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

 

House of the Dragon:  Finally some of the famous Targaryen incest we have been so much about.  Though that turned out to be very tame by Targaryen standards.  But pretty shocking that the princess would swear on her mother’s grave when she did let her guard go to town.  But kind of icky that the king did not believe either of their protests and still sent the moon tea anyway.

 

Tales of the Walking Dead:  I appreciate the attempt more than the execution of the episode.  But I guess that is the advantage of anthologies

 

City on a Hill:  I am not sure what I needed to see less, Jackie get excited post-surgery or the male nurse dealing with it.  But I felt like I miss something with Jackie getting shot seemingly out of nowhere.  I had to check and make sure I did not miss an episode.  So the mob is just trying to gun him down.  But it is interesting that, with the season winding down, we get a bottle episode with Jackie in the hospital.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  I know she went through something horrifically traumatic, but they are making June extremely unlikeable to the point that Serena the sympathetic one.  I say almost because then Serena had to go and use Hannah as a prop at Fred’s funeral.  But are other countries really going to show videos of the evil countries founding founders in whatever their version of Times Square is? 

 

I kind of forgot about Janine and the extremely young Handmaid.  We see Janine in the hospital, but did young Handmaid.  Might be a better alternative than being a rape doll for the old Commander.  But just how does Aunt Lydia know she is “fertile?”   I thought all of the current Handmaids were picked because they had kids when everyone else could not, certainly she had not become baby making age prior to Gilead becoming a nation.

 

Tell Me Lies:  They let us binge three episodes, ended that third episode with the shocking revelation that the skeazy dude took naughty pictures of the dead chick, and then they did not mention that at all this episode.  How rude.  But what is with all these dudes lasting seconds?  I am embarrassed for them all.

 

The Challenge: USA:  What a clusterfork from the start with Ben not being medically cleared to compete.  They should have either brought back the last eliminated guy or just have some quick competition that eliminated one of the women so there would be even teams.  Or, with Enzo quacking within seconds, let Desi continue and just have a team of two females for the rest of the finale.  Sarah got really lucky with one of the few legs that it might of actually been better to be alone  I would have thought the eating an onion would also be a nice stage to do by yourself, but Cayla could not even finish that by her.

 

Jasmine, who had to remember ten sets of numbers when the others had to memorize five each, and Angela, who was doubly screwed by having to shovel all that dirt (not even half the amount of everybody else, but 2/3’s the pile according to Tyson) and not being able to sleep at all.  Though if the rules state one had to shovel while the other slept, why was Angela not allowed to do the second part?  Just the selective rules where some people were allowed to time out, like Cayla and Jasmine when they were alone, but not Angela, or Sarah at the puzzle, but no one was allowed to time out in others, like everyone like everyone else at Sudoku.  Gee another part of the finale where Sarah got extremely lucky.  Ugg, now we are stuck with her with the world championship.  If you are going to go willy nilly with their rules, why are you doing it so someone so unlikable like Sarah gets to come back for another show?

 

Stargirl:  Shiv still acting very shady releasing the blackmail evidence.  But I am still going with Icicle Jr. as the killer who was acting just as shady this week.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 20, 2020

  

Fear the Walking Dead:  Oh wow, they actually set off the bombs, I just figured they would figure out a way to redirect them or at the very least they would turn out to be duds.  So is next season just them living in nuclear fallout?  Are they going to move up north?  Is there a place where they could go to avoid the blast?  Won’t the winds carry this to Virginia and affect the other show?  Although pretty laughable that nuclear bombs went off and only manage to kill one person.  Sure a couple other people died prior that may have been taken out by the bomb.  But just how do Morgan and Grace survive just by hiding under a truck?   The zombie had chemical burns.  At least jump in the car and shut the door with the dog. 

 

The Chi:  Well that was a pretty pathetic protest, just three people... and the principal left work early.  But hey, if he left early, why not everyone?  But Jake macking on Jemma was super-obvious, I knew that kiss was going to happen the moment when they ganged up on Kevin while discussing the protest.   At least they did not draw it out.  But how long until they tell Kevin?

 

Black Monday:  So Tiffany wanted Blair to let the world know her father was a monster.  But then did Blair not use that platform to do just that?  Just to gain political points?  That seems like a good way to get shot again.  Or was that casket dropping meant for him?

 

Cruel Summer: Well I got one major theory right with the gun being Annabelle and Kate used that to kill Martin. My Angela theory turned out very wrong (unless that is season two but the writers said that it could be a continuation of the story or they may turn the show into an anthology).  She turned out to be Guy Pierce (who I predicted to be the murderer) in Mare of Easttown, someone you would think would tie into the mystery just because they are part of the cast, but turned out to be just very insignificant.  But if this does turn into an anthology, Jeanette’s mom taking about her time back in high school with Kate’s mom could be interesting.  Maybe we can find out what really happened to Kate’s birth father.  And / or find out who Tennille’s real father is.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  Wait, so June facilitated an exchange for Fred, but did not even try to get Hannah to be part of the exchange?  I get from a story prospective you need something to motivate June next season, but at least ask.  And are the higher ups in Giliad going to be fine that they exchanged so many political prisoners for someone who died in custody?  I guess that is good for Serena because maybe they will be hesitant trying to trade her for anyone.    But where does Serena go next season?  Does she have to continue to give secrets to keep her and her child’s secrets?  Will she even trust the Americans?  Will she thank them for getting rid of Fred? 

