The Endgame, “Pilot”, Review!

What is The Endgame?  It is the latest NBC action drama with a match between two strong women and a plot of deep complexity!  The series is co-created by Nicholas Wooton, an Emmy Award winning writer of NYPD Blue and also created the series, Scorpion.  Jake Coburn is the show’s co-creator having executive produced and written Quantico and also Arrow.  The pilot is directed by Justin Lin, who has directed five of the Fast & Furious films including F9: The Fast Saga (2021).  It features layer upon layer of complexity like a Russian nesting doll with just enough twists to keep it thrilling.  It is a cat and mouse game with the two women.  We move through a grassy field as we get the narration by Morena Baccarin telling a fairy tale.  Baccarin had a long running role in Gotham and of course is known as Inara Serra in Firefly.  She is a producer for the series.  

It is “Belarus, Six Months After The Collapse of the USSR.”  We find a young Russian girl (Jessica Cherniak) looking through binoculars with her father (Roman Blat) who loves her.  She sees spots a rock dove with the binoculars and then turns to see a jeep driving down a road.  The father hands her an RPG-7 rocket launcher.  The narrator says this is when the girl grew up.  She sets the rocket launcher and fires on the jeep.  The explosion tosses the jeep down the side of the road! The girl coldly looks at her target as her father says she is grown up.  “It’s a different kind of fairy tale”, the narrator tells us.  This shifts to the “Present Day”, a transport plane is flanked by F-15 jet fighters, they peel off as the plane descends to New York.  Then, we see “Fort Totten, Queens, New York”, a truck with a long trailer is driving down a road. Armed soldiers cover the truck and open its rear gate.  

A large vault is inside.  Then, we get a command center as soldiers escort the vault through a tunnel.  Three government officials enter an interrogation room and stand behind a table.  A palm print opens the vault, the doors open revealing Elena Federova (Baccarin).  She steps out in her blue dress and is not shaken by the room or her travel there.  The middle official introduces himself as U.S. Attorney General Reed Doblin (Kelly AuCoin).  Dollar Bill Stearn was played by AuCoin in the Billions drama series.  Then, he notes FBI Director Rogelio Real (Mark D. Espinoza).  The actor was in the Mayans M.C. show.  Doblin also notes Homeland Secretary Joan Bradbury (Jenna Stern).  In Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Stern played the judge Elana Barth.  He brings up the one hundred and five criminal cases for Elena and her organization, SMT.  These three people are in charge of the interrogation of Elena, but she has already judged and dealt with them!   

She’s an international arms dealer whom they want to give up contacts in Angola.  Doblin says that no one knows her location.  They want her to write down the contacts, but she looks up at them with a smile.  It has the feeling of Hannibal Lecter, as deadly incarcerated as he would be outside the walls.  Next, we have two men setting up a device at “Bank 1.”  A machine gun bumps the head of the security guard.  Other gunmen walk in and pull up their gaiters that cover their faces.  They start to move the bank customers and one of them activates the device that sends a chandelier crashing to the floor.  He holds up a sign to the seurity camera.  Elena is calmly writing as Real gets a phone call from an official, Jonathan Doak (Noah Bean).  Jeffrey Hudson was played by Bean in the 9-1-1 series.   

He has seen the message written for Real, “Director Real, Bow to The Queen.” Elena folds a paper and hands it to Doblin telling him to check his coat pocket.  He is surprised to see a note in his inside coat pocket.  Elena is silent.  Real walks in saying Elena set up the bank robbery and shows her the cellphone pic.  He asks her who is the Queen.  Elena gives him a shrug.  Doblin sees his pocket note reads, “I’m The Queen.”  Elena has all of their actions predicted and the officials should know she can’t be countered by them.  Elena tells them that one of the three “will be gone” by the end of the day until they are all gone.  She says, “You messed with the wrong woman.”  I think that line was toned down for television.  We get the burning jeep, the girl and father walk over to the burning wreckage, she looks at the broken glass and Elena says that her father protects her.  The girl says that someone escaped and sees a broken stem of grass.  

The trio is wondering about an agent that may have placed the note working for Doblin.  They are in the room with the window looking in at the interrogation room.  Elena is watching them.  Then, we get a closeup of another woman, Agent Val Turner (Ryan Michelle Bathé).  The actress was in the comedy show, First Wives Club.  She is waiting for the arrival of a prisoner, Owen Tuner (Kamal Bolden), who has brought her some documents to her. Bolden was in the drama series, Chicago Fire.  Divorce papers.  Val refuses.  Owen mentions that he was a federal agent taking drug money has a ten year sentence.  She doesn’t accept the divorce or that he hired a high priced law firm.  Later, Val picks up her walkie talkie, a report of a bank takeover, her badge, and gun.  She races her car across a bridge into New York and pulls up to the bank, the New York Commerce Bank.  Val is met by her fellow FBI agent, Anthony Flowers (Jordan Johnson-Hinds) who updates her on the situation.  Johnson-Hinds played Keon in the drama, Nurses.    

