57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 10, 2019

Supergirl: This whole season makes little sense with the Lena storyline, but the sentient tattoos made the season even more nonsensical. And I do not even want to talk about the Doc Oct rip-off in the Robocop helmet.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Watchmen: Silk Specter made this episode a little less boring than the previous ones.

The Walking Dead: So Negan has his leather jacket back and a new bat. And then got captured by the Whispers. Maybe for the first time since being captured, the writers are going to finally give him something to do.

The Affair: Starting off the series finale with a flash dance. A flash dance with Helen’s neighbor that her boyfriend knocked up and then flew her across the country for her daughter’s wedding. Then there was just a random dude that I did not realize who it was until Noah mentioned his name and I finally realized, oh, that is the oldest son we have not seen since maybe the first season.

Then we finally got what I have been waiting for all season, Joanie meets a Soloway. I thought she may have bumped into one of the Soloway children, but no, she met an old Noah (in old man make-up that was very obvious him) who now owning the Lobster Roll. But what I never say coming was that the creepy reporter Joanie forked was Vic’s kid who gave a Spaceball’s explanation of how he was vaguely related to Joanie. Kind of made the whole series worth it for that scene alone.

But what a weird ending. This season seemed to be about Noah’s chickens coming home to roost set upon the backdrop of #MeToo. We the viewers knew some of those stories were made up and over-exaggerated, but Noah was still a pretty huge pervert who deserved some shame. But then they ended on a redemptive note, Noah outlive both his wives (I thought he was talking to Alison at the end; oh, and Helen’s mom lived to 100?), none of his children get even a mention in the future, and then he get the final shot doing the flash dance he choreographed as the final scene. But I kind of wish the whole season was this weird. The show set itself up as a super-serious piece of “art” but we never really got an explanation of two way some of the acts were wildly different telling of the same event. I guess Occam’s Razer is that was just how that person remembers things.

Mr. Robot: It only took me twelve minutes to realize, oh wait, no one is talking. Then two minutes later the guard whistled at Darla and I just rolled my eyes at the lengths they were going to pull off the now dialogue. Kind of a lame gimmick to pull off with so little time left. At least the one shot episode last season served a purpose and was by far the best non-season one episode. There were just too many times where there really should have been some dialogue. And I was a bit confused at where they broke into. Did this company just have a Soul Cycle open on Christmas Day?
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: This is the second attempt at adapting the books, the first bombed so bad it took down an entire movie studio. But after watching the first episode, maybe the book just is not something that should be adapted; the whole daemon thing just does not look good on screen and just comes across as weird when you see it in living color. And so far it is kind of confusing. I kind of need a Game of Thrones type map title sequence to give me an idea of where this is. Plus, and I really supposed to be scared of the chick from The Africa?

Castle Rock: Well, how Annie turned out the way she did makes much more sense now. Oh geez. Although her obsession with the song Let the River Run has a much darker context now. But from the moment that Rita started to show, I thought, oh no, is Annie going to kill her and steal her baby? Though I never thought that Joy could be her half-sister. Granted when we saw Annie’s wanted poster, it was only for murder, it did not say anything about kidnapping. But what I do not understand is where did Joy get the book. Did Annie just keep a copy this whole time; transfer it from computer to computer all this time?
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: There have been plenty of dumb advantages but whatever they offered Janice may have been the worst. You get the triple wammie of not being trusted for playing it, not being able to vote, and then not even being able to view tribal Council. The Kellee was one of the most interesting plays in the history of the show. Then she managed to pull it off flawlessly and even had one unintended consequence of Jamal burning his Idol which then should put a target on his back which she clearly wants. As long as Dean does not blab about it, this may go down as one of the best moves in the history of the show. But she was one of four people targeted in the promo so maybe it will end up backfiring.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: So now the British team has four actual British players and four non-Brits? It is a shame more people did not defect earlier. Really, Georgia, Bear, and Theo should have defected a long time ago when they realized they were never going to gain the numbers. But it will be funny if Cara/Paulie keep on sending in Americans who beat a Brit and then the “British” team then beats the Americans.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

The Good Place: Oh wow, they finished the new experiment half way through the season. So what next (the title of the next episode seems like it could be a spoiler… or just something Jason says… or maybe both)? You got Simone and the blogger MIA, did they freeze or did they go so far that they are not affected? Could they have found their way to The Bad Place (or been kidnapped by Sean) and have to be rescued? That would be too close to last episode though. Ugg, they usually they give us a teaser of what to come instead of a huge cliffhanger like this.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: So did Raven know the gargoyle was going to go off and kill that dude or was it an unintended consequence? And just when is Old Robin going to get out of prison and how? Kind of seems like he know how but moneybags Bruce could always donate a win to get his release. Him just abandoning everyone just seems weird and these last too episodes just seems like a waste of time while they stall for the finale.

The Blacklist: So the baddie of the week was… a computer? Alrighty. But no fall out from Aram stealing the nametag from Red’s buddy. I thought for sure his new lady friend was nefarious, maybe she just is a thrill seeker and that was a complete coiuncidence.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 3, 2019

Watchmen: So we actually got a quick answer to kind of a silly question from the premiere, how do two black people have three white children. Everything else was mostly confusing and still kind of boring.

The Affair: Ooo, our very first duel perspective… whatever that means. I am still not entirely what different things happening during different acts means. When it went back to Noah, I was convinced Helen was dead. But are we officially done with Joanie now? She has been absent for a couple episodes now and there is just one left.

Mr. Robot: Wait, Tyrell does not want to be killed by The Dark Army so he just walked away to bleed out to death in the wood? But I guess whatever that glowing thing will save him. But that storyline was still better than the FBI storyline where she pleasured herself to sleep on Christmas Eve where she dreamed about being killed by the Dark Army.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

Castle Rock: I do not think Pops is done as done as the doctor thinks. I think that he can be reborn like his nephew. It was all but confirmed this week that is not the same nephew since his dog, who has better sense than Ace, wanted to attack him. But what exactly is he and what exactly does he know of Ace’s life? And what are these invasion of the body snatchers type people’s obsession with eggs? He did mention this started four hundred years ago and we learned that some thought it was witches while others think Satanist. But neither are known for body snatching.
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: They did a good job making me wonder which way Aaron was going… right up until the point where he did not reciprocate dude’s fist bump. I do not even care if that was kind of a huge spoiler because it was just so forking hilarious. Not quite, “Natalie, can I have your jacket?” but it was up there.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: I understand having an alliance with the other team to keep yourself from going in, but you have to draw the line somewhere, and that was a colossal dumb move by Joss. I get Kayleigh, she is the weakest and she needs to stick around by any means necessary, but for Joss to put in Georgia instead of Smashley just handed the Americans the win right there. Had he picked Smashley, best case scenario, the Americans loose two strong players and you gain one, worst case scenario, the U.S. loses one and you stand pat. Instead you risk the truly worst case scenario which would have been Georgia going home and Tori staying with the U.S. Picking Smashley may have been the only way the Brits could have win, yet Joss stupidly stayed loyal to people who will not be sharing their winning with him.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

The Good Place:Mmmm, Michael let Bad Janet go. Kind of makes me think if the whole show has been a test for Michael to see if demons can be reformed.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: So if Starfire is now mad that her sister is queen, why did she leave and refused to return when summoned? Makes about as much sense as Batman not having voice mail. But why even wait until Superboy woke up? Why didn’t Old Robin call him when he arrived to let Superman know?

