Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2301

GOTHAM Recap: The Mad Hatter Arrives in ‘Mad City: Look Into My Eyes’

Warning: this recap contains spoilers from Monday’s episode of Gotham, “Mad City: Look Into My Eyes,” because it’s, well, a recap! Don’t say you weren’t warned …

Gotham has officially gone mad.

Iconic DC Comics villain Mad Hatter has finally arrived to wreak havoc on the city of Gotham, and this week’s episode, “Mad City: Look Into My Eyes,” was all about his introduction, having just moved to the city from “up north.” And if the mysterious, calm, psychotic Jervis Tetch didn’t give you the total heebie jeebies, then you must be as mad as he is.

The first place we saw him was at Sirens, Barbara and Tabitha’s glam new club. The Mad Hatter, aka Jervis Tetch, put on a show to entertain the crowd, hypnotizing the patrons into making fools of themselves by acting as animals. But it was all just a warm up for his grand finale: making an unsuspecting, rich doctor balance on the back of a chair. But unseen by everyone, Jervis also whispered a few words into his ear that made him open up his home to Jervis later that night. He forced the husband to kill his wife and bury her in the garden before killing himself, leaving their home and things all for him. Turns out he’s come to Gotham searching for his lost sister Alice, who’s down on her luck and has some kind of destructive powers of her own.

The next day, Jervis sought out Jim Gordon at his apartment for help in finding Alice. He told Gordon he was her guardian after their parents died, but when her “condition” of a rare poison in her blood proved to be too much for him to handle, he got help from none other than Professor Strange. Strange locked Alice away in Indian Hill, claiming she needed supervision 24/7, and Jervis never saw her again, but after the break out he had renewed hope of finding her. He doubled the GCPD’s payout and offered the money-hungry Gordon $10,000 if he found Alice, and Gordon, of course, agreed.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce and Alfred helped Bruce’s Indian Hill doppelgänger settle in and got him some food while they could only stare at him in shock. Once he was fed, he told them that the situation was weird for him too. He told them his name was Five, short for 514A, since that’s what he called in Indian Hill. He couldn’t remember anything of his life before he woke up in Indian Hill a year ago. Alfred didn’t want to trust him, but Bruce offered him a place to stay while they figured out more about where he came from or if he was even human at all. Curiouser and curiouser: it seems as if Five can’t feel pain, since he was burned by a candle while eating and didn’t even flinch.

When sparring with each other the next morning, Alfred and Bruce realized that not only could Five not feel pain, he also had some serious boxing skills. They also noticed his rather large scar on the back of his neck. But when Selina came to confide in Bruce about Ivy’s disappearance, Bruce made Five hide, and he seemed to be jealous at Bruce and Selina’s connection and started to imitate Bruce’s way of talking. Then he cut his hair, stole Alfred’s car and pretended to be Bruce while hanging out with Selina. What is his end game here?

And now, let’s check in on Gotham‘s new love triangle! After sleeping together, Valerie Vale made it clear that Gordon’s new crash pad isn’t exactly a palace in her eyes, and he seemed more than ready to make it nicer for her. But Lee just made her big return to the city of Gotham, and Barnes wanted her to rejoin the GCPD in her old job. He was making the case to her just as Gordon showed up to collect his bounty money. It made for one seriously awkward reunion as Lee told Gordon she was moving back to Gotham permanently with her fiancé, who was just offered a job at Gotham General Hospital.

As luck would have it, that’s the very same doctor who had to stitch Gordon up after a fight with Alice’s old boss went south. After getting Selina’s help, Gordon had found the bar where Alice worked burned to ashes, and her old boss told him she was the one who set it on fire after she had cut herself and her blood got on the counter. He wanted revenge, so he went after Gordon, and Gordon took him out but suffered a nasty cut to his head, hence the stitches. Lee’s fiancé Mario seemed like a good guy, and even tried to make sure there was no bad blood between them. Gordon promised him he’d get no trouble from him and that he and Lee were old news. That sounds like a bunch of crap if you ask me. But Gordon’s still in denial, so we’ll let that one slide for now.

But Mario did have an address for Alice since she also came to the hospital to treat her cut, and Gordon found her just as she killed her skeezy landlord who she had accidentally infected with her blood. He went crazy, and so she shot him and burned his body. She also freaked out when Gordon told her that her brother was looking for her and bolted.

Back at Sirens, Jervis showed Babs just how talented he was and hypnotized her into thinking he was irresistible. We’ve all seen how that plays out before, so thankfully Tabitha intervened before things got bloody. Then Gordon showed up to confront Jervis over how Alice acted, and he ended up hypnotizing Gordon and tried to make him commit suicide on the roof. But Alice showed up in the nick of time and tried to shoot Jervis with Gordon’s gun. She saved Gordon’s life, and he repaid her by cuffing her. Nice!

