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

 

 Billions:  Like Damian Lewis’s last Showtime show, he extended his usefulness to the show one to three seasons too long.  But if you are going to write him off the show, you are really going to write him off like that?  So basically the two main characters in their death feud somehow both seem to come out as losers?  Chuck was unable to get his white whale and Bobby was exiled, unable to do what he loves either.  I always thought the only way for the show to end after they spent so much time going after each other was for them both to lose, but I thought that should be they they end up in a cell next to each other this seems so hollow.

 

Making things worse is it looks like they are plugging in Mike Prince into the Bobby roll with very little change.  Prince literally is now sitting in Bobby’s office owning everything that Bobby once own.  The only difference is that Dollar Bill and McFee are gone and the logo on the wall will change.  I guess the only thing of interest going forward is which side exactly in the new Chuck vs. Prince feud will Wendy fall.  Who does she hate more?

 

The Walking Dead:  Watching the spin-off got me wondering, is the group that Eugene and company have gone to going to turn into the evil group in the spin-off?  Timeline is fuzzy and they do not have the three circle symbol (not that I was looking for it).  But the governor’s son was just an over the top douchebag.  No one is going to be that angry that someone saved their life. 

 

American Rust:  So we actually get to see what went down in episode four.  It is good they did not wait much longer because it played out exactly how I assumed it did.  But are just bringing in Billy for questioning or id this an arrest?  Bruised knuckles and an anonymous tip from someone fleeing the state seems pretty flimsy for an arrest

 

The Walking Dead: World Beyond:  I did not remember much going on last season, just the two girls looking for their dad, one of their companions turned out to be evil, but maybe I should have done some catching up because I was lost for most of the episode.  It did not help that some of it was dream sequences (or maybe not, that helped with the lostness).  I am not sure who that one sister killed.  Was that one of the evil people?  Is so, why were they there?  If not, was it someone guarding their community?

 

Y: The Last Man:  Oh wow, I was not expecting that bath scene on something that was supposed to be on FX.  But what I did expect was Y going off on his own only for Agent 355 to track him down, tell him not to do it again, only for him to do the exact same thing next episode.  But back to the bathing ladies, are they going to start cutting off breasts?  I felt like that was coming during that weird ceremony after the creepy leader talked about Amazonians doing that, but it never came.  Maybe that is coming later.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Last week was a nice change of pace, but I am glad the new three amigos are back together and talking again.  It was funny how Amy Ryan quickly became the Yoko Ono of the group and once Oscar showed up, Martin Short felt so left out, he went down to get the superfans to keep him from being the fifth wheel. 

But poor Yoko, gets stabbed after one podcast session.  I guess it is time take her off my suspect list.  I am also taking Sting off because the note said “I’m watching you” not “I’ll be watching you.”  But that is Steve Martin’s girlfriend, Martin Short’s dog, is Oscar next?  We do see Selena Gomez covered in blood hovering over someone in a tye-dye sweatshirt in the first episode.  Granted the superfans were wearing the same thing.

 

La Brea:  Wait, did they really CGI the daughter’s leg?  And not very well since she walked with a limp?  If that flashback happened before she lost her leg, why not put her in pants?  Or do some creative editing like when the flashed back to Barbra before her accident on Titans?  The show is about a group of people who fell in a sink hole and were transported 10,000 year in the past where people try to outrun a sabretooth tiger instead of getting into an ambulance there are standing right next to, yet this was the most confusing thing. 

 

Stargirl:  They really retconned some things this week.  So the original JSA broke up after killing a dude, but got back together years later just to get defeated by the Injustice Society?   I am really over Eclipso at this point.  Can we get Shiv back?

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  Another good episode, this week we get to see Ghostface and Raekwon John Wu themselves through a radio station just to get their song played.  Awesome.  But I also like the ODB and the gang going to college.  That could have been the whole episode right there.

 

Survivor:  Oh joy, another week, another way to lose your vote.  But I have no idea what the rules of the boat ride were.  When they show up for the stuff, I was just like, okay, that happened.  But Shan made a second mistake at Tribal Council in two trips.  She should have gotten out Brad the first week, but this week, she should have gotten out JD who lied to her.  If he goes, she has her Steal a Vote in her pocket.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Good riddance Bamber.  Only two more annoying Big Brother players to go.  I was hoping with Josh teamed up with house pariah Pricilla he would follow shortly, but it seems like we are done with pairs.  The winners did not get to pick new partners and the promo make it looks like everyone is working by themselves next week.  But are they still going to boot two people at a time?  Alternate genders?

 

In the Dark:  Well that was a horrible ending to one of the worst seasons of television ever.  Really, the cop was able to see the dude with a gun but somehow did not spot Jess and her new hideous bangs?  So now the blind chick is in prison with the person she helped bury’s girlfriend.  That should be a fun fourth season.

 

Doom Patrol:  The show regained some of that season magic after the Chief’s daughter storyline wrapped up but I found this episode to be pretty meh.  I kind of which the Brotherhood of Evil was the big bad of the season because after one episode I am out on the Sisterhood of Dada.  But with Rita heading back in time, maybe the Brotherhood will come back in place.  Mmm, I wonder if the Brotherhood of Evil and Sisterhood of Evil working together… or maybe they are enemies of each other.

