15 Comments

1. 

   Montefescu on February 24, 2021 at 7:49 pm

   Quick drop-in.

   Alex’s One True Pairing?

   Sam Arias.

   Just say “No” to Florianna Lima.

   I am steeling myself up for Batgerbillette 2.0 Episode 205.

   I’ll be ready to analyze it after another six pack, and then I will put the review up.

   Tiny Superman and Not Lois will follow it.

   BTW, I am not a fan of either one of this week’s two episodes in the retro Supergirl review.

   Monty

   Reply
2. 

   Montefescu on February 24, 2021 at 9:13 pm

   Well, Batwoman (TV Series) Gore on Canvas (2021) Episode 205

   Last week I was in an alcoholic haze. This week I am only buzzed. There was no whiskey to use as an anodyne, so I had to settle for the S-brand beer. It is a near rhyme for the manure synonym which three minutes into this episode, it already is.

   Guys armed with guns cannot react fast enough to kill a man with a pointy stick. All Crows are the b-word. So we violate physics, biology, and social decorum and invoke blatant racism inside those first three minutes?

   To quote the Babylon Five character; Ambassador Londo Mollari: “Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you!” Yes Ms. Caroline Gries has hired another writer: Daniel T. Thomsen. This person has bounced from show to show, writing episodes for Sarah Connor, The Terminator Chronicles, Melrose Place, and became story editor for Once Upon a Story,. I hated his work product and consider him to be one thin cut above Derek Simon as a garbage writer.

   Why is Rachel Maddow slumming on this show? Does she not get paid enough to be a professional political commentator; so that she has to narrate on this garbage show to make ends meet?

   Ah well,
   Looks like the new love object: Angelique Martin, was the reason Ry Wilder was thrown in prison. Yup, it is confirmed that Ryan not only knows mass murderers and hooks up with drug addicts, she was quite justifiably arrested by the Crows for possession of illegal narcotics. In case the showrunners may have snowed you, my dear viewer, Ryan Wilder IS a felon. She has no excuse to say ACAP. None. She broke the law and she was properly caught.

   I really dislike this show. Wolf Spider is this week’s goofball villain. He is nothing like the DC Comics version. I have to write that the target audience for this show is not me. And even they are fleeing it as the garbage it is, since the numbers I have on it are in the upper 580 thousands. So bad, that no-one wants to advertise or be associated with this trash show.

   Need I remind people, this is a BAT title?

   How is it that Angelique and Ryan spent the night together and Angelique just now notices the kryptonite wound? That’s it, I’m done. -200, -200, -200 out of 5/5/5. I will not waste any more time on a show that insults the audience, ME, this way.

   Monty

   P.S. I intend to sober up for Tiny Superman and Not Lois. It cannot possibly be this fanfiction trash and tax write-off that Batwoman apparently is.

   Reply
3. 

   Montefescu on February 25, 2021 at 11:09 am

   I was stone cold aware and awake when I watched it.

   Superman and Lois (TV Series) Pilot (2021)

