57 Channels and This Is On: July 5, 2020

Snowpiercer: Oh snap, they killed off that grungy chick. Did not see that coming. But is that room just dead now? But I guess if Jennifer Connelly can fix the train while under it by wearing that hazmat thing, I guess they could just go in and repair the then thaw it
You can download Snowpiercer on iTunes.

The Chi: So Emmitt just had to whip it out to get into the illegal kitchen? Yeah, that is not going to end well. I feel like there will be another baby mama in his future. And I kind of missed what the girlfriend meant by her people? Did she used to be a dude? Is she bi-sexual?

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: another shocking death this week with the religious chick taking her own life. Though isn’t suicide the worst sins to the Catholics? Maybe Santa Muerta will save her soul. Maybe she will become a diety to fight Maergery Tyrell next season. Would be interesting because it seems like Maergery was able to recruit her boyfriend.

Black Monday: …and we are back. And everyone has their own weird agenda, so who will prevail. Well I am sure they will all find a way to work together to take down the people blackmailing them. Until them, Keith as a plant was pretty funny.

Stargirl: Oh my, the mean girl is really a mean girl. Pretty good allegory there. To think Stargirl almost melted that façade before reneging on their date. Had to Google who her father is, turns in he used to hang with Hitler so he is very evil. Though I still have no clue who the janitor is. I thought it was Dr. Fate but do not remember him having a massive sword like the janitor brandished this week.

The Challenge: Total Madness: I think we got even less Dee than before. Maybe one shot and no dialogue. Unfortunately my dreams of someone getting cut because they did not have a Red Skull were dashed this week. Really disappointed that no one tried to throw someone in that did not have a Red Skull already except Dee once and early on with Jay when people were scared to go in. But it looks like we will be getting at least another elimination next week which might be a decant consolation prize. Be interesting who gets thrown in. Might as well put in the two biggest threats. But everyone has played a weak game this time so probably not.
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: So Coulson died… again. Do they have back up LMD on the ship or is he going to be brought back as a different character. Or I guess they could the team could run into a younger, not dead yet version.
You can download Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Doom Patrol: The first three episode were a bit of a drag as Dorothy really messed up the dynamic and everyone on the team were all downers and then split up in the second episode. Still not entirely sure why Cyborg went to Detroit. Or why he even came back. But things kicked back into high gear with the return of Flex Mantallo and his, um, most curious flexing ability. Which then brought in a new group that may be weirder than him, the Sex Men. A group that can best be described as Ghostbusters, but for sex. This show is so awesome when it gets super weird.

In the Dark: So the cops chasing evil lesbian were not at all curious as to why she was trying to keep that storage locker open? And just what is Harry Crane’s plan? He cannot get money from Nina. The last guy who tried to extort the group ended up dead. Not sure what he can do with it as leverage unless he want to try selling the stash himself.
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

The Bold Type: Called, evil conservative chick is a lesbian. Now the only question until she starts lady boning Kat.

Blindspot: Oh yeah, the guy from the end last week was Tasha’s CIA partner, granted he is dead now. And so is Paterson? Weird they spent so much time talking this episode how smart she was only for her to run into a room that was about to burn everything inside. But they also spent some time talking about these escape routes and hidden panic room places so me thinks there was one in that room and she just wants the evil people to think she is dead.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 28, 2020

Billions: That was an interesting dinner party. Granted it was weird they brought in the coach from Dare Me just to be Wags’ date for two scenes. Have they just dropped his children storyline already and he is back to dating way too young women? Almost as uncomfortable as Chuck quoting Billie Eilish.

Snowpiercer: So we are finally done with the cop show and the courtroom episode and we finally get an almost entertaining episode. So the shelves are just there for when the train stops working. But that begs the question, when the Earth is habitable again, who opens the drawers?
You can download Snowpiercer on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: I believe this is the first time the Vega clan was all together since the first episode. Weird Tiego was not madder that his brother killed a cop, but at least for him, the one person that could recant is now dead. But I cannot imagine Margeary Tyrell is happy about this after spending the whole season tearing the family apart. Maybe having them back together will be what defeats her.

Stargirl: Okay, Sportmaster, Tigress, and their kid were entertaining. I am beginning to think the worst thing about Stargirl is, well, Stargirl. I just cannot help thinking how much better the show would have been if they cast a better actress.

The Challenge: Total Madness:e no one played a drinking game for whenever Dee was on screen because you would not even been buzzed. If this really that necessary? Okay, you are never going to have her back, but do you really need to completely cut her out? If there anyone going to be that triggered by the sight of someone who said something vaguely ignorant?

Then that Purgatory has some weird rules. I do not get why both people would get points. Shouldn’t the first person who got their thing on their shelf win get that point? Nany should have been up three-zero. Then in the fourth round, Melissa rolls out of bounds before getting to her shelf but still get a point but Nany does not? Meh. #JusticeForNany
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Okay, had to google the Malick boys, one of them turned out to be Powers Booth from the movies and the younger one actually got sacrificed by the older one during the Hive storyline. But that apparently happened right after their father died but if the father does not die I guess the younger one does not get sacrificed so they are really forking up the timeline. That has to bite them eventually.
You can download Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Doom Patrol: Watch two of the three released and I do not care how the daughter is messing up the dynamic so far this season. Then in the second episode, they already split up the team with Cyborg going back home and Negative Man going to his son’s funeral. It may be time to break glass and release Mr. Nobody from the painting because he was a much better antagonist. Although, I wonder what Animal-Mineral-Vegetable Man is up to.

Search Party: Before it launched, HBO Max said they were going to release their shows weekly, but then they released their first show Love Life over the course of three week and now we are getting Search Party all at once. So it seems like they are actually going to go with the Hulu release plan of who the fork knows? What was kind of annoying was that there was no previously on for the first episode yet they put a detailed one of both seasons in the second episode that did not even cover the premiere. Why not put that in the first episode page? I spent the first episode completely forgetting that Dory killed her neighbor and stole her tape of them confessing. But I have to say I am enjoying the new season (at least the two I have seen) better than the second season. That lawyer is going to be a hoot.

