The Ark, “Get Out and Push”, Review!

The latest episode of The Ark features the tense crew, a threat to the ship, and the cleverness of all of our heroes! The colony ship has an accident that damaged the ship, a murder, and a loss of water! The Ark-1, is drifting in space, Garnet announces shipwide that the ship’s engines are stopped to save water for life support. They have four days and Lt. Garnet notes that water rations are cut in half! Cat pockets a vial of water. Lane says that the rationing will become a problem. Garnet says the crew is not soldiers. Suddenly, there is an alarm from the long range sensors, Brice notes there is an asteroid collison course. He says it will hit them in six hours. Strickland walks in to talk to Lane about the investigation. He wants to know his whereabouts at the time of the murder. Garnet backs Lane that they need everyone to help with the crisis. Dr. Kabir is about to sleep checkins on Brice. She is wakened by a crash. The medical supplies are gone. 

THE ARK -- “Get Out and Push” -- REECE RITCHIE, STACEY READ, RICHARD FLEESHMAN, TIANA UPCHEVA, CHRISTIE BURKE -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY

Eva is working on the engines with her crew. Nevins offers to help, but Eva doesn’t want her around. Eva flips switches, Nevins crosses her fingers, but the panel sparks. Dr. Kabir notes the theft to Strickland. Garnet asks for ideas from Lane and Brice, but they have nothing. Dr. Kabir talks to Lt. Brice about going to the med bay for a physical. She notes that his file is corrupted. Another mystery? He is a bit busy. Nevins is met by Trent as space is seen through a large widow. She points out the asteroid and she is losing hope. Trent says he could fall in love with her. She kisses him on the cheek and they work on a couch in the common room. Brice meets with Eva, Angus, and Lane is at navigation. Angus says, “Too bad we can’t get out and push.” Garnet asks him to repeat it and then poses to Brice if he could accomplish the task with Eva’s help. Brice is on a shuttle next to the Wheel and Angus realizes that he is using the shuttle to push the ship! The engines fail on the shuttle. There is missing parts and Angus realizes that he took a fuel hose for irrigation. Garnet has Angus and Eva get the parts. 

Lane notes that he can use explosive decompression to move the ship. Is this a hint at the accident that eliminated the command crew? Angus notes that fertilizer could be used as explosives. Lane says they will blow another hole in the ship! A number of hoses are brought from the bio-shelter to the shuttle. Parts are taken from the engine room and Brice attaches the piece. The shuttle engines still don’t work. They are able to restore power, but only temporarily. Eva is working on the explosion with Garnet and Lane, then they run into a party where they see the stolen drugs. Garnet threatens to send them out of the airlock and breaks up the party. Eva plots out the explosion point. Lane and Eva are repulsed by the human fertilizer. Angus attaches the contacts. They move to the corridor and Garnet has Lane activate the explosive. A burst from the ship, Lane wonders if there was too much explosive, and Eva reports the ship hull is still intact. Angus is working on calculations and Eva confirms that they are out of the path of the asteroid. Brice enters saying the shuttle is fixed. 

                                                THE ARK -- “Get Out and Push” -- STACEY READ -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY

Garnet announces they are clear of danger. Nevins goes with to watch the asteroid in the common room. Nevins notes that the asteroid has a tail of gas. Nevins goes to Brice and he realizes that it is a comet. He says to Garnet that it is made of ice. Eva has a tether to drill the ice from the comet. Brice brings up his now working shuttle. Eva walks up to him, she goes over his work, he slyly notes that she may be worried about him. Her boyfriend had just died, don’t go there Brice. Nevins returns to the common room and they are interrupted by Angus. Nevins says the shuttle will boost the ship so they can drill for the ice from the comet. Nevins explains the physics. He brings up that Brice is a legend as a GSA pilot. Angus wonders why Brice is a navigator. Brice activates the shuttle engines sending the Ark-1 to tether to the comet. Brice launches a cable to the comet. He lands the shuttle on the comet’s icy surface. The ship shudders as the tether pulls it. Brice activates the drill. Eva notes that the water reserve tanks are filling. The tether is endangering Brice and the shuttle! Another dangerous scheme to solve the water crisis! The Ark continues with scientific solutions to its desperate situation! 

Four Compression Suits out of Five! 

#TheArk, #GetOutAndPush, #ChristieBurke, #RichardFleeshman, #ReeceRitchie, #RyanAdams, #StaceyRead, #MilesBarrow, #TianaUpcheva, #ShaliniPeiris, #RyanAdams, #ChristinaWolfe 

Strolling Through the (Theme) Park One Day: DCA’s Lunar New Year Celebration!

Today was the last day for the Lunar New Year Celebration at Disney California Adventure Park. It had begun on January 20th and finished, today, on February 15th. One of the standout parts of the celebration was the character appearance of Ortensia the Cat, the girlfriend of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This is her first US theme park appearance! She is described in the Orange County Register, “Ortensia will wear a golden skirt with lotus, apricot and peach flowers inspired by the traditional Vietnamese ao dai gown and a matching Vietnamese khan dong headpiece embroidered in reds, pinks and golds.” This fit in perfectly with the Lunar New Year, especially the celebration in Vietnam, Tet, of the Year of the Cat. The other part was the foods and lastly, the parade, Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession. I also saw somewhere, the Lucky Wishes Wall, which I did at the Festival of Holidays, but special was a Chinese calligrapher. I was early so went to check on Pacific Wharf since it will change at some time to Big Hero 6’s San Fransokyo. 

                                                                  Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession, Disney California Adventure, photo by the author. 

