57 Channels and Only This Is On: April 17, 2022

 

 

Killing Eve:  I hope TV learned two important lessons from Killing Eve: 1) do not change your showrunner every season.  2)  Shows about antagonists have a short shelf life (though everyone should have learned this from Billions).  What a clusterfork of a final two episodes.  Why did Constantin’s apprentice kill him (or why was she on the shoe at all)?  Why was the 12 meeting on a boat at the same time as a gay wedding?  Why did Caroline try to kill Eve and the crazy French assassin?  None of this season made sense.

 

The Walking Dead:  So Daryl had the Stormtroopers stuck in a house full of zombies but instead decided to ambush them while they were all spread out around plenty of cover.  That was not the smartest plan ever.

 

Billions:  For a second there I thought Mike Prince actually brought down Axe and Chuck in consecutive season.  But then I thought, if we do not see Chuck sentenced by the end of the episode, he will probably weasel his way out next season.  Except he was able to weasel his way out by the end of this episode.  I do not understand his replacement’s plan.  Wouldn’t having Chuck under indictment when she had a real warrant this whole time be fraud, or wouldn’t anything Chuck do to get Prince on illegal stuff entrapment?

 

Super Pumped: The Fight for Uber:   Of course they leave the first and arguably the best (though I would say it is Corduroy, which I do not remember being on the show) to start and finish the final episode.  After being kind of meh on the show, I was actually enjoying the finale episode, probably because Travis was finally getting his componence, up until the point he went on his diatribe to the camera and the stupid dream sequence.  Hollywood is having a big problem at determining lengths of its stories and the story of Uber probably should have been a movie.  Or maybe it should have just stayed a book.

 

Moon Knight:  I kind of enjoyed when Mark took over in the first season but they stayed with Stephan’s POV were he would just come to with bodies everywhere.  I did not really care for the reverse.  Though I guess the last time it happened it was some third personality that it does not seem like Mark knows about.  But now I am wondering if every time there is a blackout it has been this third personality.  But I did not really understand the plot of the episode.  I thought that Ethan Hawke needed the scarab to find Ammut’s tomb but the sarcophagus is the only way to find it?  So what was Ethan Hawke digging?

 

Survivor:  How did they manage to make the Turn Back Time advantage worse?  It was even more confusing this time around.  But it was still a stupid twist because of course if you give someone a choice between being safe and not being safe, they will choose safety.  But man, did Hai turn on Lydia for no apparent reason really quickly.  Seems like a horrible idea to sacrifice your closest ally right at the merge.

 

The Blacklist: So they knew that Red was going to save the evil arms deal, but were cool with just looking at the paper the FBI guys handed them?  At least look at the database to see they are who they say they are.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: April 10, 2022

 

 

Killing Eve:  I have no idea why the crazy French assassin killed that one chick.  Simple jealousy?  But it does not seem she knew about her and Eve until she overheard them.  I also have no idea why she tried to kill the chick who gave her painkillers either.  Maybe I should pay more attention.  But with two more episodes left ever, why bother?

 

The Walking Dead:  I called it, the showdown between Daryl and Maggie was not as antagonistic as it seemed.  But what is so annoying about the mustache twirling villain, he was willing to kill an entire settlement to get his weapons back, but now he is bargaining with the actual person who stole he weapons to kill Maggie

 

Billions:  Did Mike Prince really just say “mother husker”?  But anyway.  During the whole succession thing and people trying to figure out why, my first thought was that maybe he was maybe he was dying.  Nope, the show is doing something even bigger, and more absurd, than trying to move the Olympics: he is running for president… in 2028.  Well at least the show will not be on the air by then.  Probably?

 

But the whole Wendy book thing made no sense to me.  How could a therapist think writing a book with thinly veiled caricature of her clients was a good idea?  At first I thought she was trying to get fired, but then she burned the book at the end.  So what was it all for?  It kind of felt like the writers did not have anything else for her to do but had to use her somehow.

 

Super Pumped: The Fight for Uber:  Travis was on the Trump economic team?  Yeah, definitely seems like Trump’s kind of guy and helps explain why our economy was in the toilet when Trump left office.  But I am kind of with Travis on the price surging thing, being on the side of the passengers is always the best side to be on.  But the scene with Ariana and Bill just shows what is wrong with this show, trust your actors to be able to convey those sediments, do not put subtitles on the screen.  This show is too much in all the wrong ways.  Well, except in the amount of Pearl Jam songs.

 

The Girl from Plainville:  I cannot confirm nor deny watching the REO Speedwagon scene multiple times.

 

Moon Knight:  If I am being chased by a cult who unleashes a jackal only I can see on me, I am not waiting that long to let the trained assassin living inside out. I would be perfectly fine living in glass reflections for a while if that ever happened.  But now that Steven has taken a backseat, I would be fine if he stays there for the rest of the season now.  I am kind of over his whole act after two episodes.  Give me more of the cool superhero, less of his nebbish alter ego.

 

Survivor: This season opened with a montage that showed Tori finding something.  I assumed it was the dumb phase advantage.  Except someone else on her tribe found that this week.  So what exactly does Tori find and when will she find it?  We are already six hours into the season.  We were already spoiled the results of two Tribals where they made it seem like she would go home, now we are at some buff dropping situation (I wonder if they are going to be split in two again with the odd person out once again getting the dumb turn back time advantage… except there are an even number of people this time) so it looks like she will be going to every Tribal going forward.

