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THE MAGICIANS Recap: ‘Ramifications’ Reveals a Whole New Set of Problems for Fillory

Warning: the following recap contains spoilers from Wednesday’s episode of The Magicians , “Ramifications.” It is a recap, after all! Don’t say we didn’t warn you …

Well, Quentin actually did the impossible: he brought a niffin back to life on The Magicians. I’m in shock, but I’ve never been more proud of our Q!

Sure, he had to use up all of Mayakovsky’s magic batteries to do it (which I’m sure will come back to bite everyone in the butt when magic dies and the batteries are no longer available), but he finally managed to merge Niffin Alice and Shade Alice back together in “Ramifications.” He actually brought her back! Like, for real! And boy oh boy are we glad The Magicians wasted no time after Quentin and Julia traversed the underworld to retrieve her Shade, huh?

But this wasn’t some fairy tale happy ending for Q and his lady. When Alice came back, she was pissed as hell at Quentin for “saving” her. To be honest, she seemed to be no different than Niffin Alice when it came to her attitude and general mannerisms. And so, I have so many questions. 1.) How did being a niffin affect our regular, human Alice? 2.) Does she remember everything she did/felt/wanted as a niffin? What about as a human? Does she still feel/want those same things? Can she even do magic anymore? 3.) Why is she mad at Quentin when he did exactly the same thing of what she was trying to do for her brother?

Thankfully, we slowly got the answers over the course of “Ramifications.” According to Mayakovsky, Alice can’t do magic yet because she’s a “newborn” and has to relearn how to cast. After being able to understand magic on levels humans could not, I can understand why Alice would be a little miffed about losing that. To make matters worse, she’s also quickly forgetting everything she learned as a niffin—and for a knowledge addict like Alice, losing everything she learned is pretty much the worst thing that could happen. But human Alice must remember she didn’t want to be a niffin in the first place, right? And that Quentin did the right thing by bringing her back? Right? Right?! Sigh, I guess we won’t learn that this episode.

Since Alice wasn’t too crazy about hanging with Quentin at the moment, he got to work with the High King on finding a way back to Fillory after Eliot was banished by Ember for unknown reasons, and Quentin gave their button portal to the millennial-hating dragon guarding the underworld gate (hoo). Knowing—thanks to riddles—that the first portal was still working, they tracked down the clock that the Chatwin kids used to enter Fillory in the books, which led them to what they thought was Fillory and Further‘s biggest fan besides Quentin … but the random memorabilia collector actually turned out to be presumed dead god Umber.

Yup, Ember’s brother Umber was alive and well this whole time! Turns out he faked his own death after making a deal with Martin Chatwin: if he left Fillory, Martin wouldn’t kill him in his quest to conquer Fillory. So Umber moved to the next best place in the universe, Vancouver (natch), and collecting Fillory memorabilia and making plans to build a new world. He also dropped some seriously horrifying knowledge on Eliot and Quentin about how they were never supposed to fix Fillory; they were just meant to flounder and entertain Ember and Umber as they failed to rule it. That’s why Ember banished Eliot: he was too boring for the god of chaos in that he was actually doing a good job in leading Fillory. Twist!

So now, armed with the magical clock, Eliot and Quentin plan to return to Fillory. But their plan’s the same was the Beast’s was way back when he only had 10 fingers: figure out a way to conquer Fillory and drive Ember out so he doesn’t destroy it or can’t banish Eliot again. My, how the tables have turned. The heroes have become the villains …or have they? By wanting the same thing as the Beast for a different reason, does that change things? Or does the way they go about it make the difference? There are so many moral implications and questions here, I don’t even know where to start!

Back at Brakebills, Julia re-teamed with Kady and John Gaines to come up with a new plan to take down Reynard: They’d use their knowledge that Reynard hated Our Lady Underground (a.k.a. Persephone, Queen of the Underworld), to lure him out and kill him. But Reynard knew that his son had turned on him, so he killed John’s wife as an “investment in their future.” That completely sent John over the edge, so he used his mind control powers on Kady to force her to kill him, giving her the power she needed to kill Reynard. Combined with Penny stealing The Art of Killing Gods book from the Poison Room, they now had everything they needed to kill Reynard.

And they almost did it, too! But just as Julia was about to pull the trigger with her god-killing gun, Persephone appeared for the first time in decades to ask Julia to spare Reynard’s life. Turns out that the trickster fox was actually her son, and she wanted to deal with him in her own way. Julia obliged, but Kady couldn’t believe Julia would just let Reynard go after everything they had been through in trying to kill him. I’d call that a big win for Julia, making the right call even without her Shade to steer her in the right direction, but Kady’s suffering from PTSD at the moment from being forced to legit murder someone so she’s not exactly thinking clearly.