Then, it was a walk to check the food booths and end up at the Paradise Gardens. There were posters of celebrations in Vietnam, China, and Korea. On the other side is the Lucky Wishes Wall. There is a dish of Mickey shaped papers where you can write your New Year’s Wish, there is a gold string to tie it to the collections of wishes hanging from a wall.To the right of the wall is the calligrapher, where you point out your birth year and find your Chinese Zodiac year. On a lucky red piece of paper, the calligrapher paints in Chinese the year. It is such an unique, personal, and beautiful souvenir. There are many food carts and kiosks around the park. The new Bamboo Blessing features Mickey Mouse-shaped Hot Dog Bun, this was just a Lunar New Year twist on a common food so I passed on it. Prosperity Bao & Buns has Char Siu BBQ Pork Bao and Peach Yuja-Ade, a drink wth Yuja-Lemongrass puree and other flavors. Lastly, there was Longevity Noodle Co. that has Spicy Pork DanDan Noodles. I tried the last one with the Raspberry Oat Milk Tea. It was delicious, but painfully hot! I drank all of the milk tea and some of my water bottle. 

Ortensia, Disney California Adventure, author’s photo. 

Still, it was some time before reaching the Redwood Challenge Trail. This is where a meet and greet with Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon took place. There is not too much signage to the see Raya, but a line forms to the steps below the entrance. This leads to a path with clusters of lit lanterns. There is a stage right out of Kumandra. The short parade, Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession, is incredible. It is narrated by George Takei who voiced the First Ancestor in the animated Mulan (1998). The parade runs from Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout to the area next to Paradise Gardens. Dancers flow in outfits like flower petals. Dragon carriers guide the dragon in long, curved shapes. The VIP Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is carried on a bike. There is also a float with Mulan, Mushu, drummers, and at the end, Goofy! Chip and Dale follow behind it. The Lunar New Year Celebration is a special time at Disney California Adventure. If you missed it or would like to return to it, there is always next year and Festival of Holidays at the end of the year! 

#DisneyCaliforniaAdventure, #LunarNewYearCelebration, #LuckyWishesWall, #MulansLunarNewYearProcession, #OswaldTheLuckyRabbit, #OrtensiaTheCat, #BambooBlessings, #ProsperityBaoAndBuns, #LongevityNoodleCo

Re:tro Re:view - Rosaline!

Rosaline gives the unknown and very funny side story of a missing character from Shakespeare's play! It is directed by Karen Maine who also wrote and directed the comedy, Yes, God, Yes (2019). The film is based on the novel, When You Were Mine, by Rebecca Serle. The screenplay is by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who both co-wrote 500 Days of Summer (2009). The twist on a Shakespeare play does remind me of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) based on Hamlet. The film was written and directed by Tom Stoppard based on his 1966 play. 

Here, Rosaline was Juliet’s cousin and the reason why Romeo showed up at the party so he could see her. Rosaline's character was played by Lashana Lynch in the drama series, Still Star-Crossed (2017) based on Melinda Taub’s 2013 novel. Rosaline is streaming on Hulu and on Disney+ until February 15th. We see the stars, “Verona, Italy”, out of the bushes comes Romeo (Kyle Allen), “(a really long time ago)." Allen played Balkan in West Side Story (2021). The time already sets the comedic tone. He brushes some leaves out of his hair which I find funny. 

Out from the balcony, comes a woman in red robes who calls for Romeo, the expectation is of course Juliet, but this is Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever). Dear Evan Hansen (2021) featured Dever as Zoe Murphy. Dever is also the executive producer of this movie. Romeo climbs up with a bouquet of flowers and kisses her. Romeo compares looking at her to “the purest fountain”, a little Elizabethean. Allen’s hammy gestures adds to the silliness. Rosaline interrupts him to ask about his strange speech which he explains as romantic. So let’s do away with talking like Shakespeare and just have fun. He continues with his romantic speak, but almost slips off the balcony, funny! 

Rosaline helps him up and he says their names will be remembered for centuries, Romeo and - he is interrupted by Rosaline’s father who calls out her name! The first time her name is said just in case you didn’t realize who she is in the film. She tells him to hide and then goes to father. Rosaline opens the door, pretending she is sleepy, and Adrian Capulet (Bradley Whitford) said he heard voices. Whitford was in tick, tick… BOOM! (2021) portraying Stephen Sondheim. Rosaline explains she was talking to herself on the commode! She continues with Romeo saying their relationship is secret and they kiss. Also, his family, the Montagues, and her’s, the Capulets are enemies. He says they will be together forever. 

He climbs down and we get Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).” She says, “A thousand times good night”, which is later Juliet’s line, and Romeo replies, “Nice one.” Romeo leaves back into the bushes. On the balcony, she ponders their names, “Romeo and Rosaline.” Rosaline is wakened from her sleep by Nurse (Minnie Driver). I think of Driver the most from Ella Enchanted (2004) with the similarity of the tone here. Rosaline says she wants to date whom she wants to date. 

She says it is unfair to which Nurse says she went to nursing school for seven years, this is too much fun! Nurse lifts up her food tray which has a book that excites Rosaline. She says that lunch is at noon, Rosaline says it is too early!, and the nurse has Adrian’s heavy dress for her. Later, Rosaline and her father are walking the halls while he explains that her sisters are all married. At lunch, Rosaline wears the hat given by her father, looking bored at her suitor’s babbling. Mr. Danieli (Lew Temple) can’t believe she wants a career which Rosaline says is to be a cartographer. 

Rosaline mentions that Josephine goes everywhere with her, Danieli asks where she is, and Rosaline points to an empty chair! She shouts to Josephine to take something out of her mouth, LOL! Danieli storms out of the room. Her father is exasperated and Rosaline just shrugs. She walks in the Verona streets with Paris (Spencer Stevenson) who acts as a suitor in Juliet in the play. Stevenson was in the comedy, Rollers (2021). He brings up that she wants to marry for love. As they walk, Romeo brushes his hand against her’s, and walks ahead of them. 