 

But Daniel has to go down as one of the worst Survivor contestants ever.  He played last Tribal so bad and then still managed to dig a bigger hole this week.  He even said something to the effect that he added nothing to his Tribe at the Challenge.  He did not even try to not get voted out.  Good riddance.

 

The Dropout:  I was listing to an interview with one of the producers and she said the finale changed after e-mails between Elizabeth and Sunny were released.  The original plan was to have half the episode take place at Burning Man.  The producer claims the finale was better with the change.  I whole-heartedly disagree.  Twenty minutes of watching Lizzy weirdly dancing at Burning Man sounds significantly more entertaining (it is not hard to find photos online and… oof) than what we got.  The final scene was particularly bad with the lawyer, who had to know what was going on and tried to ruin Tyler Shultz’s life, berating Lizzy after the fact.  Probably the right message, but not a great messenger.  Amanda Seyfried recently told Vanity Fair she would love to do Elizabeth again in a season two and I am all for it.  They could easily do a season on her and Sunny’s trial.  Oh, and give us a Burning Man episode.

 

Halo:  So the weird alien chick is special in some sort of way.  Although, if we told why, I missed it.  But not a good sign when your show’s most charismatic character is an AI hologram.  

 

Big Sky:  Oh no, Jinder Mahal was killed by a woman.  Oh well, I guess he can go back to his day job as jobber.  At least he is beat up by men there.  So the father is the one lacing their drugs?  I guess dude is hard up for money.  I wonder how much his white girlfriend was involved in that decision.

The Blacklist:  I did not see whoever the big bad is to kill the guy who actually kill the bartender.  Oh, and he also killed the lawyer.  So whoever is in charged seemingly does not want anyone to know where the black site is either.  But who else even knows of the black site to tell the lawyer?  I wonder if it is someone we have already met.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: April 3, 2022

 

Killing Eve: They really waited way too long to give an origin story of The Twelve to get me to care. And I really do not know why the cvzy French assassin was luring fireman to kill them.

 

The Walking Dead:  So we can now conclude why Stormtrooper Daryl comes to confront Maggie, and and her crew killed a bunch of other Stormtroopers because they killed some of Negan’s people for thinking they stole their weapons, but it turned out Daryl’s ex-girlfriend stole the weapons.  Well, that is complicated.  I still think Daryl is going to side with Maggie.  As for the other Daryl storyline, if the son got caught off and needs the money in the safe to keep his control, how were the Stormtroopers doing  his bidding if he had no money?

 

Billions:   So this very swanky resort has some zen chamber that flashes lights at you, but that chamber has a window letting natural light in and an open waiting room where the next guy can be heard talking on his phone.  How does this chamber not have its own sound proof room? This was a pretty cheap plot devise to inspire Chuck to rededicate his like to taking down douchebags.  And was Taylor really asking out the bland underling?  I took it as Taylor thinking about leaving the whole company, not just the party.  Then the bland chick is showering at Prince’s. Huh?  Being this is the tenth episode, I just this week remembered that Billions still does 12 episodes a season, and with this being such a filler of an episode, maybe it would be best if the show downgraded to 10 like most other shows from this era.  Or, like other shows from this era, not run on forever.

 

Super Pumped: The Fight for Uber:  I was beginning to worry with no Pearl Jam last episode, but we finally got another song for the end credits.   Speaking of music, as weird as it to have Pearl Jam and other 90’s alt rock song primarily soundtrack a show that took place last decade, it almost make ]s sense given Travis’ age, but much weirder to have an Olivia Rodrigo song that is half a decade from being released when that scene takes place.  But of all the actors they could have gotten from Billions to be on this show, she may have been the worst choice.  She is just so monotone it is hard to root for her.  Plus, as I said before, it is hard to take the commentary on the boys club at Uber seriously coming from a writing team that has their own boys club accusations hanging over them.

 

Snowpiercer:  I still do not understand Melanie’s motivation.  What would it hurt to look and see if the Horn of Africa was habitable?  If not, just keep going.  But I was wrong the writers just did this to make her the new antagonist for Layton, instead she turned on Wilford and agreed to split the train and let everyone decide which track they wanted to go.  Huh?  I thought Snowpiercer needed Big Alice because it no longer could produce enough heat like at the beginning of the season.  Then what was that thing at the end?  At first I thought it was a flare, maybe set off by Layton to let Melanie know that it was safe, but then it froze and kind of looked like a missile.  Could that be where Wilford went off to?

 

The Girl from Plainville:  This show is paced weirdly.  I really do not like that they started with Conrad’s death and then set up a duel timeline in the second episode.  With the two timeline, it makes it hard to tell when they are because there are no physical cues to Michelle, you just have to wait to see if Conrad is referenced in the current or past tense.  It really wished this show would have been more linear.

 

Moon Knight:  I came into this show with low expectations so I actually kind of enjoyed the episode.  Plus Ethan Hawke was giving me big Vigo the Carpathian vibes.

 

Survivor:  Why did they show us that Tori eventually finds the dumb phase advantage if they are going to send her to two Tribal Councils with an edit making it like it was her or someone else going home?  Well, of course Swati was going to be the one who goes home.  But that is three Tribal and three people using their Shot in the Dark.  And the third person to not get saved.

 

The Dropout:  Okay, that scene with lawyers at the newspaper was great.  Always nice when you can toy with lawyers.  I have been trying to avoid spoilers, but I will be really interested if the other lawyer scene with the Shultz family actually happened.

