Yellowjackets Season Three Overview: Falling Off

After a long hiatus the yellowjackets are back.

So by and large this was the worst season of the show. The fundamental question regarding that is why that is, was it because they never really had a clear plan for this show? Was it because the writers strike changed thing? Or are they trying to spin their wheels for as long as they can in order to profit off the show?

Who is to say, however, I will say that the first half of this season is damn near unwatchable with how slowly it is paced. The amount of filler that is being injected into this part of the show, would make even Millie Bobby Brown blush, it is infuriating to watch as you are left with week after week with basically nothing of major importance happening.

You have the season long mystery of who killed Lottie, Simone Kessell, which just feels like it comes out of nowhere, and the revelation of who did it was both obvious and also uninspiring. It just feels like such a missed opportunity, as there was far more ground they could have covered and directions they could have gone in if they had not done that.

Then you have what I think is the biggest flaw of the season Shauna. So Shauna, Melaine Lynskey, has always been shown to be cold blooded, however, in this season she goes off the rails in a cartoonish way trying to feed a woman a piece of her arm, and vowing to go after her husband and daughter who have left her and reclaim her Queenhood, meaning the savage side of her from her time in the Wilderness. This is coupled with the teen timeline where Shauna seemingly becomes even more of a supervillain as she can force other people to do what she wants with a bark and manages to keep well over ten people locked down when they want to leave with a glare. The writing here is absolutely stupid as it makes no logical sense how one small young woman could keep all of these other people at her mercy with one gun, yes she could shoot one of them but the rest would still get away. The writers I assume would explain Shauna’s fall to the dark side in the teen years by trauma resulting from the death of her child, yet even in that context this seems far fetch and simply as bad writing. They have turned Shauna into this almost psychopathic killer when she really wasn’t presenting as that before, they have likely done this to create drama and not for any other reason. It feels like extreme flanderisation.

Overall a step back in almost everyway from the previous two seasons.

2/5

Pros.

It still has some good moments

Hilary Swank

Cons.

The death of Lottie

How they change Shauna’s character

The pacing

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From Season Three: The Wheels Come Unstuck

Summary

Answers are revealed and far, far more questions are asked.

So, I would say upon reflection that this is probably the most polarising of the series released so far, I saw a lot of angry fan backlash to this season. For the most part I agree with it, I think the pacing this season was bad, I think this is likely a result of the writers strikes and then needing to make more of less. I think the fact that we only got a very limited amount of night scenes which are often the best in the show and a lot of this season happened over a couple of days was disappointing. Pound for pound we got a lot less of the monsters this season overall.

As for the mysteries and answers I thought Tabitha’s, Catalina Sandrio Moreno, time in the real world was a little too short lived, they could have done more there but they didn’t. Moreover, the reveal of the baby being a creature and Tabitha and Jade, David Alpay, being reincarnations of previous From residents all felt a bit too much like fan fiction. In the former’s case people liked Smiley and wanted him back, in the latter’s case it felt like they didn’t know where to take the mystery so read something on reddit and was like yes I’ll do that.

When the show was good, such as during the barn scene in the first episode and the ambulance scene later in the season, it was really good and reminded you of why you like the show. However, there was just too much talking and filler this season and that crucially was its central problem.

Overall, a step back from previous seasons.

4/5

Pros.

A few good scenes

Possible better reveals being set up

The man in yellow

Some good scares

Cons.

Far too much filler

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Cinema Issues: Does Rape Belong In Star Wars, A Discussion, [Andor Season Two]

In this edition of Cinema Issues we will be discussing rape in Andor. Now bear in mind we will be doing this sparingly but if you find this topic triggering then this might not be the edition for you.

