57 Channels and Only This Is On: July 10, 2021

 

Westworld:  One of the big questions going into the season was if the Man in Black was still alive after Charlotte slit his throat at the end of last season.  Dude hitting hole in one after hole in one like he was Kim Jung Un pretty much confirmed he was a robot.  But shocker, it turns out the real William is being kept alive by Charlotte mostly out of spite I guess.  I wonder if Maeve will actually free him by the end of the season. 

I am just glad we are going back to the park, or a park.  I found it bizarre that a show called Westworld spent I believe one episode in Westworld last season.  I wonder what other parks fake William created.  And just who dropped the can that Caleb picks up in the Next Time On promo.  Did they recreated Deloras or has she been recast?

 

The Chi:  Well, the mayor’s exile did not last very long.  If he was funding Trig’s whole operation, why not just counter blackmail him in a mutual assured destruction before leaving town?  But it is nice to see that teenagers today are familiar with the great Method Man / Mary J. Blige (or, more likely, a middle aged writer forced the teenager to learn the song).  Oh and I am taking the way under on Emmitt’s celibacy.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:   Oh, so the old alien was in Cambodia, the show just yadda yadda’ed how the other two got there.  But it really just felt like the writers new the first season was not great and wrote in a soft reboot of what a second season might be.  But honestly, I would be fine if there were not a second season.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  I cannot believe the show actually made me feel sympathetic towards Bunny, but there are fewer people more sympathetic than life long Knicks fans. Then they made me realize how much of an antagonist she was again by threatening flogging to the courtyard party and unretiring, only to be sympathetic once again at the end when she was not invited into the party. And now we know how she got the tye-dye hoodie. Probably a bad look that the three amigos were the ones that put it on her.

While the new president went to the top of the murder board for the trio, I am still highly suspicious the cat guy. He did not have a black eye at the meeting, but had one the day of the memorial. The murderer also did not look like a very pregnant lady.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  Why didn’t Tally just use one of those song spells on the hunters?   And are these hunters that bad if they are setting up everyone in a mansion?

 

The Challenge: All Stars: Meh, always disappointing whenever Wes wins.

 

The Challenge: USA:  They did some bad casting for this show.  Survivor is the only show I watch and most of them were headscratchers, am not even sure Desi was on the show, even though her chyron says she was.  I am not entirely sure why Love Island was included at all especially considering it is not even on CBS anymore.  Then it just seems extremely unfair that there were six people from the same Big Brother season, four of which were very closely aligned (and inexplicable that when two were sent in first, they did not send in the other two to make sure at least half the alliance went home, that will come back and hunt everyone).

 

Then instead of needing stars or skulls from elimination wins you need $5,000 to run TJ’s finale which can easily be accomplished by win a daily.  If you do not win a daily, you will have to win a few eliminations (or just beat someone who won at least one daily or won a couple eliminations since you win all of the loser’s money).  I guess we will see how this plays out, I am guessing it will not have much of an effect because there will be plenty of chances to win money.  The more interesting twist is the algorithm which forces you to not have the same partner twice until you have partnered with everyone.  That should shake up some alliances… hopefully.

 

Ms. Marvel:  Well, that ending was confusing.  I get the dagger to bangle sent Kamala back in time, but how did she get back to her present.  And just how did the evil lady close that rift when her henchwoman just died?  And how did her powers transfer to Kamal?  And if Kamal the big bad now that they will have to take down in the finale?  Or has Damage Control been the big bad this whole time?

 

The Old Man:  Those night scene in the desert were The Battle of Winterfell dark. Thankfully nothing happening besides two people talking. And my interest in the show really dipped when the dogs got dropped off at the kennel. Hopefully they do not spend too much time in Morocco but I have a feeling we will spend the rest of the season there.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: July 3, 2022

 

Westworld:  So is Neo-Delores (am not going to bother learning her new name) some sort of descendant of whoever the robot was modeled after (Ford’s mother I think).  Is this taking place in robot heaven, where Teddy’s conscience went off to?  But then, how did Neo-Delores get there?  Season three was pretty bad, yet, I did not have the premiere.  But this season is early.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:   Oh wow, the FBI dude got shot by his subordinate.  I did not see that coming.  And I am not sure exactly why she did it.  But I kind of checked out early in the episode because way too much torture for me.  But is he dead-dead?  When you shoot someone, then walk up to do another shot up close is usually to make sure their dead.  But I guess the question, will some alien technology bring him back.  Speaking of murder, also was not expecting the daughter to jut push her father off the side of the cliff.  I found the horse murder to be a bit sympathetic because it was sick, but then she just goes full psychopath,  But I guess the old alien is not in Cambodia.