 

But at least Fred was able to speak some truth on his way out, pointing out how gross the June and Nick coupling is.  What the fork is going on there.  June does not seem happy back with her husband, but Nick is the literal enemy.  Is she using him so he will help her to get Hannah back or does she truly love the guy who was forced to rape her.

 

The Bold Type:  I never particular liked this show, but the girl getting high this week was easily the best thing to ever happen on the show.

 

The Blacklist:  Oh, hey, I got another prediction right; Lizzy’s mom from last season was not really her mom.  Except, why not tell her she was an imposter.  Lizzy just blew up her life, figuratively, and literally tried to blow up Red, because of that lie.  But that was the only part of this episode I understood.  They have retconned Lizzy’s story so many times, it is hard to keep track of it.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 13, 2021

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  I never thought they were going to launch the nukes because what happens to this and the other shows if America becomes a nuclear wasteland.  But he did still get one rocket off with ten warheads.  Um, so now what?  Are they just going to be duds what have been sitting around too long?  I thought maybe Morgan would be able to redirect them to the ocean, but it looks like he will not try.  But one thing I do not understand about the madman’s plan, if he was directing the missiles on himself, who was going to let Alicia out of her bomb shelter if it is locked from the outside?

 

The Chi:  So they are going to defund the police and replace them with an untrained (unpaid?) community outreach?  Yeah, they deserved to be mocked for that.  But I wonder if by the end of the season, they “solved” policing a city without actual realize they are needed.  Like most things, the real answers lies somewhere in between the two extremes that the loudest voices propose.  It will be interesting to see where the writers lie.  But some angry white cop has to be on the top of the who killed the mayor power ranking.  But that would be as bad as the writers thinking they can solve policing if the shooter is not a major or at the very least recurring character.

 

Black Monday:  Wait, is Blair able to shoot people threw a television?  Not that kind of show but I think he may become the prime suspect.  Ironically I thought the preacher was the prime suspect of Blair’s shooting.  The same person had to do both shootings, but who?  Now I am beginning to think maybe Blair’s shooting was supposed to miss so maybe Tiffany.  But can she easily get on the preacher’s jet to do the shooting?  Maybe her partner, who is the preacher’s daughter.

 

Cruel Summer:  Well, that was crappy.  The Laid montage did not help it out either.  But on the eve of the finale, I have a few predictions: Annabelle is the gun Kate shoots Martin with, that is the gunshot we heard back in episode one and Joy was able to get the police to cover it up.  Kate saw Mallory dressed at Jeanette.  And Angela knew Martin and he was the reason she moved to town to find out the truth of his death.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  I predicted that the Waterford’s would be out of prison by the end of the season, I just did not think it would take this long.  Halfway through the episode, I thought he was going to get released in exchange for Hannah, but he does not even have to help with her release he just gets let go on the promise of information.  But what I do not understand is how the US dude was able to get his release if Fred is being tried in Canada. 

 

Manifest:  So Cal is Olive’s age now because he touched the tailfin?  Where did he go and age five years?  I vaguely remember the airplane flew back in time for a couple seconds and returned in the future.  Did Cal go back in time, hang out for five years and was somehow transported right back to the same time.  But why did nothing happen to his dad?  But at least the Single White Female remains stupidly entertaining.  Chick just straight up murdered someone because she thought the baby was her guardian angel. 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 30, 2021

 

 Fear the Walking Dead:  I have no recollection of the guy from the stadium.  I barely remember the stadium other than it was overrun by zombies and Alicia’s mom scarified herself to save everyone. Not that it matters now because they are all dead.  But at least we finally found out what that key was to, just a nuclear warhead. 

 

Mare of Easttown:  So we have a murder confession (albeit, kind of coerced) and seemingly who the father is (though I think it is the other brother, not the one that confess) but that begs the question, what was in the journal that the friend saved and why did the boyfriend threaten to kill her if he was not the one to kill Erin?

 

Debris:  Oh well, it was canceled.  Was never that compelling to begin with.  Now I do not have to wrap my head around the pod or why the dad turned heel for no apparent reason.

 

Cruel Summer:  The show has a lot of trigger warning, but I really needed one for all the pronged fed printers.  Those scenes gave me bad PTSD from the time in college where mine stopped working properly the night before I had a paper due and had to force feed the paper sometime past midnight to get it printed.  But we learned who left the “Liar” letter.  Gotta be nice to be buy a new printer when the old one jams rich.  But the brother had no problem printing out reams of pages while in the shower (who had a shower in their dorm room?) though does that change much?  It does not seem like that would be admissible in court.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  The American dude is acting weird; it was almost as if he wants Serena to work with Fred.  Could he be double agent?  I just feel like they are going to somehow get set free sometime before the end of the season.  I wonder if June will end up using her to get her other daughter back.  Now that she is free, there really is not that left for the show to do but that.

 

The Bold Type:  Well that ended badly.  It was almost like the writers took a hard left after the criticism of Kat sleeping with the Republican.  I wonder if that is the last we see of her.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars:  Well that was pretty anti-climactic when the two points leaders jumped out to a big lead in the last leg of the finale.  But I have big beef with the official fantacy league. I had the second and both third place finishers on my team and yet the only points I got were from Mark who did not even place.  I was doing pretty well until the finale.

 

The Blacklist:  So Lizzie had yet another chance to kill Red and failed.  Meh.  And now she has to work with him to bring down Townsend.  I am ready for this season to end.  I kind of which Lizzie could easily go back to being an agent after this.

