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VIKINGS Recap: The Vision (Season 4, Episode 12)

The struggle is real for the sons of King Ragnar—and if you’re watching this without prior knowledge of the last episode, then welcome to the struggle! Kindly note the heavy spoiler alert and shut it!

The Gods of Asgard have abandoned you, Ragnar. (Some strong Kratos vibes rolling off of Ragnar this season.) That Norse lesson in retribution and guilt which poured over into season four is coming full circle. All the treasures Ragnar gained from his raids are gone. His ultimate vision for conquest is gone.

The citizens of Kattegat—left to let the wounds of Paris fester after Ragnar up and disappeared—have also turned their backs on him. I can’t blame them—an entire generation of warriors were lost during the raid and dozens of farmers were also killed in the ill-fated Wessex colony, which Ragnar deliberately kept secret. So, yeah—a revenge tour to England with THIS GUY isn’t exactly on their RAID-ar (Does anybody remember laughter?)

Instead, Kattegat backs Björn’s more glorious, more alluring voyage to the Mediterranean. They’re setting off in Viking style with Floki’s dope new longships. (Hands-down, Floki blowing a raspberry is the best Floki!) Also, Björn’s raiding team is legit locked down with Harold Finehair and Halfdan the Black—aka the Vikings edition “Bash Brothers.” So, skål to their voyage ahead! Bad news for the other cursed voyage though—especially after Aslaug’s horrifying vision come to life.

But going to Mediterranean isn’t without risks either. A family reunion with Uncle—I mean—Duke Rollo is imminent. If this planned “practical” arrangement doesn’t work out—another Björn vs Rollo match-up is always appreciated. My money, however, is on Rollo’s inner Viking urge to dump his dull court life and boring French family in favor for blood, guts, and glory in a new land! (Cue a very bitter Princess Gisla.)

Let’s talk Ivar—my previous statement from last episode still stands: Ivar is THE jerk of jerks, nearing Joffrey Baratheon levels. His twisted dependence on Aslaug and her blind devotion keeps creeping up, which is a nice contrast to Lagertha’s more warm but liberating bond with Björn. (Let’s put it this way—Lucille Bluth has a lot of “Motherboy” competition next to Ivar and Aslaug!)

I get it—pity is a hard thing to shake, no doubt even more so for a mother to her son. But being a man in a Viking world has come with a lot of demands of Ivar, a son of Odin, and now he’s just bursting with resentment and malice. The raid to England will either be Ivar’s moment to match his brothers’ masculinity and fated glory or it’ll be the death of him, both of which Aslaug can’t stand to deal with ATM. (Insert obligatory cliffhanger.) The history books tell Ivar’s tale with a bit more optimism and vigor, so we can’t exactly fall back on that to foresee this character’s fate just yet. For all I know, Ivar’s endgame could take a tragic turn and result in killing the one thing he holds dear the most… IF he survives.

But let’s not discredit a mother’s fierce devotion to her offspring: in order to proudly stand by her sons, Aslaug had to endured years of Ragnar’s rage and neglect, a fact that he finally admitted to and decently apologized for in this episode. Aslaug isn’t exactly perfect though. Remember a certain mystery man of mythological proportions named Harbard? Remember the happy-la-la land of Kattegat filled with procreating activities involving Harbard? Sigurd remembers. Seems that Sigurd—the lesser of young jerks—will be taking no prisoners when it comes to exacting justice amongst the family Lothbrok.

Speaking of the family—welcome to the tribe, Astrid! (Word to the wise—once you meet Björn Ironside, you’ll never favor another son of Ragnar Lothbrok again.)

I’m firmly team Astrid at this point; any romantic relationship between Lagertha and Ragnar seems like a waste of time. I mean people really love and follow her as Earl Ingstad—a benevolent but mighty shield maiden—not simply “the wife of Ragnar” like some other queens. (I’ve got your shade, Aslaug!) Prepare for battle, ladies because, sadly, this throne is only fit for one equal in Ragnar’s life—and in Valhalla, for that matter.

Next week we return to the shores of Wessex and France in episode 13, “Two Journeys.” For now, leave us with your looming Vikings comments below.

