SUPERMAN & LOIS 1.14

 

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  1.14:  "The Eradicator"

The penultimate episode of the first season of Superman & Lois raised the stakes for not just the Kent Family...but for all of Smallville....and now Metropolis. Tal-Rho spend the end of last episode absorbing the energy of not only the Sun...but that of the Eradicator itself, becoming the living embodiment of it.  His evolution is now at that next stage, that he is finally prepared to fulfill the wishes of his father:  to recreate Krypton by taking over the Earth.  And now, he can carry out that plan without the use of Superman.  

The Kent boys, for the most part, spend the majority of this episode on the sidelines of a sort.  As Lois and Clark continue to worry about them...especially Jordan, now that he's in a relationship with Sarah Cushing, and she's got HER own issues to deal with:  Kyle and Lana have decided that they need to move.  They're still outcast from the town, and with the town falling into despair financially...also due to the continued presence of the DoD...have put the town on hard times, and many businesses are leaving.  The Cushings are feeling that heat as well.  But the boys are still trying to be about as normal as they can as teenagers.  At the diner, the trio comment on how Smallville is falling apart, and then the boys get approached by their teammates, including Sarah's ex, about a party they're having.  Sarah decides to take a powder from it, saying she's going to do something with her sister Sophie, and the boys need a "guys night out" scenario.  So, as much as Jordan tells Jon about being aware of their dad calling them, Jon tells them that for once, they just need to be teenagers, and they can put aside all the stuff going on with their dad for a change.  So, they head to the party.  

Sarah heads home, and she is spending time with Sophie, doing her hair.  In the kitchen, Kyle and Lana talk about leaving, having put the house up for sale, but not getting many buyers.  Lana wonders whether or not it's a good idea.  They built so much in Smallville, and it's their home, and she's unsure if leaving when the town is in despair is the right thing to do.  Kyle honestly tells her that it's for the best.  Sarah and Jordan had talked earlier about the move, and she assured him that they're not going anywhere.  They make a promise to not let the distance SHOULD she move stop their relationship.  Kyle goes to the fire station to collect his gear, and he runs into one of this team.  She comments that him leaving is a big blow for this town.  She said that when she wasn't accepted because she was a woman...and black...he stuck by her, because he believed in her as a firefighter.  He never gave up on her---and she won't on him.  Though she talked to the other fire chief, she said they'd be getting a great guy. It leaves Kyle much to ponder on, and he actually confesses to Lana that he might be having second thoughts.  But when they talk to Sarah and Sophie, they both agree that it's time to move.  Sarah isn't down with it, and blasts BOTH her parents for giving up and caving in when things get too hard.  It's a verbal tongue lashing that both had coming, and Sarah calls them out on the carpet.  She storms out, calling them idiots, and leaves them stunned.  I should note that one of the reasons Lana had doubts was with her talk with Clark.  Clark came back, only to be losing his best friend, and has confessed to her that SHE is the heart of the town...especially since his mother died.  He urges her not to go. 

Sarah ends up at the party, telling Jordan that her parents have decided to move, and he's there to comfort her.  Meanwhile, Jon is approached by Tegan Wickham, who's been taking an interest to Jon for some time now, and the last time the two chatted, she grilled him for info about his grandfather and the DoD.  He didn't take that well and bailed. She ends up apologizing, and we get some of HER backstory:  She's originally from Central City herself, and she and her mother left after her father went to prison...which prompts ME to think just WHO he is, and whether or not he's had a run-in with The Flash.  Either way, she understands where both Jon and Jordan come from....transplanting their lives, thinking that it would be better from whence they came.  She really likes him, and still wants to show him around, and her and Jon look like they're on the right track.  However, back at the party, Jordan and Jon get a call from their parents, needing them to head home and lay low with Edge now out of control.  They end up tuning into the TV when they hear the clammer about what's going on in Metropolis, and both boys see the showdown between The Eradicator's new minions, and their father, with John Henry Irons.  They then see their mother atop a building giving a report to the city about The Eradicator and what he's capable of, telling the citizens to seek cover.  Jon and Jordan see the scene where Leslie Larr comes up from behind her, about ready to kill her, when Steel shows up to save her.  Sarah comments on how badass Lois is to Jordan.  

The boys are found by General Lane, and he orders them home...Jordan asks if they can drop Sarah off.  En route back to the Kent Farm, they are attacked by the Eradicator.  The vehicle is flipped and crashed after running into him.  Injured, General Lane has Jon open up his glovebox, and pull out a Kryptonite gun he had stored in there.  Jon goes to shoot Edge, but he disappears, and misses the shot.  Eradicator pulls off the door, and grabs Jordan....then takes off.

Backtracking here, we go back to Lois and Clark's sequence of events, which started with Sam arguing with Lois about the article Chrissy Beppo wrote about the DoD's continued presence in Smallville.  The townsfolk are pissed, and want answers.  Sam is doing what he's doing to protect THEIR family, but the article is only making it worse...especially with the Town Hall meeting coming up.  After Clark's visit with Lana, both he and Lois head to the meeting, and the citizens are visibly upset, and want answers.  Lois had been at the paper to see Chrissy earlier, and she feels that Chrissy needs to be the one to ask the tough questions to her father.  Chrissy informs her, however, that she's been offered a good deal of money by a corporation to sell the paper.  She informs Lois that she can't keep the doors open.  Her...like so many other business in Smallville...are closing up shop because of Morgan Edge, and how he left the town worse off then when he arrived.  The town hall meeting doesn't go well for Sam, who TRIES to explain what the DoD is doing.  Chrissy asks if Edge is in custody, and is the town still in danger---to which Sam agrees, but says they're doing all they can...along with Superman, to find him and stop him.  The town wants to know why they're closing up the mines, thinking whatever's there has to do with money, and Sam quells that idea.  Derek Powell's mother shows up, telling the town that the DoD has lied to them, and knows what happened to her son.  She wants Sam to admit it, but he's not at liberty to give up info.  Just then, that's when He and Lois get notice that Edge has shown up in Metropolis after breaking Leslie Larr out of their prison.   They leave the town to head to Metropolis, leaving the Smallville citizens to rant and rave.  