57 Channels and Only This is On: May 23, 2021

 

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist:  Well that was a clunky way to end the season.  Wasn’t the main reason Max was going to New York was to franchise his restaurant idea.  Sure, breaking up with Rose hurts the living situation but he does have family in the city.  And just what changed in Max’s mind from when he was singing a sexy duet with her earlier this season and later signing a song with Rose’s name in it (or well he would have song that song had Zoey’s powers not been glitching), or just singing about having a New York state of mind to the final scene?  Rose telling him he looked distracted was all he needed.  That was about as forced as Zoey just learning Max gave up his offer for her when the brogrammers were have definitely had brought that up much earlier.  But I guess all that is fine if that final scene means we get more Zoey singing and dancing next season (please let there be a next season).

 

The Nevers:  I wonder if the writers sat down after five episodes and said, sure this show is confusing, but how about we make it more confusing.  Seriously, what the fork was that?

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  There have been almost twenty seasons of this franchise and it is surprising this is the first time they have done a death cult.  I do like that there is a cop hunting down the leader and has done so since before outbreak.

 

Good Girls:  So is the gangbanger just going to kill the cop?  What about the daughter?

 

Mare of Easttown:  Oh no, not Ralph Bohner.  Granted I already saw one person in the past year get shot in the head and survive.  Since that dude is dead, I guess that can put to rest the theory that the kidnapper and the killer are the same person.  Hopefully the murderer turns out to be actually someone we have met before.

 

City on a Hill:  The past finally caught up to Jackie… or did it?  Despite being recommended for termination and tossing his badge into the bay, it did leave the door open for an appeal with Decoursey as a key witness.  But this did also seem like it could serve as a series finale.  Jackie finally got his comeuppance, Decoursey got justice for his dead, unborn child (but did not leave him completely fulfilled), Siobhan found a new purpose in life, and Cathy Ryan is also starting a new life in Florida.  But that last one seemed like a rushed conclusion to her storyline.  She just shoots a dude that I am not entirely sure who they were and bolts.   But if this is the series finale so be it, it never seemed to come completely together and Showtime already has a show devoted to two alpha males going at it and sometime teaming up.

 

Debris:  Oh yeah, the evil dude is still around.  I completely forgot about him.  But that was a pretty wild plan.

 

Cruel Summer: Well there goes my theory that Jeanette’s mom was in the crazy bin in 1995, it certainty seemed like she was just heading that way.  Instead she just had a career change.  But it was weird when she was surprised when Angela suggested she left her husband.   Seemed that way to me.  Then weird she just left it at that ad did not explain what her point of view was.  But I guess I need a new theory and this week got me thinking, just why is Angela there?  I now think she has ties to Martin, maybe the ex-girlfriend he spoke of this week.  Could Angela be Annabelle?

 

Big Sky:  If these evil doers can make the sex trafficker just disappear, why didn’t they make him disappear when he went on the run?  Sure, he had to call them, but if they can easily find him and break him out of custody, surely they could have found him before that.  But the good guys were just as dumb.  Of course it was a trap.  How about bring more fire power that the sheriff, the FBI guy, and two PI’s?  This show is so stupid.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  I would have been so mad had June been caught by Gilead yet again.  But now she is finally in Canada, reunited with her husband and child with a different dude.  At what point that she had a rom-com moment on the bridge with that baby daddy who also happens to be a higher up in Gilead?  That should be a fun conversation. And does June visit the Waterford’s in Canadian prison?

 

The Challenge: All-Stars:  Surprising the cut two people right off the bat and then did not eliminate any of the other ten contestants in the subsequent checkpoint.  But who would have guess Jonna would get the first two first places?  I guess it helps that you can pick your partner first if you are fist to finish.  But they do need to trim some fat soon.  Ten finalists is a bit much.

 

Manifest:  Okay, I am surprisingly enjoying this silly Single White Female story line and how the two family members who were not on 828 could be jeopardizing the Life Boat by ostracizing the new chick.

 

The Blacklist:  Poor Lizzie, lost her entire team and her sister.  Maybe this crusade against Red was a bad decision.  And does she now need to team up with Red to bring down the guy who hired the hitman?  Oh the irony.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 15, 2021

 

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist:  When the promo looked like is was going to be a flashback I thought, well, I guess there will not be many, if any, songs this week.  But they cleverly worked in plenty of music despite Zoey not having powers (I thought maybe the flashback would reveal Mitch had that power too).  The best had to be the weird battle between Max and the man-bunned Leif.  And how could have guess Tobin worked there before anyone else?  But that seemed very unprofessional for the therapist to say the story was a love story about her and a dude that is not her current boyfriend that happens to also be in a different relationship.

 

The Nevers:  I was wondering why the cop was talking to the press like it was someone we should know.  Except there was no reason for him to know her.  Or was she supposed to look like someone on the show previously?  Was the person who died the press lady and the crazy lazy convinced her to switch places with her?  If so, how?

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  Happy Mother’s Day everyone.  Geez.  But a pretty stupid episode.  I could not understand why none of the evil doers brought guns while looking for Morgan, or why Morgan was able to murder everyone except the one guy I remembered from last episode even though he was able to stab through the chest.  Seriously, why let him walk away?  But then the guy returns with a gun?  Why not bring it with you in the first place?  Why leave it in the car?

 

Good Girls:  I am no legal scholar, but how can a councilman be able to go over federal agents to convince the district attorney to not press charges?  And why is this case going to a district attorney?  If it is a federal crime, shouldn’t a US attorney be presiding over the case?

 

Mare of Easttown:  That dude who kidnapped that girl looked pretty big, kind of like Mare’s ex-husband.  But it is weird that they just low-key mentioned that the first kidnapping victim had a kid, but the grandma cancer patient had to get a babysitter to pay the ransoms.  Just when you thought her life could not get worse, she turns out to be a single grandmother with cancer and a missing daughter.  But who is looking over that kid when she is at work?  Who is the baby daddy?  Is that who usually takes that kid?

