Back from another hiatus and with the promise of an epic Deadshot showdown, my hopes for this episode of Arrow were high, so my slight disappointment is really all my own fault. Well, possibly mine and those behind the marketing of “Home Invasion.” And this isn’t me saying this was a bad episode, it’s not, but when you promote the hell out of Deadshot and he basically is filling in this episode’s B plot, I’m going to be a little let down.

So what was the A plot of “Home Invasion”? A family Laurel (Katie Cassidy) is representing plans to sue a greedy, corrupt business man who lost all their savings. Unfortunately – because nothing good ever happens in Starling City – that business man, Edward Rasmus (Al Sapienza) calls in a hit on the family and the mother and father end up dead. The only survivor is the little boy who Laurel takes into her custody until extended family can be found and she and the boy become the hunted targets of Rasmus’ hitman (J. August Richards). Which means protecting Laurel becomes Ollie (Stephen Amell), or rather The Hood’s, top priority.

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I told you all last week, upon hearing the news that NBC would be pulling Episode 4 of Hannibal out of “respect” for the victims of the recent tragedies in Boston and Newtown and their families, that I would track down that episode and review it come Hell or high water!

Well….that’s not happening–at least not just yet. See, apparently Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller went to the NBC brass about pulling the new series’ 4th episode: “Ceuf” several weeks ago (yeah, it was HIS idea–my apologies for all…well, most of the awful things I’ve said about NBC this past week).

To maintain continuity, he instead decided to, in his own words, cannibalize (ha-ha) ”Ceuf” into six short webisodes.

They’re available on YouTube, NBC.com, and a thousand other sites by now.

Honestly, there’s not much here. I believe Fuller when he says proceeding straight to Episode 5 tonight will have little or no effect on the series as a whole. These webisodes are mildly interesting little time-wasters that delve deeper into the growing relationship between Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl), the now-orphaned daughter of slain serial killer Garrett Jacob Hobbs AKA “The Minnesota Shrike”.

For what it’s worth, Hannibal cooks not one, but TWO meals for his co-stars in the series: First he makes another dinner for Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), then later he makes breakfast for dinner for Abigail and Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas).

Oh, in case you were curious, the original “Ceuf” was primarily about a woman played by SNL alum Molly Shannon who brainwashes children into killing their parents….So I can see (however grudgingly) why Fuller was uncomfortable with airing it. The full episode will play in overseas markets, but not in the US or Canada. It is unknown whether or not it will be made available online here (don’t bother looking for it yet–I found a dozen sites that claimed to have the full, uncut “Ceuf”, but in reality only had the webisodes).

Here’s the first episode of the web series, which begins with a short intro by Fuller:

Hannibal Episode 5 airs tonight on NBC at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central. Look for the review tomorrow as per usual here at NerdBastards.

Source: The Huffington Post

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Two scary stories in a row from Doctor Who. They must really be trying to harken back to those days when children would watch from between their fingers or from hiding behind the sofa. And “Hide” manages to be scary in all those ways we love stories to be scary. Set in an old, eerie looking manor where wailing and knocking can be heard and every once in a while there’s an apparition of a screaming woman. Staying at the house hoping to discover the ghost – or ghaaast – is Professor Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott), a former WWII spy now living with guilt and working as a paranormal investigator, and Emma Grayling (Jessica Raines), an empathic psychic and associate, or rather companion, to the professor. The whole premise is like something out of a 70s horror film – think The Legend of Hell House – and The Doctor and Clara simply stumble in, looking to do some ghostbusting.

If “The Rings of Akhaten” and “Cold War”, while good, were on the weaker end of the Who spectrum, “Hide” is definitely a swing back to the strong end. The setup relies heavily on the ghost hunters premise and it allows us to dive right into the investigation. Which is quite creepy. Much of the photographic evidence gathered by the Professor and Emma look like scenes out of The Ring video, with a ghostly white figure and its stretched, screaming face. Doctor Who has really excelled at creating unique atmosphere’s for each of its episodes this season. Whether it’s the thrilling, fast-paced city of London in “The Bells of Saint John”, or the beautiful, vibrant “Akhaten”, to the claustrophobic, damp, and bleak “Cold War.” Out of all, “Hide” is probably the best. That manor house is ideal with its creaky hallways and shrouded rooms, and the “surrounding” woods of the pocket universe are equally as spooky.