In the Dark: So it is thirty-five degrees, they are digging a grave for people they just killed, yeah, sure, what a great time to fork up against a tree even though anyone could just walk up on them. And is dude that quick that he can finish in the time someone could walk back from the lookout? And why did no one chase down the old dude? I mean, he is old and shot, no one can catch up to him?
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

Blindspot: Okay, I recognize the dude at the end but have no clue who exactly why that was. They did that two weeks ago with Rich’s friend.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 21, 2020

Billions: That was an interesting dinner party. Though it was weird that Wags brought the coach from Dare Me who really did not add much to the episode. Whatever happened to his children storyline? Wait, was she his daughter? Do I miss that? I did not miss Chuck quoting Billie Eilish but I wish I did.

Snowpiercer: So the show went from a cop shot to a courtroom drama? Meh, hopefully that is now over and something interesting can start happening.
You can download Snowpiercer on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: Wait, so the Nazi is not one of the evil Nazi’s? But I guess if you are going to give your Mexican housekeeper a raise, or even hire one in the first place, you must not be extremely evil. Make me wonder why Margeary Tyrell picked him.

Barskins: So we do not get to see how bad the chick’s scar is? I thought that was going to be a Chekov’s scar situation. Oh well. Shame they left it on a cliffhanger because I am not sure if we will get to see how that plays out. I also want confirmation if the crazy French dude is really alive. Did his baby mama knowing give him something that would paralyze him or was that just some poetic license with him coming back to life.
You can download Barkskins on iTunes.

Stargirl: It is always good for superpowers to have superpowers to have limitations because being too powerful would be boring, but having super strength for just an hour a days has to be up their as one of the lames superpowers.

The Challenge: Total Madness: Really silly how they completely edited Dee out this week. She wins, is in the Tribunal, but we only manage to hear her say two words, and one was who she was voting for. I wonder if they will bother to say where she places in the finale (assuming she makes it). Speaking about who makes it, could this be the last male vote? There are only two guys left without a Red Skull and if they go another round, and Josh goes against Kyle, it would mean every guy would have a Red Skull. With three Skull-less girls left, if they get two more rounds, they could easily have everyone have a Red Skull going into the finale (unless they keep throwing Dee in out of spite). Hopefully this is it.
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Poor Enoch, the team finally catches up with him, but then leaves him behind again. Though I would be fine with him being left behind after every jump as a running joke. To make things worse, it seems like he has been replaced by Souza who gets to die a hero without actually dying.
You can download Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Bold Type: So the conservative chick got Kat fired… again. But then got her reinstated. I said in the finale those two were going to hook up at some point and I am more convinced after that.

In the Dark: Blind Chick is being really dumb again. Isn’t having one of them go with the drug addict worth have the cop follow them? At least hide in the back seat. But that was a tense final moment. Obviously we knew the Blind Chick would not die because we saw her clean up the body (the addict dying by overdose was a silly twist). At least it was until you start to wonder why the lesbian was there in the first place. I sure there will be some find my phone app reason, but why make this big show of it only to stalk your roommate?
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 14, 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.

Snowpiercer: Well, as, meh as the first four episodes were, at least they solved the crime pretty quickly. I just hope they do not unfreeze the cop every time they need a crime solved. They need the tailey to escape and slowly move up the train like in the movie.
You can download Snowpiercer on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: I believe that was the first time the two Gods came face to face since the premiere. And I think it was the first time Margary Tyrell showed her true form to any human. Although all of that could have just appeared in her mind.

Barskins: Oh, that is why the new groom was so disappointed. Granted I did not get to see how bad the scar is, but really, when the rest of her looks like that, it would not be a big deal breaker for me.
You can download Barkskins on iTunes.

Stargirl: I found the first couple episodes to be a little to geared to small children but nothing like a little selfie scandal to make the show a little more adult. Probably the best episode of the bunch so far. I am a little more excited for the Justice Society than I was just Stargirl fighting crime.

The Challenge: Total Madness: I am not sure we really needed a disclaimer, but whatever. It seemed to line up just perfectly, having Dee go out after suffocating in Purgatory, except she then pulled out the win. Now I am beginning to think Dee may actually win this season.
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I guess I was wrong that the good robot could just meet back up with the rest of the team when they are back on the time line. Maybe not next time, but I am sure it will happen eventually. But this episode had a nice tie in to Agent Carter, unfortunately they could not get Peggy herself.
You can download Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

In the Dark: Wait, why did the blind chick tell the Queenpin about the raid? If the Queenpin is taken down, she is free. Now with all the drugs in the basement, and telling the other Kingpin, you have to worry about the Queenpin retaliating and the Kingpin keeping his word. Oh, and clearly the drug addict brother is obviously going to find the stash and be murdered for it.
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

Blindspot: Of all the people they could have brought back, Jane’s first handler and Kurt’s dad? I thought for sure the Reade would show up since he had already a bunch this season. But I guess future daughter was a nice touch.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

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.

Previewing Penny Dreadful: City of Angels

Penny Dreadful had one of the weirdest flex in the history of television; they announced the show would be ending simply by putting a “The End” title card of what ended up being the series finale. No long march to the end, they just killed off Eva Green and before you start to wonder where the show would do without its lead, they just said peace out. Kind of wish more shows did that.

Four years later, the creator John Logan (writer of Gladiator) apparently wants to play in that playbook again but instead of a full reboot, he is making what he call a spiritual sequel. Where the original features a team up of a bunch of 19th century Victorian monsters, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels features characters from Mexica folklore set in the 1930’s. But where pretty much everyone in the original cast was a monster of some sort, only two members of the show are supernatural (or so far in the episodes I have seen, we did not learn Josh Hartnett was the Wolfman until the season one finale) and one of those is not even in the main cast.