 

Irma Vep:  It was not until I listen to a podcast that I realized that Irma is not an actual vampire, just a thief pretending to be one.  I feel so stupid, but then again, I zone out whenever the director is on screen.

 

In the Dark:  Are the cops stupid, they were clearly talking about drugs on the tape, yet they somehow did not think to at the very least drug test the nerd.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  I kept on seeing people talking about Easter Eggs in the title sequence and even after knowing they were there, I never noticed one until the second episode of the second season when I noticed Bunny walking her bird instead of the dog she usually walks a dog.  Ha, good one title sequence creators.  As for the episodes themselves, the new episodes were dominated by stunt casting, which mostly worked in season one.

 

But, oof, off to a bad start so far this year (well aside from Shirley McLaine trying to cut the cheese, I cannot believe that is something I just wrote).  I do not understand what Amy Schumer is trying to do.  Usually celebrities play a meaner version of themselves, like Sting hating dogs and telling Tim Kono to kill himself, but she seems to being playing much nicer than her public persona.  Maybe she just playing nice to get Oliver to sign over the rights of the podcast and there will be a heel turn eventually.  Then Cara Delavigne just cannot act (and that kiss was very awkward).  Surprisingly, Michael Rappaport, who I will never forgive for ruining his season of Justified, was the least annoying.  But I did love how Mabel spent most of her interrogation mocking him.

 

As for the mystery of who killed Bunny, nothing happened that swayed me from my way too early prediction last season that Tina Fey did it to give her true crime podcast some content.  Though Cara Delavigne does seem shady but I feel like she is the Teddy Dimas of the season, someone who did something illegal, but not necessarily murder.  She probably is the forger.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  In the aftershow, they mention how the actor playing Raelle got in a car accident.  So that explains why she randomly just disappeared.  I guess she may just be in bed for a couple episode.  I did recognize her mom, but have little clue who that bad dude was.

 

The Challenge: All Stars: Kaylah definitely cheated and the shoe really needs to put up curtains in the puzzles because even when they put up blinders, someone like Kaylah is going to blatantly cheat.  But I feel like I jinxed Kellyanne by rooting for her as she keeps bombing, even in the paddle boarding which dominated earlier in the season.  But back to back wins may actually get her back in the hunt.

 

Ms. Marvel:  Were we really supposed to care for the new mentor who just showed up, gave a huge exposition dumb right before he (presumably) died?  But I did get a laugh when his apprentice said, “I always wanted to say that.”

 

The Old Man:  The first two episodes were very strong, but Amy Brenneman is really dragging the show down.  Maybe he should have not just killed her in her dream.  I do not even understand that whole divorce threat and how that would stop him from killing her.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 26,2022

 

The Time Traveler’s Wife:  So we are supposed to believe there are five fetuses just stuck in time somewhere?  Gross.  Plus it does not make any sense.  Henry did not manifest his powers until he experienced a traumatic experience when he was about ten, but these fetuses could do it before they are even fully formed.  Huh?  And Ygritte plan is to just fork younger Henry’s until one stick just seems just as dumb. 

 

The First Lady:  So the show ends with Eleanor losing her husband and getting a new job, Betty opening up a rehab facility and Michelle, well Michelle is dealing with a douchebag moving into her house.  I said it before, but way too soon to include Michelle on this show.  But it turns out that Eleanor ignores her children so much to the point I was surmised when the only child we saw said she had six.  We rarely saw any Ford children besides Susan, but they did show up.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:   Oh yeah, I remember those nun from the episode where the FBI guy birth the cow.  I do not remember why he went there, chasing the alien, I guess.  I know we are supposed to think the FBI guy is evil, but shooting a nun in the back was a little too cold.  And that nun bleeding in the shape of angel wings was a bit much.

 

I Love That for You:  They got me with Joanna admitting she was lying only to be revealed that they cut the feed.  But I was correct that they were going to keep the ruse even if they found out she was lying.  But no way are they going to let her leave for HSN because they could just extort her to stay.  I would also like to say, great INXS deep cut.  They are considered an eighties band, but they did have some great music they put out in the following decade.  I will stand by Welcome to Wherever You Are. 