The Blacklist: So Aram just happened to crash the same wedding and just so happened to get the nametag as Red’s buddy? There has to be something else to his lady friend. She was a part of that death club so she is not above shady things.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 27, 2019

Watchmen: So I take it, the old black dude at the end next to Don Johnson at the end was the young black kid escaping Tulsa at the beginning of the episode. But I found most of the premiere (aside from the awesome Oklahoma performance) pretty boring and confusing… so basically just like every other show ad film Damon Lindelof has been a part of.

The Walking Dead: So the gay dude has an Evil Dead arm now? Cool. But I forgot how many surrogate kids Carol had and they all died. Although I think she killed two of them because they were kind of psychopaths. Ugg, this show has been on way too long. I barely remember most of it at this point.

The Affair: I found it interesting that last week we got Whitney’s wedding prep through Noah’s eye but it was even more surprising that when Noah’s scandal broke, it was though Helen and Whitney’s eyes. Whitney’s act was partiularlly heartbreaking once I realized the douche she used to date was kind of her father and with her new guy she kind of turned into her mother. She has looked so beaten down this season I am beginning worry she will not make it to the end.

Mr. Robot: The annoying dude who was the only bad part of the first season is back? Oh joy. And White Rose listening to Culture Club was a bit gratuitous.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

Wu-Tang: An American Saga: So the show just ends with Ghostface and RZA after they shot and robbed a crazy dude? For this whole time I was thinking this was a limited series, but I went back to the press release and it does call it just a series so I guess there can be more. So was RZA really robbed of his tapes and shot the dude to get them back? I do not remember that being in the Showtime doc. Nor do I remember Ghostface knocking up his sister. I kind of want to check his Wikipedia to see if Shuri is listed as one of his baby mama though we do not really know yet if she keeps the baby. If the show does get a second season, I hope they start calling themselves by the Wu names, I am still not entirely sure which ones are GZA, Inspechtah Deck, Cappadonna are or is they even included U-God yet.
You can watch Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu.

Castle Rock: So is Annie crazy and she never killed the dude or is she crazy because she is seeing the dead guy? Or is there possibly a third option, she did kill him and he is back somehow? That is where I am leaning. But the one thing that bothers me with that theory, what happened to the big hole at the construction site? Did no one notice it? Did whatever revived the nephew fill it up?
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: I got excited when they said there would be no Island of Idols this week, but unfortunately they seem to increase the amount of useless commentary from Sandra and Rob at Tribal Council this week.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: Is Jordon really that stupid? Dude survived being murdered by Turbo earlier this season but them continued to goad him this week. At some point, Turbo is going to get through those security guards and murder Jordan and I will feel as sorry for him as I would someone who poked a bear one too many times.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

The Good Place: Poor Jason, gets his heart ripped out by learning Blake Bortles gets traded. Later learns he was replaced by a Super Bowl winning quarterback only to find out he broke his clavicle. I do wonder if they will be able to work in Gardner Minchew II at all this season (the broken clavicle thing seemed to be added late). Although maybe because of Jeremy Blermiey, Jason may gets to get a Jaguar’s Super Bowl win in his afterlifetime.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: So where was Rose when all of this was going? Was she off at college? Did she learn about her father and bolted without bothering to tell her father? Is she even the daughter of Deathstroke’s wife? Does Deathstroke have side pieces? Did Jericho and the wife just not know about her which is why she was not even brought up?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 20, 2019

Supergirl: So it was Lena who kidnapped Eve last week. Okay, that makes no sense. So what was the whole Leviathan thing that Eve was running from last season? And what the fork is going on with Lena? She just does not make any sense this season at all.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

The Affair: Noah is the protagonist of this show, but the way that reporter laid it out; Noah is a pretty horrible person. But the thing is, we do know he did not have sex with the publicist. Or did he as we have seen, how Noah’s scenes have shown up, they do not always line up what other people say it was. Could we get a flashback act from the publicist to get her side of the story? Or maybe the teacher’s assistant? I do vaguely remember thinking she definitely wanted to have sex with Noah. Or maybe that is what Noah though and her version could be completely different.

Mr. Robot: Wait, there is a third personality? People have long theorized that the American Psycho dude was also Elliot, and there were times I bought into it, but it just seems very unlikely at this point. But I did theorize that Darlene would start seeing Angela like Elliot saw Mr. Robot but she admits that she really does not see Angela. So maybe Angela is Elliot’s third personality. Seems plausible since she just died tragically. I kind of hope it is not someone we het that is still alive and the writers have to explain how Elliot was that person all along.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

Wu-Tang: An American Saga: So dude is released from prison, commits aggravated assault on the guy who drove him home, shots his gun off when he arrives home, and starts killing people. I really hope that was some poetic license and not based on actual events because I really do not want to know people like that exists. But I am pretty certain this part was probably poetic license, but I liked how Ghostface’s little brother coins the iconic title, “Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nuthin’ ta fork wit.”
You can watch Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: I have been harsh on the stupid Island of Idols twist this season, and it continues to be stupid, but at least Noura spending all that time practicing being the call only for her tribe to make here sit out meaning she loses her vote at the next Tribal Council. Or did she lose her vote at HER next Tribal Council? That was pretty unclear. Because if it was the former, it is kind of no harm no foul because her team won. Maybe this is why only someone from the losing tribe should be sent to the Island of Idols.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: If the rest of the season boils down to Team Cara Maria vs. Team Georgia, consider me Team Georgia all the way.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Almost Family: Finally the guy Julia forked that might be her brother in the first episode is back. Thought I still find it weird that instead of finding out if they were related by looking at the DNA results, they just admitted it in that video. Also weird is that Brittany Snow is not the first Pitch Perfect actress to fork her half-brother on screen as Anna Kendrick already did that in A Simple Favor.
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

Stumptown:So Donal Logue was evil… but not really. Alrighty. I still wish he was around for Dex’s 1500 hours. But I am sure he will pop up again eventually.
You can download Stumptown on iTunes.

The Good Place: Many people predicted that Vicky switched out Michael during the handover (I never bought it) but it turned out it was Janet that got kidnapped all along. So do they not really need Janet to keep the neighborhood together this whole time? That was just Bad Janet’s excuse to explain any hints that she was not Good Janet? I guess we should have all guess this when Janet rudely told Jason that the Jaguars traded Blake Bortles right after breaking up with him.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: Man, imaginary Batman was kind of annoying. If that is what Nightwing really thinks of him, no wonder he went to the other coast.