Instead the show mostly focuses on the first Mexican-American detective on the Los Angeles police force plated by Daniel Zovatto (It Follows). It helps that with his haircut he can pass as just tan for those that are ignorant. But most of his family is still very weary of the cops so he is stuck between two worlds. Pulling him to the other side of the tracks is the only person on the force willing to be his partner, Nathan Lane (Joe vs. the Volcano) who happens to be the only Jewish cop in LA.

Making this divide worse is Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell) as the dark goddess Magda who is a shape shifter (okay, they just put the actress in different wigs, though she does have a few other tricks up her sleeve) who is whispering in ears on both sides to speed up a race war. One of her biggest marks is an American first Nazi played by Rory Kinnear (Frankenstein’s monster in the original; feel free to think that after the event of the first show, he traveled to Germany only to later show up in Los Angeles). On the other side she is shacking up with some dude named “Fly Rico” and their scenes together just seem to ripped from West Side Story. Though Dormer’s explanation of how she is Hispanic is pretty convoluted.

I do kind of miss the folklore elements of the original as much of that takes a back seat to the historical crime cases that are featured here. Though none have supernatural elements, it feels like thirties crime in Los Angeles have been well documented. Dormer’s mythical counterpoint, Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo, The Green Inferno), the angel who takes souls up to heaven, is only listed as a guest star and is not as interested in involving herself in the lives of humans. Though there is still time for other supernatural beings to come forward. There are some religious characters introduced in the second episode that seem like prime candidates. But I do like the idea of Penry Dreadful turning into an anthology featuring different folklore. Maybe future series can delve into Native American, African, Japanese, the possible stories are endless.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/25/16

Penny Dreadful: What is going on over at Showtime. About a month ago they announced House of Lies was ending with just episodes to go in the season. Then they announce the end of Penny Dreadful by added a “The End” title card to the end of the season finale, adding a press release saying yes this is the end the next day. Add that to the recent announcement of its flagship show Homeland will not be airing in its normal fall slot, instead being delayed to winter. I actually do like the surprise “The End” title card because sometime the anticipation of the final couple episodes of a series can really drag on the enjoyment of the show as you spend too much time worrying if the show will stick the landing.

Of course when the show ends, you still are left to decide if the show did stick the landing. The death of Vanessa did bring things full circle and it was probably for the best to put her out of her suffering. Same with Frankenstein’s monster who realized that it is for the best for everyone to let someone stay dead, no matter how much you loved them. Other storylines just kind of fell flat. Dorian was always the weakest link on the show and never really fit. Then I spent most of the season waiting for Mr. Hyde to show up, instead all we got was Lord Hyde who does not seem all that different from Dr. Jekyll. I guess you can say metaphorically that Lily was the split personally, or even Vanessa. But in the end it is probably the right call to just end the show here, it was enjoyable while it lasted but it was never going to be great. I will just be slightly disappointed the show did not last long enough to introduce the Invisible Man.

BrainDead: What a bizarre way to do a “previously On” package. I would expect it from a show like Galavant, but I wonder what possessed the writers on this show to do a musical recap about alien brain bugs and exploding heads. And I am not sure if it really exists, but sadly I can totally believe that there actually is a “Tax Prom” every year. But my big complaint with this show is I really do not understand what is going on with the aliens. Are half conservative and half liberal and just happen to inhabit different brains to continue their partisan war? Do they take on the traits of the brains they inhabit and just amplify those ideas? And why do some brains explode?
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: There are few things I hate more than the “x amount of time earlier” title card at the end of the first scene of an episode. The only thing that is worse is when they do even resolve that scene until later in that season. So we start off the season with the Liars sans Hannah burying someone (or something, I am not entirely sold on them burying a dead body). The title card only said four days ago so hopefully we do not have to wait the whole season to get there.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: It only took four episodes, but I finally see what they are doing. The first season was all about casual romantic relationships and this season is all about casual friendships. Valerie has her work neighbor, Laura has her study group buddy, and Ale, well, he still has the British dude. But now that I realized that, I have to start wondering at which point do any of the friends try to make a romantic move?
A lot was made at all the women Don Draper bedded, but if we are talking quality over quantity, Pete Campbell had Don beat hands down: Alison Brie, Sarah Wright, Alexis Bledel, Jessy Schram. So I was expecting bit more with his finance on this show. Granted if she ended up stealing all of Alex’s lightbulbs later in this season, her stock will rise greatly. And if I were the Asian chick, I would be a bit offended by being called Bill Wennington. C’mon, at least give her Horace Grant.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Wow, that was cheap. Vince actually throws punches and gets off with a warning, Tony hovers over his parter and gets tossed. That is like in baseball where a pitcher throws at a dudes head as hard as he can, both teams gets a warning, then a couple innings later some middling reliever drills someone between the shoulder blades with a sixty mile per hour retaliation pitch and gets the boot. To add insult to injury, it was even Vince who basically instigated the whole thing by knocking Camilla to the ground making her go full drunken Brazilian mode leading to Vince and Johnny to wake up the blacked out Tony. Karma should dictate Vince should automatically go to the Junglee. And with a memory challenge, he may very well depending how attentive Jenna is.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Aquarius: Not a good sign for the second week in a row I fell asleep while watching. I did wake up in time to see the chick with the bad accent turn on the creepy biker dude. Worse sign, I did not even bother to look up a recap to see what I missed.
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On:

House of Lies: I hate when episode start in the third act before a “x amount of time earlier” title card, this was weird because we did not get just one scene in the future before flashing back to the beginning, we got five (and really the whole episode just jumped back and forth in time), but at least that was worth it for adding Doug making out with the old lady at the end. I guess it was good the show ended because I am not sure a season with Marty and Jeannie blissfully married. But still a weird way to end it. Before the season Kristen Bell was cast in an NBC sitcom but they said it would not interfere with House of Lies. Which makes sense, ten episode of one show, thirteen of another; some sitcoms air twenty-four episodes a year. Except when the Veronica Mars movie was being made there was talk of a television reboot but they said that could not be done because Kristen Bell could not be the face of two shows at the same time. But then David Duchovny did it with X-Files and Aquarius so maybe in that time people were lax on that. But then two weeks before the finale, Showtime announced it would be a series finale, not season. Has Showtime just decided to get out of the half-hour business? Happyish was a rare one and done on a premium network. House of Lies is now done; Episode only has one season left. So that leaves Dice as only half hour on the air that has not been canceled. Except that has not been renewed either, and not getting a renewal a month after the season ended is not a good sign. And I am not aware of any new comedies in the pipeline. Not that I am complaining, Showtime’s drama are much better. House of Lie is the best I have seen on the network and it is not in the top five all all shows.

Preacher: Being able to get people to do whatever you say in the most literal way has to be one of the lames superpowers to have. That may take a while for Preacher to master in his advantage. Okay, the scene with the Irish Vampire was fun.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: When shows like Lost were on I obsessed on every little detail, noticed every callback, every Easter egg, just straight off the dome. Fast forward a decade and I do not even notice that museum guy and Dracula was the same guy. Getting old really sucks. At the start of the episode when museum guy lifted up the vampire I thought, oh, I wonder what Victorian monster this guy could be. It was not until it donned on Vanessa that she was hooking up with Dracula the whole time that the lightbulb slowly flickered over my head too. But what exactly does that ending mean? Dracula want to serve Vanessa but it was still him that drank her blood. Does that mean she is a vampire now too? The hot Mr. Lyle replacement said not to believe the mythology behind Dracula, so maybe not. She definitely turned evil. But we did learn from her phycologist that she has at least three distinct personalities so there is probably still a good version or two in there.

Speaking of split personalities, Lily may be getting one soon after Dorian turned on her to team up with Dr. Frankenstein and will soon get injected with Dr. Jekyll’s formula. I have been waiting all season for Dr. Jekyll to turn into Mr. Hyde, maybe it will be Lily who turns into Mr. Hyde. Well that theory does really work because Mr. Hyde is a hideous, evil creature without compassion or remorse and, well, Lily is already there.

BrainDead: Man, this show got killed by critics (and in the ratings) but I really enjoyed the whole sixties B-movie with modern day production feel to it. It is more enjoyable than the other Ramona Flowers show that aired earlier this year.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Casual: Nice to see Pete Campbell is still an intolerable douchebag. Here is hoping someone on this show punches him too. And here we are in the third episode and Laura is on her third learning environment. During the meet and greet, right around the “good job” discussion (speaking of intolerable people) I thought she might be on a fourth one next episode but looks like she may actually be sticking around for a while. And apparently Alex’s phase three phase is officially over after bedding one of the annoying mother. Is he back to phase one or is there a phase four?
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

The Challenge: Rivals III: For years I have been advocating that Survivor poach The Challenge challenge makers. But maybe The Challenge challenge makers have finally run out of ideas because almost all of them this season have been horrible and this week’s grab a flag going off the cliff challenge may have been the worst yet. Then they stole that build something until it reaches a certain height Jungle challenge from Survivor, albeit adding a silly ice cooler bath component to it.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Aquarius: I spent most of last season talking about what was happening behind the scenes than what was actually happening on screen. And that is continuing for the surprise second season. No binge watch option like season one where NBC released every episode On Demand after the premiere, but instead this year we get a two hour commercial free premiere. When they announced this I thought we would get two extended episodes. But when the credits ran I noticed writers and directors for “part 3.” So instead of two extended episodes, the two hour premiere was three shortened episodes (though not by much, most hour longs run forty-two minutes so we basically got two minutes less than usual). Did this stunt work? I cannot see how it possibly could. When Angie Tribeca ran its commercial free marathon, it still had a “presenting sponsor,” Aquarius did not even have that. On a personal level it was pretty much a failure because I found myself nodding off about halfway through. But I vaguely remember Denis Wilson showing up. And guess the people that are killed in the future are the Sharon Tate murders. Meh.
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.

Orphan Black: So before season finale we learned next season will be the last raising the bar for the episode. The big reveal is that Rachel will soon meet the person behind everything that apparently is too good for dying and has been around for over a hundred years. So have we met this person yet or is going to be someone new. My first thought was Leekie, or more specifically someone who looks like him, we really cannot rule out the big bad being a clone themselves. Or will it look like Sarah and the rest of the clones that we already know and this person is the real original clone?
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/11/16

House of Lies: This show was the first US production to film in Cuba since they lifted the embargo and, well, it kind of looks like every Central / South American setting.

Preacher: So the Irish dude is a vampire, the way he devoured the cow I though he was going to be something more demonic. Though there is still some question of what is up with the Preacher, something inhabited him last week and clearly he thinks he now has some power of persuasion telling the girl to wake up at the end, except we have to wait a week to find out if she does.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: Oh man, why are they getting rid of Mr. Lyle? He was the most entertaining part of the show. But of course since this is television they replaced him with a younger hotter model. But I guess they also needed to replace the hot demon chick even though you would think a witch could survive a simple gunshot wound. I guess this helps put Ethan back on the good side (he did walk away from his father instead of killing him). And now the gang can get back together just in to help Vanessa battle Dracula. But what a weird scene with Vanessa telling the museum guy there is some ancient evil trying to take her soul and not only does not run, goes on a monologue about the vampire bat before having sex with her. How long until he dies or at least getting under Dracula’s spell? I give I two episodes.