Rosaline catches up to Romeo in the courtyard. She stands next to him, their fingers touch, as he examines a jeweled necklace. Rosaline is warned to stay away from the Capulets by Tybalt (Alistair Toovey) The mini-series, Tut, starred Toovey. At Romeo’s side is his good friend, Mercutio, played by Henry Hunter Hall. The actor stars in the crime series, Hunters. Tybalt keeps up his threats until they draw swords. Romeo falls as swords cross over him. Rosaline is not impressed, breaking up the fight, and she tells them to put their swords in their pants! 

Paris finds Romeo attractive and Rosaline is about to tell him her secret when we cut to another kiss on the balcony. Romeo gives her the jeweled necklace with their names carved onto the centerpiece. She wants to live far away on a mountain, Romeo says he could write poetry, and then brings up she could watch the children. This makes Rosaline pause. He tells her he loves her. Rosaline is not quick with a reply. Romeo takes the awkward pause to get to his climb. She brings up the Capulet Ball and that it will be a masquerade so their identity will be secret. This is a slight detour from the original.

In the morning, Rosaline tells the Nurse that she was surprised by Romeo’s words. She hopes to make it up to him at the ball as the Nurse fits the mask on Rosaline. Adrian enters and says a family from the north, the Penzas, has a son who survived a war. There is a knock at the door. Rosaline argues with her father as we see the poor guy, Dario Penza (Sean Teale) on a chair outside. Hiraga was in the comedy, booksmart (2019) which also starred Dever. I was thinking who could Rosaline fall for and seeing the hapless Dario on the chair listening to the argument, yeah, it has to be him! 

He overhears Rosaline says she wants to travel the world with someone she loves. Dario stands up as Adrian introduces his daughter. Rosaline is so blase that she doesn’t look at him. Adrian leaves them with a hopeful smile. Dario and Rosaline are taking a carriage ride, she interrupts Dario calling him “soldier boy”!, and doesn’t want to hear about the dowry of the arranged marriage including horses. He adds “cow”, they are not rich, and they say they are not each other’s type. Dario says his type is not a shrew! Next, He is out preparing a boat, but Rosaline is hesitant saying it’s not safe. 

Dario says he is a master helmsman. She continues making excuses and he realizes she is afraid. She wants to travel the world, but can’t get in a boat? He says she is afraid of getting into the boat. She makes fun of his pronunciation of “water”, I like the jab at the accent, and Rosaline tells him that she is afraid of fish! Finally, she unsteadily gets into the boat, Dario says it will be fun. Romeo appears at the ball with his mask. He tries to find Rosaline in all of the dancers. On the boat, Dario offers Rosaline pancetta and he says he learned how to cook from his mother on their farm. Rosaline tells him she has a secret boyfriend. 

Dario then goes to turn the boat back to shore. Interesting that we get the reason why Rosaline was not at the ball. Thunder rumbles and rain comes splattering down! Dario shouts that they have to wait out the storm. Rosaline insists that she has to get to the ball. Romeo is impatient standing on a bridge. Rosaline gets out rows as Dario smiles. He says she is rowing them backwards. Romeo goes around checking to see if he can find Rosaline. Then, he lifts up his mask, and runs into an unmasked Juliet (Isabela Merced). The actress also starred in the comedy remake, Father of the Bride (2022). We see closeup of their eyes as they introduce themselves and smile. 

At the dock, Rosaline and Dario admit it was the worst night of their lives. It is so perfect in its imperfection. Rosaline leaves him. She rushes in at the close of the ball. In her room, Rosaline writes a letter to Romeo. In the morning, she rides up to Steve the Courier (Nico Hiraga) to ask if he delivered her letter. Hiraga was also in the comedy, booksmart (2019). He is the stoner type. Rosaline worries about Romeo’s response as she is being fitted by the nurse in front of a mirror. Paris jumps out and says that Romeo is on his way. Rosalie rushes out to the balcony. She sees Romeo gather a bouquet of flowers and then run to the side. 

Rosaline follows him through the hedge maze. At night, Romeo slips past the guardsman and Rosaline follows him. She struggles up a wall saying that Romeo could have friends. Romeo’s romantic words are more refined after his first draft. Rosaline remarks at the familiar words, “Son of a -“ Juliet’s nurse calls and they kiss. A tear falls from Rosaline. The next morning, a violinist plays Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself” as Juliet sulks in bed. The Nurse sends him away and Rosaline says she drove Romeo to the woman who is unknown to her. Love needs to be tested. Rosaline needs some advice from Anna from Frozen (2013). 

There is a knock at the door. She meets her uncle, Lord Capulet (Christopher McDonald) and aunt, Lady Capulet (Mercedes Colon). McDonald is in the series, Hacks, and Colon was in the horror movie, Malignant (2021). They bring in her cousin, Tybalt, and then their daughter. It is almost horror movie music as Rosaline’s smile dissolves and she sees Juliet. Her cousin hugs her. Rosaline realizes that Juliet grew up since the last time she saw her. At the dinner table, Lord Capulet is disappointed that Adrian is not angry at the Montagues. 

Rosaline interrupts them and says her uncle could move to Siena. Lord Capulet is stunned Adrian lets his daughter speak at the dinner table. Adrian tells Rosaline to take Juliet to the garden. Tybalt smiles. At the garden, Juliet remarks at Rosaline talking back to her father, she says she can’t wait until she grows old as her! Juliet is about to tell Rosaline her secret and when says she’s in love, Rosaline’s ball hits a bird! Now, it’s Rosaline’s turn to give advice, set Juliet away from Romeo. Rosaline has a strong, but flawed lead in Kaitlin Dever with a fun, modern spin on the classic Shakespearean romance! 

Five Letters out of Five! 