 

In the Dark:  They said it was an hour to the cabin, but was the sister lawyer really able to get the case files about the queenpin, make it to the prison, get though the visitation hurdle, convince the queenpin not to kill her brother, and then have the queenpin get in contact with her henchmen in time?  That is just a completely absurd jump of logic.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  Ooops, I forgot to search for a recap on YouTube before watching the new season, that Previously On was not nearly enough information.

 

The Challenge: All Stars: Ugg, I really hate when they leave the episode on a cliffhanger.  I was going to say especially since there was obviously not going to be a women’s elimination since Veronica broke her toe while walking down the steps (?) but the next time on has KellyAnne and Kahlah with helmets on while holding on the stick.  T.J. can be very trollish, but would he really wait until he is just about to blow the whistle before saying, just kidding, you are both safe?  Sure, I would find that hilarious, just do not make us wait a week to see it.

 

Obi Wan Kenobi:  My two favorite lines in the episode, if not the entire series, were, "This ends today." I had a good laugh at that. No it doesn't. I am not one to whine about stakes, but that was just a trollish line from the writers. The other was, "Goodbye Darth." So Obi Wan is just on a first name basis with an evil sith lord already. Okay.  But the Third Sister just turned out to be completely useless and made little sense and was just one of way too many people this season who were inexplicably defeated but for some reason were not finished off.  After this and Boba Fett, hopefully Andor puts the Star Wars universe back on track.

 

Ms. Marvel:  Brown Jovi was great, but why do you not have them play Livin’ on a Prayer during the fight sequence?  Why not have Brown Jovi soundtrack the whole series?

The Old Man:  Just by seeing her in the cast list, I assumed Maeby was the daughter before seeing she was in the CIA.  Thankfully they did not wait that long to make that reveal.  I am also glad that they confirmed fairly quickly that the Old Man stole the Warlord's wife because that was my first thought as to why the warlord wants the Old Man.  Now I just need for them to reveal why the Warlord waited 30 years to seek his revenge and why the CIA is helping.

 

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

 

The First Lady:  So the show ends with Eleanor losing her husband and getting a new job, Betty opening up a rehab facility and Michelle, well Michelle is dealing with a douchebag moving into her house.  I said it before, but way too soon to include Michelle on this show.  But it turns out that Eleanor ignores her children so much to the point I was surmised when the only child we saw said she had six.  We rarely saw any Ford children besides Susan, but they did show up.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:   There is home security and then is biological weapons than make someone’s head explode.  I think I have to concede that Newton is still alive after that plot, yet something still seems off with his conversations with Faraday.  I just get strong Kal-El talking to his dead parents in the Fortress of Solitude vibes from those scenes.  But then we get the explosive reveal at the end that Newton’s plan is to bring his people to Earth.  So what becomes of the humans?  Just how many of his people are left?  Will Faraday even go along with this?

 

I Love That for You:  Okay, I laughed so hard when Ryan Philippe came in at the end.  We were told he was a gust at the telethon, but I certainly was not expecting him to show up as the only to have an audio response to Joanne admitting she was not actually sick. I have predicted that Patricia would still want to profit off of the fake sickness if she ever found out, but now that Ryan knows, can she still keep up the ruse?

 

In the Dark:  So Murphy is out already… with the drug lord drugs with her.  Oops.  So that is why Darnell get shot?

 

The Challenge: All Stars: There have been dumb answers throughout the years in trivia, but “Lance Armstrong” being the first person on the moon is up there as the dumbest ever.  But it was nice to see The Treehouse go from the majority to the minority in two short weeks.  No confirmation from TJ, but will be actually have the final start next week without the Sabotage anymore?  Based on the episode count, seems like there will be one more elimination.  Maybe the mercenaries is why we no longer have a sabotage.

 

Obi Wan Kenobi:  If the Third Sister was really hunting Darth Vader this whole time to get revenge for her fellow younglings, why has she not done it already?  I am pretty sure she was alone with him an episode or two ago.  But anyway.  Gotta love any plan that hinges on a ten year old understand advanced electronics.  Why exactly did they build that place so small no normal human person could fit into it?

 

Ms. Marvel:  Illumin-aunties may have been the greatest nickname ever.  So the new dude is evil (calling him your cousin is a weird way to hide your crush’s identity)?  Never trust a dude who recreates Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  Though his mom might be the real Big Bad.