 

City on a Hill:  Well that was a stupid plan.  Why not surprise him in a building with limited exits instead of a wide open street where there could be potential bystanders?  So now that he is dead, do we go back to Decourcy and Frankie feuding?  Granted Decourcy will have to repay a favor first.

 

Cruel Summer: So Kate thought she saw Kate at the dunk tank and thought it was Jamie, someone of a completely different height, weight, and gender?  Well that certainly helps Jeanette’s case of mistaken identity.  But I am waiting for things to pick up, after three strong episodes to start; the next two have sort of dragged.  They need more scenes of Kate confronting Jeanette, but it was Kate that ducked away from Jeanette this episode.  And those stupid trigger warning are starting to get very spoilery.  These millennial need to grow the fork up.

 

Supergirl:  I did not think things could be worse than Brainiac 5 and Dreamer going back in time episodes, but this stupid everyone manifests their fears may have actually been worse.  Okay, I did laugh at Brainiac 5 being afraid of balloons.

 

Big Sky:  I always that that wig was so bad; no way that it is fooling anyone.  It turns out it did not, the girlfriend did know he was a sex trafficker.  And did not care?  Okay, I could see a murderer being attracted to another murderer, but shouldn’t sex trafficking cross the perverable line, even for murderers? But it looks like the wrapped up the other plotline with all the male heirs dead.  Congratulations to the daughter?  But I am not sure if the family farm is going to be worth much anymore.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  So Janine survives the train only to be buried by rubble two episodes later?  But I guess we did not see the body so I guess she may have survived.  But what was Moira doing in Chicago?  And doesn’t mass bombing a city minute before a ceasefire defeat the purpose of a ceasefire?  Would people who would give aid to Gilead really think, well, that did get that mass murdering in before the deadline, so that is okay?

 

The Challenge: All-Stars:  Last week I mentioned how few people in the final who actually won an elimination and it ended up being fewer than I expected since two people that went home had won previous eliminations.  So that is just four of the twelve finalists saw the Arena.  Yeah, it is definitely time to institute the rule that you have to win an elimination to run TJ’s final.  Poor Kendal, wins three of the seven dailies, and goes into three of five possible eliminations.  Thank you Yes for calling out Nehemiah for claiming everyone needs to warn their stripes and they pick the only female that already went in multiple times.

 

Manifest:  It is sad that the white single teenage female is the most interesting part of this show. But why is Olive hooking up with the la tech and mad that the other chick is doing the same?  Doesn’t she have a boyfriend?  And where has that dude been?

 

The Blacklist:  So evil dude asked the Russian spy if he or Reddington was M13 and he whispers something to him that makes evil dud go after Lizzy.  Wait, is Lizzy M13?  What could he have possibly said to make him react like that?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 9, 2021

 

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist:  People kept giving grief to Zoey about her costume, but were we supposed to know who Rose was supposed to be?  She just looked like someone practically dressing for a race in colder weather.  The internet claims she was Victoria Beckham that almost makes sense if Max was David Beckham but I do not really equate Posh Spice with a black puffy coat with a hoodie.  I guess I only think of her in little black dresses.  Sure that would be the best attire for a seven mile run, but I am not sure a little black dress would rank in the bottom ten worst things to run a race that we saw.

 

But to be honest, I would not have much of a problem with Max going to New York even permanently.   I am just ready for the love quadrangle to end anyway possible.  I was hoping Rose would end things, but Max and Zoey are still going at it with lingering resentment from their relationship ending.  Which is a shame, because I have really enjoyed Rose in the little we have seen her.  But hey, at least Tobin is getting some and Leif is not being weird about it.  Well, other than that weird jumping up and down, arms clenched in plain view of the office.

 

The Nevers:  So no Touched that can bring someone back from the dead.  Though I think the crazy lady admitting to hanging out in the dead girl’s casket.  But that twist at the end would have landed much better had I known who that chick was.  They have done a pretty bad job making us care for most of them and in some cases given a reason to even remember them. 

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  Did I miss something?  Last week I vaguely remember someone talk about catching up to Alicia as they look for the people who were tagging everything.  Then all of the sudden this episode starts with Alicia and her group already in the taggers headquarters.  Then the dude I barely remember is seeing his brother he thought was dead and then killing him.  And why is Alicia still there?  Why couldn’t she light the match and join the rest of them?  Whoever edited this episode needs to be fired.

 

Good Girls:  Ugg, Rio knows.  Of course he knows.  He has to figure out everything just to keep him on the show.  Except the show would be much better if they just brought in a new big bad every season.  Haven’t the writers ever see Buffy or Justified?  Well, I guess the secret service agents are not long for this world.

 

Mare of Easttown:  Yeah, the priest did it.  Not the priest they were questioning, but Mare’s cousin.  The other priest is just covering for him by dumping the bike.  Sure, this hurts my theory that the most famous person always does it and it is super weird that they cast Guy Pierce just to be a red herring booty call.  Also weird: Mare all the sudden being a dirty cop.  Bad look at the captain to look the other way.  How is the baby mamma just going to let that slide?  Doesn’t Mare have to at the very least give up custody to keep her quiet?