And here’s the shocker of the night: when Lee and Mario had dinner later that night, season one mob boss villain Carmine Falcone showed up … because he’s Mario’s father. Say what?! Something tells me that when Gordon learns about Mario’s family tree, he’s not going to be so amicable about Lee’s plans to marry him. But according to Falcone, he and his wife raised him to be a good man and he doesn’t even use the Falcone name. Is that really true, or is Lee dooming herself to a life of being married into the wrong family?

Meanwhile, when the corrupt former Mayor James announced he would be returning to the position he was forced out of, Penguin arrived to hijack the press conference and challenge him as a candidate. Mayor Penguin? Is that seriously a possibility?! If so, the citizens of Gotham are seriously screwed.

But Penguin is more than committed to his plans and claims, as he already had turned his mansion into campaign headquarters. In his eyes, there’s no one better than a criminal to clean up the crime of Gotham. And he knows the people of Gotham are desperate and upset, meaning he could actually have a shot at winning against ex-Mayor James. He even bribed and blackmailed the new head of Arkham Asylum into letting an old colleague of his go free so he can get help for his campaign – aka the Riddler is back out on the streets of Gotham, declared “sane” by the city. That’s not going to end well!

What did you think of the Mad Hatter’s introduction on Gotham? Tweet me your thoughts at @SydneyBucksbaum!

Images: Fox

GAME OF THRONE’s Kit Harington In Talks for Guy Fawkes Drama

Remember, remember!

Jon Snow the Commander,

The Night Watch’s treason and plot;

I know of no reason

Why the Night’s Watch treason

Should ever be forgot!

We didn’t want to waste any time in making a Jon Snow/Guy Fawkes joke after hearing reports about Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harington and his next possible project, a BBC produced drama based on the famous–failed–assassination of King James I in 1605.

According to Business Insider (in a report we learned about at Vanity Fair), Harington is in discussions to star in and produce the three-part drama currently titled Gunpowder, in reference to the infamous and unsuccessful Gunpowder Plot (that’s right, no explosion actually took place). It’s unknown what part Harington would play, though we bet most people would guess Fawkes himself, who was captured when he was found under the House of Lords guarding the explosives (the plan was to assassinate King James and reinstall a Catholic monarch, but authorities were tipped off).

However, Harington could also play co-conspirator Robert Catesby, whose death during the resulting investigation and raids lends itself to a much more dramatic telling. We think this might be where the smart money will be placed, especially since Harington recently disclosed that he is a descendant of Catesby, the so-called “brains” of the failed plot. Considering the whole thing blew up in the conspirators’ faces by…uh…not blowing up, it would appear they knew nothing about how to kill a king, so Harington definitely can play that role.

A treatment for Gunpowder has reportedly been written by Ronan Bennett, who has some experience with real life figures, having written the 2009 Johnny Depp film Public Enemies about famed American gangster John Dillinger.

The memory and motivations of the Gunpowder Plot also played a significant role in the dystopian graphic novel and movie V for Vendetta, which featured an unknown hero wearing a Guy Fawkes mask who panned to blow up Parliament.

Guy Fawkes Night is still celebrated in Great Britain on November 5th, with huge bonfires and fireworks, which is good since you have to burn the bodies so they don’t come back as wights….no, sorry, we’re mixing things up again. Honestly, it won’t be the last time either.

But what role would you like to see Harington in? We see no reason why you shouldn’t tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

What would a Game of Thrones spinoff be?

Images: HBO/Warner Bros.

Comic Book Club: Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg

Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg hit the stage to talk about their upcoming crossover, “Archie Meets The Ramones!”

Check out the website at comicbookclublive.com to find out how to watch the show live! And follow the show on Twitter: @comicbooklive, @azalben, @jtsizzle, and @realpetelepage

LUKE CAGE Recap: A New Player Rattles Around

Warning: This is a recap, and as such, contains spoilers for the 8th Luke Cage episode, “Blowin’ Up the Spot.” Get out of dodge if you haven’t watched the episode yet.

With the sudden turn of events in the seventh episode for Cottonmouth and for Luke, episode eight brought a bit of fresh air. “Blowin’ Up the Spot” saw a new but not unknown rival slide into the game, one Willis Stryker, a.k.a. Diamondback. He got his hands on some of the special bullets Shades mentioned to Cottonmouth a couple of episodes ago and decided to take care of Luke Cage on his own. He caused the hero to feel pain and to bleed, and after seeing Luke deflect dozens of bullets, it was a shock–and a necessary change of pace.