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Oh man are you guys gonna love this one.

So, we’re three episodes into a new season of Game of Thrones. The halfway point is closer than you think, and more than once the season’s been called slow by viewers (yes, even me). But, as you may recall, I’ve defended the show. I’ve said that often the early episodes are about putting new pieces of the puzzle together so the payoff can come, and it’s all being done so elegantly that I don’t care much about the pace. Well, the “slow” criticisms stop here. “And Now His Watch Is Ended” is not only the most exhilarating episode of this season so far. It’s also got the potential to be one of the most pivotal episodes in the history of the show.

Note: Once again, I’m writing an advance review here, so no big plot spoilers for the episode will follow. However, there will of course be spoilers for the rest of the season so far.

In King’s Landing, Margaery (Natalie Dormer) and Olenna (Diana Rigg) continue to work their charms on Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and Sansa (Sophie Turner), though Cersei (Lena Headey) is still suspicious. Meanwhile Varys (Conleth Hill) has his own business with Olenna, as well as Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), and Cersei has business with her father (Charles Dance). In the North, Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) ventures deeper into his dreams with the help of Jojen (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), while Arya (Maisie Williams) must find new courage among the Brotherhood. Still lost somewhere in Westeros, Theon (Alfie Allen) laments his choices. Beyond The Wall, the rifts within the Night’s Watch grow deeper. In the Crown Lands, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is reeling from the aftermath of his punishment. And in Astapor, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) makes good on her bargain with the Unsullied slavemaster.

Again, there are a number of highlights that I just can’t talk about because you haven’t seen them yet, but I can tell you a bit more broadly about what I loved. I talked a lot last season about my love for the complex and often deceptive relationship between Varys and Tyrion, and this episode contains the very best scene between the two of them yet, and because of the nature of their relationship it’s one of those things that could turn out to be exceptionally important or could just be more smoke blown from either of them. But hey, that’s part of the fun, and Hill and Dinklage are both at their absolute best.

I also, for some reason, really noticed in this episode just how detailed the regional differences are in the show’s production design. Watch Margaery walk next to Sansa. Their costumes each say different thing about the wearer, but they’re also part of a larger landscape of costume design, armor design, weaponry, food and everything else that makes up this world. It’s the same level of detail that made the design work in The Lord of the Rings so good, and it’s never been applied to television in quite this way before. It struck me particularly hard watching this episode, so take a moment and savor that.

But more importantly (and again, I can’t spoil anything for you), this is the episode where everything about this season really begins to move forward in a really energetic, proper badass way, particularly in the final minutes. It’s the sort of episode that leaves you absolutely invigorated and makes you flat-out angry that you can’t watch what happens next right now. I think we’ll look back on this episode and call it one of the most important of the season, and certainly one of the most fun.

Note: This is the last of my advance reviews for this season, so if you’re reading my reviews, look for the next one on Sunday night after I’ve watched it right along with the rest of you.

(Advance screening courtesy of HBO)

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It was supposed to be a day of big change, but everything fell apart in the end. Instead of “Hail to the Chief,” the record of choice was R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” With a missing doctor, missing Fae, and a whole lot of questions left unanswered, we open last week’s installment of Lost Girl.

Bo and Dyson go to Lauren’s apartment and find it empty, worse still everything there screams that she abandoned it. Later, Dyson updates Hale on the mass grave he and Tamsin found, 18 dead Fae, Light and Dark, were buried there.