So within the latest season of Andor, a Star Wars tv show, there is a suggestion that one of the female characters was assaulted by an Imperial Officer Now this is causing a great deal of controversy, as people are saying that rape has no place in Star Wars, and for me personally this is somewhat of a nuanced conversation. For those angry I would say this, what do you think happened when Leia, Carrie Fisher, was enslaved and before Luke, Mark Hamill, showed up. Moreover, throughout the saga we have seen genocide, the abduction of children, forced re-education and a number of other atrocities, this is a story about war and rape is a common occurrence to POWs so it makes sense for it to feature. Additionally, Andor was never marketed as a kids show, just because it is of the Star Wars IP and on Disney+ does not mean that it is for kids. They have been pretty straight up in saying it isn’t, if you can’t do basic research to see the themes and subject matters in a show before allowing your kid to watch then that’s on you.

However, on the flip side there is the question of is it necessary? They could say it happened do they need to show it so graphically? This becomes a matter of taste. To add that you have the fact that these sort of scenes, whilst relevant in the setting in terms of war, can be traumatic for those who have experienced rape or for those who have had a loved one experience it and that is going to cause strong feelings. So again we go back to the matter of taste, and was it necessary to depict it in the way they do?

Ultimately the answer is up to you, if you want the practical realities of war then it is an important component, and it is needed and important to show, but if you find it triggering then it might be a sign that it is not for you and you should avoid it for you own mental health, which is totally valid. It is a matter of personal preference.

I will end with this, whilst I can understand both sides of the argument here, the idea that rape being in Andor ruins Star Wars or has no place is stupid inherently, as not only is it implied elsewhere and other atrocities are shown, but also this is a show for adults and reflects the realities of what the war against the Empire would have looked like. If you want your soft family friendly Star Wars with puppets and only mild themes like kids being abducted and brainwashed into becoming First Order soldiers then you can totally just skip Andor. It is not required viewing.

So whilst I understand the sensitivity of the subject matter and how it can impact people I think a lot of the outrage is performative and in at least a few cases from people who don’t watch the show, Josh from Den Of Nerds comes to mind. In these cases people just want to outrage farm, for in my opinion no good reason, but I also like the show and its approach to showing the war so I could be bias.

It really is one for you and what you are comfortable with.

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Cinema Issues: The Death Of Joel [The Last Of Us Season Two]

In this edition of Cinema Issues we will be discussing The Last Of Us and its future.

Well folks I thought they would push it to nearer the end of the season and have this season and the newly announced season three be the second game’s story, but no, they did it in episode two which was pretty bold of them.

The it I am referring to is the death of Joel, Pedro Pascal, the central character of the show. In the games this shocking subversion was met with outrage, as was the following journey to get vengeance on Abby. This is mainly because Joel is both the main character and also in this case he is played by Pedro Pascal and a lot of people like him, in both instances it caught people off guard and felt out of left field.

The fact remains that with Pedro leaving the show, he’ll be around for flashbacks but he will be stepping back for the most part, there will be audience members who leave. The question I am asking in this Cinema Issues article is how much of an effect will this have on the popularity of the show and will the discourse become as angry as it did surrounding the second game?

It is curious that the show decided to depict the scene in the same way the game did as other aspects of the second game have been changed, mainly that Abby, Kaitlyn Dever, is not the musclebound presence she is in the game. I thought perhaps they would tone it down a little bit so that it might be less off putting for people, but no.

I think the question really becomes is Ellie, Bella Ramsey, enough of a draw to get people to watch, and is Ramsey herself a good enough actress to centre the show around? Both of these questions are up in the air right now and time will tell, however, if enough of the audience do check out over the death of Joel it could be a massive blow to the show, possibly a mortal one.

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Daredevil Born Again Season One: Netflix Beats Disney

Summary

Disney continues one of the greatest superhero TV shows of all time.