 

City on a Hill:  Ooo, Deep Cover: great song.  I was wondering if they were trying to signal he was undercover or even possibly a snitch.  But since he got shot by the end of the episode, it looks like they were just playing a great song.  But after how many people that kid had killed now, it would be hard for them not to pin Siobhan’s shooting on him no many how alibis his mother give him.  Yet I have a feeling he will go free or at the very least avoid the law so Decoursey will need Jackie to enact his vengeance.

 

Debris:  Yeah, this definitely did not need to be two episodes.  I was fun for an episode but it really dragged on during the second one.  Not to mention it was extremely obvious once they started communicating threw time and space the answer to solve everything was obviously both twins needed to jump at the same time.

 

Cruel Summer:  We finally got the scene I was assuming that would happen for a while: Kate and Mallory becoming friends united in their hatred of Jeanette.  Now we have to wait and see if my early prediction that Malory gave Kate the necklace is correct.  It was weird that the show ended with the rape crisis number even though there was no rape in the episode.  I guess we are supposed to assume that is why the dude would kidnap a teenage girl, but I am not sure the vice principal has it in him to do that.  Kate seems to kind of dominate him, scratching and he is the one that always scurries away.  Though, if not for sex, why exactly kidnap her? 

 

But I do have one more prediction: the gunshot he heard in the first episode was Kate shooting the VP.  The whole shootout they talked about on the news was overblown or possibly a cover-up.  She even killed him with the gun the dude’s dad used on himself (though I am not convinced he committed suicide, I think the VP may have staged it; though that hurts my theory that dude does not have it in him to do stuff like that; but hey, what is a mystery show without spitballing some silly theories).

 

Supergirl:  Speaking of episodes that did not need a second one. This show needs less Brainiac 5 and Dreamer, more.  Though by the end of the second episode, I realized I liked young Kara and Alex than their grown up versions.  Especially Alex.

 

Big Sky:  Does the sister want to die?  If both of your brothers are stone cold murderers, maybe you should tempt the murderers with the knowledge that you know.  Speaking of dumb people, why was Ronald taking his girlfriend and his daughter with him to bury her dead sister?  The guy is supposedly a mastermind that has been able to evade the police this long, but he is going to be caught by a ten year old?

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  I do not think I have witnessed a dumber escape plan ever than locking yourself in a milk car.  Pretty lucky that someone ambushed the train and that the car was able to be opened from the inside.  But Fred is really the father?  Way to establish he was shooting blanks back in the first season.  I fear this is just going to be the stupid plot devises to get the Waterford’s back to Gilead.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars:  I laughed when Kendal was trying to argue that it was better to have her puzzle upside down than to fix it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized she had a point.  If all the pieces were in the right order, why should it matter if it were upside down?  Unless there were rules they did not tell us, there was no right way to do the puzzle as long as they are all fitting together.  But big twist coming next week, that is it and then the finals start after that.  Unfortunately thanks to the last promo, we know two of the contestants that will be in the Arena.

 

With two less people that will get eliminated last week, that means twelve people in the finale.  Geeze. Maybe they should have been doing double eliminations this whole time.  Nine of the remaining fourteen contestants have not even been in the Arena.  So at the very least, seven of the twelve finalist will have made it to TJ’s Final without winning an elimination.  Or maybe they should have institute the Gold Skulls they have been doing recently on the main show.  Granted that would just be Kendal, Nehemiah, Alton, Anessa, and Mark right now.  Add the two winners from next week then subtract one since we know at least one of those people is going in again this week and a six person final seems more reasonable.

 

Manifest:  So Noah’s Ark time traveled like 828?  Alrighty.  Way to steer into the absurdity.  Yet not as absurd as Jared dating the Major’s daughter (they are definitely learning what happened to her mom by the end of the season), that the new girl looks like she is going to Single White Female Olive, or that anyone thinks they are going to get all the 828’ers in the same lifeboat.  It may be prudent just to kill everyone off who are not following the callings.  Though the callings may frown on that.

 

The Blacklist:  Why was Lizzy acting like that in the car?  Why she trying to overact like Red?  Is she turning into the person she hates the most?  Is that what this season is about?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 2, 2021

 

The Nevers:  I have been pretty “meh” on this show, but that fight on the river was one of the most innovative fights I have seen in a while.  Unfortunately later in the episode there was the dumb sequence where the guy with the hand gun was able to gun down the singer but could only manage to nick the cop running at him.  I was assuming there would end up being a Touched that could reanimate the dead, but the previews suggest there is a burial.

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  Umm, so what really happened.  We clearly heard Daniel tell Grace to go to the fishing shed.  The main show just did an unreliable narrator episode making this extra annoying.  And it also split up the group into four different settlements just like this show now has.  Meh.  So did Daniel actually take the guns.  And just how does one man take all those guns while everyone is with him in a meeting? And why did not one bother to ask how Strand got his gun?  Was that gun part of Daniel’s delusion too?  Way too many unanswered questions about this episode.

 

Mare of Easttown:  Well that was a pretty surprising ending.  Now, I am really bad at names and I thought the friend was referring to the dead son being the father.  While researching the math trying to figure out how old the son was, I realize the Sheehan she was talking to was Mare’s ex-husband, which is even creepier.  It also puts a bigger spotlight on that conversation they had about the girl in the middle of the episode.  Yet, didn’t he have that engagement party all night?  Granted old people parties do not last as long as teenaged ones so I guess that party ended by midnight(ish) when the last people say the dead girl.  But the best scene was when Mare just went full spite in arresting the girlfriend in her parent’s restaurant while a befuddled Ralph Bohner looked on.