Bo tries to relax before the inauguration with a bath, only to be interrupted by a completely drunken Tamsin. “Where do you get off being so perfect?” Tamsin says in sweet, beautiful drunk talk. Tamsin’s clearly on about something, but Bo’s hardly in a mood to try and figure it out, or play along. Especially after Tamsin gets in the tub with her.

Meanwhile, Kenzi helps set up the celebration at the Dal for Hale’s inauguration, and given the way Hale’s treated her lately, she’s not pleased. Maybe I’ll start a union for human companions to the Fae, Kenzi opines. But Trick warns her that that didn’t work out so well for Jimmy Hoffa. Natch. During the course of the evening, Kenzi keeps bumping up against a Fae named Mossimo, he warns her that she will always feel like an outsider to the Fae, and, if she wants, he can make the impossible happen for her. As in he can make her Fae.

At Isaac’s lab, Lauren’s making a breakthrough, but there’s something about these organic compounds that Isaac’s developed that seems all too familiar. Lauren is more than a little curious about Isaac’s intentions, and he tells her that all he wants to do is make humans better through genetics, to help humanity evolve to another level. Undaunted, Lauren does a little snooping of her own and discovers exactly where Isaac gets his material: he’s the man behind the Fae mass grave, and he’s using Fae genes to make humans better.

Back at the Dal, Dyson gets kidnapped by human paramedics posing as Fae, and some incriminating evidence left at the scene points to Lauren’s involvement. The Morrigan, who was at Hale’s inauguration at the new Ash’s invitation, calls for a gathering of the Fae elders to decide on a course of action, and to hold a vote of non-confidence in Hale. More than that though, The Morrigan calls for the immediate arrest of all human companions to the Fae, starting with the unaligned succubus’ favourite, Kenzi.

But while all this is going on, Bo returns to Lauren’s apartment only to find a slightly more sober Tamsin squatting there. Reluctantly, Bo recruits Tamsin to help her track down Dyson, but in the process Bo discovers Tamsin’s little secret, or rather a piece of it. She finds the mystical pill bottle where Tamsin has the hairs meant to bind Bo for her mysterious former boss.

As the hour winds down, Tamsin and Bo manage to find Dyson’s location at Isaac’s heavily protected compound, but before they can get a closer look, they’re jumped by some guards and Tamsin is shot. Meanwhile back at the Dal, Trick manages an escape only to get kidnapped and tossed in the trunk of a car. Kenzi is arrested, but before she’s taken away, Hale gives a little trinket to protect her, and a big, passionate kiss.

As for our man Dyson, it appears that Isaac puts his subjects through a fight club to determine that he’s got the best specimen. Dyson defeats his opponent, and ends up back in the stocks. When Lauren discovers the full extent of Isaac’s operation, including Dyson, she too ends up imprisoned. But they’re not alone. In the plastic cage across the room, none other than Aife, Bo’s mother, is imprisoned right beside them.

Which brings us to this week’s season finale. Here’s the precap:

1) The Plot Thickens – Last week I compared Isaac to Brian Cox’s character from X2: X-Men United, but it turns out that he’s more like Syndrome from The Incredibles, a wannabe driven by anger and jealousy to become Fae himself. Oh, and he’s a little crazy too.

2) Case of the Week – The Great Escape. Dyson and several other Fae, including Bo’s mother Aife, are trapped in Isaac’s compound. Tamsin’s been shot and Bo is unable to revive her. The Fae are in turmoil, now locked in a presumptive state of war with the human race. The Ash is missing, so to the Blood King. And Bo’s BFF is in the custody of the Morrigan. Could things get any worse?

3) Things Get Worse – It turns out that Dyson became Isaac’s target because of Aife’s white lie. Isaac wanted to know who the most powerful Fae of all was, and Aife told him it was Dyson rather than the real answer, which is Bo. Also, one of the Sunshine Happy Gang is dying, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. And hey, does anyone else think that being the Ash is a lot like being Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts?