If you didn’t suspect Diamondback was the shooter, the distinct music playing as he knocked over the ambulance should have clued you in. It had a rattlesnake shaking its tail tone; the notes were chilling. Unfortunately, Diamondback himself was not as scary. He had his moments as he established he was after Carl Lucas, not Luke Cage, but he lost me when he dove into the overly religious villain territory.

We’ll get there, but first, Luke Cage and Claire. She was able to get Luke to a hospital set up because it’s what Claire does. Rosario Dawson brings such a capable air to Claire that the character could walk on water and I wouldn’t bat an eye. She doesn’t hem or haw; she acts. Her bedside manner with Luke was easy, and I like how the vibe never feels flirty between them–it stays in friendly territory. Claire doesn’t need to be the love interest that shows up in every Marvel series, but she should have a certain level of intimacy with the heroes she helps.

Alas, Luke couldn’t be helped. Claire realized the physiology responsible for making Luke’s skin impenetrable was also trapping the shrapnel from the bullet that had exploded inside him. And hey, they found a way to call the Power Man nickname corny. I like how they keep playing against the blaxploitation elements of the comic book source material.

Before Claire had the opportunity to use her out of the box thinking–the same type of thinking helped her save Luke when he appeared in Jessica Jones–Misty showed up to arrest Luke for the murder of Cottonmouth. Then, Diamondback reappeared. Having an idea about what the bullet was doing was one thing; seeing how it hit the wall and then expanded the material into a crumbly mess was another. It had the intended effect of making you worry for Luke while you remembered, “Hey, this season still has five episodes to go and Luke Cage is in The Defenders, so it’s gonna be all right.”

This is where the preachy side of Diamondback started to come out. He caught Misty unawares and could have easily killed her; we’ve seen how much Misty likes to be in control so you can imagine how being trapped rattled (ha!) her confidence. She and Claire were both left behind as an injured and suffering Luke went after Diamondback with the intent of destroying him.

Then things took an Empire Strikes Back turn. It became evident Diamondback was going after Luke for personal business that began long before the recent foofaraw with Cottonmouth. He knew him as Carl Lucas, he wanted to make him suffer, and he was intent on revenge for some wrong. As he shot Luke with the unique bullets again, he told Luke he was actually his brother.

While the Diamondback and Luke battle raged, Mariah faced the consequences of her actions. This is a woman on the rise. She’s a marvel, honestly. Mariah is still distasteful of Cottonmouth’s business and of Shades, but if her carefully manipulated cover-up starts crumbling, she’s ready to kill an apartment full of innocent people to keep her secret safe. And her primary regret about doing so wouldn’t be the lives lost; it would be the stain left on the historic building they lived in. Yeah, she’s one classy lady.

She did seem a bit shaken right after the event, but the very-experienced-at-cleaning-up-messes Shades calmly walked her through next steps. By the time he got through his instructions, Mariah was throwing smart-ass comments in his face. She had no problem standing up to Misty or the press. I’m more intimidated by her than I was by Cottonmouth.

Now, Misty. I should feel pity for her. Should. But even though she saw a bleeding Luke and his alibi and clearly thought something was off with Mariah, she was still convinced Luke killed Cottonmouth. Because Luke is tied to all the recent events, she can’t see around him or believe he’s not involved. For a person who sees so much, Misty has blinded herself. Watching Claire shut down Misty’s Luke suspicions was the most satisfying part of the episode.

Have you given any thoughts to Shades’ plans? Head to the comments and tell me what you think he’s up to.

Images: Netflix

Secret Science Nerds: Roger Corman Engineers a B-Movie Career

Francis Ford Coppola. Ron Howard. Martin Scorsese. James Cameron. With 11 Academy Awards among them, these famous filmmakers have long been household names. However, there is another name that unites these award-winning writers and directors, a name belonging to the man who mentored the lot of them and helped to kickstart their cinematic careers, yet it’s a name that’s not nearly as well known as the living legends he inspired. That man is Roger Corman.

Known as “The Pope of Pop Cinema” and the “King of Bs” among other nicknames, the 90-year-old Corman has long been lauded in independent film circles for his low-budget films and horror-comedies which have become cult classics. He’ll perhaps best be remembered for his dedication to adapting the works of Edgar Allan Poe, even if his most recent work has been as a producer on such schlocky combo predator TV movies as Piranhaconda, Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda, and CobraGator, or high-octane thrill rides like the Death Race series. But what’s even less well known than Corman’s enormous filmography is his background in industrial engineering, making him one of our Secret Science Nerds.

