode that split its focus amongst several different characters, “Spacetime” features Daisy Johnson front and center. In the past, S.H.I.E.L.D. has faltered whenever Skye/Daisy was forced to carry the narrative for long stretches. In season one, Skye wasn’t a particularly interesting character, save for the occasional one-liner, and even as she gained her powers and morphed into Daisy, Chloe Bennet’s acting didn’t resonate enough to take Daisy’s season two storylines to where they needed to go. So far this season, Daisy’s taken a back seat to FitzSimmons, May, and Coulson in terms of the more performance-driven plotlines. As she is the show’s second leading character, though, I don’t expect this to continue for long. If this episode is any indication, I think AoS might have finally figured out how to properly use Daisy, by placing her in action-heavy storylines with less emphasis on scenes that require emotionally nuanced performances from Bennet.

Garrett Yoshitomi covers Marvel films and television. He enjoys fantasy baseball, Big Brother live feeds, and Anna Kendrick. You can find his tweets @garrettweets

The Walking Dead - "Last Day On Earth" - Season 6 Episode 16 Review

April 4, 2016

Well, it’s here. The Governor, The Hunters, The Wolves and now, The Saviors. It’s interesting to me that all of these villains or groups seek to enforce their will on other people, and our heroes, to their detriment. Yet the term “Ricktatorship” is lobbed around a lot when the group makes decisions. To me, the entire point of the show is telling the stories of people who had lives before the outbreak, but were not truly free until their former lives were ripped away. Anyone who tries to threaten that odd freedom is a villain. Anyway, let’s see what happens.

Morgan meets a horse, Miles is still after Carol, and Maggie isn’t doing so hot. This is the most worrisome plot element to me because Judith just can’t be the only baby born in the post apocalypse. Life HAS to go on. Rick, Sasha, Abraham and Eugene all pile into the RV, meanwhile Carl is loading up to go with. Enid wants to join, as her and Maggie have gotten closer during this season, but Carl is adamant that she stay. Meanwhile, someone, not from Hilltop I don’t think, is about to find out what happens when you defy the Saviors. As the Saviors set upon this poor bastard, Carl locks Enid in a closet to keep her from coming along. It’s a particularly bittersweet moment because she reveals that she has feelings for Carl, but he gives her a bit of her own wisdom in response to that very important question, “what happens if you don’t come back?”

“JSS”...just survive somehow. Haunting words given what’s coming.

I thought I had a pretty good idea of who was going to meet Lucille based on the past few episodes but once Aaron talks his way into the Maggie Caravan, my heart sank. He is definitely my favorite minor character on the show. Father Gabriel reassures Rick that unlike what’s happened in the past, he’s ready to defend his flock, and Judith in particular. I really enjoyed his path from a sniveling coward to a badass man of God. Spencer mentions the possibility of negotiating with the Saviors in case they attack, which is very important.

Morgan finds a wounded Carol and it’s an enjoyable moment. Their fates are uncertain and they both have wildly opposing philosophies on life in this ruined world, but in that moment, two friends have been reunited. Imposed on this scene is our poor stranger getting dragged into the middle of the road by the Saviors, to be made as an example.

All this before the opening credits? Fuck, let me slow down on the beer chugging and process for a bit. The Maggie Rescue Team is en route to Hilltop, and Rick tries to give her reassurance. I think this scene was particularly sad, because if anyone knows about loss, it’s Maggie. She’s lost her entire family and the prospect of losing her baby is very gut wrenching. The RV comes across the Saviors and their poor victim and they exchange threats. It’s hard not to shake one’s head at Rick’s bravado, knowing the nature of this show. Winning the war is not so great when you keep losing battles. They set out on an alternate, supposedly safer route to Hilltop. Meanwhile Morgan tries to talk Carol into coming back to Alexandria but their fundamental differences create an impasse.

The Maggie Rescue Team encounters another group of Saviors but are oddly allowed to turn around and leave without incident. If it hasn’t dawned on Rick that they have strength in numbers, and certainly a penchant for violence, he needs to wake the hell up. Checking back in with Morgan and Carol, it’s made apparent that they’re hiding out in the same library that our nameless victim had mentioned. Morgan sees firsthand the aftermath of the Saviors’ cruelty, and also finds out Carol has given him the slip. I’m not too confident about the horse’s longevity given what happened to the last one, but Morgan mounts up and gives chase.