   1. Do not let liberal arts majors write science. I know how this stuff is supposed to work. I know the thermal cycles of primary and secondary circulation loops for a fission reactor powered steam turbine driven electric generation plant.
   2. Cooling towers are part of the vapor and drain exhaust of the condenser loop water.
   3. https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nuclear-101-how-does-nuclear-reactor-work#:~:text=More%20than%2065%%20of%20the%20commercial%20reactors%20in,then%20pumped%20into%20tubes%20inside%20a%20heat%20exchanger.
   4. The tamping water for the reactor is in a pressure cooker arrangement with the reactor. Worse, it is water into that pressure cooker type container because it has to be heated to steam If Tiny Superman is in there with it, and it has dropped below the safe line and he is directly exposed to the naked reactor core, HE is radioactive.
   5. I am NOT happy.
   6. Tyler Hoechlin continues to not measure up either in physicality or “presence” either as Clark or Kal-el. He just has too much negative “q”.
   7. Elizabeth Tulloch has presence, but it is soap opera actress presence and is NOT force majeure enough for Lois Lane. She comes across as a prop, not as a human being.
   8. The actor, Jordan Elsass is a potted plant. Nothing there as he portrays Jonathan Kent Jr..
   9. Alex Garfin as Jordan Kent, tries to hard to play the socially affected disorder teenager. There is no such thing by the way. What is IS, is a mood disorder that has been attached by psychiatrists to a class of behaviors either caused by disrupted circadian rhythms or by behavioral choices where a person adopts a cognitive dissonance reaction to human social interactions. Extreme introvertism or a refusal to engage in contact and communication are indicative of these behaviors. In the old days before touchy-feelie psychiatry, the cure was for the parental figure, the MALE one, would take the affective kid out somewhere and introduce him to REALITY, either by a bonding exercise, where the kid would learn a survival skill from the mentor and gain self-confidence and self identity, the right way as General Lane states he will do for Jordan (fishing trip.), or the wrong way, as in beating some sense into the kid so he gets with the program and mans up. Guess which way and method produces our young male sociopaths and psychopaths? If you guessed beat the kid, you get the Qupie doll. But then again, the third method, the one Tyler Hoechlin demonstrates here as he does not actually reach out engage and mentor Jordan in the story as Hoechlin portrays it, also produces little sick monsters who shoot up schools. At least Berlanti as a script doctor on this mess of a story gets that element right. Did I mention that I think Tiny Superman is a bit effete and a wuss? This is one of those indices in the Hoechlin portrayal that sets my teeth on edge. He gives up and THAT is not acting. That is 100% genuine wuss in him. Never give up. First rule of male mentorship. Keep trying to reach that kid.
   10. Return the ashes of our sister to the earth (voice over) and yet show a full sized coffin being lowered into a vault? WHEN will these writers stop being stupid, or a Berlanti show continuity editor show up and point out for cost containment and video logic reasons that an urn is the visual? GRRR.
   11. What do you know? Jonathan is doing what Tiny Superman is not at the fake funeral; Mentoring the sociopath. And those two actors finally show “some” acting ability. BTW, Sarah Cushman is Lana Lang’s daughter so now we have that son and daughter of the… “squick” to look forward. Sarah is written as a “match” for Jordan. She is anti-social, too? BAD writing. Clichés R’ Us.
   12. Pipe-fall. Both kids have the super. Okay. Jonathan is written as the go-to and the psychopath is “Goth”, after the event. Blah. Meanwhile Tiny Superman continues to Wuss. “Got to keep the secret”. “Hey Kryptonian, LYING is why your planet blew up. It says so in the DC comic bible on your krypto-fascist culture.” I love puns. “Truth” comes first in that Truth, Justice, etc. …
   13. Why is Sam Lane a 5 star? He should not even be part of the nuclear power plant story line. And at the most he should be a 2 star handling Civil Affairs. And has anyone heard of the Posse Commutates? That law prohibits the US military from internal police functions in the US.
   14. Super Wuss gets a Not Lois talk down. Hey, why isn’t Mom pulling her share of the parent load? Kind of noticed that. Villain! Dad calls her on it. Sam Lane talks like a realist to her. Take that!
   15. Elizabeth Tulloch outstrides and outpaces Tyler Hoechlin? WHAT? Is there nothing this man can do right in scene? I mean he cannot even walk and pace to time properly? Who hired this actor?
   16. Okay, the Babylon 5 Vorlon flyer looks nothing like the Supergirl show pod ships we saw for Kal-el and Kara in the opening credits of that series. These shows are supposed to be shared in the same universe? How about continuity here? How about saving money in the effects budget? How about some common sense?
   17. In case you have not figured it out, yet, I am a direct action human being. I do not like “passive” whether it is voice in writing, plot and story, “passive aggression” in the message. Give me that crap and I stomp a mud hole in it as to analysis. I like my characters to measure up and not be defeatist or never tries. I have no use for wuss women or men. And this show, gagh, is full of nothing, but those types of characters. Wonder how “Clark” is going to pay off the reverse mortgage? BTW, Martha did not do due diligence by her family. A parent is not supposed to screw over her kids like that. BAD writing, bad example, bad message, and an immoral approach to solving problems. Also bad economic theory.
   18. Have you noticed that Super Wuss has not noticed his boys disobeying him and prowling around in the barn? NORMAL Dad would be like, not nice on rice and have acted immediately to correct the problem through explanation and corrective proper discipline. Of course that presumes the NORMAL Dad would not be lying to his kids in the first place?
   19. And now the reveal. This is why you do not lie; Super Wuss. Because you did, your base of moral authority as the adult and the mentor to your kids is permanently destroyed. As a parent, Not Superman, has just lost any right to expect his kids to trust him, obey him, or even pay any attention to what he might try to teach them. Man, I would punch such a loser in the face for abusing his children that way. What right did he have to do such harm? How stupid is he?
   20. Lift the truck? See 19. Still punch him in the face. Now listen to Jordan. This is the lesson and how one manufactures psychopaths and Luthors. “You may have been sent here to be a hero, but you were not sent here to be a father.” “Am I a bad father?” “Hey, Super Wuss.” (Punch.) “Yes. You are that kind of total loser. Did you learn NOTHING from your own dad?” Jonathan and Martha blew it, or there is an inherent defect in Kryptonians. Select your own specific interpretation. For me, the passive aggressive is dripping vomitus at this section of the story. Super Wuss is a clear villain. Called not meeting one’s responsibility. Not a very likeable Super man? Clearly does not measure up to the minimum standard expected of a human being.
   21. Sarah Cushman becomes an adult-stage human and starts to deal with reality and how does she deal? Drugs. Yeah. With me, the depression that is real life means one learns to register what one can change, what one cannot, and how to know the difference and adjust accordingly. One actually discovers that there is a lot that one can change through direct action without passively falling into victimitude and inaction. So, another passive aggressive actor and another grate on my nerves element to this show to irritate me.
   22. Another loser, Kyle Cushman? Meth labs in Smallville. Kids burned to death in the explosions and fires? And he crashes and runs away from HIS responsibilities as a firefighter. Look… Breaking Stupid is REAL in our current United States, but even sober doper ropers are not so stupid to cook Meth in the same house with their kids. The kids actually die because the parents are high and are dissociating. The fact is that this stupidity is part of the passive aggressive milieu that seems to be the show message, only we find it in real life. That is one of the few trigger signals that seems to be genuine message in this entire collection of Loserville. I bet the cliché is that Clark, that is Not Superman, moves back to Smallville to take care of these little problems, except that he is a loser, too, and how does the writer justify such a load of manure?
   23. Sarah tried to commit suicide by sleeping pills. Why is Lana taking sleeping pills? Anyway, I just grit my teeth and plow through another cliché set piece. How is drug abusing mom supposed to teach drug abusing daughter? See the problem? Refer to 20. . And ask how did Geoff Johns not pick up the phone and have a LONG serious chat with these incompetent showrunners starting off with; “WHAT the hello are you doing to Superman?”
   24. Adolescents punching each other. No, I am not referring just to Jon and Jord getting into a fight as Sarah’s boyfriend shows up. I mean BOTH stupid fights.
   25. The Ironman expy gives Super Wuss a pep talk and the wake-up call. Meanwhile Jord rubs his eyeballs together and takes his first baby steps into sociopathy with his first criminal arson. This is not the correct example of direct-action by the way. One is expected to THINK before one acts. Up to now, there has been very little THINK.
   26. Clark needs a shave, and he needs another punch to the face.
   27. So now Jord knows he’s a walking fire-bug and Kyle (direct action!) gives us a three second genuine human being dealing with a situation and making Super Wuss look inadequate as an actor and as a character in the same scene. Man, I dislike this episode.
   28. Now Lois tries to be Mom? And no, she is not right. She is as much a villain as Clark in this set piece and just as much an abusive parent. She did not head it off at the pass and she knew it was coming with six white horses. (Called in story evidence, the actual events unfolding HERE show the Kents, Lois and Clark, are despicable.).
   29. We got to be on the same page. As in dial “Child Protective Services and report each other as unfit parents, Lois?” That does sound like a plan to me. Direct Action, yoah!
   30. Move back to Smallville cliché. Martha Kent was wrong about the reverse mortgage, and frittering away her family’s capital to assorted strangers and losers, why should she be right about this dumb move? THINK. The author of one set of mistakes in judgement is not going to be right in this mistake. Writer logic failure. Social Justice is not how you run your BUSINESS and a FARM is a business. A FAMILY business.
   31. Dad-son talk. Clark is a moron. Clark relates how Jon Sr. met him. “Instant Dad, he had no idea of what he was doing.” Clark states. Well, guess what, Super Wuss? It was kind of obvious. Look at the mess you became. If you are a villain to your kid, then you had to learn that villainy from somewhere. This is not nature, no matter how much comic book jerk-wad Jor-el shows up in your stupitude as portrayed here. This failure was LEARNED apparently.
   32. Teen drama coda. Boring and cliché. Look I know Jord is supposed to be Tom Welling 2.0 (Look at the actor selected.), but I just do not care. It is that negative an experience for me to have to suffer through this tripe. Sarah Kushman is supposed to be Kristin Kreuk 2.0, too. When lack luster hacks recycle the old soap, the laundry still comes out laundry and gray. So the new bits are Lana 2.0 is suicidal and a druggee and so is Jord? Big whoop.
   33. “Dad, we have thousands and thousands of questions…” I have only one. When is the State Child Protective Services going to intervene?