Once in Metropolis, They see Edge just hovering in the sky.  Leslie mocks Lois and Superman, saying that Tal-Rho isn't Tal anymore---and Superman can confirm it.  And she goes on to say that it's fitting that the first city to fall should be Metropolis.  Eradicator already has turned a few citizens into Kryptonians, and they fly off to begin the assault on the city.  Superman and Steel take off to battle the converted Kryptonians.  Eradicator watches, and Leslie takes off as well.  Lois heads off to warn the citizens, and her friend Janet Klyburn is on the roof of the Planet, as she uses the TV camera to give Lois a chance to warn the citizens of Metropolis to take cover.  Superman and Steel manage to defeat the underlings of the Eradicator, and Leslie is given another mission:  kill Lois Lane.  That is where we left off with the boys at the party, watching their mother on TV, and Jon seeing Leslie creep up behind her in the air....about ready to fry her alive.  But Steel manages to intercept her, and take Leslie down.  The Eradicator flies off before the battle is over.  

Bringing us to the end of the episode, as Sam, seriously injured, and having watched Jordan get abducted by The Eradicator...calls out to Superman, and he arrives, and tells him that Edge got Jordan.  Superman speeds off, and he's searching feverishly for his son.  Superman arrives back at the farm, and  informs Lois that he can't locate their son.  She cries in his arms, wondering what Edge has planned, and what will they do. In some undisclosed location, however, we see that the Eradicator has now put Jordan through the process of conversion, and has given him Tal-Rho's father's presence in Jordan's body---and they're now ready to complete their long mission.  

This episode amped up the danger, and gave us a real sense of dread going into the season finale.  This show continues to deliver, and next to Stargirl, is the best of the CW Arrowverse shows.  With Jordan now being the host body for Tal-Rho's father, he and the Eradicator are now dead set on finishing their mission of reviving Krypton.  Choosing Jordan was the easy choice because HE has the powers of his father, though weaker.  With the imbued Kryptonian DNA of Tal's father, Jordan's going to now be as powerful as Superman, and that's going to put the Man of Steel in a VERY precarious scenario...to where he must battle his son in order to save him.  Not sure how much Lois' strength and will can handle it---watching her husband fight their son in order to save him.  Lois is a strong, powerful woman in her own right, and has faced MANY threats....but this is different.  This is Lois Lane:  mother.  It takes on a new dynamic when you have your child's life hanging in the balance.  Tal wanted to make sure that he chose the next host to ensure either Superman's obedience, or to force Kal-El to do what he wouldn't do:  kill.  It's Tal's ultimate payback towards Kal-El...taking the one thing he loves most...and turn it against him.  

With Jordan having been abducted, I am curious as to how much Sarah will NOW be curious about in regards as to WHY Edge chose Jordan, of all people, and not Jon, or General Lane.  How much closer will she get to find out the family secret?  And as HER family goes, will the Cushings honestly move?  Or will Lana and Kyle step up, and be the community leaders they know they can be?  Lana has always had self doubt, no matter how much she's loved the town...but she doesn't think she has it in her to rally the town and save it.  But Clark does what he can to instill all the confidence in his best friend as much he can.  The town needs leaders...and Kyle and Lana need to step up.  

It was about time we got to know a little more about Tegan.  She isn't what everyone has made her out to be, and we see that she had to relocate to Smallville for a "better life" in much the same way the Kents did.  She can relate to how Jon has felt trying to adapt to a new town.  We also find out HER family has a chequered past, what with her father having been a  criminal in Central City.  That makes me wonder about her father, and whether or not he's had ANY time he might've crossed paths with The Flash.  But knowing HER story, and her understanding of Jon's scenario...we don't have as much a negative opinion of her as we did before.  She'll be an interesting character to watch down the road.  

General Sam Lane got it on all sides this week:  A verbal lashing from the Smallville faithful, and having to get it from his daughter as well.  But then to get hurt in a car accident by The Eradicator.  We don't know how badly the General is hurt, but he's been put into some precarious situations...much of it his own doing.  But I've no doubt about his convictions.  He is a soldier and protector of America first...then the world.  But I also know that HE has to do what HE can on his part to also protect the family secret:  Clark's secret ID as Superman.  Even HE has to walk that fine line, and it's tough.  As much as I have wanted him to get belted upside the head, I can also sympathize with him.  

Overall, this show has been great, and I have loved the ride from day one.  EVERYONE has delivered in their roles, and have told a VERY convincing and well rounded story.  It's got me excited about season two, but I am all-in on an exciting season finale.  What about all of YOU?  Subscribe, leave me a comment, and YOUR opinions...lemme know what you like/dislike about this show.  

Until next week's season finale....Up, up, and away! 

STARGIRL 2.1

 

RECAP - STARGIRL  2.1:  "Summer School - Chapter One"  

Welcome back to Blue Valley!  It's been a bit of a spell since we visited our new friends of the JSA and the Dugan family.  They got done taking down the Injustice Society of America, and now look ahead to new threats and adventures...and school.  As we peek in on our little Nebraska town, it's a little bit later down the road, but there ARE new threats on the horizon....the team just doesn't know it yet. 