The Blacklist: When did Aram turn into James Bond? After he shot all the bad guys with their own gun and kissed the damsel in distress, I thought that was going to turn out to be a dream sequence and then Ressler and Lizzie would wake him up as they rush in to save the day.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 13, 2019

Supergirl: Somehow it seems like Brainiac 5 got more annoying in between seasons. But anyway. I seems like the show is going to just rip off the most recent season of Young Justice with people being brainwashed with VR. And did Lena already get brainwashed? It seems weird how upset she was that Kara did not tell her about Supergirl, Kara finally tells her, pulls the story about at the last minute, but then still seems mad? Huh? And did Lena send the new owner another story or just nothing at all? If Lena always keeps her promises, and then reneges to the new owner, she is just doing what Kara did to her.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

The Walking Dead: So were are just under a decade into the apocalypse and a Russian satellite is just now falling to earth? Not bad craftsmanship. Other than that, kind of a boring premiere.

The Affair: Gee, Whitney is getting married and yet, we get to see the set-up from Noah’s point of view even though the only thing he did without her was get poison ivy and visit an empty house. Though as we see future Joanie, I have been wondering what her relationship to the Soloway’s is and here we at least see Noah try to see her. And as we have seen very different versions of the same events, we actually her two people talk about one of them, Whitney says her mother save her sister while Noah thought it was Alison. But that was the very first episode and I vaguely remember it happened let alone what Noah and Alison’s versions played it out. Then we got a definitive answer of what happened to Alison, her boyfriend did kill her. Admits it to but then claims she is crazy… should have taken him up on the whole killing him offer.

Mr. Robot: Last season during the one shot episode, I felt this building dread that Angela was not going to make it out of the building. Once she did, I thought it would be smooth sailing for her especially after turning out to be the powerful dude’s daughter… and then she gets her brains blown out first thing in the last season. But what a weird scene, for a while I thought that was still part of the “Previously On” because I vaguely remember old dude telling Angela she was his daughter in a place like that but then the scene just kept going making me realize a minute later, oh, this is new.

But is Angela really dead? Eliot is not the best narrator. We have seen him shot in the head before during the season where he had been in prison without telling us for almost half the season. Darlene did see her, sure in a coked up haze. Or maybe she is dead-dead but she pops up in Darlene’s head much like Eliot sees Mr. Robot. Then there is a way she comes back in the way White Rose promised Angela that she could see her mother ago with the machine she was building. Either way (or even the fourth way where she is dead-dead and we never see her again), I am kind of dreading the finial season the way I dreaded the final season of Game of Thrones)
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

Wu-Tang: An American Saga: Thankfully they put the real music video in the end credits to save me a trip to YouTube afterward. Goodness that was bad, I cannot imagine a Denise Williams sample would have made it much better. Having that song flop may have been the best thing that could have happened to RZA. Also, kudos, to the description maker of the episode that simply read, “Industry Rule #4080…” To the kiddies unaware, that is a line from A Tribe Called Quest which finishes, “record people are shady.”
You can watch Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: I am not sure what was dumber, the girl alliance who got rid of Vince who was a solid number for them or Vince not using his Idol even though it was only good for two weeks. Probably Vince because he just followed countless others who think playing their Idol is a sign of weakness. But everyone thinks you have an Idol because you went to the mysterious Island of Idols, you can only play it twice (and who knows if you are going back the next week), you play it just in case people are trying to flush it.

But the women were pretty dumb to. In modern Survivor, voting to keep your Tribe physically strong is dumb. One, puzzles are the great equalizer now. Two, you are three weeks in, there is a swap coming soon, maybe next week. You have to think to yourself, who would I rather be swapped with, Vince, or one of the other three dudes you are wary of?
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: Good riddance Bear, please never come back.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Almost Family: Thankfully that found a much better shade of red for Brittany Snow this week. And I laughed pretty hard when Roxy said she would look after her father. That should end badly.
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

Stumptown: I did not care too much for the first couple episodes because I was unsure what the show wanted to be. But if the show ends up being Dax following around Donal Logue, I would enjoy that show. Unfortunately it does not look like it will be that.
You can download Stumptown on iTunes.

The Good Place: So who was the hooded figure at the end? My first thought was death. But selfishly I hope it is The Real Eleanor.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: So all that to have Superboy save Jason Todd even though everyone even vaguely familiar with the comics knows he is going to die eventually? Meh, but I did like Krpto (even though he basically killed a dude) and the drunken lady doctor. If only Cadmus Labs on Supergirl had anyone as entertaining as her.

The Blacklist: So Lizzy’s mother is moving next door. But doesn’t Red visit regularly? Seems like she should be caught soon.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 6, 2019

The Affair: After being completely missing last week we get a complete episode of just Joanie this week. Plus we got a confirmation of the timeline; Allison does not die for another two years. So we are three years until Noah’s movie gets made? They have taken some big time jumps on the show so it is nice that someone is paying attention. We also got Cole’s second wife in the future and a Noah mention, but I still wonder if she will ever run into the guy who raised her for a couple years or even the Soloway children. And if Cole was in his seventies when he died, is the army guy who killed Allison still alive to pay for his crime? All I know is I want more of that reporter.

Fear the Walking Dead: Well they finally took my advice to clear out the ghost town, but only after Ginny was on her way. Oh, and it turns out she evilly killed all those people. But how very Bond villain of her to just walk away and let Morgan die without seeing him actually die. Almost as silly of Grace not having radiation poisoning, but instead turned out to be pregnant.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Wu-Tang: An American Saga: Wait, Method Man played lacrosse? I kind of want a Method Man playing lacrosse spin off. Can we resurrect Rock ‘n’ Jock for a lacrosse game with Method Man and other celebrities we would have never guessed played the sport.
You can watch Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: Last week’s premiere was a giant ball of flaming shirt. But I have softened on this season a little this week because Kellee is just content gold this week. And much like the lone bright spot of last season Lauren (not be confused with this season’s Lauren the killjoy), Kellee also played colligate soccer. But even Kellee could not do much to improve the borefest that is the Island of Idols. And unfortunately, unlike the lone bright spot of last week, they did not vote the annoying dude this week. Meh.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: I had no idea until they went against each other this week that Nicole and Jenny were two separate people. And it was kind of lame that TJ let people sit out of trivia. Make everyone go at least once, that made no sense especially when people were going twice.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Almost Family: I did not have much expectation for this show considering the premise was so absurd, but I have to say the three sisters really made this show compelling. Though it is kind of silly that the black chick stole the chick with the bad redhead dye job’s boyfriend only for her to turn out to be a lesbian. But I will still watch every episode.
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

Stumptown: Oh, so this is going to be a P.I. show? They kind of completely dropped the ball telling the viewer what exactly the show was going to be in the promo and the first episode.
You can download Stumptown on iTunes.

The Good Place: Oh wow, we learned a new curse word this week. And I have already called five different people deckheads so far since. But the sad day we all feared all summer finally happened this week, Jason learned the Jags cut Blake Bortles. Now if only he can meet Gardner Flint Minshew II.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: I think we all knew Jason Todd would die eventually, but is he really going to be killed by Deathstroke? And if that fall kills him, don’t you have to bring in Batman at that point, having his apprentice die?

The Blacklist: Oh yeah, Red got stabbed at the end of last episode. Could have used that in a “Previously On: instead of a flashback in the middle of the episode. I have trouble remembering things I watched last week let alone what I watched four months ago. But I guess we do learn around the same time Red does.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 29, 2019

The Affair: Oh hey, even Sierra gets her own segment. Kind of weird to devote half an episode in the final season to someone who just popped up last season but was barely there even then. Considering the Helen-Noah exchange, I am a bit surprised that we did not get both sides of that scene. But I guess maybe we will see Noah’s side of it next week. Also a little weird that we got our first Joanie free episode, she is only getting about five minutes per episode to begin with and now she is getting nothing. I wonder when they will give her a full thirty minute segment or this is basically how they will be using her all season.