   I really disliked this pilot. -50,-50,-50 out of 5/5/5. Bad acting, bad writing and video-blind editing. Tyler Hoechlin cannot even hang in a wire harness correctly. What a Wuss. He is NOT Superman.

   Monty

   Reply
4. 

   Aaron on February 25, 2021 at 9:37 pm

   Some blog post comments…

   That’s a nice banner shot; hopefully the series ends with a shot like that, Kara flying to the next mission!

   The scene with Alex and Kara together would be awesome if Superman was edited out of it. 🙂

   On to the podcast…

   “Oh Cat how we miss thee!” – seconded! 🙂

   “Just a super sister!” – Kara and we all would agree that is true for Alex! 😀

   I TOTALLY agree Justina in regards to Alex/Kelly; they just feel so flat because there’s nothing in season five that stands out special in their relationship and the connecting moments we did get in season four were limited because Kelly didn’t show up until almost the end. I’m still going to say Alex’s OTP for me is Sam, but I would take Kelly being the show’s OTP if they showed more why it should be her. As you said give us moments like we see with Maggie through season two so we can feel some weight with this pair otherwise they’re pretty just meh and it feels like they’re together just because they were the pair at the of the series not because they belong together fully arguably.

   I honestly haven’t watched “Batwoman” since the season premiere. “We’ve dipped into numbers lower than the temperatures at Green Butterfly’s house!” – lol!

   I could not smash the Sam Arias button repeatedly it is true, BUT it just gave me time to assemble all the awesome links so there you go. Sam as always is providing good content for the “Supergirl” series. ;D As long as my vote is counted I don’t mind the write in option. Ha.

   What kept me from going all in with Sanvers is the fact they named the character Maggie Sawyer and that just brings up Kara Kane images; if they hadn’t of called her Maggie, maybe gone Renee Montoya instead, then I can see being more into the ship (what would their ship name have been then – Agent Question? Agent Cop/Officer? Manvers?) until the baby plot line happened and then of course it’s not going to work because that’s a fundamental topic that you can’t really middle ground, but because they called her Maggie I could never go in because I was always waiting to the Kate Kane shoe to drop as it were.

