When season one of Quantum Leap ended, its primary arc wrapped up nicely, but a lot of us viewers were left wondering: What are they going to do with season two? The first episode of this season left that question dangling until the very end, and if you haven’t watched it yet, what follows will spoil it. You have been warned. Review to commence beneath this random pic from San Diego Comic Con.
COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO 2023 — “NBCUniversal at Comic-Con” — Pictured: Quantum Leap HQ — (Photo by: David Yeh/NBC)
In the final moments of the season two premiere, after poor Ben was left high and dry with nary a hologram nor super-computer in sight, someone from HQ finally showed up: Ian, telling him that three years have passed back home, that Ben was presumed dead after two years of searching, and the Quantum Leap program was shut down a year ago. A disturbed Ben isn’t given any time to process this before he leaps again, this time into an elderly female bank teller in the 1980s.
Brief aside: I appreciate how little of a deal this Quantum Leap makes out of Ben swapping genders and races across leaps… in fact, I think he’s only leaped into one fellow Asian man this entire time. Sam Beckett in the original almost always leaped into a fellow white man, and much ado was made any time that wasn’t the case. The effect of the original was to, perhaps unconsciously, make it seem as if only white men could change the course of history. I suspect the diversity of Ben’s hosts is an intentional rebuttal of that.
Anyway, back to the episode, “Ben & Teller.” About three seconds in, the instant you realize that Ben is a bank teller, you know exactly where this is going… it’s a bank robbery episode. As far as plots go, it’s a pretty straightforward one. Bad guys come in waving guns and demanding cash. Cops arrive and, in the original timeline, things get nasty and people die. Ben must stop this from happening.
The real focus of the episode, it seems, is on re-assembling Team Quantum Leap, which has scattered since the program was shuttered a year before. And dealing with what this means for Ben, from whose perspective no time has passed at all… and Addison, who spent three years first searching for and then grieving for him.
Pictured: Mason Alexander Park as Ian — (Photo by: Screengrab/NBC)
Yet the bank robbery scenario, despite being a not-particularly-original one, is more compelling than it has any right to be. One reason for this is the mix-up of the usual formula. It’s Ian, not Addison, who’s the hologram. They were the one who found Ben and showed up, while Addison was still off living her new live, and so they’re the one who must help Ben out. Ian stepping into the role of hologram highlights the skill the role takes… Addison always made everything seem so straightforward, knowing when to ask HQ for help and how best to advise Ben. Ian, having been unwittingly thrown into the role, is much less adept. It was a nice way of showing that we shouldn’t take Addison for granted.
And, of course, Quantum Leap has figured out how to make its guest stars incredibly sympathetic, even with a short amount of screen time, injecting pathos into each episode. In “Bank & Teller,” the characters who pull on your heartstrings are a young robber and his guilt-ridden older sister, who’s also the bank’s assistant manager. Too plot convenient? Definitely. Kind of cheesy? Totally. And somehow this episode got me right in the feels. Like I said, it’s better than it has any right to be.
Pictured: Nanrisa Lee as Jenn — (Photo by: Screengrab/NBC)
Another place where the feels are big? Back at HQ, where the team is trying to figure out what it means for them now that Ben is back after so much time. And where Addison is trying to process her emotions around seeing Ben return after she’d buried him.
Pictured: Ernie Hudson as Magic — (Photo by: NBC)
It’s still unclear what the big season arc will be, but right now, the focus is on how everyone’s dealing with the time jump. I actually appreciate the slow burn, which is a stark contrast to last season’s diving head-first into the plot with Ben breaking into the Quantum Accelerator. All the emotional build-up around the characters ensures we’ll care what happens to them when the Big Plot, whatever it may be, is finally revealed.
After amassing over 1 million downloads on mobile since its original run 10 years ago, Space Expeditionwas a game that was equal parts fun and interstellar success. A visually compelling platformer executed in the styles of some of your favorite classics of the day, this small-bit scaled adventure series took all the fun of a Metroidvania/Rockman mechanics and then transported that into an interstellar world filled with puzzles, alien monsters, traps, and machinery.
However, that was not the end of this space adventure. In the derelict research station SIMBIRSK, horrific genetic experiments await players curious to venture into its halls. You see, Mobriate has recently announced a Space Expedition sequel called, Genopanic, which is now available as a demo on Steam. Now featuring a non-linear story sequel with multiple endings, this hit-bit classic of yesteryear is set to release very soon. We spoke with Genopanic‘s game director, Anton Paramonov about what to expect regarding the upcoming sequel.
Here at The Workprint we’re big fans of Sci-Fi. What sort of Sci-Fi stories inspired the creation of Genopanic?
Science fiction is our everything! We were inspired by moments from different movies and animated series. For example, the scene from Blade Runner where the main character looks at a billboard, which we drew fan art for and turned into our AI Cat VOLGA. Also, a favorite franchise is Borderlands with their humorous robot sidekick, which inspired us to create LAIK. On top of that, elements from The Thing, with its mysterious entity, and the crazy travels of Rick and Morty, with their arsenal of guns, were thrown into our crazy mix. Then there’s that resonator moment at the beginning of Half-life that will never be forgotten. All of these little bits and pieces have been lovingly brought into the world of Genopanic.
AI is a huge concern for us writers now. How do you tackle the concept with Genopanic’s naughty kitty girl program?
It’s a very interesting topic. In Genopanic, we decided to make AI more friendly and even a little bit cute. We believe that AI should help humans and develop better human traits. Our AI Kitty may seem naughty, but to you she will remain a program with a mean temper, a big soul and a cute electronic voice.
Is Genopanic a standalone story? Or is it part of a series?
Genopanic is a separate story, but it exists in the same universe as Space Expedition. We want their storylines to definitely intersect in the future.
What was the biggest challenge you’ve faced during development?
There are a lot of things going on in the world right now that are affecting development. But the hardest thing for us right now is piecing together all the elements of the game and, sometimes sadly and painfully, giving up cool ideas to complete the project. We’ve had to suffer a little bit, but it will get us to release.
What helps set Genopanic apart from other platformers?
First of all, Genopanic is a pixel platformer with Metroidvania elements, where the player explores a space station full of secrets and dangers, fights bosses, solves puzzles and uncovers secrets and mysteries. We think that the main difference lies in the atmosphere of the game. To create a unique atmosphere we used different tools — music, sounds, animations, cutscenes, dialogs. We hope that players will appreciate our efforts.
Who is the main character in the game, the droid or the puppy?
The main character is you! You are the control system of a robot named AIMO. For the world of the game, you are a sort of Learning-by-Doing Neural Network that helps the robot get to the bottom of what is happening on the station.
How will the battery powered robot restrict gameplay? Will it open up unexpected options for gamers?
We believe that the robot will provide players with a new experience and will not limit gameplay. Rather the opposite, it will open up new opportunities. For example, the player will be able to recharge at a special station, restore health and save the game in case the hull is damaged.
Will Genopanic feature a lot of replayability?
Yes, if you like to save cute alien animals, then you will definitely want to go through the station again and find all these little lost ones. Such an opportunity will be available.
If there’s anything you want to say to people who are thinking about buying the game, what would it be?
Be sure to try the DEMO version before you buy it! It will already give you an idea of what awaits you in the full version of our “scary-cute” story.
“Ouroboros” doesn’t waste any time getting the viewer back to where we left off, with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) running from his one-time allies Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku). The god of mischief had just returned from the End of Time to warn the TVA of the impending doom, but as teased in the season one finale, Mobius and Hunter B-15 don’t recognize him. Loki’s haphazard plan of escape leads him to jump out of a window (for lack of a better word), survive a few death-inducing landings, and conveniently wind up in the main hub of the TVA. Scene-stealer Casey (Eugene Cordero) also doesn’t recognize our anti-hero until something strange happens, Loki disappears. His body violently contorts, vanishes, then violently reappears only to find that Casey now knows who he is. A crack in the floor (which was his fault) provides a vital clue – Loki is time traveling. Technically, time slipping, but we’ll get to that.
As all this is happening, the present TVA is dealing with the fallout from being told no more pruning, watching the timeline branch unchecked, and unexplained power surges, it is not great. Mobius and Hunter B-15 know they have to explain their “no pruning” command, but how do you tell an entire organization their mission and headmasters are…well, lies? Not to mention that since Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw – confirmed as a returning character this season) disappeared, a new judge is in play, and Mobius and Hunter B-15 are called into the War Room to justify their behavior. Judge Gamble (Liz Carr), listens intently, but General Dox (Kate Dickie) is a hard-edged devotee to the cause who doesn’t care that the time keepers were false. The other member in the war room (also possibly a general) remains asleep for most of the scene – who he is and why he is part of this isn’t explained.
Loki blinks in and out of these moments, discovering by recording that Renslayer joined up with He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors, returning this season) in the past, until he finally reunites with Mobius in the War Room. His revelation to the members that the time keepers were a lie and HWR (heretofore referred to as Kang) actually built the TVA sways Judge Gamble to uphold the order to stop pruning. General Dox, conversely, sets her sights (and army of minutemen) on Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). The unknown third member wakes up briefly – proving he isn’t dead – says nothing and I’m sure goes promptly back to sleep.
Loki tries to explain to Mobius why the TVA’s mission, albeit a lie, is important, but his friend is more concerned about the disappearing. Not only is it problematic, but it is horrifying to watch. Luckily, he knows a guy who might be able to help – meet the titular character: Ouroboros (nicknamed OB, and played by Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan). The lone employee of the Repairs and Advancements department of the TVA, this surprisingly chipper guy gives Loki’s problem a name (time-slipping), and a solution (it’s complicated). Welcome to the countdown portion of our premiere, forcing Mobius to confront his fears of being flayed alive (though honestly, who wouldn’t be afraid of that?), and driving Loki into the future for an added bit of climactic drama.
Naturally, OB’s plan succeeds and Loki’s condition is cured (maybe? We technically don’t get solid confirmation of this), but the issue of the power surges, the authoritarian general, and Sylvie remain.
It’s a good premiere. Solid, action-packed, picks up where the finale left off, everything a good premiere should be. It also provides some clues to upcoming story threads for the season. Did Judge Renslayer always know about Kang and the truth of the TVA? Is Miss Minutes (Tara Strong, set to return this season) really working with Kang? That one seems like a no-brainer since he built the TVA so it would stand to reason he created MM too. Who was on the phone? This is a tricky one because it leads to the additional question of – who was the phone call for? It seems easy to assume that since Loki arrived in the hallway then shortly after the phone began to ring it was for him, but he also travelled to the future which means whoever is on the other side had to know he’d be there at that exact moment. A far simpler conclusion would be that the call was meant for Sylvie – who was clearly trying to get out of the elevator in time for something – or, perhaps whoever pruned Loki from behind. That brings us to Sylvie.
What happened to her after she killed Kang? Is the after credits trip to 1982 alternate timeline OK following her murder of the Man at the End of Time? Given her directive to the bemused employee that he not serve her any kind of rodent, I would wager no. This exhaustive list of things she doesn’t want to eat suggests she’s been through some shit to get here. Future Sylvie is pleased to see Loki, does this mean they reunite at some point and make amends? Or, is she talking to the person behind Loki? That’s a hard nut to crack since it’s an easy trick to play when it comes to perspective. Additionally, who prunes Loki? My guess is we won’t know until we know.
Will Kang return? The teaser at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania says yes, yes he will. But which Kang will it be? Let’s not forget, the Conqueror has lived many lives and now that the timelines aren’t being branched new hims are just on the horizon.
I love how many questions we’re left with at the end of this episode, and not just obvious ones like Kang, Sylvie, and Renslayer. What’s up with Gen. Dox and Hunter X-5 (Rafael Casal)? Is he her son? Does she know about the variants because she stole her son from a timeline where she had one? I didn’t get a romantic vibe between the two of them. Though, I guess in that timeline she wasn’t Scottish? Either way, there’s clearly some crazy shit going on between those two. Will Hunter D-90 (Neil Ellice) be joining team Loki? Will OB fix the temporal loom? Did the mail carrier (Charlie Cameron) die!? I doubt we’ll find out, but it was a funny one-off dark joke.
Speaking of humor, let me end this review by saying the humor in this show is on-point! I love how it takes the time to still build the enjoyable banter between Mobius and Loki from the first season. Wilson embraces more of his usual character traits in this episode, the braggadocios confidence he displays in his interactions with OB – and to Quan’s credit he makes a fantastic straight man to Wilson’s Mobius in that scene. But yes, without gushing, Wilson and Hiddleston’s odd-couple mojo is going strong. I absolutely love the conversation between the two of them about Loki’s disappearing. And, while Mobius gets a little stuck on the “no skin” of things, OB helps make that joke work a little longer than it should.
I’ve been reviewing shows here on The Workprint for a little over a year now, and I can say with complete honesty that Ahsoka is the toughest show I’ve had to review. Not because it’s terrible – frankly, it would be a lot easier if I could just make fun of it. But, it’s just kind of… there. The same problems plague this show every week: weird pacing, flat characters, and big reveals that don’t mean much to me because I haven’t watched 75 episodes of an animated show. It gets hard writing the same thing over and over while trying to do so in an interesting way.
So in the finale — The Jedi, The Witch, and the Warlord — there was a lot of cool action once again. There wasn’t a ton of character development. And the plot was a bit puzzling. Oh, and nothing gets wrapped up. You will have to wait until season two or, given the way Favreau and Filoni structure this stuff, a random episode of Season 4 of The Mandalorian.
In a nutshell: Thrawn sacrifices some of his troopers to delay Ahsoka and company from getting to his star destroyer. Morgan gets turned into a more powerful witch and gets what looks like a Vorpal sword. (Yes, I played a lot of D&D back in the day. And I know what THAC0 means.) There is a lot of fighting that eventually results in Morgan raising dead stormtroopers to make zombies, Ahsoka killing Morgan, and Sabine establishing a connection to the force. She promptly uses this power to force hurl Ezra onto Thrawn’s ship. Thrawn jumps back to our galaxy with his mysterious cargo, leaving Ahsoka and Sabine stranded with the turtle people. Also, Shin is apparently going to run the squads of bandits and Baylan is going to roam the planet, stopping atop the heads of some giant statues carved into a cliff. Ezra makes it off Thrawn’s ship and finds his way back to the New Republic and Hera and Chopper. Oh, and Anakin’s force ghost shows up to nod approvingly at his old padawan.
So, a fair bit happened there. Why didn’t any of it feel like it particularly mattered?
Thrawn made it back to his home galaxy with his cargo, the thing the show kept telling was important to stop at all costs, and none of the characters seemed all that concerned about it? Ahsoka and Sabine seem content to chill on Turtle Planet. Are they going to wait for the whales to get them home? Ezra’s back, which I guess is a good thing, but the Republic has lost Ahsoka. Sabine discovered her force powers when she pulled her lightsaber to her in desperation to save herself, but then five seconds later she’s adept enough to toss Ezra into the hatch of a Star Destroyer hundreds of feet away. I hate when people whine about Mary Sues and whatnot, but that seemed like a rather improbable scale up from pulling a one pound lightsaber 10 feet.
To me, the whole series was somewhat unsatisfying. It never felt like the stakes mattered. They seemed to be banking on the thrill of recognition to carry these characters, but if you don’t recognize them how is that supposed to work? Everything felt like set up and no payoff. (Of course, the payoff will come in Filoni’s movie, allegedly coming soon to a theatre in your galaxy.)
Having said all that… what do I know? Fans of Rebels on-line were estatic. They were beside themselves over the giant statues Baylan was standing on. (Apparently these are the Mortis Gods? And it’s all quite clearly explained in Season 3 episodezzzzzz…) They were thrilled to see Hayden Christiansen return!
Star Wars is a giant sprawling franchise. While I grew up on the OG trilogy, there are millions who grew up with the prequels and love them. There are millions who faithfully watched every episode of the animated Clone Wars and Rebels and the Bad Batch. There are even people who – for some reason – consider The Rise of Skywalker the best movie! Star Wars is no longer all things to all people. There are different shows for different generations.
And that’s FINE! That is GOOD!
If you watched Ahsoka and were delighted to see your favorite characters in live action, I am happy for you! I hope you can get a little Chopper droid to put on your desk!
It just wasn’t aimed at me. And that’s ok! I can always rewatch Empire Strikes Back and Andor and the good seasons of Mandalorian.
Miss the Ferengi? Well, you’re in luck! Episode 406 of Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Palace,” is an Easter Egg-packed jaunt back to the home world of everyone’s favorite alien capitalists.
The Cerritos is tasked with the surprisingly significant mission of initiating the process for Ferenginar to join the Federation. Now, they’re just going to get the initial application signed, but still, it’s an unusually important task for the “least important ship in Starfleet.” But of course, the whole thing is an excuse for the Lower Decks crew to engage in some hijinks, and for Deep Space Nine characters Rom and Leeta, now the Grand Nagus and First Clerk, respectively, to return.
Image: Paramount+
The episode opens with the mysterious random murder ship that’s been picking off various alien vessels one by one. This time, it’s a Ferengi vessel, which goes boom after a few references to how Rom runs things differently than previous Naguses. Which won’t come as a surprise for anyone with fond memories of Deep Space Nine’s Ferengi episodes.
In fact, the whole episode serves as an amusing nostalgia trip for Deep Space Nine fans; I’m not sure it’d make much sense to anyone who (for whatever inexplicable reason) didn’t watch that show. While Lower Decks at times can serve as general sci-fi comedy — something that even non Trekkies can watch and chuckle at — ultimately it’s a show for the fans, and “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Palace” is one of the more insider-y episodes.
By the way, the title is a reference to Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, which is apparently a 1980s cult classic. Talk about insider-y.
Anyway, Captain Freeman and Admiral Vassery greet Rom and Leeta for what Vassery believes will be the quickest signing ever. But of course it isn’t that easy. Rom starts picking at the paperwork, and Leeta pulls Freeman and Vassery aside to say that her husband just needs to feel involved, so why don’t they just let him futz around with some numbers? Freeman sees right through her ploy, but Vassery is suckered into opening up everything for negotiation, at which point Rom and Leeta start playing hardball.