Born in Detroit, Michigan as the son of an engineer, Corman’s childhood path soon took him to California where he attended Beverly Hills High School (as a side note, he also happens to be in the school’s Hall of Fame). Despite his proximity to Hollywood and the lure of the silver screen, Corman followed in his father’s footsteps and took up engineering at Stanford University. His schooling was interrupted by World War II; Corman enrolled in the  V-12 Navy College Training Program and graduated from it as an officer in the Navy. Though that program granted a completion degree, Corman still returned to Stanford after his service in order to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. His career as an engineer, however, was comically short; it began on a Monday in 1948, at U.S. Electrical Motors in Los Angeles, and ended on that Thursday with Corman telling his boss, “I’ve made a terrible mistake. I really have to quit. Today.”

That was probably the best decision Corman made in his young career—though he would not leave his education behind once he moved to the world of filmmaking. In fact, it was his experience in the highly detailed work of engineering that allowed him to stretch his famously low budgets to the max in a process dubbed “value engineering.” Corman explained as much in his 1990 memoir How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime, which shows how his “obsession with efficiency—literally inventing new industry standards, mostly in the interest of turning a profit—would influence nearly every movie bearing his name as director or producer.” In other words, science made his method of movie-making possible.

Corman received an “for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers” and his impact on the current generation of auteurs like Quentin Tarantino is difficult to overstate. That legacy is thanks, in part, to Corman’s early scientific studies which formed the foundation of his artistic process.

Now that you know that Roger Corman is one of our Secret Science Nerds, who else would you like us to profile in the future? Let us know in the comments below!

Image: Twitter

Why the First RESIDENT EVIL and UNDERWORLD Films Are Hidden Halloween Treats

Vampires and zombies are the blood and guts of Nerdoween! Nearly all of the great horror franchises start off with the brain-dead undead or some breed of hyper eternal beings. Two twenty-first century horror aficionados shamelessly decided to place their own versions of these Halloween tropes into the definitive film universe–director Paul W.S. Anderson unleashed the live-action Resident Evil in 2002, and Len Wiseman delivered Underworld in 2003.

We say shameless because the Resident Evil film series is on its seventh installment and Underworld is on its fifth , both citing the end for each film franchise. That’s over one decade of nearly consistent guilty-pleasure films, folks! The Resident Evil film series is in the 2012 Guinness World Records book as “Most Live-Action Film Adaptations of a Video Game,” and it has been the most successful movie series based on a video game so far. We’re not saying they’ve all been great–we do acknowledge the many issues both film series have been carrying around for years. But we insist you go back and watch the first films to discover an often overlooked Halloween core in them.

In trying to find a defense for both film series, we landed on two positives: atmosphere and protagonists. Spearheading each film series are two kickass heroines: Alice, played by Milla Jovovich in the Resident Evil series; and Selene, played by Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld series. Comparing these two heavily-armed ladies in tight outfits–as well as the film franchises themselves–isn’t new, but we’re going to throw some extra commentary to add dimension for the upcoming and “final” films, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and Underworld: Blood Wars. Plus, we honestly do appreciate the campy horror roots of those first two films.

Since the glory days of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, vampires haven’t stopped being complex creatures of the night. Sure, there have been some questionable and dull moments in the past (dare we speak of those shiny ones in the Twilight series?), but vampires are still relevant in many mediums today. Underworld‘s Selene is a highly trained assassin–Death Dealer–hunting the werewolves of her world–lycans–while eventually hunting her own kind for various reasons.

In the first film, Selene had to quickly shift her vampire morals to mix with long-forgotten human morals after Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), a med-student human caught up in the feud, is turned into a lycan. The pair become romantically linked, but for the first film, Selene’s shift of morals isn’t only motivated by her interest in Michael–turns out there’s a long thread of corruption in her vampire clan. Other vampires might have just absently carried on after discovering the truth–in fact, other vampires Selene trusted her entire life had in fact gone along with the deception just so that they could keep killing lycans–but not Selene.

In vampire lore a solid moral compass is usually rare (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s original morally complex vampire, Angel). In Underworld, Selene had to rewire over 600 years of definitive rivalry in under two hours without dismissing her dark, sensual vampire vibe. For a compelling vampire film, director Wiseman did an effective job at creating a confidently conflicted vampire who happens to fall in love with a creature she’s always believed to be as the enemy.

Eternal life–which vampires have always been endowed with in various forms–also becomes a valued commodity thanks to vampire-lycan hybrids, the new immortal players of the game following the first Underworld film. Never before had the tension between one race of vicious monsters versus another race seemed more authentic. (What We Do In The Shadows is a perfect example of featuring that vampire-werewolf tension with humor.) And a distinct stylistic atmosphere encompassing gory vampire and werewolf lore benefited the first film (and has since been overblown in following installments) in a similar vein to its predecessor, Blade, another cult-classic film franchise, albeit based more directly on comic books.