 

Titans:  Not one, but two Titans got shot this week.  And yet Starfire somehow got powers after getting shot in the chest while I doubt Nightwing will die despite being shot in the neck and we last see him getting ganged up on by an angry mob.  Maybe Wonder Girl will show up and save him.

 

Big Sky:  Okay, the show is still trash, Drew Carey’s brother having a twin brother is one of the dumbest twists in the history of television, but I kind of like the new psychopath in town.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 3, 2021

Billions:  Wait, did the guys at Billions actually buy the Wu-Tang album so they could have Bobby use I as a gift or was that just a fake version?  The last we knew, the US Government seized it from the Pharma Bro and sold it at a secret action to an undisclosed buyer.  Did Billions in real life buy it so they could make it seem like Bobby bought it?  Do they know who bought it and borrowed it for the scene?  This is the most interesting part of the show in multiple seasons.  Inquiring minds want to know.

 

But a lot of family feuding this week.  I did not think Chuck Sr. would put his kidney over his kid, but there he was doing just that and Chuck Jr. used it against him.  Then Sacker sets up her father.  Finally there was Mike prince using his daughters as pawn.  All to bring down Bobby.  Though we have seen this before.  Chuck nails Bobby to the wall in the penultimate episode, but then Bobby somehow wiggles out in the finale.  Let me predict that the Prince daughters are the reason why Bobby manages to avoid jail this time around.  The show would be much better if Bobby just goes away and just have Chuck battle Mike Prince and/or Taylor.  Or just have the three do a Mexican standoff and target each other now that Bobby is out of the way.

 

The Walking Dead:  So the secret room in the floor also had an escape route?  How paranoid were the people who originally lived in that house?  I also have a lot of questions about the creepy Halloween house.  Number one, how did those people survived?  What did they eat?

 

American Rust:  So are we supposed to believe shady drug dealer guy?  His story lines up with what we know.  Though he never does say that he saw Billy land the fatal punch, just that he say him fleeing.  For now I will take shady drug dealer at his word but I think that it was Isaac that hit him.  But then why didn’t shady drug dealer ID him?  Was he hiding somewhere?  And why were Billy and Isaac there in the first place with the stolen money?  Were they there to buy drugs and were hoping to resell it for a profit?  All I know is I could do without Isaacs travels out west.

 

Y: The Last Man:  Oh, finally assumes Y is just a chick who transitioned.  And I do like the weird, and kind of evil, scientist.  But I still do not understand this escape plan.  So they stole two planes, put the two pilots in the same plane and crashed it.  But is no one missing the second plane?  Did they make the second plane look like it crashed?  But wouldn’t there being two people in the one plane and no bodies in the second place cause suspicion too?

 

La Brea:  So does show take place in the Godzilla vs. Kong extended universe?  There seems to be the same portal to a place where time forgot in the show.  Though it does not seem to be some inner Earth realm but time travel since the husband found the necklace.  But how exactly did a concussion make him see in the past.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Oh hey, a very special episode of the show.  But is it special or more of a gimmick now?   It seems like everything that attempts to be prestige television tries one of these types of episode once a season.  I wish the show only went quite when it was in the deaf guy’s point of view.  I made no storyline sense that Steve Martin had a silent date.  It certainly was not plausible that Steve Martin could keep his mouth shut, even during a funeral he was crashing. 

 

Still, there were a lot of revelations this week.  The other Hardy Boy’s death was more of an accident, though Nathan Lane still blackmailed Tim Kono.  Then the Lane family business is stealing from the dead which presumably Tim Kono was getting his jewelry from.  Despite Nathan Lane explaining why he is funding the podcast with the keep your enemies closer, I still do not buy him, or his kid, as Tim Kono’s killer.  Since a lot of my theories went out the window this week, here is my new one:  Nathan Lane is not the ringleader who is blackmailing Lane and then blackmailed Tim through Lane’s blackmail, but then killed Tim after the ringleader found out Tim was skimming off the top.

 

Stargirl:  The was an SNL sketch a while ago where a bunch of evil scientists were at a convention and one of them just crossed a preverbal line and the rest were like, we are evil, but we are not that evil.  That was what went through my mind while watching this episode.  Sure, Thanos wanted to wipe out half of all living creatures, Darkseid wanted to wipe out all of humanity, but at least neither was just outwardly racist the way Eciplso was this week.  There have been some evil comic book supervillains, but I do not remember any of them being just outwardly racist.  C’mon, Eclipso, maybe turn it down a notch.  I have a feeling all the other comic book supervillains would be saying they may be evil, but they are not that evil.  Dude made Hour Man go to prison, yet what he did to Dr. Mid-Nite seemed much worse.  So now Hour Man is in prison, S.T.R.I.P.E. is destroyed, Wild Cat turned in her costume, Is Star Girl next?