Predictable? Quite. Entertaining? Absolutely. In fact, the Freeman/Rom/Leeta plot line is by far the strongest one in this episode. Not only because we get to see two old faves return — voiced by original actors Max Grodénchik and Chase Masterson, of course! — but because it’s thoroughly amusing to watch Vassery crumble while Freeman gets to be BOSS.
Image: Paramount+
The B/C/D plots of the episode follow our lower deckers on a cushy assignment: updating Starfleet’s travel guide for Ferenginar. In other words, a free vacation in exchange for writing reviews — every influencer’s dream! It’s thanks to some favoritism from Ransom that Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford get this plush assignment… a fact that makes Mariner feel weird. For the first time, she has nothing to rebel against. Ransom mentions that part of the assignment is to check out attractions meant for couples, and that because the Cerritos has the horniest and most commitment-phobic crew, there are no married officers, and therefore besties Tendi and Rutherford are tasked with pretending to be married. In true Tendi and Rutherford fashion, they are delighted and enthusiastic. Wellp, we all know how that’s gonna go…
Image: Paramount+
What happens next is pretty much what you’d expect. Mariner self-sabotages — she goes to meet a Ferengi friend and promptly guzzles alcohol and gets into a bar fight for absolutely no reason. Rutherford and Tendi have fun pretending to be a couple at first but soon get squicked out in the “it’s like dating my sibling” kind of way while the Ferengi shower them with increasingly ridiculous couple-y things (heart-shaped bed, costumed photo shoot, chocolate statues of each other in provocative positions…).
Image: Paramount+
The one twist (if you can call it that) comes from Boimler, who in true Boimler fashion has an ambitious to-do list of things to check out and review. But he ends up getting sucked into Ferengi TV instead and spends the entire time binge-watching trash… a situation we can all relate to.
Image: Paramount+
This season seems to be setting up Mariner’s character for some kind of internal reckoning. Since her unexpected promotion at the beginning of the season, she’s been chafing against the fact that people want her to succeed. That Starfleet superiors like Ransom recognize her talent even when she’s being her Mariner-est, and they’re not looking to demote her (again). Will she finally step up and embrace her potential as an officer… and would she still be our Mariner if she does? I have a feeling we’ll find out around the same time they resolve the murder ship arc… at the very end of the season.
All in all, the episode had some good jokes (“It’s what Heaven would look like if God was stupid!”, the “Will They / Won’t They” Office parody), and of course the whole point was to revisit Ferenginar, where we get to see some ridiculously capitalistic Ferengi things (e.g. monuments to lost money). And perhaps that’s enough for what is, ultimately, a cartoon parody show. However, Lower Decks has generally gone a bit beyond that, by also feeling like a Star Trek show at heart. “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place” states squarely in cartoon-parody territory, staying safely in sitcom-y / referential humor territory, and because it previously set the bar so high for itself, this particular episode felt a bit light.
MAGNUM P.I. -- Pictured: "Magnum P.I." Key Art -- (Photo by: NBCUniversal)
I have mixed feelings about today’s Magnum P.I. mid-season opener. On the one hand, I’m very happy that the show has officially returned, especially after a fraught and prolonged writer’s strike. On the other hand, this marks the beginning of the end, since after this season, Magnum P.I. will be finished. With that duality in mind, let’s touch on the latest episode, called “Hit and Run.”
The episode starts at night in a lit up Dubai. It’s gorgeous, and that’s not the only beauty on display – Higgins is about to get into bed with a strange man! I know, I was concerned too, but things don’t go that way. Higgins slips something into the man’s champagne glass, which knocks him quickly unconscious. She pretends to be a panicked girlfriend, screaming for assistance. When the paramedics arrive, the con becomes apparent, since two of them are familiar faces – Rick and T.C.
They claim the mark got stung by a scorpion, and Higgins joins them as they wheel the man away. Only for the security guard to get a call about two paramedics tied up without clothing, and guns are drawn. It looks bad for our team, until Magnum himself, AKA the White Knight, bursts out of the ambulance, wherein things get really weird.
As the bad guy is boasting, Thomas starts summoning bolts of lightning from the sky itself. Then he hurls them at his foes, like an enraged Zeus, while his teammates surround him, ready for danger. And no, I wasn’t drinking when I watched this episode. It’s crazy because it’s a story, being told by our favorite con artist Jin to Rick’s baby, Joy.
Back in reality, Thomas and Juliette have a new case, and poor T.C. is still in recovery after nearly being killed earlier this season. The episode lightens the mood with more of Jin’s nonsense, specifically him trying to pitch a story of himself as a musclebound hero to Robin for his next book series. But sadly he’s not much in the episode outside of these early scenes.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Hit and Run” Episode 511 — Pictured: Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum — (Photo by: NBC)
Though we’re back in reality, the new case still takes a weird turn (though admittedly not as weird as superhero Magnum). He and Juliette arrive at a bench to wait for their new client, though they come in separate cars. When he gives his girlfriend a hard time about this, she reveals that she may actually be pregnant, and was just at the doctor’s office. Which shuts him up pretty quickly, and later on makes him awkward around her. But that’s not the weird turn I told you about. No, that comes when they both hear a phone ring, but it’s not either of theirs. Instead, it’s a phone taped to the bottom of their bench.
Turns out, the phone was place by their client, a man named Xavier. He’s not their usual client, since he’s a hitman. The reason they want to listen to him is simple – he was hired to kill a 12 year old girl, and refused. Now he suspects they’ll hire someone else to finish the job, and he wants our duo to protect the girl from harm. Xavier is a serious contender, and watches Magnum and Juliette through a scope from a distance away, but he says he won’t speak to them again. They have everything they need to finish the job.
Without going into all the details for the main story in “Hit and Run”, it’s a serviceable story with some good twists and turns. The new hit man, who goes by the title The Ghost, doesn’t seem like much, but he’s managed to avoid apprehension after 27 murders, and he’s serious. A lot of the detective work involves finding out who hired The Ghost, and why. Katsumoto offers some insights, and once the answer becomes clear, things get more complicated. But first, let’s spend some time talking about Rick.
Rick is busily scrubbing the underside of his houseboat when a mysterious, gorgeous stranger spies him underwater. This lovely brunette is named Piper, and she’s a professional boat cleaner. She also immediately captures Rick’s attention, even though he tries to pretend otherwise. There’s chemistry pretty immediately, with one catch – she hates La Mariana, also known as his bar. One time she had way too many Mai Tais there and never returned. So now Rick is eager to find a way to rectify that history.
Though it’s not the primary story in this episode, T.C.’s arc did a great job of tugging at my heartstrings. A huge reason for that is the constantly amazing acting by Stephen Hill, who does a great job of showcasing a huge range of emotion, especially here. The big man is still in a wheelchair after being attacked, and has no feeling in his legs. Luckily Kumu and Shammie are there to help him recover, as well as a kind nurse named Millie. They do their best to help him stay positive and learn to get around, and Shammie even helps show T.C. how to shimmy out of his chair and onto other surfaces. But none of that makes his pain and embarrassment any easier, and it leads to a surprising bout of anger directed at Shammie’s eagerness to help.
As for the main story, Magnum and Higgins quickly discover the girl is named Anna, and attends a boarding school called St. Andrews. She has a history of running away, so nobody thought anything of her absence. Her teacher served as a mother figure, since the girl’s own mother passed away. But even the teacher is gone, and when our intrepid P.I.s look into it, they run into the killer, who knocks them on their butts before escaping. Luckily some of his blood gets on Magnum’s ring, which Katsumoto runs down for more information.
Gordon reveals that the girl’s teacher was hit by a vehicle the previous day and is in a hospital, and apparently the killer was searching for Anna at her home. Even more interesting, Anna’s tuition was being paid by some big shot televangelist in South Carolina. Before we can get more answers, Thomas and Juliette visit Rick to borrow his speedboat, which they take to Molokai. It appears Anna is taking refuge there.
When they arrive, Magnum does a MacGuyver and straps a phone to a stick using Higgin’s belt, and spies inside where the girl is hiding. They find a man there, and it turns out it’s none other than the man who hired them, Xavier. Better yet, the actor who plays him is Paul Blackthorne! Though I’ve never seen Paul quite this intense, with a shaved bald head. The killer with a heart of gold has been protecting Anna the whole time, and hoped Magnum and Juliette could draw The Ghost out so he could take the hitman out.
Despite initially being terrified of Xavier, who grabbed her off the street, Anna has come to rely on and trust the imposing man. But unfortunately, things get crazy when The Ghost finds them and bullets start flying. The only way to stop him is to make a distraction, so Xavier volunteers as Magnum aims a sniper rifle. Xavier takes two brutal hits before Magnum manages to pop the killer right in the forehead. Sadly, Xavier perishes as well. So much for a recurring role with Paul Blackthorne.
I won’t spoil all the details, but “Hit and Run” has a happy ending, and the person that hired the hitman is taken into police custody. T.C. also manages to learn how to adjust to his new circumstances, and when Shammie and Kumu brings in covert burgers, his feet even start twitching involuntarily! Even Rick gets a happy ending of sorts, since Piper visits him at La Mariana and flirts pretty hard.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Hit and Run” Episode 511 — Pictured: (l-r) Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins — (Photo by: NBC)
Overall a very solid episode of Magnum P.I., though perhaps less exciting than the premiere of the first half of the season. It had some good banter between Magnum and Juliette, especially as they joked about whether a possible child would inherit his sense of spin or her pointed sarcasm. Then it all ends with a revelation that Juliette isn’t pregnant, which leaves Thomas with some mixed feelings. Thankfully he pivots and tells her he loves her, and she reciprocates in kind. Not bad, but here’s hoping next week’s episode introduces some more interesting, season-wide complications.
Raymond Lee has hinted in interviews that there’d be a lot of huge changes in Quantum Leap‘s second season, which isn’t surprising given that season one ended its arc pretty tidily… except for one thing: Ben was supposed to leap home, and the show cut out on Addison eagerly waiting for him to show up.
Well, given that this is season two, it’s no spoiler to say that didn’t happen. Ben will continue leaping through time and changing history for the better, in Quantum Leap tradition. The great change, then, must occur with what’s going on back home in the 2020s. As for what these changes are? Well, in the season premiere, your guesses are as good as Ben’s.
The episode, “This Took Too Long!”, kicks off with an upset and discombobulated Ben realizing that instead of leaping home, he has wound up in the body of an airman, escorting some top-secret crate on an ostensibly commercial flight. The other airmen in the crew are full of conspiracy theories, but their commanding officer, Lt. Ellen Grier, has no patience for any of it. The mission is to escort the crate to its destination, no questions asked.
It quickly becomes clear that the four men under her command, including the one Ben leaped into, are not considered the Air Force’s best and brightest. They’ve all got something to atone for and are hoping the mission will redeem their past indiscretions. All they have to do is not screw it up…
… which of course becomes impossible when the plane is shot down over enemy territory. Because it wouldn’t be a leap if things didn’t go wrong, right?
Pictured: (l-r) Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song, Francois Arnaud as Sergeant Curtis Bailey — (Photo by: Casey Durkin/NBC)
For Ben, there’s an added layer of stress as, despite his desperate calls, Addison fails to show up in holographic form. So he’s got no idea what his mission is, or any hints that might help him see it through. For the first time, he’s completely on his own.
Pictured: Melissa Roxburgh as Lt. Ellen Grier — (Photo by:NBC)
That lack of knowledge and assistance ups the tension in an already tense episode, one full of war movie-style action and sudden twists. After last season’s dual focus between the leaps and the question of why Ben leaped in the first place, it was nice to have a more classic-Quantum Leap episode focused pretty much solely on the adventure at hand.
By the way, it seems we have completely done away with the “within Ben’s lifetime” limitation of the show… this episode takes place in the 1970s, before the 30-something Ben was born. The in-universe reason has something to do with whatever formula Ben was following to leap to a specific moment in time, but what this means for the show is that it has a much larger sandbox to play in. I, for one, am here for it.
Pictured: (l-r) P.J. Byrn as Sgt. Enock Abrams, Aaron Abram as Sgt. Ronny Abrams, Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song, Melissa Roxburgh as Lt. Ellen Grier, Francois Arnaud as Sergeant Curtis Bailey — (Photo by:NBC)
Though the Quantum Leap team — Addison, Magic, Ian, Jenn — are absent, they do make on-screen appearance through Ben’s flashbacks as he recalls the times before he leaped… simpler, more optimistic times. These memories add a layer of tragedy to Ben’s plight. As fun as the show is, its central character is trapped away from a home he yearns to return to. Which is what makes this Quantum Leap fundamentally different from the original… Sam Beckett, for the first several seasons, didn’t seem to have a past of his own, and despite the narration’s claim that he wanted to leap home, didn’t show any sign of wanting to stop leaping. He was much more of a “super man” type of character — not only was he good at everything thanks to his gazillion PhDs and random assorted skills, but he only cared about his quest.
Ben, on the other hand, comes across as achingly human, both because of the backstory he’s been given and Raymond Lee’s wonderful acting. And it seems Season Two will be a lot darker, emotionally, than season one. Whereas last season, he threw himself into the accelerator with a specific, expertly calculated mission, this time he seems to be lost, with no idea why he’s still leaping after he should have gone home, or what that means for the people he left behind.
Despite Ben’s personal problems, though, he steps up as he always does, and the episode breaks up its heavier elements with moments of levity and the show’s signature heart. All in all, “This Took Too Long!” is a thoroughly enjoyable season two opener.
The Women of Marvel podcast has returned this season, sporting an entirely new approach. Changing style to focus on a different Marvel superheroine every week, the podcast features a brand new format and co-host to the season. Where listeners both old and new can learn about some of Marvel’s best women superheroes such as Jean Grey, Shuri, and Wasp.
We spoke with hosts Ellie Pyle and Preeti Chhibber about their latest episode that focuses on a personal fan-favorite of mine: Ghost-Spider/Spider-Gwen. We also talk a bit about Ellie’s background in playwriting, Preeti’s newest book, and even discuss what we think would be cool about seeing Ghost-Spider in a Spider-Man video game. You can listen to the interview on both The Workprint and Monomythic podcasts. You can also listen to The Women of Marvel podcast wherever podcasts are available.
NOTE: Full interview is featured in our podcast links. Below, is an abridged transcription.
From GHOST-SPIDER (2019) #1 by Seanan McGuire, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Ian Herring.
First, what’s different regarding the new format of the ‘Women of Marvel’ podcast?
ELLIE: This new format’s really cool because it allows us to look at these characters from so many different angles. We talk to writers, artists, actors who have worked in these characters, and even have science segments. We’ve gotten such great feedback from listeners regarding the fandom segments that we’re doing and the fact that we give everyone reading lists, so if they’re not as familiar with a character, they know where to start. It’s been really cool to see all those comprehensive angles that we come at characters from, whether they are, you know, your favorite character that you’ve been reading for 30 years or whether it’s It’s someone that you know very little about. There’s an entry point for everyone.
PREETI: Yeah, It’s been interesting to see the touch points, maybe even just beyond the creative side, how these characters have impacted the real world. I’ve mentioned this before, but on the Jean Grey episode, we have this great segment where we talk to a scientist about like actual telekinesis! It’s wild seeing how do these intersections of character and reality work. It’s so unfathomable how many different ways these characters can exist in the real world. It’s so cool.
ELLIE: I need to give a shout out to our amazing producers, Zachary and Isabel, who just went above and beyond on the concept and production values of everything for this season. They’d come in with, and were like, we have a new bit. It involves sound effects. Just go with us. Just trust us and they were almost always right.
Who were some of your favorite guests this season?
PREETI: Iman Villani is coming up which was wild. Generally speaking, I’m like, I can handle this, I can be like a normal person while we’re talking. Nope. Threw it all out the window, as I was just in my head being like, Be cool. Don’t be a weirdo while you’re talking to her!
What’s production been like in getting an episode made?
ELLIE: We are very spoiled by our amazing producers who do so much of that heavy lifting in terms of the actual tracking down of guests, booking, and scheduling everything. We do get to kind of chip in with some ideas. There were a few cases where, because I am currently editing comic books, I was able to say, oh, Melissa Flores is going to be writing a new Spider-Gwen series. Why don’t we get Melissa to come talk? She’s working on this Echo thing. Let’s get her to talk about that!
So, in your opinion, what is it that makes Gwen such a standout character, especially as a Spider-person?
PREETI: Gwen I think highlights that fallibility. She tries so hard and even when things are terrible and she’s pulled between universes or is forced to contend with the not stellar results of her own actions, she still manages to be the spider-hero we know she can be. It’s harder for her and that’s why it hits harder for us, like we can really feel what she’s going through.
ELLIE: Totally, and I think, unlike Peter Parker, Gwen is a little bit cool. Even if, you know, she still screws up. Also, I talk about this on the episode, I think Gwen really starts with that costume design. Like everything we got to do and read, so much of that is because of that iconic costume design that just immediately put her on the map as her own thing.
I think, one of the coolest things about Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider is the changes in the comics that ran parallel to ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ wouldn’t you agree?
ELLIE: These things have less influence on each other than you’d think. Everybody’s kind of working at the same time. I think that it’s just kind of a case of seeing that Gwen has such a strong core. With the costume design and you know, the fact that she’s a drummer, and then the, the inherent spider aspects that spider person must lose someone they care about and learn, you know, that great power, great responsibility. Once you kind of have that recipe, you then see how it expressed into all of these different forms.
What was it like talking to Jodie Nijihama about the run on Spider-Gwen: Gwenverse?
