Post by UbiquitousWhat did you watch?
TWIN PEAKS / The Return, Part 16 / 3x16
["No knock, no doorbell."]
"I am the F.B.I."
I guess we won't be seeing much more of Richard Horne, whom Evil C
referred to as "son." Hopefully. Being as he's a rat bastard, and all.
And I guess we won't be seeing much more of Chantal (or Hutch), either.
She's just as evil, really, but somehow I'm gonna miss her a lot more.
In any case, those bullets seemed a lot more definitive than the sparks
and whatnot. And the main draw: THE REAL AGENT DALE COOPER IS FINALLY
FREAKING BACK!!! But the one-armed man tells him that Dougie "didn't go
back in" and is "still out." He gives Coop a ring and confirms that he
still has "the seed," and that he will make another one for Coop. Diane
tells her rape story to Team Gordon and then reveals that she's a
for-real tulpa. A quick trip to the red room and the one-armed man has
another seed. Coop, as Dougie, bids a temporary goodbye to Janey-E and
Sonny Jim before heading off to Twin Peaks with Rodney and Bradley, who
remain as clueless as ever. Audrey dances to some familiar music at the
roadhouse. In a moment of stress, we see that, as many of us have
suspected all along, Audrey isn't really...there. Bottom line: it's
taken what seems like forever, but things are finally looking and
feeling and sounding a lot more like the Twin Peaks of old. Now they
just need to save Audrey and deal with the Black Lodge once and for all.
Grade: B+
THE STRAIN / Ouroboros / 4x07
[His health failing, Setrakian ignores Eph’s warnings, pushing himself
to the limit in his quest for victory and revenge. Fet and Quinlan race
back to Manhattan, while the Master seals off the city and prepares to
eliminate them all.]
"My name is Abraham Setrakian. And you should know I'm not a number
anymore."
Things are heating up as the final season winds down. Dutch and
Setrakian, whose health is declining in a hurry, recover the Lumen book
that Dutch had stashed away on a rooftop a whole bunch of episodes ago.
Setrakian starts ripping out pages, but is it an inspired approach to
figuring things out or another sign of his decline? Lots of reunions
follow. Eph and Dutch are reunited in NYC. Gus is soon reunited with Eph
and Dutch as they shop for medical supplies for Setrakian. Setrakian is
reunited with Gus, but that one comes with a lot of baggage. Some blood
thinners and saline seem to be the recipe for Setrakian, but he also
wants his life-enhancing formula, which he passes on to Eph to
manufacture -- along with a claim that he's actually 95 years old. Creem
is turning traitor on our heroes. He's stupid enough to think that he
can outmanuever The Master in negotiations and gets...stung. With Dutch
eavesdropping, Eph tells Setrakian the whole story of his wife's end and
TaintedZack's betrayal. Eph gives him a good pep talk in return.
Brooklyn Bridge is falling down. Along with every other bridge and
tunnel into Manhattan. The Master is apparently taking no chances when
it comes to keeping that nuke off the island. But have none of them ever
heard of, say, helicopters? Gus decides to redeem himself for past
mistakes. Eph mixes a batch of the magic potion as Dutch forgives him
for leaving for so long. Alex dies at ZombieCreem's hands when Eichorst
confronts her and Setrakian. Eichorst once again makes the mistake of
spending too much time taunting Setrakian instead of just killing him.
And with the help of a bloodstream full of blood thinners, Setrakian
tricks Eichorst to death. Meanwhile, Gus loses a cousin but puts a final
end to ZombieCreem. All in all, one heck of a finish.
Grade: B
GAME OF THRONES / The Dragon and the Wolf / 7x07
[ A meeting is held in King's Landing. Problems arise in the North.]
"No one walks away
from me."
Lots and lots of familiar faces, all gathering in one place -- rich in
dragon history -- to discuss White Walkers. Dany makes an entrance. Lots
of posturing ensues. A wight is used in a show-and-tell session as Jon
adopts an "I told you so" attitude. Lots of sober expressions and sober
moods ensue. Euron learns that the nasties can't swim and promptly
bails, planning to run back to his island with his ships to wait out the
winter. Cersei, OTOH, agrees to a truce and the recognition of the real
(short term, at least) enemy. But she wants Jon to stay out of it, which
he refuses to do as he publicly pledges his loyalty to Team Dany. So the
deal is quickly off and Cersei is willing to let Team Jon deal with the
threat first, and on his own.
