57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 26, 2021

 

Billions:  I could have sworn they said COVID was not going to effect the show.  But last week, there was an offhand comment of hospitals filling up soon and this week everyone is wearing masks.  Well, all the unimportant people were wearing a mask which seems all too realistic.  But how did it take Bobby until the episode the episode to realize that meeting was all a set up?  As soon as Chuck did not seem all that bothered that his estranged wife could hear and see things, I knew that he wanted her to see it.  This is because the show has pulled this trick so many times so far, it is just so predictable.

 

The Walking Dead:  Oh yeah, they never did find the deaf girl.  Or the deaf girl’s sister?  Friend?  Like I said before, I stopped caring about the new people a long time ago so I forget who exactly who anyone is most times.  And wouldn’t it be better for Eugene and company to be exiled than what other punishments coming inside the walls?

 

American Rust: After the first episode, I was thinking this was all a fake out and Billy did not have anything to do with the murder.   Maybe someone stole his jacket and was framing him.  But you do not burn your clothes and bury them if you are innocence.  So at the very least he witness something.  But why leave your jacket there?  Did he take it off to fight?  And why didn’t the chief come back and get the jacket?  It was not well hidden so someone will find it eventually while looking for clues.  But it was very heartening that a bunch of twenty year olds would get the excited for a Kool and the Gang song.  

 

Y: The Last Man:  Seeing who his sister is traveling with, isn’t the best way to keep Y safe is just claim he is transgendered?  Seems like an easy out right there.

 

Reservation Dogs:  So are the girls going to California?  The group talked about California all season but in the car they talked about going to “The City.”  I wonder if they end up going to Oklahoma City instead.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Well, there goes my theory that Selena Gomez’s aunt never existed, Selena just made it up to hang out with rich kids.  But Martin Short was right, that was a great line to end an episode.  But Nathan Lane as the killer does not make much sense.  Why finance a podcast looking into the murder you committed?  Though his kid could be involved, he seems like he could be around the Hardy Boys’ ages.  And as much as I enjoy hearing the boomers and millennials trade insults, as someone as in between, I finally feel represented when the detective started talking about Herman’s Head and Dwayne Wayne.  I have to assume she is naming her kid Keith after Mr. Sweat.  But I was a bit offended when she mocked my: the cat did it theory.

 

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Stargirl:  So this is Eclipso’s plan?  Just get every member of the JSA to quit one by one, first it was Wildcat, and it looks D. Mid-Nite is next.  Is he just going to pick them off until… what exactly?  What is his grand plan?  He been trying to get out of that gem and now that he has, he is just going to stay and torture a bunch of teenagers?

 

Supergirl:  Well that was a very special episode of Supergirl.  Remember when comic books served as analogies to what was going on in the world.  Now they are just beating you over the head with it.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  How nice that Nicole Kidman can just torture people to figure out how to spend more time with her dead child, Stockholm Syndrome them into not pressing charges and lie to the police, and just drive off into the sunset while tripping balls in a stolen car.  Unless everything after Melissa McCarthy writing in the restaurant was just what is in her next book.  That was kind of confusing as to if that was her book or it really happened… or both?  But honestly, if the show wants to pull a White Lotus and just do a second season of the limited series with Samara Weaving as the new Nicole Kidman, I would definitely watch that.

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  I thought maybe there would be more blowback to those contract.  No one is even going to even skim it?  But it was nice of them to remember that U-God was a member of the group.  But I kind of want more scenes with the ODB and the building manager.

 

Survivor:  Oh joy, the “new” Survivor which just seems like old Survivor but shorter timeframe and even more twists.  The dice game seems silly and could cause problems especially when we get past the merge and there can be advantageddon situation where everyone plays an advantage and someone spins a dice.  But like old Survivor one of the most attractive players goes out pretty quickly.  Meh.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Good riddance Fessy.  Never come back.  But I am not sure why a slap to the face is a bootable offence, but throwing a water bottle with malice only gets you a strong warning.  I think I would much rather be slapped than pelted with a water bottle, especially if it was full (I do not actually remember how full the bottle was, an empty water bottle would be fairly harmless, I guess). 