But let’s go back to Penny for a second. He stole The Art of Killing Gods book from the Poison Room, but not without consequences. His new librarian friend Sylvia died, because the Poison Room is named quite literally for the poisonous air in it. But before she died, Sylvia clued Penny in to some big bad cosmic cataclysmic event heading our way: The Great Blank Spot. Apparently everyone’s life book in the library ends in 20 blank pages, and no one knows why. The Order of the Librarians have known about it for years, and whatever causes it is coming in just a few weeks. Are we looking at another magical apocalypse here? But the Wellspring was just fixed!

But that seems like a problem for season three, because right now there’s a whole lot wrong to deal with in just one episode. Like Penny getting fatally poisoned from being in the Poison Room. Or Prince Ess of Loria taking over Fillory by force after his father was turned into a rat for mysterious reasons. Or Fen, Josh, and Margo being held hostage in the fairy realm. Or Alice still acting like a niffin despite being the first person ever brought back to life after becoming a niffin. Or, you know, the fate of Fillory resting in chaos god Ember’s hands. Things are looking pretty dire and grim. Must be season finale time!

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MAGICAL MUSINGS:

– Quentin putting Mayakovsky in his place was truly a beautiful sight to behold. It’s about damn time! And then Quentin doing the same for Umber later in the hour was just amazing. Quentin is just on his game this week. After a whole season of him moping and grieving and dealing with losing the love of his life, it’s awesome to see him finally getting up and fighting for what he believes in and what he knows to be right.

– Eliot’s speechless reaction to seeing Alice restored to her normal … or, well if not “normal” then at least former self was just perfect.

– Also perfect? Josh’s reaction to finding out he’s the new High King of Fillory now that Margo went to the fairy realm and Eliot was banished, leaving him the only child of Earth left. He immediately got high, declared “Hakuna matata” and fixed most of the issues plaguing the land. Josh is actually a pretty dope leader! And then he selflessly went to the fairy realm to help bring Fen and Margo home. I never thought I’d say this but … Josh FTW.

– I didn’t know how much I needed a rap music video with Josh taking over as High King of Fillory until I got it, and now that’s all I want to see for the rest of my life. That might be the best sequence of the entire season.

– Turns out it was Ember who turned people in Fillory into rats! It was something that had been on his bucket list for centuries, apparently, and now he’s just crossing things off his list before he destroys Fillory for good via total chaos. I guess now we know why he s-t in the Wellspring.

– “I’m a monster.” “You’re a survivor!” This is the exchange I’ve been waiting for all season. After her rape, abortion, and loss of her Shade, Julia has constantly been on the opposite side of our “heroes,” called names and seen as a villain by the other characters so often that she started to see herself as “broken.” I never liked the implications the show seemed to be saying about sexual assault survivors and people who have had abortions being “less than” or somehow changed for the worse permanently, and finally the show addressed that. Julia isn’t a monster, she’s a strong survivor who can overcome her trauma. I think it took a little too long for the series to come to this moment, but I’ll forgive that because they eventually spelled it out. And in choosing to let Persephone take Reynard instead of Julia killing him, Julia was rewarded with getting her Shade back!

– “There are consequences to killing a god.” Persephone’s words are going to have a much larger impact than anyone realizes right now.

QUALITY QUOTES:

Eliot: My pregnant wife is locked up in fairy gitmo, I’m betrothed to a rat, my pinot noir grapes are nearly ripe … my adventure’s just begun. So why else would Ember banish me? [Pauses] Because I’m a f-k up. Yes.

Josh, upon learning he’s the only child of Earth left in Fillory: Oh my god. They were my ride home!

Tick Pickwick: On to business then. Half the court are still rats, the talking beavers are in revolt … they’re demanding dental coverage.

Eliot: Will you please tell me what Puff the magic dragon said to you?

Margo: Why the f-k are you taking a nap instead of looking for me?

Josh: Margo? I thought you were banished.

Margo: No dumba-s, I’m stuck in the fairy realm. How can I see you?

Josh: Oh s-t, she must have mixed in the wrong strain. We wanted “bang like happy pandas,” not “see other worlds.” Never let an amateur pack your bong, OK?

Margo: Listen dips-t, you have to find Raif, the squirrelly little prick who works for the sloth. He got me here, he can get me back.

Josh: You could say please.

Margo: No, I literally could not.

Sylvia: I know it’s hard for men to imagine women having their own reasons for doing anything, but I’m looking for my own book. I’ve been hidden away in a library for the last year, no TV, no wifi. I had to find some way to entertain myself. So I started reading Kanye’s book. By the way, he’s really misunderstood. Anyway, right in the middle of a sex scene, the book just stopped.