Before we get to the current stuff, we have to step back a few decades, when we see the town, and a young girl named Rebecca, whom has gotten in trouble with her mother, and thus, cannot attend the birthday party across the street.  But....she is visited by a strange boy named Bruce.  Bruce has an unusual gift, and encourages Rebecca to disobey her mother, by going across the street. Bruce further goads Rebecca into stealing one of the gifts...thinking their might be a doll inside one of them.  Rebecca is spurred by this, and commits the theft of a big gift.  She then opens it up, only to see a very meancing looking doll.  She's a little scared, but then blinks her eyes, and the doll is normal.  We then see Bruce behind her...his face darkened in a crescent moon looking manner, and says she's a bad girl, and proceeds to use his super powers on her.  We can't see what happens, but he disappears, and Rebecca's mother comes out looking for her.  Once she realizes she snuck off to the party, she goes over, only to look onto the lawn and find her daughter...she screams as they pull back...and we see the name on their mailbox:  McNider. 

The JSA is out on patrol...but all is quiet on the Midwest Front.  Not a peep of a super villain anywhere.  Stargirl feels they need to stay on the alert, because evil can sprout at any point in time.  However, the rest of the team is done, and they feel that they can suit up when there's actually a threat.  They take off, and call it a night.  Stargirl, however, isn't done.  Once at home, Courtney continues to pour over old JSA files for potential villains that they could possibly encounter.  Pat comes down to the basement, and tells her that she needs to learn to balance her life as Stargirl AND as Courtney Whitmore as well.  She needs to focus on her finals for school.  As he orders her to bed, and as they leave the basement, Green Lantern's power battery begins to glow. 

Other members of the team seem to be struggling with life outside their JSA work.  After the fall of the ISA, there's been no villains, and there really isn't anything to do.  Rick seems to have been caring for SOMETHING out in the woods, because he makes a couple of trips out there this episode, and finds the giant footprints, and also leaves food out for this creature, whom radio news reports call a "bear" or something.  More than likely, it's Solomon Grundy.  He too, had to deal with school issues, as he went to get the results of his finals, and the teacher blatantly calls him out for cheating on the test, even though he actually buckled down and studied.  She feels he cheated, and wants him to take the test right there and then.  He gets pissed off enough at her, that he just gives up and tells her to fail him.  He's done with school.  

Beth...whose only friends are her teammates, has had troubles as well in the wake of the final battle with the ISA, as she spends this episode trying to get Chuck back online after the goggles were damaged in the fight with the ISA.  On top of trying to revive Chuck...and actually have someone to talk to...she has to deal with the fact that her parents are so busy, they continue to NOT have time for her.  The real blow for Beth comes when she finds divorce papers on a table, and she realizes her parents are splitting up.  She tries to make her parents a romantic dinner in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, but her Mom calls, and says she's busy, and can't come home.  Beth is left sullen, but gets a little glimmer of hope when she hears Chuck's voice form the goggles.  She tries to communicate with him, but--sadly--Chuck has NO idea who she is, and shuts off.  

Yolanda seems to be the one taking it the hardest, as she keeps recalling the battle, and what she did to Brainwave, as well as remembering that Henry died saving their lives.  Yolanda is going through some serious PTSD, and she goes to church, hoping to try and quell her nightmares by going to confessional.  However, she's unable to say a word, and ends up leaving in a panic.  She also seems to act as if someone is following her.   

At school, the girls meet up, but Rick isn't around, and they talk about summer, and being able to go on patrol.  The girls just want to scale it back a bit....they don't want to give up being Wildcat and Dr. Mid-Nite, but they want to only suit up when there's an actual threat.  Courtney is talking to them about time paradoxes, and the fact that she's going on a summer trip to Yellowstone with the family that Pat has been planning for awhile.  No Stargirl, no superhero stuff, just relaxation AWAY from Blue Valley.  Her and Mike are less than enthused, since Mike wants to learn how to operate Stripsey.  The kids are outvoted (thanks to the dog), and Pat puts the trip into motion.  As the girls are in the cafeteria talking about summer, they overhear Artemis and her friends come in, talking about her parents, and how they were busted for a crime from years ago, and that she feels they were set up.  Accidently, Courtney gets it in her head that Artemis is about to attack her with a hockey stick, and they tangle for a bit.  Artemis wonders what the hell is happening, as she was just handing the stick back to her teammate.  Courtney is then taken to the Principal's Office, where the parental units show up, and she says her tangle with Artemis was a misunderstanding.  She then finds out that the history test she SHOULD'VE studied for (but didn't because she was pouring over JSA files), she failed, as well as English, so now she's remanded to Summer School if she wants to get into her Junior year.  Pat and her mother are disappointed, because the summer trip was ruined because of her.  And her mother questions her actions, and whether or not being Stargirl is worth losing herself and her future for. 

Pat, before the incident at school with Courtney, had set up a man named Zeke with the task of care of his garage while he's gone, and Zeke is curious as to what is behind the door of the garage, that has Pat saying "do not enter" on it.  Pat tries to inform him that it's just extra junk, and that he needs to clean it up, it's just extra junk.  However, as the family trip got cancelled due to Courtney's faux pas, Pat decides to head back to the garage to call off the deal with Zeke, only to find out that Zeke broke into the storage room where Pat keeps Stripsey, and Zeks uncovers his secret.  However, what Zeke DOESN'T know is Stripsey's capabilities.  He just thinks he's a robot that Pat's building, and thinks he can modify him a little.  And...try as he might, Pat can't convince him to stop.  