So as many of you know, I believe that marvel is currently in a death spiral I think that a lot of the things that are coming out now were greenlit and shot years ago and so are unable for marvel to fix or turn around in a meaningful way. There are rumours surrounding this Daredevil series that production was shut down midway through and the whole thing was retooled. Upon watching it this seems evidently true, as the first free quarters of episodes feel like a different show now there are still some darker elements in these earlier episodes which were clearly added post the original episodes as we know they wanted to go for a legal comedy series originally. However, were the problem arises is that they have also kept in these more comedic lighter tone plot beats and they can clash horribly with the darker elements feeling schizophrenic. Take for example episode 5 it’s a bank robbery episode with broadly comedic themes and Kamala Khan’s Dad, who was accused of some heinous things in real life, is there providing comedic support. If you compare this to episode 4 wherein you got to see Muse killing people and draining them off their blood you get immediate whiplash.

Then you have the character assassination as Marvel is becoming known for with Matt, Charlie Cox, seemingly a punching bag for everyone else in the show. He goes from being a leading man who commanded respect in the Netflix run to being screamed at by a criminal for not getting him a lighter sentence, despite him being a repeat offender, and having the problems of the legal system hung around his neck. What does Matt do, does he tell the man don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time? No he takes it and says it is his fault as this series wants to make Matt as weak and subservient as possible. Couple this with Kingpin, Vincent D’Onofrio, who goes from a one man killing machine who ruled with an iron grip to someone who gets cheated on and then goes to couples counselling wherein he learns it was all his fault. After what Hawkeye and Echo did to Kingpin I thought the series couldn’t drag the character any further down, and yet it still managed to do it. It does do a little to bring him back by the end of the series but it is too little too late in my opinion.

Another curious choice is the fact that Matt doesn’t fully suit up and become Daredevil again until episode 6 of a 9 episode series with a massive amount of filler in those first few episodes, as it sets things up as though it is Game Of Thrones. However, the issue with this is not only is it boring but most of these things are then never executed upon or just don’t happen making all the set up feel extra annoying. Episode 5 ends with Matt being offered dinner at the Khan’s and yet that never happens.

They get rid of Karen, Deborah Ann Woll, and Foggy, Elden Hensen, and replace them with a new staff on legal characters for Matt to interact with none of which can hold a candle to Karen or Foggy, who they killed off only to bring back next season. Also Kingpin now has an entourage which are also annoying and serve little purpose, Michael Gandolfini in particular is terrible.

The central villain of the series Muse is killed off without much fuss so that they can have the real villain be Kingpin and his corrupt police force, which Daredevil could easily beat in an episode, but they need to draw it out in order for it to be more timely. As we all know who makes for the best comic book villain ah yes the police, we should defund them yes great idea. Stupid and dumb.

Overall, this is what I get for getting my hopes up about a Marvel project.

1/5

Pros.

There are a few cool moments

Cons.

These are promptly undermined by the destruction of Matt and Wilson as characters

Matt is treated like a joke on his own show

The ungodly amount of filler

The marriage counselling scenes with Kingpin

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Doctor Who Robot Revolution: The Stunning and Brave Adventures of Doctor Babes and Space Karen

Summary

Russell T. Davies is so horribly insecure that he needed to make the second season of his new Who run open with an episode aimed at owning his critics.

I have said many times I don’t want to cover the show and generally I don’t but after seeing some unexpected sources calling it preachy I couldn’t resist seeing it. Don’t worry for my mental health folks I won’t make a habit of watching the show and this will be the only episode covered. I might write a Cinema Issues post if the series gets cancelled and with ratings like these and RTD talking about the show going away for years or being paused it sure seems like I’ll get to write that.

What is there to say about the new episode, well Doctor Babes cries, shocker I know. It was the same old same old crying, dancing, lacking any form of masculinity, but now he has a new companion that I have affectionately called Space Karen. She of course is a girl boss woman of colour who won’t let the already passive and submissive Doctor get away with anything and already thinks she knows better than him, because she is a woman. As you can imagine she is insufferable from the get-go and this only gets worse as it goes on.

Space Karen gets the episode’s worst and possibly best line about them being on a planet of incels. It is funny that even with all the private education in the Doctor Who writers room they don’t actually know what the term means and just use it as a way to say men they don’t like. Of course this is also a double whammy as it is RTD getting to try and own his critics and call them names through his show, as he hasn’t realised yet that unless they have to for some reason, like writing reviews, don’t watch it anymore.