Penny: Kanye dies during sex?

Sylvia: That’s the weird part. There were 20 more pages. All blank. It’s a glitch, right? But then every other book I checked of somebody alive, right now, ends in 20 blank pages. The Order’s known about it for years, call it the Great Blank Spot, some kind of cataclysmic badness.

Penny: Well what causes it?

Sylvia: They don’t know, just that it happens soon. Like, weeks.

Penny: When they named it the poison room, how literal do you think they were being?

Sylvia: Let’s just do this fast.

Penny: Yeah.

Penny, meeting who he thought was Fillory and Further’s second biggest fan after Quentin: Holy s-t, there are two of you.

Mayakovsky, trying to “help” Alice: Adderall. To fortify you. Makes you write like Tolstoy. Don’t make face. Drugs are fun.

Umber: If I had to leave Fillory, Canada was the obvious second choice. What is it that you enjoy about Fillory?

Quentin: It reminds me of a time before I realized how s-tty being an adult is.

Eliot: And there’s opium in the air.

Umber: And how do you feel about turtles?

Eliot: Indifferent, I guess?

Quentin: Not a fan?

Umber: Would you sleep easier knowing that your entire world rested on the back of one? Or several?

Quentin: Why are you asking?

Umber: Because as visitors to my previous work, you make for an excellent focus group for my new world.

Umber, showing off his new world shaped like a cube: I call it Cuba.

Eliot: That’s already a place.

Umber: Is it?

Eliot: Yes.

Umber: You’re sure?

Eliot: Absolutely sure.

Umber: Oh. Damn it.

Quentin: You have every season of Law & Order on DVD.

Umber: Most perfect show in creation.

Josh, after the Lorians invade Fillory and start slaughtering the guards in the castle: “Hakuna matata” has failed me.

Umber: Heed my warning: nothing entertains Ember more than a whimsical death.

Julia: Hey, how’s Penny? Still alive? [Pauses] I could have worded that better.

Kady: Yeah.

Josh, as he disappeared into the fairy realm: Tick, tell my story!

Quentin to Alice: The world’s a better place with you in it.

What did you think of this week’s The Magicians? What do you think is going to happen in the season finale? Only one episode left this season, guys! Tweet me and let’s chat all things season two at @SydneyBucksbaum!

Images: Syfy

The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Syfy.

RIVERDALE’s Killing Another Character This Season

Hold onto your crowns, Riverdale fans, because Archie (KJ Apa) and his friends are all on the chopping block.

The CW’s Archie Comics drama has already been renewed for a second season, but someone’s not making it out of season one alive. When Nerdist and other press sat down with executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to talk the next two episodes of Riverdale, he revealed that the rumors about another death on the show before season one ends are — gasp! — true.

“Yes, there is truth to that rumor,” Aguirre-Sacasa revealed to the room of reporters with a smile. But he shut down when pressed more about it, like if the identity of the victim was one of the cast members in the room like Apa, Luke Perry who plays Fred Andrews, Cole Sprouse who plays Jughead, or Skeet Ulrich who plays Jughead’s dad FP.

“I can’t say that,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “The rumored death, if the rumored death happens, it would set up season two.”

The death is likely happening in the season one finale, but at this point, all bets are off on who the unlucky character will be. Though my guess is that it will be whoever ends up being revealed as Jason Blossom’s (Trevor Stines) killer, right? Start the speculation now!

“Gosh, what can I tease you about [the finale]?” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “One really nice thing is that Lee Toland Krieger who directed the pilot and did episode 2 and 3 came back for the finale and has our biggest set piece by far. It has all the different elements that are great about the show combined into one meaning there’s music in it, there’s romance, there’s suspense and horror. All the different things make it the ultimate Riverdale episode.”

But what the showrunner is most excited about in the finale is how the episode “will focus on the relationships.”

“A lot of it will focus on Betty [Lili Reinhart] and Jughead and Archie and Veronica [Camila Mendes],” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “Greg Berlanti, my boss, our boss, the godfather of all this, says, ‘Make sure in the finale you leave enough time and you can focus on the characters.’ It was a really good insight, and for all the crazy stuff that happens up to and into the finale, one thing I’m really proud of is that there are quiet moments and there are quiet scenes between the kids, because that’s what it was like in the pilot. In the pilot it was like, there’s a dance and that’s the story, you know what I mean? You have glimmers of the mystery. It was nice to be able to get back to that.”