This is soon followed by a long chat between Tyrion and Cersie, during
which he realizes that she's pregnant. So I guess it's not a lie or a
fake-out. Then Dany and Jon have a long chat, during which Dany points
out the obvious: she has to help Jon in the north, but the minute she
does, Cersei is gonna go after what Dany leaves unprotected. Tyrion
returns, followed by Cersei and her change of heart. They'll all fight
together.
Back north, Littlefinger is hard at work manipulating Sansa.
Theon and Jon are next to have a long chat regarding Theon's many
shortcomings, with Jon ultimately forgiving Theon to the extent that he
can. Theon, in turn, realizes that it's time to man up and do right by
his sister, Yara, who once did right by him. He literally fights for
control of the landing party and his absence of a ballsack ultimately
give him the win.
Back north again, Sansa and Arya turn the tables on Littleweaselfinger,
proving that I was right that Sansa couldn't have been as stupid and
gullible as she was playing in that earlier scene (or Arya last week,
for that matter). And I so enjoyed watching that asshat die. "Sometimes
when I'm trying to understand a person's motives, I play a little game.
I assume the worst. What's the worst reason you have for turning me
against my sister?" Heh. Stark women for the win!
Cersei reveals herself as the antiJon to Jaime, admitting that she lied
about her change of heart and admitting that Euron is actually on his
way to collect a mercenary army to fight for Cersei's goals. Sneaky.
Clever, but sneaky. Jaime *finally* sees her for what she is and calls
her bluff when she threatens to have The Mountain kill him. But he --
and I -- clearly saw that there was a really good chance that she wasn't
bluffing.
Bran meets with Sam. Bran knows of Jon's parentage, but it's up to Sam
to inform him about the non-bastard part. (I guess Sam was listening to
Gilly more than I realized -- and more than willing to claim her
discovery.) Bran confirms it all with a vision: Jon Snow's real name is
Aegon Targaryen and he is the true heir to the Iron Throne. (It's
amazing what the Internet can figure out way ahead of time when it puts
its collective mind to it.) Which, given that Jon is currently bedding
Dany, could lead to all kinds of awkwardness once Auntie Dany and her
nephew realize what they've just done. Or maybe they'll just do it
again. And again. And again. Hey, it's Westeros, after all.
Back north again, Sansa and Arya bond over thoughts of the late
Littlefinger. The walkers are at the wall. Until ZombieDragon ensures
that there is no longer any wall at all. Unlike a lot of people,
apparently, I'm no too worried about whether a certain pair of guys
managed to survive what just happened. I hope.
Grade: A-
THE LAST SHIP / Bread & Circuses / 4x03
[Nathan James's crew searches for a precious item leading them to a
strange place of opulence and violence where they cross paths with a
most unexpected ally.]
"Hercules? New call sign?"
Everyone wants the seeds. Chandler and the gang have a reunion when
Capt. Slattery steps in to "fight" his former boss in yet another
Giorgio Fight Club special. After throwing the "fight," Slattery takes a
knife to the gut from Chandler's new squeeze and no one else knows
because it makes all kinds of sense to leave your CO on his own like
that. Fortunately, Adam Baldwin has plenty of padding these days
(famine? what famine?) and so Slattery is unlikely to die anytime soon,
at least not from the knife wound. But bad guys with guns while his own
gun lies out of reach? Yeah, that's a different story. Meanwhile,
Chandler's former crewmates make it obvious on more than one occasion
that they're not entirely trusting him these days, given the
circumstances of their reunion. And understandable since the seeds and
the bad guys are all conveniently in the wind at the moment.
Grade: B-
--
Jim G. | A fan of the good and the bad, but not the mediocre
“It smells like bad beer and worse choices. I'll make it work.” – Rosita
Bustillos, WYNONNA EARP