Courtney...now remanded to Summer School, feels that she can now pick up where she left off with the super hero gig.  She starts going through the yearbook looking at Cindy, who's not been found at all, and Cameron Mahkent, with whom she's had an interaction with earlier on, and it was calm, but uneasy.  He's just trying to do something good by giving the mirual on the wall in town a new coat of paint.  His grandparents, however, are keeping eyes on him, still don't trust Courtney at all.  As she's perusing the yearbook, the staff wakes up, and she follows the disturbance it senses downstairs.  Soon, a dark figure appears holding GL's power battery.  The two girls begin to fight, and it rages over the house, causing damage downstairs.  When Courtney asks who she was, the strange girl says she's Green Lantern's daughter, as the rest of the Dugan Family comes downstairs and sees the new surprise awaiting them.  

As for Cindy....well....we finally catch up with her, as she roams the halls of the high school, until she reaches the set of lockers that moves open as the entrance to the ISA lair...she has a file with her.  She opens it, and starts to take out pictures of fellow students.  Henry's she tears up...since he's dead.  And she then pulls out pictures of Jordan Mahkent, Artemis Crock...and Mike Dugan.  She asks Eclipso if he's ready to do some recruiting....for the new group, Injustice, Unlimited.  

Well!  That was a lot to intake for an hour episode!  Welcome back from the break in quite a spectacular fashion.   We pretty much spend this episode seeing how everyone is dealing with the aftermath of the battle with the Injustice Society.  Some take it well.....some don't.  Courtney....for all the good she wants to do....is suffering from a bout of overzealousness.  Having gong through her initial trial as Stargirl, and come out the otherside tested and ready, she is now keeping a bit more alert than she needs to be.  She is ready for the next challenge, and feels that THIS is her ultimate destiny....to just BE Stargirl.  But as Pat, her mother, and the other members of the new JSA try to tell her---that's not all there IS to life.  Regardless of whether or not the staff CHOSE her...she's still JUST Courtney Whitmore.  And Courtney Whitmore has to do more in life than just be a superhero....superheroing doesn't pay the bills or provide you a college education, a career, or much else.  Courtney, I feel, is going to continue to learn these lessons the hard way.  And as much as Pat and her mother try to explain it to her---she's a teenager, and she's still got MUCH growing to do.  

Yolanda has a BAAAAD case of PTSD.  And, sadly, she has NO ONE to talk to about it, outside of the team....and possibly Pat.  She can't turn to her family, and she can't go to confessional at church, either.  Having killed Brainwave has left a HUGE weight on her, and she can't shake it.  The ramifications of taking another person's life...supervillain or not...at so young an age is frightening, and she's going to suffer through this trauma alone until she confronts it head on, and just TALKS about it...and DEALS with it.  Until then, her ability to be Wildcat will be compromised...especially if she can't fight, because she fears she'll kill again. 

Rex is actually the fairly most stable right now, despite getting jerked over by the teacher who thinks he didn't make the effort to study, and just cheated his way to a good grade.  But he's actually showing compassion for whatever's out in the woods that's had campers and some townsfolk a little scared.  They think it's some giant bear....but I'd harbor a good guess that he's caring for Solomon Grundy.  He may have ordered Grundy to leave....but at the same time, Rick showed compassion in their last battle.  So, it wouldn't surprise me that he's helping the dead zombie like guy out.  Not sure what happens after this, but at least we can say that Rick is fairly sane and level headed. 

I feel for Beth so badly----outside of Rick, Courtney, and Yolanda---Beth's world is a lonely one.  Especially when you have two working parents who put more into their jobs, and LESS time with their kid.  Beth has grown up to realize that she's alone....and having the goggles, being Dr. Mid-Nite, and talking to Chuck gave Beth a sense of belonging...and Chuck was as close to a best friend as she's had.  But with her parents on the verge of divorce, their constant ignoring of her, and with Chuck somewhat back, but NOT knowing who Beth is....her world has never felt more empty...and it's painful to watch.  And it'll only get worse when her parents split up.  And because she's so timid and shy....she doesn't speak up.  This is something that HAS to change for Beth to take a step forward. 

Poor Pat.  All the guy wanted was a family vacation.  And he almost had it----until Courtney messed it all up.  It's one thing to have been the partner of a crimefighter, but to now have the new generation all gung-ho, it's tough to get these youngsters to find a balance.  Not that he has to worry about Yolanda, Beth, or Rick...not his responsibility really.  But for Courtney...and now Mike, who wants in on the "family business", he's got to ensure that not only does he teach them the ropes to be better heroes....but to find that balance in life.  Barbara also wants that, but they face an uphill battle with teenage kids.  And now, Pat will have another kid to deal with now that Green Lantern's daughter has appeared.  On top of that...Zeke now knows about his robot.  And much like the Janitor last year, who proved to be the Shining Knight...I feel Zeke is someone of interest as well----just not sure who.  Pat's gonna have to keep an eye on him as well.

We see that Sylvester---least that's who we're LED to believe it is---has continued HIS journey to find out where Pat went, and managed to catch up with Pat's ex-wife, inquiring as to where he might be.  I wonder how much longer it'll be before he catches up to Pat in Blue Valley....and what's going to happen after that?  

We see that Cameron is back in town, and his grandparents are on watch, as always.  Cameron seems to just keep to himself, though he and Courtney have a moment in this episode....but will he be manipulated by Eclipso?  I guess we'll have to see.  