Before we can start theorizing on what’s going down in the season finale, there are still three other episodes left to get through. This week’s hour, “The Lost Weekend,” is one of the season’s best chapters, and that’s mostly because it focuses on Jughead and his aversion to celebrating his birthday. Of course, his new girlfriend Betty isn’t going to let that stop her from throwing Juggie a little party anyway. But why does Jughead hate his birthday so much?

“I think just because the attention is all on him,” Sprouse said. “I think there are probably some deeper underlying psychoses behind it, but I think he’s one of those characters that is a little bit vain, and considers himself, honestly, to be better than the people he surrounds himself with. When he’s thrust into this supernormal, kind of conformist idea of an American party, that complicates a lot of that. I also think he’s an introvert, so he’s nervous around large groups of people. I think the attention being all on him is something he would legitimately have a distaste for.”

“And FP took birthday spankings way too far,” Ulrich joked, giving Sprouse a fatherly push as the two men laughed.

“Way too far,” Sprouse agreed with a laugh. “’17 spankings for 17 years!'”

This week’s episode also marks a big moment for Archie and his dad when his mom Mary (Molly Ringwald) surprisingly shows up in Riverdale after moving to Chicago two years ago. Archie’s parents are separated, and the word “divorce” will start getting thrown around no matter how much Archie hates it.

Casting teen idol Ringwald in the role of Mary Andrews wasn’t a piece of stunt casting, according to Aguirre-Sacasa.

“We’re so blessed by all of the actors in the show and everyone who’s up here was cast because they felt like the perfect embodiment of this character in the show,” he said. “So it’s nice that Luke did a really popular show that I liked and that a lot of our audience liked. It’s great that Skeet played these roles in iconic movies that I loved. But really, it’s about what they brought to the table for the roles of Fred and FP and the relationships that they’re creating with their sons. It’s nice that people feel warmly toward the characters of Archie and it is nice when Mary appears and it’s Molly Ringwald. I think people are like, ‘Oh good, it’s Molly Ringwald,’ and I like that. So that does give us a shorthand, but it all has to work on every level for me at least.”

Are you excited to see Jughead’s birthday? What do you think of Ringwald joining the show in such a big way? And most importantly, who’s getting killed off?! Tweet me at @SydneyBucksbaum and let’s discuss all things Riverdale!

Images: The CW

Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

Tracking WOLVERINES: From X-MEN BLUE, OLD MAN LOGAN, and X-23

Wolverine may be dead, but over at Marvel Comics, there’s also never been more iterations of the character running around at the same time. The beloved X-Man was killed off back in early 2015 in the Death of Wolverine mini-series from Charles Soule and Steve McNiven. After losing his mutant healing factor, he gets encased in adamantium, and that was the end of Wolvie. R.I.P. James “Logan” Howlett.

But since then, we’ve had two more Wolverines running around the Marvel Universe instead of one. And now we’ve added even one more…plus, the return of the original Wolverine might be imminent as well! Let’s run down all the feral clawed mutants bearing the name/DNA of Logan, starting with the latest addition, which we’ve just learned about thanks to the folks over at Comic Book.

Ultimate Universe Wolverine

The big X-Men ResurrXion continues this week with the release of X-Men Blue #1, written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Jorge Molina, which features the original five time-displaced X-Men coming under the guidance of the former enemy Magneto. However, this issue also includes a back-up story drawn by Matteo Bufagni that may have introduced another new (maybe not so new?) Wolverine to the Marvel universe. You can see his big entrance down below:

So it looks just like the Wolverine we know, only blonde? Actually, as the folks at Comic Book have pointed out, this character is likely Jimmy Hudson, the son of the Wolverine in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. In the Ultimate Marvel Earth, Logan found out he had a son, and trusted the boy to the care of an old war buddy. Jimmy found out about his true parentage when that universe’s Kitty Pryde brought him a message from Logan after his father’s death. It was also Kitty who clued Jimmy in on the fact that he very likely inherited his father’s mutant gifts.

The Ultimate Universe went bye-bye during Marvel’s big Secret Wars event, but there were survivors from that universe, most notably Spider-Man Miles Morales. Now it looks like Jimmy Hudson is another survivor, and he’s been hanging out in the woods since the end of Secret Wars. Previews for future issues of X-Men: Blue show a clawed Wolverine character joining the team, so we’re can assume that it’ll be none other than Jimmy Hudson.

Old Man Logan

If Jimmy Hudson does join the X-Men Blue team, then he won’t be the only universe-displaced member of the family on an X-Men team. That’s because Old Man Logan, the grumpy and grizzled version of Wolverine from an alternate future, is also now in the mainstream Marvel Universe. His universe was also destroyed in the Secret Wars event, so he’s been stuck in the mainstream Marvel Earth ever since.