 

Halo:  The first episode was a bit of a bore.  They really should have introduced Bokeem Woodbine last week, because he may be the only interesting character on the show.

 

Big Sky: So there is someone selling tainted drugs onder the Indian’s noses?  Who could it be?  It kind of has to be the local drug dealer guy.  Unless they tie it into the storyline with Wolf and Ronald and the sex traffickers are also trafficking drugs.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 27, 2022

 

 Killing Eve:   So they went through all that trouble to set up the crazy French assassin just to let her out of prison after one scene with little issue?  Why bother arresting her at all except for a cheap cliffhanger?

 

The Walking Dead:  The writers really got too cute with the nonlinear storytelling.  They should have shown the Aaron/priest scene first because then we knew what was going to happen to the red shirt on the horse.  And I am confused by the timeline.  So red shirt runs into Negann, gets a horse, goes back to get shot, then goes to Hilltop?  Huh?  Feels like something got messed up.  And this is where Negan went?  Are we really to believe this super religious dude who have a wall of evil doer’s skulls was going to is going to let Negan live there?

 

Billions:  What I really disliked about the whole Olympics plot was that its conclusion was obvious, that Prince was not going to be able to move the games to New York since that would deviate from reality too far.  I thought Prince’s attempt to remove Chuck was just as fruitless because there is no show without in a power position.  Well, despite the rousing applause, Chuck still got ousted.  So is Chuck going to go the way of Bobby and be written off the show?  Is Chuck going to be a puppet master to his replacement?  I guess he could always run for governor.  His first run did not go well.

 

Super Pumped: The Fight for Uber:  I am surprised they did not make a bigger deal of Bill getting locked out of Uber.  And while I knew Uma Thurman as Arianna Huffington was coming, I did not know she had a seat on the board at Uber.  But all the boy’s club antics of the show was kind of gross considering the accusation of Brian Koppleman’s other Showtime show Billions.

 

Snowpiercer:  So Melanie somehow had enough juice in her suit to walk to another train that apparently can pierce snow too despite being much smaller, then survived by going in and out of stasis.  Yet this is more believable than her turning on her daughter to rat out Layton’s plan to go to the Horn of Africa.  But I guess with Wilford locked up, there needs to be a new antagonist.

 

The Endgame:  The agents were once again stupid enough to think they got to the bomb in time.  If they knew the tech guy was in on it with the evil chick, they really should have known, that it was an act the caught the bomber in time.

 

Survivor:  Yet another episode where the editors spoil things, at least it was inadvertent this time.  But of course the Tribe that got zero scree time prior to the challenge was not going to go to Tribal.  But really bizarre that in the opening scene of the season they show us Tori finding the dumb phrase advantage yet she is going to be the last on the show to find it. 

 

But, wow, so much bad game play this week.  How do you explicitly tell someone you cannot risk losing your vote and then assume the other people will not risk their vote so you can get an Extra Vote?  Then what exactly happened with the vote?  Did Hai change his last minute from the guys voting for the guy and the girls voting for the girl?  It did not seem like he changed, so did they really go to Tribal without the votes correctly working out for them?  But Hai did the one smart thing and threaten to go the rocks.  Had he switched (and why would he if Daniel was adamant about not going to rocks as the only other vote) then he is clearly on the bottom of a five member Tribe and would be gone at next Tribal.  Not changing mean best case scenario, Daniel switches, his closes ally is safe, and Daniel is the new goat of the Tribe.  Worst case scenario, go to rocks with a one in four change of going home,   three and four chance of someone other than you or your only ally going home.  Really the only thing Daniel said or did this week was that he is not going to win.  I do not think anyone on this Tribe has a chance at this point.

 

The Dropout:  My biggest problem with shows about real life people is that I spend way too much time searching if such dumb, inconsequential events really happened.  Like did Tyler Shultz really drop out of college his senior year to go tour with Dispatch?  That was the most excited I have ever seen anyone talk about Dispatch before.

 

Big Sky:  Yeah, I was stupid for assuming multiple died last episode, especially since T-Lock was the only one we got confirmation of.  It turned out Ronald was the only one else who actually died yet.  But much like his brother, Wolf survived a bullet only to be killed by hand latter.  I wonder if there is a triplet out there.  Oh, and Scarlette somehow escaped after being stabbed in the neck.  Umm, okay.  Then it was bizarre that Ren mock the bomber for claiming he had information because everyone says that before dying, but then seemingly believed him after telling her that Stone was cop.

 

The Blacklist:  When the show is doing hot killer sex robot storylines, it is really time to end the show.  But I missed why Red wanted to investigate it when the guy with the ruby neckless was poisoned by his wife. 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 20, 2022

  

Killing Eve:  They have done a very job poor job explaining who the new Indian people are.  And now the sister has killed the brother.  Is she supposed to be the new crazy French assassin?  Then after wasting the crazy French assassin at church camp the first two episodes, now they have put her in prison.  This is just another waste of the character.  Though we know she can escape from prison.  But hey, at least they had completely unnecessary title card

 

The Walking Dead:  So the black chick with glasses was the chick talking to Eugene all along, but that chick was using a different name.  This feels like yet another set up.  And I forgot Oceanside was still a thing.  Is there anyone still there that I would remember?  I certainly did not recognize the chick who talked to the head Commonwealth lady.