They try and push some cutesy robot stuff that might entertain you if you’re 5 or have the mind of a 5 year old as most of the fans of the current run do, but it is meaningless.

Overall, more of Doctor Babes being fabulous but now with a new friend Space Karen to scream at him for being born male this regeneration, geez I wonder why folks aren’t watching BBC. At this point the show died a long time ago and what is happening now is RTD in his sick and perverted way is doing a Weekend at Bernies style situation with the corpse in order to cash his check from Disney

0/5

Pros.

None.

Cons

What even is this anymore, this is a sick defilement of a once beloved franchise, there is so much wrong with it that I am going to break from conventions and not write a cons list, the whole thing is a con.

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With Love, Meghan: Meghan Spends Her Man’s Money On A Fruit Plate You Could Only Dream Of Peasant

Summary

Possibly the best thing Meghan Markle has ever done, but not for the reasons she or Netflix would want.

Let it be known that I am no fan of the Dutchess, I believe she’s a gold digger, and I believe her cries for privacy are made to look laughable when she turns up to the site of school shootings as a disaster tourist ready to snap a photo for the gram.

However, this was great, it was unintentionally hilarious. Whether it was Meghan shooting the whole thing in a house that is clearly not her own, yet she never says that, or one of the many horribly awkward mash-ups she does with random guests. My favourite was when she reminded Mindy Kailing, famous Hollywood hack, of her last name, but rather than say Windsor as would be her actual marital last name if she took Harry’s name, she instead says Sussex which was a title. It is hilarious as not only does she look like the ultimate Karen but she still gets it wrong.

Moreover, there are also the recipes which for the most part Meghan uses to show that she is down to Earth and just like you, yet when she makes a fruit salad for a kids party, she must use well over $40 of fruit, as any regular working mum can do. It is moments like this where you can see just how out of touch she is, there are also other moments where you can see the rage bubbling inside of her which give a lot of credence to the Palace rumours that she was a bully.

Overall, this is one of the funniest things Netflix has released in a long time.

3/5

Pros.

It is hilarious

It is the right level of good cringe

You can see the anger and entitlement right there on screen.

Cons.

It goes on a bit too long

She has some stilted delivery

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Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man Season Season One Overview: Thank God For Sony

Summary

He has the super power kick, you want him as your neighbour.

The above is paraphrased lyrics from the trailer for this show. It doesn’t understand the character, he doesn’t have super powerful feet, and that it is generic and feels like it is doing stuff to kill time, you want him as your neighbour a superfluous lyric.

Honestly, I don’t know what is going on at Marvel animation first What If’s final season and now this. I think that there needs to be a culling at Marvel animation as something is clearly rotten. The same people who brought you duck sex have now race swapped most of the classic Spider-Man cast and for what reason? Because Coleman Dingo can’t possibly voice a white character.

Ignoring the race swap they also completely and I mean completely emasculate Harry Osbourn to a point, where you question if they aren’t setting him up to be the female love interest of season two. The character bastardisation feels like if I am being charitable people who have never read a Spider-Man comic before and don’t know these characters, but at worse this feels like a deliberate effort to lessen them.

Occasionally, here and there you get to see characters you actually want to see show up like Daredevil, voiced by Charlie Cox, these moments provide a nice if fleeting moment of respite before the mediocrity of the story and the objectionable nature of the race swaps comes back to drag you back into the gutter. There is a genuine question with this show as to why it is that a large percentage of the villains are white, and a large majority of the friendly characters/perceived as friendly aren’t.

Overall, thank God that Sony still has the rights to Spider-Man and long may that remain the case if this is what Disney would serve us.

1/5

Pros.

Some entertaining cameos

Cons.

It ruins various characters

It is poorly plotted

It tries too hard to be something it isn’t

The humour is grating

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Creature Commandos Season 1 Overview: James Gunn’s Fragile Ego

Summary

The DCU is born.