Compared to vampires, zombies are becoming an oversaturation plague since the early 2000s. In his favor, director Paul W. S. Anderson based the live-action Resident Evil films lore on the already established and well-received Capcom video game franchise from 1996. The first film was released around a historic Resident Evil sweet spot–right after the much-anticipated remake for GameCube and three years before the legendary Resident Evil 4. The film series took some creative liberties with its cast of characters, though–Jovovich’s Alice is an original protagonist for the films.

Labeled as science-fiction horror, the first film projected the growing disillusion between the medical field and big corporations. Alice adds an extra layer to the entire Resident Evil franchise as a new member of the opposition who tries to do good but gets caught up in genetic alterations that spiral out of hand in the later films. She’s an altered human at the start of the first film, only marginally aware of her hidden physical strength by the end–her emotional strength stands out from the beginning. Either a tense, terrified amnesia Alice or a genuinely pissed-off and aware Alice dominates the screen for 100 minutes–the following films in the series have featured physically impervious versions of Alice that–in our opinion–devalue the original trauma this character faced.

Also, in the first film the Umbrella Corporation was just a looming evil compared to the zombies Alice and the small S.T.A.R.S. team faced. This horde of the waking undead are crude, campy, and creepy, just as they were intended to be in the first three game installments. Various fixed-angle scenes in the film–plus the masterful collaboration score by Clint Mansell, Marco Beltrami, and Marilyn Manson (definitely a goth-electronica score of its time)–framed zombies as a real threat to each and every character.

Alice in particular stands out, though–not only because she’s beautiful and capable of a drop-kick to the face–but because she’s a walking representation of literature’s Alice from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. In the DVD audio commentary, Anderson makes it very clear that he initially wanted to weave an Wonderland-esque web into this zombie franchise. Main characters in the first film were created to loosely represent specific Wonderland characters, with Alice acting as the literal Alice stand-in, falling down a sci-fi rabbit hole of horror and death. Had the first film gone too far with Anderson’s theme, the original horror vibe based off the games would have been lost. Thankfully it didn’t, and it succeeded with just a few cringe-worthy scenes of dialogue…as opposed to the video games. (We’ll never forget you, Barry!)

If our love for these two slaying heroines doesn’t defend the entire Resident Evil and Underworld film series for you, then we still hope you find comfort this Halloween in the horror vibes from the first films. Underworld: Blood Wars drops January 6 and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter hits theaters January 27. What do you like about Alice and Selene the most? Which Resident Evil or Underworld film is your favorite? Leave us your many thoughts in comments on this love-hate series relationship.

Images: Screen Gems

Gif: Capcom

LUKE CAGE Recap: The History of Cottonmouth

Warning: This is a recap, and as such, contains spoilers for the 7th Luke Cage episode, “Manifest.” Get out of dodge if you haven’t watched the episode yet.

We’ve spent six episodes of Marvel’s Luke Cage watching our hoodie-wearing hero protect Harlem from the influence of Cornell Stokes, a.k.a. Cottonmouth. We got front row tickets to Luke’s origin story, and it’s time to do the same with Cottonmouth. Various pieces have been dropped throughout the series—we’ve heard about Mama Mabel and the way she kept Harlem shipshape—but “Manifest” brings the opportunity to visit the past and look at why Cornell is the way he is.

Other villains have come before Cornell on Netflix’s Marvel shows, so it’s hard not to compare him to his predecessors. We saw the backgrounds for Jessica Jones’ Kilgrave and Daredevil’s Fisk, and both of their pasts included parental problems, shall we say. The environment one grows up in and the stimuli one’s exposed to during formative years can do much to influence one’s entire life. You have to wonder if being raised in Mama Mabel’s household shaped immutable paths for both Cornell and Mariah.

The exploration of Cornell’s background came right after his release from prison. Just when Luke thought he’d finally scored a major victory for the streets and, let’s be honest, a win in the column labeled “avenging Pop’s death,” Cottonmouth slithered away. Though he was downright smarmy about being let go, Mariah was angry. She’s a stereotypical politician through and through. She knows being associated with Cottonmouth doesn’t send a positive message, but she also knows his partnership brings her benefits and she uses him anyway. Make no mistake, she’s as rotten and ruthless as he is and she’s starting to crack.

This is where I pause to point out the talents of Alfre Woodard and Mahershala Ali. They’ve both brought irreplaceable characteristics to the table as these cousins. Their shared scenes seem to ignite something in both actors and make them more frightening.

As she exploded at Cornell for his mistake of being implicated and dragging their family name through the mud, we went back in time. We were introduced to a younger Cornell, making beautiful music on the piano, and Mariah, head buried in her homework. It’s like they’re miniature versions of the adults we’ve been spending time with. And finally, Mama Mabel came onto the scene along with Uncle Pete.