 

Supergirl:  So what was Supergirl’s trial?  Does she need the courage to let people die and not save everyone?  Does she have to keep trying with every totum?  Is just going to continually fail until the very last totem?  I hope that is not the rest of this season.  But I completely forgot about Miss. Teschmacher.  So she shot the reporter?  I had to look her up to remember what exactly happened to her.  So Lena turned her into A.I. after being Lex’s spy at Catco.  But Crisis wiped all that out and she instead turned into an assassin that killed Supergirl’s dad.  What?!?

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  Okay, this was easily the best episode of the whole series.  Why wasn’t the show this from the beginning showing how each song was constructed with everyone in a room and the weird vinaigrettes?  Instead we spent too much time in the first season following RZA around, with Ghostface Killah as a sidekick.  The group is much better together.  Hopefully the show can now kick into high gear.

 

Survivor:  It is almost as is Probst went to his team and said, come up with the most convoluted advantage as you can possibly come up with and this three way Idol was it.  So does dude have to talk about butterflies at every challenge or does he just have to do it once?  And what is their obsession with making people lose their votes this season?  Since no one else said the special phrase, dude lost his vote this week.  You can lose your vote if you roll the dice at Tribal Council.  You can lose your vote with the stupid wheel is you risk your vote, though that one is now moot because everyone now knows to discuss what to do prior to splitting up.

 

The girl’s alliance was also pretty dumb this week.  Now we are seeing why women have not won in so long.  The nerdy chick saw the advantage, knew what else had to be said at the challenge, but still strong-armed everyone else to vote for the doctor because she was scared.  But guess what, dude still has his Extra Vote, may get his vote back with an Idol next week and guess who he is targeting then?  If the other girls were smart, they still vote for the guy with all the advantages and it would have been 2-1-1.  Or just get rid of the old chick because she is too unpredictable an hope dude does not get the Idol next week.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: There is an old saying in sports that a playoff series does not really start until a road team wins.  If feels like this season is not going to start until a veteran is sent down into the Lair.  Sure, Bamber already went down, but that someone how did not start a free for all and the veterans’ alliance still somehow stayed intact and there was not even retribution against Fessy.   So a veteran will definitely be going down to the Lair next week.  Though even then, the Agency could still send down two rookies so maybe the season will not really start until two or more veterans go down to the Lair and one goes home.

 

But I feel bad for Pricilla.  Finally a rookie catches on to what the veterans are doing, except she let her blind hatred of Smashley get to her and took Smashley’s partner Josh.  Who just so happens to be the most annoying and most incompliant person she could have picked.  She could have had Kyle, or even Devin would have been a better pick.  But it is amazing, that Cory, who seemingly got a new partner every week last season, 

 

 

In the Dark:  Really, all this for the lesbian roommate to be working at a pet store and it was the real girl being trapped in the basement?  What a waste of a season.  And why is creepy kidnapper just letting them live?  This whole season has been really stupid.

 

Doom Patrol:  So Larry does not eat and Robot Man cannot eat, so just how exactly can they turn back from zombies by eating Niles’s brain?  That is some comic book logic right there.  But is that it for Niles?  It is hard to come back after someone eats your brain.  But this is a comic book and people have come back from worse and there is a time travel machine right out there.

 

But time traveling lady is just going to break her promise to Niles?  And Rita found the flight suit that was won by the other her that kept her from escaping.  Time travel lady does kind of look like an older Rita, though rarely does someone gain an accent as they get older.  And Rita does not age.  Could time travel lady morph into Rita?  She was able to morph into furniture, maybe another version of herself without memory loss has better control of that morphing abilty.

 

Titans:  So Wonder Girl comes back to life and somehow in the vicinity of Batman who seemingly was trying to kill himself and now she hopped on a plane back to Gotham without any mention of that?  And are there no direct flights into Gotham?  Then where did Raven come from?  Did she come back at the same time as the other chick who was testing Wonder Girl?  This show is just yadda-yaddaing a lot here.

 

Big Sky:  Just when I thought the show could not get any more dumb, apparently the sheriff who somehow got shot right in between the eyes and somehow survived only to be murdered by his wife has an evil twin brother who seeming is keeping the creepy dude as a farm animal.  Why?  Who knows.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 26, 2021

 

Billions:  I could have sworn they said COVID was not going to effect the show.  But last week, there was an offhand comment of hospitals filling up soon and this week everyone is wearing masks.  Well, all the unimportant people were wearing a mask which seems all too realistic.  But how did it take Bobby until the episode the episode to realize that meeting was all a set up?  As soon as Chuck did not seem all that bothered that his estranged wife could hear and see things, I knew that he wanted her to see it.  This is because the show has pulled this trick so many times so far, it is just so predictable.

 

The Walking Dead:  Oh yeah, they never did find the deaf girl.  Or the deaf girl’s sister?  Friend?  Like I said before, I stopped caring about the new people a long time ago so I forget who exactly who anyone is most times.  And wouldn’t it be better for Eugene and company to be exiled than what other punishments coming inside the walls?