Fear the Walking Dead: I never understand why everyone on zombie shows find a place overrun by zombies so daunting. Create a bottleneck and kill them as they come out.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Survivor: Island of Idols: I was not expecting much because there are very few things I ever want on my television less than Rob but I have to say, somehow this premiere did not even meet my already low expectations. I may even go as far as calling it the worst season premiere in the history of the show. The season stated off on a bad foot because there was no Probst, no big mad dash for supplies, not even a challenge, just dudes walking onto a beach. So nothing really excited happened for about a half an hour.

Then after the challenge we got the Island of Idols, and boy was that excruciatingly bad, in an eighties train video on how to camp bad. Seriously, those two are just going to give everyone who visits a survival lesson each week. That is just boring. And why are they pulling names out of a bag? Have the winning team pick in the old day. Games of chance are boring.

As bad as the episode was, at least we got a happy ending with the most annoying dude going home first. Although, I cannot say there is anyone worth rooting for of those that are left. I guess I kind of am rooting for Elisabeth because I remember her watching her at the Olympics. But as a prediction, I will say… um, Vince I guess.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: Usually competition shows go to an ad break leaving you thinking that the challenge is still in doubt so very weird to have TJ tell Johnny he missed something and then cut to break. So as a person who watches way too much television, it made me think that then Theo would screw up leading to a Johnny comeback. But no, after the break, Theo rolled to an easy victory after the Johnny mistake. But at least TJ told Johnny of the mistake compared to telling Laurel she won last week only to be, “oops” on review. But hey, good riddance Johnny, I really hope we never see you again.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

The Good Place: I almost got the twist right. After spending the summer thinking of whom the two remaining people the demons picked, I settled on there being a real Real Eleanor whose Vicky skin-suit was based on. And then Vicky would kidnap her and torture the humans. Instead the demon who is always taking off his shirt was masquerading as a random old lady. Then the other new human was just a generic WASP who misses the good ol’ days. Actually kind of disappointing that the four new humans are the generic WASP, some random blogger, Chidi’s ex-girlfriend, and then Chidi himself. No Donkey Doug. No Dress Bench. No Blake Bortles. No Stone Cold Steve Austin. Oh well.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: Ew gross, Wonder Girl forked a fish. But it was nice to have an episode without the actual teen Titans around. But the question now is just who hired Deathstroke to kill off the Titans? Is Lex Luther too obvious of an answer? Though a Superman sidekick is not in the Titans so why exactly would he care?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 22, 2019

The Affair: We finally got that Whitney centered act that I thought we should have gotten way back when Noah climbed into the hot to watch two chicks make out and one of the chicks turned out to be his daughter. She even manages to possibly start an affair her first time out. Although she may not go back to the guy who lets another guy watch. At least it worked out; she is getting her own gallery. That was better than Noah this week who just did stupid things after another.

Fear the Walking Dead: So why are the better tomorrow people bad? Sure they ruthlessly killed Logan, but they let Morgan and Al go when they broke in on behalf of the dude they were looking for. Hopefully they get fleshed out in these last couple episodes.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge: Well that was wild. I did think it was weird that Laurel just seemed shove that last flag in at the top. Also kind of weird that none of the production staff noticed that both Laurel and Ninja missed a hole. Usually when someone misses something, the cameraperson zooms in on it so everyone knows that something was missed. Everyone just seemed to drop the ball on that. It will be interesting to see how things move forward. I cannot see a way where any of the Americans not put one of their own in if they lose now. Or possibly they try to throw it again so an American is guaranteed to go home like this week or will the backfire this week will make them all try. But really, I am surprised that Ninja did not just ship, the americans are in free fall now so every Probing Ground winner would be wise to join up with the Brits. At least until they start to implode too.

Titans: So Wonder Girl just left Chicago without even noticing Starfire just disappeared? Alrighty. But I never thought they could find a character as annoying as New Robin, but Dr. Light is up there. I was kind of hoping they would just kill each other. But how bad are the original Titans that they needed the whole team to take him down but New Robin almost took him down singlehandedly?

57 Channels and Only This Was On: September 15, 2019

The Affair: Considering how I was surprised that Helen was looking like she was going to hook up with “modern James Bond” I did find it interesting that the “modern James Bond” wants movie Noah to get bac with movie Helen by the end of their movie. Kind of says something if the show ends up going with the “modern James Bond” ending or go with the ending that Noah was adamant about. And then we got short scene of Joanie being extremely messed up and for the second time in three episodes where her scene ends with her ambiguously possibly dead. This is going to be a long season. I do wonder if we get another perspective in the future other than her’s.

Fear the Walking Dead: So just when the main antagonist of the season find a conscience, he gets shot in the head. And apparently by the person who hired him to get the oil. Alrighty. So that nerdy cowgirl chick is now the chief antagonist?
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge: There are not many cases where I would actually root for Wes to win on the Killing Floor, but against Bear would be one. Meh. It would have been interesting had Wes won because it would have been the first time this season where there would be a serious question of if he would join the British team. Although maybe he could have been welcomed back into Team US and the two voted him in could be on the outs. The next episode is titled “Benedict Laurel.”

Titans: I wonder if the show will turn a corner after a pretty lackluster first season. The original four characters were a bore last year but Lyla Garrity and Wonder Girl are now cast members and provided the two best scenes this week. Rose Wilson seems intriguing, but it will be a bigger test when they give her father more screen time. Although Dr. Light was kind of silly but I do not see him being around very long with Hawk, Dove, and Wonder Girl heading to San Fran. But does no one care that Starfire just disappeared?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 9, 2019

The Affair: Oh joy, we get three different perspectives on Vic’s funeral. But how obvious that Janelle was going to fork her ex-husband? What is the show without actual affairs? I do wonder if we ever get an explanation why we sometimes get wildly different versions now that we are in the final season. But Helen wasted no time in getting over Vic. I kind of thought for a second she would end back with Noah by the end of the series. There was a point during Helen’s act, I actually though Joanie may have actually died because it was getting kind of late. But now she is back on Montauk. I wonder if she runs into anyone we know. It sounds like Cole is dead, but I wonder what connections she has to Noah. He did raise her for a while. Maybe the show can come full circle and she can have an affair with one of the Soloway children while in Montauk.

Fear the Walking Dead: That storyline just really made me think of the time Rick on the main show ran into a preacher alone in his church who was testing his faith in the middle of the of the zombie apocalypse. So around the fifth season of the next spin-off, is someone going to run into an Iman testing his faith?
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge;War of the Worlds 2: I did not really like the new tribunal rules when they were first announced last week but seeing them in action again it just makes less sense. Seriously, someone can just shout out I am the head of the tribunal? Seems like they could do this better. I think in the past when they had large team they would have captains and if the winning caption won they were in the power position but the losing captain was up for elimination. That just seems better.