Images: The History Channel

GIF: VikingsHistory/Tumblr

Inked Wednesday #114 – One Man’s STAR WARS, DOCTOR WHO, and Other Geeky Tattoos

Chip Weatherbee isn’t new to Inked Wednesday. One of his tattoos was featured in a past gallery, but it turns out that Doctor Who ink was far from his only piece of permanent fandom. He has eight total pieces showing off his passion for his most beloved nerd topics. They were all applied by tattooists in the Seattle area. We’ll kick things off with this Star Wars art featuring the Millennium Falcon with an actual falcon. Yep.

Inked by Erick Lingbloom from Artful Dodger Tattoo & Comics

And how about this TARDIS?

Inked by Dave Schultz from Art Lab Studios

You can see more of Chip’s fandom tributes in the gallery below. There’s another Star Wars tattoo, some Lord of the Rings-inspired beauties, Serenity from Firefly, and more. Check out the captions for tattoo artist details.

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 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 more hi-res, 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.

Images: Courtesy of Chip Weatherbee

We Don’t Need a BIOSHOCK Movie, Thanks to WESTWORLD

Editor’s Note: this is a spoiler-heavy post, both for HBO’s Westworld adaptation and the entire Bioshock video game franchise as a whole. Obviously, obviously, obviously stay away if you don’t want anything ruined!

Like many of you, would kindly love see Bioshock up on the big screen. It’s an elaborately detailed and beautiful world set in an impossible location and filled with characters that are thin stand-ins for much bigger political and economic concepts. It’s like a college term paper but with more people bursting into flames, which is okay, because they’re often SUPER racist. You get what I’m saying: The Perfect Movie.

The Bioshock movie found its way into production at Universal Studios a few years back, under the title Rapture Rising (this was the first time I realized that maybe Bioshock is a meaningless term to people who needn’t connect it to the System Shock universe). Unfortunately, a hefty production cost, shifting directors, and a focus on doing an R rating wound up sinking the shoot.

Then we got Westworld.

Much has been written about how the creators of Westworld went to Bioshock’s creator Ken Levine for advice about creating a video game world — including how to manage NPC’s on such a large scale — but in the final few episodes of the series, it becomes obvious that they borrowed much more than that.

The character of Bernard is forced at one point to murder a character he loves, and then later to murder himself, all while his master reminds him that he has no control over his choices and that he can forgive himself when he makes piece with that. For anyone who ever went golfing with Andrew Ryan, the comparison seemed obvious.

A man chooses. A slave obeys.

But later, Westworld also asked the Bernard character to reconcile his identity versus the identity of a character he thought he was pursuing through time and memory. This engineer, who is also a person of color, must then face the difficult realization that he is the same person whose footsteps he’s been walking in.

Minerva’s Den from Bioshock 2 hinges on an ending twist that C.M. Porter, an engineer of color whom you’ve been pursuing the entire game, is actually you. In back to back weeks, HBO’s show seemed to be directly re-purposing the clever devices that made this game series such an incredible hallmark of interactive storytelling.

I went into the season finale prepared for Bioshock Infinite to be mined for similar effect, especially since Dolores was dressed almost identically to Elizabeth from that game. Luckily, we mostly dodged the bullet there, but the damage / effect of this is impossible to take back. Because it would be impossible to make a Bioshock movie now without audiences comparing it unfavorably against the most watched TV show of the year. For better or worse, most of the gaming series’ best hands have already been played on such a large scale, that it effectively dooms any further adaptation.

Now, is that the worst thing? Absolutely not. To me, this seems reminiscent of the changed twist in Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen where the big ending was changed but the ideas were effectively communicated to the audience, albeit in a greatly altered format. In many ways, the Westworld adaptation of Ken Levine’s ideas is actually a better fit than an actual film, since the season long television format allowed for the kind of world/character building on a time frame more comparable to a AAA gaming experience instead of a compact 100 minute version of the same thing.

Point being, when you step back and take a look at what Westworld has accomplished in storytelling about fate, and gods, and awareness, the checklist is pretty complete. Between the bridges burned for non-fan audiences now and the deep-dive that the Nolans accomplished in only ten episodes, it seems like making a Bioshock film at this point would only serve to be redundant, unless you really need to see men shoot bees out of their hands.

What do you think? Does Westworld scratch your itch for the entertainment version of the weird philosophical nightmares that Bioshock dabbled in? Or do you still really want to see the sunken city up on screen? Sound off in the comments.