                                        THE ENDGAME - - “Pilot” - - MORENA BACCARIN, RYAN MICHELLE BATHE  - - Photo: Eric Liebowitz/NBC. 

He is worried that Val will be around when their boss, Doak, arrives.  He has pulled up in a black van and sends both of them away.  Val drives fast and determined, Anthony says he has to observe her as a new agent, and she brings up the divorce.  He brings up her husband’s prison time gives a bad image for Val. Doblin tells Elena through a walkie talkie to the room that the bank is being watched.  She gives him a Russian saying, a warning about not poking “the tiger with a short stick”!He tries to threaten her and Elena brings up the “next one.”  At “Bank 2”, General Security Bank, a woman, Rona (Massiel Mordan) is writing a check.  She gets a call from an operative that gives her countdown.  More of Elena’s soldiers enter, Rona pulls up her mask, and shoots the security cameras.  

A bank employee, hiding underneath a desk, tries to dial on his cellphone.  Gun shots from Rona rip through the desk!   On her drive, Val admits that when she heard her husband talk about the drug money, she reported him, on her case.  Val tells Anthony that she grew up next to police officers and criminals.  By the second episode, I'm suspecting Anthony works for Elena, he is at her side and can report to Elena if she is following along to the plan.  She doesn’t know why her husband took the money.  Val is angry at the other agents says they will get her “street fighter side”, very tough!  She hears the report of the second bank, First Security Capital Bank, and stops the car.  Val takes the car into a bootlegger reverse spinning the car towards the bank!  Police are cordoning off the scene at the bank.  

Val and Anthony are also there and she brings up Solomon Santillana whom she put away.  She contacts Solomon through his burner phone.  A prison guard hands the phone to Solomon (Juan Carlos Hernández) behind bars.  He is happy to hear from her and sees her on tv.  Val knows that no one would touch the bank without Solomon’s permission.  Except one person.  Val asks Solomon if it is her, Elena!  Solomon warns Val especially since her last encounter with Elena in Gambia.  Val brings up Elena’s name to Doak and notes that her group, SMT, is Russian for Snow White!  Really, if she is the Queen, she would be the Evil Queen, and Val would be the princess.  She has compiled five volumes of research on Elena.  Still, Val is steps behind Elena, who has a plan that will involve all of the characters!  Everything is connected and the motives are hidden!  The Endgame is cinematic in its scope, features capable, intelligent characters, and a criminal mastermind who has a plan involving some kind of personal reasons!    

Five Notes out of Five!  

#TheEndGame, #NicholasWooton, #JakeCoburn, #JustinLin, #MorenaBaccarin, #RyanMichelleBathe, #KamalBolden, #NoahBean, #KellyAuCoin, #MarkDEspinoza, #JennaStern

Re:tro Re:view - Free Guy!

Free Guy is a video game movie that has the absurdity of action movies and the fun of the cast led by Ryan Reynolds!  Shawn Levy is the director of the movie.  His many crowd pleasing films have interesting ideas turned into fun worlds; Night at the Museum (2006) and Real Steel (2011).  This story and co-screenplay is by Matt Lieberman, the writer of the comedy Playing with Fire (2019).   The other screenwriter Zak Penn who also wrote many superhero films like the story for Avengers (2012) and he co-wrote the screenplay to the sci fi adaptation, Ready Player One (2018).  It was released on August 13th last year, has started streaming on Disney+ on February 23rd, and also airs on HBO.  We start from the sky and descend to the city explained by the narrator, Ryan Reynolds as his character Guy, to be Free City.  He is of course known as Deadpool, but was also in the action comedy, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021).

A skydiver is flying down and Guy points out he is a “sunglasses guy” and those who wear sunglasses are heroes.  Gaming glasses are a feature for the pro gamers.  He is also in a wingsuit flying around buildings as a helicopter opens fire on him.  He parachutes and then lands in a sports car with a woman. We later find out that her name is Bombshell (Camille Kostek), the actress had a cameo in the comedy, I Feel Pretty (2018).  Guy points out that it isn’t his car or wife.  Police cars are also trying to pursue sunglasses.  He drives recklessly, cars crash into each other, and then he spins the car to use his grenade launcher.  Slo mo spin as the city blocks explode, he watches, and Bombshell smiles.  It is a surreal action movie scene. 

