57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 18, 2022

 

The White Lotus:  I predicted the "rich" gays (I feel like I get half credit), but I was not expecting it to go down like that.  So did Ethan and Daphne hook up? I was expecting him to confess since he never lies but in never came, so maybe not.  My prediction for season three is that either Craig or Portia (if Craig is is in prison) will be taking Tonya’s ashes to her favorite White Lotus in Southeast Asia to spread them like Tonya did her mother in the first season.

 

Let the Right One In:  From the start, I wondered how do you do a show about a young vampire who does not age for multiple seasons when the actress is definitely going to noticeably age every year.  Well, you take away her immortality.  So what now?  Are vampire Naomi and Isiah going to go on the run with Mark and Eleonore?  Is she going to star in New York, get a job on the graveyard shift and work with Claire on a cure?  What does she tell her partner who knows a killer’s print was found in her trash?  I may actually be more interested in a second season that I have about the first.

 

His Dark Materials:  How exactly does the greatest blacksmith in all the land not have opposable thumbs?  Kind of seems important to the profession.  But it did lead to a pretty unintentionally funny montage.  But when Lyra comes back to the land of the living, will she be able to join back up with her Deamon?  That trip just seems a little too risky.  I do wonder just who will she bring back with her because there will be a few familiar faces across the river.

 

Leverage: Redemption:  Why was the Christmas episode this week and not the one just days before the holiday? 

 

Survivor:  This is the problem with the Big Movez era of Survivor; the moment you make a game winning move, like Jesse taking out Cody, everyone else sees this and they will do everything they can do to get you out before Final 3. But Jesse and Karla seems like they were from the Bitter Jury era because it really looked like she lived up to her promise to taint the jury against Cassidy after she voted her out. And Jesse wanted all the credit for taking out his closest ally but did not respect Kassidy for taking out hers and then executed the best plan at taking Jesse out.  So if you are going to make a Big Move on Survivor these days, you better be able to make fire.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  I complain that they let the peanut gallery help people during the eliminations, but it was really absurd that it was positioned that everyone could see into Kacey’s brother’s end to help him.  This really needs to stop.  And just as I finished cheering that Kacey’s boring brother was finally gone, TJ has the latest dumb twist and he is still around until Kacey is out.  So with the Ride or Dies be able to run TJ’s final together as long as one makes to the end?

 

Doom Patrol:  The emotional vampire is really infringing on What We Do in the Shadows’ energy empire’s domain.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 11, 2022

 

 The White Lotus:  So Greg is the “rich” gay’s cowboy?  I guess that is who he was talking to on the phone earlier this season.  Though should Greg not be back by now?  I was also ready to lock the “rich” gays into my who died pick, then the promo monkeys had and go show the college bros fighting in the ocean.  Would they really make it that obvious though?  I think I still have the “rich” gays one, the college bros two, and the prostitutes three.  

 

Let the Right One In:  Oh my, I was not expecting the henchman to die so soon.  But with him out of the way, what are Mark and Claire going to discuss?  Are they going to get rid of the cop so they can work on their vampire cure without her looking into them?  Did the cop put two and two together and figure out that Mark is the on INTERPOL is looking into as the mass murderer? 

 

His Dark Materials:  The show is so convoluted that such a long layoff really hurts this show.  Forgot the girl is Eve.  Forgot there is some evil dude that looks like Cristen Cole.  And I just do not understand in the first place how or why the knife broke.  Can it be fixed?  Seems like it will be needed.

 

Leverage: Redemption:  So Eliot has a black dad.  Oh course he does.

 

Survivor:  How the fork do you give back your Idol after taking it from someone?  Not quite Ice Cream Scooper level of stupidity, but definitely in the second tier.  So basically all Jesse has to do is win fire making challenge to win this season given he still has another Idol in his pocket.  That is going to be anti-climactic.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  So the Ride or Dies are no more.  And in a cruel twist, they are stuck on separate teams.  Unfortunately I guess this means we will just be eliminating one person from her on out which will just prolong the season.  The last couple seasons have hovered around 20 which means we are probably just at the half way point.  Even more unfortunate is that now when Nany is medically pulled from the game, that means Johnny will not have to go with her.  Though the promo makes it look like someone is going to get the boot without losing in elimination.