 

Players:  I really enjoyed American Vandal and only gave this show a try because it was by the same people.  I am not sure it is because I know nothing about e-sports or the key of the other show was potty humor and this show lacks it, but, man, this show I boring.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 12, 2022

 

The Time Traveler’s Wife:  Wait, so the time traveler is dating Ygritte and the blonde at the same time?  I do wonder at what point do they just have an orgy with multiple versions of the time traveler.  If dude is willing to soak his own deck, you have to imagine he would be down for that.

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  We learned before the last break that Madison was coming back but did they really have to wait until the very last episode and an episode after Alivia (seemingly) died?  For a second, I thought the zombiefied version of the mother kind of looked like Alicia, I wonder if that was intentional.  But I am really having trouble believing someone who needs oxygen could survive a zombie apocalypse very long.  No way Madison is aking it long enough after the mother destroyed her tank.

 

The First Lady:  I am glad they finally got Betty out of the White House because she probably as the most active post-White House life of any First Lady other than Hilary Clinton.  Actually they could have gotten her out sooner because two and a half episodes do not seem like enough.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  I have had an issue with tone while watching this show; it just seems all over the place.  But this was the first episode that actually felt cohesive.  I liked the devise of the alien talking to his wife.  The show may have been better off if had just been him telling his story on Earth to his wife.  But they found the original alien?  Living unground in a mountain in Cambodia?  Alrighty.  I have questioned if he was actually still alive or not and… and I still am questioning if that is really him.

 

I Love That for You:  Oh my, I was not expecting that good ol’ southern boy to be having sex with a woman.  But now that Beth Ann is on to Joanna, thinking she is dating her father who is pretending to be her doctor, I wonder how long until she figures out the entire ruse. Oh, and I really hope clip on bangs are not a real thing. 

 

Irma Vep:  I liked this show when Alicia Vikander was on screen, but really disliked it whenever the Fresh director was on screen.  Hopefully he gets fired from the film.

 

In the Dark:  Ugg, they are doing the stupid, three months earlier trope.  Let me guess, the blind chick gets released early for turning on the queenpin and the bald chick shoos her buddy.  But why is she not telling the guard that someone put a razor in her sandwich?

 

The Challenge: All Stars: Good riddance to treehouse.  Is Sylvia really that horrible of a person or is she trying way too hard to be part of a possible rivals season?  I just cringed at her completely unnecessary hate towards Kellyanne.

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  This show just cannot get through a whole season without someone leaving.  Though they seem to be having a harder time getting casts back together if they had to jump from season two to nine.  Next up would be Back to New York, but I am guessing you are not getting The Miz to take two weeks off.  Rumors they may have to jump to Austin (season 16) or Key West (17).  My suggestion is go back to the start and get as many from San Francisco and as many from London and just combine seasons if you cannot get a full cast to show up.  Or maybe it is time to try Road Rules Homecoming.  Who would not want to see a bunch of forty and fifty ear olds spend a week or two in a Winnebago?  I was kind of hoping someone from Road Rules would show up and steal their robotic dog again.  Oh well.

 

Obi Wan Kenobi:  Why knock out the Stormtrooper and drag them into an empty room if you are not going to steal their armor? A disguise would have made things a bit easier. But I guess you cannot hide Leia in the suit.  Then Boba's lay down Bacta Tank seems like a much better alternative than having to be suspended like Darth and Obi-Wan were. But nothing gets me more than the lighting up a lightsaber in a dark room. Chills every time.

 

Ms. Marvel:  Well, that was a delight.  It has been a while since I laughed as hard as I did when the dad walking in in his Hulk costume.  For a second, I thought the show was just going to straight up murder a teenage girl with Thor’s hammer.  Hopefully the show does not get ruined by Ms. Marvel actually getting powers.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 5, 2022

 

The Time Traveler’s Wife:  Oh wow, an episode of The time traveler’s Wife that is about, you know, the time traveler’s wife.  Though I am not sure if Ygritte could actually pull off a teenager.

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  So Alicia is dead?  My big take away from her “waking up” was that she actually looks healthy… she must be dead.  But I am guessing they left it vague in case this is a Maggie situation where the actress wanted to leave only to realize there is not much work out there andcomes back to the show.