4) What About Kenzi? – After being arrested at the end of last week’s episode, Kenzi finds herself in the company of The Morrigan and her hired goon, Bruce. So Kenzi’s in a bad way, right? Never underestimate the sidekick. She can stand up to The Morrigan, convince another loyal sidekick to betray his boss, and make sudden, life-altering decisions.

5) Seduced By the Dark Side? – Lauren’s in big, big trouble. Isaac is pushing her to continue with her experiments, but Lauren won’t hear it. She can’t go back to the Fae either, they all think she’s a traitor. So what is doc, ex-con human going to do? Does “if you can’t beat them, join them” ring a bell?

6) Old Friends – Keep an eye out for the reappearance of a couple of old friends during the hour. One Dark Fae in particular will be welcome returnee for long-term fans of the show.

7) Don’t Trust Aife – No, really. Even when you think she just might be crazy enough to trust, don’t trust her. I can’t stress that enough.

8) Who Snatched the Blood King? – Let’s just say it’s someone we know, and their motives may not be as sinister as originally thought?

9) Burning Questions – “Do we have time for a makeover?” “Is my daughter okay?” “Are you losing your edge?” “Do you guys know where the mall is?” “Did you know my name isn’t even Lauren?”

10) How Does it End? – The Wanderer card left behind now has two figures standing in it.

SEE YOU NEXT SEASON!

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With the new series Defiance Sy-Fy tries something unexpected: original science fiction! Kidding aside, Defiance is a promising series that genre fans are going to find a lot in common with. It combines the desperate group of survivors motif of Lost and Battlestar Galactica with the strange new worlds right her on Earth concept of Primeval and Terra Nova, and the high-minded, cross-cultural moralizing of the grandfather of all TV sci-fi, Star Trek.

That’s highly ambitious, right? Fortunately, Defiance might have the pedigree to pull it off. Developed by Rockne S. O’Bannon (Farscape, Cult) and executive produced by O’Bannon, Kevin Murphy (Caprica, Reaper) and Michael Taylor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica), Defiance introduces us to a brave new world called Earth. Forty-three years from now, the planet’s been altered by the arrival of seven alien species collectively called the Votans. Terraforming accidents have introduced new plants and animals into the ecosystem, entire landscapes have been altered with plains being turned into mountain ranges, flowing rivers completely drying up, and entire cities buried under the new Earth.

The series’ namesake is the frontier town of Defiance, named after a group of human and alien heroes of the Pale Wars called the Defiant Ones. Humans and aliens live together side-by-side in Defiance, building a community and maintaining some semblance of human civilization. Into town arrive former Marine Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler), and his adopted daughter Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas), a member of the feral Votan race called the Irathient. The town is governed in a fair-handed but idealistic manner by Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz) though her job is occasionally made politically difficult by Defiance’s two biggest patrons, human mine owner McCawley (Graham Greene) and Datak Tarr (Tony Curran), a member of the noble Castithan race who’s ostensibly the town’s mob boss although he struggles too to be seen as a legitimate businessman.

The pilot episode chronicles Nolan and Irisa’s arrival in Defiance after loosing their ride and their supplies to a group of Irathient bandits called the Spirit Riders. Nolan immediately ingratiates himself with the matron of the local bordello, and gets on the bad side of Datak Tarr. But mysterious forces conspire to destroy Defiance for some mysterious MacGuffin that will alter the destiny of all races – human and alien – on the new Earth. Defiance fans, say ‘hello’ to your mythology. What is this MacGuffin? Why are they after it? How will it change the world? Let’s just say that Fionnula Flanagan is perfectly cast as Defiance’s former mayor Nicky Riordon.

The follow on two episodes settle pretty quickly into the format of a new danger arising weekly in Defiance as its inhabitants struggle with their own personal angels and demons. In “Down In The Ground Where The Dead Men Go” we see how Castithans treat deserters, torturing them to death on a rack like device, and how that affects more moralized members of Defiance, while Nolan and McCawley follow a traitor into the ruins of old St Louis to stop another plot to destroy the town. Then in “The Devil In The Dark,” Irisa discovers some insight into an interesting Irathient ability as some unknown assailant targets certain townspeople with creatures known as “Hell Bugs.”