And Cindy makes her return after having found Eclipso...with whom we got real familiar with at the beginning of this episode.  Bruce Gordon is nowhere to be found, but Eclipso is in the diamond, and Cindy is looking forward to gathering a new team of baddies to take down the JSA for the end of the ISA.  With this new "Injustice, Unlimited" group, we see she's targeted Cameron, Artemis (who'll probably jump at the chance to take down the JSA for their part in her parents' incarceration)....and Mike Dugan.  I find it interesting that Cindy has set her sights on Courtney's brother.  But if you think about it---what a better way to strike a blow to Stargirl and the JSA....AND the Dugan family...than by turning Mike against his own family?  Cindy's that evil, and she's going to be fun to watch.  

Finally...we got to meet Jade---well, you don't know her name YET---but that's one Jenny-Lynn Hayden that we saw fight Courtney at the Dugan house.  Her story will be an interesting one as well.  And we'll see how she fits in with our new ragtag group of JSA'ers.   

It was a fabulous episode---and along with Superman & Lois...it's the best superhero show on TV right now (Flash & Legends have taken a step back last couple of seasons), and it still brings the warmth and lightheartedness and just the right balance of drama and danger.  And I am completely invested in what Geoff Johns and the other writers have in store for us as we launch into this season.  How about you?  What did YOU guys think of the season premiere?  Drop me a line by leaving a comment below....AFTER subscribing!

Until next time....keep your eyes on the stars!

DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW 6.11

 

RECAP - DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW  6.11:  "The Final Frame"  

The Legends got to do something new this episode:  bowling!  And Jes Macallan's first foray into the director's chair gave us a story where half the team got trapped inside a bowling alley in space...forced to play the game in order to survive.  Meanwhile, Nate and Zari are attempting to have a quiet getaway for two before she has to head back into the totem.  And then there's John...who's been drunk on his new power that he's gotten from drinking the bottles of potion that he obtained last episode.  So, what played out this week?  Let's give it a look-see....

This episode saw Sara, Mick, Spooner, and Astra investigating the last of the pod aliens that had fallen into the timestream.  As they come across the last pod, the make the discovery of a metal box.  Mick tries messing with it, since there's some sort of symbols on it, to see if he can unlock it.  Figuring it to be a puzzle box, Spooner nabs it from him, and starts trying to open it, and Mick fights with her for it.  Astra then tries HER hand at it, before Sara finally tries to take it, only for the four of them to be transported to a bowling alley.  Not sure WHY they're there, they try to see if they can get out of there, but when Astra opens the door to the exit...she's in space, with nothing around.  It turns out to be a cosmic bowling alley, and they're trapped inside.  The owner of the alley says they were brought here by invitation---meaning the puzzle box.  So, as Sara converses with the desk clerk, Spooner tries to hit up the other bowlers in the alley to see if they can hitch a lift home.  This guy in a purple shirt with Elvis glasses and a slick '50's hairdo says he'd give them a ride---provided they beat his team in a game.  Spooner says they're on.  

While part of the team is stuck in a cosmic bowling alley, Gary is trying to help Ava find the perfect wedding dress, and it's not going well.  Gary doesn't help Ava's jitters much about finding the right dress for her wedding.  In the kitchen, Behrad is trying to make his batch of special brownies, but they're not coming out well, either.  John comes strolling in with A LOT of vim and vigor, messing around with his new magic that he's been ingesting from the vials.  They then begin to wonder why they haven't heard back from Sara and the team.  Gideon cannot track them because they've disappeared....and so has the Earth.  John suggests that Behrad grab some earthly elements, and he'll see if he can cast a spell to find them.  Behrad comments on John's power increase since he drank from the fountain.  John lies, and then orders Behrad to grab what he needs. 

Speaking of Earth, Nate and Zari are trying to have one last special date before she has to return to the totem, and the other Zari comes back.  Nate had the idea to take them on a camping trip, but his special spot is ruined by a couple who have taken over their spot, and are blaring music, and being annoying.  They try to set up elsewhere, but it's no good.  Especially when they hear about monsters attacking Alaska and other parts of the world, and they know their vacation is over---and they have to save the world.  As they try to bum the truck of the guy and gal at the campsite---Jeff and Jen....they find out that Jeff used all the battery power to blast their music, and power their campsite, and thus, the battery is dead.  They start walking into town, and Jen asks Zari making the distance...and not just into town...but in her relationship.  This gets Zari to question the future of her and Nate's relationship.  The two couples reach a ledge that leads down into a cavern that seems bottomless.  We pan out to see that it's the Earth...as the bowling ball being used by Mike...the Elvis sunglasses head of the Purple Team at the alley.  His team just beat the red team, and now the red ball that apparently was their world, goes into the trophy case, and they went with it.  The same will happen to Earth if the Legends lose the game against his team.  

John's spell actually works, and he manages to get control of the Waverider enough to transport the ship to where Sara and the rest of the team is.  Ava and Gary...having been in bridal gown hell, are jarred by the sudden movement of the ship.  Gary had been keeping Ava away from Gideon because he didn't want her to panic.  But Ava is panicking.  When they get to their destination, they see the bowling alley in space....but no Earth.  