Titans: I guess it was good they introduced Trigon in human form because he real form looked pretty bad. And where did he go? I though he gets trapped in Raven’s crystal. She just psychically pushed him into some wormhole thing and then everyone was like, alright, let’s go to San Fran. What an anti-climactic ending. And they had the entire year to come up with that. They should have just kept with that being the season finale instead a season premiere.

Previewing The Affair: The Final Season

The Affair has always been a weird show with its duel narrative that got turned into a four person narrative (and increasingly more), but then they went and killed the second lead in Alison, then announced her on screen baby daddy would not return for the final season. Oh, but they cast Anna Paquin as the two actors that are no longer on the show’s daughter. And do not expect too much of the grown up Joanie who is on screen at least in the first couple episodes because she is on screen for maybe ten minutes in the first couple episodes and spends a couple minutes of those in various states of the undressed.

But I will says Joanie scenes are some of the most entertaining parts of the last season because of the weird choices the writers makes of what life will be like in about three decades (in Joanie’s first episode she is celebrating the birthday of the same year her mother died). Basically the writers think there are LED screens on basically everything and smart toilets are a little too smart. But my favorite is the future fireworks.

Back in present day, or whatever year it is then because Noah mentions he wrote his book eight years ago which I believe he wrote between the second and third season that aired about four years ago. And now that book, by all accounts sounds horrible is being made into a movie by a guy who calls himself a “modern James Bond’ type. Um, they are still making James Bond in the modern era. But anyway.

Whitney, who I believe did not show up until the final episode last season, is actually in the first three episodes this season. The good news is she is much less annoying than in the past. The bad news is she now has bangs which very few people look good with. But she does not get here own act (yet). Noah, Helen, and Joanie (this season looks like it is going to go with a three act structure), but we do get one surprise perspective early on.

Sure her live in boyfriend had a terminal disease in the last season, I cannot help to predict that Noah and Helen end back together. It just feels very full circle at this point. He even says to her, “If there’s one person I’d want to be with when I die, it’d be you.” Which very well may happen. We do not see him in Joanie’s future. Granted it begs the question, what exactly is him to her now? He did raise her for the first couple years before learning of Cole’s patronage. We actually do not see anyone else from the show in Joanie’s future just yet. Which kind of makes her part of the show the most interesting. I wonder if anyone else shows up in her time. Will she get an expanded role in future episodes? Will anyone from her time get their own act? Only time will tell I guess.

The Affair airs Sundays at 9:00 on Showtime.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/25/2018

Before I get into the week that was on television, I would be remised not to mention the biggest television news of the week: a Veronica Mars reboot is reportedly coming to Hulu with Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas (and other original cast members being negotiating). In the immortal words of Bart Scott: Can’t wait! Really, 2019 is shaping up to a dream year for me with the probibility of reboots of Veronica Mars, Alf, a Deadwood movie, Zombieland 2, and live action Black Manta. Since I am greedy, let me suggest some things that hopefully I can will into existence for 2019: reboots of Quantum Leap, My Two Dad, anything by Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, or Hannibal) and give another chance to the Indian chick version of The Greatest American Hero. Brittany Snow cast in the movie version of Supergirl, but that does not interfere with Pitch Perfect: The Series set between the first and second movie. Reunited Oasis and Hootie and the Blowfish or just any nineties act having a great big hit. Areatha Franklin’s death made wonder whatever happened to the musical comeback. Back in the eighties and nineties there were plenty of artists who would have late career resurgence after a decade away from the charts but cannot think of anyone who that has happened to since Santana earlier this century. Is it simply because there is no Clive Davis type figure around anymore to will it? Oh, and of course the most important thing we need to happen next year, if nor earlier, impeachment.

The Affair: Oh snap, Anton straight up called Noah a psychopath in that paper. Speaking of psychopaths, really cold to show up to the funeral of the person you killed. We did get I believe was the first ever three part episode. After a whole season of being absent from the whole show except in the title sequence, the daughter finally showed up. I do not remember her being that cheery. But I called it, Vic gets his legacy from the starlet’s daughter. At least Helen’s story added some levity to the episode so we did not end the season on the depressing Alison death.

Sharp Objects: Murder mystery shows routinely give huge red herrings in the penultimate episode, but that looked like it was definitely Adora. Unless Camille was just imagining Adora as the Woman in White (the show does get a little too artsy). But this whole time I thought Camille’s sister was brutally murdered like these girl. Well it did turn out they were killed by the same person. Except the one thing that does not add up is did Adore really mutilate these bodies? I wonder if Adora had an accomplice. The sheriff gets a little too comfortable with her and I remember it being very striking when they revealed that the girls had their teeth pulled and a couple scenes later he was seen fixing a stop sign with pliers. Oh, and Camille having sex with a teenage murder suspect who up to this point I thought was a homosexual was really creepy.

Fear the Walking Dead: So is this back half of the season just going to be pairs of cast members and how they survive (or don’t survive) this hurricane?
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: When Kam announce she had a big plan, my first inclination was that it will backfire. And I was right, TJ again pointed out he is the dirtiest player in the game by introducing Mercenaries (Smashley and someone so inconsequential, I have never bothered to learn his name, yawn). Except her big grand plan was to pit the two weakest teams was super lame. Seriously, she could have gotten Kyle and Brad vs. Zack which would have seen at least one or possibly two of the strongest guys out (although I like either of them against those Mercenaries). Just stupid and yet Kam thinks she is the smartest player out there.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: Oh my, Quigley has a Mini-Me. Although the Mini-Me turned on her by helping lock her up. It was pretty unclear just where the Mini-Me stood all season. It will be interesting if Mary Wells get back to London without fear the gallows. I actually would be interesting to see just how her talents could be used in Virginia at that time period.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: What the fork just happened? Okay I get Ruth has Alzheimer's and her mind sometimes lives in the past. But did they just confirm that the prisoner is some version of Reverend Deaver? Does he just want Ruth to think that? He said more this episode than the previous one’s combined so was that him or in Ruth’s mind? But it seems pretty real that Ruth did, indeed kill Pangborn. But I miss the timeline. Last week they ended with Pangborn entering the house in disarray, but other than an overdrawn bath, it did not seem to happen unless that was when Ruth was pushing her way through the funeral. But when did Panborn get out to the shed. Maybe a more coherent version of events will be shown next week.
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/18/2018

Claws: So they arrested Desna at the end of an episode and made me assume the cops were going to use her to flip the Russians, but the cops made her look like the bat ig fish, only for the cops to pull the reveal this week that they were using Desna to get to the Russians. But where exactly was the cops when all murder was going down? Shouldn’t they set up shop next door? But that was a plenty shocking ending. But who shot Virginia? Uncle Daddy? The Haitians? The Russians? But they really did not killer her, right? She is the best part of the show.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Wait a second, has the Fiona Apple theme song been a huge spoiler this whole time. Hearing it an episode after we learned Alison died just seemed to tie everything together. “I have only one thing to do and that's be the wave that I am and then sink back into the ocean,” is just eerier now. Then we had the weird two parts both being Alison. The show typically has had two sometime wildly different narratives. Does this confirm than Alison is the unreliable narrator? Granted just this season Noah and Helen had different telling of events. Maybe the second act is always the truth versions of events. But surprisingly we did get confirmation that Ben did kill Alison (assuming that the second act is reliable). So is next season going to be Noah and Cole teaming up to find the truth? I would actually be happy if Noah and Cole team up My Two Dad style to raise Joanie.