The Americans: So this is the closest Spy Philip has been to FBI Agent Stan since that time Elizabeth got caught back in I think season two being at the same park at the same time. But now that they have officially announce an end date after two more season I am just going to assume the Jennings are never going to be caught. Now my big question is when in the eighties will the show end? The season finale took place in January 1984. I was kind of surprised when I looked up the date of the Oakland-Washington Super Bowl because it seemed like it should be later. I thought the premiere took place during the Reagan inauguration which means only three years have elapsed in four seasons. If the Jennings did not get caught, I was hoping the series would at least last until at least the fall of communism but the fall of the Berlin Wall is five years and a half away and eight year until the end of The Soviet Union. So unless there is a sizable time jump we will not get there.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Really, another episode where no one was sent home. So what are we up to, the sixth episode and only one team has sent home via the Jungle and actually stayed away. Except since another team went home voluntarily, will Jessica and Johnny replace them next week? And I kind of have to side with Camilla on the whole token scandal. It is Christina’s responsibility to keep track of her token and should not just be throwing it around willy nilly. How hard is it to tuck it in your sports bra so it does not get lost like I saw many people do? Now I was too lazy to go back and re-watch it, but if it was a situation where the tokens were color coded to the teams, then I can see disqualifying Camellia if she picked up, say, Christina’s blue token when her teams were red. But of course all that drama did not matter because another dude when home because of his girlfriend (at least this time was noble as she was entering the emergency room) and of course Nany and Wes did not draw a black skull.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Orphan Black: Welcome back Helena. Way to spray your clone with copious amount of blood. Speaking of welcome back, holy Delphine sighting. That was so unexpected, during that final scene I originally thought it was Felix; sister until they kept talking about Delphine during the “next time on” package.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/5/16

House of Lies: Oh Jennie, why re you making out with the fourth member out of four of a boy band? At least hold out for the second banana. I was going to laugh at the mayoral candidate getting in a fight with that boy bander, but it reminds me too much of what Donald Trump is capable of. You know Trump would punch the fourth banana from One Direction. And his poll numbers would go up.

Preacher: With the proliferation of comic book adaptations and the limited amount of competent actors, it is only a matter time because everyone starts being in two or more properties; heck, despite being a much maligned franchise Fantastic Four’s Johnny Storm has found his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe twice (Chris Evans as Captain America and Michael B. Jordan in an undisclosed role in the upcoming Black Panther standalone). I wish there were some nineties east-coast / west coast rap level of loyalty when it comes to the two big comic book companies, but alas here we have Howard Stark in the DC property (granted a DC imprint Vertigo which I do not believe is tied into the DC Universe; not that the television shows and movies are connected unless you want to believe they are all art of the multi-verse). The lady who plays Tulip was even on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I really did not know much about the comic the show was based on but the premiere was mostly enjoyable but suffered a little from overhype (seriously writers of the world, can we please stop with the “best pilot ever” tag, I think most people are smart enough to realize you say that just in the hopes of getting your name in the promo). The star of the episode had to be the Irish dude (though honorable mention to the homemade bazooka); what is up with that dude? I am tempted to go to the comic wiki page. Dude jumps out of a plane with nothing but an umbrella (an a bottle of wine) but The Penguin he is not as he splats on the ground with his intestines all out then gets back together by depowering a cow. Yep this should be a fun summer show.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful Last week we spent the entire episode with Vanessa in the loony bin learning how she met Dracula and this week we (pretty much) spent the whole episode with Ethan (okay we got a couple scenes with Dr. Jekyll but really until Mr. Hyde shows up, those scene are inconsequential). And the two episodes were very glaring, I kind of got bored last week, but the Ethan backstory was fascinating and well put together. My one complaint was I just knew right when his father drew his gun, that the episode was going to end on that cliffhanger. Crap. Now we have to wait a week to see if Ethan embraces the dark side or the light. Okay, daddy’s gotta die. Right?

The Americans: So the FBI are inkling closer to the Russian scientist (thanks to the promo monkeys for letting us know how that turns out) so we have one week to see if this is the time when the Jennings actually get caught by the FBI or maybe the scientist dies before he can talk. But what I found interesting was Oleg taking about the Challenger. Are the writers going to suggest the Russians had something to do with that?
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: So here we are in the fourth week and only two teams were sent home from the jungle. Well actually only one went home because the first team came back for no apparently reason. If you were going to do that, how about have the loser of this Jungle battle the returning team to see who gets back in the game? I would have much rather have Jessica and Johnny back than the other team whose only memory I have of is remember writing I have no idea these people were in this game when they were eliminated the first time.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Orphan Black: Can the next NBC live musical please be Jesus Christ Superstar starring Tatiana Maslany? Or even better Maslany as Alison Hendrix playing Judas?
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.


We have reached that time of the year where most of the spring shows have ended (there are one more Americans, two more House of Lies ever after tonight, two more of Orphan Black, and four more of Penny Dreadful) and summer shows are slowly trickle out. Actually looking like it will be a very slow summer, it seems like everything is airing at 10:00 on either Wednesday or Sunday, but not much else. Maybe some of the new shows that really have not grabbed my attention with lackluster trailers (Animal Kingdom, Good Behavior, Queen of the South) will end up being this year’s Mr. Robot which had a meh trailer but ended up being great (TNT which airs those first two is in definitely need of a hit as it has launched a critical or commercial hit since maybe Falling Skies; and that show is not on the air anymore). Here is what I will be watching while trying to avoid allergens outside over the next couple months.