 

Billions:  I was wondering a couple episodes ago where were all the gratuitous Olympics athlete cameos.  Though when I think Olympic stars, I do not really think soccer.  The World Cup is what makes soccer players stars.  But anyways.  Chuck (and reality) won, the games are going back to Los Angeles.  Maybe?  There are still four episodes left so I am not sure if Mike prince has another trick or two up his sleeves.  Or are the final four episodes just going to be him trying to get back at Chuck.  But what I found most interesting was that Kopelman was not able to get a Jay-Z song for when he performed at the Uber party, but was able to license Jay-Z for his other show.

 

Super Pumped: The Fight for Uber:  Wait; was there any proof that Uber got caught hacking phones and cameras of Lyft’s users?  Whenever an app asks if they can have access to a bunch of other apps, I usually gloss over and blindly click okay when I should be more selective, but there is a huge difference if you access someone else’s app.  That should put a lot of people behind jail.  And if there is no proof, that seems pretty liable.  While the show could not get Jay-Z and Beyoncé, or even their music, did they really get Mark Cuban to play himself turning Travis down?  That is a pretty big get even if he did not specifically turn down investing in Uber.  I have not been following the Uber story (but I at the very least knew Uber was not going to buy out Lyft) so I was petty shocked when Travis locked out Bill.  Travis vs. Bill seems like it will be much better than what the first couple episodes have been.

 

 Snowpiercer:  So the new chick is dead already?  What a waste of what could have been an interesting character.  We barely saw her, she rarely interacted with anyone, and now she is dead. 

 

The Endgame:  So the lasers stopped when they hit the floor.  No one thought to put something they could crawl under between the laser and the floor that they could get through?  But that the evil people went through all that just to back people up so they would find the secret safe was pretty funny.

 

Survivor:  That challenge was confusing, having two pairs from each team on the course at the same time just made it hard to figure out who was who and who was ahead.  It was not until everything was corrected until I figured out what was going on.  But I never understand why people just do not boot annoying people first.  Why do you (potentially) want to spend the whole game with them?  I get you want to sit next to them at the end, but if you are thinking that, so is everyone else.  Best to get these people out early.

 

Resident Alien: Wait, so even if half human, they would still have to worry about baby alien eating other humans?  That is gross.  Though it never actually ate a human.  But I do wonder if the two cops heard that gunshot.

 

The Dropout:  So this week’s notable actors that just randomly pop up are Jack son from Lost and the comic book store owner from The Big Bang Theory.  We still got some Walgreens, so hopefully my hope for a spin-off is still alive.  But poor chemist, killing himself to avoid everything.  Though if you are stuck between an NDA and being under oath in a court of law, doesn’t US Government supersede a private NDA?  At least consult a lawyer.  NDA seem to violate First Amendment rights.

 

Big Sky: Why did the doctor give Ronald the adrenaline he needed just to kill Scarlett?  Give him something poisonous and then kill her.  Oh well, at least they are both dead… I think.  Drew Carey’s brother seemingly died twice only to survive (and maybe will a third time).  Though, at least T-Lock is dead-dead.  I guess we will have to wait for confirmation of everyone else.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 13, 2022

 

Killing Eve:  Well, did not take long for crazy assassin lady to start assassinate non-feline people again.  But killing the priest, and especially his daughter, seemed even extreme for her.

 

The Walking Dead:  This show has been a hard watch for a while but Eugene becoming a mix of Veronica Mars and Carrie Mathieson was the most entertaining thing I have seen on this show in a very long time.  But of course the show had to ruin it by a stupid reveal at the end.  So does everyone in the community know she was a spy?  Was wearing glasses enough to disguise like she was Superman?

 

Billions:  So they are really are going through with the New York City stealing the Olympics.  For a show that wants to live in reality so much that they routinely bring in celebrities to play themselves, they are really going to deviate from reality with such a huge change from real world events.  Though is there anything at this point that Chuck can stop it?  Even if can prove shenanigans, would the IOC really switch a games for a third time?  And can he use Wendy to bring Prince down?  Without Bobby, out of the way, maybe it is time for them to get back together.

 

Super Pumped: The Fight for Uber:   Wait, Jay-Z and Beyoncé were stockholders and investors in Uber?  A quick internet search shows that they, indeed, invested in the app fairly early (and there apparently other celebrities that did the same, I wonder if they show up).  While the show’s musical budget can get enough now four Pearl Jam songs, they could not get a Jay-Z and Beyoncé and I can see why they do not really want to be associated with the app or show considering the debauchery that was in the episode.  I was surprised Lyft showed up so soon on the show.  I guess you had to assume the rivalry would be addresses eventually, but this was really quick.  But I do guess that Lyft seemed to pop up real soon after Uber.

 

Snowpiercer:  I was expecting Melanie to pop up in the dream.  Really no one we have not seen in a while made an appearance.  Though once I realized we were not getting Melanie in the dream sequence, her name randomly pops up because someone thinks she is in France.  Huh?  Wasn’t the lab she was at in Colorado?  How did she get to France?

 

The Endgame:  Nothing I have more than cops that are supposed to be super smart but cannot figure out the easiest connections.  They see the bank robbers take money and the screen is hacked by the head chick telling everyone to come to the back followed by the cops claiming they have no clue why she was doing either.  Well, of course they were moving the money to give it to the people coming to the bank to cause a diversion.  So easy to guess that.

 

Pam & Tommy:  I am not well versed in late period Motley Crue so I wonder if the song they played was an actual bland rock song or did they create some bland rock song for them to play since they could not license an actual Motley Crue song?  Whatever it was, I am just so glad the show is over.