   Yes, bring back Sam! Or save her for the spin off so we get even more time with her! 😀

   Will she be flying to the Flash movie set on a bus? I’m just asking. Ha. The joke had to be made, I regret nothing!

   Melissa could produce the Alex spin off, I’m JUST SAYING; she already knows the lead and some of the potential guest stars and she knows how popular the character is with the fandom so. 🙂

   I’ll just wait until Tomorrow’s Legends starts back up its “Stargirl” content.

   “Faster than a speeding bullet.” – so good! Again the sisters are the heart of the series!

   There’s a shift to me because they went full in on writing Kara as Clark instead of continuing to give her her own depth. She doesn’t trust Lena because…plot? No you just don’t want to admit it’s because you want to do Clark and Lex and can’t yet because you didn’t have a Lex or his own show. She punches a lot and doesn’t think much – no that’s Clark; Kara knows tactics. This was season two but I’m still counting it – Kara didn’t like kryptonite true but she was never naive about it until Clark can actually on scene. The whole reporter thing is meant to be a nod to him but why…why should we nod to him, this is HER show not his; Kara Danvers is many things but a reporter isn’t one of them, I’m sorry writers but I will always laugh at that joke. Ever since he actually got screen time because they cast Tyler Kara slowly but surely turned into Cara instead of Kara so yeah her vibe definitely changes especially looking back at season one and that organic development for an individual not a female stand in for some dude hero.

   Did you serious just try to compare James with Mon and the level of the ships Justina? And did the words “I’m a Karamel shipper” really just come out of your mouth?! WHO EVEN ARE YOU?! OH THE BETRAYAL; I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GOOD GUY?! Look I can get being a Chris/Melissa fan bout a Mon and Kara shipper 🤢🤢🤢too far! Mon has never shown any real respect towards Kara so that alone should be enough to kick him off the list! She asked him for one thing and he goes and tells the entire DEO, she asks him to wait with regards to Leslie and he goes after her anyways, she asks him for space when he comes back married and he hounds the crap out of her…this is not a healthy relationship! I am just SO disappointed in you right now Justina I can’t. I have problems with James as Kara’s OTP too, it you took it took far ma’am.

   First we have to still put up with Lex and the lousy Leviathan plot to waste time and then there’s no Alex spin off announcement yet and then we find out they’re still continuing this caped Alex nonsense and so yeah of course Mon would come back – why not continue the suckfest that seems to be the season six we will get instead of the glorious return to a season one quality to go out on a high! 😐 I’m going to watch the season (honestly mainly for Alex and any sister moments we might get) but more and more I feel like I’m not going to enjoy it. There’s literally no reason Mon should return; let that man be happy with his wife who is Irma in the future and leave us alone!

   “Mon took part of Kara with him” – 🤢🤢🤢 and I just threw up!

   Oh my gosh, if they SERIOUSLY have Kara Danvers but so much stock in a man she literally isn’t Supergirl enough until he returns I will I will rage like there’s no tomorrow! That is SUCH an insult to a female character to put so much weight into a boy! It’s especially insulting when that female is Kara who can get strength from so many other sources such as her sister or her space dad or her Cat or literally anyone else! I know a romance gives Kara something other dynamics can’t and so you may want her to have one but oh sweet goodness that ever was the idea that Mon makes her the best Supergirl she can be essentially, that is blasphemy is some high degree.

   “He is better with her” – yes because she forces him to be, not always because he chose it arguably…”and maybe in some ways she’s better for having him” – now you’re talking crazy again.

   The only way season six will be great to me at this point is if they basically just copy season one except Alex is our sexuality wise. Again honestly the more I hear about season six the less excited I get for it and I was already pretty bummed for it simply because it was the last. 🙁

   Cat on top of Sam in season three? Oh it sounds so good!

   Sam and Reign saved season three I’ll say it! They are what make it memorable; seriously, name another plot that season that got your attention? It’s Sam’s season.

   I still say it’s an insult to both Lena’s and fans’ intelligence that she doesn’t know Kara is Supergirl before that reveal. 🙂

   I honestly feel Daryl that Alex proposed to Maggie in that moment because Kara asked her to not because she wanted to necessarily; I think if left to her own devices Alex wouldn’t have proposed in the episode. I love Maggie’s smile in that shot but I don’t think the moment was genuinely timed. Speaking of Maggie’s face, she did not say yes if I remember correctly, they cut away before she responds which makes the moment all the more tacky because Floriana was only suppose to be in this season. They had to talk her into coming back for the episodes needed to wrap up the chaos this episode caused for the ship; there’s some cute moments if you ship Sanvers in season three and I feel what Maggie says about not feeling less than because she doesn’t want kids is a valid scene for the world to see, but I honestly wish Alex had never asked her because it feels all just flows better or even just reveal that Maggie said no and they had a discussion on things and the kid debate came up then and that’s why she’s not there anymore, plus a job offer in Gotham of course. Also there’s the cruelness of having a proposal when you know there will never be a wedding, I didn’t even invest in Sanvers that much and even I know that was too far. Ha. Alex shouldn’t not have proposed and even if she did Maggie should have said no and we pick up months later in season three and they could do Sam/Alex the way it feels like everything was being set up to do, but yes, I personally feel Alex proposed simply because Kara told her to and she wanted her sister happy in the moment not because she wanted to that instance herself; she may want to marry Maggie but she wasn’t asking in that second on her own accord if that makes sense. 🙂