Mondays
9:00 - Angie Tribeca (TBS, June 6)
10:00 – BrainDead (CBS, June 13)

Tuesdays
Casual (Hulu, June 7)
8:00 – Pretty Little Liars (Freeform, June 21)
10:00 – Wrecked (TBS, June 14)

Wednesdays
10:00 – The Challenge Rivals III (MTV, already started)
10:00 – Royal Pains (USA, already started)
10:00 – Tyrant (FX, July 6)
10:00 – Mr. Robot (USA, July 13)
10:00 – You’re the Worst (FXX, August 31)

Thursdays
10:00 - Aquarius (NBC, June 16)
10:00 - Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (FX, June 30)

Sundays
9:00 – The Last Ship (TNT, June 12)
9:00 – Ray Donovan (Showtime, June 25)
10:00 - Preacher (AMC, already started)
10:00 - Murder in the First (TNT, June 19)
10:00 – Roadies (Showtime, June 25)
10:00 - The Strain (FX, August 28)

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/29/16

House of Lies: This was the second time this season the group got high to close a deal. Nice work if you can get it.

Penny Dreadful: So we do get a full flashback episode with Vanessa in the mental hospital and it was Frankenstein’s monster as the orderly. Kind of horror movies set up, girl in mental hospital and orderly learn to accept each other, a quick scare in the middle, and then at the end we finally see the Lucifer.. and then his brother… Dracula? And Lucifer is scared of Dracula? Mmm, alright. I kind of wish this was mixed in with other character’s segments because there was not much going on to fill an entire hour.

Gotham: I think I actually liked Clayface as Gordon more than I liked Gordon himself. Of course none of the guys figured out it was an imposter and it took Barbra only thirty seconds spot that it was not him. Speaking of doppelgangers, that last person out of the bus certainly looked a lot like Bruce with Edward Scissorhand hair.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: So just who is Jane Doe? Taylor Shaw was a very compelling story arc that apparently is not who she is (though this is television, they can always have a twist next season and be like, nope, she really was Taylor, the bones were planted and Kurt’s dad was brainwashed; and of course my clone theory could still be in play). So Kurt arrests Jane, who surprisingly goes willingly. Sure he does not even give a reason, what exactly is she under arrest for? He does not know she killed a dude. She did not still someone else’s identity, it was assigned to her by the FBI themselves. I do have a sinking suspicion that the start of the next season, one of her tattoos will be integral to a case Kurt is working on and he will begrudgingly let her out of custody.

The Path: So the season ends where the first episode did, but instead of Eddie hallucination the leader dying with a snake slithering on him, he actually sees the cancer stricken leader up and walking around… or did he? A pretty vague ending. Still some other plot points things left unresolved. I spent most of the season wondering if certain characters were going to leave the cult while other would join. It seemed like the husband died under iffy circumstances yet that was not brought up this week and it seemed that the FBI guy may actually be back in, especially if he starts to believe Eddie’s prayer helped. And I am not entirely sure what I saw at the end. Cal spoke of a miracle a couple episodes ago, is the leader now cured and that is the miracle? Is Eddie hallucinating the leader, who is already dead, and the leader came to him in a passing of the torch situation?
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

The Americans: If one would flip, I always thought Philip would be the one as he actually seem to have empathy for his victims while Elizabeth is more single minded at her tasks. Last week was the first time I remember seeing empathy from her asking out of her con on the Asian people and then again when she got a call from the wife. Of course all that went out the window when she stabbed a dude in the neck in front of her daughter. Hard to claim to be a non-violent spy when you can kill a man that easily and not blink.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: The show was a late cancel and it did seem like there was a good chance it was coming back (they just hired a new showrunner for a potential next season) but it did seem like they rushed to put a nice bow on every storyline (well, except Juliet’s plane going missing and of course Layla can never end up happy). Especially the Maddie, she gets mad when Deacon tries to save her from a skeevy dude at a concert caressing her leg, but is glad when he is there when a skeevy producer does the same thing. But it was definitely time for this show to go, probably could have ended last season.

The Challenge: Rivals III: So this is the fourth episode and we still have had only one elimination. As much as I enjoy see Camillinator just going H.A.M. on everyone, let’s cut some of that down and get back to one elimination per episode. Or cut down on time spent on challenges by getting rid of heat based challenges. Sure I enjoy seeing people dropping from heights into water, but we only saw three heats this week and we still have three or four left to get through. (also ending on a is Camilla hurt cliffhanger loses its suspense when we see her at the elimination on the promo for next week, stupid promo monkeys.) Figure out how to have everyone go at once because these heat based challenges are getting too repetitive. Or do a spelling bee, c’mon, who’s against a spelling be challenge (except the actual contestants)?
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Orphan Black: The Donny getting arrested scene was great, probably the most entertaining this season, but why did Allison not go down for the drug business too? As great as Donny in jail will likely be, Allison in prison would be so much better.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/22/16

Once Upon a Time: The best part (and really, increasingly the only good part) of the show is the pre-tease break. Except this season they defeated Hades in the anti-penultimate episode and we got a two hour tease of what is to come next. Color me uninterested already. So we meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde who split themselves into two different entities which was just introduced to have the Evil Queen and Regina at the same time. I am guess they are going to explain the Evil Queen did not die from her heart being crushed because she is so evil she does not even have a heart. And how good is purely good Regina if she is willing crush someone’s heart? I was more in in the quick page flip in the books in the library where we saw Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. I would rather take a trip through American folklore than a severely watered down version of Penny Dreadful.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

House of Lies: It was pretty clear that movie producers in the eighties were doing copious amounts of cocaine by the types of movies they greenlit: a mannequin romantic comedy, one with a dead guy as the main character, both inexplicably got sequels. But the most shocking movie that got made with 20/20 hindsight was the feel good racist comedy Soul Man where noted white dude C. Thomas Howell takes tanning pills to get a scholarship for African-Americans. With all the outrage of blackface and cultural appropriation these days I thought we would never see that storyline ever again. It probably also lessens the outrage by having black guy (with a white mother) play the faker as white people do not care much about whiteface. Though I still do not know how there was not more outrage surrounding White Chicks.