 

The First Lady:  I routinely ask about the accuracy of small details in this shows based on real people, but the thought that three Secret Service  pulled Sasha out of class solely because of a school shooting a couple states away seems fairly absurd.  Then I forgot that Judy Greer was on this show.  She seemed like she was going to be an important part of the Betty Ford storyline but just seemed to disappear.  But it was nice to see that Gerald was a good sport on SNL unlike Cheney and Rumsfeld.  I wonder what Dick thought of the movie made about him.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  Yeah, it became obviously fairly quickly that the lady no one else saw was not really there.  But where exactly did she come from?  Did the other alien conjure her like he just show up to him from tome to time?

 

I Love That for You:  I mentioned how Patricia and Joanna would see different types of doctors to treat their types of cancer.  Unfortunately for Joanna, that did not stop Patricia from asking to talk to her doctor.  It was really rough of Joanna to ask her dad to pretend to be her doctor.

 

Obi Wan Kenobi:  Ooo, Vader vs. Kenobi… that almost made me forget that the Inquisitor somehow beat Leia to the end of the tunnel despite Leia having a decent head start the Inquisitor not really knowing where the tunnel ended.  Almost.

 

The Challenge: All Stars:  Stupid “This Season On…”  We saw Wes complain about Johnny being brought in as a mercenary so as soon as he got selected, it was obvious whoever he went up against was going to lose.  And that was one of the dumbest eliminations ever.  All they had to do is stand between the things, like Beth and Wes did, and had everyone been smart, could have been up there forever.

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  Is there really going to be someone who goes home right before they were going to leave anyway for the second straight season?  But how disappointing that they did not put C’mon Me My Baby Tonight on Spotify.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  I did not realize this was going to be the finale.  And at 90 minutes, they really could have just split the last episode into two 45 minute episode.  Though, with every episode over an hour, they really could have just done ten 50 minute episodes instead.  Or just done away with the cop and his family life and made the Lafferty’s the main characters.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 22, 2022

 

The Time Traveler’s Wife:  I remember watching the movie based on the same book, but I do not remember the movie being as bad as the show is.  I do remember the time traveler seeing his wife as a child, but I do not remember those scenes being that creepy.  HBO is known for its quality and it is quite surprising just how much this feels like a lifetime show.

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  So their big plan is to lead the zombies into the underground shelter and escape the same way Alicia did even though Alicia got trapped and bite going out that way.   Does no one want to take five seconds to realize why that was a bad idea?  Wes got caught in the bunker with all the zombies, yet shows up in the trailer for next week.  Sigh.

 

The First Lady:  Ha, Eleanor has a women reporter only press conference.  I honestly would not have guessed there were that many female reporters that long ago.  I have found the Michelle segments to be the least interesting, but snarky and fun Michele does make her segments much more entertaining.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  I really did not need to see a cow being birthed.  The bee lady may have been more disturbing.  But we finally got all of the main player in the same place at the same time.  I did not see the Justin twist where she brutally killed a man, and the father of her child. 

 

I Love That for You:  Who knew you could buy condoms in bulk?  I mean, I did, but I am guessing most other people had no clue.  I am surprised that guy was not in a 90’s cover band considering they made such a deal out of the two loving the decade in the first episode.

 

The Challenge: All Stars: It does look like if you beat someone with multiple stars, you get all of them.  Maybe MJ should not be too mad at Kendall since he now has both of Cyrus’s stars.  Kendal got lucky that not one but two women left before elimination so for the second straight week no women’s elimination.  But no one gets Tina’s stars who was gifted a star from Melina without doing anything.  To make the gender’s equal, do they simply bring back Cynthia or will we get someone new?  Cyrus recently held a premiere party and I spied Laurel and someone we have not seen on television in a very long time: Tara from Northern Trail.

 

Survivor: Poor Omar, Drea just really blew up his game by outing him as the mastermind to his demise.  But will Maryanne follow him after being the mastermind to his demise?  She does have an Idol in her pocket and so does Mike so unless something goes horribly wrong, they are in the final four so they are guaranteed to at least make fire.  Johnathan has to win at five or he has no chance and if not him, Lindsay.  I have to image, which between Mike and Maryanne make it to Final Tribal will win, will be interesting who wins if both are there.  If Johnathan or Lindsey wins Immunity than fire, they might even have a chance.  Romeo is obvious a no vote getter.