He currently stars in his own book, appropriately enough titled Old Man Logan, and is a a member of the X-Men: Gold team. He refuses to go by the name Wolverine, having given up the name when he was tricked into killing his X-Men teammates in his own timeline. But regardless of the lack of codename and costume, he’s very much the Logan we all know and love, just with more white hair and an even worse attitude.

Wolverine/X-23

If old geezer version of Logan doesn’t want to go by Wolverine, well that’s just fine, because his daughter/clone Laura Kinney has taken up the mantle proudly in the pages of All-New Wolverine. For years, the character went by the name X-23, after the experiment that created her. A lot of her origin story was chronicled recently — and pretty accurately to the comics — in the movie Logan.

After her father died, she took on the name and costume of Wolverine, and was a member in good standing of the All-New X-Men cast. She now headlines her own title, and although she’s not currently part of any of X-Men teams, don’t expect that to last too long, especially given her new found movie stardom.

Classic Wolverine

But wait! There might be yet another Wolverine running around soon in the Marvel universe — the original! Yeah, we know he’s dead, but c’mon…this is comics. You knew he’d be back sooner or later. Recently, Marvel announced a new series called Generations, which would team up legacy heroes with their counterparts. Among the characters in the Alex Ross teaser image are Laura Kinney Wolverine, and the old school, yellow-costumed Logan version of Wolverine.

Marvel has promised this is not a time travel scenario or anything like that, which means the original Wolverine will soon be back. But will he stick around this time? Who know, with three other Wolvies in various comics right now, he might not need to. But it would be crazy if Marvel went from one dead Wolverine to four living ones in a single universe.

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What do you think of all these Wolverines popping their claws across the Marvel universe? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Marvel Comics

How the stars of Logan prepared to leave the X-verse

What is Thor Ragnarok’s Infinity Stone Connection?

Marvel Studios must have at least one intern dedicated entirely to Infinity Stone duty, because keeping track of their whereabouts for fourteen movies definitely feels like a full time job.

For those who need a refresher course: there are seven of the deadly, rainbow colored gems and right now we know where six of them are. Asgard is keeping watch over the Space Stone, the Nova Corps have custody of the Power Stone, The Vision is using the Mind Stone as forehead bling, the Kamar Tag has the Time Stone and we can only assume that Howard the Duck is currently using the Reality Stone as a martini coaster in the Collector’s Collection. So that only leaves one stone left to be found; The Soul Stone, and we think we may have gotten our best hint of where it might be in the Thor: Ragnarok Trailer.

The popular theory right now is that Heimdall, the stoic rainbow bridge toll collector played by Idris Elba, holds the Soul Stone. We’ve seen clues suggesting as much ever since the very first Thor movie, the biggest one being that Heimdall has glowing, orange eyes and orange is the color of the Soul Stone. But we think that by the end of Ragnarok, Heimdall is going to get a little unwanted eye surgery and the Stone will end up in the hands of Hela, the Goddess of Death played by Cate Blanchett.

For one thing, if you remember Thor’s vision bath in the middle of Age of Ultron, the God of Thunder foresaw a dark future where, amongst other things, Heimdall had gone blind. And since Ragnarok will be our last big jump into Asgardian lore before Infinity Wars it makes sense that this is the movie where Heimdall will lose those sweet, Soul Stone powered peepers. Then there’s the shot in the trailer of Hela wiping out all of Asgard with one big, orange tinted explosion. There are very few things in the MCU with that kind of destructive power and most of them are Infinity Stones. So we think that sometime early in Ragnarok, Heimdall is gonna go down and Hela will take his Soul Stone from him, paving the way for her to wipe out Asgard and be a major player in the Infinity Wars when they role around next summer.

But what do guys think? Could the Soul Stone be hiding somewhere else? Or will Hela be holding it by the end of Ragnarok? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

We May Be About to See a Black Hole for the First Time Ever

How about this for a shower epiphany: Even though black holes are a core feature of the astronomical model of the universe, as well as a staple of sci-fi (plus a source of inspiration for a very sweet Muse album), nobody on Earth has ever directly observed one of them. Nobody. Never. But in the next few days, as the already-activated Event Horizon Telescope makes an attempt at directly observing the supermassive blackhole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, that may finally cease to be the case.

Photographing a black hole—an object so massive that not even light can escape its gravitational pull—is, unsurprisingly, extremely difficult. Black holes, by definition, are “ideal black bodies that reflect no light,” making them just about the worst thing one would be tasked with photographing amidst the darkness of space. But hope for a direct glimpse of a black hole isn’t totally lost, because just before a black hole’s event horizon (or perimeter after which nothing can escape the pull of the black hole’s gravity) is an accretion disk of plasma that’s spinning around so fast that it becomes extremely hot and extremely bright, even emitting X-rays.