ELLIE: Talking to Jodi was great. I always love when we can have artists on the podcast as well because, you know, that is such an essential part of comics that I think we don’t always talk about or think to talk about as much as we should. Writers will give us the words, but you know particularly in a series like Gwenverse where there were so many different designs that Jodi had to do, I’m, really glad we got to bring her on to get that get that perspective. I’m always fascinated by the question of as you’re going through all of these different expressions of a character, “How do you keep them feeling like themselves?”
PREETI: I agree with Ellie. I think it’s fascinating when we get to bring artists on and sort of Get an insight into how their mind works. Coming from the writer’s side, when I do a script for a comic, it’s very much like trying to like get what I have in my head on the page. But it’s artists who are the one who can like actually visualize this and create something so please like go to town. I’m kind of seeing this in my own Gambit Rogue miniseries with Carola Borelli, where there’s this moment that they fall through a hole, because I was like, Infinity comic, they’re gonna fall through a hole! That’s fun when you’re scrolling. My script was just basically like, it’s very Alice in Wonderland, they’re falling through this hole, like, different, you know, positions, etc. And Corella Borrelli had this great moment where like, Gambit’s sunglasses fly off his head. That like I didn’t put in there, but she just put it in there and it’s so perfect and it’s just like wonderful little moment And so I think getting to have those conversations with artists on the podcast is like fascinating.
Spider Man 2 the video game comes out next month and features both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. What are your thoughts on if they introduced Gwen into the next video game? What things would you be looking forward to see?
PREETI: I would die to see it! I love the Spider Man game. I’m counting the days until the game comes out and am replaying the first one right now. The special moves we could get from Gwen I think would be so cool. There is in the spider punk suit in the first game one of the special moves is like the guitar like riff thing and imagine that but like drumming or like the the animation for her movement would be so different from peter and miles in this like really exciting way like yes do it! Spider-Man 3: Gwen Stacy let’s go!
ELLIE: That would be awesome. In particular, seeing how both the ballet influence on the movement and how the drumming would be incorporated because I think that’s one of the coolest things we can do with Marvel characters is, you know, how does their specific power set or skill set, and I do include drums as part of Gwen’s power set in my brain, how does that impact just their daily lives? What makes this a Gwen-Spider story as opposed to a Peter or Miles’ spider story? So seeing the way in which they would gamify that would be would be really super cool.
I’ll also take a second to plug. We have an infinity comment coming out on the Spider-Man unlimited track coming up this fall. A team up between 616-Spider-Man and video game Spider-Man. It’s written by Christos Gage and it is available on Marvel Unlimited right now.
From SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED (2023) #4 “On The Spot” Chapter 4 written by Christos Gage, Pencilled by Simone Buoonfantino, and Colored by Fer Sifuentes. With VC Clayton Cowles on letters and Ellie Pyle on edits.
Finally, what’s been your favorite thing about hosting the Women of Marvel podcast so far? And what does it mean to you to be hosting such an important platform for women’s voices in comics in particular?
PREETI: I think that one of my favorite things is just, clearly Ellie and I are both huge fans. In addition to working and being employed by Marvel, we’re also just, like, big nerds and have a long history with the characters that this this company has put out. It was getting to talk to people who participated in our childhoods in a way that they didn’t even know, you know? We talked to a lot of the X Men the animated series folks and that was mind blowing because you’re like, you don’t even know that you shaped a significant part of who I am and the way I think about story. That was, I think, one of my, my favorite things.”
ELLIE: I mean, being able to get these little slices of, you know, me as an 11 year old Marvel fan. Then me as a 20 something Marvel editor. Getting to touch back in on the fact that I was in the office when Gwen was first introduced. It’s just this constant time travel. This amazing way to kind of re-engage with our inner fan and with how much these characters and these stories mean to people and how much we all just love talking about what makes this character who they are and why do we love these characters so much.
As much as we have the fun jobs and get to play with these toys all day, you know, there’re still jobs. So then being able to come to this part of the job and really engage with that spirit of what we love about all of this with other people who love this so much. I’m sure you can tell from listening to it, the show was so much fun to make. So there was no way to walk out of one of our sessions in a bad head state. I was almost crying when we finished one of our X Men The Animated Series interviews, but that was just because I had gotten so in touch with the magnitude of how this had impacted my life and career.
In terms of Women of Marvel, you know, as, as, as a concept, as a thing, it has been such a huge part of my Marvel experience from the very beginning. I’ve told this story a thousand times, but my first Marvel panel was a Women of Marvel panel where Jeanine Schaefer pulled me out of the audience as an assistant editor and was like, what are you doing down there? You’re part of this. You’re part of us, come sit up here. That’s really the spirit that I’ve kind of tried to bring to this, you know, ever since that. We’re all part of this. We should all get to talk about the things that we love and make visible how many women there are working on these characters in so many different ways. To have this level of access to all of these different types of fandom that we get to engage with and hear about and it’s amazing.
The question of reality is nothing new, especially in the sci-fi landscape, but where many shows and movies treat it as a sinister, even selfish twist, this week’s Futurama takes a less dramatic approach. Granted, there’s still drama to be had but it is a surprisingly contained amount.
We begin with the Professor announcing he has created a simulation of the entire known universe. And, since this is a god level accomplishment, naturally his focus is on the simulated Planet Express crew. At first the simulation is highly pixelated – making it entertaining to watch but easy to dehumanize. Though, Leela is able to sympathize enough with her and Fry’s 3-bit selves to cover them up as they “go at it like two packs of gum”. Still, the Professor’s creation sparks Amy’s curiosity and her persistent observations eventually lead him to change his stance on whether our reality could be a simulation. That’s science for you, always bending to reasonable arguments and new evidence!
More importantly, Amy’s questions lead to Bender’s existential crisis. He is, after all, an artificial intelligence how must that knowledge affect him? Technically it shouldn’t, because by definition robots are not actually A.I., which brings me to an interesting curiosity. As a fan of shows and movies that incorporate robotic characters the presentation of these entities tends to go one of two ways: Robots are NOT A.I. and thus only have a “personality” based on the personification of them by their users/owners, etc. Or: Robots ARE A.I. and have a weird level of autonomy. Star Wars is a good example of this – where droids seem to do as they are programmed or told, yet not always quietly. It reminds me of slavery in that way. I mean, where do droids sleep? Do they sleep? Do they get paid? One episode of The Mandalorian featured a droid bar…how the fuck does that work? At least in Star Trek the android Data is clearly an A.I.. The Borg, while technically a cybernetic organism, acts like an A.I. gone rogue similar to Brainiac from the D.C. comics universe.
Further confusing things is the fact that, although Bender has largely been shown to be an independent minded robot, he has had moments where programming takes over. At one point in his history, he’s become a mindless automaton, only restored to his colorful self through an errant spark with Fry (think of Wall-E going soulless until Eva sparks with him in Wall-E). And, there was even an episode which contained a character named Robot 1X, which acted like a classic robot and was, conveniently, never seen again in the series. Bender’s fear that he isn’t real because of his programming is partially understandable, but mostly unfounded. Still, for the purposes of this episode it allows him to sympathize with the simulations to the point he makes the Professor swear to keep them alive and ignorant of their reality.
Farnsworth is not pleased about this, but goes about saving their universe through a truly disgusting solution. See, running a simulation of the entire known universe, even at such a low resolution, requires a shitton of computing power, and in order to keep it going the Planet Express building would require some kind of hydroelectric power source…cut to the Professor’s on-the-John explanation of how he can harness the city’s sewer lines – which they do – to keep the simulation running and at a higher resolution! This visual improvement means a better show so everyone tunes in to watch their adventures until the unthinkable happens. The simulated Planet Express crew’s Professor has created a simulation of the known universe and it is highly pixelated.
Naturally, things play out very close to how they do in reality. Except, because they are a simulation a power fluctuation grants more weight to their contemplation of reality leading to a drastically different direction. Instead of simulated Bender pulling focus towards himself, simulated Amy proposes a way to test if their reality is real. If they are living in a simulation, then doing something that the computer couldn’t possibly simulate should cause glitches in the universe, but what could that something be? Oh…how about collapsing a Magnetar? Still, do they want to know? Kind of, not really, but they’ll always wonder so now they have to know.
The Professor confirms that if the simulations can collapse the Magnetar their knowledge of their simulated existence can’t be avoided, however Bender decides that he wants to be the one to tell them about their truth since he can understand it best. The Professor makes it so Bender can go into simulated Bender’s body – which would drive simulated Bender’s consciousness into the sub-simulation and so forth and so on – but warns him it’s a one-way trip. There’s no way Bender can return to our reality, still, the robot feels he belongs in “Baloney town” and takes the plunge.
Down in Baloney town, the Magnetar is close to collapse, so Bender prepares to tell his fellow A.I.’s of their existence when simulated Fry makes a rousing speech about how “being” real isn’t as important as “feeling” real. Bender is so moved that he manages to return to his real-world body and give the Professor the information he needs to solve the simulation’s power problem (apparently trying to simulate an improbable event really isn’t in the Simulatron’s wheelhouse). By downclocking the processor speed, the simulation now requires much less power and time moves incredibly slow (slower than bureaucrat speed!) compared to our world. This has the added consequence of making the simulation unwatchable and while the Planet Express crew doesn’t get to see the outcome of the simulations’ experiment, we do…or do we?
I’ve been thinking about it and although the episode ends with simulated world glitching as the Magnetar collapses, I was wondering if it’s really because of the Magnetar’s collapse. The Professor says that while time passes normally for the simulations, decades or even centuries can pass in our time. This means it’s completely possible that the simulations’ world collapse isn’t due to their experiment but because of some unknown outside force in our world. After all, where is Planet Express in 100 years? It is entirely possible that the glitching happens because someone else comes along and ends the simulation’s run.
For me, this is arguably the best episode of the season. I may have said that about a previous episode, and I’m sure it was fantastic, but this one really captures the philosophical and dramatic strengths that have allowed this show to rise from the dead time and time again. Leela and Fry’s gradual yet never completed kiss is icing on the cake of a storyline that poses some truly excellent existential questions which, though tackled by other shows and movies, is given a much-needed dose of heart here. I compare this to Rick and Morty’s episode about creating universes, and how cynical it is.
My only complaints? Again, with the hated of Zoidberg? Also, do Fry and Leela really not close their eyes as they get closer to touching lips!? Otherwise, five stars, easily. Looking forward to the next season.
It seems that I keep on writing that this show suffers from bad pacing. Events will get set in motion only to peter out. There are some impressive action sequences, but they don’t do a lot to advance the plot.
I know, this is getting repetitive. Someone let Dave Filoni know.
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
Well, once again, after setting up Thrawn for his impending return the show kills all the momentum by jumping back to the court martial of General Hera Syndulla. Cranky Senator Xiono takes the opportunity to royally chew her out while Mon Mothma tries to soften his tone. Hera is defiant, insisting she did the right thing because she discovered the hyper-ring and the potential for Thrawn’s return.
There are a lot of reasons this scene annoys me, beyond the way it took us away from Thrawn in a distant galaxy. The show is really hammering home that the cranky Senator is bad and mean for not letting our cool heroes do whatever they want, but he’s not wrong! This is representative democracy! This is literally what Hera and Ezra and Ahsoka—not to mention Luke and Leia and Han—were fighting for! And yes, it is totally way more exciting to go and blow up Death Stars and get into lightsaber fights than it is to debate budget resolutions, but that is what governments need to do! Yes, we’ve established that Xiono is petty AF. They sent three battle cruisers to collect Hera and three X-Wings. But guess what? The military is not allowed free rein to contravene government orders. That’s how coups happen! And the Senator is right to be pissed about a general disobeying direct orders.
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
Not even a cameo by C-3PO, bearing a Get Out Of Court Martial Free card from Senator Leia Organa, can make this sequence less annoying. Hera gets off with a warning from Mon Mothma, who quietly asks her how real the threat from Thrawn is. Hera tells her to be concerned.
The Space Whales have arrived at the distant planet, only to find themselves in a minefield. Thrawn mined the area so he’d know if anything tried to approach. (See? Planning. Although hurting the nice space whales is a real dick move.) They jump back into hyperspace leaving Ahsoka to navigate her way through the debris field, with several enemy pilots chasing her. Although Thrawn orders them to hold back…
His plan is simple. He fully expected Ahsoka to show up, and since Jedi are notoriously hard to kill, he’ll send his troops to keep her distracted and busy. Until he can head back home with a mysterious cargo that he’s loading into the Star Destroyer. And it’s working so far! The remainder of the episode is almost entirely Ahsoka and Ezra and Sabine fighting off bandits and Troopers.
Ezra and Sabine are floating along on the wagon train of pods that the little blue turtle guys are running, catching up on old times. This is a nice scene that hints at their friendship in a way their reunion last week did not, with Sabine casually filling in Ezra on the events of the last few years he missed. “The Empire was defeated? The Emperor died? There’s a New Republic???” Kind of like Sam filling in Captain America on all the things he missed while frozen in ice.
While they’re chatting, Ahsoka attempts to locate Sabine through her connection to the force. Which might be tricky, given that Sabine has repeatedly said she has no connection and feels nothing. Still, Ahsoka needs to locate her, so she gives it a try and—whadayaknow!—it works! So this is a nice little character beat, tying us back into the training Ahsoka and Sabine did a few episodes ago. Sabine gets a weird feeling, but Ahsoka gets a lock on her and heads off. Unfortunately, Thrawn had the witches “wiretap” the call and they have Ahsoka’s location. He sends his fighters off to harass her.
Meanwhile, Baylan, Shin and the bandits have caught up with Ezra and Sabine. In the other key Force training moment of the week, Baylan tells Shin to go let Thrawn know they found Ezra and Sabine, but he’s not going to help. She’s on her own now. “Your ambition takes you in one direction. My path lies on another.” Before he leaves the rather startled Shin, he drops some more traditional Master-Padawan tidbits for her. “Impatience for victory will guarantee defeat.” Someone paid attention to Master Yoda back at the Temple!
Shin and the bandits charge on the convoy, and the scene is shot like a John Ford western, where the Apaches come out of the hills to attack the conestoga wagon train. Like all of the action scenes in this series, it’s very well done. All of the action this episode is great—Ahsoka flying through the minefield and fleeing from the fighter ships, Ezra and Sabine fighting Shin and the bandits, and Ahsoka leaping out of the ship Huyang is piloting to break out the lightsabers with Baylan again. The action scenes have been a high point of the series. And that would be great, if the action was in service of a story with decent pacing and stakes.
I do love the production design of the Empire ships here. The gunships Thrawn sends out to help Shin appear to have TIE Fighter wings for landing pads. Again, they’re making do by scavenging what they can from wrecks since they can’t exactly go to a starbase for repairs.
Of course, just when it looks bad for Ezra and Sabine, facing off against Shin leading dozens of Night Troopers, that’s of course when Ahsoka shows up. (Ahsoka herself was saved by Huyang firing at Baylan to allow her to escape.) She helps them fight off the Imperial forces until Thrawn withdraws everyone back to base. Baylan’s sudden withdrawal from battle took him by surprise as well. Still, he considers it a victory, since Ahsoka and Ezra were delayed long enough for him to get his cargo transferred without interference.
Shin is, again, angered and bewildered by the sudden retreat of the troopers, leaving her alone against our trio. Ahsoka offers to help her, but Shin instead flees. Ahsoka stops Sabine from pursuing her, and instead shares a hug with Ezra. (Wow! A normal response to seeing a friend you haven’t seen in years and thought you might never see again!)
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
So this was an improvement from last week. We are seeing glimpses of the tactical genius of Thrawn. Ezra is showing hints of why Sabine cares so much for him, with his easygoing manner and jokes. Still, there’s only one episode to go, and a whole lot of threads to tie up. What’s in that cargo Thrawn is transporting? (And how does the hyper-ring transport a Star Destroyer?) How will Sabine and company get back without the whales? What is Baylan doing now? The episode seems to imply that he’s content to wander this new world, freed from the conflicts of the other galaxy.
That’s a lot to wrap up in 40 minutes. I wonder if they can get to everything. Or if this just means we’re setting up for Ahsoka Season 2/Rebels Season 6.
While I have literally grown up with comics, and as a result often prefer the more mature, groundbreaking stories, there’s something to be said for all ages fare. After all, if the animated X-Men and Spider-Man tv series hadn’t been all ages, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy them growing up. Now, Marvel HQ is celebrating 60 years of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, AKA the Avengers, with a new anime series – Marvel’s Future Avengers!
Here’s what you need to know about the series:
Marvel’s Future Avengers follows a group of kids learning that they’ve grown up under Hydra’s control, and how they break free and team up with the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Wasp! The series follows Makoto and his friends as they train under Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as apprentices, dubbing themselves the “Future Avengers.” The popular series premiered in the U.S. in February 2020 on Disney+.
For those eager to check it out, it’s available both on Marvel HQ every Tuesday as well as Disney+. All 39 episodes will be available by summer 2024, though you can check out the first episode right now.
Hey, did you notice that random, inexplicable ship that kept randomly and inexplicably destroying various alien vessels in the first four Lower Decks episodes this season? Well, Starfleet finally has, which is why the Cerritos has been tasked with safely escorting three Betazoid diplomats to Risa. These diplomats all come in the Lwaxana Troi model: outrageous, fun-loving ladies in big poofy gowns. They drink oversized cocktails, hit on the senior staff, and start a party in the mess hall. And the most of the crew is thoroughly enjoying this excuse to let loose; even Captain Freeman, who’s determined to show her guests a good time.
Image: Paramount+
But not everyone is having fun. T’Lyn, who originally joined the Cerritos after getting booted off a Vulcan vessel for being “emotional,” is completely over the ship’s chaos. She’s had it up to her eyeballs with their antics and composes a logically worded note essentially begging the Vulcans to take her back. Except communications have been blacked out for security reasons—presumably to avoid detection by the random inexplicable murder ship—and she can’t send her message. After initially ignoring Mariner’s entreaties to join the party, T’Lyn finally goes to the bar… for the logical purpose of finding out when the blackout will be lifted.