 

Though Lindsey made a very fatal flaw in saying she should not play her Idol because it may go back into the game.  While played Idols do go back in play, why would she think an Idol that expires that week would go back into the game?  It would have been very interesting had she played that Idol for Omar.  That would have meant a 2-2 tie between Romeo and Johnathan.  That would mean Maryanne would have been able to cast the deciding vote in the revote assuming everyone else voted the same way.

 

The Flight Attendant: After the first episode, I was convinced Grace was the doppelganger.  After the second episode, it was so obvious that she was the doppelganger I assumed she had to be a red herring.  Then she just kind of disappeared after the third episode until she popped as the doppelganger.  And then killed herself because… um, I am not entirely sure what she rambled on about.  But apparently there is someone out there that was pulling her strings.  I guess it has to be the annoying chick from AA.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  Yeah, never trust a dude who wants to marry your teenaged children.  So where did those children go?

 

Made for Love:  Didn’t they say last week if they did not rescue real Hazel, she would disappear soon?  So why is Byron there six months later? 

 

Halo:  I did not realize until I listened to a podcast that John died.  So when Cortana took over she took over for good?  Then Makee is also dead I guess.  Will both show up in the Halo at some point?  And what happened to Soron?  I thought that was him flying the ship to rescue the other Spartans but apparently no one was flying that.  Okay.

 

Big Sky:  Jenny really set Travis free to find the chick Veer killed?  C’mon.  Of course she is dead.  But I am guessing the writers will probably have her sold off to the sex ring syndicate just to tie everything together.  But I guess that means the syndicate and the other Indian drug lords will be sticking around.  And just how did the son kill his father without anyone notice?  Don’t nurses rush in whenever someone flat lines?  But dude just stands there and gloats and then walks out of the hospital.  Such dumb writing.  I bet new sheriff will be owned by the sexy ring syndicate.  He kind of looks like Don-o’s more put together brother.

 

The Blacklist:  Way to spoil the show with the episode title: Marvin Gerard: Conclusion Part 1.  So you spoil that they will get Marvin but also spoil it will not be done this episode because you have to assume Part 2 is coming next week.  So when Red gets him at the airport, obvious he was going to escape.  

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 15, 2022

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  They have been teasing people dying all season, Alicia go bit, Charli got radiation poison, and then they also revealed this week that John had radiation poisoning, but they still killed him at the end of the episode.  I wonder if his death saves the other two.  But I just do not understand Strand’s motivation.  John admits to framing Howard, but then kills his closest ally to team up with a guy who admits to betraying him who then, shocker, betrayed him again.  Then why not punish the people who stayed?  I get you need June as a nurse, but why not the other two?

 

The First Lady: I once again broke my Wikipedia rule to refresh my memory of if we have seen Lucy on the show before.   It is kind of fascinating how the affair came to public light which I will not go into in case it is covered on the show.  There is also another potential affair that his son claims happens that I wonder if the show will comment on.  This seemed like the hardship episode.  Eleanor had to deal with the affair, we see the start of Betty’s addiction, but Sasha having a very treatable ear infection does not really have the same emotional sting.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  Would quantum fusion really throw the world in chaos that quickly?  Oil is so ingrained over the world; we cannot even integrated electric cars into society.  You know conspiracy theorist would keep about 20% of this country on combustible engines for decades. 

 

The Challenge: All Stars:  Ugg, Wes said he is going to ruin the show and I fear he will do just that.  Though surprising he played it safe when he had the power by going with the second to last players being sent in (granted there were five other people in on that decision) then when Jordan had the chance to replicate after putting the sabotage on him, he was fine with putting Mark in over Wes.  It seemed like everyone but Brad wanted Wes sent in yet they still let Brad save Wes.  And Wes definite is not winning that elimination.  Ugg, that guy is going to weasel his way to the finals.

 

Then we have a new twist with stvrs being added to anyone who wins elimination.  At first I thought this was kind of like the skulls they used on the main show where you are not allowed to run TJ’s final without a skull.  But it seems like you can rack up the stars, Tina now has three.  I do wonder if you beat someone with multiple stars, do you get all of them.  Now I am thinking you will get some sort of advantage in the final; the more stars, the bigger the advantage.  Another question is, will anyone volunteer for elimination just to get a star?

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  Wait, did Julie and Jamie fork two decades ago?  Was this common knowledge?  I know my memory is not as great as it used to be. 