In an excellent TedX talk, MIT Ph.D. candidate Katie Bouman discusses how the Event Horizon Telescope aims to glimpse that hot, bright accretion disk, as well as the “shadow” of the supermassive black hole carved into it. “Getting this first picture will come down to an international team of scientists, an Earth-sized telescope, and an algorithm that puts together the final picture,” Bouman says in her talk above.

That Earth-sized telescope (larger telescopes can capture more light for better resolution) will actually be made up of an international network of telescopes, in places like Hawaii, Arizona, the South Pole, Chile, and Spain. These telescopes will, together, hopefully provide a very limited picture of the accretion disk around Sagittarius A*, which is the spot at the center of the galaxy (26,000 lightyears away from Earth) that is almost certainly a supermassive black hole four million times the mass of our Sun.

Motion of stars around Sagittarius A*

The idea of the Earth-sized telescope only works if there are telescopes completely covering Earth’s surface, however, which there are not. That’s where Bouman and advanced imagining techniques enter the picture—and also literally complete the picture using super-smart algorithms that compare the light received by the Event Horizon Telescope to images of known objects in order to fill out significant gaps.

There’s obviously no guarantee that the Event Horizon Team will find what they’re looking for between now and April 14 (end date for the campaign), but still, a picture of nothing could be worth an infinite number of words.

What do you think about this attempt at photographing a supermassive black hole? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Wikimedia / NASA

Can you get sucked through a hole into space?

What We Want to See in The RICK AND MORTY Virtual Reality Game

We’ve lived on Earth our entire lives, and yet, there’s still so much we don’t know about it. We could learn about a new place every day for the rest our time here and still not get through them all. Imagine, then, what it must feel like for Morty. The Rick and Morty universe is filled with an infinite amount of planets (and universes, for that matter), meaning that he could learn about a new place every second and still never know everything.

This means that Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, the VR game that’s available on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift beginning April 20, has unlimited potential. The game gives players the vantage point of a Morty clone, starting in Rick’s garage before venturing through portals to… well, we don’t know where yet, but that’s what we’re here to speculate about.

This game could take us literally anywhere, so reflecting back on two seasons (and one third-season episode) of Rick and Morty, these are the places we’d most like to go and the things we’d most like to see and do in virtual reality.

Blips and Chitz

What’s the best thing to do while you’re playing a game? Play a game, of course. Blips and Chitz is the most technologically advanced arcade beyond our world, and it has everything: chobbos, flobos, beer, prizes, games… it’s basically Chuck E. Cheese’s or Dave And Buster’s for extraterrestrial beings. Roy: A Life Well Lived is immersive unlike any other video game experience in existence, so hopefully we can give it a go. We’ll try not to waste our 30s with a bird-watching phase, so hopefully a graceful cedar waxwing doesn’t catch our eye.

Unity

Can you imagine walking around a planet where all the people are actually one being sharing a single consciousness? It was trippy enough in the show when Rick walks around and has the same conversation with multiple bodies. In VR, though, is where this capability could shine. The entire planet is under your control, so you could gather as many people as you want to do whatever you want. A 5-on-5 basketball game where you shoot every time? Sure. Make everybody do the mannequin challenge? If you’re into outdated memes, go for it. A lovemaking session with naked redheads in a stadium packed with people who look like your father? If that’s your thing, we suppose you could do that.

Interdimensional cable

We’ve already tried games within a game, so let’s go for TV shows within a game based on a TV show. An afternoon watching absurd programming not rooted in any Earthly logic sounds like an afternoon well spent to us. Plus, Virtual Rick-ality is probably the only place we’d get to watch Alien Invasion Tomato Monster Mexican Armada Brothers Who Are Just Regular Brothers Running In A Van From An Asteroid And All Sorts Of Things The Movie, and we’ve been dying to see that one.

Screaming Sun Planet

This would be funny for about 15 seconds before quickly becoming annoying, but we still really want to strap on a VR headset, look up in the sky, and see a sun shouting without end.

Mr. Meeseeks

He’s Mr. Meeseeks, look at him! A blue, shrill-voiced assistant could be useful in virtual reality, although we’d have to be sure to keep our goals manageable. That means no improved golf game, Jerry. The good news is that Mr. Meeseeks seems to have already been confirmed for the game, so let’s use our power responsibly.

That’s our take, but what do you want to do in Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality? Visit the Citadel of Ricks? Check out the Jerry daycare? Find a McDonald’s that still serves Szechuan sauce? Hit us up on Twitter and let us know what you think!