Image: Paramount+
Also not having fun? Our darling try-hard Boimler, of course. In true Boimler fashion, he’s taking his promotion super seriously and believes he must know every member of the crew by name, then beats himself up when he fails his self-imposed test. Rutherford, understandably perturbed by his friend/roommate’s behavior, calls upon Shaxs for help. Boimler thinks he’s about to be introduced to some bad-ass security training and is dismayed when Shaxs instead introduces him to a casual hang-out that involving slam poetry, puzzles, and tarot cards.
Image: Paramount+
Meanwhile, the party has gone too far, and Freeman is unable to stop her crew from their out-of-control antics. Migleemo going to war with a replicator. Ransom reduced to a weeping mess because one of the Betazoids rejected him. Tendi’s friend-crush on T’Lyn going wild… though her desire to be T’Lyn’s best friend has been so strong that maybe she’s just being Tendi? In any case, the entire crew in the bar explodes with fights and tears and make-outs, and it’s obvious something is wrong.
Image: Paramount+
“Crew is infected by mysterious alien thing and starts acting like animals” is a long-standing tradition in the Star Trek universe, from the original series’ “The Naked Time” (the shirtless Sulu with sword episode) to The Next Generation‘s “The Naked Now” (the Yar-bangs-Data episode). And Deep Space Nine fans will immediately recall how Lwaxana Troi caused similar chaos on the space station due to a Betazoid disease that amplified her telepathic abilities and projected them onto those around her. Betazoids plus crew chaos… The Cerritos must be dealing with the same thing, right?
Freeman certainly thinks so, and orders her guests to sick bay. But wait, this is Lower Decks! And it wouldn’t be Lower Decks if there weren’t some wild twist around the midpoint, would it?
Turns out the diplomats are actually super bad-ass intelligence officers masquerading as elite party girls. Suspicious of the captain’s intentions after she tries to detain them, the three whip out their lipsticks, which transform into baton weapons, and rush to take over the ship, determined to head back to Betazed to sort things out even though it means crossing the Romulan neutral zone.
As much as we love Deanna and Lwaxana Troi, the fact that they’re the two most prominent Betazoids in the Star Trek universe doesn’t exactly make Betazed seem like a particularly important planet. Unlike other alien crew members, such as the Vulcan Spock or the Klingon Worf, Deanna doesn’t engage much with her home planet or culture outside of her interactions with her mother. She doesn’t get called back to Betazed for some important ritual; her loyalties are never torn between her Starfleet duties and her home planet. And Lwaxana mostly appears to rile her daughter and hit on Odo. The only other notable Betazoid we meet is Lon Suder, a member of Voyager‘s crew who commits murder and winds up being an interesting character, but again, doesn’t tell us much about the planet. Throughout the Next Generation era of shows, it feels like Betazed is a planet in name only.
So it’s quite refreshing (and very Lower Decks) to show another side of Betazed via three intelligence officers with formidable combat skills. They deny they’re the cause of the emotional chaos, and T’Ana’s scans prove it. In fact, they’re infected themselves, and even in such a state, they’re able to take over the entire Cerritos. If this is what Betazed has to offer, then it’s no wonder Sisko flipped out when the planet fell to the Dominion in Deep Space Nine.
The true cause of the emotional chaos turns out to be T’Lyn, who, it’s revealed, is suffering from an alien sickness of her own. In a heart-to-heart with Mariner, she reveals, in her calm Vulcan way, her anger at having been booted off the Vulcan ship for being “emotional” when her unsanctioned actions saved her crew. Way back in the Season 2 episode, “wej Duj,” we witnessed her objection to and sense of injustice over her banishment. That frustration, buried behind a million layers of Vulcan control and logic, has finally manifested in the form of a medical condition. It’s an apt (and unsubtle) metaphor for what can happen when you work too hard to repress certain feelings, only to have the stress eat you alive from the inside out. And the resolution is for T’Lyn to finally acknowledge and address her frustration. A bit simplistic? Sure. But given the entire episode is focused on T’Lyn’s emotional (or unemotional) journey, it works, particularly since the show has spent the past several episodes building her up as a central character.
Image: Paramount+
In a fitting, if not entirely interesting, parallel, Boimler discovers that all the slam poetry, puzzles, and cards are what the security crew needs to do to center themselves… so that they can snap into action with phasers and kickass maneuvers when the ship goes on red alert. The resolution was obvious from the beginning, yet seeing it play out was still plenty entertaining (Betazoid intelligence officer being knocked out by a security officer who’s emotionally centered thanks to slam poetry? I’d expect nothing less, Lower Decks).
The message of the episode is clear: Emotional wellness matters, folks! Take care of yourselves!
It all works out in the end, as Lower Decks episodes do. The security crew stops the Betazoids before the Cerritos enters the neutral zone (much to the disappointment of a lurking Romulan crew), and T’Lyn’s emotional breakthrough leads to her releasing her telepathic hold on the crew, who return to normal. The Betazoids apologize for the misunderstanding and leave Freeman with an image of Random Inexplicable Murder Ship, dropping another bread crumb on the Ultimate Season Arc.
While the plot wasn’t particularly innovative, the spotlight on T’Lyn and the glimpse at Betazoid badassery elevated the episode above the “Naked Hour”/”Naked Now” chaos with signature Lower Decks cleverness and heart.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been a Star Wars fan.
I saw Star Wars at the drive-in in 1977, long before they added “A New Hope” to the title. It’s the first film I remember seeing. I was so excited, I threw up popcorn all over my dad’s Audi Fox.
Being a Star Wars fan means you get to revel in the joy of one of the greatest space operas of all time, full of daring space pilots, evil black-robed villains, and space wizards, uh I mean Jedi Knights. It also means you have to acknowledge there are canonical characters named “Sleazebaggano” (one guess as to his character traits) and they listen to music called “jizz.”
So any true fan needs to recognize that no matter how awesome Star Wars can be, it can also be kind of ridiculous. (George Lucas named a race of squid people the Calamari, for goodness sake!) And that it’s okay to enjoy the ridiculous aspects, and even lean into them! (Just look up Willrow Hood! Fans created a whole backstory for an extra who was fleeing Bespin with an ice cream maker.)
So really, what better subject to get a full musical parody treatment?
For my birthday, my wife took us to see A Musical About Star Wars at the AMT Theater in Times Square. The plot revolves around two fanboys – Scott (Taylor Crousore) and Taylor (Stone Mountain) – who have written a musical about Star Wars, which is, in their words, the Greatest Thing to Ever Happen in the History of the Galaxy and is Much, Much, Much better than Star Trek. They are desperately trying to get their show accepted to New York Comic Con which is the only one they have yet to be banned from. However, the actress they hired for the show, Emily (Maggie McDowell), has ulterior motives. She’s a self-proclaimed “actor-vist” who plans to sabotage the show because *GASP* she doesn’t care about Star Wars and thinks it’s kind of sexist. Scott and Taylor take it upon themselves to show her the light.
The show is really an excuse to do a bunch of Star Wars songs and skits and show off a ton of handmade cosplay. Some of these songs are a little hit and miss, but the hits are extremely funny. There is a rap about the prequels done in the style of Hamilton, which absolutely should not work but somehow is a hilarious highlight of the show. (Scott and Taylor really don’t know who Lin-Manuel Miranda is until Emily tells them he wrote the new cantina music for the sequels.) Just imagine Lin-Manuel saying “Anakin Skywalker” instead of “Alexander Hamilton.”
Another highlight is the The Rules Song, which praises the copyright act and its fair use exemptions which is what allows them to do a musical ABOUT Star Wars. You can even buy a t-shirt in the lobby with the relevant passages from the law printed on the back, so you don’t get sued when you want to write your fan fiction that fixes The Rise of Skywalker. (No reason I brought that up. None whatsoever.)
The actors enthusiastically leap into their roles, and I do mean leap. The stage is small and they bounce all over it. Maybe a little too enthusiastic, because the opening pace was a little frenetic, but once they settle in they’re fine. There are some clever acknowledgements of generational divides in the fandom, calling them “Gen X-Wing” and “Millennial Falcon.” There are also a couple obvious, and kind of unneeded, jokes about Star Wars fans being friendless virgins, but not too many. Of special note, Maggie McDowell has a wonderful voice and uses it to great effect late in the show.
A special shout out to the wonderful costumes. Every time they play the Wilhelm Scream, the two leads change cosplay outfits. They’re extremely creative, looking exactly like something a fan with a lot of passion but no money and not a lot of sewing skills would make. Personal favorites were an AT-AT that looked like it was made out of pantyhose and a carbon-frozen Han that appeared to be made from spray painted tin foil. (The in-show explanation is that Taylor’s mom made them, in spite of her carpal tunnel, the poor dear.)
Overall, while uneven, this is a fun show for any Star Wars fan out there. It does a nice job of showing why Star Wars is cool and rad, even when it’s ridiculous. Maybe even because it’s ridiculous.
And yes, as the subtitle of the show suggests, Star Wars is and ever shall be Much, Much, Much Better than Star Trek.
A Musical About Star Wars is playing at the AMT Theater at 354 W 45th St in Manhattan through Oct 8th. For more information, visit their website.
Rating: 3.5 out of… wait… my hand… it’s being force pulled to bump this up half a star…
NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
***Mild spoilers for the first season of Quantum Leap ahead.***
Though the first season of Quantum Leap wrapped up the plot line set forth in the pilot — namely, why did Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) go into the Quantum Accelerator? — the finale, in which an eager Addison awaits Ben’s return to the present, hinted that his adventures might not be over yet. That much was confirmed in a teaser that dropped shortly after, which shows a distressed Ben wondering why he hasn’t leaped home yet.
In an interview with The Workprint, Lee discussed his excitement for the trajectory of the show’s next season and what the creators had in mind. “Having done a good deal of it, I’m very excited by the things that we shot and I think we’ve achieved a lot of those ideas we set out to do so all of that is very exciting,” he said.
Lee expressed enthusiasm for the writers’ varied ideas for leaps, saying, “Whatever they propose, I’m like, ‘That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.’ And then they’ll come up with another episode, I’m like, ‘That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.’ So, each time they propose something to me, I think that is extremely cool.”
While season one delved deep into Ben’s relationship with Addison — who’s not only his hologram, but also his fiancée — more remains to be explored between the two characters. “Ben and Addison, they have a very, very complicated relationship, right? And the only way to make the story more interesting is to make it even more complicated,” Lee said. “And so there are going to be a lot of complications that come in. But what I’m very excited for is, of course Ben and Addison’s story needs to expand.”
Perhaps the biggest difference between this Quantum Leap and the classic show is the inclusion of scenes in the present, featuring a dynamic cast of characters at Quantum Leap Headquarters, and Lee indicated that we’ll see more of them next season.
“The Ian, Magic, and Jenn characters also get a doubling down of figuring out what their past is, what they’re struggling with,” he said. “I’m personally very excited to see for myself, because I wasn’t there on those shoot days with headquarters, how that story is expanding, and how that universe is expanding on an emotional level.”
While Lee has had a chance to play a variety of characters thanks to his character’s various leaps, there’s one in particular he hasn’t had a chance to play yet that he’d like to. “I would love to play a pro golfer because I love golf, and I think it would be fun to spend an entire episode on a golf course,” he said with a laugh. “So selfishly, I think I would love that. But as far as what the character and what the Quantum Accelerator wants, that’s really up to the writers.”
Playing a character who takes on a multitude of lifestyles and professions from episode to episode, Lee has had to learn and display many skills on screen. But a specific one came to mind when asked. “Walking in heels!” he said. “That’s a skill. That is an actual skill. How to clear your hips to make space for the inches that are on the heels… that’s a skill. Yeah.”
Quantum Leap season two premieres on October 4 on Peacock.
Ah, Star Trek aliens. So easily defined by a single by a single trait. Logical Vulcans, warring Klingons, profiteering Ferengi, ruthless Orions… Diversity was only for humans, it seemed.
Except the franchise has also made a point of examining and rebutting their own stereotyped aliens from time to time. Lower Decks has notably done so with our favorite Orion officer, D’Vana Tendi. Over the course of the show — and even its crossover with Strange New Worlds — Tendi has repeatedly insisted that not all Orions are pirates while also demonstrating some impressive pirate-y skills. In Episode 404, “Something Borrowed, Something Green,” we finally find out why.
The episode kicks off with what has become a bit of a rote teaser at this point: a glimpse at life on board an alien starship (Orion this time), an encounter with a small vessel that doesn’t respond to hails, and the starship’s sudden and mysterious destruction. None of which connects to the episode itself, but is setting up some kind of dramatic arc for the season. It’s also been an excuse for the writers to come up with amusing but plot-irrelevant slice-of-life scenes poking fun at the various aliens, each embodying their stereotypes to the point of ridiculousness before being annihilated. As far as season arc teasers go, these scenes don’t build up much tension (mysterious thing mysteriously destroying ships doesn’t give enough info to create a sense of curiosity), but the comedy-sketch aspect of the doomed crews make them entertaining nonetheless. In fact, the entire point might be to do comedy sketches of various aliens.
Anyway, the primary story of “Something Borrowed, Something Green” concerns Tendi, who has been invited to her sister’s wedding on Orion. While she’s hesitant to go, Captain Freeman insists that Tendi’s attendance would be good for Starfleet’s relationship with Orion. T’Lyn and Mariner insist on coming as well — T’Lyn to write up a report for the Vulcans on a world they know little about, and Mariner to… be Mariner. I mean, it would be very un-Mariner to pass up an opportunity to visit the infamous pirating world, wouldn’t it?
Image: Paramount+
The three ladies’ arrival on Orion leads to a now-familiar routine: circumstances indicating that Tendi is a person of significant importance to the Orions (in this case, Orion servants bowing), and Tendi uncomfortably trying to shy away from it. It’s been obvious for some time now that Tendi is some kind of bad-ass Orion royalty or the like, but that she’s a science nerd at heart and left it all behind to start anew with Starfleet and would rather no one find about about her past.
All this is confirmed as the ladies visit Tendi’s palatial home, where her parents inform her that her sister, D’Erika, has been kidnapped on the eve of the wedding. Tendi essentially rolls her eyes at this — bridal kidnappings are part of Orion culture. But the timing has the parents worried, and Tendi sets off, with Mariner and T’Lyn in tow, to investigate.
L-R Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner, Noel Wells as Tendi and Gabrielle Ruiz as TLyn appearing in episode 4, season 4 of Lower Decks streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Paramount+
At this point, Lower Decks has telegraphed its attitude toward the Orions and Tendi enough times that what follows is pretty predictable: Orions treating Tendi with reverence, Tendi trying to act like she’s nothing special in front of her Starfleet cohorts, then pulling out some skill that proves she’s the Orion-iest of Orions (e.g. beating an old friend at a murder-bug drinking game). It’s clear she’s been fighting the “ruthless Orion pirate” stereotype for years, to the point of denying her past, heritage, and even skills. And it’s an attitude that will ring true to a lot of minorities who’ve found themselves faced with such biases. (To every fellow Asian kid who’s pretended not to like math because we were sick of the “nerd” stereotype, I salute you).
Mariner and T’Lyn, to their credit, listen to their friend and colleague and let her take the lead. As the three continue their journey to find D’Erika, we get a broad view of what life on Orion is like. Much of it tracks with the established canon — seedy locations, knife fights, femme fatale-types wielding pheromones. Notably, there was a lack of Orion slave girls, which were, from a contemporary point of view, more than a little sexist. While the episode does much to explore and provide nuance to Tendi as a character, it doesn’t quite do so for Orion as a whole — ultimately, it’s still the violent, pirate-y world of the stereotype, with Tendi as a single outlier. But given the short runtime, perhaps it just didn’t have the space to, and this leaves the door open for further exploration.
L-R Eugene Cordero as Rutherford and Jack Quaid as Boimler appearing in episode 4, season 4 of Lower Decks streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Paramount+
Back on the Cerritos, Boimler and Rutherford butt heads as new roommates, but discover a solution: When both dress as Mark Twain for a holodeck program, they get along and find a compromise. Star Trek has had a long-running fondness for figures, real and fictional, from cultural history — Leonardo Da Vinci, Sherlock Holmes — and Mark Twain is among them, having appeared in the Next Generation two-part episode “Time’s Arrow.” The holodeck program good-naturedly pokes fun at this… then takes things to the next level of absurdity when Boimler and Rutherford (Brutherford!) insist that Freeman and a fearsome alien captain try the Twain thing to find a resolution to their conflict over who gets to scan a nebula. It’s classic Lower Decks fare — low-stakes silliness with a healthy dash of absurdity — and it works well as a B-plot to Tendi’s storyline.
L-R Tawny Newsome as Mariner, Noel Wells as Tendi, Gabrielle Ruiz as T’Lyn, Eugene Cordero as Rutherford and Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler appearing in episode 4, season 4 of Lower Decks streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Paramount+
All in all, “Something Borrowed, Something Green” was another strong addition to the series, and in giving Tendi the chance to take center stage, added further nuance to the character we know and love.
One of my main critiques of Ahsoka thus far has been that the character beats really don’t land for me because I am missing context that the series has not provided. Rather, they expect you to go watch 75 episodes of another show to understand why certain moments are important.
One of my main critiques of Dave Filoni’s work as a show runner, particularly with the last season on The Mandalorian, was how his pacing was off. Things that were set up as season-long quests were resolved in five minutes while plot points I didn’t care about got a lot more screen time.
Well, guess what happened on Ahsoka this week? Sabine set off on an EPIC QUEST to find her friend Ezra and located him in about five minutes. And their reunion was pretty underwhelming because the show assumed you know the deep backstory explored over several seasons of an animated show.
This week is focused on Sabine and our hyper-ring full of baddies. Morgan has piloted the ship to a distant galaxy, which of course has planets full of breathable air, and the first people she meets are fellow Witches of Dathomir. And… look, I understand not to question the logic of the Space Wizard franchise I love dearly, but… how did they get there? How long were they there? Did they get transported with Ezra and Thrawn and the Whales?