 

American Rust: After the first episode, I was thinking this was all a fake out and Billy did not have anything to do with the murder.   Maybe someone stole his jacket and was framing him.  But you do not burn your clothes and bury them if you are innocence.  So at the very least he witness something.  But why leave your jacket there?  Did he take it off to fight?  And why didn’t the chief come back and get the jacket?  It was not well hidden so someone will find it eventually while looking for clues.  But it was very heartening that a bunch of twenty year olds would get the excited for a Kool and the Gang song.  

 

Y: The Last Man:  Seeing who his sister is traveling with, isn’t the best way to keep Y safe is just claim he is transgendered?  Seems like an easy out right there.

 

Reservation Dogs:  So are the girls going to California?  The group talked about California all season but in the car they talked about going to “The City.”  I wonder if they end up going to Oklahoma City instead.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Well, there goes my theory that Selena Gomez’s aunt never existed, Selena just made it up to hang out with rich kids.  But Martin Short was right, that was a great line to end an episode.  But Nathan Lane as the killer does not make much sense.  Why finance a podcast looking into the murder you committed?  Though his kid could be involved, he seems like he could be around the Hardy Boys’ ages.  And as much as I enjoy hearing the boomers and millennials trade insults, as someone as in between, I finally feel represented when the detective started talking about Herman’s Head and Dwayne Wayne.  I have to assume she is naming her kid Keith after Mr. Sweat.  But I was a bit offended when she mocked my: the cat did it theory.

 

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Stargirl:  So this is Eclipso’s plan?  Just get every member of the JSA to quit one by one, first it was Wildcat, and it looks D. Mid-Nite is next.  Is he just going to pick them off until… what exactly?  What is his grand plan?  He been trying to get out of that gem and now that he has, he is just going to stay and torture a bunch of teenagers?

 

Supergirl:  Well that was a very special episode of Supergirl.  Remember when comic books served as analogies to what was going on in the world.  Now they are just beating you over the head with it.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  How nice that Nicole Kidman can just torture people to figure out how to spend more time with her dead child, Stockholm Syndrome them into not pressing charges and lie to the police, and just drive off into the sunset while tripping balls in a stolen car.  Unless everything after Melissa McCarthy writing in the restaurant was just what is in her next book.  That was kind of confusing as to if that was her book or it really happened… or both?  But honestly, if the show wants to pull a White Lotus and just do a second season of the limited series with Samara Weaving as the new Nicole Kidman, I would definitely watch that.

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  I thought maybe there would be more blowback to those contract.  No one is even going to even skim it?  But it was nice of them to remember that U-God was a member of the group.  But I kind of want more scenes with the ODB and the building manager.

 

Survivor:  Oh joy, the “new” Survivor which just seems like old Survivor but shorter timeframe and even more twists.  The dice game seems silly and could cause problems especially when we get past the merge and there can be advantageddon situation where everyone plays an advantage and someone spins a dice.  But like old Survivor one of the most attractive players goes out pretty quickly.  Meh.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Good riddance Fessy.  Never come back.  But I am not sure why a slap to the face is a bootable offence, but throwing a water bottle with malice only gets you a strong warning.  I think I would much rather be slapped than pelted with a water bottle, especially if it was full (I do not actually remember how full the bottle was, an empty water bottle would be fairly harmless, I guess). 

 

In the Dark:  Really, is the Blind Chick actually going to solve this cold case over beads?  Is this how she clears her name?  Gets hired by the CPD because she solved it?

 

Doom Patrol:  So the Candlemaker was this big bad that was going to destroy the world and Dorothy was able to control him within the first minute of the season?  What a waste of that storyline.  But it looks like she is gone, off to do… whatever the Dead Boy Detective agency does.  The Dead Boy Detective agency that has one girl in it.  A Girl named Crystal Palace.  I wonder who her favorite futbol team is.  Though I am sure we will see them again, they did leave a big plotline about the demon that possessed Crystal still out there.

 

But after they diverted their attention away from Dorothy the show is back to being as good as it was in the first season.  The Brotherhood of Evil just sounds great.  Even though it seems like they were already taken down by the original Doom Patrol.  Maybe they needed Garguax the Decimator (that name should have been a pretty big red flag; but a pretty entertaining dude) to kill Rita in the future to bring them back.  But maybe Rita needs to die to keep it from happening and that is why other Rita kept her from escaping?  The new chick who popped a squat in the middle of the road without even taking off her pants is from the past so maybe she will explain everything next week.

 

Titans:  With just five episodes left in the season, we finally got a Raven sighting.  But did they really have to make us wait nine episode to do what everyone knew was going to happen at the end of season two: that Wonder Girl would be resurrected?  Granted, it did not actually happen the way I was expecting with Raven becoming powerful enough to do it.  Instead, Donna and Tim Drake escape purgatory by some mythical bridge that Hawk somehow could not cross even though Donna was able to lasso Tim Drake.  I thought maybe it was because Hawk did not have a body to go back to, but where Tim ended up back in the ER where his body was, Donna was for some reason not sent back to Themyscira where her body was, but was sent to wherever Batman went off too.  Comic Book logic I guess.  But I thought it was weird that HBO Max premiered Doom Patrol in the middle of the Titans, but what makes it even more bizarre is that both shows had purgatory episodes this week.