Images: Adult Swim

AMERICAN GODS Comic Gets Stunning New Variant Cover for C2E2 (Exclusive)

It won’t be long before the literary masterpiece that is American Gods finally makes it onto our TV screens as a Starz series, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that the wait has been excruciating. But in the meantime, there are other ways to lose yourself in Neil Gaiman‘s mysterious world of long-hidden immigrant deities — like with comics books, for example.

The premiere issue of American Gods: Shadows, a new comic adaptation by Dark Horse, has been on the shelves for a couple of weeks already since its release in March. But today the publisher has brought us a special treat: a special variant edition of that first chapter with a C2E2 exclusive-cover by Scott Hampton, who also works on the interior art. Check it out for yourself, and try not to drool on your keyboard too much.

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Diehard Neil Gaiman fans, I hope you caught the lovely Sandman reference in this art. Or perhaps it’s a reference to Gaiman himself? Let’s face it, the two have very similar hair shapes.

“It’s wonderful to receive such a beautiful painting for a cover,” Dark Horse editor Dan Chabon said in a statement. “These days a good amount of the art I receive tends to be digital, but once in a while it’s nice to see something a bit more traditional. Even the interior lettering in the comic is hand-lettered so we’re playing it all a bit more old school.”

Speaking of old school, you won’t find this gorgeously painted cover at your local comic book store any time soon: it will be only be sold at C2E2, and there are only a limited number available. Once they’re gone, they’re gone, like the forgotten Gods of old. It’s more poetic that way, isn’t it?

Are you heading to C2E2? Thank you’ll try to snag yourself one of these? Tell us all about it in the comments!

Image: Dark Horse

 

How FARGO Turns Ewan McGregor into Two Characters

Last month we headed up to Calgary to visit the set of Fargo, to speak with the cast and crew while they were filming the third season of the hit FX series. And oh geez dontcha know they had a whole heckuva lot to share with us, so in the build up to next week’s premiere we’re bringing you the most interesting things we learned there. Today in the first part we’re looking at how one Ewan McGregor becomes two very different character.

The main cast of characters for this year’s Fargo is the smallest of the three seasons. In terms of total actors it’s even fewer than that, since Ewan McGregor is playing two major roles on the show: brothers (though not twins) Emmit and Ray Stussy. Professionally, Emmit is a hugely successful parking lot magnate, and Ray is a lowly parole officer. Emmit’s sharp suits show off both his wealth and how fit he is, whereas Ray’s ’70s aesthetic accents his bald head, portly belly, and low standing in the world. Yes, they might both be played by the same man, but they are very different from each other, and even physically different from McGregor himself.

“Our goal was to not make either one of them look like Ewan McGregor,” said makeup department head Gail Kennedy. While Emmit definitely looks like he is related to Ewan, you’d walk by Ray on the street and never realize who it actually was… which made it strange to interview him while he was dressed like Ray.

The ensemble includes a Hulk Hogan-esque wig (but not a bald cap, McGregor is shaving his head for the show, which also helps with attaching Emmit’s wig), small prosthetic pieces that create a nose bridge and cover up his cleft chin, and a big veal cutlet-looking piece to give him a double chin, as well as a fat suit to create a beer belly. (McGregor did had to gain real weight for the first episode, since he is seen without his shirt on, which allowed him to eat anything he wanted for a few months.)

Then there’s Emmit, who requires him to wear Spanx–at first to help hide his weight gain for Ray, though he continued to wear them as he lost weight while filming to help keep him in character–as well as a curly wig.

While it takes about two hours to turn McGregor Ray, 90 minutes for makeup and about 30 for hair, only half of that time is warranted to bring out his inner Emmit. Of course, sometimes the brothers are in the same scene, or McGregor has to play both parts in a single shooting day, which requires a quick change over. They prefer to start with Ray, since he takes longer and his transformation holds up the production longer, though making the switch in either direction is a lot quicker than starting from scratch.

(You know what really holds up production? When you accidentally put his double chin prosthetic on upside down by accident, which happened one day.)

Besides helping the audience understand that these two brothers are very different people, the physical changes also help McGregor himself. He said that not only does he use the time in the makeup chair to get himself into the mind of either character, but that the different weight and body shape of the brothers helps him play each part. Each has his own way of moving, sitting, and standing that helps convey who he is personally and how he is different from the other. (As for how he makes the brothers similar, McGregor doesn’t think about that as much, saying he just trusts his instincts as an actor.)

These physical differences even means that two different stand-in actors fill in the roles of Ray and Emmit when McGregor plays the other. So it takes two men to do both jobs McGregor is doing alone, a workload that requires him to be on set constantly.