#Rosaline, #KarenMaine, #KaitlynDever, #SeanTeale, #KyleAllen, #IsabelaMerced, #MinnieDriver, #BradleyWhitford, #NicoHiraga 

The Last of Us, “Endure and Survive”, Review!

Last episode set up the situation that is fulfilled in this ep of The Last of Us with new characters, like Bill and Frank! They give us perspective on our leads, a sense of normalcy, and a dramatic conclusion! Re:cap - “Please Hold to My Hand”, Joel and Ellie are trapped in Kansas City caught between revolutionaries led by Kathleen and other forces! Joel had killed some of her men and she is seeing others to hunt him down. Joel and Ellie are hiding in an abandoned bar. He apologizes to her for having to shoot Bryan who was attacking Joel. Ellie wipes away tears and says it wasn’t her first time!, at FEDRA school?, escaping it? Joel properly show Ellie how to use the gun she took from Bill’s house. They head towards a tall building that they saw from the bar. Perry shows Kathleen an attic where she sees children’s drawngs of superheroes and empty cans. She is looking for Henry and Sam. Perry shows her to a storage room, where the floor is almost broken, Infected? At night, Ellie breaks into the building with Joel. They climb up  stairs to the thirty-third floor and Joel breaks into a room and scatters glass as warning for intruders. 

Ellie brings up Joel’s weak hearing on his right side. She tells a diarrhea joke and Joel laughs. The first time that they share something in common. Later, Ellie shouts to wake Joel with her hands up. A kid has a gun pointed at Joel! “Endure and Survive” begins with a flare shot into the night with chants of “Freedom!” They have overthrown FEDRA and killing the remaining soldiers. A truck has a man announcing to collaborators to turn themselves in as a body filled with spikes is dragged in the street. A man, Henry (Lamar Johnson) is signing to his brother, Sam (Keivonn Woodard) that they have three more blocks. He was the young boy we saw holding the gun to Joel at the end of last episode. Kathleen sets a chair down to talk with a group of collaborators as Perry stands next to her. She says she was afraid of them, asks them if they felt better betraying people, and asks about Henry. One collaborator says that Edelstein had a place for Henry and Sam in the open city. 

She goes to a room of her revolutionaries and says Henry is in the city. Kathleen orders them to go door to door to find him, but Perry says they should not spread out troops with the surrounded city. Kathleen tells Perry to kill the collaborators and burn the bodies, he takes several of his soldiers to fulfill the order. Henry has opened the door to the building and signs to Sam that they walking up the stairs. He has his gun out and then faces Edelstein. The doctor was interrogated and killed by Kathleen last ep. Henry asks him if they are safe and Edelstein replies that he found the hiding place from a FEDRA officer, one of his patients, who is probably dead. He must be the officer who said Edelstein was in the city and killed as a collaborator. Edelstein says water and toilets are in the apartments below them. Henry says they can try to sneak out of the city through tunnels in 11 days. Edelstein points out that Sam’s fear is from his father. Henry looks at what Sam drew on an etch-a-sketch, a superhero with a mask, he signs “Super Sam”?, and that Edelstein said they were safe. 

He gives a bag of crayons to Sam. This is such a kind relationship, I have no idea why Kathleen sees him as a threat, he controlled Kansas City FEDRA? We get “10 Days Later” as we see crayon drawings of Super Sam destroying enemies with his powers. Henry pulls the cardboard from the windows to see the soldiers movement in the streets below them. Sam signs that he is hungry and wondering about Edelstein. Later, Henry wakens his brother and signs that Edelstein is not returning. It is apparent that this was the attic that Kathleen was searching. He signs that he has been watching their patterns and they can walk to find food. Henry has Sam close his eyes to paint orange on his face like the mask. He takes out his knife to show Sam his reflection, he smiles. They are about to leave when Henry is startled by shooting. He peeks out to see Joel shooting from the store. This is awesome to see a reverse perspective. 

At night, they walk up the stairs, Henry freezes when his boot crunches on some glass, he signs to Sam, “Noisy.” He gives Sam a gun. We pick up with Ellie trying to wake up Joel! This shift is so masterfully done. Henry has his gun to Ellie’s head and he tries to say they can help them. He stresses that they haven’t hurt them so they can lower their guns. Joel says that everything is good, but Henry doesn’t like his grim tone, Ellie adds that it just his usual voice. Henry says he is going to trust them and signs so to Sam. His brother starts to back away from Joel. Henry realizes that besides themselves they are wanted people. Later, they share some of Bill’s rations, Joel gives them a small bag, Ellie introduces herself. Then, she slaps Joel to do the same, he does so, but just wants to move on. Henry puts together that they are in the building to find a way out of the city and offers to show them one.  There is no FEDRA and Joel says the city’s FEDRA had a reputation which Henry confirms they have done so for twenty years. He brings up that causing so much pain that people will turn and do the same. I like this perspective on revolutionaries. 

Henry admits he is worse than FEDRA, he is a collaborator, Joel pulls back. He makes the deal to lead Joel and Ellie out and Joel whom he saw kill, will help them survive. They turn to see Ellie laugh with Sam at a conference table. It is suddenly normal and the way things should be. Joel agrees to the deal. Henry draws a map of the highways that surround the area watched over by Kathleen’s soldiers. He signs to Sam about how they can get across and he starts writing on his etch-a-sketch, “Tunnels.” Henry explains there are maintenance tunnels that they can take from a bank building and end up on the other side. Then, they have to get over a bridge to safety. Henry poses a question to them about the city and Ellie answers, “No Infected.” He continues saying that FEDRA forced them underground fifteen years ago, so now they are breaking out with the mound seen by Kathleen. They have to trade one hopeless danger for another, but Henry says Kathleen and her people fear the tunnels. He says that they are clean from a FEDRA officer three years ago. Henry is impressed that they encountered two Clickers. I love this great escape, but it will be nasty all the way!  