57 Channels and Only This Is on: September 19, 2021

 

Billions:  Saving Chuck’s dad when Chuck could not?  That may be the most underhanded thing anyone has done on this show.  But Chuck failed to bring down Axe own his own.  Still was not able to do it when he teamed up with Taylor (granted Taylor was trying to take Axe and Chuck down at the same time), can the trio of Chuck, Taylor, and Mike Prince finally be able to do it?  If the history of the show is indication, those three will turn on each other first; one will probably join up with Axe to do it.

 

The Walking Dead:  Big reveal at the beginning of the episode, but honestly I had no clue who that was until seeing the name listed as a guest star and that sort of jogged my memory.  But that is the problem with the show; I do not care about any new character because I just assume they are going to die before I get to know them.  But having Daryl escape from a burning building is a pretty warped initiation.

 

Y: The Last Man:  I came to the revelation watching the first couple episodes that I may be at my dystopian breaking point.  Just how many times do I really need to see the world end?  That first episode was particularly wasteful considering just by knowing the premise of the show we knew half the characters were going to die.  Plus I do not understand how it was so hard to get out of the Pentagon.  They got Y in, is getting out that much harder?  And is the crazy lady in Israel that much of a threat?  To be sworn in as president, don’t you need to be, you know, in America?  I cannot image it is going to be very easy to travel half way around the globe at this time.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Tye-Dye Guy turned out to be exactly who I thought it was.  But are we buying his story?  Ignoring a fire alarm just to “talk” to Tim Kono still seems suspicious.  But now we know how all that jewelry ties into everything.

 

Stargirl:  The set up to the season seemed like a cool idea, Shiv creating her own Legion of Doom.  Except of of the people she tried to recruit rejected her and Stargirl’s brother just turned out to be bait, leaving her with just Artimis and Violin Boy who has barely gotten any screen time to the point I had no clue who he was when he was at the diner.  What a waste of a good idea which turned into a sad team.  Though I have no idea how Atimis could go punch for punch with Hour Man.  How can a girl who can throw a football last so long in a fight against a dude with superpowers?  One punch and she should be done.  They should have had her fight Wildcat which would have been a better match.  I could actual see Violin Boy neutralize Hour Man.  But now Shiv is dead… or least that is what Stargirl thinks, I am not convinced.  Maybe she is in the same place as the original Dr. Mid-Nite. 

 

Supergirl:  So Lena’s mom was a witch.  Huh?  But I guess that is very convenient for the Superfriends who currently are fighting an imp with magical powers that they do not have an answer for.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  Oh my, Regina Hall tried to kill Nicole Kidman.  And maybe not for the first time?  Are we to believe she was the one who shot Nicole Kidman?  Nicole Kidman just took a big dose of drugs with the family prior to that scene so was it a flashback or hallucination.

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  Is it still a bottle episode if the whole episode takes part on a boat?  But why was Ghostface asking tourist how long the ferry was?  Is this his first time going to Manhattan?  At least it seems like the beef was swashed and they can finally get down to making some music.  I kind of forgot why Divine and Power were beefing in the first place,

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Uh oh, TJ is making a house call next week.  This week ended with Fessy laying hands on Josh.  Then there was also Esther throwing a drink on Bamber which could be seen as assault.  Granted was either offence as egregious as Josh and his two handed shove of Devin last season?  Granted that slap could be the start of something more.  But if this all leads to Fessy, and possibly Josh, getting the boot, then good riddance.  But if they do get rid of two guys, are they going to do two girl team eliminations to even things out?  Granted, Esther could be following her partner out the door.  Ugg, instead of a special one hour episode, they should have done a special to hour episode instead.

 

Titans:  Why was no one that concerned with the leak above Barbara’s desk?  That should be a big red flag.  But I have to go with Starfire in regards to not taking Jason back.  Where Beast Boy was being forced to do those things, Jason took the drugs; Scarecrow did not force it on him.  Get that boy in Arkham.  And where is Bruce in all this?  He has to come back now after the water supply gets tainted, right?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 12, 2021

  

The Walking Dead:  So what exactly was this plan?  Take a small group and try to steal food around a bunch of savages that are good at stealth attacks?  Why are they doing this?

 

Reservation Dogs:  For the run of this show, I have found the tertiary characters than the main four.  The rapping twins, the doctor, the policeman, the crazy uncle, the succubus, but this episode just lacked any interesting tertiary and just ended up being the least interesting of the season so far.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Well, Tina Fey just moved to the top of my murder board.  Really, what better way to find compelling true crime subjects for your podcast that committing the crime yourself?  Then it sounds like she is setting up the New Three Amigos as patsies by entitling her podcast “Only Murderers in the Building.”  That has to hurt; someone steals your podcast idea and rips off the name too.  But Tye-Dye Guy has to be the guy who was just released from prison. 