Penny Dreadful: So Vanessa has met Dracula before. I thought we would get a lengthy flashback in a future episode; instead we get a one minute scene tacked on the end of the episode. Maybe it is just a tease for a lot more flashbacks next week. And was that even Dracula? It looked more like Frankenstein’s monster in his previous life without hair. And about Frank, was that remembering his younger self? Bu it looked like that kid was near death. Unless Dr. Frankenstein implanted a child’s brain into the monster’s body. Or maybe he has residual memories of all his body parts. As for his creator, we did learn his buddy’s experiment is only temporary. The question now is has Dr. Jekle already taken his cure or does that come later?

Quantico: No wonder Asher could not make it at Quantico, dude was not even smart enough to jump out of the car before it went over the bridge. But then again, how smart am I for making it all the way through the season?
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: How disappointing that Hugo Strange is implanting new personas in the people he resurrects but Fish Mooney remembers who she was. I thought we were finally going to learn what Batman villain she turns in to. But we did get Clayface… I think.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: Wow that was the worst death scene in recent memory. But I guess when you are killed off a show, why bother trying anymore (well except if you hope to get more work somewhere else). But maybe the bigger bombshell was that Kurt’s father confessed to killing Taylor Shaw like everyone thought prior to Jane Doe showing up with markers saying she was and was not Taylor. We do have to wait until the finale to see if this was the ratings of a delusional man or a real bedside confession, but you have to assume it is the latter. Unless, could this be an Orphan Black situation and Jane Doe is a clone of Taylor? That could be really interesting and explain the DNA inconsistencies.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Castle: It was probably for the best that ABC canned this show, most shows have a shelf life of five seasons if they are lucky so eight is enough (bad old person’s pun intended). But oh, was that final scene crammed in. I guess we can assume had the show been renewed and Kate was not returning, she does not survive the gunshot. Actually that scene seemed crammed in to as if they tacked that on after learning Stana Katic was not coming back.
You can download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Gee, and I just got done talking about the worst death scene, this one came pretty close with Hive and low rent Electro bro-ing down before their inevitable deaths. And this is exactly why I hate it when shows open up X amount of time in the future before flashing back, we knew someone die and Yoyo’s cross had something to do with it and then in the last episode five different characters played hot potatoes with it. But of course Electro ended up with it because there can be no happy couples on a Weadon show (Really the only fake out they had was when Fitz had the cross for a scene). But hey at least we finally got rid of Ward… unless he turns out to be what the Irish doctor was working on. Please no. That body did look feminine. A mate for Vision? Also six months in the future Daisy has gone rouge and Coulson is reporting to a director (is that Talbert or is there a new head of SHIELD). And why six months? The show seems to move in real time and six months puts us in November when presumably the season will start in late September. Doctor Strange comes out in November but I doubt there will be much cross over with that movie. I wonder if we will have to wait a month or two until we see that scene and prior to that is Coulson searching for Daisy or in that basically where the season will start?
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: All season I have ping-ponged back and forth predicting this character is going to join the cult while that one would be joining. Here we are with one episode left and it looks like I was wrong every time. There was a time I thought FBI guy would join, but after his diatribe with Eddie, that is never going to happen, especially after learning Allison’s husband did die under suspicious circumstances. And Allison looks to be coming back into the fold (although that may not last long after she sees the autopsy. I thought the teens would run away together, and Hawk actually did leave, but sneaky Cal nipped that in the bud. But the biggest transition is Eddie. They teased his moments of doubt early in the season, but mostly re-found his way after time in the program in the room. Was that punch his way of exiting the cult?
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II: Usually I have a good sense of how the winds are blowing going into the finals but I was a bit shocked at how Aubrey did not win and it was not even because of that silly evict a jury member (worst twist since Redemption Island). Sure her Final Tribal was less than stellar (how do you not play up how well you adapted after your two biggest allies were pulled from the game?). But congratulations to Michele who did a much better job playing up her underdog role than Aubrey. Poor Tai, does not even get a pity vote. I originally thought it was a bad decision to split the votes and not take Cydney to the final three but in retrospect, I am not sure it matter with Michele winning either way. Maybe Cydney wins the Jury Veto (which is a stretch because for a Brawn, she was not that great in challenges) and bans Julia, then maybe Tai could have gotten Aubrey, Joe, Neil, and Debbie, but I think instead, Michele wins by a larger margin.

But Michele winning was not the biggest shock of the night, seriously, what was Sia doing there? And was that even really her? In real time it sounded to me her accent was coming and going. If it was, Sia just continues to get weirder. Wow. Then we got a tease for next season: Millennials vs. Gen X. Meh. Didn’t the last time they separated end up being an epic fail (that would be the Jimmy Johnson season that was won by Fabio). Probably one of the bottom five seasons of all time. And just by the trailer the Millennials were getting on my nerve already. If they are going to divide by age, I wish they would have done three of four tribes: people in the their twenties, thirties, and forties plus, and maybe fifties plus.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II on iTunes.

The Americans: Kind of a throwaway episode because I never thought Reverend Tim was ever in much danger. Really having an emotionally pregnant woman now knowing their secret was the bigger danger. The more ingesting part of the episode was Stan’s old boss getting approached by the KGB. I kind of wanted him to take the offer. Instead he runs through a glass door. Not the best escape plan. It will be interesting how this effects the main storyline.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: The first challenge really suck, now this, this is the challenge I have come to know and love, grinding on a bar of soap. Awesome. Not so awesome is replacing LeRoy with some nobodies. Actually worse than nobody, somebody who thinks acting crazy will get them more screen time. More annoying was T.J. canceling the Jungle for no good reason. So that is two of three episodes where no one when home.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

The Blacklist: There was never a point where I thought Lizzie was dead, the only question I had was who helped her. I had thought it was whoever was trying to kidnap Lizzie but it ended up being Tom and Red’s henchwoman. And I long assumed the person that was trying to kidnap was her not so dead mother. Nope, wrong again, it was her dad, or someone claiming to be her dad. That puts a crinkle in my long theory that Red was Lizzy’s dad. After the chunkiness of this season (somewhat reasonable due to a real life pregnancy) this sets up a very interesting season four.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Orphan Black: Crystal is quickly moving up my Clone Power Ranking. She almost made me forget there was no Allison this week. Almost. Seriously, do not make me go a week without an Allison fix.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/15/16

Once Upon a Time: So as predicted Robin Hood died and Captain Hook made his way back to Storybrooke. The only question now is what are they going to do in the final two episodes now that Hades was defeated? The only unresolved issue is that Belle remains under her sleeping spell. Maybe we will get more than the usual tease of the next Disney property they exploit. When do they go to Tron?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

House of Lies: Oh, no, not the Douchebag Twins. And yet, even with an episode that saw the not so triumphant return of the Douchebag Twins, they did not even give us the most disturbing scene, that was instead Clyde and Doug chugging Jennie’s pump and dump.