They walk through the bank doors and Henry leads everyone to stairs down. Joel scans the tunnel and Henry remarks that it is clean. His confidence is checked by Joel who is still suspicious. They reach a dead end that is filled with a castle, a rainbow, and flowers drawn by kids. Sam is excited to go to a door, but Joel holds him back. It is a recreation room for kids, Joel says he heard they were built after Outbreak Day, at a table Sam finds a comic book that excites Ellie. These moments even if things go bad just make this show perfect. They share which issues they have and Ellie faces Sam so he can see her says the comic book’s slogan as Sam signs, “To the edge of the universe and back. Endure and survive.” Ellie repeats the last part in sign language and they give each other high fives. Can I please have the replica of the comic book? Ellie wants to stay there and Henry convinces Joel that they will be in shadow when they reach safety. As Ellie and Sam play, Joel says he was quick to judge him if he acted for his brother, Henry admits the reason behind his betrayal, and he feels there is no justification for his action. They find an escape, but what is set up in the two episodes is brought together, we get a truly dramatic and unexpected end in this ep of The Last of Us! 

Five Point Five Fungi out of Five! 

#TheLastOfUs, #PedroPascal, #BellaRamsey, #LamarJohnson, #KeivonnWoodard, #JohnGetz, #MelanieLynskey, #JeffreyPierce  

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, “Moon Girl Landing”, Review!

 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is a frantic cartoon with a fun super-teen and her dinosaur that has a touch of heart and smarts! Devil Dinosaur, a red Tyrannosaurus rex, was created by Jack Kirby in Devil Dinosaur #1 (1978). Devil was linked with the monkey boy, Moon Boy, “Laugh-a while you can, monkey boy!” Lunella Lafayette, aka Moon Girl, first appeared in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1 (2015). Lunella is a brilliant, thirteen year old girl. The show is co-created by Lawrence Fishburne who voices The Beyonder in the show and played Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). His co-creator is Helen Sugland who was a producer for his show Black-ish. The animation is by Flying Bark Productions who worked on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show. It is blocky, fast paced, with characters and actions popping up word balloons. The show has a two part premiere on Disney Channel that will later stream on Disney+. New York, Lunella (Diamond White) walks up, puts on her skates, jumps over fire hydrant. 

She meets people, throws a few punches at Jimmy’s Gym, and sings the title song, “Moon Girl Magic.” White voiced Fuli the cheetah in The Lion Guard and performed the song “My Own Way” in the show. Lunella sees a closed shop and then goes to the Roll With it skating rink run by her father, James, Jr. (Jermaine Fowler). The lost son, Lavelle, in the comedy, Coming 2 America (2021), was played by Fowler. Sasheer Zamata plays Adria, Lunella’s mother, Zamata known for Saturday Night Live and she is now on the sitcom, Home Economics. Later, Mimi, her grandmother is voiced by Alfre Woodard. The actress also voiced Sarabi in the 2019 Lion King. Pops (Gary Anthony Williams), Lunella’s grandfather, is in the rink. Williams voiced Kragan Gorr in Star Wars: Resistance. Lunella dances with him. Then, the power goes out and the skaters leave. James, Jr. returns the money to his customers. Lunella wonders about the blackouts. The family keeps going and says their motto, “We roll with it!” 

The city’s electricity drained by energy woman whom we later find out calls herself Aftershock (Alison Brie). The actress voiced Em in the “Twins” (2021) episode of Star Wars: Visions. Her design looks similar to the electrical villain, Livewire, who appeared in Superman: The Animated Series. Lunella is working on some papers when her classmate, Eduardo (Michael Cimino), gives her a Rubik’s cube. Cimino voices Kevin in the Disney animated series , Hamster & Gretel. Lunella tells the school crowd about her work on an incomplete blueprint. She says she is hoping the “Lower East Side have its own power grid.” The part of the city is identified as L.E.S. Lunella gives Eduardo the finished cube. She is seen by another classmate, Casey (Lile Barer), who has a podcast. Barer voiced Violet Sabrewing in DuckTales (2019-2021). Lunella returns to the skating rink to find out that there was an attempted robbery. James, Jr. says they were stopped by Lunella’s invention, a battery powered security system. 

In Lunella’s room, Adria gives Lunella a bowl of food while she works on the blueprints, and gives her a tape player. When she leaves, Lunella opens her closet and takes an elevator down to her secret lair which is an abandoned subway station. The elevator to secret room is right out of the classic Batman show. Lunella sees her family on a monitor. James, Jr. discusses selling roller rink. She acivates her power generator, but it overloads! Lunella finds out that the device is a portal generator. The portal is a swirling, blue disc and out of it, Devil Dinosaur (Fred Tatasciore) appears. Tatasciore also voiced several voices on What If…? including Drax and Volstagg. He roars and then runs off. Casey is using her cellphone to show the neighborhood in blackout. Devil Dinosaur runs through night streest, licks water hydrant, chasing after something it smells. Lunella chases after him and finds that he is looking at hot dogs. She tosses them into his mouth, his vision turns her to green, and becomes a puppy. 

They see at the roofttop of a building the energy woman whose electrical bolts throw down a dumpster. It is about to fall on Casey and Lunella tells Devil Dinosaur, “Help her!” Devil Dinosaur chomps on the dumpster. The next day, the family talks about the dino appearance which seems to confirm James Jr.’s “Lizards in the sewers.” Lunella gets a pile of food on a plate from the refrigerator. She brings up the “electrical vampire.” Mimi doesn’t want her to leave until she takes some pie. The pie is the last part of Devil Dinosaur's meal. Lunella thinks the portal generator may not have enough power to return him home. She sees them as superheroes, “My brain, your brawn, we can really help people.” They team up and he claps. Casey stops by and sees Adria and James, Jr., Luella doesn’t remember name, but suspects she knows her secret identity. Casey thanks Lunella for saving her. Lunella shows Casey the secret lair. She is stunned and speechless. Casey wants Lunella to have a costume and appoints herself as her agent. Lunella agrees to the agreement, “I will do this thing.” She starts putting together outfits and inventions. 