The game begins between the Pin Killers and The Legends.  Safe to say, Mick can't bowl, Astra has no interest, Spooner is a pro, and Sara is a prodigy.  But they're losing.  Ava makes her way to the alley entrance, but she can't come in unless she's invited.  The Legends continue to bicker, and eventually, Spooner's finger on her throwing hand gets hurt thanks to Mick's carelessness.  Sara calls for a timeout, trying to see if she can rally the troops.  While on Earth, everytime Mike rolls his ball, they're feeling earthquakes and definitive shaking as Mike throws the ball down the lane.  At one point, Jeff fesses up to Jen that he had a vasectomy, and she storms off in a huff.  Nate and Zari still feel they have to save the Earth, but Zari is wondering if it's time for her and Nate to break up.  She's not sure if the constant distance between them is worth it.  But to Nate, it is.  She wanted one more hurrah before she has to head back into the totem.  Nate refuses to let them be torn apart...it would destroy him.

This was a cute episode, that didn't stray much from the main plot of it, and the side stories even tied into the main plot.  Ava and Gary trying on wedding dresses allowed director Jes Macallan to work behind the scenes, and allow the rest of the team to carry the show.  She wasn't needed really in this episode, and when she was, it was just for a brief spot.  The main focus was on the team in the alley, trying to win a game to save the planet---which was a bowling ball used by Mike the bowler.  An alien who collected worlds as trophies.  His use of the Earth as a bowling ball ties into the natural disruptions that Nate and Zari feel on the actual planet.  And John using his magic to transport the Waverider to where Sara and the team were, and showed how much this new power has made John drunk on it.  

Nate and Zari had one last date before she had to return to the totem...and Zari 2.0 comes back.  Their camping trip went awry by a youthful couple obviously NOT prepared for any kind of camping, and the young couple's eventual relationship troubles bleed over into Nate and Zari.  Zari feels that this is hard, and it's not fair to Nate, but Nate doesn't want to give her up, and refuses to have her break things off.  I've always been a MUCH bigger fan of Nate and Zari 1.0 than Zari 2.0 and John.  Their relationship can't last.  After all...with his mucking around with this magic...it's going to destroy him...and we KNOW he can't stay with the Legends...he's got to resolve his issues on his own.  And where does that leave Zari 2.0?  They were doomed to fail from the start.  And while she's learned to contribute more---what happens to her once John leaves?  We KNOW it's coming.  

I thought that Astra took a couple more steps this week, but she's still a big snob.  She's gotta learn to continue to loosen up.  Mick and Spooner seem to be reaching an understanding, and Sara seems like she's gotten her leadership mojo back.  

Overall, a rather cute episode....but outside of whatever's happening with John...and the whole Nate & Zari thing...there wasn't any new plot movement.  This was just a filler episode to get us to Sara and Ava's wedding.  That's when the hijinks will begin.  And what about all of YOU?  How would YOU rate this week's installment?  Subscribe and comment below....

Until then.....Time is on our side. 

SERIES REVIEW: LOKI

 

SERIES REVIEW:  LOKI

This is one in a few of the Disney Plus Marvel series that I'm going to do a series review on, so expect a few more from the past shows WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.  But in this edition, I'm going to give my thoughts and review Marvel's latest show to dazzle us:  Loki.  Yes, our favorite God of Mischief got to have his own series (produced by Tom Hiddleston at that), and we got into a much deeper dive into this character, as well as an intricate story that ties into what's coming forth in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  So, let's see how the 6 episode season played out, and why this show was so good.

When we begin this story, we're taken back to 2012, when Loki (with the help of alien invaders), tried to take over the Earth by attacking New York.  This brought in The Avengers for the first time, and he was, of course, defeated.  However, we also go back to when the Avengers were also trying to get the different Infinity Stones to stop Thanos by going  back in time, and they needed the Tesseract.  However, Hulk's impulsiveness allows for confusion, and Loki notices that Ant-Man was trying to get the Tesseract, but it ends up at his feet.  Though bound and gagged, Loki takes it, and disappears.  When next we see him, he's in the desert where he's approached by members of the TVA - the Time Variance Authority, where he's arrested for crimes against the "Sacred Timeline".  When arguing his case in front of Judge Ravonna Renslayer, he blames the Avengers for going back in time, but she says that was supposed to happen.  

Loki is then taken by TVA Agent Mobius M. Mobius to the Time Theater to relive his crimes, which they have on record.  Mobius takes him on a journey through his life, and how his misdeeds cause not only the founding of The Avengers, but the death of his mother Frigga on Asgard later on.  Loki tries to escape (even so much as getting the Tesseract back, but it's worthless in the TVA...as are the Infinity Stones).  Loki then goes back to see how his life plays out---and he witnesses the death of Odin, as well as his own at the hands of Thanos.  Mobius has him agree to help him find the "Variant" that is causing problems with the Timeline...and Mobius says the "Variant" is him.  We then witness the Variant Loki killing several TVA agents, and stealing their time-reset charges. 

Later on, in Oshkosh, WI, they're at a Renaissance Faire, investigating the deaths of agents at the event in 1985 by the Variant.  Loki tries to con Mobius and Agent B-15 to be able to meet with the Time-Keepers, who're in charge of keeping the Sacred Timeline moving along.  It doesn't work, and Renslayer objects to his involvement, and wants him "pruned", and thus eliminated.  Mobius convinces her that he's of some use to them.  Loki then conducts research in the TVA library, and finds out that the Variant is hiding out in apocalyptic events where they have no effect on the timeline.  He and Mobius travel to Pompeii in 79 AD to test his theory.  No matter what Loki does, it's not disrupting the timeline, and thus, proves his point.  They find out that the Variant is hiding in Alabama in 2050, where a hurricane is set to wipe out the area.  Once they arrive, Loki manages to meet up with the Variant of himself, who uses a few patrons of a Roxxcart (a play on Roxxon Oil, and Walmart), as well as Agent B-15 to tell Loki of their plan.  Loki tries to persuade his Variant to join him in taking down the TVA, but they'll have none of it.  They fight a little, and then the Variant shows themselves as a female version of him, and she sets off the charges she collected from the agents she killed, and had set at various points along the timeline.  This creates several branches that the TVA has to handle, and she escapes through a portal, with Loki following her. 