Penny Dreadful: Dorian and Lily were wholly absent from the premiere and that was a quite unexpected way for them to return to the show. I fully assumed that that was the type of show they would enjoy but I guess it makes more sense that they would rather participate than just watch. I fear (and would be kind of disappointed) that she will end up like the transvestite from last season. Then you have Dr. Jekyll who has a formula that can turn a criminally insane person into fully functioning human being. Of course there are going to be side effects, the question is has he tried it on himself yet or not. Dracula again is resigned to the final scene again. Last week I feared when we did not get to see him it was going to be a Master on The Strain situation who ended turning out to be a not very scary looking Muppet, but we did get to see Dracula who ended up looking like a low rent Matt Dillon which I guess is better than a low rent Muppet.

Quantico: So it turns out the football player was yet another pawn though the whole using his voice on the phone with Alex was a bit of a stretch. Instead the traitor was the Quantico teacher because… oh who know. Even when he eventually gives his Bond villain type speech I doubt it will make any sense.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: I guess I was wrong with Galavan killing the Captain. It turns out Galavan is really bad at killing people. Tabatha also landed in the hospital and not the morgue. Alfred gets thrown out of a window and was still able to walk away to fight some more. I was going to say Galavan was as good at killing as everyone was at trying to kill him; just how many bullets can that guy take? Then Penguin and Butch show up with a bazooka. Awesome.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: Can we get more drugged up chick in the elevator? She was by far the best part of the episode.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I have an irrational hatred of movie theaters so naturally I did not see Captain America: Civil War prior to this episode so I guess I now know who wins. Yeah, D.C.’s movies may have sucked but their separating television from the movies is looking better every time SHIELD spoils a movie. Granted really they have only spoiled the last two Captain America movies. Oh yeah, and they killed off Peggy Carter. Booooo. I was really hoping she would get some anti-aging serum like the Nazi got last season. What a shame that they may possibly kill off her character and cancel her show in the same month. Hopefully ABC finds a way to keep that show going. Oh well. Sending Lash after Hive seemed like a great idea but they kind of overlooked two huge plot point. Okay, Lash, the Inhuman killer can ward off Hive’s parasites, fine, whatever. But why did he not kill Daisy, and not only did he not kill her, he actually helped her and saved her from Hive’s trance? Andrew’s last sliver of humanity was kind of a big stretch.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: Last episode, Cal mentioned before killing a dude that the next leader would perform a miracle, could Sarah saving the baby be that miracle? Certainly Cal would no be too happy he is not the chosen one. Maybe that is why he tried to hook up with her.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II: I have long thought that winning Individual Reward was advantageous to your game, especially in a case where you pick two people and then there are four people made at you back at camp. But I never thought winning a Reward would turn out as badly as this. To have to be pulled from the game because you ate too much meat, ouch. And we have known this for a while that this was bad. How many times in the early seasons did we see people get Rewards only to spend a lot of time in the woods with a pile of leaves? Seriously people, Reward Challenges are not worth it. At least we did not get the stupid Survivor Action where morons bid on food instead of waiting for an advantage. And that was the second pull out this season which negated what could have been a fascinating Tribal Council. On one side you had a strong Joe/Aubrey alliance. On the other was Michelle. Then there is Cydney in the middle but seemed to be leaning Michelle. Then you had Tai and his Idol so he was not going anywhere. When he and Michelle were alone I was waiting for someone to come up with a plan where he give her his Idol because no one would vote for him because of it. But then he seemed to make up with Aubrey. Really what it may have come down to it is who talked to Tai last. Instead we had our third unplayed Idol, one that went home with someone being pulled, one that went home with someone because he did not play it expecting a SuperIdol, and one that did not get to played because the last Tribal that it could have been played at never happened. Kind of sums up this lackluster season.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II on iTunes.

Black-ish: Isn’t it too early for the show to bring in a baby? Usually sitcoms do that when they run out of ideas, it should be too early for that, it I only season two. At least wait until season five.
You can download Black-ish on iTunes.

The Americans: There are few thing lis scary than watching The Day After thirty plus years later. I kind of had to laugh at everyone's reaction. Interesting Philip's reaction was maybe we should not give that destructive virus to their government after watching. It is about time for a shajke up in the show. Maybe instead of the FBI finding them out as tradors, maybe the twist could be Philip becoming sympathetic to Americans.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Poor Leroy, that is two straight seasons he goes home early for medical reasons. But we essentially had a two and a half premiere episode. I guess that is needed to get to know the new cast and introduce the season, except the two people who went into The Jungle I had no clue they were even on this season until they got picked to go in. Hopefully we go back to one elimination per episode because there was just too much filler in these first two episodes.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

The Blacklist: There was a point when I thought Scottie was going to turn out to be Lizzy’s mother, but no, she is Tom’s… or least that is what Red told him. The episode was alright but as a backdoor Pilot, I am not ready to watch another show which is just The Blacklist with the gender of the two leads being swapped. Maybe I will watch if the show is filler between a break of the ordinal.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.