Casey turns them down until Lunella gets her classic unifor; yellow outfit with helmet that has pink goggles. They move thorugh the streets at night. She sees the robbers, two big guys, her trap sprayed them when they tried to rob the skating rink. This makes the robbers easy to detect for Lunella. She goes to see Devil Dinosaur and he shakes her around on his tail. Her flying boxing glove knocks away Casey’s phone and the robbers drive away. Lunella trains Devil Dinosaur with hot dogs, tests her glove shooting canes, and ends up with an ice cream cone on a rooftop. His name is a series of growls. Lunella translates it as “Terrifying Fire Monster Who Will Bring About the End of All Things.” She adds that it means literally Devil which Casey agrees will be his name. Casey has found the robbers selling goods on the web. A robber puts blue eye makeup in a mirror, Lunella calls for Devil, who makes them run. The duo is able to be helpful to the neighborhood and has to defeat Aftershock who has managed to enter Lunella’s life! She takes the name Moon Girl from an inspirational scientist and driven by her grandmother's saying, "One girl can make a difference." A fun cartoon superhero show geared for young ones! 

Four Hot Dogs out of Five! 

#Marvel, #MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur, #MoonGirlLanding, #DiamondWhite, #FredTatasciore, #LileBarer, #JermaineFowler, #SasheerZamata, #GaryAnthonyWilliams, #AlfreWoodard, #AlisonBrie, #MichaelCimino 

The Ark “Like It Touched the Sun”, Review!

The second episode of The Ark features tensions with the crew, the aftermath of last episode, and a murder mystery! The colony ship, Ark-1, is on its way when an unknown disaster strikes the cyro section losing the commanders. The ship continues in space with three crew members moving in EVA (extravehicular activity, astronauts operating outside of a ship or station), Lt. Sharon Garnet, the de facto leader monitors them, Lt. Spencer Lane is examining what happened to the ship. Garnet detects damage on the Wheel’s trusses, it is starting to break off pieces. Debris strikes Lance, he starts to drift into space, until caught by Lt. James Brice! The other crew member has died, pierced by a piece of The Wheel. Garnet calls for the doctor to the airlock. Lane is unconscious. Later, he is sitting on a medical bed while the Dr. Sanjivni Kabir tends to him. Alicia Nevins appears for a post-physical. One crew member complains about the heat she wonders why Nevins is not at her post. She brings up a rumor that she killed her Dr. Kabir turns at Nevin’s babbling and tells to shut up. Lane wonders why she hasn’t rested. 

THE ARK -- “Like It Touched the Sun” -- STACEY READ, RYAN ADAMS -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY 

Lane walks out and meets with Brice who was at the dead crew member’s wedding. Nevins runs into Baylor Trent who was moved into waste management who is happy since he worked at cryogenics. Nevins admits that she says TMI. Nevins tells Trent that she was from Cincinnati and New Africa. Her background is fascinating, the only other sci fi character to come from Africa is Nyota Uhura from Star Trek. It looks like Nevins has fallen for him! At the funeral of the dead crew members, head of engineering, Eva Markovic, sees Harris Beckner’s body, and has memories of him. Cat Brandice sees Eva spit on Jasper Dade’s corpse. He was responsible for their deaths. At the conference room, Angus Medford says the bodies should be used in the NOD which Nevins identifies as the Natural Organic Drum. Strickland and Lane don’t want to eat people. Eva is with her crew working get the engine ready for lightspeed. Brice catches up with Lane who is suspicious about Garnet. A flashback, “Three Days before Launch”, we see the introduction of Commander Susan Ingram (Lisa Brenner) before the crew. She mentions that they will be conscious for a week before cyro. 

She introduces the Ark program founder, William Trust (Paul Leonard Murray), who appears in hologram. He reminds me of the brilliant S.R. Hadden in Contact (1997). Trust says there are plans for twenty Arks. Ingram has them ready for departure. Cat is being interviewed as part of her program, Cat Calls! Lester introduces Garnet. Ingram talks with Lane who says she was assigned by “some higher up.” Brice sits in Lane’s bed who explains that Garnet took the captain’s quarters. Garnet is checking on Secured Storage, head of security, Strickland sees her, she says she was checking the codes. He keeps Garnet as a suspect and asks about the 1-C clearance. Garnet mentions it is Markovich, Lane, Brice, and herself. Angus checks the farm, a pipe shudders, and then sprays water. He tries to cover the leak with a box. Angus explains to Garnet that 100 gallons of water were lost. Garnet tries to reassure him. Angus hasn’t seen Eva and Garnet goes to look for her. At her quarters, she finds her alone, crying, then sees Cat who might help. Garnet thinks she had a relationship with Harris. Cat mentions the secret relationship. It seems everyone on the ship knew about their secret romance. 

        THE ARK -- “Like It Touched the Sun” -- CHRISTINA WOLFE, TIANA UPCHEVA, CHRISTIE BURKE -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY 

Eva says that she met Harris in Belgrade. Cat wants her to reflect on her memories and tries to keep Garnet from bringing up business. Lane watches the replay of the event’s of the accident. Brice notes an EMP that interfered with the recording Strickland asks Lane about his whereabouts, but he refuses to answer. Nevins washes out the damp mud into a bucket. Angus finds a knife, a hunting knife recognized by Nevins, he realizes it came from a pipe. A clue to the murder mystery. Eva is back at duty giving assignments. One of her crew, Sasha (Milos Cvetkovic), brings up Harris and tells her that she has to grieve. Eva says she is the most qualified to get the ship up and running. The lieutenants bring in Garnet. Brice says he wants to go EVA. Garnet says it is too dangerous since he is navigator and has him give his word not to EVA. Brice walks with Lane and says he is going through the EVA. Angus meets with Strickland at the mess hall who says the knife was not found. A crew member takes hold Angus’ water ration angry with the lost water. Strickland gets into a fight with him and several others. Garnet joins the fight. She is knocked back, but helped up by Angus. Strickland brings out his security prod and the fight is ended. 