Mama Mabel made an impression immediately. The woman has presence. With only a handful of dialogue, you can see why she’s calling the shots and why people listen to what she has to say. She’s all the more intimidating because of her seeming sweetness. She cares about Harlem and its people, but will lay the wrath upon you if you don’t do what you’re told. Uncle Pete pales in comparison, merely seeming like a creepy hanger-on.

Pete was put in a better light as far as Cornell was concerned. He was supportive of Cornell’s gift with music. He wanted to make sure the boy pursued his talent and saw a way for Cornell to take his musical skills and find a better life. So, at least he had a winning quality. But Mama Mabel wasn’t having it. Her affections seemed to land only on Mariah; she wanted the smart girl to be exempt from a life of crime and pushed Cornell to take up the family business instead. It pit the cousins against each other and the topic is still divisive in the present.

Cornell didn’t want to step into his family’s violent doings, but he was groomed for it. And when he told Mama Mabel about Pete planning against her, Cornell was forced to take out the trash. That’s when we saw Mariah’s ferocity; she seemed quieter back then and buried in her studies, but she stood behind Mabel when she forced Cornell to end Pete. The importance of family and being loyal was drilled into both of them, which became especially relevant when we cut back to the present.

The pot that’s been simmering since Luke started busting up Harlem boiled over. Cottonmouth pushed back against Mariah’s arguments, pointing out she was given opportunities he never had. She was allowed to better herself and pursue a different life. Cornell was forced. Their shouting match had the ring of a fight they’ve had time and time again, but it ended permanently this time. When Mariah pointed out she was sent away to school in order for her to be safe from Pete, Cornell said she was asking for it. That was the absolute wrong thing to say for many reasons, and it was obviously a trigger for Mariah.

She screamed she wasn’t asking for it and beat Cornell to his death. We watched her go completely unhinged and unfiltered—this woman who puts on a prim, proper, optimistic face to the public lost herself in a berserker rage. I applaud this change in direction. And from what we saw of Shades’ reaction, I think he does too.

So, Diamondback has to show up soon, right? With Luke actually bleeding and injured by the special bullet, and now with Cornell down, the time is prime for him to arrive.

Were you shocked by the twist with Cottonmouth? I let loose an audible gasp. Tell me about your reaction in the comments or come chat with me on Twitter.

Images: Netflix

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD Recap: “Wrath” Moves Everyone “North”

Editor’s note: This post contains spoilers for the latest episodes of Fear the Walking Dead! Proceed with caution, survivors. For reals, if you haven’t yet watched the latest episodes, “Wrath” and “North”, we highly suggest you do so before proceeding. Okay? We good? Let’s go.

Well, that was interesting. After pulling us kicking and screaming across land and sea for most of this summer, Fear the Walking Dead concludes its second season with two back-to-back episodes, wrapping up some of this year’s storylines in unexpectedly satisfying ways and some, er, less so.

The decision to run “Wrath” and “North” on the same night winds up making a kind of emotional sense, if only because “Wrath” is so clearly the lesser of the two, and every bit as dark and one-dimensional as its title suggests. That darkness is entirely due to the actions of Chris’ “friends,” whom we’ve learned to hate and despise over the course of the last several weeks. But just in case we didn’t despise these bro-dudes, who put as much thought into killing as they do to playing their favorite tunes, “Wrath” immediately confirms that 1.) Chris is now dead as disco, and 2.) These asshats are responsible. Rarely in The Walking Dead universe have we encountered stereotypes as unimaginatively rendered as these two millennials. So it comes as no great surprise when Travis beats their faces in. But it’s not nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be either. I’d been actively rooting for this moment for some time now, but the two lads are so stupid when they admit to Travis that they killed his son when he became “dead weight” after falling asleep at the wheel of their truck, it’s a little like Travis taking his titular anger out on a roomful of stuffed animals.

What’s most disappointing, however, is that Madison’s decision-making skills are almost as inept in this episode. After discovering that Chris is killed, she moves to throw his idiot bros out of the resort, but the other refugees take offense when she lies and says she’s giving them emergency medical treatment. Naturally, a mob forms, catching Travis’ interest. One of the more frustrating staples of this world is the lack of consistency in its heroes IQ’s; and like so many other survivors we’ve known, Madison is only as smart as the plot needs her to be in any given episode.

In “North”, thankfully, the plot works better. Or at least moves more relentlessly than in just about any other episode this year. In true Walking Dead form, season 2 is capped with action and spectacle. Travis is immediately imprisoned by the hotel resort’s staff after he injured Oscar during his killing spree. Which puts Madison and co. at odds with their newfound friends. After Oscar dies from his injuries, they move to kill Travis, but Alicia draws first blood (as well as her first human kill). Then Madison, Travis, and Alicia flee into the night, while Strand elects to stay behind. I’m not entirely sure why he stays, but it’s likely he’s hatching some plan in which he’ll convince everyone that he tried to stop Madison but she got away. Then he’ll gradually rise in power and take control of the resort. At least that’s how I’m hoping it plays out. Because if Strand just winds up dying like Chris in some brief flashback, I’m gonna get out a Daryl Dixon-sized can of whoopass. Say it with me people: If Strand dies, we riot.