 

City on a Hill:  Well this season turned on a dime.  After going after each other for four episodes, Jackie is now willing to hunt down who shot Siobhan.  Decoursey is smart not to trust him, but I have a feeling he is going to ask for Jackie’s help eventually.  Then we will get to see what exactly Jackie’s game is because no wat he is altruistic, he is going to need a favor in return.  I would not be surprised if it involves taking down Jackie’s boss so he can stay in Boston.  I really cannot see him going somewhere else.

 

Debris:  Well that is an interesting take on Groundhog’s Day, one where the person chooses to reset the time when they do not have to.  And I think this may be the first time they attempted to be funny with the montage of the different partners.  But I do not understand why they shoved the scene with the divorce in it,

 

Cruel Summer:  I found it interesting that Jeanette and Kate mothers had a reverse relationship with each other back in high school.  At least according to Jeanette’s mom, I believe her as much as I believe her daughter.  As much as I have like these first couple episodes, I do not see how this set up could go very long.  I wonder if they are setting up a future season with the mothers back in high school in the seventies.

 

The mystery of the show seems to be who is telling the truth and Jeanette turned out to be a huge liar this week.  She said she flushed the weed when she did not and she had been going into the house a lot without telling anyone.  But did she see Kate?  That is still the big question. 

 

Supergirl:  There is plenty of competition, but this may have been the single worst episode in the history of the show.  And it is a two part-er.  Meh.  Maybe not center a whole episode or two on the two worst characters on the show.  I hope the blue aliens just put them into their zoo never to be seen again.

 

Big Sky:  So the daughter staged a suicide and is still blackmailing her other brother?  She moved the body.  And how did Ronnie get out of the house with a dead body without anyone noticing?  And why did the sister even open the door if she knew who he really was?  And if the PI’s are not answering the phone, how about calling the police?  So stupid.

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  What really drug down the second and third season of the show was that they just rehashed the first season, the only changes being they amped up how tortured the handmaids were.  What gave me hope going into the fourth season was it seemed like they blew up the show.  The Waterford’s were in custody in Canada, and June became a fugitive that no doubt were be hung if she were caught for rescuing all those children.  And then June was captured by the end of the second episode.  Meh.

 

But then she escapes again at the end of the very next episode.  And it was pretty gratuitous to murder all those handmaids that way.  First off, why was the guard shooting at them?  If you did not hang them in the first place because you need more babymakers to replace all the kids you lost, maybe do not murder them.  Maybe at least fire a couple warning shots.  And how was June the last one out of the van by a while, yet was the only one to outrun the trail besides Janine?  Are the other girls really that slow?  And speaking of June running, what was with the weird, rom-com scene of her running back to Nick to kiss him. 

 

And one more question, just who is Serena’s baby daddy?  It has been two years, so my recollection is fuzzy.  But I do remember Fred was shooting blanks; that is why June had to hook up with Nick.  So did she hook up with the American dude?  Could Fred really be the father?  If he actually was not shooting blanks, doesn’t that throw into question of who the father of Nicole is?

 

The Challenge: All-Stars:  Oh that TJ twist was cruel.  And I loved it.  I was pretty suspicious why Kendal did not go to vote if she did not have the Life Saver.  Instead of the Life Saver she was instead safe from elimination.  Although hopefully the duos get sent in together in future weeks because getting to pick your partner seems like an unfair advantage.  But double eliminations from here on out will speed things up.  Thankfully, the main show drags on when you eliminate twenty-two players mostly one week at a time.  With only sixteen players left there will probably only are four or five episodes until the final.  But TJ did say he definitely will see Beth and Cyrus again, hopefully that is a good sign we will be getting more seasons of The Senior Tour.

 

Manifest:  One of my running jokes is question just how the blind chick on In the Dark always has straight from a shampoo commercial hairstyle and I thought of that when Mick was doing that raid.  Seriously, why the long glorious hair that can easily blow into your face why going into a raid.  How about a ponytail or a bun?  But anyway.  At least we are done with the three shadowy figures; none of them were particularly strong actors. But kind of silly that Olive was able to decipher that they would all perish if they did not all pass their trials.  At least I got a good laugh at how stupid that scene was.  But was this all a set up that all the 828’ers have to pass trails for all of them to survive their death dates?

 

The Blacklist:  I feel like I missed something.  I remember the last episode ended with Red’s hook up breaking her skull on the end table as Red tended to her while Lizzie still has the gun.  Lizzie just let Red leave.  And at what point between when the hook up found out Red was a wanted man and dying did she have time to tell her daughter to go into hiding.  But I finally figured out what is going to end this death feud between Red and Lizzie.  She is finally going to realize how bad her new partner is, maybe even find out he was really the secret Russian asset, and go back to the FBI and Red to stop him.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 18, 2019

Veronica Mars: Episode 5: So after episode three, I predicted that J.K. Simmons was the bomber and became a suspect for Mars Investigations in episode four. Then in episode four I started to suspect the bar owner who the Mars Clan started to suspect in episode five. Let’s see if that trend continues for the next episode when I start pointing the finger at the Pizza Guy. Or at the very least I think he wrote the letter because obviously the bomber dis not because there was still another bomb later. I think Pizza Guy was more excited that someone realized that he planted a lot of Dickisms that the chick found out.

Episode 6: Holy Clarence Weedman sighting! I joked a couple episodes ago they are bringing back all the actors they could not reasonably explain showing up in the movie, but maybe I was on to something after CW, the Fighting Fitzpatricks, the guys in Chino, and Mac’s college boyfriend. Who is going to show up in the final two episodes: Chip Diller? Hannah Griffith? Troy Vandergraf? Shelley Pomroy? But anyway. It was kind of shocking that we learned who the bomber was in the antepenultimate episode. Well, at the very least Big Dick admitted to setting off the first bomb, he conspicuously did not mention any guilt over the other bombs killing people. So who was inspired from that first bombing and why?
You can watch Veronica Mars on Hulu.