   I will agree that Ruby at the very least should be like Mon in a way and by that I mean she’s of course not as strong as Sam or Kara but she’s stronger than your average human as it were and she may not have laser vision but her eye sight is awesome enough to never need glasses. Ha. We assume her other DNA source is human so that tamps down the powers so you could argue that’s why she hasn’t noticed anything, she just seems a little tougher than your average cookie as it were but nothing major yet but if the other source is an alien also and Sam didn’t know then yes something should definitely be happening with Ruby power. Ha.

   I FULLY agree Daryl – #SamStillHasPowers! She may not be the enhanced badass she was power level wise as Reign, though I feel a debate could be made she still is, because Lena locked that part away but she is as Kryptonian as Clark or Kara and thusly should be just as strong as them after being exposed to the sun for at minimum 10 years (Kara has been on Earth for 13 years and Clark of course longer so even going for the least number it’s a min of 10 and Sam looks in her 30s like Clark or very late 20a so she’s had that time by now).

   While it’s possible Sam COULD have been taken from Earth, and Justina you can speak to this as a scientist, there’s just so many wild cards that presents for your experiment I feel so it’s like why would you even risk it?! You have a closer similarity in the Daxam planet so why not steal from there if you’re going to use a non Krypton source? But still even then Sam would still have powers because Mon has them here. No matter how you cut it the woman is not 100% human! Ha. 🙂

   “What kind of man marries a woman but keeps wearing his ex-girlfriend’s mother’s necklace?” – because he’s a jerk! #TeamNoMon

   My favorite invasion is the Worldkillers because we got Sam y’all; *whispers* I love you so much! 🙂 Purity/Julia and Pestilence (even thought we didn’t see much of her) were also good on their own accord and Reign was a real challenge to Kara on multiple levels so to watch it was easily my favorite invasion. 🙂

   Reply
5. 

   Aaron on February 27, 2021 at 4:38 pm

   I personally really dislike the idea of Kara ending up in the 31st century because it means she left Alex and as big Danvers sisters fan I’m not okay with that.

   There’s really only two episodes I feel must be discussed for season three and those are “Reign” and of course “Midvale”.

   A note to John: you better have that Midvale sequel pitch ready to go for that recording sir! 🙂

   I love me some Alex and some Danvers sisters but I’m excited of course to talk about my girl Sam too (who’s totally still got powers) coming up! 😀

   Reply
   • 

     daryl on March 1, 2021 at 6:08 pm

     As much as I hate to say it, Kara leaving them behind would be very much in character. Remember how she was so eager to go to metropolis at the beginning of season two or how she moved back to Argo. I never got the feeling she was coming back. If those witches hadn’t shown up she’d still be there

     Reply
     • 

       Aaron on March 1, 2021 at 7:31 pm

       I chalk up the move to Metropolis as them writing Kara obsessed with Clark, even since he showed up actually in the series is been about him with her to the point they write her more like him than the Kara we knew in season one who could think as well as punch.

       I can give Argo a bit more of a pass because her mom was there and she had missed her so very long, only communicating via a very only sometimes helpful hologram. Ha.

       I get how you reached this statement Daryl but I don’t like it so DENIED from me! 🙅🙂

       Again I don’t want Kara anywhere near Mon first and foremost and two I can’t take her away from Alex like that, it would hurt too much! It’s already sad enough when you realize depending on Kryptonian lore about them they age slower on Earth so she’ll possibly out live Alex that way…also the liver damage from the alcoholic years, so yeah let’s not speed them apart okay? 🙂

       Reply
       • 

         daryl on March 2, 2021 at 9:22 pm

         Forgive me for saying this but I think Astra got mentioned more when they thought she was dead in the earlier seasons

         Reply
6. 

   Montefescu on February 28, 2021 at 7:02 pm

   “What kept me from going all in with Sanvers is the fact they named the character Maggie Sawyer and that just brings up Kara Kane images; if they hadn’t of called her Maggie, maybe gone Renee Montoya instead, then I can see being more into the ship (what would their ship name have been then – Agent Question? Agent Cop/Officer? Manvers?) until the baby plot line happened and then of course it’s not going to work because that’s a fundamental topic that you can’t really middle ground, but because they called her Maggie I could never go in because I was always waiting to the Kate Kane shoe to drop as it were.”

   Now that is a pairing I can see with the correct actress. (Rosie Perez?) Notice the PUN for “Do The Right Thing”.

   Anyway, that comes under the heading of “Too late, Nate, you blew it!” Or should I rephrase it for Derek Simon… Sly man? because you let the chance die in Season 2 with the defective detective actress; that is Florianna Lima, that’s WHY, man.

   =====================================================

   Just finished Episodes 1-8 of I DREAM OF BEMMMIE”^1 AKA Wandavision. Why can’t WE have that?

   ^1 Basically Exuberant Mass Market MARVEL Inspired Excellence. Only Stargirl comes close to this kind of whacky fun.