And again, I understand the necessity of having “M-Class” planets everywhere (Note to the Editor: I’m crossing the streams again! Trek reference!) (Editor’s Note: As a fellow Double-Star fan, I’ll allow it) but it speaks to a paucity of imagination that the Brave New World here is… just full of rocky fields. Star Wars has given us snow planets and desert planets and lava planets. Could we get a planet with sentient gas creatures? Or the Purgill home world with floating lakes or something? No, we get a field full of rocks.
The witches don’t trust Morgan’s companions because they can smell the Jedi on them, especially Sabine. They want to get rid of her, but will let Thrawn decide how to handle her.
Yes, this week marks the live action debut of Grand Admiral Thrawn. I’ve been a fan of this character since I read about him in Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire novels waaaay back in my college days in the ’90’s. In those books, he was a brilliant tactician who could analyze your strategy and predict what would come next.
Here? He’s kind of a dud so far. His entrance is extremely cool. The Star Destroyer flies in and nestles atop the witches’ spire. He enters in a gleaming white formal uniform, a stark contrast to the Night Troopers who have armor that is banged up and patched with whatever could be found in a distant galaxy. As he marches to the front of his corps, they start to chant “Thrawn! Thrawn! Thrawn!” Yet, once you get a good look at him, he just doesn’t exude any of the menace I’ve come to expect. He just looks like a middle-aged guy in blue makeup with red contacts. And the plot makes him do some not-very-bright things. Now, one of the lessons of Thrawn’s character is not to underestimate anyone, so I am fully ready for him to rope-a-dope me later. But, first impressions aren’t great.
(As a brief aside to anyone bemoaning the “glut” of Star Wars content today, let me remind you that from 1983-1999 there were hardly any Star Wars shows being produced. You had a couple of OK cartoons and a couple of laughable TV movies about the Ewoks. And a whole lot of novels that ranged in quality from great (Thrawn) to dreadful (The Crystal Star) We literally dreamed of a day when we had good Star Wars TV shows and new movies. Now get off my lawn.) (Editor’s Note: Dude, you old. And there absolutely is too much content.)
Rather than kill Sabine, Thrawn honors the bargain Baylan made with her. She’ll have her chance to find Ezra. However, it’s very much a malicious compliance situation here. Yes, she’ll get her chance to find him, but Baylan and Shin will be following her to find out where Ezra has been hiding.
The late Ray Stevenson again provides the best work in this episode as Baylan. He has a wonderful dialogue with his apprentice about the futility of their actions. He remembers living through Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi. He sighs. “The fall of the Jedi. The rise of the Empire. It repeats again and again and again.” Confused, Shin asks if it isn’t their turn now? Won’t their alliance with Thrawn bring them power? Baylan is wistful. “That kind of power is fleeting. What I seek is a new beginning so I may finally bring this cycle to an end.” Now, I am not sure what kind of new beginning he’s envisioning, but I can understand his frustration. What’s the point of fighting if everything gets washed away like sands in the tides?
Thrawn sends Sabine off on a wolf-horse creature called a Howler. And after a brief skirmish with some bandits, she finds Ezra. He’s been living with a camp of little blue turtle people, and they lead her right to him.
So, Ezra was only a few miles away the whole time? They hand-wave it away with an explanation that the turtle guys move their camp around a lot, but really, how far can the turtle guys walk? The witches who have been there for years, couldn’t they sense Ezra or “smell the Jedi” on him? Was Thrawn really looking for him? It doesn’t seem like it. His attitude towards Sabine going to look for him was “ok, cool.” His attitude towards finding him was blasé at best. He sent Baylan and Shin after him, but didn’t really seem too concerned with finding him. (He very logically deduced that it doesn’t matter if Ezra is dead or stranded a galaxy away, Ezra’ll be out of Thrawn’s hair either way.) In fact, he’s more concerned with jumping back to their old galaxy right away.
So we finally get the long-awaited reunion between Sabine and Ezra. Remember, this has been Sabine’s motivation for the entire show. This is the only reason she let Ahsoka talk her into opening up the map and helping her. This is why she betrayed Ahsoka and went with Morgan and Baylan to a distant galaxy, and might potentially cause the fall of the New Republic by giving Thrawn a way home. So imagine how much emotion is burbling inside Sabine when she finally sees her best friend after years apart.
What do we get? Sabine basically saying, “‘Sup?”
It’s a credit to the acting of Natasha Liu Bordizzo that this has any kind of poignancy. There’s a light in her eyes when she sees Ezra, beardily played here by Eman Esfandi. And he seems like a pleasant enough fellow. But is he worth the potential downfall of a galaxy? Rebels fans seem to think so, but the show has done absolutely nothing to show me why.
So Thrawn is ready to jump back to the old galaxy. I get that he is going to serve as a rallying point for the remnants of the Empire, but what exactly is his plan? He’s got one Star Destroyer, plus some moles in the New Republic government, but even a governing body as fractious as the one Mon Mothma is wrangling can get it together to fight one Star Destroyer. It’s unclear what he’s going to do aside from some guerrilla actions.
This is not the first time this show has had odd pacing or weird character beats, but it is the first time I felt bored during an episode. There just isn’t enough character development for me, someone who has not seen more than an episode of Rebels, and unlike other weeks where there was a cool dogfight in space, there wasn’t a lot for me to hang onto. Will the last two episodes course correct and provide a satisfying conclusion? Anything’s possible, but I’m not counting on it.
This week’s episode was, in a word, surreal. Not that Futurama hasn’t dabbled in the unexpected, but I’m not sure they’ve done it in quite this confusing of a way before. While “The Prince and the Product” begins as any other normal episode, with the Professor appearing to announce this week’s delivery, it then follows a very strange trajectory. Essentially, it plays out as a Saturday morning cartoon of sorts complete with commercial breaks aimed at selling toys to the child audience.
The main plot involves delivering a package to the King of Space (David Herman), (an excellent opportunity for Fry to grovel) a macaroni portrait of his late wife the Queen. As Fry and Leela set about hanging the portrait, the Prince of Space (Phil LaMarr) appears and immediately takes over an injured Fry’s position to assist Leela with the portrait, winning her heart in the process (that’s what early onset sciatica will get ya!). Once Fry discovers Leela has fallen in love with the Price he’s distraught and our first commercial break begins.
Windos are wind-up toys with a finite spring life, apparently. The mini-story centers on Fry and his impending death due to his spring winding down permanently. Fry is weirdly ok with dying, but Bender is having a hard time and tries turning to religion for help. Spoiler, it does not help. So it’s off to the mountains to see a guru, unfortunately, the trip wears out Fry’s spring and he expires. Naturally, Bender performs spring-to-spring resuscitation, reviving Fry, but killing himself. Fry is now sad and goes to see the guru who tells him about reincarnation. Unlike religion and “heaven”, reincarnation turns out to be true as Bender returns in the form of a plane…which then crashes and burns. He’ll be back, kids, it’s ok.
In the meantime, we return to the current Futurama episode. The King forbids the Prince to marry a space commoner, and although Fry is relieved at first, he sees how sad Leela is and fights the King’s rejection. Fry’s anger results in the Queen’s portrait being boiled (she needs salt), which pisses the King off enough to challenge Fry to a duel.
Our second commercial break is for a toy called Round Wheels (wheels sold separately). As everyone but Zoidberg goes to make a delivery, the sad crab car watches from a distance. Later, the news shows a mysterious online video that has been resulting in the deaths of locals, following a phone call. Amy happily answers the call from 666-666-6666 and is promptly killed. Fry and Leela are next. But, when Bender gets the call the Professor and Hermes tail him in hopes of catching the killer. The Professor doesn’t make it, but Hermes’ limbo skills come in handy allowing him to discover the murderer is none other than Zoidberg! Being left out all the time made him murdery, so he’s been taking parts of everyone and making them a part of himself. In classic Zoidberg fashion he fucks it up and winds up foiling his own plan. The homunculus-car quickly crashes into a wall but Amy had the good sense to buy the warranty, and all ends well.
Back in the episode proper, the duel between the King of Space and the Fry of Earth is underway. It’s a joust, where Leela takes Fry’s place as champion because she’s the better fighter. She kills the King, but quickly discovers he had the Prince act as his champion so she actually killed her love. Fry is ok, but the Prince is dead and Leela cries leading us into the final commercial.
Rubber Ducks! Never put live ducks in your child’s bathtub, it’s a whole thing. Upon returning from a delivery, Fry and Amy get into a brief tiff about the edge of the water, leading the Professor to propose an exploration to see if said edge exists. After some travel the ducks (the Professor, Fry, Amy, and Zoidberg) discover land, and a new breed of beings. Eggulons are egg-shaped people who can wobble but won’t fall down – well, kind of. Leela, Bender, Hermes, and Scruffy watch as the ducks approach their shore. Leela is immediately attracted to Fry, who returns her affection, but the mixing of species causes friction between the two people. It’s war! Or…peace-fighting, either way there are casualties. The eggulons can fall down. And, though Leela and Fry both die, they proclaim their love assured that it will live on past them. It kind of does, as Leela’s egg-self hatches into a baby-duck-self, and Fry’s duck-self lays a baby-egg-self. It’s very fucking weird but we now return to the end of the episode.
Fry attempts to comfort Leela about killing the love of her life, but she reveals that she wasn’t actually in love, it was a spell! A magic spell? No, the Professor appears on a screen for no apparent reason to declare it was a science spell! Of course…that’s a thing. We end with Bender as the ship who quickly crashes into Earth.
Two words sum this episode up pretty well: The fuck. As in, what the fuck did I just watch? Don’t get me wrong, “The Prince and the Product” has some very solid jokes throughout and I really enjoyed the different iterations of the crew as toys, along with some callbacks to classic Futurama scenes, but overall it is a complete mystery of an episode. It vaguely reminds me of the “What if” episodes, except that those had a clear construct built around the inclusion of separate mini-stories – much like The Simpsons Halloween episodes. Here, there’s no explanation for why the toy commercial stories are happening, and the main storyline is extremely stupid.
Still, if we take the episode for the surrealist adventure that it appears to be then it can be enjoyed as such. Again, a lot of the jokes are winners for me: Bender’s search for comfort at the thought of impending death resulting in “Heaven” being a disappointment while reincarnation proves worth consideration is a great dig at organized religion (well, the ones that don’t tout reincarnation at least). The “Round Wheels” not including wheels is fantastic – any parent can appreciate that one. Even the “flat-Earth” undertone of the Rubber Ducks tale is amusing, not to mention the clashing of cultures resulting in all-out war. If a theme can be found amid this crazy collection, it boils down to love and death.
The main story has Leela falling madly in love with someone she barely knows, while Fry expresses his love for her in the defense of her honor (even though it may very well cost him their relationship). The death of the Prince allows Fry and Leela to resume their time-tested and long-established love. In the Windos story, Bender’s love for his friend causes him to fear death, seeking out a way to come to terms with the idea of mortality only to give his life for his friend’s rather than watch Fry die. It’s then Fry’s love for Bender that motivates him to complete the journey to the guru and discover a meaning to life and loss. The Round Wheels storyline sees unrequited love turn bitter and toxic – Zoidberg longs to build a platonic love with his coworkers, yet they spurn his attempts until he can no longer tolerate the loneliness. Death becomes a salvation as he forces each of his “friends” to join him in becoming one monstrous vehicle (again, the spiritual concept of a soul is presented as existing so long as some part of the “person” remains). Oddly though, Zoidberg’s remaining parts on his car do not constitute enough to allow him to live-on as his friends do, once his hood is destroyed the crab is dead. And finally, the Rubber Ducks tale brings it all home, with the classic star-crossed lovers. Fry duck and Leela egg just aren’t meant to be, well, not in this life anyway.
There’s also just plain old sight gags that make this episode a joy to behold. As mentioned, the interpretation of these characters as different toys is done fantastically. The callback to the scene where Fry first wakes up to “the World of [Windos]!” is a nice touch with a skewed perspective to make it fit. The different ways the Planet Express building and ship are presented in these different worlds shows the consideration that goes into these seemingly random tales. Even the method of delivery themselves is altered (though we don’t get to see the ducks delivery). An interesting note of observation: Two of the episode proper scenes end in tears, and two of the commercial stories end in crashes, while the last episode proper scene also ends in a crash. The only one that doesn’t end tragically is the ducks, because while it’s true everyone dies, the two lovers are reborn and allowed to live happily ever after.
I’m not normally a fan of surrealism. As art it can be interesting and inspiring in the way a dream can be, but as a movie/show or book I feel it comes off as too confusing to make a decent point. Barbie took a surrealist approach but made it work and I have to say Futurama succeeds in the execution as well. While my interpretation of the episode may not be everyone else’s, at least I was able to get something out of it. That’s a win for any episode, let alone one as batshit crazy as this was. I will say, of the many things that puzzled me about this episode the running gag of the cat and dog are a mystery. In one way, they tie everything together as they appear in each commercial story, but only at the very beginning and quite briefly. Still, I don’t recall seeing anything in the episode proper that explains their existence. Ah well. Tis’ a fine episode, none the less.
Let’s play a little word association. I say “Batman,” you say (word). Now, the moment the name leaped from the screen to your oculars, a synapse fired (or misfired). The nouns “justice” or “vengeance” may have cropped up in the old bean. Maybe either speaks to Jungian desires untold. The adjectives “protector” or “psycho” may have sprouted up as well. These two honorifics are quite interesting because we may have even called our parents either while growing up. Hell, maybe even both.
It makes sense for Bruce Wayne, Gotham’s favorite son to look at the city, his intangible parent, as psychotic. However “psycho, bat-shit-insane” we sometimes view our guardians, it’s not a crime to love them and want to protect them. It’s just a symptom of human nature or what I envisage Werner Herzog defining as “God’s ‘ba dum tshh‘.”
I bet most of you immediately shot to “Joker” when I said Batman. I bet you out of a word association with him, one thing would most likely not come to mind: parent. It sure as fuck wasn’t on my 2023 Bingo card. This is Joker: One Operation Joker Vol. 1 by DC Universe Infinite x Kodansha.
Review
Not knowing what to expect with such a unique concept of Joker raising a bubbly, baby Bruce, the terse voice-over and beautiful, stark artwork of Gotham summarily set a tone of grit. The design of Joker by Keisuke Gotou makes him a menace out in the world but rather avuncular in private. We start off with how this all happened. Per the tableau, Batman and Joker square off over a ginormous vat at Ace Chemicals yet again. This time, however, it is Batman who takes the plunge, leaving both Gotham without its guardian and Joker without a purpose. Oh, Bats isn’t dead. The later-identified goop turned him into a bouncy, baby boy.
Joker’s whole crusade up until this point has been more of a philosophical one: show Gotham its foibles through the fragility of justice. Without its paragon of penance parading the night skies, one needn’t be created, just “re-engineered” That’s a parenting term, right? Mister J’s got the real deal in his hands (and arms) but before Batman can come out to play, he has to be raised so right, even Joker would be in the right to tell Pennyworth to “go home and get your fuckin’ shine box.”
From diaper mishaps to sleep deprivation, Joker’s clearly struggling with the cute-as-a-button baby Bruce. We meet Joker’s aide-de-camp, the world-weary, put-upon Jonny Frost. The parent of two immediately raises jealousy in his boss, forcing Joker to enroll Bruce in public preschool. It’s not the most idyllic situation, but they’re not exactly dripping in sheckles either.
There’s something to be said for the surrealism of Joker at City Hall to apply for Bruce’s schooling. He’s treated like any other citizen. Like, nobody questions that a goddamn face-painted madman with a rap sheet longer than the Iliad is describing his employment schedule… with Gotham’s giggling guardian staring right back at him. I suppose it kind of makes sense. Knocking over banks is kid-level shit next to toppling the bureaucracy. Rules are the pillars of society. Lesson number one, Brucie.
I quite like this seldom-seen side of the Joker. The intrusive self-doubt of someone so iconically assured is not only refreshing but also a reminder that a soul may still be creeping about in that lithe, wan husk of his. id-based as he is, not unlike his shadow, Bats, he has had a first act, complete with a family.
Unsurprisingly, Bruce doesn’t get into any of the nursery schools. The system, in Poppa J’s eyes, is as corrupt as ever. Lesson number two, Bruce. Not everything goes according to plan, life can be unjust, you can’t trust anybody and if you can’t have something, make it everybody’s problem because nothing feels better than unconscionably enlisting others in your misery. Lessons three, four, five, and six. Maybe let’s table the latter two until high school, shall we?
Puddin’s partner in crime, Harley Quinn does drop in after some inactivity from her paramour. Just as Joker lost Batman to find Bruce, it seems as though Harls lost daddy only to find “father.” Trust me, there’s a clear delineation in the streets as well as the sheets his queen knows it. Solitude comes with the territory of doing what is right as much as it does doing what isn’t. Lesson number seven, Batboy.
The fact that a harmless (and achingly adorable) Bruce could bring the Harlequin of Hate to his knees is a nice departure and having Joker’s obsessive nature work for him in this direction is handled craftily. Writer Satoshi Miyagawa operates like a five-star chef. He knows when you have quality ingredients in front of you, in this case, characters made rich and complex over myriad years of storytelling, you respect the dish by letting the natural flavors shine, with no embellishments necessary.
What makes for a compelling Batman and Joker story is them being cut from exactly the same cloth. To have the Joker raise Bruce from a toddler only makes sense. They both had the same conviction, the same heart, the same drive. Notice I said had. This one Joker operation could go tits up and then what?
With the joke of the Wayne Foundation finally being able to slice through the red tape on fast-laning the waitlist for Gotham’s children, Joker will be able to paint the town red again come next year. This means Bruce has something potentially more psychologically damaging than two (very dead) model parents: one inept caretaker.
The interstitials are brilliant and serve as a fever-dream-esque afterthought. The writing was on point. Joker, though now undertaking the role of caretaker is somehow scarier. His gallows wit combined with nascent wonder around something so pure has to be read to be believed.