 

In the Dark:  Really, is the Blind Chick actually going to solve this cold case over beads?  Is this how she clears her name?  Gets hired by the CPD because she solved it?

 

Doom Patrol:  So the Candlemaker was this big bad that was going to destroy the world and Dorothy was able to control him within the first minute of the season?  What a waste of that storyline.  But it looks like she is gone, off to do… whatever the Dead Boy Detective agency does.  The Dead Boy Detective agency that has one girl in it.  A Girl named Crystal Palace.  I wonder who her favorite futbol team is.  Though I am sure we will see them again, they did leave a big plotline about the demon that possessed Crystal still out there.

 

But after they diverted their attention away from Dorothy the show is back to being as good as it was in the first season.  The Brotherhood of Evil just sounds great.  Even though it seems like they were already taken down by the original Doom Patrol.  Maybe they needed Garguax the Decimator (that name should have been a pretty big red flag; but a pretty entertaining dude) to kill Rita in the future to bring them back.  But maybe Rita needs to die to keep it from happening and that is why other Rita kept her from escaping?  The new chick who popped a squat in the middle of the road without even taking off her pants is from the past so maybe she will explain everything next week.

 

Titans:  With just five episodes left in the season, we finally got a Raven sighting.  But did they really have to make us wait nine episode to do what everyone knew was going to happen at the end of season two: that Wonder Girl would be resurrected?  Granted, it did not actually happen the way I was expecting with Raven becoming powerful enough to do it.  Instead, Donna and Tim Drake escape purgatory by some mythical bridge that Hawk somehow could not cross even though Donna was able to lasso Tim Drake.  I thought maybe it was because Hawk did not have a body to go back to, but where Tim ended up back in the ER where his body was, Donna was for some reason not sent back to Themyscira where her body was, but was sent to wherever Batman went off too.  Comic Book logic I guess.  But I thought it was weird that HBO Max premiered Doom Patrol in the middle of the Titans, but what makes it even more bizarre is that both shows had purgatory episodes this week.

57 Channels and Only This Is on: September 19, 2021

 

Billions:  Saving Chuck’s dad when Chuck could not?  That may be the most underhanded thing anyone has done on this show.  But Chuck failed to bring down Axe own his own.  Still was not able to do it when he teamed up with Taylor (granted Taylor was trying to take Axe and Chuck down at the same time), can the trio of Chuck, Taylor, and Mike Prince finally be able to do it?  If the history of the show is indication, those three will turn on each other first; one will probably join up with Axe to do it.

 

The Walking Dead:  Big reveal at the beginning of the episode, but honestly I had no clue who that was until seeing the name listed as a guest star and that sort of jogged my memory.  But that is the problem with the show; I do not care about any new character because I just assume they are going to die before I get to know them.  But having Daryl escape from a burning building is a pretty warped initiation.

 

Y: The Last Man:  I came to the revelation watching the first couple episodes that I may be at my dystopian breaking point.  Just how many times do I really need to see the world end?  That first episode was particularly wasteful considering just by knowing the premise of the show we knew half the characters were going to die.  Plus I do not understand how it was so hard to get out of the Pentagon.  They got Y in, is getting out that much harder?  And is the crazy lady in Israel that much of a threat?  To be sworn in as president, don’t you need to be, you know, in America?  I cannot image it is going to be very easy to travel half way around the globe at this time.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Tye-Dye Guy turned out to be exactly who I thought it was.  But are we buying his story?  Ignoring a fire alarm just to “talk” to Tim Kono still seems suspicious.  But now we know how all that jewelry ties into everything.