 

Stargirl:  So the mom went to get Artimas and just came back with a crossbow?  She really could it helped.  I guessed they were just saving her for the Icicle kill.  I wonder if old Flash showing means the JSA will pop up on the season finale of The Flash sometime.

 

Doom Patrol:  How do you improve on Butts with Teeth?  Well, just do a Butts with Teeth song and dance number.  I was a bit disappointed that the time machine is still working; hopefully it does not get as confusing as lost season. 

 

 

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

 

The White Lotus:  So did Albie get a freebie or will Lucia expect payment for that?  Or does Lucia have something more nefarious going on where she will use that performance to blackmail the father?  And just how far will that condom misunderstanding go?  Will Harper try to get back at Ethan by hooking up with Cameron?  I always felt there was going to be some wife swapping, or at least offers, between those two couples.

 

The Walking Dead:  We have seen Glen fall into a crowd of zombies only to crawl under a trash bin to survive.  I thought that was going to go down as the most eye rolling moment in the show’s history, but they were saving the best (worst?) for last.  C’mon, Rosita, falling into the crowd, gets swarmed, breaks out like a pro wrestler in a dog pile, climbs on the truck, jumps from the truck to grab a pipe with a baby strapped to her, and then was able to climb on the second try was the most absurd thing ever thing ever.  A week later, I do not remember anything else that happened.

 

Let the Right One In:  Well, that was sad; they faked out the mother getting attacked early in the episode only for her to sacrifice herself later.  But why?  That was only a quick fix.  Now the father is alone and had to find the next fix all by himself.  But I guess the stargazer club was not the target of vampires, it was just random that Eleanor was attacked.  But that still begs the quest, why was the son targeted at that stargazer thing last week?  Now I am left wonder how the restaurant owner knows so much about vampire lore.  He knew the kid was going to attack her mother and that she needed to be allowed in the house.

 

Andor:  I am pretty sure the Stormtroopers killed more people in this episode than in the previous eleven movies and three shows previously combined.

 

Survivor:  I was really waiting for Gabler to blow up that plan.  This was the way to do it.  You have the two pairs and the four island of misfit toys.  If not now, when?  Time is dwindling.  Plus those two pairs have three Idols between them.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  Oh Nelson, maybe it was best you never won a daily challenge because he keeps on making dumb decisions.  And this would have been a great elimination to get Jordan out because Anissa is not climbing up that contraption.

 

Titans:  I just called the Rosita scene the most absurd thing ever, but Beast Boy morphing into a virus to infect a snake inside Super Boy gave it a run for its money.  But why leave Star Labs?  You had Super Boy in kryptonite cuffs.  Seemed like the threat was neutralized.  If Constantine could not get into Star Labs, would Mother Mayhem be able to?  Clearly the backup plan did not work.

 

Pennyworth:  So they are ending another season with London in chaos?  Of course last time that happened, they just yadda yaddaed what happened yet and just jumped five years in the future with the city back to normal, mostly.  But this time the city was bombed and the Prime Minister is presumed dead.

 

Fleishman Is in Trouble:  The music cues messed got me confused.   I thought they were in their late thirties / early forties (which is where the main actors are) but if they were listening to Hip-Hop Hooray, big in 19 Naughty 3, in college, that would make them late forties.  But then Tonight, Tonight, released in 1996, came on next which would put them more in the mid-forties range.  But then I realized, oh yeah, this show is sort of a period story taking place in 2016 making thing even more confusing.  But I guess hats off to any college party in the mid-nineties that transitioned from Naughty by Nature to the Smashing Pumpkins.  But after this episode, I realize I really did need anymore backstory to the relationship.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 19, 2022

 

The White Lotus:  How long until that one dude tells his wife about the prostitutes.  He does claim he does not lie to her, unless this is a story about how he gets corrupted by the other guy.  But where do the hookers go from here?  Will they carry on with those two?  Go back to the Italian?  Try to get money from his father?  Or son?