In these first few episodes of Defiance I see a lot in common with a personal favourite of mine, Babylon 5. Like the beginnings of that show I see it struggles balancing its cultural examinations and its determination to deliver new and interesting stories in a well-worn genre. Fortunately, I think there’s a lot to work with. Like B5, the aliens are instantly and distinctively drawn suggesting a unique and intrinsic culture for each one. Some are better drawn than others in these first three episodes, the bird-like Liberata are barely seen, and the orangutan-resembling Sensoth only stand out as background players, but I expect they’ll each get their day before season’s end.

The actors tasked with bringing this series to life ares certainly a compelling bunch. Julie Benz is a highlight giving Mayor Rosewater a hopey-changey disposition while confidentially playing the realization of the somewhat daunting office she carries. Greene is always solid, even if he has to play straight one of the most contrived storylines as the scorned father who learns that his daughter Christie (Nicole Muñoz) is engaged to Datak’s son Alak (Jesse Rath). Tony Curran is good playing the shifty nature of Datak, a masochist in some ways, but at heart essentially a street kid trying to prove he’s worth a damn, but if there’s a Tarr to watch it is Jaime Murray’s Lady Macbeth interpretation of Datak’s wife, Stahma. My favourite character though has to be the prickly Dr. Yewll (Trenna Keating), a member of the bio-mechanical Indogene race whose delivery is as tart as her medicals skills proficient.

As for the series’ leading man, Grant Bowler, he gets to show off a lot of swagger, and sometimes some deep emotion. Initially Nolan is played as a Han Solo-type, a look-out-for-number-one lone wolf trying to make his way to the beautiful (and somewhat fabled) beaches of Antarctica. He’s also a capable man with a gun, and a jack of all trades so far as the arts of tracking, scavenging and scheming, but he’s initially hesitant to get involved in the affairs of Defiance. We learn that Nolan actually grew-up in St. Louis pre-invasion, but so far that hasn’t been played up much, not that we really need to know more on that end. I think both Bowler and the writers paint enough complexity on Nolan to avoid trying to shoe-horn him into the show’s mythology, and Browler easily proves that he can handle both the action requirements and the emotional beats with equal skill.

Of course, one of the things that will set Defiance apart is the concurrent game that’s part-in-parcel with the show and its canon. I’m not sure how that aspect of the franchise will be handled, but I will say that the climactic battle of the pilot felt a bit too much like a video game for my taste given the faceless, personality-less, and rather omnipresent threat of the apparently terrifying Volge. Like a good video game villain, there are a lot of them, they’re supposedly scary, they can climb walls, and they have a bad ass reputation. The big fight in the pilot’s third act was, I think, the weakest part of the series I’ve seen so far, so hopefully that’s not indicative of the game, or how the series will handle action from now on.

But overall I found Defiance, as a show, engaging enough to return for episode four. Like many sci-fi (and Sy-Fy) predecessors it shows great promise. I’m very interested to learn more about the world and the aliens, but more importantly, I’m very interested to see where these characters are going, and how they’ll interact on a weekly basis. I’m also interested, to a lesser degree, in seeing what the big mystery is. It will undoubtedly be disappointing, but Defiance has enough going on that I (probably) won’t mind.

Defiance airs Mondays at 9 pm on Sy-Fy in the Unites States and at 10 pm on Showcase in Canada.