Images: Irrational Games

The Original POKÉMON Theme Song Was Very Different in The U.S., Japan, Korea

When we saw the first Pokémon anime theme song re-recorded by Jason Paige, the guy who originally sang on the track, this summer, it was both awesome and weird. Awesome because it was neat to see the person behind the song, and weird because, oh yeah, there’s an actual person behind this iconic, dramatic voice we’ve sang along with since the ’90s.

Then, we came across this new video today that also sort of weirded us out, because while the American version of the theme song is indelible in our minds and forever associated with the U.S. dub of the anime, it shows that what is iconic for us is completely alien to fans of the exact same show in a different language. We know and love the American version of the song, but the Japanese and Korean versions are wildly different than the song we’re familiar with, and to those fans, it’s just as memorable.

In the clip, American YouTuber Dave Levene sits down with his Japanese friend Erina and his Korean friend Jaein to listen to and discuss the Pokémon theme songs from their respective countries, and as Levene put it, “The Korean version was really Korean, the Japanese version was really Japanese, and the American version was very American.” The U.S. version is the big-sounding rock anthem we’ve always known, while the Japanese version is a rock-oriented, melodic J-pop track, and the Korean song is set to a thumping dance beat.

The three of them also talk about the differences between each country’s “Pokérap,” so check it out above!

Featured image: The Pokémon Company

Sega’s ALTERED BEAST and STREETS OF RAGE May Become Films or TV Shows

Old school gamers may recall the glory days of the Sega Genesis, which added the popular action titles Altered Beast and Streets of Rage to Sega’s impressive lineup of 16-bit wonders. Nearly three decades later, these franchises may live again on the big screen or on television.

Variety is reporting that Sega is teaming up with Circle of Confusion and Stories International to adapt Altered Beast and Streets of Rage as potential movies or television series. Considering that Circle of Confusion has a track record that includes The Walking Dead, Outcast, and Dirk Gently, there’s a strong possibility that these projects may go forward.

Streets of Rage may be difficult to bring to live-action simply because it was a pretty generic Final Fight clone. Streets of Rage II had a great soundtrack, and the game was fun, but that’s not a lot to build on. Altered Beast, however, has a lot of potential as a series or a movie. The original game only hinted at the story of a fallen Greek warrior who was resurrected by Zeus to rescue Athena from a god of the underworld, but it had the amazingly fun feature of letting the player-controlled character transform into a werewolf, a weretiger, a werebear, and even a weredragon.

Using the traditional Greek mythology would be an easy way to expand on Altered Beast‘s world and backstory, but its premise doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to the past. Sega’s 2005 reboot of Altered Beast brought the action to the present, and explained that its main character was a “Genome-Cyborg” who could shift between different anthropomorphic forms. That premise wasn’t quite as fun as the original mythological take on the concept, but between the two games there is at least a framework for fleshing out the franchise.

Sega and Stories International have previously attempted to adapt Shinobi, Golden Axe, Virtua Fighter, Crazy Taxi, but those projects have yet to come together.

Which Sega games do you want to see as films and TV shows? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: Sega

From Sega to Nintendo

Childish Gambino Released a Virtual Reality Music Video for “Me and Your Mama”

It looks like Childish Gambino’s promise to release a virtual reality vinyl may be real. Well, kind of. The rapper-turned-funk-singer released a VR music video for “Me and Your Mama” which puts the viewer right into the audience’s position for a wild ride. If you’re not fully convinced, stick with traditional music news like Ryan Adams’ new single, a collection of Instagram dogs singing Kanye West, a short film by Kristen Stewart that sees St. Vincent behind the music board, Patti Smith’s heartfelt protest song, and a big collaboration between artists like Sharon Van Etten and Jeff Tweedy that will make you laugh.