Sharp Objects: Amma is still on top of my suspect list and her drug filled episode just solidified that even more, but the cheerleader has vaulted into second on the list. She cares way too much about getting into Camille’s article. And the “baby killer” comment, does everyone know that she has an abortion? Could they be referring to the girl?

Fear the Walking Dead: Does one really need to make their own Scrabble game in the zombie apocalypse? It just seems like you could go down to the local Target and find a copy or two.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: When they announced this new voting format I really hated it because I assumed everyone would just vote for who they thought was the weakest team in case they got picked to go in against them. Except half the teams are even bigger cowards than I gave them credit for because half the teams admitted to burning their vote. Though it will be extremely funny if they all burned their vote on the same team, sending that team in for an epic backfire.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: The season started with Quigley in a jail cell and here we are at the end and Margaret is in the same jail cell. Except Margaret could not wiggle out her charge yet still left the prison alive. Just how long does it take someone to die by hanging? Then there was the other big reveal of the episode in that Emily Lacey lied about being pregnant. I had a feeling that it might be the case. And now she is picking up more clients to see that her lie becomes true. We end the episode with Margaret being sent away which begs the question how long before she finds herself back to London. I have to think her return will be important to the downfall of Quigley.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: Oh, hey, Henry has a kid. Who knew? I believe that was the first time his birth parents were mentioned. What happened there? So it was weird when kid Molly killed Henry’s dad, or at least that is what it looked like, I was not sure how reliable the perspective was at the time. But Molly claims that Henry killed his dead through Molly? Wait, what? So when Henry disappeared, did he go inside Molly? But I have to say the mysterious guy is less scary the more he talks. Though if a bird dropped out of the sky for the second time this week, who else is at that psychiatric hospital? Or is this one of those Stephan King Easter Eggs that will not be explained. What better be explained next episode is what he did in the house this week. Who’s blood with that and what exactly happened to Henry’s mom and where was his son during all this?
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/12/2018

Claws: Well that was an, um, interesting way to end the penultimate episode before what is presumably explosive final episode. We will get to finally see what side the Russians are on. And I only have to guess Desna has a contingency plan know that she knows her future husband owns all that property.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Well, that was shocking. When they said Alison was dead, my initial cynic television watcher was it really was not her. But then Noah identified the body. Although I have a sinking suspicion that we do not know the whole story. We do have two episodes left so it seems safe to assume we will get Alison’s perspective of her last days. But is it going to be next week or the finale. Do we even need a conclusion to the Helen and Vic storyline?

Sharp Objects: Well we knew she cut herself, but that was a lot of scars on Camille, some I wonder how exactly was she able to contort her body into making. But nothing changed this week to made me question my prediction that Amma had something to do with the murders.

Harlots: So Lucy has shacked up with a killer and is not at all fazed by the news. Oh, and he is in cahoots with Liv Tyler’s brother. Battle lines are being redrawn. But that is not the worst news for Margaret Wells, her plan to unseat Quigley completely unraveled. But hey, at least she got one daughter back. Although she may not be with her daughter long after confessing to murder. Did she do that just to get Lord Fallon arrested? Lucy cannot take the fall if her mom already confessed.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: Oh wow, they let the nameless inmate out. And he noticeably did not shake the lawyer’s hand so clearly just a touch can make people go insane. And maybe even less than a touch because it seemed by the just the presence caused that family to get very aggressive with each other. But he does seem to like high places, kind of reminds me of the mascot from what think was the first episode. So Tessa Altman talks about how all this weird stuff happened in this town before she was born and it presumably stopped when the warden first took the inmate, which we now know Pangborn knew about, and now things are getting weird again. But how long until we know what exactly is going on. Sure the inmate told Pangborn that he is not the Devil but of course the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was to make people think he doesn’t exist.
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/5/2018

Claws: I was convinced when Desna was arrested the task force was just using her to get to the Russians. But apparently she was the big fish they were talking about. And it does not seem like Desna is interested in giving them the Russians in exchange for some deal because Slata gave her a great lawyer. Instead she makes a deal with Slata to kill her fiancé in exchange for more franchises even though the Feds are on to her. There has to be another play here because that does not seem wise.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Wait, what? So hot starlet beds Vic two weeks ago and then this week, all but confesses to Helen and then has sex with her too. Is a threesome coming in two more episodes? It still seems like an obvious solution to have her carry Vic’s baby. Then we had two Whitney mentions this episode yet in episode seven we have not actually seen her yet despite the actress still being in the title sequence. But are we already to the flash forwards from the start of the season? That seems quick, but it has been a few episodes since they did one of those scenes.

Sharp Objects: I came away from the first three episodes thinking three different people did the murder. There was an interesting theory of two different people killed the two girl, but I am even more convinced that Amma was involved in at least one, if not both murders.

The Bold Type: Wait, they are not really going to have this big decision storyline for Jane where she struggles between choosing the humanitarian doctor or the douchebag writer, are they? That has to be one of the easiest decisions ever. Although for some reason, a lot of female television character ends up picking the bad boy.
You can download The Bold Type on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: Well, that had to be up there with one of the worse episodes in the history of the show. Without any actual challenges, the first three fourths of the show was a bore. Then eliminating people on the double cross was just lame. That was made even worse by only Big Brothers competing to get back into the game. I know I say this a lot, but I really wished The Challenge would just go to the Survivor format of one elimination per episode.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: Oh my, there is a little Quigley growing inside Emily Lacey. Or so she says. Interesting that Lucy has been mostly away from everyone this season.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: I had a sinking suspicion the prison guard would not be on the show long. But I have to wonder if touching the man in the box was what hastened his demise. The dude did tell his cell mate not to touch him and the next day the Nazi dies of aggressive cancer. Did that fist bump inspire the shooting spree? As for other unanswered questions, just what happened to Henry? The creepy old man told Henry that h knew that he never touched him. Did he just admit participation in the abduction? And does Henry really know? I do not believe we have heard his version of the story yet. Not even a “I have no memory of the time I was missing?” And just what happened to his father? Is what we saw Molly do last week reliable, or is that just what she thinks she did? The father did write “Henry did it.” But did what? Is pushing him over the cliff too obvious.
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger: Early in the season, I notice the actress who plays Dagger on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist which led me down a rabbit hole of her music career, including a soundtrack for the show where she covers soft rock gem Come Sail Away. So as the opening strums of the song playing as the voodoo priestess told of each Divine Pairing, I knew what was coming… and it was horribly awesome. As for the show itself, I am not entirely sure what is going on with Evil Cop. Did Cloak kill him? Is he in some dream state in Cloak’s mind, sort of like the scientist? Can Cloak bring him back whenever he wants? And is Lady Cop just Lady Swamp Thing now? I would be fine with that as long as she does not start growing moss on her skin.
You can download Marvel's Cloak and Dagger on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/29/2018

Claws: Didn’t they just pull the surprise arrested by cops in the final scene just two episodes ago? Not only was that shocking and left us guessing what happened next, it seems pretty obvious to me all that will happen with Desna is the cops will try to get her to turn on the Russians which she will be eager to do. The only question is where will the show go in season three with the Russians (presumably) out of the picture and the cops aware of Desna illegal activities?
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Is this is how Anton gets to the east coast in the future? On a college visit? And what happened to those future scenes, they just gone forever? And a little disappointing that we did not get a Helen segment so we can see what prompted that tweener rant by the son. Maybe the next episode. But that had to be the shortest segment ever. The Noah segment only lasted twenty minutes. Then Alison is stuck in another estranged father who wants a kidney storyline. There have been way too many of those on television. But if Cole was on his walkabout and Alison fled to California, just who was watching Joanie?