 

Survivor:  Yep, the Do or Die still is stupid.  But I wonder what would have happened had Lindsey chosen to sit out.  Does Johnathan win Immunity by default and there is no Do or Die?  Does Johnathan get the Do or Die by default.  I wonder if production did not think of that outcome.  Even when bribed with food, not that many people sit out.

 

It took a couple weeks but they finally got Drea and all of her advantages out.  Mike is a better actor than I would have guessed because I really thought he had been bamboozled.   The advantage is called Knowledge Is Power and that is two straight seasons where the powerful knowledge was not held with the person with the advantage but with who they told the advantage’s power to.  Way too many people in modern Survivor have loose lips.

 

The Flight Attendant:  Oh my, a very special episode of the show.  Granted, I liked Cassie much more when she was a fun drunk.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  Yet another hour plus episode but at least very little crazy mother this week.  I did not like that they told the story out of order just to have the plot twist that the oldest brother was in on it the whole time.  It just made this episode hard to follow.

 

Made for Love:  Only two more episodes left?  So much to figure out.  Hazel has to find a way to get back control of her body.  The scientists need to get out of the cube.  The FBI need to find the cube.  We need to figure out how the ex-wife fits in to this all.

 

Hacks:  Oh my, suing someone and keeping them in your employment is extremely cruel.  Ava may end up being an indentured servant by the end of the season.  Unless Debra grows a heart and only demands restitutions of a dollar.

 

Halo:  So Master Chief forks.  I got a kick at the incels who got mad at that.  Though maybe not hook up with an evil chick.  Granted she may no longer be evil.  She did take out her retractable laser nail.  The irony with this episode being entitled “Allegiance” was there were a lot of floating allegiances this week to point where I am not entirely sure where everyone stands with each other by the end of the episode.   

 

Big Sky:  Prediction time:  Travis teams up with Ren to take down her father and part of their agreement is she moves out of Montana.  This would be a shame because the Indian drug lords have been the only interesting part of this show.

 

The Blacklist:  So Marvin was behind this the whole time.  I guess that is better than someone we did not already know.  But when did Red figure this out?  He did not kill the lady so he must have had the inkling at some point between when he got the name from the bank and when he kidnapped her from FBI custody.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 8, 2022

  

Fear the Walking Dead:  Oh Luciana, why are you lying to Daniel about his daughter just moments after the guy literally murdered a dude who lied about his daughter.  But to be honest, I have no clue what happen to his daughter and part of me thinks she could very well end up in the tower.

 

The First Lady:  I found it interesting that there were multiple wheelchairs in the episode, Betty’s student and Michelle’s dad, but none in the timeline with possibly the most famous wheelchair user.  But I found it odd that this was the marriage origin episode but Franklin did not show up until the scene before the wedding.  Instead Eleanor spends most of the episode at boarding school.  And he was the only actor who played a husband that I actually recognized (reuniting him with his Looking for Alaska co-star who played young Betty).  I wonder if we will get more episodes with the younger versions in future episodes, there are still decades until they move into the White House, but on the other hand, you have Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson, are you really going to sideline them for multiple episode.  But then again, maybe the reason they signed on for a ten episode season was they would get a few episodes off.

 

I did break my one rule of watching based on real events shows/movies, going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole while watching.  I was stuck that Eleanor’s maiden name was also Roosevelt I just had to look right away to see if she married her cousin.  Later in the episode FDR made it a point to mention they were just fifth cousins.  I kind of forgot Teddy, who was actually Eleanor’s uncle, and Franklin were distantly related.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  Honestly, I am kind of more interested with what happened to Newton when he arrived on this planet.  So the scientists took his eyes, when crazy and killed all but one of them.  When is that flashback episode?

 

The Endgame:  Well, at least we learned why the evil lady hated Elana, but I feel like that reveal should have come earlier.  The president seemed like a more formidable big bad.  To learn he was just a puppet just fell flat.

 

The Girl from Plainville:  Elle Fanning was great in the show, but ultimately, this story was not really worthy of an eight episode series when all you have are basically a bunch of text to base the show on.  If you are going to stretch this story to eight episodes, you really needed to have more musical number / dream sequences. 

 

Moon Knight:  If Layla’s sprit animal is a Hippo, why did she get budget Wonder Women wings?  I guess being really hungry would be a lame superpower I guess.  But again, the blackouts were fun in the first episode was funny, but how do you yadda yadda the final battle?  Did they just do that to save the reveal everyone knew coming for the post credit scenes? 