Funk has possessed Childish Gambino, and with it comes superhero abilities to do, well, things that don’t seem real. He promised his new album, Awaken, My Love!, would be released as part of a “virtual reality vinyl” in 2017, but no one really knows what that means. He still hasn’t explained much, but his newest music video may be a look into what we can expect. “Me and Your Mama” gets a VR makeover that places viewers in the front row of his PHAROS concert event while he performs the song live. It’s entrancing and vivid, adjectives we hope will be applied to the vinyl in similar ways. Check it out above and let your cursor guide you through the space. We’ll let you know if the upcoming vinyl will be similar as soon as we find out more. [Spin]

Speaking of 2017, there’s more to expect. The best thing about a new year isn’t making resolutions or watching the ball drop. It’s realizing a bunch of albums by your favorite artists are on the way. One of 2017’s sweet treats is a new Ryan Adams LP. The rock singer-songwriter announced Prisoner, his follow-up to cover record 1989, will come out February 17 via Pax Am/Blue Note. Luckily, you don’t have to wait for the new year to actually begin in order to hear what the record will sound like. Adams shared lead single “Do You Still Love Me?” already. It’s bluesy and full of gusto, drawing even more similarities to Tom Petty, without losing Adams’ niche flair. Check it out above. [Pitchfork]

Kanye West‘s work brings about plenty of imitators, but never anything quite this ruff. A bunch of Instagram-famous puppies parodied the infamous “Famous” video to help raise money for AIDS charity organization (RED). That may sound ridiculous (and, well, I guess it is), but it’s super cute. What else is better than seeing a bunch of dogs curled up in a super giant bed? Nothing. How could you be so bark-less to think otherwise? [Consequence of Sound]

I composed the soundtrack for Kristen Stewart’s new short film Come Swim, which is also premiering at Sundance! https://t.co/ZE7rUmO206

— St. Vincent (@st_vincent) December 6, 2016

Superfans already know St. Vincent and Kristen Stewart have been dating, but now it seems they’re ready to take their relationship to the next level: the business room. Annie Clark scored Come Swim, Stewart’s directorial and screenwriting debut film. It’s a short film about one man’s day as half impressionistic and half realistic. If it leaves you hungry for more, spin St. Vincent’s self-titled album from last year or check out the other films in Refinery29’s Shatterbox Anthology series where Stewart’s comes from. [Consequence of Sound]

Last Friday, a fire in Oakland saw a warehouse burn to the ground. It was a house venue that many musicians and artists performed at, and, unfortunately, the event saw 36 people die. To honor those who passed away, Patti Smith dedicated a performance of “Peaceable Kingdom” to the victims of the fire when playing at a Democracy Now! 20th anniversary event in New York City on December 5th. Watch footage of it above, where she not only performs the song beautifully, but gives a passionate speech. “We need our young people,” she begins. “We pin our faith on them. They are going to make the most revolutionary changes in human history. They will continue to build peace movements, to protect our environment. And so we sing this little song for them.” Yeah, it may or may not make you tear up a bit. [Rolling Stone]

Jason Narducy is in Bob Mould Band and Superchunk, but he also leads another band called Split Single. Most music lovers may not be familiar with them, so it’s okay if you don’t know the name, but now you have a wonderful reason to: this ridiculous video. The band shared a two-part series called “Sexiest Elbows in Rock Music” which sees Narducy trying to be taken seriously when the industry only wants him for his elbows. Ugh, so relatable. It will keep you laughing from the moment Pixies‘ Frank Black shows up to Sharon Van Etten‘s cameo to Jeff Tweedy‘s appearance and more. Then, if you’re compelled, check out Split Single’s Metal Frames LP which is available now. Both are worth your time, albeit for totally different reasons. [Pitchfork]

See you back here on Friday for another Music Dispatch!

 Image: Glassnote Records

THE FLASH Recap: Barry Gives Iris “The Present” for Christmas

Editor’s note: This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of The Flash ! Proceed with caution, speedsters. For reals, if you haven’t yet watched this week’s episode, “The Present,” we highly suggest you do so before proceeding. Okay? We good? Let’s go.

It’s Christmastime again in Central City. Of course, since this is The Flash‘s third season, we shouldn’t expect things to be any less angst-ridden than they have so far this year. Fortunately, there’s at least some holiday magic to be found in the midseason finale “The Present.”

While The Flash would seem to be the perfect show with which to do a Dickensian pastiche (what with its time-travel component and penchant for homespun moralizing), “The Present” merely nods to A Christmas Carol in its rush to wrap up some of season 3.0’s lingering plot threads and introduce a few new ones for 3.5. But we do get versions of the Ghosts of Christmas Past (in Cisco’s brother Dante), Present (via Jay Garrick and his advice on the here-and-now to Barry), and Future (the grim, masked Savitar).