Nick’s story winds up less satisfying. Season 2 Nick has fallen rather uncomfortably into the “white savior” role of movies like Dances with Wolves and Avatar. The show would have viewers believe that a broken heroin addict is the only person capable of saving the colonia. And Luci, as badass as she was when we first met her, sadly suffers from Trinity Syndrome. Ever since she fell into Nick’s arms, she’s become as bland and ineffectual as most of the background extras. The one saving grace of this storyline, and the one character in it with genuine dimension, turns out to be Alejandro. Yes, he who appeared to be just a token cult leader at first becomes a surprising study in heroism when he saves his people in death as much as he did in life. But are Alejandro’s motivations purely altruistic or is he motivated by ego? His ambiguity is appreciated. If only Nick had as much of it. But that might get in the way of what we’re presumably supposed to regard as his exquisite emo beauty.

Not that it matters much. Because now he and Luci have been captured by border thugs, as has Ofelia (who is by far the most underused, underdeveloped character on this show). Which leads me to worry that next season the three will be thrown into the same prison camp and we’ll have to suffer through some kind of love triangle.

An altogether different triangle is again rearing its head with Madison, Nick, and Alicia. The light of jealousy is lit once more in the daughter’s eyes when she realizes her mom is still keen on reuniting at all costs with her brother. Alicia earned her zombie-slaying stripes this season, and her relationship with her mother strengthened. So wherever Fear the Walking Dead heads next year, I’m hoping against hope the show finds a way to preserve their dynamic.

So long as it doesn’t kill Strand.

Undead Afterthoughts

— Fear the Walking Dead strives for social relevancy in these episodes with various shots of the border fence beckoning our characters. But it never quite gels as the political metaphor I sense it wants to be.

— “Mexcrement”? Good God, could these jackasses be any less sympathetic, or more broadly drawn?

— Once more Travis shows that he’s never better than when he’s having a good old-fashioned complete nervous breakdown.

— “North” may be the most gruesome episode yet on either Walking Dead show. Gratuitously so. Are those long, loving close-up shots of the knife and saw going into Oscar’s brain–and the resulting head cheese that oozes out–really necessary?

— Season 3 needs to lighten up on the music at the end of each episode. I’m sure I’m not the only who resents being ordered what to feel by the soundtrack.

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

Images: AMC

WESTWORLD Recap: She Wouldn’t Even Hurt a Fly

Before you saddle up, there’s a snake in your boot and spoilers in this recap.

Welcome to Westworld! Where the whiskey’s warm, the bullets are hot, and you might malfunction if a fly lands on your cheek.

This was a hell of an intriguing introduction to the ho-hum everyday workings of an insanely technologically advanced theme park populated by milk-batter clone slave things. “The Original” wasn’t so much a plot-heavy cudgel to the forehead as it was a stroll through the dead bodies on the high plains, but there’s still a lot of ground to cover.

Let’s start, as the show does, with the functional mechanics of the world that the sweet-as-cherry-pie Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) sees out her homestead window every morning. The show doesn’t want us confusing her for a human for even a second, shooing away any mystery or surprise that factoid might offer in exchange for a poetically creepy introduction to her charming smile in Westworld and her dead robot stare in real life. If you go back and rewatch it, her story throughout the episode feels far less like a robot waking up to new information, and far more like the old model we discover her to be playing the long-game.

She fights back a genuine emotional response when a young child points out that she isn’t real. She sacrifices her “father” when she sees him growing awareness (“breaching” as the scientists say) so that she isn’t found out. She lies right to her masters.

She isn’t Norma Jean. She’s Norman Bates. Never has slapping a fly resonated so loudly.

 

Behind the scenes, Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) is tinkering on the programming, Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babett Knudsen) is keeping a firm grip on operations, Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) monitors security with a Muldoon-like hatred for nonsense, Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) pretends to be a good writer, and head honcho Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins!!) acts wise and world weary. We learn how to build a horse and a human, and discover that Dr. Lecter Ford is pushing beyond the stiff boundaries of robotics to find the nuance of humanity in the soft stroke of a prostitute’s lip.

That’s not to be confused with the stroke the Sheriff has later on, alerting the build team to the fact that the good doctor’s update wasn’t successfully integrated. Anyone with an iPhone can sympathize. You have to wonder how many of the robot Hosts don’t get updated because someone forgot to plug them in overnight. Granted, my iPhone has never left a man’s blood mixing with milk from a broken bottle on a saloon floor before.