   House of M is a source material for it, but this one is just Kevin Feige with a capital W for WINNER.

   Monty

   Reply
   • 

     Aaron on February 28, 2021 at 9:58 pm

     I have only been able to see “Wandavision” via clips online but I have to say my main take away is ‘poor Wanda’ of course.

     After that, I won’t lie, I want to see Monica confronting her mom Carol. That’s right – Carol and Maria were wives, you can not convince me otherwise! I need some good ole mother-daughter venting to heal with those two.

     Also more Pietro because I enjoy he and Wanda whichever one it is.

     I’m looking forward to “She-Hulk” too because of Tatiana Maslany! 🙂

     But to get the Marvel out of our DC I’ll bring it back to say I enjoyed Rosie Perez in the Harley & Birds film; Helena of course was my main focus but I thought it was all overall enjoyable and while changes are low I would love to see another film featuring the line up. We don’t even have to have Harley now, give me just the BOP! Harley’s going to be too wrapped up with Pamela anyways to focus on things so. 🙂

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     • 

       daryl on March 1, 2021 at 6:10 pm

       Yes they were! My one disappoinment is we never find out if Carol went back to her family

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       • 

         Aaron on March 1, 2021 at 7:22 pm

         I almost feel like she HAD to return at a point Daryl because it doesn’t make sense for her not to; she was very much in love with her wife (Maria) and so unless time just literally got away from her while looking for the new home planet for the Skrulls (*insert too late spoiler warning here*) then she would come back to see her family AT LEAST once!

         Granted it may be when Monica was a teenager and then being a hero called her away again and so the next time she does return is post “Wandavision” events, but in my head cannon she goes back at least once unless time travel is involved somehow because again she loved her family too might not to. Maybe we’ll see this in CM2 somehow but yeah I find it hard to believe Carol never went back after the events of “Captain America”. Also I know they showed her flipping out about Fury in “Endgame” but I think once she learned about the snap she would have been looking for her wife and kid too to make sure they’re safe.

         I’m not going to hold my breath because Marvel doesn’t have the best representation when it comes to queer people, no I don’t count that throw away comment about a husband from an extra as representation, and certainly queer main characters but maybe we’ll again get some mother-daughter stuff in the next film between Carol and Monica because Maria and Carol were wives! 🙂

         To be fair, DC doesn’t exactly do the best in film either, TV sure because all their stuff is on the CW and they seem to have a 1 queer character per series mandate which I love (come on StarCat for “Stargirl”), because yes while Steve is Diana’s epic love and WonderBat is the next big romance for her Diana is bisexual y’all and it’s cannon too! I’ll be real had WW84 been more Barbara and Diana kind of flirting versus bringing Steve back again I would have bought it. 🙂 At the very least they could have had Steve in the body of a woman to nod to the bisexual side of Diana and also show no matter the gender Diana loved literally the person inside but they made it some dude; it still wouldn’t have made that consent issue less shady but if they’re going to have it have it be with a woman to say “Hey, we see you fans”.

         Also Antiope and Minelliope (the one who runs to her on the beach in the first film) are wives and I stand by this statement!!! Also also – Antiope is soft and flustered around her because she’s really got a gooey center for those she loves. Ha.

         Also should be queer in films – Harley Quinn because she is cannonically bisexual along with Pamela Isley aka Poison Ivy; there’s a whole animated series essentially about their romance! Ha. They do allude to this in the film featuring the Birds with a quick slot machine animated sequence but again nothing major on screen series. 🙁 Technically they have done more than Marvel but it’s nothing to really bang the drum on yet saying you’re the one to follow. I know Margo Robbie is pushing for Harley/Ivy in a second film and Bree Larson wants Carol/Maria but we’ll see what happens.

         Reply
7. 

   Montefescu on March 1, 2021 at 2:28 am

   “But to get the Marvel out of our DC I’ll bring it back to say I enjoyed Rosie Perez in the Harley & Birds film; Helena of course was my main focus but I thought it was all overall enjoyable and while changes are low I would love to see another film featuring the line up. We don’t even have to have Harley now, give me just the BOP! Harley’s going to be too wrapped up with Pamela anyways to focus on things so.”

   Dragging it even further back to ‘Supergirl’, I would like to point out that messaging is fine, but even the “target audience” of a “team action romp” movie aimed at non-male audiences has to adhere to:

   1. characters (actual 3-d human beings with motives and histories, preferably not boring.
   2. situation (comedic or serious, but the “universe slice” has to make sense and it must be believable and credible.)
   3. plot structure (either 3 acts, 3 acts + a coda, or the standard 5 acts.)
   interesting story
   4. mechanics (rising action, climax, and denouement.)

   If none of the above happens, then I do not care what the makers of either the Supergirl episodes covered this retro-vision or that AWFUL “Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey” movie thought they were doing, what they actually did, was create dull, uninteresting, boring, mechanically flawed work product that was a waste of time and money and which actually defeated the messages the producers, directors and incompetent writers tried to send.

   The only messages they sent, were “We are not good enough to send the message we profess to believe in, and we INSULT our target audience’s intelligence by treating them as infants who need to be spoon-fed tired clichés and badly executed story, plot, and character. It is as if the “creatives” thought they could put trash out there with the veneer of ‘ideology’ masquerading as entertainment and they thought they would deserve praise or approbation.