Starting with a flashback to the Indus Valley four years ago, we learn how Julian became linked to Savitar, the first meta with speed, and took on the role of his herald, Doctor Alchemy. Team Flash also discovers Julian’s secret, after Barry enlists Jay’s services to stop the diabolical duo. Our first look at Earth-Three offers a stocking stuffer many Flash fans have long wanted: the chance to see John Wesley Shipp battle his former TV arch-enemy, Mark Hamill’s Trickster.

Marketing materials for this episode made it appear as though we’d be getting a lot more of the Trickster than we actually do, but what we get of him is pretty choice. An Earth-Three makeover makes him appear much more like the Joker than Earth-One’s Trickster. It’s worth noting that the Joker was definitively voiced by Hamill in Batman: The Animated Series, yet the actor’s turn on the original Flash series predated his Clown Price of Crime; and he clearly incorporated his Trickster into his Mr. J. All of which is to say that the brief glimpse we get of him here takes things full circle.

Once Jay arrives on our Earth, things really start cooking, in an even more fleet-footed episode than usual. Savitar runs off with Jay while Barry confronts Alchemy, and learns that by closing the box containing the Philosopher’s Stone he can temporarily imprison Savitar. But then Julian is brought to STAR Labs and Savitar tricks Cisco into believing he can bring back his late brother by reopening the box. With Savitar set free once more, he immediately proceeds to kick Barry and Wally’s asses.

eeOnly Caitlin’s pleading with Cisco to close the box saves their lives. Jay and Barry then decide to throw the stone into the Speed Force, a move which accidentally hurls Barry several months into the future (right around the time of this season’s finale, I’ll wager). There, he sees Savitar slay Iris before his and his future self’s eyes. Before he succumbs to grief, however, Jay tells him the future hasn’t been written yet, that it’s always changing, and that he must focus on the present.

Introducing the death of Iris—once a major turning point for the Bronze Age 1980s Flash—is an interesting move in that it gives her a more integral role for the remainder of this season (even if, on one level, it’s that of a McGuffin). At the same time, the show’s already so defined Barry by loss that the thought of him losing yet another family member to a homicidal maniac, or even the potential he could lose someone this way, weighs heavily on a series we’ve long been told is a sunnier alternative to the grim goings-on over at Arrow.

In any case, at least we have HR to bring us some yuletide cheer. Tom Cavanagh has never been funnier than he is in this episode, relishing the opportunity to play comic relief as “the fake Wells” instead of crank. It’s ironic that the darkest character in the show’s first season (or at least a variation thereof) has emerged as the one reliable source of levity this year. It’s no wonder he’s taken a shine to Wally, who’s at long last emerged as the bright sidekick he was always intended to be. One who’s as excited to be almost killed by Savitar as the rest of Team Flash is horrified.

It’s a good thing. Because something tells me Barry will need all the help he can get from both Wally and Jay as he faces an uncertain 2017. Though for the time being at least, we’ll have to take some comfort from the fact that he’s able to face it in a new life with the woman he loves.

Accelerated Particles

— Sexiest “nog off” ever.

— I love that Tom Felton came to fame in a movie called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. (Even if it was retitled for Americans.)

— I understand why Barry felt he needed to reveal his identity to Julian, but at this point, is there anyone left in Central City who doesn’t know he’s the Flash?

— Any takers on who will “betray” Team Flash? How about who “will suffer a fate worst than death”?

— “That…was so…scary! I mean that was…was it not truly frightening, what with the voice and the prophecy… I’m gonna go have a mint tea and a coffee and a lay-down.”

— Nice nod to the greatest Flash artist of all time when Barry wakes up on [Carmine] Infantino Street.

— “Caroling in the rain? That sucks!”

— “Hey, Joe, I saw you kiss her. Good job!” Drunk HR is almost as much fun as drunk Caitlin.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter (@JMaCabre).

Images: CW

SCREAM QUEENS Recap: Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for Scream Queens . Proceed with caution if you’re not caught up. Seriously. 

Just when things were staring to drag a bit in Scream Queens, we were hit with a blast from the past, murder, and the reveal of the third Green Meanie! Of course, there was also a lot of relationship drama, amazing costumes, and more sleuthing. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dig in.