 

Stargirl:  The set up to the season seemed like a cool idea, Shiv creating her own Legion of Doom.  Except of of the people she tried to recruit rejected her and Stargirl’s brother just turned out to be bait, leaving her with just Artimis and Violin Boy who has barely gotten any screen time to the point I had no clue who he was when he was at the diner.  What a waste of a good idea which turned into a sad team.  Though I have no idea how Atimis could go punch for punch with Hour Man.  How can a girl who can throw a football last so long in a fight against a dude with superpowers?  One punch and she should be done.  They should have had her fight Wildcat which would have been a better match.  I could actual see Violin Boy neutralize Hour Man.  But now Shiv is dead… or least that is what Stargirl thinks, I am not convinced.  Maybe she is in the same place as the original Dr. Mid-Nite. 

 

Supergirl:  So Lena’s mom was a witch.  Huh?  But I guess that is very convenient for the Superfriends who currently are fighting an imp with magical powers that they do not have an answer for.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  Oh my, Regina Hall tried to kill Nicole Kidman.  And maybe not for the first time?  Are we to believe she was the one who shot Nicole Kidman?  Nicole Kidman just took a big dose of drugs with the family prior to that scene so was it a flashback or hallucination.

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  Is it still a bottle episode if the whole episode takes part on a boat?  But why was Ghostface asking tourist how long the ferry was?  Is this his first time going to Manhattan?  At least it seems like the beef was swashed and they can finally get down to making some music.  I kind of forgot why Divine and Power were beefing in the first place,

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Uh oh, TJ is making a house call next week.  This week ended with Fessy laying hands on Josh.  Then there was also Esther throwing a drink on Bamber which could be seen as assault.  Granted was either offence as egregious as Josh and his two handed shove of Devin last season?  Granted that slap could be the start of something more.  But if this all leads to Fessy, and possibly Josh, getting the boot, then good riddance.  But if they do get rid of two guys, are they going to do two girl team eliminations to even things out?  Granted, Esther could be following her partner out the door.  Ugg, instead of a special one hour episode, they should have done a special to hour episode instead.

 

Titans:  Why was no one that concerned with the leak above Barbara’s desk?  That should be a big red flag.  But I have to go with Starfire in regards to not taking Jason back.  Where Beast Boy was being forced to do those things, Jason took the drugs; Scarecrow did not force it on him.  Get that boy in Arkham.  And where is Bruce in all this?  He has to come back now after the water supply gets tainted, right?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 12, 2021

  

The Walking Dead:  So what exactly was this plan?  Take a small group and try to steal food around a bunch of savages that are good at stealth attacks?  Why are they doing this?

 

Reservation Dogs:  For the run of this show, I have found the tertiary characters than the main four.  The rapping twins, the doctor, the policeman, the crazy uncle, the succubus, but this episode just lacked any interesting tertiary and just ended up being the least interesting of the season so far.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Well, Tina Fey just moved to the top of my murder board.  Really, what better way to find compelling true crime subjects for your podcast that committing the crime yourself?  Then it sounds like she is setting up the New Three Amigos as patsies by entitling her podcast “Only Murderers in the Building.”  That has to hurt; someone steals your podcast idea and rips off the name too.  But Tye-Dye Guy has to be the guy who was just released from prison. 

 

But really, all the Sting related jokes were just hilarious.  I loved how Martin Short was being coy about the celebrity in their building, but when Tina Fey could not get the puns, just finally blurted out, “Sting, I’m talking about Sting.”  I laughed so hard at that bit, I had to pause and rewind because I could not stop laughing.  Then I was laughing and deeply offended at the same time when Selena Gomez was trolling the old dudes about not knowing who Sting was.

 

Stargirl:  Well, the good episode streak ends at two.  I really did not care about the weird teacher or Stargirl’s crush who seemingly is a different person now.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  The show just completely went off the rails this week with everyone just tripping hard.  But I cannot decide what was the weirder hallucination, the Cabaret on the toilet or the nose falling off.   Just as wild was Nicole Kidman telling Regina Hall that she knows Hall knows she was forking her husband.  But is he the father of Kidman’s daughter?  It is hard to figure out the timeline on this show to decide if that is a possibly or not.