Loki and his Variant....now calling herself Sylvie....wind up on the doomed planet Lamentis-1 in the year 2077.  The TemPad that the TVA Agents used (and Loki had stolen), stopped working, and Sylvie agrees to work with Loki to try and charge it.  They sneak aboard a train headed towards an ark that was and evacuation ship, and could charge the TemPad, but Loki gets drunk, draws attention to them, and they get thrown off the train.  The TemPad is broken, and they're stuck on the world, trying to find a way off.  They plan on hijacking the ark to escape and get back to the TVA to destroy it.  It's here that Sylvie reveals that everyone at the TVA are variants grabbed at certain points, and had been reprogrammed to be agents of the TVA.  Just when they try to fight through the crowds to reach the ark, meteors from the destroyed moon above smash the ark, thus trapping Loki and Sylvie on the planet, seemingly there to meet their doom with the remaining denizens. 

In the 4th episode, we get a look at Sylvie's past, as we see the young version of her arrested by the TVA, and how she escaped, and has been hiding out in apocalyptic events in time in order to avoid them.  Her and Loki begin to form a bond.  This creates a branch, and the TVA eventually captures the both of them.  Loki is thrown into a time loop as punishment where he's constantly beat up by the Lady Sif, with whose hair he had cut as a joke.  Before he'd been tossed into his "prison", however, he reveals to Mobius that he and the rest of the TVA agents are variants.  Meanwhile, Sylvie manages to show Agent B-15 that she was a variant, and Mobius actually steals Renslayer's TemPad, and sees that she had interrogated Agent C-20....whose mind Sylvie had freed back in Episode 2, and she had revealed everything to Sylvie---including the location of the Time Keepers.  This is why Renslayer had her put away, and Mobius wasn't allowed to interrogate her.  Mobius finds out that she's alive because of Renslayer.  He goes to Loki, and says he believes him.  But before they could do anything, Renslayer captures them.  They are brought before the Time Keepers along with Sylvie.  Renslayer says she tried to protect Mobius, but he wants to know what he was before the TVA, and she ends up having him pruned.  Agent B-15 shows up, and she helps Sylvie and Loki fight off the TVA agents, and then Sylvie throws a sword at the Time Keepers, and finds out that they're just androids.  As Loki and her have a moment, he's pruned by Renslayer.  Sylvie overpowers her, and wants the truth about the Time Keepers, meanwhile, in an extra credits scene, we see Loki having been transported to another realm, where he meets variants of himself.  

Sylvie wants to know what happened to Loki, and Renslayer said he was pruned to The Void...a place at the end of time where nothing returns.  They figure out that the TVA's true creator lies beyond the Void....somewhere beyond at the End of Time.  Sylvie wants to know how to get there, and Miss Minutes - the cartoon looking voice of the TVA, stalls for time until agents arrive to help Renslayer.  They have Sylvie trapped, but she ends up pruning herself in order to get to The Void, and find Loki.  Loki is taken to the lair of his alters:  Classic Loki, Kid Loki, and Alligator Loki. They tell him that there's no escape from the Void.  Sylvie arrives in the Void, and sees Alitoh...a cloud-like creature who destroys everything in its path.  She makes a run for it, and is rescued by Mobius.  Loki, meanwhile, tries to get the other Loki's to band together to get past Alitoh, and get to whomever is beyond the creature.  They laugh him off, and then another Loki shows up with his little army, looking to take over.  But there's a fight that breaks out among the Lokis, and our Loki escapes, along with Classic Loki, Kid Loki, and Alligator Loki.  They meet up with Mobius and Sylvie.  Sylvie comes up with a plan to enchant Alitoh in order to have it open up and allow her and Loki to pass through to what's beyond the Void.  Mobius heads back to the TVA to take it down, and Classic Loki sacrifices himself to help Sylvie and Loki to enchant Alioth, which they do, and they Intheup seeing a citadel just beyond Alitoh.

After her confrontation with Mobius, Renslayer is in search of "free will".  Miss Minutes gives her info on "He Who Remains", the TVA's creator.  In another time, Agent B-15 shows other agents that they are variants by showing them Renslayer as a vice-principal of a school.  At this point, Sylvie and Loki have arrived at the Citadel at the End of Time, where Miss Minutes lets them know they can have everything they want.  They meet He Who Remains, and he tells them about how he found out about the Multiverse, and that the Multiverse War that nearly destroyed everything.  He created the TVA to streamline time to maintain the peace.  He offers to have BOTH of them run the TVA, and exist in the same timeline, because he's old and tired, and would rather have them do the work.  Sylvie is all for killing him, but Loki rethinks things, and tries to reason with Sylvie.  They fight, with Sylvie thinking all Loki wants is a throne.  But actually...he just wants HER to be okay.  They kiss, and then she isn't him, and pushes him back into the TVA headquarters, where he tries to warn Mobius and and Agent B-15, but they don't know who he his, as he tries to warn them about He Who Remains, as he's killed by Sylvie, thus having massive branches spring out from the timeline, creating various realities.  In the final scene, we see Loki look out at the TVA city, and sees a statue of He Who Remains, and realizes he's in an another universe.  