 

But really, all the Sting related jokes were just hilarious.  I loved how Martin Short was being coy about the celebrity in their building, but when Tina Fey could not get the puns, just finally blurted out, “Sting, I’m talking about Sting.”  I laughed so hard at that bit, I had to pause and rewind because I could not stop laughing.  Then I was laughing and deeply offended at the same time when Selena Gomez was trolling the old dudes about not knowing who Sting was.

 

Stargirl:  Well, the good episode streak ends at two.  I really did not care about the weird teacher or Stargirl’s crush who seemingly is a different person now.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  The show just completely went off the rails this week with everyone just tripping hard.  But I cannot decide what was the weirder hallucination, the Cabaret on the toilet or the nose falling off.   Just as wild was Nicole Kidman telling Regina Hall that she knows Hall knows she was forking her husband.  But is he the father of Kidman’s daughter?  It is hard to figure out the timeline on this show to decide if that is a possibly or not.

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  Finally some of the Wu members are getting their Wu-monikers.  I spent too much time the first season consulting the internet on what their government names were.  But what was with the weird ODB scene where he turned into Jon Wick all the sudden?  Did he just tell that story and everyone just took it as fact?  I am kind of into them just presenting the stories he told as fact and filming them that way no matter how outrageous they are.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: I cannot decide who is more annoying, Hughie or Emy.  It is really disturbing that Josh is somehow not the most annoying, or even the second most annoying person this season.  As much as I am ready for the vet alliance to implode, I would be perfectly okay if those two get sent in next week.

 

In the Dark:  I scoffed when I saw how managed cops they brought to arrest the blind chick, but it turns out they needed more because she still managed to escape custody.  Just how can an incompetent blind chick be able to get out of a police station and avoid a police manhunt in her neighborhood without being caught?

 

Titans:  Ha, evil crime boss just murdered her son.  Maybe that is why Nightwing does not work with crime bosses.  But that was a bit much for Starfire to just burn her from the inside.  But after they shut down Scarecrow’s plan, now what?  I have a feeling Blackfire will break bad again soon.  Or maybe we could finally find out what Raven is up two.  We are now officially more than half way through the season.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: Septembers 5, 2021

 

The Walking Dead:  I was right; Maggie pulled a Glen and went under the train.  Although, last week it looked like she fell into a swarm of walkers, but this week, itt looked like just one was pulling her.  But I just do not understand the layout of the subway, just how did the people who left last week to go back then get ahead of everyone.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  This show shot to the top of my most anticipated list the moment it was announce Selena Gomez would be joining the cast in August of last year.  Instead of tempering my expectations I just spent the full year since building it up in my head more and more.  C’mon, Selena Gomez joining two if the three amigos.  What could possibly go wrong?  And yet, the show somehow managed to live up to my hype.  The show is goofy and fun while Selena pulls off these great dry wit one-lines all the while hiding a deep, dark secret.  And honestly, I really want to see Splash! The Musical.  But this is a murder mystery and I am going to make a bold prediction and say the cat did it.

 

Stargirl:  What is going on?  Two episodes in a row that were actually entertaining?  And this was ostly because of Sportsmaster and Tigress breaking out of prison just to see their kid’s tryout and then breaking back in.  They wisely announced the duo will be season regulars next season and it is clear why they are keeping them around after this episode.  Surprisingly their kid is not which may be telling for the rest of this season as Shiv recruits her new JSA.  But we did learn what I assumed lvst week, The Shade did not actually kill Dr. Mid-Nite… butt where exactly is he now?

 

Supergirl:  Um, why exactly did Supergirl take off the dampeners of the criminals?  They are criminals that escaped.  That just seemed stupid.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  like I have been saying all season, the show gets better the weirder it get and nothing is weirder than Michael Shannon singing Grease tunes to his family half-naked.  That will be tough to top.  Sure, Luke Evans giving birth to Bobby Cannivale’s kids is close.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Well, fork.  Michele was really the only person worth rooting for this year.  It is a shame they were not doing skulls this seasons.  I wonder how that would have shook up deliberations.  But if there is a bright side, the Big Brother alliance imploded.  Hopefully they just vote each other in until they lose.

 

In the Dark:  So the Blind Chick is all by herself again.  Joy, the first episode was so bad, why not do it again.  But does the nerd come back?  No matter how rude she was, that is just cruel, at levst towards Pretzel.

 

Titans:  Is there any woman on this show Nightwing has not forked yet?  Is it just Starfire’s sister at this point?  I guess the new assassin may not be keen on him after he killed her boyfriend.  And just how does a vicious assassin not be able to kill someone who is just in a wheelchair?  But I have to say, Starfire’s sister is highly entertaining and not what I was expecting at all.  She will get Connor to be her sex slave sometime this season I suspect.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 29, 2021

The Walking Dead:  Who knew the dead could take a nap?  Or be awoken by a single drop of blood?  Yet, not the dumbest thing the show has ever done.  Then later in the episode, Negan had the opportunity to save Maggie but lets her drop into a horde of zombie.  Are they really going to do the same cheap trick with her that they did with Glen a bunch of seasons ago where he fell into a horde only to be able to slip under a trash bin?  I am just going to assume Maggie is under the subway car and will probably crawl and meet up with Daryl until proven otherwise.