Being a somewhat decent parent is a Sysphean task in and of itself I imagine, but when you also have the very soul of Gotham in the balance, his crusade has now inadvertently become spiritual as well. Much like his erstwhile peer, he’s been afforded another act. Much like his erstwhile peer, his most dangerous asset is his conviction. Unlike his erstwhile peer, he’s got the upper hand… or so he thinks.
What a hammer of a punchline.
5/5 Stars
Addendum:
Before this, I’d never rifled through more than a mere few pages of a manga. Is an English-language “manga-style” the best entre into an entire medium I don’t have a literacy in? I’m sure most would respond with a resounding N-O. I’m not expecting to be a convert from this, but who the fuck cares? It’s wacky, aberrant, and though not to everybody’s taste, contains enough landmines to make the Laughing Clown sweat all without the Dark Knight breaking one.
Debuting this past weekend at the Colorado Festival of Horror, graphic horror novelist Stephen Graham Jones has paired up with fantasy fiction horror writer Joshua Viola to craft a killer three-issue horror comic book series featuring artwork illustrated by Ben Matsuya. Set during a fan’s convention, the comic delivers on the premise of a slasher thriller, along with a plethora of Kickstarter rewards such as a soundtrack CD and killer artwork and variant covers for their live TRUE BELIEVERS campaign.
The series introduces a brand new slasher villain called Killr™, who is a play on the meta-horror genre much like Ghost Face from the Scream series. A fictional cosplay killer, this brand new approach to the horror murderer is meant to question the nature of masks regarding fandoms. Essentially, it blurs reality and fiction and the roles crossed between them – especially at conventions. You can check out the official press release below and design images of the series horror mask.
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Press Release
Experience the world of horror fandom like never before with TRUE BELIEVERS, a gripping and grisly new comic book mini-series co-written by bestselling Bram Stoker Award-winner Stephen Graham Jones and Denver Post bestselling writer Joshua Viola, with interior artwork by Ben Matsuya.
The three-issue series, which delves into the world of cosplay and fan conventions, is set at the Colorado Festival of Horror. A full-color, four-page ashcan preview of TRUE BELIEVERS #1 will be available exclusively at this year’s festival, which is based in Denver, CO, and runs from Friday, September 15th to Sunday, September 17th. The first completed TRUE BELIEVERS issue will be available on Kickstarter, along with a TRUE BELIEVERS CD/Digital soundtrack powered by the USA-based record label FiXT, featuring Celldweller, Essenger, Circle of Dust, Cantervice, Young Medicine, Scandroid, PYLOT, and The All Things, as well as a TRUE BELIEVERS latex mask from Oktober Studios. The campaign is now live on Kickstarter.
TRUE BELIEVERS was co-created and co-written by bestselling writer Stephen Graham Jones, whose most recent comic, EARTHDIVERS, is set to become a TV series through 20th Century Television and whose most recent novel, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS, is a New York Times bestseller. “TRUE BELIEVERS is for the true believers out there,” says Graham Jones. “It’s for those who like the masks, the machetes, the blood and the grins.” He has written numerous other slasher novels, such as MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW, DON’T FEAR THE REAPER, NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS, and THE LAST FINAL GIRL.
Some seek out fan conventions for community. For safety. For understanding. There are those who believe they reveal their true selves by becoming a cherished character, but sometimes obsessions turn dark. The first issue of TRUE BELIEVERS introduces a new bone-chilling slasher character, Killr™, who offers a sinister and unforgettable take on fandom. In the world of meta horror, Killr™ emerges as the embodiment of evil within the slasher genre, born from a cult-favorite short film that inspires a trilogy. Amid the franchise’s rising popularity, devoted fans fervently embrace Killr™, celebrating the character with enthusiastic cosplay. At the Colorado Festival of Horror, fanatics Rip and Kit—proudly labeling themselves as “true believers”—embark on a profound journey of self-discovery under Kit’s guidance. However, the boundaries between reality and fiction blur, prompting them to question the ramifications of idolizing such malevolence. This gripping meta horror tale delves into the intricate interplay of identity, horror, and obsession, challenging the very essence of their connection with the enigmatic entity they revere. The Kickstarter edition features the first 24-page story in the three-issue series.
“Killr™ is one of the purest distillations of evil ever produced by the slasher genre,” says Joshua Viola, the Colorado Book Award winner and Denver Post bestselling author of Denver Moon, Nightmares Unhinged, and It Came from the Multiplex. “Our villain, Killr™ (the trademark symbol playfully satirizes the franchising of horror properties), presents a refreshing perspective on the concept of wearing a mask and the diverse interpretations fans can derive from it. “Killr™ is truly a cosplayer’s dream.”
TRUE BELIEVERS features interior art by comic book artist Ben Matsuya (Jupiter Jet, Midnight Massacre). The series includes haunting variant covers by fan favorite horror comic artists, such as:
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina artist Robert Hack;
Monster Train artist Aaron Lovett;
Goosebumps artist Clara Meath;
Elvira artist Juan Samu;
American Horror Story artist Xander Smith
Everyone who backs at a physical level will receive a copy of the first issue. Other tiers include variant covers; signed books by Stephen Graham Jones, Joshua Viola, and Ben Matsuya; signed prints; patches designed by AJ Nazzaro (Hearthstone, Overwatch), latex masks; an opportunity to become a character in Issue 2; a 2024 Colorado Festival of Horror 3-Day Pass for 2; and a CD/ digital soundtrack for TRUE BELIEVERS.
“Stephen Graham Jones, Joshua Viola, and Ben Matsuya have delivered a mind-blowing, twisted comic,” says Colorado Festival of Horror co-founder, Bret Smith. “TRUE BELIEVERS is set at our very own horror convention, featuring a cutting-edge psycho killer stalking our Slasher Hotel hallways!”
The official TRUE BELIEVERS soundtrack, titled “Kit’s Playlist,” is woven into the comic’s narrative, providing a glimpse into one of our character’s musical tastes during their cosplaying escapades. Every track featured on this playlist exudes dark themes that seamlessly align with the story’s tone, creating a hauntingly immersive experience for listeners. Among these seven captivating tunes are covers that enhance the eerie atmosphere, such as PYLOT’s remix of Scandroid’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s iconic “Thriller,” Celldweller’s rendition of “Cry Little Sister,” originally a theme from The Lost Boys film by Gerard McMahon, the spine-chilling “Halloween Theme,” a cover of John Carpenter’s timeless Halloween theme, and Young Medicine’s haunting take on “Somebody’s Watching Me,” a popular 1984 track by Rockwell featuring Michael Jackson. Each song gracefully embraces the essence of the slasher genre, amplifying the Halloween season’s allure to mesmerize and captivate listeners.
The soundtrack for TRUE BELIEVERS features:
Celldweller/Circle of Dust/Scandroid (the prolific musician Klayton, known for intricately designed soundscapes and a blend of musical styles, has been featured in movies, games, and TV shows);
Essenger (a musician on the cutting edge of electronic music, blending an array of influences for a sound that pays tribute to modern alt rock, EDM, and synthwave);
PYLOT (by blending elements of synthwave and cyberpunk with finesse and attention to detail, PYLOT creates mesmerizing and immersive soundscapes that are filled with beautiful synth melodies and energizing rhythms);
Cantervice (an American concept-based electronic rock project centered around dystopian futures);
Young Medicine (synthwave rockers inspired by diverse genres resulting in a carefully constructed music identity that defies simple categorization);
The All Things (a three-piece rock outfit from New York)
“We hope TRUE BELIEVERS provides thought-provoking commentary on the very essence of fandom and the meaning of being a devoted ‘true believer,’” says artist Ben Matsuya.
A brand new iteration of the Thor Corps will arrive this December with IMMORTAL THOR #5. Featuring numerous former Thors including Jane Foster and Beta Ray Bill, the series will be written by IMMORTAL HULK writer Al Ewing and drawn by Stormbreaker breakout artist Martín Cóccolo. It will feature a striking new Alex Ross cover.
“I had it in my head for a while that I wanted to do a second Immortal title because I wanted another swing at something that was that big and meaningful,” said Ewing in a Marvel press release. “I was also looking to do something a bit more optimistic. Hulk is a very horror-based character, and I was writing a lot of heavy emotional stuff in there… I think Thor, in his nature, is a high fantasy character… so you sort of write that from a position of hope. That’s nice – it’s nice to have a little hope!”
For more information, you can read more on Marvel’s official press release below.
IMMORTAL THOR #5
Written by AL EWING
Art by MARTÍN CÓCCOLO
Cover by ALEX ROSS
On Sale 12/13
Today on Marvel’s original podcast series “This Week in Marvel,” host Angélique Roché spoke with mastermind writer Al Ewing about his hit run of IMMORTAL THOR! Coming this December, IMMORTAL THOR #5 will hit stands with incredible art by Martín Cóccolo and a stunning cover by Alex Ross.
In the upcoming issue, fans are introduced to the all-new Thor Corps! Toranos has returned — and to face him, the King of Asgard has gathered his army. But if even an army of storm gods could not stop the Elder God of Thunder…what then? This is the story of THE IMMORTAL THOR… and the battle that will define him.
On writing another Immortal story, Ewing said, “I had it in my head for a while that I wanted to do a second Immortal title because I wanted another swing at something that was that big and meaningful.” He continued, “I was also looking to do something a bit more optimistic. Hulk is a very horror-based character, and I was writing a lot of heavy emotional stuff in there… I think Thor, in his nature, is a high fantasy character… so you sort of write that from a position of hope. That’s nice – it’s nice to have a little hope!”
On the reveal of the all-new Thor Corps in issue #5, Ewing points fans to the cover, saying, “Well, let’s talk about that cover… it’s basically everyone – well, not everybody because Eric Masterson is sadly no longer with us – but, a whole bunch of people who have previously been Thor are Thor again… to back up Thor. The main Thor!”
Fans can listen to the full conversation on today’s episode of “This Week in Marvel” wherever they subscribe to podcasts. Check out the IMMORTAL THOR #5 cover by Alex Ross below, and don’t forget to grab the issue when it hits stands this December!
I had a dream I got everything I wanted Not what you’d think And if I’m being honest It might’ve been a nightmare To anyone who might care…
Congratulations, lower deckers, you’ve all been promoted! And have more important things to do than listen to Billie Eilish, even though her lyrics might be ringing true for our suddenly not-so-low-ranked characters…
Last week’s episode had Mariner actively trying to shake off her new pip while Rutherford busted his butt to gain his and join his friends, while Tendi cheered him on and Boimler dealt with a housing nightmare. So this week’s episode, “In the Cradle of Vexilon,” is the first time we’ve seen our entire group as lieutenants junior grade, and the first time we really get to see them in action with their newly acquired ranks.
Image: Paramount+
The Cerritos has been called in to help an artificial alien world deal with a malfunctioning sentient supercomputer called Vexilon that maintains the entire place and is surprisingly un-megalomaniacal. Captain Freeman greets the local dignitaries and is shown to a very apologetic Vexilon. Just needs a software update, she says. It’ll be simple, she says. Sure…
As far as Lower Decks episodes go, it’s the kind of set-up that’s come to be expected: Take a well worn sci-fi trope (sentient supercomputer running an alien world), turn it on its head (hey, it’s friendly!), and let chaos ensue (the update does NOT go well). Though the plot is rather stale for this show, it does treat us to some fun moments with a cocky Freeman.
Image: Paramount+
Meanwhile, she’s got a team updating an old Starfleet power relay, and said team is led by… drumroll please… LT. BRAD BOIMLER! At last, our favorite try-hard gets to be the BOSS! With the Vulcan T’Lyn assisting in case of “science stuff” and a group of three ensigns under his command, Boimler finally gets to take charge as he always dreamed of. What happens next is rather predictable for those of us who know and love this famously neurotic character… he’s so freaked out by the idea of the ensigns doing something wrong that he tries to do everything himself. It’s an honest depiction of what often happens to people thrust into leadership positions, and very true to the character, if, again, not entirely original.
Image: Paramount+
Funnily enough, the least unoriginal part of the show takes place in the C-plot, involving Mariner, Tendi, and Rutherford back on the Cerritos. Not saying it’s original, mind you, just that it’s slightly less predictable. Very slightly.
The three newly minted lieutenants are excited about the perks their new positions come with, including getting to access the anomaly storage room, which is basically a giant excuse for classic Star Trek references / easter eggs (Betazoid gift box, anyone?). Now, I’m pretty sure there were plenty of past episodes where the lower deckers dealt with anomalies, but whatever.
Their fun is interrupted when Lieutenant Dirk — a whole lieutenant, none of this junior grade stuff — orders them to scan about a gazillion chips by hand looking for a single faulty one. They soon conclude that they’re being hazed and decide to get back at Dirk with the assistance of one of the most annoying episodes in Star Trek history: “Move Along Home” from the generally excellent Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In that episode, four crew members are abruptly transported into a game dimension… that is, they can only return to their world if they play the game correctly. A version of said game was in the anomaly storage room…
Image: Paramount+
Star Trek has always been a mixed bag, ranging from some of the best science fiction ever to appear on TV to some of the absolute worst. And this season, Lower Decks seems to be leaning into the worst of the worst, dredging up references to the most absurd Voyager episodes in its season opener and now reminding viewers that Deep Space Nine, often praised (and over-praised) as the best sci-fi show ever, had its share of stinkers. Now, if they could just work in a reference to the truly atrocious Voyager episode “The Thaw”…
Anyway, this C-plot, with all its references, isn’t exactly original either, but it amps up the comedic chaos in its short runtime… or perhaps because of its short runtime.
The nice thing about Lower Decks is that it has managed to perfect its formula in such a way that even when the plots fall short, the characters and gags are still plenty enjoyable. All in all, “In the Cradle of Vexilon” is a fun, if predictable, episode.
4/5 stars, bumped up from 3.5 just for “Allamaraine, count to four, Allamaraine, then three more…”
One of the most interesting aspects of the character of Ahsoka is her relationship to Anakin. She was introduced in the Clone Wars series as his Padawan learner, and over the course of 200 episodes of Clone Wars and Rebels, she matured and grew into her own. Still, having your master and trusted friend turn into the very embodiment of the Dark Side casts a long shadow. If that person picked you to be his apprentice because he liked what he saw in you, and then he turned out to be evil, what does that say about you? Does that mean you could potentially become evil?
Of course, the Light Side and the Dark Side have been a constant theme since the very first Star Wars movie way back in 1977. Obi-Wan told Luke of how the Dark Side seduced Vader. Yoda warned of the temptations of the path to the Dark Side. And Vader attempting to turn Luke was a major plot point of both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
We ended last week with Ahsoka getting kicked off a cliff by Baylan Skoll and falling into… a pathway among the stars? Where she was greeted by her old master, Anakin Skywalker, looking decidedly young and not at all scarred by lava. He greets his old apprentice and tells her that he’s here to finish her training. Today’s lesson is living or dying, and then he ignites his lightsaber.
I’m unclear as to where the reunion with Anakin and Ahsoka is taking place. Is this all in her head? Is it a dream she has while dying? Is it a literal place that she reached through the Force? Unclear, although I am leaning towards “all in her head,” and the dialogue she has with Anakin seems to support this. Needing to solve a riddle or have a personal epiphany before being able to wake up is a common enough trope. Apparently they are in “Force Space,” according to the tweets I’ve seen.
After fighting with Anakin, Ahsoka finds herself as a child in the Clone Wars, on an early mission with Anakin. Young Ahsoka is traumatized by the loss of life, especially the lives lost because of the orders she gave. Anakin tells her that’s part of being a leader and a warrior. As he walks away into the mists of war, Ahsoka sees his shadow flicker into that of Darth Vader.
Ahsoka then sees Anakin again at the Siege of Mandalore, which is not a place they were at together, where Anakin comments on what a warrior she is becoming. Which is not what Ahsoka expected to be as a Jedi. Anakin is telling her that everything in him is also in her, and that she’s a part of a legacy. This scares Ahsoka. Everything in Anakin includes the darkness and the evil and the slaughter of younglings, and her legacy is one of war and death. This is something Baylan told her last week, and she obviously felt it was true. Anakin starts to turn in front of her, his eyes glowing red, telling her she’s learned nothing. They fight their way back into the star field of Force Space, where Ahsoka disarms Anakin and tells him she wants to live. Anakin smiles and tells her there’s hope for her yet, then disappears.
These scenes are very well done. They actually start to pay off some of the hints of the backstory for those unfamiliar with Rebels and Clone Wars. Why is Ahsoka so standoffish with her apprentice, Sabine? Well, possibly because she doesn’t want to fail Sabine the way Anakin failed her. But, Anakin has now made her choose to live in the present rather than dwell on the failures and tragedies of the past, so perhaps that will affect her approach going forwards.
So Ahsoka has defeated her personal demons, but still remains deep underwater in the physical world. Lucky for her, Hera’s son, Jacen, is conveniently force sensitive. His dad, Kanan, was a Jedi. And he can hear the sounds of lightsabers banging off each other beneath the rolling waves. This is enough for Hera to keep the pilots searching until they can find Ahsoka in the water. (Kinda getting mixed messages here. You’re telling Sabine that she can use the Force, even though she has no natural abilities, but the ten-year-old can hear lightsaber battles from the Phantom Zone because he inherited Midichlorians from his daddy. You know what? Fine. Let’s just roll with it.) And just in time, too, because the Republic has sent the fleet to collect their insubordinate general.
Again, I question the priorities of the New Republic. You didn’t want to send a few ships to check out Seatos, but you’ll send THREE battle cruisers to teach Hera a lesson? Seems like a colossal waste of resources.
Even though Ahsoka has been rescued, they still have the problem of how to follow Morgan and Sabine to the other galaxy. The map is destroyed, and even if they had co-ordinates, they don’t have any engines powerful enough to jump that far. But when Ahsoka looks up and notices the purgills (the flying, intergalactic space whales), she gets an idea. After communing with them through the Force, an extremely large whale opens its mouth and lets Ahsoka fly in.