Sharp Objects: The biggest thing to stick out this week, well other than how the girlfriend weirdly is eager to play house while wearing her cheerleader outfit in out of season, was how drunkenly adamant Amma was about how her friends would do anything for her. “Anything!!!!” Would they kill for her? These dead girls are Amma’s peers and the one kid did say a woman in white abducted one of the girls, although the yanking of teeth seemed a bit much for teenaged girls. Then there is Camille’s roommate who I have now watch die tragically twice in the span of the month, the first being the ritualistic drowning on The Handmaid’s Tale. Is that actress now officially the teenage girl version of Sean Bean who is just brought in to die tragically?

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: I like the new voting system as much as I hate it. I also wished the Challenge would go with the Survivor hidden votes because the votes do seem very bandwagon at times. But then I do not like that the people who get votes in have to choose between the people who voted for them. You might as well just pencil in Bananas/Tony and Brad/chin implant dude to the finals because teams will only vote foe other teams they think they can beat (I.e. weak teams) and those voted in will avoid strong teams unless there is some anomaly in the voting thanks to the weekly winners getting two votes and cannot be chosen.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: I think that was the first times the Wells ladies spoke this season not pretending they had a major falling out. I was beginning to wonder if Margaret was still in on the plan to bring down Quigley. But Emily Lacey, shunned by both houses is actually picking a side. But the big plot twist is the little harlot is turning on Emily Lacey to help Quigley. But will she tell her of Charlotte’s plan?
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger: Finally the voodoo family is back. Only in New Orleans can someone go around town spitting liquor and no one give them a second look. Then the younger one can block Dagger’s new skill of stealing someone’s hope and even got in a great dig: calling her a strangely aggressive tiny girl. Which begs the question, can Cloak steal someone’s fears?
You can download Marvel's Cloak and Dagger on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/22/2018

Claws: Well that was some inappropriate bedside manner from Jenn. Sad thing is was that the moment she started touching him; I knew that was exactly where they were going with that. And Jenn blaming Desna for Bryce felt a little misguided. It was Bryce and Uncle Daddy who went there to kill Slata, you cannot be mad at someone else when they start shooting back.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: No future Noah / Cole segment at the beginning? Instead we get a present day Helen / Vic trying to have a kid. Then we get the mild surprise of starting with a Vic-centric half episode. Which was just his mid-life crisis mixed with rich person bucket list. I just said the last time Vic was on the show he was my most standup guy on the show and now he is blowing curing kid disease to go joy riding with a starlet’s daughter… in more ways than one. But hey, if Helen will not give him a baby, the daughter might be the better option anyway. Speaking of old dudes spreading their seed with younger women… poor Cole, went through all those exorcism steps only to learn that is what led his father to kill himself.

Sharp Objects: I came away from the premiere thinking the step-father did it (mostly because the actor is evil in pretty much everything I see him in) but this week we had one eyewitness say a woman in white did it which makes me think the mother is a doth protest too much type a person. Then we learn the murderer yanked out teeth with pliers and then a couple scenes later the sheriffs fixing a stop sign… with a forking pair of pliers hanging on the sign. It cannot be that obvious, can it? The sheriff seemed kind of offended at the idea of a women doing the deed.

The Bold Type: Um, Jane, have you never seem a clarinet case in your life before? That was way too big for a clarinet. But I could have done without the very special episode about guns. And a bit eye rolling that Sutton is turning Betsy into earing. And it was a bit weird how many times they said Sutton’s last name this episode, maybe more times in the entire first season, considering her last name is shared by the most famous gun control legislation of all time.
You can download The Bold Type on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: Nothing more annoying than the first couple episodes when it takes forever to get to the first elimination round. And it will be annoying is Bananas/Tony and Brad/tattoo guy dominate this season just because they are by far the strongest teams.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: So Emily Lacey’s new “boarding house” is just a black chick, a little person, and, I guess herself. I cannot image that the brothel will be very successful. It seems like only a mater a time before she picks a side between Quigley and Wells.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger: So crooked cop has lady cop kill the drug dealer last week when it seemed to me that it would have been smarter and this week the crooked cop (presumably) kills the beat cop but lets the lady cop, who again is the bigger threat, live. Another confusing thing to me is just how do Cloak and Dagger’s abilities work together? He sees people fears while she sees their hopes, but together, they saw the comatose scientist in a Groundhogs Day loop and then saw when they touched her mother together, they saw her father slap her mother. Are they just seeing what that person is thinking right then and there? They need to explain that better.
You can download Marvel's Cloak and Dagger on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/15/2018

Claws: Okay, things are starting to get confusing. Last week, Quiet Ann confessed to her lesbian lover who seemingly used that information to arrest the doctor but they just went on as nothing happened. Then this week Desna walked in on her man and Slata and they explained how they were playing Desna. What? Whose side is the Haitian on? He made plans with Uncle Daddy last season so who exactly is he playing? Things got convoluted in the second half of last season and it looks like they are doing the same this season. But as long as teenaged white girls are using Public Enemy as their dinner plans I will be entertained enough.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: So it is confirmed Noah and Cole are looking for Alison in the future. Kind of boring but at least there is not going to be some stupid plot twist. Though maybe there still will be, maybe Alison is not alone. Noah’s daughter is still in the title sequence but is currently sight unseen and barely mentioned other than being at college with an age appropriate boyfriend. It took me a while to realize that was Alison’s new beau at the meeting. Weird that we learned that he had a wife in the future timeline. But it does say something that the most interesting part of a Cole/Alison episode is the one minute prologue. But is Cole really going to go for a walkabout in California, just where Noah is (though in the future they are in Pennsylvania)?

Sharp Objects: I actually watched the premiere back to back with Justice League and it left me longing for fun Amy Adams. And after looking it up, it has been eight years since The Muppets, maybe her last upbeat project. Someone needs to write her a comedy quick.

I’m Dying Up Here: Ron just continues to fail upwards, his own spin-off? Wow. He tried to get off that show all season only to get a raise for his troubles. Although, was that ending Ron dead from an overdose or just resting? But it was interesting after last season ended with another inconsequential club burning down that were some stakes at the end of the this season with the strike. Makes me wonder if Richard Pryor actually joined a strike like this.