 

Stargirl:  Okay, pen guy was pretty entertaining.  I wonder if they will ever meet up with the new owner or having a CGI genie is too expensive for The CW.  Maybe they should have moved it to HBO Max like the other DC Universe shows.  But is The Shade really a bad guy?  It seems like he was claiming there was more to Dr. Mid-Nite’s death than what we are led to believe.  We do see The Shade “swallow” Dr. Mid-Nite in darkness, but does that actually kill him.  And just what does he want with Eclipso?

 

Supergirl:  Well, that was just stupid.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  So the Vice President knowingly sacrificed his daughter?  That is so evil stuff right there.  Well, I guess we got someone to take down in the finale season.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  So no one objects to being drugged without their consent?  Cool.  But I find the more the “strangers” are being drugged, the more entertaining I find the show.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: It looks like I counted right because even Tori said the show was evenly split to start the episode between veterans and rookies.  But not anymore.  Once again, even with a rookie winning the week, all four people sent into elimination were rookies.  Though the previews next week does make it look like the veterans alliance will be imploding.  This would be good news for Michele and Corey as the only rookie team left.  We will have to see if the preview is misleading or not, Josh can lose his cool pretty quickly.

 

In the Dark:  Well that was the worst episode in the history of the series.  It takes a whole hour to find a blind chick’s phone?  Then there is siblings squabbling over old newspapers.  We learned nothing important that we did not know before other than Trey left his phone at the kingpin’s house which took up five seconds of screen time. 

 

Titans:  Well that was a whole episode explaining what happened to Jason that I had already figured out by watching the first four episodes.  But it was weird that the dead Wonder Girl had gotten more screen time in the first five episodes than the still alive Raven.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 22, 2021

 

 

The White Lotus:  If there was one thing I really did not need to see in my life was what Armand did to that suitcase.  No wonder he died, that must have really angered the island Gods.  But that death should have been obvious considering days before the announced the show had been renewed for a second season in a different resort.  Why not run it back with Armand unless he would not be around for a second season?

 

Reservation Dogs:  This episode was severly missing the rapping twins.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  Man, I think you may have to Ferris Bueller / Parker Lewis wars of the early nineties to witness a show so poorly timed that it really hurt a show quite like Nine perfect Strangers premiering mere days after The White Lotus, another show about annoying rich people going to exotic resort.  The first episode just seemed lifeless despite having quite of few very hilarious people (Bortles!!!!).  I did enjoy the show more after watching second episode and third episodes with a bombshell that ended the third one.  Maybe that is why the firt episode was so restrained but the characters got more and more bombastic.  Hopefully the further away we get from The White Lotus, the easier it is to enjoy the show on its own merits.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Yet another agent deactivated without explanation sending everyone to the internet to figure out what happened.  But unlike Nan, not clear reason why Lauren is no longer on the show except some long, vague message from Lauren and on unverified rumor.  This show used to love the drama and now is apparently just editing it out, well except for some drunken Smashley rant.

 

At what point do the rookies realize they are being picked off systematically?  Two eliminations, only rookies have gone in even though there has been a rookie in the agency each week.  If I counted correctly, after four rookies going home, they are now deadlocked at fifteen veterans and fifteen rookies.  If the rookies do not start playing soon, it is going to be too late real soon.

  

In the Dark:  I am not sure what was more shocking, that Gene is now captain or he turned out to be black.  But I think it is pretty clear now that the woman who gets her head smashed into the car is not actually Jess, but whoever’s identity she stole which is why they never show a good shot of her.

 

Titans:  Booooo, how disappointing that Dove is leaving.  But will she return after Wonder Girl’s inevitable return?  I would like to point out that Scarecrow was actually working with Red Hood.

 

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

 

The White Lotus:  This show has not been the murder mystery that was set up in the first scene.  There may not even sure there was an actual murder. I think the couple in the first scene just said someone died.  Since the show does not even seem to be trying, I think the person who dies will be the old dude with the cough.  I actually thought he was going to keel over after having sex with Stiffler’s mom.  I might give a close second to Armand who has already been close to OD’ing.

 

Reservation Dogs:  This is another in a long line of shows where the main characters are the least interesting characters.  The rapping twins are number one and two followed by the cop and the spiritual guide being fourth.  Then the doctor would round out the top five.

 

Stargirl:  So evil chick is going to recruit a new Evil Doers of America team?  Cool.  But the team she laid out did not seem that impressive.  And what was with the kids at the start of the episode?  What happened to them?  Are they just in that gem too?

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  That was a pretty good twist, I personally did not suspect anything until she noticeably did not stomp her feet.  But does she want to be captured?  She was not muzzled and yet she did not try anything.  That is pretty suspicious.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Poor Nam, gets stuck with a head case last season and gets sent home off screen this season without explanation sending everyone to the internet to figure out what happened. It turns out that a bunch of people came down with COVID symptoms and production got shut down after the first challenge and everyone had to quarantine for ten more days.  Then poor Nam was the only one still positive and got sent home.  Which begs the question why didn’t the show mandate vaccinations?  Seems like a pretty simple solution especially for a season where you are flying so many people to one spot from across the globe. 