The brawlers are cuffed at mess hall tables. Garnet says there is no brig, only the storage closet, so she mentions that the six troublemakers. She says to Lane that they have to fix the cause. Garnet meets with Cat, who has a sleep mask at her bunk. She notes that there is fighting with the crew and assigns her to be similar to Deanna Troi! Cat says she is a tv relationship specialist, but agrees to the position and has some demands. Brice is going EVA with Lane checking on him on a computer pad. He finds the steel has melted and some crystals embedded into the metal. Brice crushes it and some greenish liquid begins to dissolve his glove. An Alien-like acid! Lane has him pressurized in the airlock to get his hand out of the cold of space! Dr. Kabir checks Brice’s mangled hand, he has lost three layers of skin, and the substance is unknown. Garnet is angry that there is no collaboration with the officers. She has gone 52 hours without sleep. She makes a ship wide announcement about the hard work of the crew with five hour rest periods. The complications of this colony mission reminds me of the 2016 National Geographic Mars series that had a hypothetical mission with unforeseen problems which cuts to real science, recommended! The Ark features a tense crew held together by Garnet with ship accidents and mysteries! 

Four Compression Suits out of Five! 

#TheArk, #ChristieBurke, #ReeceRitchie, #RichardFleeshman, #StaceyRead, #RyanAdams, #PavleJerinic, #TianaUpcheva, #ChristinaWolfe, #ShaliniPeiris, #MilesBarrow, #MilosCvetkovic, #LisaBrenner 

The Last of Us, “Please Hold to My Hand”, Review!

The Last of Us continues with a side turn into a dangerous city! Re:cap - “Infected”: In the course of Joel and Ellie’s travels, we shifted to the story of Bill and Frank, a bit of hope in the apocalypse. They have built a suburban, survivalist paradise apart from the Infected. Frank brings in Tess and Joel who warns Bill that his defenses against raiders will not be enough. A jump to “Three Years Later”, Frank is jogging ahead while Bill struggles to catch up. Frank covers Bill’s eyes and then reveals a small patch of strawberries which he traded seeds for one of Bill’s guns. They bite into strawberries, Bill giggles in joy, he admits that he was never afraid until Frank arrived, and they kiss. Night, rain pours down as raiders cross into Bill’s traps, modified flame throwers burst, which wakens Frank. An explosion gets him out of bed, he checks the window and hears screams, Frank takes out a gun calling for Bill. He is standing in the street firing at raiders that are being electrocuted by the fence and set on fire. It is dark, but Bill is shot in the inside! 

Frank pulls him into the house, Bill tells him that he made a list for Frank, and repeats, “Call Joel”, as Frank tries to tend to him on a table. Bill gets quiet and we fade to black. Later, we hear Frank quietly calling for Bill, he is in a wheelchair in the front of the house. This is surprising since we saw Bill was wounded, but it is “Ten Years Later”, we see Frank’s paintings of himself and Bill. He attempts to paint, but is weak, Bill walks from the greenhouse. Bill winks at him and then begins to water a plant, it is interesting to see Bill turn from survivalist to just average guy. Frank is working on a surreal painting of Bill’s face.  At a meal, Frank struggles to eat his soup, Bill reminds him to take his pills. Bill helps take out the pills from a packet. Bill carries Frank to bed, just a gentle gesture, and he finds Frank in a chair who took the night to move there. Frank admits that it is his last day. In his wheelchair, Bill grasps for some kind of doctor, but Frank tells him there was no cure. Frank says that he had more good days with Bill and wants one good day. 

Frank explains how he wants his one good day to go. Bill, crying, says he can’t go through it. Frank tells him to love him like he wants. Leaves rustle as Bill wheels Frank to the boutique. At the piano, dressed up, Bill gives Frank his ring, and Frank does the same. Bill has made the rabbit dinner from their first meeting, he pours their last cups of wine together, and mixes the bag of pills. Frank drinks and realizes that Bill has put the pills in the bottle. Bill says he is satisfied. Frank says he should be furious, but says it is romantic.  They chuckle and then Bill wheels Frank to bed. Honestly, viewers were very emotional at these scenes, but I was in the moments of their characters, living and dying on their own terms. We pick up with Joel and Ellie at the fence while Joel inputs the code to open the gate. It is deserted, they enter the house, Ellie finds a note from Bill addressed to “Whomewever, but Mostly Joel.” She reads “August 29, 2023”, not to enter the room, so they left open the window.

The letter notes that it is probably Joel since others would die from his traps and adds, “Hehehehehehehehe”, I love Bill’s dry sense of humor. Ellie looks up to see Joel’s reaction and then continues that Bill never liked Joel, but respects him. Bill admits he hated the world until there was one person worth saving. “That’s why men like you and me are here”, powerful words, he leaves his weapons and equipment, Ellie pauses here. We see the letter reads, “to keep Tess safe.”  Joel takes the letter and crumples it in the yard. He checks on a truck in the garage and then asks to see Ellie’s arm before telling Ellie about his brother which he can know about the Fireflies base. He gives her rules which she agrees to follow and goes to Bill’s workroom. Joel doesn’t want her to take any of Bill’s guns. Ellie finds a gun in Bill’s desk and puts it in her backpack. They get into the truck, Ellie is impressed, Ellie finds a cassette and it plays Linda Rondstadt’s “Long Long Time” as they drive away. We pull back from the curtains of Bill and Frank’s room as we see the truck leave.  