The helicopter continues its pursuit and we pan up to the apartment of Guy listening to Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy.”  He introduces himself waking up like Emmet in The Lego Movie (2014), cheerful and programmed. Guy eats breakfast as the helicopter continues its chase outside his window.  The news also reports about the acts of violence.  Then, he goes to get his coffee from the Barista (Britne Oldford). She played the super powered villain, Peek-a-Boo, in The Flash series.  His delight at the coffee has him give a bizarre compliment.  There is a routine to Guy, but he does seem capable of strange responses.  Then, he sees a pair of blue tennis shoes, Big Ups, that he would buy.  He checks his Money ATM balance and is just short of the cost of the shoes.  

Next, he is joined by his friend and security officer, Buddy (Lil Rel Howery), he is known for Get Out (2017) and was also the game announcer in Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021).  They reach the circular bank building where Guy works as a bank teller.  He repeats his usual dialogue, “Don’t have a good day, have a great day.”  Buddy realizes that he is worried about finding someone. A bank robber bursts in and fires his shotgun.  Guy and Buddy casually talk while taking cover on the floor.  He brings up the woman with an “off beat sense of humor” (which is probably where Guy gets his comments) and who likes diva pop.  Buddy just wants to go to the beach to have beers with his pal.  A man dressed in a black coat with a colorful mask (voiced by Hugh Jackman) is in an alley where a woman ziplines down.   

This Millie (Jodie Comer), who has the dark, short hair sort of like Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy, and of course she wears sunglasses.  Comer is currently playing Villanelle in Killing Eve. She also starred in the historical drama, The Last Duel (2021).  He has evidence of a secret level, Millie draws her gun on him, and knows that this is some kid playing the game in his “mother’s basement”!  He hands over the disc, keeps asking about her, so she shoots him.  Guy admires one of the robber’s shoes to Buddy on the street.  Millie is repeating all of the people’s remarks.  Then, she starts singing “Fantasy.”   Guy can’t listen to Buddy, he just focuses on Millie. She repeats his usual dialogue, but he is more interested in the song.  

 A car explodes and Millie walks around the corner.  Guy wants to talk to his “dream girl” and Buddy reminds him that she wears sunglasses.  He follows her and Millie reaches an empty lot past the buildings.  Guy tries to get her attention and then is hit by a train!  Millie is then seen as a character on the laptop of the gamer.  An ad notes that there is going to be a Free City 2: Carnage.  The premise is basically the reverse of Tron (1982).  Millie is looking for a certain code, she wrote the A.I. code that was taken for Free City, very similar to Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) in Tron.  Guy is a non-player character built by the game’s A.I. who gets independence similar to Quorra (Olivia Wilde) in Tron: Legacy (2010).  His re-writing of his code must be encountering Millie, his user.  The best friend of the A.I. to Tron was Ram (Dan Shor) like Buddy.  

It is a Massively Multiplayer Online Game rather than an arcade game.  So it has fun touches of recent games like power-ups and cameos by gamers IRL.  Millie in the real world is less action hero with blond hair in a bun and a game headset.  She is reminded by the coffee shop server (Octavia Chavez-Richmond) that they are closing and also that Millie only ordered one coffee.  This is in contrast to the Free City coffee shop.  Millie mentions her lawsuit against the game studio.  Guy wakes up in the game reboot, he changes his order at the coffee shop, he wants a capucchino instead of his medium coffee.  A tank is about to turn its cannon towars him and he changes back to his usual order.  Another robber with a skull mask and blue suit and hat enters the bank.  Guy is troubled and then sees Millie walking past the bank doors. 

He finds himself standing up, the gunman is controlled by a Tween Gamer Girl (Charlotte Levy).  Guy is knocked down by the robber.  He sees again Millie and then grabs the robber’s shotgun.  Guy reaches for the sunglasses and shoots the robber!  Everyone in the bank is stunned.  He runs out with the sunglasses and puts them on when he again spots Millie.  The sunglasses reveal a different world, a bit like the sunglasses in  They Live (1988).  It has game graphics of a “New Mission: Bank Heist.” Then, he sees a floating first aid kit.  Guy reaches out for it and gets a shock with his bloody nose from the robbery healed.  A man in a jetpack crashes in front of him and Guy takes his money floating above the jetpack man with sunglasses.  He finds his ATM has a large balance now.  A funny background player is testing out controls, hopping, and running into a building wall.   