 

The Walking Dead:  So why, covered in zombie guys, did that chick still get bit?  Seemed like it would have been a lot smarter to just go off into the woods instead of trying to get in that trailer that is now surrounded by zombies.  And who is directing the horde?  They were being directed by Stormtroopers but it does not seem like anyone in the Commonwealth wanted this. 

 

Let the Right One In:  Wait, were vampires targeting a stargazer convention?  Why?  Another question I have with the human trials is just how do they expect to control humans with super human strength?

 

La Brea:  So what exactly happened in the warehouse?  They dance around the subject of how and why that dude got shot but never gave us an exact answer.  How exactly did he get shot and how did everyone else get out unharmed if someone with a gun was shooting at them?  Then why was he the only one that stayed in the 80’s.  I think I would rather go back to 10,000 BC with people I know with an outside chance of making it back to present day than stuck alone in 1988 with no one and no internet.

 

Andor:  That was sad, why did they program droids to have feeling?  But anyway.  Seems like another transition episode which is a little weird since there is only one episode left and there have been three, three episode arcs.  To end with one episode kind of by itself, not building like the previous arc, just seems off.  I guess the finale will just be a coda to the season and possibly a transition to season two.

 

Survivor:  The Knowledge Is Power advantage shows that the real power is with those that have the knowledge exists.  Noelle just used her advantage to keep him from using it and secretly used it against him.  Though that plan almost backfired because Sami was dumb enough to tell that guy’s one ally on the tribe.  I am not sure why she turned on him.  Tell him to steal Noelle’s Steal a Vote, then steal Owen’s vote and vote out Sami 3-2 out of spite.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  Eesh, Michele just cannot get things right.  But hey, at least she got laurel out, but no psychopath Jordan is out for blood.

 

Stargirl:  So what exactly is Icicle’s endgame?  He clearly is lying to everyone that his has changed, but why is he with the Ultra-Humanite?

 

Big Sky:  Oh my, Hootie just straight up murdered a cop.  But what happened to Lyle Lovett?

 

Titans:  Um… where did zombie Deathstroke come from?  Was that a Stay Puff Marshmallow Man situation that he appeared because someone thought about him?

 

Pennyworth:  Oh yeah, Bet’s sister is still around.  I guess I just assumed she had died.  I never though Bet did.  But how did she make it to the PWE place?

 

Fleishman Is in Trouble:  I cannot say this show is good, yet I still kind of find it entertaining.  Though the constant voiceover is a bit much.  And kind of weird that it is by the leads friend that he just reconnected with.

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

 

The White Lotus:  The youngest of the all guys family seemed to be trying a little too hard and I have a feeling he may be just as bad as his father and grandfather.  But I am really beginning to think bring back Tonya was a bad idea.  She is the person I want to spend the least amount of time with.

 

The Walking Dead:  Oh no, they put Negan in front of a firing squad.  Of course that would have been more effective had they not just aired a commercial saying his spin off was coming next year.  Oh hey, and that one guy we have not seen for a few seasons is back.  I thought he might have been dead but apparently he was a Oceanside this whole time, a place the writers seemed to have forgotten about until this week.

 

Let the Right One In:  Oh, there have been two timelines this whole time.  Seems kind of an unnecessary plot twist that did not have much of an effect on the plot.  But is the daughter just pure evil now and that three month jump was to yadda-yadda a slow heal turn?  I also have to wonder why a father of a vampire daughter for ten years now does not have a refrigeration system in place for situations like this.  The guy died in a restaurant, just hide it is the freezer for a while.  But now that the drug dealers think the guy was killed by users and the warehouse has been cleaned out, I wonder what that means for the two storylines intertwining again.  Will dad continue to find the source of the drugs?  How long before he actually finds the top of the supply chain?  End of the season?  How long do they think this show can even go?  That girl is not going to look like a seventh grader for very long.