 

Survivor:  How exactly do you need three days to decide to kick somebody off for lying about the medical records?  That seems like an obvious boot now, bring in an alternate.  Kind of gross they decided to let Jackson on to milk the drama like that.  Speaking of people who need to be fired beside whomever though that was a good idea: the editor needs to be fired too.  In the opening montage, we see Tori find the dumb phrase advantage, except she did not find it in the episode.  So when the editors made it seem like it was going to be either her or Zach at Tribal, obviously we knew who was not going home.  So stupid.

 

The Dropout:  In this week’s installment of random cameos: Cameron Frye, Harry Crane, the brother from Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, and Sam Waterson.  I really hope we get a Walgreens spinoff with the first three guys.  Obvious get Katy Perry to do the theme song.

 

Single Drunk Female:  Wait, didn’t that chick have her bachelorette party during Sam’s last bender which would be a year ago if Sam is now one year sober? 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 6, 2022

 

Killing Eve:  So the crazy lady assassin is religious now?  Okay, I guess she is still not above feline murder.

 

The Walking Dead:  So who is left back in Alexandra?  We gained from last week, Maggie was still there.  One armed guy is the only other person that I could think of off the top of my head.  Eugene was also conspicuously absent this week, but he was in the “Next Week On” so he was in Alexandra somewhere, we just did not see him.  Then Princess was almost unrecognizable without that puffy jacket.  But how long do we hvve to get to see that confrontation between Daryl and Maggie?

 

Billions:  Episode 6:  If you are in the same room as an instructor, why do you need a screen of the instructor two feet in front of your face?  But anyway.  Almost confusing is a Chinese company having a plant in Wisconsin.  Couldn’t it be cheaper to produce the product in their homeland?  Do they do this solely to slap “American made” on their product?  I am also a little confused to how Chuck is going to use Prince’s alma mater.

 

Snowpiercer:  Well, that escalated quickly. Pike and Layton were fighting Wilford two episodes ago, Pike tries to kill Layton last episode and Layton kills Pike this week.  But Layton kind of had to since Pike had the information of the Horn of Africa being a scam.  But is he just going to kill everyone that lady tells because she really let that slip fairly quickly to Pike.  And of course, people may find out sometime.  Are there really going to find a habitable place in Africa?  It would be weird doing Snowpierer without people actually living on Snowpierer.

 

The Endgame:  I missed how people think the evil lady’s husband was dead in the first episode only to see him talking to the agent’s husband.  How does no one know that someone who is prison is not dead?  Did he fake his death and part of the plan was him to get himself incarcerated with the husband?  What is this plan?  Is she just doing this to expose corruption within the government?  Is she just going to bring don a new official every week?

 

Resident Alien: The only thing funnier than cat murder: octopus murder apparently.  They just drug out that scene until it was not funny anymore and then continued some more until it was funny again.

 

The Dropout:  There is nothing I appreciate more than when shows populate their cast with recognizable actors no matter how small the role.  Sure William H. Macy, Laurie Metcalf and the lady from 24 are big enough for more than two scenes in three episodes, but I appreciate the character work.  Then you got Stephan Fry and the guy from Ghost as lab technicians who I am not sure we will see much of after the initial three episodes.  The dude from the Blacklist just pops in for a couple scenes to ask what fork is going on.  I also spotted Cameron Frye in the “This Season On.”  Having recognizable actors, especially in a large ensemble makes it easier to remember who is who.

 

I have not been following this story very closely, just knowing the headline, but I was not ready for just how weird everything is.  It is interesting to watch this at the same time as the Uber show.  Travis built his whole brand on false bravado, while Elisabeth is just this weirdo with zero confidence, and when she tries to exude confidence, I am not sure she can even convince herself, she certainly does not seem to be convincing anyone else, at least not yet.  But as long as Elisabeth does some white girl dancing in every episode, this show may end up being my favorite show of the year.

 

Big Sky:  Silly me thinking Drew Carey’s brother was dead… again.  He already survived a bullet between the eyes, why would I think having his skull bashed in would be any different?  But it is time to wrap up both storylines; I am getting tired of both of them at this point.

 

The Blacklist:  So they waited until Park left to arrest the Conglomerate because they did not want to put her in danger?  Arresting everyone right after an agent leaves seems like the best way to put a target on her back.  Nothing says set up quite like a raid after someone leaves.  That seemed as dumb as no one realizing that the bug could still be on Lizzy after not finding it on her clothing.  That was the first place I thought of.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 6, 2020

Billions: I predicted in the premiere that the college professor and the painter would be new love interests, but extremely weird that both showed up to the hospital for Chuck’s father.

Killing Eve: So the first season ended with Eve seemingly killing the crazy French assassin, the second season ended with the crazy French assassin seemingly killing Eve, and the third season ends with… what the fork was that?
You can download Killing Eve on iTunes.

Snowpiercer: So was there ever a Mr. Wilford? The big twist was that Jennifer Connolly was called Mr. Wilford. Here we have her playing a tape of a dude. Is that Wilford? Just a dude she got so she can continue to keep up the rouse? There is a Mr. Wilford in the movie but it seems like they do not take place in the same universe so it seems like a clunky way to make Connolly the head person.
You can download Snowpiercer on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: Well that was a masterclass of detectiving. Nathan Lane just managed to figure out that Tiago’s brother did it and got the other dude to not only admit to killing that cop, but also got him to admit to the murder that set off the series. Not too bad for the only two straight arrows on the force. But this begs the question, will we ever learn who really killed that family. They certainly implied that Miss Adelaide had something to do with it last week and she was going to take care of Tiago in the same fashion.