Claws: Well that was a clusterfork of a finale. And what are they going to do next season? Really, everyone should go on the run since they could all be implicated in the killing a vicious, high ranking gang member. I mean, assuming (dude’s not escaping from a burning casino, locked in a room with no windows. Oh wait, the show started with Roller being shot, point blank, drowned, stuffed in a body bag, dumped in a swamp, and still managed to survive.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

City on a Hill: Ow wow, Jimmy actually likes a great song. I really have trashed his music so far, but Know the Ledge is a great one. The world needs an Eric B. and Rakim resurgence. Now that the show has been officially renewed, and they got the brothers dead to rights, it looks like season two will be Decourcey vs. Kevin Bacon. At least hopefully the charges stick. But I do wonder if Jimmy will get a sweet deal for being an informant for Kevin Bacon.

Fear the Walking Dead: So they are not even going to mention that Alicia got sprayed with radioactive zombie blood last episode? Maybe she should be checking her lymph nodes like the scientist.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Loudest Voice: It is weird the amount of times Megyn Kelly’s name came up during the episode but we never see her. I guess we will have to wait until the movie to get her side.

The Handmaid’s Tale: I actually thought for a second that opening scene was sometime in the future, it was not until the crazy eye chick showed up less crazy and with both eyes before realizing it was the past. But I do not see how Ofjoseph gets out of stealing a bunch of children. She was basically playing with house money this season in Commander Lawrence’s house and the Waterford’s needed her for visual reasons to get their kid back, but with the Waterford’s detained, there is nothing stopping her being severely punished. Speaking of being punished, are they really going to lock up Serena over the word of Fred? Can they even hold Fred if Serena stops talking because they locked her up? And then does Serena get set free because he does not testify? Locking Serena up just seems like a foolish move.
You can watch The The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.

Harlots: Oh wow, they really did kill off Theon Greyjoy already just two episodes after killing off Charlotte. There was a lot of blood and he was shot at short range but I still thought he might survive because why bring on Theon for just five episodes especially after just killing off the lead actor. So both Charlotte and Theon are dead shortly after they started forking and basically died because they kept that a secret.
You can watch Harlots on Hulu.

Krpton: With a title like “The Alpha and the Omega” I should have suspected there would be Darkseid reference, but it did not hit me until the clone lady saw the Omega sign. Yippie, more villains next season when they have not bothered to totally dispatch the ones they already have. Well that is if there is a next season.
You can download Krypton on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 11, 2019

Veronica Mars: Episode 4: Finally a Vinnie Van Lowe appearance. I really hope the show is successful enough that both he and Dick get a spin-off. We also finally got a Deputy Special Agent Leo sighting. And let us not forget the triumphant return of Lucky. Um, alright. Really it is like the show was just trying to get in everyone who could not reasonable write into the movie. Lucky, the Hearst Rapist, Max, then there was Liam Fitzpatrick from earlier this season. Come to think of it, why have they not gone back to investigate him? Then you had Hayley Dunfey as the token random celebrity cameo of the episode which seems to be a theme after the chick from Future Man, the dude from the Chicken Fries commercials, and the dude from Hot Tub Time Machine. Although back to the mystery I am starting to think the bar owner with the attitude may be involved somehow. Two people she kicked out of her club for being pervy ended up dead via bombing.
You can watch Veronica Mars on Hulu.

Claws: Finally the group has come together and called Desna on her on her overreaching that has led to a lot of pain and death. Still I never expected them to actually kill Melba. All that trouble just to have her gets hit by a bus. Alrighty. I also did not initially think that the boytoy was going to confess at actual Confession, I just assumed he was going to confess to Roller. Turns out we were both wrong, he told the cops. How exactly does Roller get out of that? I am assuming him being handcuffed will be the big season cliffhanger.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

City on a Hill: I have talked about the show’s soundtrack is too heavily influenced by Kevin Bacon’s classic rock leaning finally we got to hear what Decoursey listens to and it did not disappoint, when you are in the early nineties, you cannot go wrong with a little A Tribe Called Quest. But then they end the episode with another oldie. As for the actual plot, it was the tale of two informants. Bacon has one that is outed to his law enforcement buddies and then kills the other. Which begs the question, which will come back to haunt him more?

The Loudest Voice: There are very few things I need less in my life than to see Roger Ailes get a prostate exam.

The Handmaid’s Tale: After wondering what Serena was up to all season, we finally got out answer. But I wonder when she decided to turn against Fred. Did it date back to having her finger cut off? Was it really all about the child which she left June take from her house? Does she really think some warped way that it is kind of hers? Did she come up with this plan with Luke and the other dude when she visited before? I would kind wish she had given some lengthy Bond-villain type speech while explaining herself to Fred. Unless it was really, just simply about the kid.

Back in Giliad, Offjoseph’s plan really hit a bump in the road with the Commander’s wife kind of spoiling everything and then killing herself. But then again, the death could be an opportunity. Offjoseph’s new baby mama’s husband just died. It seems reasonable that the newly single Commander Lawrence could wed her and have June’s kid move in with them. I will be kind of shocked if that is not season four unless something earth shattering happens in the finale.
You can watch The The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.