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  Finally some of the Wu members are getting their Wu-monikers.  I spent too much time the first season consulting the internet on what their government names were.  But what was with the weird ODB scene where he turned into Jon Wick all the sudden?  Did he just tell that story and everyone just took it as fact?  I am kind of into them just presenting the stories he told as fact and filming them that way no matter how outrageous they are.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: I cannot decide who is more annoying, Hughie or Emy.  It is really disturbing that Josh is somehow not the most annoying, or even the second most annoying person this season.  As much as I am ready for the vet alliance to implode, I would be perfectly okay if those two get sent in next week.

 

In the Dark:  I scoffed when I saw how managed cops they brought to arrest the blind chick, but it turns out they needed more because she still managed to escape custody.  Just how can an incompetent blind chick be able to get out of a police station and avoid a police manhunt in her neighborhood without being caught?

 

Titans:  Ha, evil crime boss just murdered her son.  Maybe that is why Nightwing does not work with crime bosses.  But that was a bit much for Starfire to just burn her from the inside.  But after they shut down Scarecrow’s plan, now what?  I have a feeling Blackfire will break bad again soon.  Or maybe we could finally find out what Raven is up two.  We are now officially more than half way through the season.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: Septembers 5, 2021

 

The Walking Dead:  I was right; Maggie pulled a Glen and went under the train.  Although, last week it looked like she fell into a swarm of walkers, but this week, itt looked like just one was pulling her.  But I just do not understand the layout of the subway, just how did the people who left last week to go back then get ahead of everyone.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  This show shot to the top of my most anticipated list the moment it was announce Selena Gomez would be joining the cast in August of last year.  Instead of tempering my expectations I just spent the full year since building it up in my head more and more.  C’mon, Selena Gomez joining two if the three amigos.  What could possibly go wrong?  And yet, the show somehow managed to live up to my hype.  The show is goofy and fun while Selena pulls off these great dry wit one-lines all the while hiding a deep, dark secret.  And honestly, I really want to see Splash! The Musical.  But this is a murder mystery and I am going to make a bold prediction and say the cat did it.

 

Stargirl:  What is going on?  Two episodes in a row that were actually entertaining?  And this was ostly because of Sportsmaster and Tigress breaking out of prison just to see their kid’s tryout and then breaking back in.  They wisely announced the duo will be season regulars next season and it is clear why they are keeping them around after this episode.  Surprisingly their kid is not which may be telling for the rest of this season as Shiv recruits her new JSA.  But we did learn what I assumed lvst week, The Shade did not actually kill Dr. Mid-Nite… butt where exactly is he now?

 

Supergirl:  Um, why exactly did Supergirl take off the dampeners of the criminals?  They are criminals that escaped.  That just seemed stupid.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  like I have been saying all season, the show gets better the weirder it get and nothing is weirder than Michael Shannon singing Grease tunes to his family half-naked.  That will be tough to top.  Sure, Luke Evans giving birth to Bobby Cannivale’s kids is close.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Well, fork.  Michele was really the only person worth rooting for this year.  It is a shame they were not doing skulls this seasons.  I wonder how that would have shook up deliberations.  But if there is a bright side, the Big Brother alliance imploded.  Hopefully they just vote each other in until they lose.

 

In the Dark:  So the Blind Chick is all by herself again.  Joy, the first episode was so bad, why not do it again.  But does the nerd come back?  No matter how rude she was, that is just cruel, at levst towards Pretzel.

 

Titans:  Is there any woman on this show Nightwing has not forked yet?  Is it just Starfire’s sister at this point?  I guess the new assassin may not be keen on him after he killed her boyfriend.  And just how does a vicious assassin not be able to kill someone who is just in a wheelchair?  But I have to say, Starfire’s sister is highly entertaining and not what I was expecting at all.  She will get Connor to be her sex slave sometime this season I suspect.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 29, 2021

The Walking Dead:  Who knew the dead could take a nap?  Or be awoken by a single drop of blood?  Yet, not the dumbest thing the show has ever done.  Then later in the episode, Negan had the opportunity to save Maggie but lets her drop into a horde of zombie.  Are they really going to do the same cheap trick with her that they did with Glen a bunch of seasons ago where he fell into a horde only to be able to slip under a trash bin?  I am just going to assume Maggie is under the subway car and will probably crawl and meet up with Daryl until proven otherwise.