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This weekend’s Doctor Who brought another Classic Who villain back from the past, updating their design and reminding us again of just how many enemies The Doctor really has. “Cold War” was written by Mark Gattis, a huge and longtime fan of the series, and while it’s not a love letter like “The Doctor’s Wife,” it’s littered with homages to the era of Classic Who. Particularly those years of the Second through Fourth Doctors and adventures with U.N.I.T. The U.N.-British, alien task force doesn’t make an appearance, their role is filled by the crew of Soviet submarine damaged and sunken, but The Doctor and soldiers get on just as “well” as ever. Leading the crew is Captain Zhukov as played by Game of Thrones’ Liam Cunningham. He’s stern but fair and is basically fulfilling the role of the Brigadier in this sort of U.N.I.T.-era adventure. And I guess once a sea captain, always a sea captain. Then there’s Professor Grisenko played by David Warner because, duh, it’s David Warner. I wouldn’t have ever thought to cast Warner as an eccentric, 80s pop loving, Soviet scientist – and I’m not sure Doctor Who would have either –  but when given the opportunity, jumped at it, and rightly so because his character is a definite highlight of the episode. These two give some of the best guest performances of the show to date.

The setting of a sunken submarine is perfect for this story as everything about it heightens the tension. The claustrophobic atmosphere, the dampness, long, dark, foreboding corridors; it’s all very uninviting and from the minute The Doctor and Clara arrive – in true Who fashion, completely unexpected and with the intention of arriving somewhere else – you immediately want to leave. Unfortunately, they can’t. Once the sub begins sinking the TARDIS disappears due to new safety protocols The Doctor has initiated, essentially stranding them. This is one of a few things that happen throughout “Cold War” for no other reason than the story needs it to happen, and it’s one of my few gripes about the episode. Had the TARDIS still been around the fear of both the submarine’s rapidly increasing level of water and decreasing level of oxygen, plus the reawakened Ice Warrior wouldn’t have been nearly as threatening. But I can kind of forgive such moments, too, because in a way this is what Classic Who was all about. It didn’t always make the most logical sense why The Doctor got himself into such situations, we just want to see how he gets out of them.

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One of the enduring themes of Game of Thrones, it should be painfully obvious, is loss. With “Walk of Punishment,” the show treads once again into very grim territory, and the results, while often hard to watch, add to the power of a season that’s already begun to gain a lot of steam.

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“Killing must feel good to God, too…He does it all the time, and are we not created in His image?”
–Dr. Hannibal Lecter

If you’ll recall my review of Hannibal‘s pilot episode from last week, you’ll remember my overall positive impression of the show, and my less than glowing assessment of former Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen in the title role: What with his cold, overly creepy demeanor and unintelligible accent.

However, I was fair enough to allow for the possibility that Mikkelsen might grow into the role, and my reservations could be premature. They certainly were.

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After weeks of uncertainty, I think this comic has finally hit its stride.

If you’ve read these reviews before, you know that I’ve criticized the pacing, the lack of backstory, and the vagueness of what exactly Ultron did to so completely wreak havoc on Earth. Book Five of Age of Ultron doesn’t solve all of those problems, but it does give them all a somewhat startling and endlessly intriguing new direction, and as such it becomes the best issue of the series so far.

After escaping the carnage of New York and San Francisco, the surviving Marvel Heroes relocate to the Savage Land, where they hope to regroup and find a way to deal with Ultron’s wrath. Things are complicated by the news that Ultron himself is not actually leading the conquest. Instead, he’s watching things from the future while Vision runs things in the present day. With this information, the heroes begin to form a plan, and an old ally returns to galvanize their efforts.

I praised the last issue of this miniseries for the way it seemed to open up the door to the greater plot of this series. I still feel like everything that came before could have been covered in one issue, not three, but that’s a Bendis comic for you. He takes longer than other writers do, and while that can sometimes be frustrating, it also means he can deliver big character moments. Here, in issue five, he not only delivers those moments, but kicks down the door of this comic. Everything is bigger and more ambitious. Everything seems part of a larger whole, finally, and that makes what’s come before worth it…at least, so far.

I don’t know yet where this is heading. I won’t spoil it for you, but parts of this seem awful gimmicky. Other parts, though, look like the stuff of fantastic character building. We’ll see where it goes. In the meantime, I’m willing to brand Age of Ultron Book Five a thrilling, relentlessly plot-filled issue that sets up the rest of the event in marvelous ways.

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