Harlots: Wait, is Theon Greyjoy dead now too? One of the reasons why I thought they could kill off the lead of the show was because they had Liv Tyler and Theon but now he ends an episode in the pool of his own blood just like Charlotte just two episode ago. Now I am not sure how effective bullets made centuries ago were so I guess he could survive, but the juxtaposition of him lying in his blood and then Charlotte’s blood makes me think he may be dead too. But hey, at least Quigley will not be blamed for Charlotte’s death after Emily Lacey came clean. Granted she has her own murder she actually committed she needs to clear her name of.
You can watch Harlots on Hulu.

Krpton: A melancholy happy trails to Kem. Okay, I do not really care. Really there is no one on the show they could kill off and I would be too upset about. But the problem with Kem was that he was the closest thing to comic relief they had on the show. I guess Lobo could also be this but he is a bit more annoying than funny.
You can download Krypton on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 4, 2019

Veronica Mars: Episode 2: Oh my, they really were trolling with that opening scene. Now we do not really know how well the show is doing, but I really hope that’s it is successful enough to warrant a Dick Casablancas: struggling actor spin off.

Episode 3: Well there goes my prediction that the hotel owner set the bomb for the insurance money to give to his kid. But my second suspect was Clyde, but then Ronnie named him as a suspect which makes me wonder if she would correctly finger the perp this early in the season. I am beginning to think it may be Ronnie’s half-brother that she discovers in the first Veronica Mars book that was released after the movie who is just trying to get the attention of his half-sister who has seemed to completely forget about. Maybe he teamed up with Lily Kane (Duncan and Meg’s daughter, another completely forgotten characher).
You can watch Veronica Mars on Hulu.

Claws: So no one except everyone closely involved noticed that the lesbian lover of the sister a senate candidate just went missing right after getting outed by the candidate? Real life press would have a field day with that. And the Triads have the cops on the payroll? Just high up does that go because someone has to get suspicious when lady cop does not show up for work. You can hold off Quiet Ann for a while but the Commissioner has to get suspicious unless he is on the Triad payroll too.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

City on a Hill: When I first reviewed the show I complained that despite being set in the nineties, there was a classic rock soundtrack. But all is right in the world now that we got Vanilla Ice this week. Oh goodness. And then we end the episode with a little Metallica. Now if only we can get some Wu-Tang.

The Loudest Voice: The frustrating part of watching shows based on real people is trying to figure out what actually happened and what was poetic license. Now I can completely believe that Roger Ailes had a bomb shelter under his house but did he really have a tunnel to the base too? That had to cost a pretty penny.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Last week I wondered where Serena’s loyalties lie and I am even more confused an episode later. She did seem shocked when the Canadians rolled up but on the other hand, it does seem like she really needed to be in the know for a plan like that to work. Really that discussion about where they would be had Giliad had never happened seemed like she was thinking about leaving. But then she invited Fred into her bed. Oh, and then I watched the trailer for next week and not it seems pretty clear her role in the capture.

And somehow that was not the biggest shocker of the week. No, that goes to Offjoseph smashing in the head of her kid’s new father. Can she get away with it? Just how good are those Martha’s at cleaning? Was New Daddy covert enough when he when to Jezebel’s that no one will suspect his whereabouts? And didn’t he move to Washington? Is there now only one house of ill repute left in Gilliad?
You can watch The The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.

Harlots: Oh wow, they really did kill off Charlotte. It was even more shocking because she was kind of the face of the show up to this point. Sure they did add Liv Tyler last season and Reek this season who are arguable bigger names, but always pretty shocking when the topliner leaves the show and there was not even an announcement before the season (which as a viewer is much preferable, nothing worse than the long goodbye of waiting around for Rick Grimes to die… only for him not to). Then poor Quigley, she just gets out of the nuthouse and now it looks like she is going to have a murder pinned on her.
You can watch Harlots on Hulu.

Krpton: When Lyta got her throat cut it was painfully obvious she would be back at some time because he had to birth General Zod. The only question was how she would be back. Seeming how her son already time traveled, that seemed like the most obvious answer. Nope, the dead Lyta was just a clone.But I do wonder if Lyta ever kills herself so General Zod never exists.
You can download Krypton on iTunes.

Swamp Thing: You know what, if I am in a sinking cop car, I am not using my cell phone as a light, I might use my cell phone as, you know, an actual phone. But I am guessing that had there been a second season, Swamp Thing would have save her or maybe the swamp would have turn her into something else. But not surprisingly when you save off three episode and cancel the show, the ending felt a bit rushed, which is a shame because it was a really strong show up until the last episode. But with the show was canceled, it is weird they still went with an end credits scene teasing a season two villain. But hey, maybe some of the characters will so up on the CW Crisis crossover since the actors are not really busy.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Um, I think I missed something. So Sarge was evil? Sure he stabbed May and kicked her through the portal but he kicked her into a place where you cannot die which made me think he was anti-Izel. But when the rest of SHIELD showed up he seemed to be fighting with her. So did Sarge not know that May would not die in the other world? And just how did the portal shut? Did it just automatically shut when Izel died? That was just all confusing.

Also confusing was the ending. So the Cromicons want to invade Earth to set up their own civilization here and want to wipe out SHIELD because they are their only obstacle for conquering the planet. Um, I know I have not seen the last two Avengers movies but did every Avenger died in those movies or at last all the Earth bound ones? And if the Cromicons are trying to conquer Earth now, why did SHEILD go back to when the Empire State Building was the tallest in the world. Also if this is just an excuse to get Peggy Carter back on our screens, I am all for it (there was a picture featuring the name of one of Agent Carter’s actors on the set). Really, here is hoping we get an Agent Carter reboot on Disney+, or at least Hulu.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.