This is at least the third major science fiction franchise to center a plot on whales. Star Trek went back in time to save the whales in The Voyage Home. Avatar: The Way of Water was also literally about saving the whales. And now, Ahsoka is hitching a ride in the mouth of a space whale-squid-C’thulu hybrid. I guess we ought to expect some space whales in Zach Snyder’s Rebel Moon or the new Tron movie, huh?
Once Ahsoka is safely inside, the whales, through some sort of genetic chemistry, jump away. I assume they’re also borrowing the spore network from Star Trek: Discovery? While magic space whales are far-fetched, this is Star Wars, home of the space wizards with laser swords. We have to find some way to get Ahsoka to another galaxy. And besides, they look cute.
So, after five episodes, Ahsoka is finally on her way to find Ezra and Thrawn. Which is good, but it seems to be a bit of a leisurely pace. I dislike comparisons of movie pacing to TV pacing, but these first five episodes feel like they could’ve been the first 45 minutes of a movie. Hopefully, the pace will quicken now that we’re taking the Whale Express to a new galaxy. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see our favorite member of the Chiss Ascendancy! (That’s Thrawn, by the way. Sorry, I’m falling into the trap of this show: assuming everyone has the same extensive knowledge of Star Wars that I do.)
After Kif, his second in command finally has enough abuse and lodges a formal complaint, the insanely toxic Brannigan (Billy West) is sentenced to 8 hours of mandatory sensitivity training following an official hearing featuring two beloved Futurama characters (the overly permissive Judge, and the southern chicken lawyer). This loss leads to DOOP reaching out to Leela and offering her a position as a pilot, which comes at a perfect time for the as of late stuck-in-a-rut, “only best employee of the month” Planet Express Captain. However, both Zapp and Leela’s stories take some surprising turns.
Zapp’s sensitivity teacher is a strange-looking man by the name of Dr. Gary Kind (John DiMaggio, usually the voice of Bender, who doesn’t appear much in this episode), who at first blush seems to be exactly that, until he puts his three charges through lots of torture before revealing himself to be a maniacal cancelled captain himself. He tricks Zapp and the other three ex-captains into stealing a DOOP ship, firing on Zapp’s former command post, The Nimbus, and then threatens to befoul a nascent civilization’s precious natural resource all in the name of revenge. His rage towards “wokeism” results in his ultimate demise, but ironically this is only possible because once the 8 hours is complete, he is reinstated as a DOOP captain.
Leela, in her first assignment as a DOOP captain, takes The Nimbus to a planet on a peace mission. But, she quickly learns the treaty DOOP desperately wants the planet’s Queen (Qing Airee as voiced by Tress MacNeille) to sign is nothing more than a trick to gain exclusive rights to their natural resource (air). Leela’s morals aren’t pleased by the deception, and the planet’s people are exceptionally handsy making their customs cringe-worthy to her. Still, before she’s forced to compromise herself, Kind and his kidnapped crew appear to wreak havoc. Ordered to fire on Dr. Kind, Leela refuses as it may kill innocent bygropers. Instead, she heroically saves the air from a stinky fruit, earning a Medal of Valor before being dishonorably discharged for disobeying the DOOP President’s command to shoot Dr. Kind. Back at Planet Express, Fry comforts Leela by telling her she’s the best her, while Zoidberg asks for consent before licking the remaining durian fruit off her face.
Overall, this was a fine episode. Some of my favorite jokes throughout this series have come thanks to Zapp Branigan’s over-inflated sense of sensuality. The character is clearly meant to be a fun jab at William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, having a similar cadence and sexual aggression whenever the female sex is present. What makes him endearing instead of repulsive are the brief moments of self-awareness Zapp can display. Here, though he initially offers many of the same excuses workplace abusers typically invoke (“it was just a joke!”, “it was a different time!”, etc), by the end of the episode his vow to be a kinder captain feels sincere – even if we know he’s unlikely to stick to it. Which is a shame for Kif, who suffers the most at Zapp’s hands, though perhaps having Dr. Kind shower on the bridge was traumatic enough for Zapp to never do it again, Kif can hope at least.
As we’re discussing Zapp and his poor behavior, it begs the question of how he hasn’t been reprimanded before. Well, DOOP is a pretty messed up organization, as shown in this episode. Although it bucks the sexist trend by having all its male members wear skirts, and all female members wear pants, the actual “mission” of the organization is revealed to be fairly horrible. This helps to explain why someone as dimwitted as Zapp is made a captain, while a more sensible intelligence like Kif, is sidelined to second in command. Consider that independently minded Leela loses her brief employment as a captain not for being bad at the job, but for valuing life over the mission objective – in this case, duping an entire planet into signing away the rights to their own natural resource. The fact that the planet’s inhabitants happen to be tailor made for someone of Zapp’s particular hands-on approach to diplomacy has a kind of needless convenience to it. Yes, it’s funny, but in general, Zapp’s behavior cannot possibly be conducive to smooth inter-planetary relations.
Great jokes also elevate this episode. Zapp’s insanely inappropriate behavior, including taking a “thinking” shower on the bridge for all to see (resulting in the usage of 3 years’ worth of stored water), using Kif as a loofa, and then later a towel, massaging the judge’s shoulders at his hearing while having no problem telling her she should smile more, and just his general incompetence throughout is amazing. The man does not conclude that the best weapon against a ship made out of fire would be a water cannon, and once he does, he stumbles into using Kif’s “blood” instead because he’s wasted all the ship’s water. The court scene alone is priceless with the Judge allowing anything and everything, resulting in the country chicken lawyer (named The Hyper-Chicken and voiced by Maurice LaMarche) being both defense and prosecuting attorneys. Leela’s fear of stagnation compared to Hermes commendation of it, the point driven home by a series of saddening photos accompanying her “Only Employee of the Month” plaque. Zapp’s fellow sensitivity trainees include a flasher who exposes others to a bright light in his chest (Flashnut voiced by David Herman), and a woman who throws food at her subordinates (affectionately “named” Cranky Captain voiced by Kathy Griffin) when angry. I especially loved the throw-away joke that referenced the Professor’s smell-o-scope.
To me this felt like a solid Futurama episode, which, for the record, is how this resurrection process tends to go. The first maybe couple of episodes create a rocky start but once the creative ball gets rolling the show starts feeling comfortably like itself. I’m looking forward to the penultimate episode next week.
Who doesn’t want to draw your favorite superheroes? 4Axis has announced an update to Drawing Desk, their digital drawing app that includes over 270 lessons and 40 courses created by professional artists. Today, they announced even more of a line-up of lessons furthering the roster of Marvel superheroes you can draw from Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Thor, Black Panther, and more.
“We have always been devoted fans of Marvel and their iconic league of Super Heroes. As a company, we believe this collaboration marks an incredible milestone for us, and we are more than thrilled to be a part of it,” said Dumindu Harsha, Chief Executive Officer, 4Axis Technologies, Singapore. “Our users now have an exciting opportunity to bring their favorite Marvel Super Heroes to life through drawing. The excitement we feel for our users is equally matched as we eagerly wait to see the incredible artwork they will create.
The lessons are meant as a jumping-on point for anyone of different skill or age, with a “Guide Me” feature designed to offer prompts and instructions, and a “Do it for Me” feature that goes over the tedious parts of drawing using time-saving tools to recreate an image. You can also share your drawings online using the app’s built-in interface.
For more details, you can check out Marvel’s official press release below.
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4Axis Technologies has announced its flagship app, Drawing Desk, has a new line-up of epic drawing lessons featuring Marvel Super Heroes launching on Thursday, September 14. The lessons spotlight an impressive roster of Marvel characters including Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Hulk. With a selection of 50+ Super Hero lessons, Drawing Desk’s all-new courses make learning the ropes of digital art engaging and fun! Whether the user is a seasoned artist or just starting out, the lessons have step-by-step walkthroughs to make it easier than ever to jump right in.
“We have always been devoted fans of Marvel and their iconic league of Super Heroes. As a company, we believe this collaboration marks an incredible milestone for us, and we are more than thrilled to be a part of it” said Dumindu Harsha, Chief Executive Officer, 4Axis Technologies, Singapore. “Our users now have an exciting opportunity to bring their favorite Marvel Super Heroes to life through drawing. The excitement we feel for our users is equally matched, as we eagerly wait to see the incredible artwork they will create.
Drawing Desk has gone a step further by introducing user-friendly functionalities that will further streamline the learning experience. The Guide Me feature was designed to offer users additional support by providing prompts and instructions. And Drawing Desk’s Do it for Me feature is a time-saving tool that takes over tedious steps for users, allowing them to complete the lessons more efficiently.
To top it off, artists can share the results of all their hard work on social media using the various export options and features available within the Drawing Desk’s lessons section. This makes it the perfect way to find and connect with other Marvel fans and artists while inspiring others to reach new creative heights! Drawing Desk also offers a variety of other lessons in a range of categories that cater to beginners who are eager to grasp the fundamentals of drawing.
Drawing Desk is a leading creative app that has empowered creativity in over 50+ million users around the world. Drawing Desk has also left its mark on the App Store by ranking consistently among the top 3 in the Graphics and Design category for several top countries. With 100,000+ 5-star reviews, the app has become the go-to platform for creatives all over the world.
Last June, the Marvel Art Atelier invited aspiring comic book artists for a training program, which is now on display at the Jack Kirby Legacy Gallery alongside a collection of artwork by the world’s most iconic Marvel artists.
During the program, a class of mentees unleashed their creativity under the expert guidance of Marvel artists Giuseppe Camuncoli and Olivier Coipel along with Stormbreakers artists Peach Momoko and Natacha Bustos.
After a series of challenges, including a final 24-hour challenge to draw an entire comic page, Federica Mancin ended up selected as the strongest prospective mentee of the week on the basis of her work. She won her first official Marvel assignment in person by Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief C.B. Cebulski, and fans can see her artwork this October when she fills in for series artist Federico Vicentini in MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #11, where we’ll see Spider-Man and Blade face off against the newest villain, Hightail.
“Having the opportunity to work on a Miles Morales issue as my first job at Marvel has been a dream come true as he is my favorite Marvel character,” Mancin shared in a Marvel press release. “I have enjoyed every second of it, the chance to draw Miles swinging across New York or throwing webs at his enemies, of course all the action sequences were super fun to me, as I love trying to find ways to convey energy and motion through the page. I have also enjoyed bringing to life other cool characters like Blade or Hightail as they make the adventure even more gripping and thrilling. I think it’s going to be an amazing and spooky journey!”
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #11 is available on October 18th. While you wait, check out Mancin’s artwork featured below.
Did you know that fart is the oldest modern swear word? It comes from the early 12th century as a dirty term meant to represent flatulence, the act of letting gas out of one’s butt. What’s interesting about this, is that despite being the oldest swear word in history, fart’s purpose and permutation regarding its meaning has actually stayed rather consistent. Unlike Words like cunt, bumfilddle, and surprisingly at some point in time the word kind.
There is a power to the use of forbidden curse words. Something author Steve Urena has taken quite literally in his latest Kickstarter comic: ‘Foul Mouth’, which sees a fun what-if scenario regarding turning cursing words into… weapons of justice. We talked with Steve regarding the comic, the team, and his success with Kickstarter which you can read right here. You can also support Foul Mouth in getting funded by clicking the link.
So you’ve been Kickstarting comics for a little while now. Can you share what it feels like to have been creating comics these past few years? Where did your journey start and how’d you end up here?
I absolutely love it. I started my comic journey with Slow Pokes and now I’m on my fifth comic, Foul Mouth which is quite amazing. I took a class on comic writing just for fun with Comics Experience and wrote Slow Pokes during the duration of the course. It was well received in the class, so I decided to go for it and have it made. It surpassed any expectations I had and from then on, I vowed to take any money I make from comics and put it into the next projects. I’ve been so lucky to have people come back for each comic while building an audience.
What is Foul Mouth and why should I buy this comic?
After the divorce of her parents, teenager Faye Flik is adjusting to her new surroundings. A new city, a new home, and after accidentally getting possessed by a demon, new abilities that turn her curse words into the ultimate weapon against evil. The more creative her curse words are, the more animated it becomes on the page. It’s got comedy, it’s got heart and a FUCK ton of action. Who doesn’t want to see a superhero who gets her powers from cursing?
Alright, let’s rip the fucking band-aid off. Why, in Satan’s asshole, did you decide to make swear-words your bitch in terms of comics conception? Do you find power in this ri-DICK-ulous premise wherein you can get away with shit that the big deuce, or really, other mediums outside of indie comics can’t?
I had the idea on a walk during the pandemic. I was thinking about what I could write that big publishers can’t do and the idea of cursing came to me. As a big fan of Green Lantern and Venom, I thought a demon possessed superhero who gets her powers from cursing is something I would definitely read. If Foul Mouth calls someone a shit sandwich, the sandwich can appear and help her fight. It’s interesting visually and something that could make for a lot of fun. Cursing is power. Like the question above, when you curse, people pay attention.
Favorite Mother Fuckin’ Swear Word?
SU: God Damn It is my go too but I do love to tell people to fuck off any chance I get.
In all seriousness, you’re doing some pretty amazing shit with Kickstarter. As someone looking into starting one very soon as well, can I ask you, what do you find that works as tiers of incentive? Has your marketing process changed since your earliest days?
Thank you! I always try to do tiers based on things I want to see. I love merch and extra add-ons so if the add-ons have things that are based around the premise of your story, then I think you have a winner. I always do shirts, behind-the-scenes podcasts, posters and this time around I’ve added bumper stickers to the mix. If you’re having fun with your kickstarter, everyone else will.
Full script or Marvel style?
FULL FUCKING SCRIPT!
Can you share your top 3 favorite writers? What about your top 3 favorite artists?
There’s so many to name, but I love Garth Ennis, Kevin Smith, and right now James Tynion. Artists I would say Lane Lloyd, Sarah Davidson, Juan Romera and Sergio Domench because I’m biased. I know that’s four, but they deserve the recognition.
If I had to open up a speech at the Eisners introducing yourself and your inevitable career in comics and what you’re hoping to be known for, would would I say at that point in time?
I want to be known as a creator who shocked, surprised, and made fun comics. I want to be a great storyteller, but fun always comes first. If I’m excited about a project and want to tell everyone while making my parents embarrassed to talk about it, then I have a winner. I also want to be known for being positive someone who drives the medium forward by making crazy ideas come to life.
On Foul Mouth, tell me about your creative team. In particular, the poor soul that has to letter all these expletives?
Foul Mouth is drawn and colored by the extremely talented Sarah Davidson. She brought Foul Mouth to life with her amazing art style and ability to create fun comics. HdE helped the expletives fly with his lettering and together they brought this to life and it’s fucking excellent.
Who’d win in a fight? The Merc with a Mouth or Foul Mouth? How does the battle play out in your head and who comes out victorious?
Foul Mouth vaporizes Deadpool with a literal F-Bomb. End of story. Can’t heal and come back to life when you’re relegated to ash.
Finally, and it’s something I ask everyone I interview who do you think this comic is for? If there was one message or takeaway from someone reading this, what would you like it to be?
This comic is for anyone who wants to be heard. Doesn’t matter who you are, I think you’ll be able to relate to this comic. We’re all just trying to find our voice and our place in the world and Foul Mouth is a superhero who is proud of who she becomes even if it takes a while to figure it out.
Last Wednesday, the Women of Marvel podcast returned with a brand new season. With new episodes to air every Wednesday wherever podcasts are available, this brand new format to the podcast takes a character-centered hero-of-the-week approach. Spotlighting women characters and creators who’ve had large impacts on the overall Marvel Universe. So far, it’s been pretty amazing. Episode one proved to be energetic as the editing blended together well snippets of information while keeping it all relatively engaged.
The podcast this season is hosted by Marvel Publish’s Executive Director for Digital Content Ellie Pyle, who is the same creative director and playwright mentioned in our Monomythic Podcast episode with author Clay Mcloud Chapman. Ellie has been in charge of the Marvel Unlimited line along with serving as the creative lead on the Wastelander’s and Squirrel Girl podcasts, two Marvel lines that we’ve covered throughout the years. Ellie began her career as an editor on numerous Spider-Man titles plus has worked on just about everywhere throughout the company.
Co-hosting this season will be author Pretti Chhibber, who’s an author, journalist, and writer extraordinaire. Chhibber was the author of the Marvel Avengers Assembly series and has written for both SYFY and Polygon, making her comics debut with Women of Marvel #1. She is also the made Spider-Man’s Social Dilemna, an upper-middle grade Peter Parker trilogy from Marvel Press. Pretti Chhibber also has a sequel to Social Dilemma that came out just last week called Spider-Man’s Bad Connection, which you can pick up now.
As for Preeti and Ellie, they kickoff this one with their origins of what brought them to Marvel bringing on more guests that speak with people who are not just experts about the comics, but also, specialists in Jean Grey-related things such as scientists who study recreation of telekinesis, like Doctor France Jackson. Episode 1 brought on guests cosplayer Indra Rojas, Dr. France Jackson, Editor Nola Pfau, and X-Men: The Animated Series writer Julia Lewald. It also broke down Jean’s history as Marvel Girl, her relationship with Scott Summers, and of course, Phoenix. All from the perspective of Jean within the comics, the show, and of course – her evolution from earliest iterations to the powerful Omega mutant and leader she is today.
This season promises an impressive lineup of guests from just about everywhere. Including comic writers and editors Ann Nocenti, Rainbow Rowell, Marieke Nijkamp, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Rebecca Roanhorse, Alanna Smith; artists Jodi Nishijima; authorsNnedi Okorafor, Ashley Poston, Seanan McGuire, Valerie Steele; cosplayers and performers Raisa Cosplay, Dax Exclamation Point; Olympian Casey Kaufhold;professors Sibrina Collins, Katja Friedrich; clinical psychologist Orna Guralnik, and more.