 

Quantum Leap: So Al’s daughter was able to hijack Ben’s leap last week but could not find him again?  Why not try and follow him to his next leap?

 

Andor: I mentioned how these three episode arcs would make for a better movie than episodic television, I ended up being unable to watch the last three episodes until this week and I got to say I was right.  I liked this third arc much better watching them in quick succession than I did those first two arcs having to wait for them weekly.  Though I have to nitpick that none of the inmates were smart enough to grab the guard’s boots.  Sure, they short circuited that floor, but what about the other floors?  And what happens to the boss who cannot swim?  Does he find a floatation devise?  Does Andor steal a ship and go back for him?  Is he just going to be recaptured by the guards when everyone else leaves?

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  I am pretty surprised that June et al did not end up in New Bethlehem.  Why bring that up as an option.  And then, why did Moira and Martha did not go with June?  And why did they think a train would be much better than flying?  If they would search for him at the airport, of course they would also be at the train station.  Why not just drive to Alaska?  The southern border is extremely porous.  But of course Serena was on the train, which was the easiest prediction to make.  Now the big question is how will those two mothers bring down Giliad from so far away?  I still think they will make their way to New Bethlehem eventually.

 

Survivor:  It is always a good episode when the people on the bottom of an alliance realize they are on the bottom and flip.  Though, I do not remember a time when the people realize they are on the bottom, make plans to flip, but do not.  If not now, when?  And why did Cassidy still vote for Ryan?  Was she out of the loop, or was this on the very off chance Janine had something?  Or just simply out of spit?

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  Oh Michele, how did you ever win Survivor making decisions like that?  Oh course you throw in the duo that sent you in.  Now you just pissed off a new team and I doubt Nany and Johnny will reciprocate any time soon.  And you threw in a rookie team that would have had your back and now they are gone and that is less numbers for you.  I have a feeling with Kim gone, Michele will be sent in every time until she loses.  Had that been Nan vs. Laurel, that would have been a win-win whoever got sent home.

 

Stargirl:  Okay, the Ultra-Humanite sounds awesome.  I hope we get flashbacks to the time he put his brain inside that actress.  Though there goes my perdition that Dragon King was the killer.  Granted, it turned out someone came back from the dead, just not Dragon King.  But how did icicle get revived?  Did someone collect all the ice cubes, lent them melt, they freeze the water?  Seems far-fetched, but in the comics, pretty much anything can happen.  Maybe the most obvious answer was the Pink Pen granted a not specific enough wish.

 

Titans:  For a second there, I thought the elf was the evil chick who stole Raven’s power.  But have to wonder how the prison was able to contain Jinx if she could so easily transport herself just by taking off her shoe.

 

Pennyworth:  So Batman’s aunt is joining another cult?  And the doctor at the start of the season is just dead now?   But R.I.P. Captain Blighty.  It will be hard to think of a more mailed-in performance in recent memory.

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

 

The White Lotus:  How disappointing that Angelina did not ask anyone for their jacket.  Hopefully she returns for the finale.  Weird they are setting up another murder mystery considering they kind of ignored the one in the first season for most of the episodes.  I will just guess the three Sicilian dudes are the ones that died even though that will likely get ignored until the finale again.

 

The Walking Dead:  This show has been going on so long, I kind of forgot Negan and Ezekiel have beef.  Have to imagine Negan murdered some Kingdom people.

 

Let the Right One In:  Wait, so Ellie still does homework?  Has she been doing sixth grade homework all this time or has she been moving up a grade every year?  She should be a junior or senior in college by now, but if she has the mentality of a twelve year old, just how much can she have advanced?  But anyway.  Just how is dad going to get out of having a gun pointed at him?  Would drug dealer guy actually buy, my daughter is a vampire excuse?  Has he become so skilled as a fighter, he can get the gun away from him.  That probably will happen with the other chef coming in.  But then, what does the father do with that guy?