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  Oh Julie, not only are you a bigger mess than when you were first time in New Orleans, you got caught admitting you are playing things up for the cameras.  Number one rule of reality television, do not get caught manufacturing drama for camera time.  

 

Survivor:  So we do not get a reaction from Drea about RocksRoy’s all dude’s alliance.  Oh well.But this seems the episode where you really have to put Omar as the frontrunner to win.  Will anyone realize he is playing all sides before it is too late?

 

The Flight Attendant: Guess my prediction that the two kidnappers were the ones who were found in the lake.  So I guess those two are going to be someone we are not familiar with.  But there are certainly trying to make it seem like Cassie’s handler is a bad guy but I am just not buying it.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  Yet another episode over an hour.  They really could have cut the homelife storyline, which adds nothing to the show.

 

Halo:  It was a bit strange to have a whole episode without Master Chief, especially after the bif reveal of The Halo last week.  Well no real Master Chief, just a fever dream of him.  I did like there was a video game homage with Kwan keep on respawning after he kills her.  But I missed where Swhere Soren left the planet, and then just showed back up this week.  But I got a good laugh where he got shot, the bunker that was supposed to protect him from the blast has slits that let the flames in, but still managed to walk out of the bunker all right.

 

Big Sky:  Didn’t Jenny just join the force?  A bit weird she became the defacto leader after the chief got shot.  Is there no one with more seniority?

 

The Blacklist:  I am glad they revealed that Aram was still under the influence shortly after Park died, because I pegged it a dream when he was happily riding his bike  It was weird they kept going from Aram’s dream to real life all episode.  I wonder if Samar will be haunting Aram for a couple more episodes because she was there at the end and it would be strange to bring her back just for basically one scene.

Previewing The Man Who Fell to Earth

We see shows move from time to time, mostly because of cancelations and other places willing to continue it. But I do not remember a time when two shows got traded like professional sports players.  But that happened in the case of Halo and The Man Who Fell to Earth.  Okay, it was less of a trade and more like a cooperate overlord ordering a more high profile project to attack subscribers to their newly rebranded streaming serves and was nice to send back a different IP back in return.

 

Halo premiered last on Paramount+ to a mixed bag; it was met with a resounding meh by critics and the loudest voices on the internet but it was the most watched premiere in the history of the streamer.   Now it is time for the other half of the trade, The Man Who Fell to Earth to premiere and it is, well, not any worse than Halo, but I am not sure if it is much better.

 

The show is based on a 1963 Walter Tevis book of the same name that has already has been turned into a movie starring David Bowie released in 1976 (full disclosure notice: I have not read the book or read the movie; though I thought I had seen a remake, but it turns out that I was thinking of the similarly titled movie with a similar premise, The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves).  Bill Nighly plays Thomas Jerome Newton; the same character as Bowie, but it not the main character of the new show.  The Man Who Fell to Earth does honor David Bowie by naming each episode in the first season after one his songs.

 

The show does follow a new man who falls to Earth decades after the original played by Chiwetel Ejiofor.  He can spit gold, has four stomachs, and will vomit copious amounts of water if exposed to even small doses of radiation.  He quickly finds Naomie Harris a brilliant scientist who now works cleaning up stuff to support her daughter and sick father to reluctant help him.

 

Watching Ejiofor try to be human, it is hard not to think of Alan Tudyk on Resident Alien, another extraterrestrial who is not great at talking like a normal person and is unable to pick up on the most obvious social.  Though, to be fair, Tudyk did get a head start by watching months of Law and Order reruns before interacting with anyone else.  This show does tease that Ejiofor will eventually learn to act more human with an opening scene where he is doing his best tech billionaire speech.  But the first couple episodes are just Ejiofor being the most extreme case of fish out of water.

 

The show does pick up with the introduction of the Flood siblings (Rob Delaney and Sonya Cassidy) in the third episode.  They are the contentious heirs of a tech company that has ties to Newton.  Jimmi Simpson also shows up as a CIA agent who is on the hunt for both aliens.  While The Man Who Fell to Earth does have the slight edge in the trade for Halo, at the end of the day, this feels like a lackluster trade of a fifth starter for a catcher between two teams barely in the playoff hunt.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.