We’re going to guess all that effort will pay off with the audience, though, since it works on set for the cast and crew. Gail Kennedy said when McGregor is Ray it’s all hugs and laughs, but that when he is Emmit she’s afraid of him. “I’m reserved on set, I approach him cautiously,” she said, even though she clarified that McGregor personally is wonderful to work with.

Apparently, this is how most people on set treat the two brothers. McGregor explained that “everyone loves Ray,” the brother who “has soul,” whereas the successful Emmit, who he said is always trying to win at life, gets a much colder reception. Even Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays Ray’s loving girlfriend, has trouble separating Ewan from the two parts. “I don’t know how to talk to him as Emmit,” she said.

If you’re wondering if McGregor feels differently about them, he says he doesn’t have more empathy for one over the other, and actually defended Emmit as maybe being a better person than he is given credit for. At the time we visited, though, the cast and crew still didn’t know how the story ended, so how anyone feels about Ray or Emmit by season’s end is up in the air.

It’s a lot of time, energy, and money to make one Ewan McGregor into two Stussy brothers, but they’ve managed to do it so well that even the people making Fargo forget he’s the same man in either costume. That means it should be really easy for those of us just watching.

What do you think of Ewan McGregor playing two roles on the show? What surprised you most about how they are transforming him? Tell us in the comments below, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for more from our visit to the set as we get ready for the April 19th premiere of the new season.

Images: FX

Groot and Rocket, Batman, and More Ink by Matt Henegar

If you’re in the market for a geeky tattoo, take your time and get to know the artist you want to apply your ink—this isn’t something you want to rush. Get recommendations, look up portfolios online, or visit the tattooist’s shop and browse through binders. By doing your homework, you can see if the artist has the talents you’re looking for. Seeing variety in a tattoo artist’s history is a positive sign: Matt Henegar’s creations include everything from comic book characters, to wildlife, to portraits. He has skills in bringing all of it to life. Look at this fur on Rocket:

I can’t get enough of Rocket Raccoon and Groot. The little heart above Groot’s head kills me.

And now for some Batman! I’d like to point out the excellency of the beard stubble and the texture on the bat symbols–they look like skin.

Please go to the gallery below to see additional geeky tattoos. You’ll find Disney’s Robin Hood, Judge Dredd, some Legend of Zelda inspired ink, and more. If you’re in the neighborhood of Jonesboro, Arkansas, you can score an appointment with Matt at Black Arrow Tattoo. Scope his complete portfolio at Instagram and see the wide variety of art he’s tackled.

If you have nerdy ink on your skin or you’re a tattoo artist that applies pop culture, STEM, music, or other nerd-inspired ink (tl;dr: I want to see practically all the tattoos) on a regular basis, then please hit me up because I’d like to highlight you in a future Inked Wednesday gallery. You can get in touch with me via email at alratcliffe@yahoo.com. Send me photos of the tattoos you’d like me to feature (the higher resolution, the better) and don’t forget to let me know the name of your tattoo artist if you have it, as well the name of the shop he or she works out of. If you are the tattoo artist, give me links to your portfolios and/or Instagram accounts so I can share them with our readers.

Images: Matt Henegar

Hydraulic Press Meets Predator with Thermal Cam-View Crushing

Just as there’s more than one way to skin the proverbial cat, there’s also more than one way to enjoy some nice, satisfying hydraulic crushing. One of those ways is with a thermal camera, which gives us a look at the thermodynamics that result from heavy machinery bending and heating up metal. Incidentally, this method also gives us some insight into how the Predator would experience hydraulic press crushing. (He has to watch something while he’s feasting on human skulls, right?)

In the clip, the Hydraulic Press Channel’s host lines up a series of three metal objects, including a square tube, a round tube, and a small, tough, “no-cheating,” steel ball. Anybody who’s seen any of HPC’s videos before knows that the channel is quite good at delivering crush-thirst-quenching results, like those in this video of a watermelon getting smashed in a helmet, or this video of a billiard ball getting smashed by a 360-degree hydraulic press. But with this thermal camera, which is basically a sensor for infrared radiation (heat), we get a whole new way to enjoy smoosh smoosh pancake time.

As far as why the metal heats up as it’s crushed—at one point reaching 122 degrees Fahrenheit in the video—it’s because the hydraulic press forces the metal to grind against itself along dislocations, which are deformations in the metal’s crystalline structure. As the hydraulic press pushes down on the tubes and ball, it’s forcing the atoms in the metal to grind against each other and heat up. Then, before you know it, you have something in the room that’s warmer than body temperature, which can serve as a great distraction while you—

What do you think about this video? Did the thermal cam totally amp up your love of hydraulic crushing, or is it still just a primitive form of bending? Let us know below!

Images: YouTube / Hydraulic Press Channel