This moves to the real world,  the offices of Soonami, the game company that makes Free City.  Keys, Walter “Keys” McKey (Joe Keery), a programmer who has found a player killed by an NPC.  Keery plays Steve Harrington in Stranger Things.  He is a programmer who works at the company, the inside man, like Lora (Cindy Morgan) in Tron.  Keys gets advice from his co-worker, Mouser (Utkarsh Ambudkar), the actor played Tod in tick… tick… BOOM! (2021).  He belives a player used an NPC skin in the game.  They go into the game to find the character, Keys a stripper cop, and Mouser in a pink bunny suit, a fun verson of Donnie Darko (2001).  Guy has bought himself the blue Big Ups with the latest Jump Shoe upgrade.   He walks over to the empty lot, but sees with the glasses that it has a Multiplayer Lounge sign.  They go to arrest “Blue Shirt Guy.”  They want Guy to remove his “avatar skin” or he will be killed and then banned from the game for life.  Guy doesn’t understand what the programmers are saying since his world is only in Free City.

The duo start to shoot at Guy, but he escapes to a construction site building.  He clumsily uses the jumps on his shoes, but the moderators use their cheats to catch up with him.  Guy sees an exit to the game at the end of a construction beam.  He tries to reach for a wrecking ball and starts to plunge down to the street.  Guy manages to activate a Bubble Suit.  He bounces around and then slips out of it.  Guy cheers that he can’t die, but a police car driven by Keys and Mouser ends that life.  Keys walking in the office wonders why the number of players is the same with Guy’s “death.”  Mouser doesn’t want him to talk to Antwan. Taika Waititi plays  Antwan Hovachelik, the executive in charge of the game, Waititi, actor and director, who of course plays Viago in What We Do in the Shadows and was Reynold’s co-star in Green Lantern (2011).  Guy has to help Millie find her evidence in the game, learn the rules, and somehow stop Antwan with the help of Keys.  Free Guy is a fantastic, goofy world really driven by actors having fun as their characters!  

Four Sunglasses out of Five! 

#FreeGuy, #ShawnLevy, #RyanReynolds, #JodieComer, #LilRelHowery, #JoeKeery, #UtkarshAmbudkar, #TaikaWaititi

Happy Birthday Sean Astin!

Happy Birthday Sean Astin!  He has many iconic roles including Mikey in The Goonies (1985).  I liked his role of Sgt. Richard “Rascal” Moore in the war film, Memphis Belle (1990). In 1992, Astin voiced Dylan in three episodes of The Legend of Prince Valiant animated series.   It was really the lead in the biographical drama, Rudy (1993), which is my favorite part for Sean Astin.  He played another soldier, Patella, working in a tank in Courage Under Fire (1996) based on the story of Karen Walden, the first woman to win the Medal of Honor.  In 2000, Astin played another iconic role as the Hobbit gardner turned hero, Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.  The fantasy trilogy continued with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). 

Then, Sean Astin ventured into the post-apocalyptic world of Jeremiah (2003-2004) as Mister Smith.  Astin made everyone laugh in the comedy 50 First Dates (2004).  He also voiced Kodi, the son of Balto in the Balto III: Wings of Change (2004) animated movie. Next, Astin played Twoflower in the mini-seres, The Color of Magic (2008), based on the Terry Prachett fantasy books.  For Disney, he voiced the lead in Secret Agent Oso (2009-2012).  Astin also voiced Raphael in Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2017) cartoon.  He played Jim Kent in the horror series The Strain (2014-2015) based on the book by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.  Astin had a great role as Bob Newby in Stranger Things (2017).  Then he was in the “Blurred Lines” (2019) episode and also returned as Pete Andrews in “The Missing Link” (2020) of Supergirl.  He returns as narrator for Captain Underpants: Epic Choice-o-rama.  Currently, Astin plays Sunny Gryce in the Perry Mason series.  Happy Birthday Sean Astin!

#SeanAstin, #TheGoonies, #MemphisBelle, #Rudy, #CourageUnderFire, #TheLordoftheRings, #50FirstDates, #TheColorOfMagic, #TheStrain, #StrangerThings, #Supergirl, #PerryMason. 

Naomi, “Shadow Ridge”, Review!

 “Enigma” Re:cap - the military has detected an electromagnetic signal, someone is looking for something, Naomi arrives to debate Esme for class president.  She gives a little praise for Esme’s honesty.  Of course, the students cheer for her.  Greg has gone to the forest and found the stone realizing that his daughter is being hunted!  After the debate, Naomi wants cheeseburgers with Annabelle, she goes to her locker.  Then, she sees the mysterious man who confronted Zumbado!  He appears when she turns the corner and the bounty hunter wants to return her to Earth-29.  She uses her power to knock him down and sees him everywhere she turns.  