 

Stargirl:  Okay, pen guy was pretty entertaining.  I wonder if they will ever meet up with the new owner or having a CGI genie is too expensive for The CW.  Maybe they should have moved it to HBO Max like the other DC Universe shows.  But is The Shade really a bad guy?  It seems like he was claiming there was more to Dr. Mid-Nite’s death than what we are led to believe.  We do see The Shade “swallow” Dr. Mid-Nite in darkness, but does that actually kill him.  And just what does he want with Eclipso?

 

Supergirl:  Well, that was just stupid.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  So the Vice President knowingly sacrificed his daughter?  That is so evil stuff right there.  Well, I guess we got someone to take down in the finale season.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  So no one objects to being drugged without their consent?  Cool.  But I find the more the “strangers” are being drugged, the more entertaining I find the show.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: It looks like I counted right because even Tori said the show was evenly split to start the episode between veterans and rookies.  But not anymore.  Once again, even with a rookie winning the week, all four people sent into elimination were rookies.  Though the previews next week does make it look like the veterans alliance will be imploding.  This would be good news for Michele and Corey as the only rookie team left.  We will have to see if the preview is misleading or not, Josh can lose his cool pretty quickly.

 

In the Dark:  Well that was the worst episode in the history of the series.  It takes a whole hour to find a blind chick’s phone?  Then there is siblings squabbling over old newspapers.  We learned nothing important that we did not know before other than Trey left his phone at the kingpin’s house which took up five seconds of screen time. 

 

Titans:  Well that was a whole episode explaining what happened to Jason that I had already figured out by watching the first four episodes.  But it was weird that the dead Wonder Girl had gotten more screen time in the first five episodes than the still alive Raven.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 22, 2021

 

 

The White Lotus:  If there was one thing I really did not need to see in my life was what Armand did to that suitcase.  No wonder he died, that must have really angered the island Gods.  But that death should have been obvious considering days before the announced the show had been renewed for a second season in a different resort.  Why not run it back with Armand unless he would not be around for a second season?

 

Reservation Dogs:  This episode was severly missing the rapping twins.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  Man, I think you may have to Ferris Bueller / Parker Lewis wars of the early nineties to witness a show so poorly timed that it really hurt a show quite like Nine perfect Strangers premiering mere days after The White Lotus, another show about annoying rich people going to exotic resort.  The first episode just seemed lifeless despite having quite of few very hilarious people (Bortles!!!!).  I did enjoy the show more after watching second episode and third episodes with a bombshell that ended the third one.  Maybe that is why the firt episode was so restrained but the characters got more and more bombastic.  Hopefully the further away we get from The White Lotus, the easier it is to enjoy the show on its own merits.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Yet another agent deactivated without explanation sending everyone to the internet to figure out what happened.  But unlike Nan, not clear reason why Lauren is no longer on the show except some long, vague message from Lauren and on unverified rumor.  This show used to love the drama and now is apparently just editing it out, well except for some drunken Smashley rant.

 

At what point do the rookies realize they are being picked off systematically?  Two eliminations, only rookies have gone in even though there has been a rookie in the agency each week.  If I counted correctly, after four rookies going home, they are now deadlocked at fifteen veterans and fifteen rookies.  If the rookies do not start playing soon, it is going to be too late real soon.

  

In the Dark:  I am not sure what was more shocking, that Gene is now captain or he turned out to be black.  But I think it is pretty clear now that the woman who gets her head smashed into the car is not actually Jess, but whoever’s identity she stole which is why they never show a good shot of her.

 

Titans:  Booooo, how disappointing that Dove is leaving.  But will she return after Wonder Girl’s inevitable return?  I would like to point out that Scarecrow was actually working with Red Hood.