 

Then poor Michele, gets a strong partner who gets sent home, gets thrown in eliminations thanks to a new twist and has to go against one of her few allies in the game, and it seems like they are doing away with skulls this seasons so it seems likely she will be thrown in a few more time because that is what sees like happens whenever there are skull-less seasons. Shame, because she is already the most entertaining new cast member since Nany.

 

In the Dark:  Really, a blind chick an escape from a police station that easily?  So now what?  Back to Canada?  Get caught again?  Try and leverage the tape?

 

Titans:  Well that was a stupid episode.  Really Hawk, how do you get ambushed like that?  And why not have Connor freeze the bomb?  And if you are trying to lower your heartrate, how about not having Lyla Garrity sit on your lap and start taking off her clothes?  That seems like the best way to get your heartrate up.  And why did they need to bomb disabler to be at 0%?   If I am down to my last 100 heartbeats, I am fine with something that has a five percent failure rate.  But I will just call it now, Red Hood is working with Scarecrow and he provided the cocktail that Nightwing found.  But is that some sort of invincibility potion?  Was Red Hood thrown in the Lazarus Pit?  Will it be the same thing that brings back Wonder Girl who seems about as dead as Red Hood going by the previews?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 1, 2019

Ray Donovan: So Micky was burned beyond recognition? Well at least they did not drag it out very long to reveal he was not really dead considering it was extremely obvious he was not. Now they just need to explain how he survived such a huge fireball. But hey, if Micky is “dead” Ray should easily be able to get his prints to take the fall for that murder.

Watchmen: Hooded Justice was black? Did not see that coming. Although I did see after the episode someone pointed out that Lou Gossett Jr. had the same color scheme early in the season so it is not that they did not telegraph it. I kind of wish that Angela was the POV the whole time, that would have been more interesting. I also wish we had gotten more of his life than just that short few months… Unless Angela is still under the Nostalgia and that ending was how Lady Truie met Hooded Justice. That would explain how she got out of police custody.

The Walking Dead: So Michonne is just going to leave her small children to help that dude back home? Huh? Almost a big question as how Daryl and everyone is going to get out of their predicament.

Shameless: So a week after shiving a dude in the sick ward, Ian is up for parole? Then to hurt his parole chances, he tries to shiv someone else? Although the best part of the episode was when I realized Debbie did not forget to load the debit cards but instead they were all garnished by the government for unpaid debt.

Mr. Robot: RIP Janice, but you really kind of annoying. Otherwise, felt like huge filler episode.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: Wow, it just seems like Lin-Manual Miranda is on a completely different show. I mean, both his show and the main show are bad, but just a different kind of bad.

Castle Rock: Strangulation by stethoscope… had we not seen someone this season shove an ice cream scooper down someone’s throat, that would have been a pretty imaginative self-defense scene. Interesting the episode description said, “Annie sees things for what they are.” Considering she saw her long dead mother and a waterfall that came out of a mirror. But maybe it says that because she is the only one who is not under the cult’s spell as even Joy is not walking in step. But annie is legit crazy, I wonder what is so special about the doctor? Is it just that you have to see the statue to be enthralled by it? But a surprisingly short episode, about thirty-five minutes, even less than a network drama without commercials.
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: Idols have been out of control for a while now and two of the last seasons featured someone who went on a three or longer Idol run until Idols were no longer available to play, but at this point I really hope Karishma somehow finds an Idol every week and somehow finds herself in the final (but I fear she will be more like Rick than Ben in the fire making challenge) and manages to win the whole things. Only her or Janet are the only ones from this season that would land them in the bottom five winners of all time list.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: Poor Nany, Smashley gets lost and she still cannot solve a simple Sudoku puzzle. But I wonder if she would have turncoat because the Brits with only one actual Brit clearly look like the better team at this point. Of course it would serve Cara Maria and paulie right to get beat by people who they tried to get rid of.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Almost Family: What a nice treat of back to back episode. The Thanksgiving episode may be the best so far.
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

Titans: When they said one Titan would fall, New Robin seemed obvious considering he famously “died” in the funny books. Except they already threw him out of a window to certain death only to be saved by Superboy in the next episode. Hawk seemed like the next most likely so he could be sacrifice himself and redeemed for his bad behavior. Why I put any thought into might happen because who actually died was completely outside the realm of reason. First of all it, it took forever for that pillar to fall, Lyla Garrity could not get two people out of harm’s way in ten seconds? Then, instead of using her super-speed to hold up the pillar, how about Super Girl using her super-speed to move people out of harm’s way instead of holding the pillar? And can a little electricity really kill an Amazon? Aren’t they Gods? Ugg, what makes things worse is she was the second best part of the show. But is she really dead-dead? Raven pretty easily healed Starfire and says her powers are evolving. And of course this is DC so I am sure there is a Lazarus Pit somewhere. Hopefully she shows up next season somehow.