Naomi starts to run the field and teleports a spear to his hands!  Dee flies in with his wings to attack the bounty hunter.  Naoi’s powers fail.  The bounty hunter teleports, but Dee is able to predict where he will show up and punches him out!  Later, in the classroom, Naomi is crying and Dee tells her that the bounty hunter is missing.  Dee says her powers may have drawn the bounty hunter.  He says he will protect her.  Naomi says her powers failed due to her fear.  Dee shows her neck tatoo, for Qyeala,  which he explains is the name of the woman he loved whom he lost.  He admits that he was too afraid to tell her how he felt.  The next day, Greg reports to Steel about the loss of signal and no trace of anything.  

Night, Naomi finds Nathan practicing out in the field, and tells him she dropped out of the class president race.  She flashes back to moments with Nathan and kisses him.  On their first date, Nathan is walking with Naomi eating some ice cream.  She says her favorite place was Tokyo where she got her first comic book.  His favorite place is Germany.  They go on a date watching The Matrix and holding hands in the theater.  Later, Naomi is practicing meditation going over meeting Zumbado, her parents, and the encounter with the bounty hunter.  Her eyes snap open. Dee congradulates Naomi on her first meditation.  Naomi tells Dee about her dreams facing the bounty hunter.  The next day, Naomi tells Annabelle about her meditation.  

NAOMI - - “Shadow Ridge” - -  WILL MEYERS, KACI WALFALL - - Photo: Danny Delgado/The CW -- © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

They are headed to Shadow Ridge for a leadership retreat.  Naomi can’t wait to go camping, sees Nathan, she tells Annabelle that she is going to camp with him.  A teacher assigns Annabelle and Naomi to another jeep.  Anthony is the driver.  The caravan of red jeeps, all of the same model and make?, a very elite school. Nathan joins Naomi and Annabelle as the counselors welcome them to the camp.  The head counselor, Camp Direcor Richard (Steve Alderfer), points out the girls and boys cabins with counselors in the middle, no cell phones, and they going to camp out in the woods.  At night, by the campfire, Counselor Mary (Malone Thomas) tells the story of ax murderer, Moonshine Jimmy.  

Naomi passes around a note to Nathan.  Counselor Jeff (Brett Newton) jumps up to surprise them.  The note reads to meet Naomi at the Old Cup Tree.  The next day, Steel has brought Jennifer to decipher glyphs that may be extraterrestrial.  He shows Jennifer and Greg the photo of the stone!  The moon has risen, Nathan is surprised by Naomi, he wanted to have a talk with her.  He is wondering why she suddenly broke up with him.  Naomi senses someone, it is Anthony stumbling out of the woods, saying he saw Moonshine Jimmy.  Next morning, Naomi checks Anthony at the medical office, he was walking at night seeing a blue color that made him dizzy.  Naomi says she will help him.  

NAOMI - - “Shadow Ridge” - -  ALEXANDER WRAITH, CRANSTON JOHNSON - - Photo: Danny Delgado/The CW -- © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

They hear from the counselors during a trust exercise that a similar a researcher, Belinda, that had a cabin outside of the camp.  At the used car lot, Dee asks about a motorcycle from Zumbado, he wanted to know about the bounty hunter.  Zumbado says that Dee broke their deal.  Dee says that the bounty hunter has to be stopped with Zumbado.  The friends head out at night to the cabin.  They go in to see cookies being made.  Nathan finds a trace of the blue glow and they leave to see Director Richard!  In the morning, they have to clean the tables as punishment, Annabelle has found a charger for the camera Naomi found at the cabin.  Jennifer wonders how the military found the rock.  She worries about Naomi and wants to leave.

Greg tells his wife that they will protect their daughter.  At the science lab, Annabelle and Nathan have brought in trash bags to check on bear fossils to distract Counselor Susan (Melanie Jeffcoat) as they take the charger.  Annabelle asks him about Naomi and he wonders about her secrets.  Nathan goes over the map of the camp at a site that was excavated.  Dee points out the location of Yaeger to Zumbado.  He is told that the bounty hunter has a device for their targets.  From the camcorder they see Belinda (Denise Arribas) look at the glow and the camera becomes shaken and the camp lights flicker.  Belinda says the chemical is damaging the eco-system.  This Scooby Doo mystery seems somehow tied to the other worlds and Naomi!  The latest episode of Naomi moves away from the familiar Port Oswego setting for Naomi and friends, but still has intrigue with her parents and the temporary(?) team of Dee and Zumbado!  

Four Discs out of Five!  