The Maggie Rescue Team is once again harrowed by Saviors, this time in the form of a walker roadblock and shooters in the trees. There are some ominous signs that were seemingly left on the walkers on purpose. One walker has one of Michonne’s dreads on her, and another has one of Daryl’s crossbow bolts lodged in his chest. The idea of the Saviors having superior numbers hasn’t shaken Rick, but the idea of yet another love of his in danger finally gets to him. They escape once again but one wonders how long it will be before they run out of roads. Indeed, it’s becoming clear that the Saviors are controlling where our heroes are going with these roadblocks. Before they get into this predicament, Abraham tells Sasha that he doesn’t want Glenn and Maggie to be the only new parents at the end of the world. In any other episode this would have been a sweet moment between the couple, but given the stakes in the season finale, I’m worried about anyone who shows hopefulness or bravery.

Sure enough, the group comes across yet another group of Saviors and this time they have nowhere else to go. Come on, guys, let’s get this Negan thing over with.

Morgan is somehow still way behind a wounded Carol, who finds herself beset on all sides by walkers (her literally tearing the scalp off of one was pretty damn remarkable, effects wise) and by Miles, who gets the upper hand and tells her how much he’s going to savor her slow death. It comes as no satisfaction since Carol is very much ready to go, to be free of the burden of living in this world, even laughing at Miles’ attempts at being threatening. Her attitude throws him off long enough for Morgan to arrive and intervene. He tries to give Miles an out but in the end, Morgan finds out first hand that sometimes you don’t have a choice. He completely blasts Miles with the gun given to him by Rick. While trying to tend to Carol, he meets members of yet another group, the benevolent Knights. It didn’t really occur to me that they might be incorporated into the show this season but it really is a welcome pinpoint of light in this grim episode, and it’s odd that their reveal got so little screen time or fanfare.

Realizing they’re being relentlessly harrowed by the Saviors, the Maggie Rescue Team comes up with a play. They take Maggie on foot while Eugene takes the RV and runs a distraction. Both Rick and Abraham give Eugene the validation he’s been working toward since he decided he didn’t want to be a cowardly non-participant. The bro hug between him and Abraham was indeed a great, heartwarming moment, but it just means bad things are on the horizon. As they part ways, Eugene takes a moment to make peace with his decision, his ascension to the next level, and his rebirth as a hero.

Such a victory is not meant to last, however, because even though their plan should have worked, our heroes are once again accosted by Saviors and they have already taken Eugene as a hostage. Personally, my favorite villain on the show will always be the Governor, but no one has ever made a more disturbing debut than Negan. The cacophony of the whistling genuinely creeped me out.

Rick, Abraham, Sasha, Aaron, Carl and even Maggie are made to kneel and they are joined by Daryl, Michonne, Glenn and Rosita. Pretty much, if you gave a shit about a character on this show, they’re all up on the chopping block at this point.

Negan makes his entrance and I have to say, part of my dislike for him in the comics was his appearance. He just LOOKED like a smug asshole. Never mind that he killed my favorite character, he just looked like a dick. However, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s take on Negan won me over. He’s still a sadistic, cocky asshole but somehow...charming? I honestly enjoyed the buildup, his pacing back and forth, his ease with violence, and how they handled a vulgar character on a show that doesn’t allow THAT much swearing. Like I said, I will always love David Morrissey’s Governor, but this casting choice was the best idea these people have had in years.

So I really wasn’t that mad when the episode ended and someone did in fact meet Lucille but they didn’t show whom, opting for a first person perspective on the savage battering. It was probably the most bullshit season finale I’ve ever seen on this show, or in television in general. First, it wasn’t over nearly as quickly as it was shown in the show. Maybe they’ll draw the scene out a bit longer in the premier of season seven, but Negan takes his time in caving in someone’s skull. The point of the killing was to put fear in the rest of the group and to make a point, that while murder isn’t personal for him, he has no problem in making it personal.

Second, the whole reason we’re hanging on to this show is to see how the Negan storyline plays out. To deny viewers one of two major plot points, his debut and his defeat, the former being something that has been hyped for so long is basically just trolling. Fans have been preparing themselves for quite a while to say goodbye to someone, had steeled their nerves, and had pretty much made this finale their make or break episode. We were ready for a huge loss, and what did we get? Jack shit.

I predicted last week that there would be a lot of anger over this finale, and in a sense, I was right. But right in the worst way possible. See you next season, maybe.

Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Jerry Herrera - Lover of horror, sci fi, and fantasy in that order. Semi-permanent Disneyland resident. I'm at least one of the droids you're looking for. Twitter: @FrankenJerry - Instagram: @GeraldoPedro