57 Channels and Only This Is On: July 24, 2022

 

Westworld: Oh snap, they killed off the remaining human main character (well, assuming the Man in Black is not in cryostasis somewhere; how long can you keep someone alive like that).  But I guess Caleb’s kid has now hooked up with Bernard to uncover Maeve.  Though where was the Man in Black whom she was hugging when buried?  Now that those two timelines converged, the question now is how does Neo-Delores fit in?  It seems fairly obvious she is writing narratives for the fly people and it also seems like it would then be Bernard who sent Teddy, but why.  What is so special about Neo-Delores if the original Delores is dead and her cloned mind ball is in Charlotte?

 

The Chi:  Oh wow, I am surprised the mom picked her baby daddy.  It already ended badly once.  But Trig really needs a wardrobe upgrade if he is running for City Council, that one shirt he had on looked like he was wearing a sash. 

 

Flatbush Misdemeanors:  How many employees does that small bike shop have?  They went from none to three in five episodes.  Sure, none of them seem to be very good.

 

In the Dark:  I am mildly surprised that Jess did not show up at the trial.  I thought for sure she would be a surprise witness.  Instead the surprise was the bartender just went scorched earth on the stand.  But Felix had a point, she did contact him.  But now that Murphy is a CI, seems pretty obvious she will be forced to work with Darnell who is working undercover and that is how he gets shot.  Now the question is when that will happen.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  I was a bit annoyed that we did see the face of the person on the security camera. How about rewind it a bit to show him sitting down? The camera is pointing at the door, the guy had to of entered at some point. I am typically really annoyed when characters are that dumb for the sake of the plot, but I guess Oscar is not the brightest person, so I guess it tracks.

 

But my first thought looking at that guy from the back (and I am using male pronouns because it definitely looked like a guy) is that it kind of looked like Will. Come to think of it, the guy in the wall with Lucy last week also kind of looked like Will too (at least in build, I believe the skin under the mask was lighter), but would a guy with allergies become a vet? Though if Will has Dimas blood in him, maybe we should look at him as a suspect.

 

Though this episode really pushed Alice as the murderer, the whole Son of Sam game, Jan mentioning that the murderer is most likely an artist who would likely try to infiltrate the Three Amigos, which only makes me believe she did it less.  But Alice admitting she is a fraud made me wonder if she also lied about being from England, this could explain her bad accent.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  Oh snap, Alder just exploded a bunch of dudes from the inside.   But are they still heading out west, or will this attack make them go back to Salem?

 

The Challenge: USA:  They need to get through the choosing of partners quicker, which should be a thirty second montage.  But I always love challenges that involve intelligence.  It took some of them way too long to realize all the puzzles were and item from a country that are an alliteration. 

 

The Old Man:  Okay, I am confused, is Maeby Funke the warlord’s daughter or did Jeff Bridges who knocked up the warlord’s wife without him knowing?  But a really bad way to end the season.  I do wonder if this was meant to be a limited series, but they cut things short because of Bridges’ health and just kind of did a wink and a nod that they would be able to finish in a second season.

 

57 Channels and Only This Was On: July 17, 2022

 

 

Westworld:  With Neo-Delores gone this episode I came to the realization that that storyline is my favorite this season.  Weird they put her in the “Previously On” when she was not in the episode.  But it was cheap they led us to believe Caleb’s daughter was captured only to have her escape at the end so we would know that was not his real daughter at the very last moment.  But what exactly is Charlotte going to do with him?  But welcome back Bernard who is apparently now Dr. Strange living out every possible outcome looking for the one.  But at least Dr. Strange did not take years (decades?) to do it.

 

The Chi:  Oh joy, a Christmas episode in the squelchering heat of July.  The one problem with the switch to shorter season is that we rarely get holiday episodes anymore, but when we do, it just feels awkward watching those months away from the actual episode.   I took the way under on Emmitt’s celibacy, but is he really going to break it with Keisha?

 

Flatbush Misdemeanors:  Okay, that funeral was funny.  But c’mon, instead of wearing a salmon suit, wear darker, less dressy attire.  A dark shirt seems better than a salmon suit.

 

In the Dark:  Murphy Mason, this is your life.  Everyone that has ever been on the show popped up in the trial… well, one person was conspicuously missing.  I have a feeling she will end up being a surprise witness in the next episode.  Will she actually admit to be the one who killed Nia?  But it was really annoying to see Murphy and Darnell have it out in the courtroom when we know they are going to be chummy chummy later in the season before he gets shot.

 

Only Murders in the Building:   "Soooooo, how was prison?" Martin Short is just one of the best at line readings. Casting the evil girl from Fear the Walking as Lucy was an... interesting choice. But she works better than some of the other casting this season. I felt really bad for Mabel when she started feeling around Lucy like how Charles and Oliver feel around her. I found it really interesting that Del the Funky Homosapien sampled the Brazzos song because whenever someone says Mrs. Gambolini, I always hear it in the cadence of Mistadobalina. So maybe that is not a coincidence.

Okay, onto theory corner. I have suspected Howard ever since spotting his black eye in the first episode and I believe his Nina punched him excuse as much as his the cat did it excuse. Though we have now seen the killer twice (or at least presumably it is the killer); last episode attacking Bunny and this episode with Lucy inside the wall and neither really looked like Howard to me. Maybe I need to go back and look, but to me, it looked like a tall thin man, who could only mean one person: Jane Lynch.

I did put the presumably in parenthesis because, why, after killing Bunny, climb a couple floors to Charles' floor? Unless they live on that floor (like Nina but after threatening to get revenge on Bunny's killer, likely not her). Or were they already going to plant the bloody knife? Now I definitely need to re-watch to see if the killer had a bloody knife.  And the (presumed) killer sneezing also makes me think they are probably not a cat guy, who has been my guess most of this season.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  Shocker, the president is still alive.  But why let the vice president take power? 

 

The Challenge: USA:  You got to love any challenge that involves heights and being smart.  But the elimination was confusing, that one dude seemed to be peddling the hardest but his team always seemed behind.  Was his teammate that bad?  I feel like there was something they were not showing up.  The other team failed getting the memorization in one try too.

 

Ms. Marvel:  Like most Marvel properties, this show just sputtered to the end because they have a third act problem and a villain problem.  I did like the Home Alone montage and everyone just randomly popping up at the high school but the fight itself was meh because they never really seemed to figure out who the bad guy was.  Kamron kept going up to the line but never crossed it.  Damage Control was doing shady things, but it was mostly just the one agent who has not gotten much screen time.  But overall, the still ended up being the second best Disney+ show after Loki, and probably the second best thing in Phase 4 so far.

 

The Old Man: So Jeff Bridges is not playing the titular character?  It is not even John Lithgow?  That was a plot twist I did not see coming.

  

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.