When the cast of Scream Queens‘ second season was revealed, Skyler Samuels (who played Grace Gardner in season one) was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t until last night’s episode, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel” that the characters even mentioned her. And boy, did they mention her. But the “blast from the past” I mentioned in the intro wasn’t Grace; it was her father, Wes!

During the episode, we learned that following the conclusion of season one, Wes and Dean Munsch had a serious fling. Serious as in they were shacking up in the woods. There was beer-brewing, lovemaking, and a lot of thinking about the whole situation on Munsch’s part. They eventually split…that is, until Wes showed up as a patient at the C.U.R.E. Institute because of a hairball stuck in his stomach thanks to a nasty habit he developed. Thankfully, Doctor Cascade was able to remove the hairball.With that out of the way, Wes was ready to go back for seconds with Dean Munsch.

Meanwhile, Zayday fell back into the fold after her absence last week. All of the novice detective work she did with Chamberlain really bonded the pair… and she wanted nothing to do with it. After receiving a barrage of text messages from Chamberlain, Zayday distracted herself with Instagram and Snapchat, as one does. At the end of the day, she decided to keep looking around with him to get to the bottom of the Green Meanie mystery.

Putting her detective skills to work, Zayday decided to team up with Chamberlain to set a trap for the killer. Knowing full well how recognizable the unique Meanie costume is, the duo want to find a way to grab a piece of the cloth for identification purposes. As Zayday prepared for a bath, the Green Meanie took the bait and showed up, not knowing that Zayday was about to hit him with a taser gun. When Chamberlain showed up to take a crack at the killer, he (or she) got away, but not without Zaday grabbing a piece of the costume. Now they’ve got an official, real-life clue!

Before we discuss where that clue led them, let’s take a breather to talk about Chanel. The age gap between Chanel and Doctor Holt is starting to weigh on her, especially after his reaction to her favorite TV show being Boy Meets World instead of M*A*S*H. To sort things out, Chanel and Hester plan an epic “greatest generation” party for Holt, featuring things they thought were representative of his era and tastes. Sadly, Shirley Temple was a bit too far back, which ended up offending him. Oh boy.

Now back to the good stuff. After grabbing a bit of the Green Meanie costume, Zayday and Chamberlain narrowed their search down. They learned that two costumes were bought by who they think is Jane, and another was bought by a man. After confirming her assumption, Zayday learned that Jane did in fact buy two costumes, while the other was purchased by her brother along with the direction to kill anyone who tried to make things work in the hospital. Much like last season, Zayday also ended up drugged and trapped in the house.

Meanwhile, Chamberlain, who was still at the hospital, discovered that the very same green material found in the costume was found in one of Wes’ hairballs. Finally! Wes’ creepy vibe has been validated. He is the other Green Meanie, completing the terrible trifecta with Doctor Cascade and Nurse Hoeffel. What a group!

When Chamberlain went to confront Wes, he wound up dead (no surprise there) because he can’t have the truth get out. According to the conversation, Wes revealed that the reason behind his murder spree was because he blamed Chanel and the girls for messing Grace up so much that she had to go to a mental facility. The plot thickens!

What do you think will happen next week? As a reminder, there are only two episodes left!

Images: Fox

We Might Get Curved Space Coins to Commemorate the Apollo Moon Landing

In terms of outer space, 1969 was a pretty neat year: The Apollo 11 spaceflight landed on the moon, making astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface. We’re part of the group that believes the moon landing wasn’t faked, so we suppose it’s an event worth celebrating. Our country’s House of Representatives seems to agree with us, as they just passed a bill that requires “the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon” (via Gizmodo).

The bill, titled H.R. 2726, says that the Treasury will create convex coins “to more closely resemble the visor of the astronaut’s helmet of the time,” so it won’t be like the flat coins you’re used to. As for what the coins will be, we’ll be able to get our hands on $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins, the designs of which will be decided by a contest, the winning design of which will be “emblematic of the United States space program.”

The treasury will sell the coins with a $10-$50 surcharge, and the proceeds will benefit the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum’s “Destination 3 Moon” exhibit, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. These coins aren’t yet a foregone conclusion, though, the as Senate must still unanimously vote to approve the bill, and then the President has to decide whether or not to sign the bill into law.