 

Quantum Leap:  Finally, a sort of entertaining episode.  Though I was kind of hoping for the possessed chick to turn out to be someone another leaper had run into.

 

La Brea:  So Gavin is from 2076, was taken back to 10,000, where apparently his father could not find him despite being in the same time period, traveled to 1988 where he lived for about three decades, traveled back to 10,000 and then once again back to 1988.  Those are some frequent flier miles.  Now is it as easy to get back to 10,000? 

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  So just where exactly will Serena go?  She has already been detained once and sent back to the Wheeler’s.  Would she be welcome in New Bethlehem?  I get the sense the other main characters will be there by the start of the next season.

 

Survivor:  Wrong move, get rid of the guy who has the Knowledge Is Power advantage.  But apparently James has not watched every other season where the people who have power due to knowledge are the ones that know of the advantage and make the owner look like a fool when they ask for an idol or advantage they gave away.  Seriously people of Survivor, if you find that advantage, do not tell anyone else because then they have all the power from that knowledge.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  That challenge made zero sense and apparently no one actually participating could figure it out.  Well, except Nelson who finally got his first daily win ever.  Then you had an elimination between a dude who could not lift his partner and a chick who could not solve a puzzle.  What makes it sadder was that dude had one of lightest partner there and still could not get her out of the mud at all.  It is one thing had he gassed out but dude could not lift her an inch.  Ouch.  But they were both annoying so good riddance.

 

Stargirl: Oh snap, Wildcat just beat up an old chick.  Though I do not understand why the old lady could easily stab the art teacher, but the kids were all able to just brush off all the cold attacks.

 

Big Sky:  Hootie!!!!  So are he and Lyle Lovitt going to kill people in between gigs?

 

Titans:  So they just wrote off Wonder Girl?  Is she just going to hang out with Lyla Garrity?  Can we get that spin-off show?  But in successive seasons, they have killed off The Joker off screen and Lex Luther after one episode.  I fear for the safety of Black Manta in a potential fifth season.  And, is Raven a Targaryen now?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 30, 2022

 

House of the Dragon:  This show reminds me of classic TV where only the red shirts die. Every time someone bites it, I just go, oh no... oh well. I could not even tell you if that was Jace or Luke that died (but am proud of myself that I could actually name both of them).  Viserys is the only person who has dies that has been worth caring about but I think you did not even need to be a book reader to know early on he was not going to last long. Really, the shocking part with his death was that he made it to episode 8. Hopefully without any more time jumps / actor changes (presumably), they will give up reasons to care about some of these characters next season.

 

The Walking Dead:  Last week I was unsure why the mayor left her zombie son and some rando in the room with that one dude, and now this week I am left even more confused by that action.  Also kind of confusing, how they were able to grab Ezekiel without making a sound.

 

Let the Right One In:  The sister came around pretty quickly to her brother just killing people.  But know we now why the henchman is helping some mad scientists, he was providing him with drugs to sell.  But my question is: are these killers in NYC vampires or just people hopped on these drugs?

 

Quantum Leap:  So that other leaper is from the future (or possibly a real good actor, though no one on this show is a good actor).  But why accuse someone from the past of following you?  Is Ben following him, but forgot because of the amnesia?  Could Future Leaper have leaped into someone in 2022 and did something that caused Ben to go after him without telling anyone.  Is Future Leaper tied to Al’s daughter?  This is starting to get too complicated.

 

The Surreal Life:  It seems like the majority of “celebrities” recruited this time around are more infamous than actually famous.