Barskins: Um, why as the new husband so disappointed when his new bride got naked? I have never seen a guy so sad to see a hot chick take off her clothes. Was she packing a little something extra downstairs? Was there a baby bump? I just feel like I missed something.
You can download Barkskins on iTunes.

Stargirl: They need to get to the pink pen sooner than later because I need to know whvt is up with that. And has Stripsey been feeding that owl? It has been like a decade since his master die and it just sits there in the dark?

Love Life: Man, Anna Kendrick’s boyfriends just get worse (note I have only seen one of the new episodes this week). Seriously, dude’s massive debt gets exposed and his response is to propose? That is some stones to think someone will take over your debt.

The Challenge: Total Madness: You knew the unholy alliance would not continue but boy did it go down in flames. Johnny was definitely one in the wrong. Whoever is in the tribunal should be assumed they would be the one who will pick themselves especially this late in the season. I am actually shocked whenever someone in the tribunal does not go in if they do not have a red skull.
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Really, Daisy is that stupid that the robot dude who went back in time to specifically set a timeline that would help them rule the planet, and she was like, yeah, Deke, kill the person that the robot dudes want dead. At first I felt bad for the good robot dude for being left behind, but I guess he can just hang out for a couple decades and meet back up with everyone later, not like he will age, he once just hung out in that pod with Fitz for a century or two.
You can download Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

In the Dark: So the uncle guy is the little brother of the Queen Pin? Um, so that makes the dead kid her nephew too? Why was she not more mad that Harry Crane killed him?
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

Blindspot: A whole episode full of Reade flashbacks? Yeah, continues my belief that he is not really dead. But if Weller was so mad at those two, why did he quickly pick them for the task force a short time later? I guess it mad for a funny site gag, but does not make much sense.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 31, 2020

Billions: Did Cory Stoll play Axe? Did he really want the bid, or did he only bid because he knew Axe would outbid him out of spite? That guy is growing on me every episode. Maybe Corey can team up with Chuck and take down Axe then next season can be Chuck vs. Corey Stoll.

Killing Eve: Well that was an interesting golf outfit. But kind of bad editing that the crazy French assassin hit her mentor in the back and later she has a decent gash in her head. But this whole season has been a series of mistakes. Thankful just one more episode left. Maybe try bringing back Phoebe Waller Bridge for the next season instead of hiring a different showrunner.
You can download Killing Eve on iTunes.

Snowpiercer: Not a good sign for the show that the first time the show made me feel bad was when all the cows were frozen. I wonder just how many of the 200(ish) cars have livestock. Gotta imagine that is it for the cows. But at lease the meat is preserved.
You can download Snowpiercer on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: Did Miss Adelaide just admit to killing that family? It certainly sounded like she wanted her henchman to take care of Tiago the way he took care of that family.

Barskins: I like a good historical drama and this is an interesting take on a part of time I am just vaguely familiar with. But it falls into the same problems as other prestige dramas as there are just too many characters to keep track of. I recognize Matthew Lillard but all the other dudes just blend into each other except the eccentric one.
You can download Barkskins on iTunes.

Love Life: Anna Kendrick is one of my favorite people in the world, I have a very low bar to enjoying her movies, but after watching two episodes, I really was hoping for something better. The supporting cast just does not add anything and all the boyfriends are kind of worthless when you know they are going to break up by the end of the episode. Then the English narration is just completely out of place. With that said, it will be nice to have Anna Kendrick on my television the next couple weeks. Well, I guess only three weeks because after announcing their shows would release weekly, HBO Max announced a day after the premiere they will be releasing remaining seven episodes over the next two weeks.

The Challenge: Total Madness: Nothing better than watch T.J. laughing at people scared by the the challenge. Though I do not understand why Swaggy P got medically pulled from the challenge and was still allowed to participate in the puzzle. If you are pulled, you are pulled. Then poor Nany, two thirds of her holy trinity eliminated in one episode and she is one of the few women left without a red skull. But it would be a cheap season if they institute the new rule that you cannot participate in the Finale and no one get eliminated. But where there are only three women without a red skull, there are six men without one.
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Oh yeah, Patton Owsalt was a weird robot clone guy early in the series. I guess we will see what that was all about.
You can download Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

In the Dark: I am kind of glad that the brother ends up dying. He is just extremely annoying. But it looks like my original prediction that he dies because he stole the drugs is more and more correct. I guess the only question is who kills him.
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

Blindspot: Oh now, they killed that one chick. But didn’t they blackmail her by threatening her family? So why not kill her family? Not a very proper blackmail. But there were a lot of Reede flashbacks this episode. The more the show him, the more I think he is going t pop up alive soon.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 24, 2020

Billions: There were certainly a lot of talks about souls this week. But it looks like the Rhodes are going to move on to the painter and the professor. Wonder how long both will last or if this is a short diversion before getting back together.

Killing Eve: So Niko gets stabbed through the neck by a skilled assassin and lives? Did she mean to leave him alive or is she just incompetent? And did they imply that Constantine might be hooking up with Yara Greyjoy and that she also might be his daughter? That is kind of confusing and icky. But like I have said a few times this season, maybe not the best idea to switch showrunners every season. 

 You can download Killing Eve on iTunes.