This ep, Ellie is facing a mirror, Taxi Driver-style, and then goes “pew pew.” It’s play for her, not the seriousness needed to use the gun effectively which is what Joel feared for Ellie. She unloads the clip and then the gun to eject the bullet, contemplates it, and then pulls the trigger in her pretend game. This is a restroom, Ellie hears a noise, and then returns the gun to her pack. This is a remote gas station, she walks over to Joel siphoning gasoline from one of the moss-covered cars. He doesn’t want Ellie to wander so she takes out a joke book. They drive away in the truck, lines of rusting, abandoned vehicles are all turned to the side of the road. Ellie takes out a Hank Williams cassette for Joel to play. It’s “Alone and Forsaken.” Next, she takes out an adult magazine, again jokes around, and tosses it out of the truck. A number of cattle graze at the side, nature returning to normal, and they pass an abandoned roller coaster. They cross a bridge, boats capsized, then abandoned military vehicles, Ellie looks at them quietly.  

Joel turns off the road, across a field, and drives into a forest. Later, he cooks a meal that Ellie hungrily eats, Joel tells her that it is 20 year old Chef Boyardee ravioli. Ellie remarks, “That guy was good”, very funny. He plans on sleeping and then driving day and night to get to Wyoming in the next morning. She wants to start a fire, Ellie realizes that the smoke won’t bring Infected, but dangerous people. They start to ready for sleep, Ellie notes that the sleeping bag smells good, Joel notes that it is Frank’s. Such a fun nod to last episode. She is restless until Joel reassures her that they won’t be found. Ellie sleeps and Joel later stands watch. In the morning, Ellie is wakened by Joel putting supplies back in the truck, and she is offended by the smell of brewing coffee. On the road, Ellie is checking the map looking for Cody, Joel notes that Tommy could be at a settlement. Great to see a map since there is obviously no GPS trackers. She is persistent about hearing what happened with Tommy. Joel says that Tommy wanted to be a hero, went to Operation Desert Storm, after the outbreak, Tommy had Joel go with him to Boston. 

They had met Tess, Marlene brought Tommy into the Fireflies, so this brings us up to speed with Joel going to find his younger brother. Ellie brings up why he continues without hope. Joel tells her that it is family. He considers Ellie cargo, insulting, but he made the promise to Tess. Ellie falls asleep and then finds that they have reached a freeway filled with empty cars. The bridge underpass is blocked by truck trailer and Joel decides to detour around it. He tells Ellie that they are at Kansas City and he drives to pick up the road.  They reach the city streets, covered by leaves, and pass a charred pile of Infected. Ellie tells him to stop since she sees a QZ, but there is no FEDRA! A man calls out for help, Joel drives around him, someone drops a box from a balcony smashing the windshield! Joel drives the truck through a modified spike strip, a rifleman shoots at them, and then Joel crashes through a store! They slip out of the truck as the others open fire on them. Joel has Ellie crawl and slip into a hole in a wall while he covers her with a rifle. Joel shoots one of them and then takes cover. One of the gunmen enters the store, Ellie is hiding, and then he is shot by Joel. 

Another burst through the rear door and a man (Juan Magana) has the rifle pinned to Joel’s neck. Ellie takes out her switch knife and then looks for her gun. She walks up and then shoots the man! Joel gasps for air, the man pleads for his life, and says he is Bryan. Joel takes the gun, Bryan tosses over a knife, and has Ellie go back into the wall. Joel takes care of Bryan and then has Ellie move a blocked door. They slip out of the store and hear more vehicles arrive. One of the men calls for Bryan and sees the bodies. Joel finds the door across from the store is open and they slip into that building. At a FEDRA facility, an elderly man, Edelstein (John Getz) is interrogated by Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), in a light blue jacket read off names. Getz starred in Doom Patrol as Paul Trainor. Lynskey plays Shauna in Yellowjackets. Kathleen is looking for Henry. She brings up that this may be the room where her brother was beaten to death. Looks like insurgents overthrew FEDRA.  Edelstein had turned in people to FEDRA. The doctor says they had a gun to his head so Kathleen takes out her gun. Edelstein says he delivered her. A truck horn takes Kathleen’s attention and she goes through a crowd to see the bodies including Bryan. This faction has piecemeal armor from the FEDRA soldiers. 

A bearded man familiar with the military, Perry (Jeffrey Pierce), says it was outsiders, possibly mercs. Pierce voiced Tommy in the Last of Us games. She asks if they would live with a doctor’s help, but another man says no. Kathleen walks to the cell and shoots the doctor. She is the ruthless leader of this revolution. Then, she returns and says the killer should be found. This is insurgents who hunt down opponents with outlaw tactics worse than FEDRA. They are caught in a war between two rivals. At the boarded up Hi Lo bar, Joel and Ellie are hiding, they hope to move to a tall building when it is safe. Joel says that Ellie shouldn’t have to have shot Bryan and apologizes. Ellie admits this wasn’t the first time. Joel goes over to show Ellie how to use the gun, she learned in FEDRA school, and hands her the gun to put in her pack. This is a danger for Ellie, not to turn into a child soldier, to keep herself intact until safe. It is difficult to have any kind of sympathy with the revolutionaries if they are in the shoot first mode. Joel had always worried about people, not FEDRA or mercs, just that people could be dangerous. There are other dangers than just different factions! This ep is an expansion from the video game. Another intense story exploring the grey area of this post-apocalypse world, but the bar was set so high by the last episode, this one is just slightly beneath it! 

Four Fungi out of Five! 

#TheLastOfUs, #PleaseHoldToMyHand, #PedroPascal, #BellaRamsey, #MelanieLynskey, #JeffreyPierce, #JuanMagana, #JohnGetz