 

Reboot:  Really good first season, but kind of sputtered at the end.  The whole storyline about the new executive burying the show and Paul Rieser having to fall on the sword just fell flat.  It would be a shame if he is not on a potential second season, though obviously they will find a way to bring him back.  Probably by blackmailing the executive.  Also 8 episodes was just too short.

 

La Brea:  Of course Paara was related to the head of the Exiles, but still have not found out where exactly did these people came from and how they speak perfect English.  Are they time travelers?  Did the time travelers teach them English?  We did get conformation that Gavin’s mom is the one creating all these sink holes but we still need to know the how and the why.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  Moving back to New Bethlehem seems like a horrible idea.  But it would get them closer to Hannah.  I really do not trust the U.S. government official to pull off a successful raid on wherever she is being kept.  But “Do you have an irony deficiency” may have been the cheesiest, and at the same time, best line ever on the show.

 

Tell Me Lies:  Oh my, what a finale.  It was pretty obvious by the last episode Stephan was driving the night Macy dies, but still very heart wrenching to finally see it for ourselves because they did a really good job fleshing out Macy is that short flashback.  She may actually be the most likeable person on this whole show, either her or Bree.

 

Okay, Mr. Brightside time.  Great song.  Great song placement.  Lucy’s look on her face was an all timer for the unintentional comedy scale.  I just broke out laughing and had to rewind a couple times.  And you cannot feel bad for Lucy after making out with Stephen while Diana was performing in her a cappella group (I am going to need more of that a cappella group in season two).  How is that dude a prize for those two women to fight over?  I kind of get Lucy, being an impressionable freshman, but Diana; it is time to find a real man.

 

Just do not ask Bree for help finding one because bombshell number two was Evan hooked up with Lucy shortly after Bree left for the semester.  That is going to make that awkward wedding even more awkward.  I kind of think Pippa know of this hook-up due to a few things she said at the reception.  Now the question is, who else knows, and has/will anyone tell Bree?

 

Speaking of the reception and the last bombshell of the season: Stephen has a new fiancée.  I guessed it was not going to be Diana, but as I cycled through everyone it could be, Lucy’s high school friend did not cross my mind (for some reason, I was trying to remember if Macy had a sister).  I am so ready for a second season.  How did they meet?  What does Lucy think of this?  Wrigley’s brother killed himself, right?  Or could he be in prison because of Macy’s death?  The only problem with those scenes in the future is we know Stephen gets away with it, at least up until then.

 

But the biggest question may be (well, other than why does Bree still have the same hairstyle at her wedding that she had back when she was a freshman in college seven years ago?): should I patiently wait for season two (which there better be one; get on that Hulu) or just break down and read the book in the meantime?

 

Survivor:  Gabler has to go down as pulling off one of the dumbest merge plans of all-time.  You do not offer up your tribe member at the vote unless you are on the outs.  He just lost a number and showed he is not loyal which will put him on the chopping block. The old orange and red could have easily hanged up on the blue, now it is just anarchy out there.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  Okay, the double decker Hall Brawl was cool, but that one second head start felt like nothing.  But, sign, it seems like we are at a slow march until all the rookies are out of the game.  There is no fun in that.

 

Stargirl:  So I take it, the Helix Squad will be showing up in the finale just when the battle will seemed to be lost.  Granted, I had no clue who any of those people were.

 

Big Sky:   Holy Buddy Garrity sighting!!!!  Then we had a meeting of the creepy dude and somehow neither died.  I have a feeling their next meeting, one will not be walking away from that encounter..

 

Pennyworth:  So are Bet and Salt really dead?  Or are they going to be resurrected somehow .  The dude is already mostly machine at this point.

 

A Friend of the Family:  Jan has been at a private school this whole time?  That was more bizarre than I was expecting.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 23, 2022

 

House of the Dragon:  So the cripple is into feet.  At least the writers finally gave some of these side characters some actually characterization.  Then you have Cristen Cole straight up murdering some random dude that we barely met with multiple people watching… and once again gets a promotion afterwards. Speaking of characters we barely met, were we really supposed to care about the twins with the same name racing against Cristen and One Eye to find Aemon?  It does not seem like much would be different on who got there first and that was the bulk of the episode.  Buy Rhenese if off to tell Rhenira about the Green’s plan, thus finally starting the Dance of the Dragons.  I guess the old head of the Kingsguard will join them.  But why exactly was he just able to leave with no problem, but they quickly stopped and hung the other dude?