The Bold Type: I certainly did not have Jane landing back at Scarlet in the back half of the season. I was actually thinking that reporting on someone else that had a run in with Jacqueline’s abuser actually made it less likely for Jane to get her job back but that ended up being the reason.
You can download The Bold Type on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: I wonder just how the person who is buried and who did the digging was chosen. Clearly Britni was put at a disadvantage. Poor Jenna, I am not sure Jemmy would have done much better. And just where was Banana’s partner? They just seemed to completely gloss over his partner was not there with no explanation. But the biggest question is how do you possibly get booted for fighting when a million dollars is on the line? You cannot goad me into a fight if for even a tenth of that.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

The Handmaid’s Tale: When Offred was having flashbacks to her other daughter, I thought, oh, no, after all that trouble other people went through, she is not really going to go back solely just for the other daughter. At least she gave the baby with Rory Gilmore who killed (?) Aunt Lydia and is punished with escape for it. I wonder if this was the first Handmaid he helped escaped. He had no children (that we saw) and was kind of old to be a new father yet was in the need for another Handmaid. Kind of annoying that Offred almost escapes in episode one, could have escaped in the antepenultimate episode if had not been for a frozen garage door. And then could have escaped for a third time this season, but decided to stay.

Then, oh snap, the cut off Serena’s pinky. Sure it does not seem that big a deal coming off an episode where the drowned a pair of teenagers. I actually thought Offred was going to offer, or possible Serena would ask, to go with Offred at the end. I wonder if Serena tries to leave next season, remember when she was in Canada, the American guy offered her a place in Hawaii.

And what of Offred next season? If they drowned the adulterers, what is the punishment for stealing a baby? It has to be worse than cutting off a finger. And just how does she expect to get her other kid back and reunite with her family? Sure Waterford offered more visits if she behaves but kidnapped what he thinks is his child is not really behaving? Does Serena help?
You can stream The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.

Reverie: Finally something interesting… Mara’s brother-in-law survived the murder-suicide attempt. She has already entered the Reverie of a comatose patient, clearly she will do that again before the season is up.
You can download Reverie on iTunes.

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger: The token Groundhog’s Day episode is beginning to be an annoying television trope. But it should be interesting how the doctor changes things. Though if his mind is as mushy as it was in the time loop, it may be a while before he can help anyone. And I cannot imagine Roxxon is keen on him being conscience again.
You can download Marvel's Cloak and Dagger on iTunes.

Previewing The Affair: Season Four

The Affair started out weird with its split storytelling and inconsistent narrators. Sometimes you would even forget about the murder mystery. Then they unveiled the murderer in the second season and then things got weirder. All four of the main characters went their separate ways (yet would stillfind themselves running into each other). Two got married, and the two that were married to each other and were part of the titular affair got divorced. And that led Noah to a weird trip to France that dominated the last half of last season.

And that is the thing, Noah dominated so much of last season, I barely remember what happened to the other three main characters last season. From the “Previously On” segment, I vaguely remember Cole hooking up again with Alison and her kid with Noah is actually Cole’s. Then Helen ended up getting married to a doctor. But still, Noah getting stalked by a corrections officer (or so he thought, he may be the least reliable of all the narrators) before following his lover to Paris where things got weirder than usual.

But it looks like they are bringing it back to more of an ensemble as the fourth season. The season weirdly starts with Noah and Cole in the same vicinity vaguely taking about someone who we are led to believe is Alison but since that is so obvious and her name is never spoken I think there is a twist coming. Remember Helen was randomly the person who ran over Scotty Lockhart. Then after about a minute we get a weeks ago title card and a tradition “Act 1” title alert.

The new season sees Noah move to Los Angeles to follow his kids after Vic took a job there. Helen and Vic are living in a beautiful house in the hills next to the daughter of a starlet (who is a recognizable starlet herself) with the youngest kids. The two eldest are off at college and though she is still in the title sequence the oldest is nor seen in the first six episodes. The second eldest is not seen but we do get to hear his voice on the phone. In their absence, Trevor more screen time in the season premiere

Noah inexplicably gets another teaching job, this time teaching English to inner city youth at a charter school despite being a convicted felon for that Lockhart murder. The trademark wildly different narratives are back. Noah thinks Helen pulls him into the women’s bathroom while Helen believes they went into the men’s restroom to talk.

Of course you will have to wait until week two to learn what is going on with Cole and Alison. Cole is still in Montauk running the restaurant with Alison. Though Cole does not think Alison wants to sell the Lobster Roll, Alison thinks Cole doesn’t want to sell. Then by the middle of the season both find their way out to the West Coast, not necessarily together.

The show sticks with its traditional Noah/Helen, Cole/Alison episode structure that seems to be the norm since season two. They start mixing things up later in the season with someone outside those four getting their own act. I do wonder if there is a The Affair analytics page to show which character gets the most featured acts and who randomly shows up in other people’s acts.

The Affair airs Sundays at 9:00 on Showtime.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 2/5/17

Mercy Street: Oh no, Ramona Flowers may have Typhoid? They better not kill her off, she is basically the main reason I watch.
You can download Mercy Street on iTunes.

Homeland: I was going to scoff at the new president keeping Dar on at the CIA but Trump just announced that James Comie was going to continue to lead the FBI so I guess that is one of the more probable plot twists on the show. How depressing that the plots on Homeland have become more believable than real life? And of course Dar tapped the president, how long until he lets Saul in on this information? And what exactly is Saul doing?

The Affair: So after the big reveal last week that Noah stabbed himself, this week he is now in post coital bliss with Juliette in Paris like nothing happened. Then we get o see her deal with her life even though I do not think we have seen her since the second or third episode. Meh. As usually, Noah’s act was much better especially running inti Furcat. Too bad they did not have a time to work in an episode that featured Furcat’s perspective. And what was so bizarre about this episode was after such a bizarre season, the finale was kind of just normal people doing normal things. Then no Cole or Allison and I am not entirely sure what exactly their purpose were this season.

Conviction: Never a good idea to wait until your last to make a good episode. Incompetent first year lawyer Hayes would have been a much better show than what we had been watching.
You can download Conviction on iTunes.

Gotham: I thought we were going to have a repeat from early in season one when Gordon took the Penguin to the docks, and in lei of killing him, said never come back to Gotham, except The Riddler actually did shoot Penguin in the gut. Ouch, I guess not potentially fatal but it s not like he would be the first to ever come back to the dead on this show.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Supergirl: Oh wow, second episode in a row when I did not absolutely hate Mon-El. But I still loved the very appropriate frat boy dig.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Lucifer: Wait, so why can the lord of the underworld not allowed to go back and forth freely? Especially leave, he already left once.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.

Timeless: What the fork?!? Army guy kills the father of his wife’s killer and still does not manage to change the future (or least that we get to see). Why do I know have the feeling the Riddenhouse was involved in her death?
You can download Timeless on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Oh wait, Patton Oswalt also has a twin sister? Where exactly has his characters been anyway, the show needs to work them back into the show more often.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: Wait, did she really just drink contaminated pod water?!? If you really want to walk a mile in their shoes, just drink from their tap. And is Steve not in the light because Eddie is the true leader?
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Emerald City: Wait the Wizard of Oz want Dorthy to kill… Glinda the Good Witch!?!?!? Huh? And when is she actually going to team up with the Tin Man? Shouldn’t that have happened before she arrived at the Emerald City.
You can download Emerald City on iTunes.