#Naomi, #ShadowRidge, #SteveAlderfer, #MaloneThomas, #BrettNewton, #MelanieJeffcoat, #DeniseArribas 

  

Superman and Lois, “Girl… You’ll be a Woman, Soon”, Review!

Superman and Lois returns!, gets to the truth behind Bizarro, plus Jonathan misusing the Yellow Kryptonite spray, and we have a revelation that could shatter a family!  Re:cap last episode - Clark sees the Superman Bizarro defeat the Supermen of America team.  Only Tag  remains who takes away the pendant lost by the other Superman.  Steel joins the battle, but his suit is still damaged and weak.  Ther other Superman wounds John Henry and Superman right crosses the villain from the sky.  Superman can see John Henry suffered brain trauma!  Lois tells Natalie about her father in intensive care at the DoD base.  She is angry at Superman.  Kyle confronts the Mayor Dean who brings up his drinking problem.  General Lane had helped Jordan keep his identity secret so Jordan wants training from him!  

Kyle enters a bar with a bartender, Tonya Martinez (Cynthia Mendez), who flirts with him!  Lois is trying to contact Chrissy and flashes back to confront Lucy over Ally.  Chrissy gets a call from Ally!  The title of the episode is a nod to the Neil Diamond 1967 song and also was recorded by Urge Overkill in 1992, used in Pulp Fiction (1994).  It begins in “Metropolis - 1979”, a young girl, eight year old Ally (Amber Taylor), is given a candy by her Uncle David (Matthew Graham).  They are told by Attorney John Pugh (Jim Thorburn) that a will has been made for a pendant to be given to young Ally to get her inheritance.  Her uncle warns her that it killed her father.  She spits out the candy and the lawyer speaks to Ally alone.  The title has a double meaning with not only Sarah, but Ally?   

The older Ally is given the pendant wanting for her special guest.  Lois has banana muffins for Clark to bring to Natalie to see Tag.  Lois brings up a mirror self and a shadow dimension which she sees a possible connection to Bizarro.  She is having second thoughts about Ally.  Jonathan and Jordan enter the kitchen and he asks their mother about John Henry who is out of the ICU.  So Natalie won’t be able to make Sarah’s quinceañera (the celebration of her fifteenth birthday moving her to becoming a woman).  Lois has people getting the barn ready.  At the Cushing house, Kyle is practicing dancing with his daughter and then switches partners with Lana. Kyle ges a call from Tonya Martinez and he says is from work.  Sarah is going to take (grandmother) abuelita’s name.  She says her abuelito (grandfather) changed his last name from Cortez to Chandler to get a job.  Kyle dances and hugs them both.  

SUPERMAN AND LOIS - - “Girl…You’ll be a Woman, Soon” - - JORDAN ELSASS, EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI, ERIK VALDEZ, INDE NAVARRETTE, ALEXANDER GARFIN - - Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW - © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Tag is in the hospital bed still recovering when Superman asks for the pendant which he gave to Lt. Anderson.  He thanks Superman.  General Lane stops by and Jonathan is surprised.  Jordan admits that he is being trained and General Lane brings in Jonathan to help.  Lois has Chrissy angry at feeling she is working for Lois and has her secrets.  Lois finds in the video on Ally, Dr. Faulkner.  The doctor leaves her car and is seen by the telescopic vision of Bizarro!  Superman sees Lt. Anderson who sent the Supermen of America who killed two of the members.  He wants the pendant that he can detect touching it.  Anderson notes that there is an energy field that may connect them. At the barn, General Lane sees the brothers doing pushups, then has Jonathan leave them.  

Lana waits as Sarah puts on her stunning, black and pink quinceañera dress and she is unsteady on her high heels.  A sweet mother daughter moment.  Clark walks into the Smallville Gazette and Lois tells Lois that she is going to check out the mines.  He says he wants to see her in the dress for Sarah’s quinceañera.  At the Smallville Inn, Chrissy interviews Ally who says she was chosen for the Ascension.  Chrissy had drunk tea drugged by Ally and a follower catches her.  Lois heads to the trailer of Dr. Faulkner and sees the Bizarro Superman who flies away.  Dr. Faulkner is on the ground with her head snapped, a disturbing sight for a prime time series!  Lois watches as Superman arrives and sees Dr. Faulkner’s body.  She finds a crumpled copy of Ascension.  