Tomorrow, will be an episode based on Shuri, the Black Panther and sister of T’Challa. If that weren’t enough to want to check it out, I also will get the chance to talk with the hosts of the Women of Marvel podcast very soon about a future episode. In a special Monomythic episode you won’t want to miss.
Horror is such an unusual genre. It is weighted on a different scale than the usual metric ratings of cinema and, for better or for worse, often lower on budget but higher in margins of profit. As such, the horror genre has always been a very fertile landscape for up-and-coming indie voices. Arthouse theatrics serve as equal parts commentary as it is dance with the macabre. Great horror films make some bold statements about the world. They take a unique approach to the genre that says something powerful, uncomfortable, and oftentimes, very important. Making bold statements about our times, and better yet, the monster in the room.
This could be seen in Ti West’s X movie and its spin on ageism, beauty, and sexuality. Or something entirely bold like Ari Aster’s Hereditary, with its twisted approach to family and the interiorization of trauma. Still, one thing should be abundantly clear: that horror stories need to say something. Which is something I think Megalomaniac fails at doing. Serving best, as a dialectic tale of a woman’s choice for normalcy buried by the immediate influence of the terrible men who surround her, and at worst, a beatification to the nature of serial killers. Traumatic histories meant as paltry justification for horrific actions committed in the name of reinforced gender roles of seeing women as subservient creatures of servitude, and worst of all, secondary slaughter-of-the-lamb sorts of victims. Which is what I dislike about Megalomaniac as a film.
Still, it is for that reason that Megalomaniac accomplishes exactly what it entails to do. Horror by depicting terrifyingly accurate intimacies regarding murder, rape, and trauma. This is a movie that does not cut away from the grit and it’s very uncomfortable moments. I stress this not just as a reviewer, but as someone with some of the most difficult cases in the actual field of social work. So, while Megalomaniac does a great job across the board in terms of visualization, composition, style, and tone. I also think it’s kind of terrible that it succeeds in doing so.
And while there are lots of arthouse elements to it in the hallucinations of the internal struggle in aggrandizing with our inner demons, especially regarding delusional self-speech and an incestuous embrace within the family… I have a lot of problems with the message of this movie. From opening to end, it’s the visualization of trauma and seeing our characters embrace this deranged thought logic that is twisted since birth by her family. In essence, it showcases the glorification of the worst in humanity.
Which I think is a real problem.
You see, Megalomaniac begins with a bloody birthing scene that would put ‘House of The Dragon’s’ birthing scene to shame. It’s bloody. It’s gory. It’s symbolic. All to showcase the children of the Mons Butcher who is an actual real-life Belgian serial killer from the 1990s that left women’s bodies on the side of the road chopped up into little pieces. I should stress, that the Mons Butcher was never caught. So why this movie was based on an actual serial killer, and that person’s fictional history and legacy – is a bit distasteful to the respective families of the victims, whom to this day still lack closure.
Though for the sake of getting to the point, the story does a fictional retelling regarding a what if scenario where this real-life killer had children. With a son, Félix (Benjamin Ramon) who choose to continue his father’s work, and more importantly, a daughter Martha (Eline Schumacher), who serves as the main character and our point of view into this dark world.
Stuck at a dead end job as a janitor at a factory while suffering from social anxiety and body image issues (she consistently fat-shames herself), Martha one day gets cornered and raped by the very bullies who make fun of her weight at the factory. All while her boss, whom was initially helpful then becomes cowardly by turning the other cheek while this happened.
This mentally breaks Martha. Struggling in being her own person, she begins embracing her family’s deathly and horrific history and even works to keep her brother’s victims sustained for their prolonged rape and torture.
The problem I have with this storyline, and sort of the point I guess the movie is making, is Martha never really has a choice here. She sees a social worker but keeps up false appearances for the sake of not getting the family caught. She chooses to work independently and keep a separate life from her brother, only to be raped and forced to return to him anyway. Because the movie does such a good job of selling us of Martha as a victim, it costs much, in that she never really has a choice in the first place – all attempts in the story, leading to roundabout ways back to her family, her brother, and the legacy of murder and rape that began with her father and was passed down to their family. This is why in my opinion this film doesn’t work, as there was never a moment of hope for Martha. No sense of choice really. Just bad things leading to her becoming a bad person.
Some of the foreboding warnings of this film, rather accurate which I think should disturb people, is this one line from the movie that stays with me…
“At some point you would have met someone like me.”
Which Martha uses to justify murdering someone in the movie. As a former mental health specialist, again, I think this line is probably true in real life. My problem is that its only layer is as a murder’s origins story, which to the unkeen eye, brushes somewhat on mental health but in arthouse cinema style techniques over actual contemplation. Even if it’s with her own doppelgänger self. In my opinion, this makes the movie no better than one of those superhero Zack Snyder movies. A visual sensation for certain but very little left to interpretation. There is no beauty in this movie. No ambiguity or let alone hope. Only death, decay, and the vile rebirth of monstrocities that will lead to more death and decay.
So because there aren’t really choices here this was not a movie for me. As it was utterly devoid of autonomous agency.
Now, the closest films I’ve seen to this are the 70s rape-revenge story I Spit on Your Grave and Maniac, which showcased murder from the point of view of the serial killer. The acting performances of Eline Schumacher is intimate in the sense that you pity this girl. Atop of the portrayal by Benjamine Ramone who plays such a haunting serial murderer.
As mentioned before, because I’m somebody who has worked in the mental health field and has had to been around real-life people with mental health issues, I will say what disturbs me is how sentimental this movie is in justifying that side of the world. This is Megalomaniac’s great appeal to horror fanatics. Strong visualization via Francois Schmitt’s gothic cinematography mixed with high close-up gore making it disturbingly intimate. You add in wide shots of a gothic taxiturmy dining rooms and slow facial emotions expressed moments before death, and you have something that makes you feel terrible as a human being.
What’s most disturbing is how they keyframe the actors on camera so that the murders don’t feel staged. In fact, it’s probably the most accurate depiction of murders by stabbing I have ever seen, embracing that continuous feeling of stabbing someone up close, blood gushing everywhere, and snuffing their life out before your very eyes.
THE TAKE
Personally, I was appalled and disgusted by this movie. The depiction of rape as a plot device is something less shocking than it was in the 1970s so I don’t think that was a good decision here and the lengthy murder scenes are less dramaticized and more visceral, executed with a serial killer’s intent. For that, I believe Megalomaniac achieves what it intends to portray in showcasing one of the most accurate yet disturbing depictions of psychopathic murder I’ve ever seen in film in terms of its style, writing, and composition. All of which are excellent and worthy of its praise.
But personally, I absolutely loathed the writing because it takes audiences towards the borders of reality and fiction regarding the worst in humanity and then eviscerates it with a jagged edge like a butchered corpse. What’s disturbing to me is that this is not that farfetched a movie, especially given its grounded roots in history and actual acts of murder accuracy, and that’s what makes it horrifying.
It is for that reason alone I demarked it a little in terms of its score because I can’t sit well on my conscious. All that set aside, the rest of the movie? Sure, absolute masterpiece.
In 2018, an Australian collector paid $1.2 million at auction to own a Vincent Black Lightning motorbike, making it the most expensive motorcycle ever sold. Yet the company that once manufactured it no longer exists, and its inventor died in poverty. What happened?
Speed Is Expensive: Philip Vincent and the Million Dollar Motorcycle, a documentary directed by David Lancaster and narrated by motorcycle enthusiast Ewan McGregor, explores that question, delving deep into the history of not only Philip Vincent, but also motorcycle culture across the ages. The past comes to life through extensive photographs, video footage, and newspaper and magazine scans from the early and mid 20th century, when the Vincent motorcycle had its heyday. And, through a decades-old audio interview, we hear from Vincent himself. Sincere and enthusiastic interviews with Vincent’s family, friends, and former employees add layers of emotion and nostalgia for a bygone era.
The film begins with a portrait of the young Vincent, a mechanical engineering prodigy with the privilege and resources to make his visions come true, throwing in a few interesting anecdotes — such as how a phrenologist predicted that Vincent would be a great inventor by feeling his head. The documentary then details how Vincent, with the help of his friend Bill Clark and prestigious engineer Phil Irving, built the small factory in Stevenage, a town north of London.
Inside the Vincent factory in the 1950s
What happens next is the stuff of inspirational biopics — eccentric yet brilliant designs, including an exposed engine, heady motorcycle races, guerrilla marketing… all pursuing an insatiable need for speed. Past and present collide as Vincent’s grandson interviews figures from those bygone days, such as Irving’s widow and motorcyclist Marty Dickerson, who set a record on a Vincent in the 1950s.
Rollie Free reached 150mph in swimming trunks, having taken off his clothes to maximize aerodynamics, in 1948 on a Vincent motorcycle, on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. William Edgar Archive.
Much of the documentary is shot in black-and-white, with present-day interviewees rendered in nostalgic hues in a way that blends into the archival footage and photos. Later footage and interviews are done in color, giving a vivid transition from one era to another.
Vincent’s grandson, Philip Vincent-Day interviews the later Californian record-setter Marty Dickerson
I’ll confess, I know next to nothing about motorcycles and hadn’t even heard of a Vincent until I saw the description for this documentary. Yet I found myself captivated by this detailed look at a cultural history I wasn’t even aware of before. The film does a great job of conveying Vincent’s obsession with speed, at almost any cost, and single-minded dedication to his invention. At the end of the day, it was no secret why the Vincent couldn’t survive from a business perspective: Like any great artist, Vincent cared more about creating something great than being profitable. As the sleekness of the early 20th century faded into the colorful rebelliousness of the mid-century, the motorcycle, like Old Hollywood, became dated. And like Old Hollywood, it wasn’t able to evolve with the times. Yet that frozen-in-time character is what makes the Vincent so valuable to motorcycle fans today.
Jay Leno talks Vincents for Speed is Expensive at his LA garage
Flowing seamlessly between contemplative looks at a brilliant yet flawed genius and exciting flashbacks to the world of racing and record-setting, Speed Is Expensive provides a vivid and mesmerizing look at both the engineer and his creation. At 80 minutes long, it’s a tightly edited film, never getting bogged down, yet also never feeling rushed. Vincent’s motorcycles were a labor of love, and, while watching, one can feel that this film was as well.
‘Speed Is Expensive’ will premiere September 20 and be available on DVD and Digital September 26.
Sorry for the delay in the recap this week. My dog, Danerys, wanted to go to Lady and the Tramp Con this week, and how could I say no? She’d been practicing her spaghetti moves all year.
On this lovely bella notte…
So I did my best to stay spoiler-free until I got back last night. I heard there was a cameo of some note? Let’s check it out!
Ahsoka, Sabine, and Huyang have landed on Seatos. They have no power and no radio, so they can’t communicate back to Hera and they can’t take off. They’ll have to try and stop them from activating the ring from the planet’s surface.
Baylan has sent the guards and droids out to track down their ship. He knows they won’t last long against Ahsoka, so he tells Marrok and Shin to finish them off. Morgan needles him. “Do I detect a not of fear in your voice?” Baylan has a one word response: “Experience.”
Baylan is fast becoming my favorite character in this show. His affect is entirely dispassionate. He’s no zealot. He’s completely clear eyed about everything. Morgan turns on the map, illuminating her Stonehenge locale with star maps pointing the way to Thrawn’s location. She returns to the ring to calculate the precise coordinates while Baylan stands guard. Baylan notes that if the coordinates are even slightly off, they could be lost in the void of space forever. Morgan tells him to have a little faith. “Faith? I lost that a long time ago.”
Meanwhile, General Hera Syndulla is disobeying her orders to go off and help her friends stop Thrawn. Okay, I understand that building a new government is hard and unsexy work, and the council is full of feckless and fickle people, but dammit, that’s exactly why you can’t be blowing off staff meetings to go galivanting about the galaxy! You’ve got to put in the work to make sure a proto-fascist “New Order” doesn’t goose step to power in 20 years or so! We as viewers know that of course Thrawn is coming. They’ve teased it in trailers! But there is exactly no reason why the council should think that. Perhaps if there was some proof of a giant hyperspace ring that Ahsoka could transmit to them…
Anyway, she gets a handful of X-Wings to join her, led by… Captain Carson Teva! Yes, it’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee returning as his X-Wing pilot from The Mandalorian. This is the big cameo, right? Cool! I love Captain Appa!
Back on Seatos, Ahsoka and Sabine quickly dispatch the droids and guards that Baylan sent after them. They then find themselves facing off against Shin and Marrok. Sabine, eager for a rematch, fires on Shin and chases her into the woods, leaving Ahsoka to fight Marrok and his whirly-blades.
Now, there was ever so much speculation online about who Marrok was under the mask. Was it Ezra? Was it someone from the other galaxy? Well, Dave Feloni answered that speculation with a big ol’ raspberry. Ahsoka slices open Marrok’s armor and a black mist flies out. So… was that a Sith ghost? A swarm of gnats? Dunno! Ahsoka turns to help Sabine, but she tells her to go ahead and let her handle Shin.
Sabine handles herself pretty well, her blasters keeping Shin off balance, at least until Shin remembers Oh yeah, I can use the Force. She Force tosses Sabine against a tree and she drops her guns, so Sabine turns to her lightsaber.
Sabine has improved, but Shin is still the better fighter. After she gets knocked down, Sabine desperately tries to use the Force. This stops Shin, but then she quickly realizes that Sabine has no Force powers. Which is fine, since that was just a ruse to let Sabine use her wrist blaster. Shin retreats, and Sabine runs off to help Ahsoka.
Ahsoka sees the star charts around Force witch Stonehenge, and also sees Baylan. They fight, with Sabine trying to grab the map off of the pedestal. Unfortunately, she does NOT remember that she has Force powers and does not think to use the Force to draw it to her. When she finally does grab it, it burns her hand. (Perhaps Morgan put some kind of Force spell on it? Is that why Ahsoka couldn’t Force-pull it to her? Again, never really addressed.) Injured, Baylan is able to force Ahsoka to the edge of the cliff, and as Sabine enters the field, Baylan knocks her over, presumably to her death.
Now, if you have seen more than a few seconds of Star Wars in your life, you know full well that you can’t kill a Jedi simply by dropping them from a great height. (Just ask Luke Skywalker and Palpatine and Darth Maul and…) So, I am 99.99% sure we will see Ahsoka again; it’s just a matter of when it creates the most dramatic tension.
Sabine grabs the ball and threatens to shoot it. Baylan tells her she should. It’s what her master would’ve done. But, if you do that, you won’t see Ezra again. And Baylan knows that he’s the closest thing to family she has left. They both want the same thing! So give him the ball, they will all journey to the far away galaxy together, and she might be able to find her friend. Sabine wavers, and then gives Baylan the map so the calculations for the jump can be completed.
So, here is the main problem I have with Sabine’s betrayal: As I have previously said, I have seen about 1.5 episodes of Rebels. I understand it’s a well-regarded show, but I just couldn’t get into it. So I really don’t know very much about Ezra Bridger, and everything this show has communicated about him has been told and not shown. We are told that Ezra was like family to Sabine. We are told about their close bond. But, aside from a video recording of Ezra and Sabine touching his face on the memorial mural, we haven’t been shown why he’s worth betraying Ahsoka and risking Thrawn’s return. So what should be a crucial character moment for Sabine in the series just becomes, eh, whatever.
Similarly, we get told by Baylan that — unlike Sabine’s former master — he keeps his word. In the series, I haven’t seen Ahsoka lie or trick Sabine, so this is obviously referring to something in their past. But, this hasn’t been shown so far. There are hints as to why Ahsoka and Sabine are cool and often standoffish, but nothing has even been hinted at. Was this something from Rebels? Again, I don’t know, and I’m not watching 75 episodes of an animated series to find out. (And Baylan does keep his word! He stops an angry Shin from Force-choking her.) Once Morgan has locked in the co-ordinates, he destroys the map so they can’t be followed, and then the three of them return to the ring ship.
As Hera and her small fleet arrive, Morgan starts the hyperdrive ring, and they Holdo Maneuver their way off to a distant galaxy. Even though the X-wings are blocking the path, the much larger ship just blows through them and destroys three X-wings. Don’t worry, plot armor has protected Hera and her son (who she brought along on a dangerous mission for some reason) and Captain Teva. Oh, and Chopper, thank goodness! Why were they left unharmed? Dunno. I guess they passed through the middle of the ring?
Meanwhile, Ahsoka wakes up, unsure of where she is. She appears to be on a pathway in some sort of starfield. She hears a voice behind her, calling her “Snips.” She turns around and sees…
Uh, someone who I think is supposed to be Anakin Skywalker?
I know some people get really uptight about special effects, especially in the Disney+ shows. Frankly, it’s never bothered me. I was completely fine with Luke’s appearance in his CGI-de-aged cameos in The Mandalorian. I usually don’t care about the effects unless it’s extremely egregious (like Jaws 3D level egregious.)
This was pretty egregious. This doesn’t look at all like Anakin from the movies or even from last year’s Obi-Wan Kenobi show. If I didn’t know it was supposed to be Anakin, based on his being Ahsoka’s master, I don’t know if I would’ve guessed. And Hayden Christiansen is credited with the role, so I assume it is him, just run through The Irishman de-ager a few too many times.
So we are now halfway through the series, and it’s…fine. I enjoy this for the most part, but none of the leads are really speaking to me. I am quickly realizing that I am not the fan who is going to be serviced by this show. And that’s OK! Star Wars is a big, sprawling franchise. If you don’t like this particular section, there’s Andor. There’s The Mandalorian. There are the movies. There are dozens of comics series. (Hey, when is Doctor Aphra getting her show?) And there are plenty of fans of Rebels who are loving Ahsoka. All the episodes are highly rated on IMDB, so it is clearly finding an audience.
That audience is just not necessarily me. And I still think it’s fine.