   Well, garbage in and garbage out, and even the target audience does not like the results.

   7.6 and 7.8 and 6.1 on the stink meters on the 10.0 rate scale used by other critics.

   0/0/0 out of 5/5/5 from yours truly on all 3 by Monty.

   Monty

   Reply
8. 

   Montefescu on March 1, 2021 at 7:43 pm

   Batwoman (TV Series) Do Not Resuscitate (2021) (episode 206)

   Directed by Holly Dale

   Writing Credits
   Bob Kane … (based on characters created for DC by) and
   Bill Finger … (based on characters created for DC by)

   Caroline Dries … (written by) &
   Daphne Miles … (written by)

   Natalie Abrams … (story editor) &
   Ebony Gilbert … (story editor)

   Maya Houston … (staff writer)
   Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
   Javicia Leslie … Ryan Wilder / Batwoman
   Rachel Skarsten … Alice
   Meagan Tandy … Sophie Moore
   Nicole Kang … Mary Hamilton
   Camrus Johnson … Luke Fox
   Dougray Scott … Colonel Jacob Kane
   Shivaani Ghai … Safiyah Sohail
   Nathan Owens … Ocean
   Bevin Bru … Angelique Martin
   RJ Fetherstonhaugh … Aaron Hellzinger
   Rachel Maddow … Vesper Fairchild (voice)
   Milo Shandel … Dr. Ethan Rogers
   Paolo Maiolo … Dr. Rafael Rodriguez
   James Hibbard … Elderly Male
   Trae Maridadi … Young Boy
   Jesse Hutch … Attending Nurse #1
   Mathew Yanagiya … Attending Nurse #2
   Alison Matthews … Doctor
   Matthew Montgomery … Frazzled Intern
   Taylor Tai … Brute #1
   Sean Kohnke … Brute #2

   Keep it short.

   1. Goof villain is Amygdala. Not true to the comics.
   2. Cure that was synthesized cannot be synthesized.
   3. Hamilton must be the most incompetent pharmaceutical company in existence.
   4. Mary gets kidnapped.
   5. Drug addict, Angelique Martin, disrupts hospital and interferes with first come first serve.
   6. I am already -200,-200,-200 for 0/0/0 in this obnoxious episode.
   7. Rachel Maddow is still in this trash.
   8. Nope. Waste of my time and money. BAIL.

   Not gonna waste any more time.

   Monty

   Reply
9. 

   Montefescu on March 3, 2021 at 4:50 am

   Superman and Lois (TV Series) Heritage (2021) (Episode 102)

   Full Cast & Crew

   Directed by Lee Toland Krieger

   Writing Credits
   Jerry Siegel … (created by: Superman) and
   Joe Shuster … (created by: Superman)

   Greg Berlanti … (developed by) &
   Todd Helbing … (developed by)

   Katie Aldrin … (staff writer)

   Jai Jamison … (staff writer) &
   Andrew Wong … (staff writer) (as Andrew N. Wong)
   Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification
   Tyler Hoechlin … Clark Kent / Superman
   Elizabeth Tulloch … Lois Lane
   Jordan Elsass … Jonathan Kent
   Alex Garfin … Jordan Kent
   Erik Valdez … Kyle Cushing
   Inde Navarrette … Sarah Cushing
   Wolé Parks … Captain Luthor
   Adam Rayner … Morgan Edge
   Dylan Walsh … General Sam Lane
   Emmanuelle Chriqui … Lana Lang Cushing
   Angus Macfadyen … Jor-El
   Sofia Hasmik … Chrissy Beppo
   Stacey Farber … Leslie
   Danny Wattley … Coach Gaines
   Eric Keenleyside … Mayor George Dean
   Daisy Tormé … A.I. Device (voice)
   Hesham Hammoud … Lt Rosetti
   Alan O’Silva … Russian Man
   Fritzy-Klevans Destine … Sean Smith
   Wern Lee … Tag Harris
   Zane Clifford … Timmy Ryan
   Joselyn Picard … Sophie Cushing
   Dean Marshall … Samuel Foswell
   Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
   Coral Humphrey … Eliza

   Review:

   Okay, let us do a list of things I liked.