SUPERMAN AND LOIS - - “Girl…You’ll be a Woman, Soon” - -  SOFIA HASMIK - - Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW - © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Ally and associate wait as Chrissy wakens with the pendant, Ascended?  Making a duplicate Chrissy?  Jonathan enters the house and uses the Yellow Kryptonite inhaler!  Jordan is using the punching bag when Jonathan enters.  He wants to spar with his brother.  Jordan faces Jonathan who strikes first, his brother recovers from his strike, throws a series of punches.  Jonathan punches his brother down. A buelito Maryann Cushing (Carmen Aguirre) wants to take a picture of the family all dressed up and smiling.  Chrissy tells them about the experience, a “Bizarro” version of herself.  She says she saw Ally everywhere.  Lois enters and then Superman.  Lois says Faulkner was murdered.  Superman hears the warning and Bizarro plows him across a wall!  Lois, Chrissy, and Ally see the hole in the wall.  

Bizarro is thrown against a building.  He says in Kryptonian, “Get out of my way.”  Superman stops him with several punches.  Another sends him through several walls.  Bizarro sends out his flame breath, countered by Superman’s frost breath, then trapped him with frost vision.  Superman knows that Bizarro is his opposite.  He uses Yellow Kryptonite crystals to strike his double.  A record is played for the quinceañera to begin.  I'm not certain if there has been a quinceañera on prime time shows, so here's a thanks to the network, producers, and show cast and crew for bringing this bit of culture to our homes.  Jordan sees Sarah and can’t form words.  Clark superspeeds into the house getting ready in his suit.  Lois is ready, always the stunning couple.  He says Bizarro is in the Fortress.  Jordan dances with Sarah and finds that Jonathan is angry at him now.  Clark and Lois are greeted by Kyle.  

SUPERMAN AND LOIS - - “Girl…You’ll be a Woman, Soon” - -  JORDAN ELSASS, ALEXANDER GARFIN - - Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW - © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

He gets a call from Tonya Martinez!  Sarah and Jordan are relaxing outside.  He admits that Jonathan had an argument.  Sarah tells him about her depression and how she had suddenly changed.  They kiss.  Kyle sees outside Tonya who told her girlfriend about him.  The story came out from Tonya.  He is not doing well as a father on his daughter’s quinceañera.  Kyle walks back and doesn’t know that his daughter and Jordan had been listening!  I suspected the affair from last episode, but my mind is reeling.  Kyle returns, Clark tries to talk to him, and then he sees the mayor who is talking to Lana.  They both go to find Sarah.  Chrissy is getting a plate of food and Lois asks about her investigation.  

She admits she was drugged and saw the different dimension.  She mentions “Other Dad” and that Ally has taken over the other world!  This reminds me of the dark, parallel world in Coraline (2009).  The mother daughter dance is about to begin, Lana hugs Clark, the spotlight is out.  Kyle waits and Jordan takes Sarah out to the spotlight.  Kyle puts a crown on his daughter’s head.  This scene is too intense!  Sarah can’t look at her father and she starts to cry.  She tells her father that she knows the truth and runs away.  Kyle’s world is collapsing.  Lana walks after them.  Sarah says what she saw.  Lana says it was the girl from the bar.  She wants her daughter back to her quinceañera who is in tears.  Lana wants Sarah to be strong to get through her night.  These are the moments that separate this show from any series, superhero or drama.  Superman and Lois offers several dramatic storylines with touches of the super heroic and very relatable, human scenes!  

     

Five Crystals out of Five! 

#SupermanAndLois, #GirlYoullBeAWomanSoon, #CarmenAguirre, #AmberTaylor, #MatthewGraham, #JimThorburn, #CynthiaMendez 

Turning the Page on The Book of Boba Fett!

Boba Fett was mysterious.  We first saw him in the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) in animated form.  The colors of his uniform were about right except the helmet.  His voice by Don Francks is a bit gravelly, but it was difficult to determine if he was good or evil.  In the Original Trilogy, we never see him remove his helmet, he was embodied by Jeremy Bulloch, there was only his voice (first by Jason Wingreen), “As you wish.”, “He’s no good to me dead.”, “What if he doesn’t survive?  He’s worth a lot to me”, and “Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold” in Empire Strikes Back (1980). An even toned voice like a gunfighter and a man of few words. 

Then, we had in the special editions, Temuera Morrison about the same tone, but with his distinctive Kiwi accent.  He was a bounty hunter, savy to Han Solo’s tricks, tracking him to Bespin.  He is ruthless with Darth Vader’s warning, “No disintegrations.”  First at the side of Darth Vader, then working for Jabba the Hutt, quick on the draw with his EE-3 carbine rifle.  Taking on Luke Skywalker, but accidentally struck by Han Solo and ending up in the Sarlaac Pit.  The prequels had Boba Fett as Patton Oswalt puts it “as a kid!”, ten years old in Attack of the Clones (2002).  He would have been cloned somewhere around the time of Phantom Menace.  This is now the young teen Boba Fett played by Daniel Logan. 