 

The Walking Dead:  Oh, so the mayor wants to put all the blame on Eugene even though she knows her former lackey was the one that had the zombies released.  So I guess that is where the tension will come from.  Well that and the new climbing zombies.  But when are we going to get the fast zombies we were promised during Worlds Apart? And which variant is more frightening?  But back to the mayor and her lackey, what was going on with the kid zombie, at first I thought she was going to like the kid zombie eat the lackey, but then brought in another body to eat, so what is the lackey supposed to do?

 

Let the Right One In:  Okay, those monkeys are creepy.  But if the monkey could break its restraints, why couldn’t the brother?  But the sister was quick to learn that is was not just their blood and blood banks that were keeping the brother fed.  And who was that henchman working with and how much does the other guy know?  The father said it was just those two.  The henchman also ran into the other storyline, I wonder just how often those two storylines intercut this season.  And what will the henchman do when he learns the boss owns that car?

 

Quantum Leap:  I first though the guy who knew ben was with Al’s daughter, but why would Ben be following him?  Could there be a third team out there leaping?  But can that dude actually see Ben, or did he somehow know that the person he leaped into was not really that guy and guessed it was Sam?  And if not Al’s daughter, does that guy have a hologram following him around?  Would Ben be able to see them?  And most importantly, why no teaser of where Ben leaps next week?  But overall, seems way too early to be breaking the rules of the original and leaping to a time earlier than the leaper.  That was a big no-no in the original. 

 

La Brea:  The killed off the chick who knew how to get in the tower?  I am beginning to think this is a The Hatch situation where it takes way too long to get into.  Though, since this is a time travel show, that chick it out there somewhere.  But the Isaiah family tree is confusing.  So his mother is in 1987, who presumably will travel back in time with her husband and father, conceive Isaiah, leave her father to raise her son?  When do they go back in time?  Where exactly is 60(ish) year old mom now?  Where is dad at any age?

 

Andor: Oh wow, The Waif sure cleans up nicely.  I needed context clues to even realize that was her (though I needed someone to inform me that the Lady in Red was the shop assistant).  But my problem with the first with the first six episodes was they seemed like two district movies that did not have much to do with each other besides the lead character. You could have started on episode 4 and not be confused for the next two episode. Finally, those two blocks of episodes are coming together.  I am guessing this next block will be Bix and / or Vel (I definitely did not have to look up those names) breaking Andor out of prison.  Vel is certainly not actually going to kill him, letting him rot in prison knowing what he knows also seems risky.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  I was annoyed after making Serena slowly more sympathetic only for her to become pure evil again seemingly just to fill the main antagonist roll with Fred gone. But I guess the writers are trying to make Serena sympathetic again. She is beginning to feel like one of those WWE wrestlers who go back and forth being the good and bad guy every other feud they are in.  But who is the antagonist of the show now?  The family that was keeping Serena hostage?  Is Lawrence finally going to go full heel after going back and forth more often than Serena?

 

Tell Me Lies:  Well, the promo monkeys fooled me into thinking it was the brother who fell off the deck.  Instead it was Wrigley whose football career may be over.  But now that almost everything is out there, it feels like the levee is going to break in the finale and I am all for it.  Will someone have photographic proof of Stephan and Macy that night?  Was Facebook a big thing at that time?  Will we get to see what happened that night?  I am not sure I believe Stephen’s retelling, I would really like to see how that night unfolded myself.