We need curved space coins, so let’s make this happen, America.

Featured image: NASA

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: Ghost Rider Writes “The Laws of Inferno Dynamics”

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.! Proceed with caution, agents. If you haven’t yet watched this week’s episode, “The Laws of Inferno Dynamics”, we highly suggest you do so before proceeding. Okay? We good? Then let’s go.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans can relate to the opening sentiment in A Tale of Two Cities better than ever these days. Because after an extended break, the show has given us two outstanding episodes back to back, only to go on…an even longer break for the holiday season. But hey, if “Leave ’em wanting more” has become the series’ new mission statement, well, it’s a mission that S.H.I.E.L.D. has gone above and beyond the call of duty in carrying out.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has never shied away from addressing real-word concerns, such as drone technology in Captain America: Winter Soldier or the registration of minorities in its follow-up Civil War. But I’m hard-pressed to think of a moment in recent Marvel movies that’s so clearly ripped from the headlines and so effectively tears at the heartstrings as Eli’s showdown with Robbie in “The Laws of Inferno Dynamics.” The good Doctor Morrow’s made an effective enough antagonist since he was revealed as such several episodes ago, but this week’s episode gives him the one thing that distinguishes a just-okay villain from a damn good one—depth.

After impaling Robbie in a radiation chamber, Morrow explains to him that his use of the Darkhold was never about money or power, but about respect. Since it was the one thing denied him time and again in school and his career. When he describes the condescension with which his colleagues viewed him (“They looked at me like they were better, like they were smarter“), it’s abundantly clear, even without him stating so, that he was a victim of prejudice. And with so much talk throughout this recent and brutal election season about the treatment of Latinos, it’s impossible not to feel the man’s pain; even as he makes Robbie writhe in near-death agony.

Morrow isn’t the only person craving some form of respect this week. Elena returns when Coulson first convinces Mace to use her, Daisy, and Robbie in the assault against Morrow. She’s the character we’ve seen the least of this season, and the one who’s most longed to become a regular part of S.H.I.E.L.D., specifically the life of its shotgun-axe-wielding Mack. I was honestly ready to throw something at the screen this week when it looked like he was about to let her walk off after they’d completed their mission. (I actually shouted, “We’ve never even seen you two kiss!”) Thankfully, S.H.I.E.L.D. came through once more.

The Mack-Elena coupling couldn’t come at a better time either. Because the two characters most fans have been shipping this season (Coulson and May) have themselves a big, artificially intelligent obstacle to overcome in the form of Aida. There was no doubt after Aida was seen assembling a new brain (or recalibrating the one she has) at the end of “Deals with Our Devils” that Radcliffe’s pet project was up to something sinister. But watching her snap Nathanson’s neck like a breadstick while holding May hostage, instantly catapults her to Big Bad status—and makes the wait for S.H.I.E.L.D. 4.5 even more unbearable. Mallory Jansen has been batting a thousand so far this season, effortlessly juggling all the humor and pathos the show has thrown at her. So there’s no reason to think she won’t make for an enemy without peer next year.

I’m just hoping Aida proves to be the one villain the show doesn’t kill off. As an android, it shouldn’t be all that difficult for Fitz or Radcliffe to rewrite her programming, and for her to rejoin the team. In the meantime, though, she’s definitely on Santa’s naughty list this Christmas for how she’s torturing those of us on Team Philinda.

Declassified Deliberations

— “The Laws of Inferno Dynamics” is pretty light on action until the team’s battle with Eli’s men, when it rallies big time. Elena running through the melee, lending a super-speed assist to Mace, Mack, and Coulson is the stuff of superhero comic-book dreams. Even if it does borrow a little of its visuals from the Quicksilver scenes in Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies.

— Speaking of comics… We get shout-outs to both the original Ghost Rider and the comic-book version of Quake this week. As well as one for the science-fiction lit nerds among us — Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

— “Okay, forget about the fact that I was moderately attracted to her. This totally goes against the Sokovia Accords.”

— Kudos to the show’s writers for finding an organic way for Daisy to rejoin the team, and one that deepens her relationship with Mace.

— “I do not like magic. Or clowns. Or clowns with knives in the dark.”

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter (@JMaCabre).

Images: Marvel/Disney/ABC