Right from the off something about this series struck a bad chord with me. It’s taken me a while to really think about what’s wrong with it and be able to articulate that, here is my best attempt.

Firstly, this feels like a spin off of the Harley Quinn animated show, and by that I mean the humour is exactly the same, however, where that show allows its characters to have serious moments this shows allergic to that. Whenever there will be a tragic or sad moment the writer will feel the need to undercut with a quippy joke or some sort of absurdist visuals.

Secondly, and relating to the first point, each of the Creature Commandos has tragic back stories, and this is bad for two key reasons. Chiefly, it shows a lack of any genuine villains in the show, which is supposed to be about a team of villains going on missions, as well as a fear of anti-heroes and not having everyone be sympathetic. Moreover, these back stories are often quite depressing, so the show feels the need to overcompensate by having it side by side with the present timeline in which something absurd or silly will be happening in order to get away from the sadness. This cheapens it.

Thirdly, the humour as I’ve mentioned in my previous two points is really what ruins this show and runs through all of the criticism, It is juvenile, gross out, and often edgy for shock value. I don’t think I laughed once during the entire run of the show.

Fourthly, and perhaps worst of all, is the fact that one of the sub antagonists of the show are the Sons of Themyscira, who are portrayed as incel online nerds. Not only does this feel like screw the audience, but also feels like Gunn personally taking shots at his critics. This is potentially catastrophically bad as it shows that Gunn is a reactionary and shows how even mild criticism of him can find its way into his projects and affect them in a major way, hence he’ll get more of it. It also destroys any kind of confidence one may have in his upcoming Superman film, and you have already seem him coming out to attack haters on that and to respond to criticism. The Sons are of course horribly cringe and die off in humiliating ways in order for Gunn to own his critics.

Overall, it is nice to see a more mature tone and some of the ideas were good, but the humour, the lack of meaningful emotion and Gunn’s fragile attempt to own the haters all result in this being a damaging start for the DCU, and a red flag for this summers Superman. :

2/5

Pros.

The mature tone

A few good ideas

Cons.

The humour

The backstories

Gunn’s fragile ego

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Skeleton Crew Season 1 Overview: The Duffer Brothers Need To Sue

Summary

Star Wars steals from Stranger Things.

Honestly, as far as recent Star Wars shows go this wasn’t bad. That’s not to say it was perfect, I would place it in the watchable category.

For the most part this is a fairly self-contained adventure, we don’t really interact with iconography or characters from the Star Wars universe we would expect to see, we see some X-Wings, a lightsaber and a few things are mentioned in passing but that is really all. There is distinct Goonies and Flight Of The Navigator vibes to this, but I would say the biggest influence is Stranger Things. To see Star Wars lift so many themes and ideas from Stranger Things is depressing on a number of levels, to see one of the kings of the science fiction genre have to borrow from the new upstart shows just how bad of a situation Star Wars is in.

The journey itself was interesting there were certainly ups and downs, and some episodes hit harder than others but for the most part it was entertaining. I liked the mystery around Ad Attin and I thought the new droid, voiced by Nick Frost, was a welcome addition to the universe. The child actors were probably the weakest part of the show, I will not rag on the child actors too much as it seems like low hanging fruit, however, it must be stated that their emotions were all over the place and they were badly directed.

My biggest bugbear with the show was the fact it introduced yet another survivor of Order 66, at this point the Empire seems incredibly incompetent. This of course is Jude law’s character who the series teases with the will they won’t they question of is he a Jedi, at times you are lead to believe that it’s just parlour tricks or that maybe he is force sensitive, but no the final episode has him reveal that he is in fact a Jedi or was. Moreover his origins and how he survived order 66 a so incredibly vague you question why it was even brought up at all, clearly it was done to set him up for his own show where it would be explored in more detail.

Overall, not as bad as the Acolyte not as good as Andor.

3/5

Pros.

It is watchable

It has fun moments

It feels very disconnected

Cons.

The child actors aren’t very good

There is yet another survivor of Order 66

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