 

Survivor:  Voting out Geo was the right move, you do not want to blindside someone who can turn around and steal your Idol, but I wished the Survivor Gods somehow willed Ryan to be voted off after one of the misguided plays of all time.  Also pretty dumb: Janine and Jesse risking their vote.  I am not sure what is dumber, losing your vote with so few people in your tribe, or losing your vote with the merge on the horizon?  So Geo is out and the other two lost their vote.  Compare that to the last time here Noelle came out of it with an Extra Vote and a secret alliance.  Do not be greedy people.  At least Janine still has her Idol, Jesse is out a vote and one of his tribe mates he was ready to vote out has every reason to join her secret alliance over him.  A lot of moving parts next week (even though no dumb turn back time this season, but the preview made it look like there will still be a dumb twist), Jesse seem like the most likely to get voted out next week.  Unless he somehow benefits from whatever the new dumb twist turns out to be.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  Ugg, I was so glad when Kacee and her loser brother were booted, why were they brought back?  I was so happy to have a season with no Josh and very little Kacee.  Plus they really need to outlaw helping people during the elimination.  It is so stupid they allow that.

 

Stargirl:  Oh yeah, I completely forgot they left the Green Lantern storyline on a cliffhanger.  I also forgot Keith David was playing a talking skull.  Cool.  Since this was just “Part 1” I guess we will continue this diversion from who killed The Gambler.  Though, at this point, it is pretty obviously Dragon King.

 

Pennyworth:  So V (of Vendetta fame) is just some aging hippy?  That is a huge letdown.

Previewing Let the Right One In

 

In a measure of full disclosure, I have not read the book, Let the Right One In.  Nor have I watched the Swedish movie based on the book.  Though I did watch the American remake, Let Me In with Hit Girl.  Granted, as I try and remember that movie which I have not watched since shortly it was released, the only thing I remember is a pretty cool one shot car crash shot from inside the car. 

 

Okay, I also remember the general premise of an elderly father taking care of his vampire daughter who has been stuck in a twelve year old body for a while and has to move periodically to avoid being caught.  That general premise remains for the new televised version; one again entitled Let the Right One In, but then severely deviates from my vague recollection of the movie.  The setting has moved to New York City, from a more rural area.  There is also a secondary storyline featuring an elderly father and his son who is older than the vampire girl.  The show is not quite the IP fraud Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, but anyone hoping for another faithful adaptation that has a little more room to breathe on the small screen show should temper their expectation.

 

Let the Right One In stars Demián Bichir (The Bridge) as the father who has moved him and his vampire daughter back to the City after spending the last ten years searching for a cure.  The spiking murder rate will help him hide the way he obtains her diet.  Just his luck, he move next door to a detective (Anika Noni Rose, Them) investigating all those murders who has a son around the same age as his daughter… or the age she was when she stopped aging.

 

Though, the show does not even start there.  Instead, the first scene involves a college aged kid who looks like he is enjoying his very first sunrise.  It because clear that this was probably the first sunrise he saw in a while as a couple seconds later, he burst into flame.  He turns out to be the son of a drug maker whose painkillers got everyone hooked and was sued out of business.  Now the father has called his daughter (Grace Gummer, Mr. Robot) home, hoping she can find the cure he was never able to.  Oh, and to tell her that the brother she thought was dead, is a vampire and got burnt to a crisp because his latest cure failed miserably.  Surprise.

 

Let the Right One In is the last of four vampire shows to premiere over the past month, but I guess it does say something that this was the first I even bothered to watch, three of the four tied to popular books that were previously movies.    While it probably is the best this show has deviated from the plot of the book because it needs to fill in the plot to stretch it out for a season, and the doctors trying to find a cure is an interesting addition, you do have to wonder where the writers expect to go after the first season.  The young actress playing the vampire is not going to look like a seventh grader for very long.  But if the mad scientists do cure her, which would dramatically chance what potentially future season would be.  It is already bordering on IP fraud, having a Let the Right One In show without a vampire daughter would make it full IP fraud.

 

Let the Right One In airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.