This show...from the beginning, gave us A LOT of questions about who and what the TVA was, and during the course of the series, peeled back the layers in a very methodical way.  We learn that there's been one timeline, and some mysterious beings known as "Time Keepers" have been in charge of it, and the TVA enforces the "peace" of the timeline, and makes sure it stays in place.  They go after "Variants"....people who're disrupting the timeline, and bring them to "justice", and then "pruned" into a Void where they're never heard from again.  The Loki they capture is one that escapes capture from  the Avengers back in 2012, as they had tried to fix everything Thanos destroyed five years prior.  He then spends the series trying to get a meeting with the Time Keepers, wanting to take them down.  He finds out, through Mobius, that his life has already been mapped out---from life to death.  That all his mischief making and dastardly deeds get him nowhere.  He just keeps losing.  

As we meet characters like Mobius, who thinks he'd be an asset in finding the variant responsible for the deaths of many agents, and causing disruptions in the timeline, Loki ends up meeting this variant....another version of him....a female who ends up calling herself Sylvie.  Sylvie was captured by the TVA as a child for crimes she had not even committed yet, but was sentenced to be pruned.  However, she escaped and had been hiding in pockets of time where cataclysmic events happened...which she had no control over, and she did not disrupt the timeline by being there.  We see the deviousness in her, but as her and Loki are trapped on the doomed planet Lamentis-1, we start to get her story, and we see WHY she wants to take down the TVA.  We also get a bit of the deviousness of the TVA, through Judge Renslayer, who prevents Mobius from interrogating an agent who was affected by Sylvie, and shown the truth---that everyone in the TVA is a variant who had been taken at some point in time, and turned into agents that would serve the purpose of the Time Keepers. Judge Renslayer leads the TVA, and she's uncompromising in her job.  The same can be said of Agent B-15 until she's with Sylvie---who shows  her what she was before the TVA, and reveals the truth.

Over the course of this series, we see Loki form relationships with both Mobius and Sylvie...almost to the point of being romantic. He also comes into variants of himself....and comes to the realization that Mobius was right about him:  all he craved was attention, and he needs to feed his ego.  But the problem is, as he himself realizes, that even HE is too much.  Watching all the variants of him fight, lie, and betray one another gives him perspective that what his ideology of his "glorious purpose" is...and it's a joke.  When he sees Sylvie...and sees HER purpose---it changes him.  He sees that the TVA must be stopped.  But then...as they meet He Who Remains----and this mastermind tells them that he knows all, sees all, and can give them what they want---to be in the same timeline together...run the TVA...he thinks killing this being is not a good idea...especially with the ensuing chaos that will occur.  Sylvie wants revenge...and he just wants HER to be okay---hence thinking of someone OTHER than himself.  That's a huge change for Loki.  But alas, it falls on deaf ears, and Sylvie banishes him to the TVA...but it's in an alternate version, as he sees that He Who Remains has his statue outside the TVA now, and Mobius and Agent B-15 have no idea who he is.  So, it seems that He Who Remains and his predictions come true.  Despite Sylvie killing him, he still comes back.  But now, with him temporarily dead, it's caused a massive crack in the timeline, and various branches have sprouted, thus creating a multiverse.  

With the breakage of the Sacred Timeline, this story will directly lead into Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness.  Whether Loki will play a part of that is unknown, but we DO know the Scarlet Witch will be.  As for Loki---he gets a season 2, and we get to see the fallout of what Sylvie did.  It leads to more intrigue.  

The characters we meet in this series are fascinating in their own way.  Mobius is a guy that just feels like he's doing job to the best of his ability.  Easy going and laid back, but VERY sharp.  He's one of the few who actually challenges Loki on an intellectual level, and knows Loki's games and tactics.  We see their banter and relationship grow into a friendship---something Loki really hasn't had in his life.  Agent B-15 is very by-the-book, and doesn't really care much for Loki.  However, her change happens when she's affected by Sylvie.  Sylvie manages to show her the life she USED to have before she was plucked from her time, and made into a TVA agent.  Judge Renslayer is also by-the-book, and really doesn't bend the entire series.  She continues to uphold the Time Keeper's rule of law.  She did form a bond with Mobius...a friendship...but the problem is, Mobius' curiosity causes her to protect him at times, and then eventually has to prune him to protect the timeline when he questions her tactics.  She eventually takes off to find "free will".  When next we see her, we see a variant of her as a school vice-principal, shown to TVA agents by B-15.  

The main relationship that Loki forms is with the variant of himself---Sylvie.  She manages to open his eyes to what's going on, and how his life has been controlled by He Who Remains the whole time, and hasn't had as much free will as he had thought.  She is the one who makes him see that there is something else to care about in the universe...someone else to care about.  At the end of the season, we see Loki has become different, his perspective changed...and we see genuine fear in him about what's about to happen, now that he's finally understanding what He Who Remains meant when he said madness would ensue with the timeline branching out, and the multiverse expansion.  

Overall, such an amazing series, and the acting was top notch.  We got A LOT of humorous moments, and I LOVED Tara Strong as the voice of Miss Minutes.  She kept everything VERY cheery throughout the series until she had to change tone once Loki and Sylvie reached the Citadel.  Owen Wilson was fantastic, and I look forward to seeing more of Mobius and Loki's interaction together.  Not sure what Sylvie's fate is....but look forward to what will happen with her next.  And as for He Who Remains----we all know his name is Kang.  And the actor who played him was also fantastic.  I truly enjoyed this series, and can't wait until 2022...where I HOPE we get the fallout from what happened here....and in Doctor Strange.  

How did YOU guys feel about this series?  Subscribe and leave a comment below.  Next time, I will give my review of WandaVision.