Supergirl: Well after a really bad season, at least they ended it by killing of Brainiac 5. Okay, I am deep down know that Dreamer will save him next season, but I rather spend the next nine months or so living in blissful ignorance. 

 You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Snowpiercer: I really enjoyed the movie but came away from it thinking it would have been a better television show with every episode focusing on a new car on the train. After watching the first episode I am left wondering why they turned such a smart concept and turned into a crime show?

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: So what are those dark things the Nazi is hiding? And if Maegery Tyrell is some supernatural being, doesn’t she already know what those things are?

Stargirl: DC Universe has created three really good shows in Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, and Swamp Thing (okay, they kind of ruined the ending of the latter by cutting its episode order while filming), and sure, one was a flaming pile of dog shirt (Titans) but I did have a modicum of hope for Stargirl because .750 is a very good batting average. I got a little worried when they announced it would air the day after of The CW because that is a little too teen leaning for my liking (I prefer Freeform for my crappy teen storytelling), but Stargirl is not even really a teen show, it seems to be geared more towards even younger children, like it should be on Disney Ploose. Hopefully when they add some antagonists, the show will pick up.

The Challenge: Total Madness: Leaving puzzles out in the open for anyone to cheat on has gotten pretty annoying. Can we please get these stations like voting booth tents? And if you are going to create a challenge where you need to go through a foam room to see lights, how about making sure you cannot see the lights from where the disks are? Oh well, at least the two of the most annoying people went home this week. 

You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

In the Dark: I never seen The Wire because the more people claim it is the best show ever made, the less I want to see it because nothing rarely lives up to that much hype, but one thing I do know about that show is that if you come at the king, you best not miss. Back look for that dude. I also know from N.W.A. that you do not get high off your own supply so things may not go well for her either. And just how does a Seeing Eye dog veterinarian know how to operate on a punctured lung? I cannot imagine that comes up much there. But it is becoming pretty clear that the secretary is going to die because he steals the gangbanger’s drug. But I am still not sure who kills him. Maybe the bald chick and she forces the others to clean up the mess. 

 You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

Motherland: Fort Salem: The show has been mostly a drag, but at least they went out with a bang. The killed off two of the leads only for them to not be dead a couple minutes, having flowers bloom behind where they walk. I am not entirely sure the other chick’s hair went white. And of course we end with one of the most clichéd twist ending of someone we thought was dead is not really dead. So is mommy some sort of Spree big wig? After a pretty meh first season, I am mildly intrigued for season two. You can download Motherland: Fort Salem on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 17, 2020

Billions: Man, they really dove into that Showtime synergy with the multiple Dexter references. But off course Chuck was referring to the book and not the show. Then we get what feels like the first ever mention of Wags family. So are we going to get more family time with him this season? They did shuffle off the daughter without really seeing her but some leg.

Killing Eve: Really the crazy French assassin is just going to blow up her mother’s house with her in it and parts of her new family? And the story about her mother giving her up for adoption was a little silly. I guess you get stupid stuff like that when you have three showrunners in three years. You can download Killing Eve on iTunes.

Supergirl: I vaguely remember Sean Austin being on earlier this season but kind of forgot what he was doing other than I think he was possessed by something. I also thought that assistant Director Skinner died in a Cliffside battle. I wondering if I am misremembering all that or that stuff really happened and was changed by Crisis. You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: So the brother that killed all those cops with plenty of witnesses is just out and free? But now we got a new personality for Maergery Tyrell. But her explanation of how she is Spanish was very convoluted. Although that may be the point, I kind of zoned out at some point and maybe everyone she explains her heritage to just accepts it because they also stopped paying attention. But if she is a shape shifter who can transform into anyone, including a young boy, why not just shape shift into an actual Hispanic?

Run: Well that took an unexpected turn. Not sure for the better, but it is the first time I w as even mildly interested in the show.

Survivor: Winners at War: I got worried there for a second, after being irate during the original Edge of Extinction when it seemed obvious that the guy voted our fourth was going to win only for him to be bounced by the guy voted out third, I thought, oh no, is the chick who was voted out first actually going to win? But it just shows that Natalie could still get four votes when Michele, who clearly played the better game could not get any. But thankfully it sounds like that will be done with that stupid twist for aware. Yet, even though no seasons are being filmed, and may not be for a while, Probst still managed to announce a twist almost as dumb as Edge of Extinction: he actually encouraged teenagers as young as sixteen to apply. Please no. You can download Survivor: Winners at War on iTunes.

The Challenge: Total Madness: Do you believe in highly unlikelies!!! And the thing is, when you looked at Jenna area under the stage, it looked like there was a pile of rocks that could have filled two wheel barrels. But I really did not understand why everyone just let Tori throw herself in. If I did not want to see her in a final, I would just never throw her in. But it was nice to have drunk Nany back. It has been awhile since she got that crazy. You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Blindspot: Oh yeah, Bill Nye is Patterson’s dad. Still weird. So what happened to the chick with the phone?

The Blacklist: Well that was weirder than I was expecting. And I thought Lizzy’s grandpa was already dead. Weird that she said he was going to recover soon since Brain Dennehy just died. Maybe should have changed that line because they kind of have to kill him off now. You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 10, 2020

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist: Well that was sad. The longer the season went on, the more obvious that this would be the outcome, but it stlll was sad. But oh my, that last scene, a six minute (mostly) one shot musical was just amazing piece of art. You can download Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist on iTunes. 

Killing Eve: They brought back Eve’s husband just to have someone stab him through the neck? Although they jumped around way too much, I kind of got lost of what was going on. You can download Killing Eve on iTunes. 