   1. 4377. If this is the Superman War from World of New Krypton, then Captain Luthor is a universe jumper from Universe 66 and we have him as a refuge from that sasshat, Uberman. I suppose when Ollie became “The Spectre” and folded the time-space multi-verse up into a crumpled ball, this was the result and explains all the continuity snafus and other goofery left over from “The Crisis of the Infinite Stupid”. I like how that explanation works because “Reset R’ Us” was and is the DC way for fixing changes in editorial direction; so why not the TV shows?
   2. Jonathan and Jordan are schedleps. This is actually what a pair of teenaged sons who have not been father mentored properly should resemble. I still think the maple syrup is a little thick between Jon (Jordan Elsass) and Jor (Alex Garfin). The conflicts are soap operaish and really do not amount to Class 1 crisis levels.
   3. Grandad Hologram (Jerk Jor-el) (Angus Macfayden) turns in a community theater version of why Kryptonians blew themselves up, but it is good enough for government work. He is a jerk.
   4. Sam Lane is slated to be the “villain”. Dylan Walsh gives a good read, better than Glenn Morshower did on Supergirl.
   5. All this fuss over a playbook might seem “minor” to the Jor and Jon plot, but it is this petty nonsense that looms large in the shifting power balance inside the tribal power structure that is the “Kent Tribe”. Out of such buffoonery comes teen angst and a “hook” for the teen element of the target audience.
   6. Elizabeth Tulloch steps up and manages to assume a “Mom” role of sorts in the Kent Tribe. She actually has a very cliché reporter rebel story line and gets to do the walkout on the “corporate villain” Morgan Edge. The story rewrite reason is RIDICULOUS. Stories are rewritten to represent company or newspaper bias point of view all the time and reporters accept it as part of the job. I should know. It happened to me on several occasions and mine was “technical:” writing.
   7. Of course Captain Luthor is not a villain. This is Berlanti “editorialism” at work. Wolé Parks plainly fits into the PC element of this show, but not in the jarring disruptive way we might see his character handled on a terrible show like “Bat-gerbilette 2.0”.
   8. Back to 4377…Superman: War of the Supermen – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Supermen One needs to read this background to understand what Geoff Johns and Marc Guggenheim are after here; for if the show feels safe and the cliché plotboiler treatments seem familiar; the reason is that this show / soap opera steals liberally from the plot elements of World of New Krypton. I just see the repackaging for “War of the Supermen” as being severely downsized and made more mass CW audience viewer friendly.
   9. The Kent Tribe dynamic, as seen, is a safe solid skeleton to create a corporate Ozzie and Harriet point of view. As with other Geoff Johns influenced shows, the nuclear family takes center stage. The PoV developed is an optimistic and “quiet on message” tone that is not extreme with the baby-seal clubbing extremism that one associates with less talented and more incompetent show runners who put agenda ahead of entertainment.
   10. Production values are a bit better when these do not involve Tyler Hoechlin trying to be Tiny Superman. Frankly, I think the Captain Luthor Ironman suit looks hokey, but it works well enough for what it is intended to do.
   Now what I did not like.
   1. Tyler Hoechlin. Super Wuss may have good cog with other viewers and I read this in other reviews, but like Henry Cavill, as Superman, another bad casting mistake, he drips off negative Q to me like sweat on rotten cheese. I do not like him as seen through the camera. And the camera, one finds, never lies. I can give a rare example of this in another negative Q kind of person, who is Tom Bosley of “Happy Days” fame. Mister “C” oozed negative Q to me. And in real life, he was nothing like the Mister Cunningham character he pretended to play. I get the same kind of “ugh” reaction when I see Tyler Hoechlin through a monitor.
   2. Elizabeth Tulloch lacks stature and gravitas. I do not believe her as Lois Lane. She comes across as another casting error. Other people may like her and write so, but as I have with Hoechlin but for different reasons, I think she lacks the oompf for the role. Call it lack of presence. You know it when you see it. Chyler Leigh has presence. Katie McGrath has presence. Odette Annabel has it. Calista Flockhart has presence in a glaring well. Melissa Benoist and David Harewood have technique and overcome neutral Q that way. Elizabeth Tulloch has neither technique nor positive Q. She just is there and “performs” and you can see it and not believe it. I do not believe her.
   3. Writing; if the show is safe and cliché, then it is also BORING. I’ve seen SMALLVILLE. SMALLVILLE 2.0 is not working for me. It is too safe and has nothing new to say to me about Superman.
   4. FX and stunts. Marginal Arrow quality at best. The same pull the stuntmen backwards on the wire stuff that is almost a joke to me now, has me yawning.
   5. Morgan Edge, corporate villain. Nobody cares. He (Adam Raynor) as an actor is cardboard. His storyline and gimmick is that he raids small towns for cheap labor and leaves them economic husks when the labor force attempts to unionize. Is that so? WHO CARES? There is no hook, no thing of interest that makes his story or him interesting.
   6. Directing. If I am looking at a sub-par soap opera product in the direction; instead of a super-hero show, then I am going to write about that aspect and complain. This is me complaining. Some of the edits make no sense, particularly the barbecue segment at the Cushing house.
   7. Acting: a lot of the show rests on the two male “son” second leads acting consistently and logically to the story lines they have. Well these two actors (Jordan Elsa as Jonathan Kent and Alex Garfin as Jordan Kent) swing wildly from extreme calm and brotherly love to excessive sibling rivalry. I can buy it because I sort of believe the Kent Tribe has a emo, a sociopath in training, a super wuss, and “mom” (lower case letters) and there is a lot of emotional abuse and dysfunctionalism hilariously and unintentionally rampant in the comedy I see therein, between the second leads that results; but it is NOT what the directors, writers or actors intended to generate or portray. It just leaves me rolling in the aisles with how disjointedly out of frame it is.

   So rate this episode? 2/0/2 out of 5/5/5. They have a way to go to make me happy.

   At this rate of progress they may get their first 5 out of me, when Tyler Hoechlin is replaced by Nicolas Cage (Inside Joke here.) and the Kent Tribe get a giant spider for a pet.

   Monty

   Reply