When we first see him encounter Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is suspicious and watchful of him, but casual in talking to his father, Jango Fett, as dad.  In The Clone Wars is impetuous and brash as a teen.  He found the bounty hunter group, Krayt’s Claw, made up of Bossk, C-21 Highsinger,  combat droid able to rotate his torso to blast in all directions, Dengar, and Latts Razzi, an alien deadly with her grappling boa (she later leaves the group).  It seems like his last time with the Krayt’s Claw was working for Asaaj Ventress in Dark Disciple (2015).  This was based on unproduced Clone Wars episodes. Boba Fett while looking for “muscle” to defend Tatooine could have found any of the bounty hunters, but there wasn’t apparently enough episodes for Boba to recruit anyone.  This would have brought in Clone Wars characters which is a speciality of executive producer, Dave Filoni, instead of bringing in The Mandalorian. 

Temuera Morrison himself is a great actor, he really adds to genre roles, and the series gave him a chance for a main character spotlight.  When Boba makes his cameo in Star Wars, Boba Fett is age 32, so he is 35 in ESB and 36 in RoTJ.  He would be about 39 when he escaped the Sarlaac Pit (around 4 years after the Battle of Yavin). Then, he spends time with the Tusken Raiders.  He finds Fennec Shand after she is shot in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, “The Gunfighter” (2019), about nine years ABY.  So let’s follow Boba’s path, in The Mandalorian episode, “The Marshall”, Cobb Vanth gives The Mandalorian Boba Fett’s armor.  Mando rides a speeder bike back with the armor and is seen by Boba.  Mando is tracked to Tython, Fennec’s MK sniper rifle shots has Mando take cover.  

Boba says, “I’ve been tracking you Mandalorian.”  He wants his armor back that was from his father.  Boba adds to Mando, “There’s no need for bloodshed.”  Then, he kills several stormtroopers with his gaffi stick.  When Boba and Fennec leave the Sanctuary cantina, Boba says, “Jabba ruled with fear.  I intend to rule with respect.”  So he has killed stormtroopers and fired upon the Kintan Strider speeder bike gang with the Slave-1 cannons.  By the way, the name Slave-1, is never mentioned.  Then, in his armor, Boba blasts stormtroopers and destroys two troop carriers.  Mando knows that Boba does not follow the Way, exposing his face, he could have worn a cloth wrap to hide his face.  He shows Mando the armor’s chain code to show that he is the true owner of the Beskar armor.  

At the time of the finale of Season 2, “The Rescue” (2020), we had the teaser of Boba Fett taking Jabba’s throne.  Boba Fett would be about 41 during the time of The Book of Boba Fett.  Boba Fett started working for Jabba the Hutt before the Battle of Yavin.  So about three years by ESB and four during RoTJ.  He started to work for Darth Vader on a mission ABY hiring the bounty hunter to find a Rebel pilot.  Vader also sent Black Krrsantan who also worked for Jabba.  Krrsantan worked for Jabba 10BBY.  The Wookie bounty hunter gave a nod to Boba in “The Tribes of Tatooine” who recognized him as a gladiator not as Jabba’s bounty hunter.  Boba Fett, we find is recovering in a bacta tank, he flashes back to his time escaping the Sarlaac pit and taken in by the Tusken Raiders.  

Lucas did not use scenes of visions or flashbacks for the Jedi, Luke explained to Yoda what he saw on Bespin, Anakin is troubled by his dreams hearing the voice of his mother cry out for him.  Yoda hears Qui-Gonn shouting for Anakin in his vision.  Anakin has a future vision of Obi-Wan helping Padme. The Book of Boba Fett has the flashback memories of Boba until episode four.  This is another misunderstanding of how Lucas frames stories.  If those scenes were necessary, then it should have been in chronological order, the first two episodes?, and then bring up being daimyo.  This series does not understand Star Wars, but it is fine if every SW series doesn’t work.  For every Iron Man (2008), there will be a Cowboy vs. Aliens (2011).  The most important critieria is if a Star Wars story is memorable, the Book of Boba Fett is starting to fade in my memory.  

#BobaFett, #StarWarsSpecialEdition, #TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial, #DonFrancks, #EmpireStrikesBack, #JeremyBulloch, #JasonWingreen, #TemueraMorrison, #ReturnOfTheJedi, #AttackOfTheClones, #DanielLogan, #CloneWars, #DarkDisciple, #BookOfBobaFett