Supergirl: They really should not have postponed this episode for over a month because I mostly forgot everything that happened as this episode was going on. But Miss Tessmacher being a deadly assassin was sillier that her being Lex’s mole. But at least she is no longer a robot, or whatever Lena turned her into earlier this season. You can download Supergirl on iTunes. 

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: Nathan Lane as a grizzled detective is a hard sell, but hanging out in a car full of old Jews seems much more his speed. Too bad they killed half of them. I would have enjoyed a season of a bunch of old Jews hanging out in a car solving crimes. 

Good Girls: Well that almost, kind of worked as a season finale. Sure, you have to forget that the assassin plot just disappeared. But I wonder if now that the new FBI agent is on to them, will she use them to get the gangbanger like the last one. Sure, that did not work out well for him. You can download Good Girls on iTunes. 

Survivor: Winners at War: When the first Tribal Council happened about a half an hour in, I thought, this is going to go for a while or we are actually going to get the Edge of Extinction return challenge this week. That and the second Tribal were pretty short and early affairs, and yet we did not get the return challenge. Instead we get a lengthy confessional from amber, disturbingly similar to Chris’s who seemingly at the time got a random confessional the episode before the finale and we know how that turned out. After that we got a lengthy recap followed by a lengthy preview of the finale. Meh. The editing has been pretty poor for a season that finished filming about ten months ago. Nick got a rare confessional taking about how his first vote was not about this Tribal but what will get him to day 39. Which made me think, great, he is finally going to turn on Tony and vote with Jeremy and Michele… and he voted for Jeremy instead. Meh. Michele rightfully ripped into him leading him to put Ben at a disadvantage which hilariously made her safe and lead to Nick to be voted off. Seems apropos. So is everyone just going to let Tony win? Sarah seems pretty content. Ben is probably too delusional to realize it, but might finally be realizing he is the hyena not the lion after getting the disadvantage and not have one person give him a Fire Token or advantage. Denise pretended to be checked out but, really, it does not seem like she was acting very hard. Tony and Michele seem to be the only one left trying. Oh, and there will be one more person who comes back in the game and I really fear Tony will be the Rick of this season and whoever comes back will pull a Rick. You can download Survivor: Winners at War on iTunes. 

The Challenge: Total Madness: There was nothing more annoying when it would take the show two or three episodes to actually eliminate someone. How hard is it to eliminate someone each week? Survivor manages to do it. I figured that when the Challenged moved to 90 minutes, we would actually get eliminations every week. But not only did we not even get to elimination at the end of the episode, they did not even get to nominations this week. Instead we got a half an hour of relationship drama that was very skippable followed by a forty-five minute ad for a movie that is not even coming out this year. Meh. You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes. 

In the Dark:  C’mon, evil criminal in jail shanks drug dealer guy and does not manage to kill him? About as believable as evil cop not at least putting drug dealer in isolation for helping him. You can download In The Dark on iTunes. 

Blindspot: So Reade was the one who “died.” I put that in quotations because I would not be surprised if he was rescued before he perished. When the evil chick lead the mercenary to someone out of focus, I actually thought that was going to be Reade first before the random person came into view. 

The Blacklist: So the warden was just doing a Suicide Squad but for criminals? Sad thing is, I kind of think this is one of the more believable episodes. You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 3, 2020

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist: That was the weakest batch of songs yet. The only one I liked was Leif at karaoke. Hopefully they were saving all the great stuff for the finale.
You can download Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist on iTunes.

Homeland: I seemed to miss why the Russians did not kill Saul. Wasn’t him being dead a key to the whole plan? How did they convince the sister if he was dead when he was not? But in the end it was a nice full circle moment with Carrie playing the Brody role. But poor Frannie, both parents were considered traitors. Although, could make for an interesting storyline for the inevitable reboot in 5-10 years.

Killing Eve: There were always heavy lesbian themes but Eve kissing the crazy French assassin was a bit eye rolling.
You can download Killing Eve on iTunes.

Good Girls: Ugg, can they just kill the gangbanger already? Having the assassin shoot out someone else’s window was a bit annoying. Beth trying to fulfil the payment to the assassin will likely be more entertaining than the last season and a half.
You can download Good Girls on iTunes.

Survivor: Winners at War: What the fork Ben? Early this season, Danni hatched a plan to get Rob out and Ben just blabbed it to Rob. Now he is outing the play to get out Tony to Tony himself. Then after gunning for Jeremy for week, who is the target this week, just flips his vote to get out Kim.
You can download Survivor: Winners at War on iTunes.

The Challenge: Total Madness: So they nearly kill Jay and then just end it there on a cliffhanger? I had to rewind to see if I missed something. If why not just tell us if he is dead or not. It will be pretty anticlimactic if he gets pulled after that or if he comes back to just lose to Rogan. I had cheap editing like this.
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

In the Dark: Okay, the blind chick’s two lovers stuck in the elevator was pretty funny. Almost as funny as the annoying new partner who ruined the plan. But of course the IRS guy did not want to fork the blind chick, she only attracts horrible people. She will probably fork the dead guy before he dies. Although, I have to say, I have the flash forward scenes.
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So Ressler killed a dude. But I actually thought he was the other kid for most of the episode since the he looked much more like the other brother. How exactly did he go from brunette to a ginger later in life? Lizzy being able to clean up the trunk was more believable than Ressler’s hair throughout the years.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.