Sure, Westworld has got glitches, but who doesn’t? Even funhouse mirrors crack sometimes. Even roller coasters sometimes kill their passengers. No one in the company seems all that worried about it even though they’ve got an army of malfunctioning flesh lined up in the neglected cold storage unit. Could winter be coming?

After being passively confronted with the error, Ford proves himself not to be a mad scientist. He isn’t maniacally rushing toward some perceived perfection. He’s curious, accepts responsibility and recognizes error as a necessary step in an evolutionary process that he contends has ended for mankind.

If nothing is all that messy up top, it gives wealthy visitors playing cowboy even more incentive to get dirty.

Nothing illustrates the pitch black nihilism of the first episode like Teddy Flood (James Marsden), a chivalrous, empty husk of a being, listening as a group of rowdy visitors casually suggest that they can murder him if they get bored with him. People come to this place to have fun and sin in ways they can’t back home without the law or their conscience weighing on them. It’s a theme park powered by disposable humanity, a concept brought into sharper relief in the age of video games. On any given day you can choose to kick around the town or join a side quest to hunt down a bandit hiding in the hills.

Teddy–with his cliche swagger and hollow romantic bravery–seems like the furthest from sentience, but that’s the trick of Westworld, where an offhand look makes you question what’s going on inside the servo-loaded mind of these manufactured humanoids.

Which is why it’s especially fitting that the scientists choose to solve their problem with a recall. All the pretty-eyed beings of Westworld may as well be faulty Toyotas with exploding airbags, taken back behind the scenes after a stagey attack from wanted mustache-twirler Hector Escaton (Rodrigo Santoro), who never gets to deliver his probably-terrible monologue because a doughy visitor finally gets his money’s worth by using a bullet to become a hero.

It’s one of the most intentionally subdued action sequences in all of prestige television–a chance to show off some stunt work and heighten tension that’s delivered as the cold, clinical, appliance shut down that it is. The thrill is meant for visitors to Westworld, the park, while visitors to Westworld, the show, like us, get to see the existential undercarriage.

As the run-of-the-mill mass murder all plays out, Dolores’ father Peter (Louis Herthum) is having an android panic attack, puzzling over a photograph left behind by a modern visitor, and gaining access to his old programming. He’s our first glimpse into a dark, yet unsurprising, truth about this world: as Hosts ride through the uncanny valley, they can come out the other side with something that looks like self-awareness.

Which leads us ultimately to the big question mark of the episode. Ed Harris–making an ironic departure from acting as God to The Truman Show–plays The Man in Black, a figure who first appears to be an experienced howdy-do-dat reveling in the sadistic delights of the theme park. He murders Teddy after a surreal gun “fight” and drags Dolores off to have his way with her (which probably doesn’t mean what we assumed it to mean), then kidnaps a poker dealer in order to conduct some experiments on him to see what makes him tick.

The Man in Black is searching for answers, and he may have gotten one with the circuit board scalp he cuts away, but it’s still unclear whether he’s Slugworth trying to steal the recipe for a Gobstopper or if he–like his Yul Brynner costuming suggests–is another Westworld robot gone rogue. If he’s the former, he’s incredibly well-funded. If he’s the latter, why haven’t Ford, Bernard or Theresa noticed him yet?

SOME STRAY THOUGHTS:

Ford is really not into corporate communication. He adds elements to an update that Bernard has to guess at, and he fools around in the cold storage horror show without informing security he’ll be down there. What’s this guy like at the company Christmas party?
Not casting Sam Elliott as the first-gen, whiskey-swillin’ salt has to have been the smartest, hardest decision this production had to make.
Do the guests not get pulled out of the fantasy when the pianola plays “Black Hole Sun”? Are we so far in the future that they think Soundgarden is from 1892? That and the “Paint it Black” bandit attack prove this show is willing to mess around with music.
How terrible is Sizemore (who I had to call Yelling British Guy until they said his name)? That dude is either prime to do something noble within the next few episodes or hump his way over to Xerxes to betray the Spartans.
Also, is Dolores’ saying “We’ve only just begun” to Teddy even more proof that Sizemore is such a hack writer that he has to crib from Carpenters songs? The answer is yes.
Programming stops the Hosts from harming humans, but what’s to stop gun-toting visitors from hurting each other?

Did you visit Westworld tonight? Giddyup to comments below and share your thoughts.

Images: HBO

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES Teaser and Poster Unleash Ghosts

It’s been five years since we last saw Johnny Depp‘s Captain Jack Sparrow sail on high seas in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. But Captain Jack hasn’t lost his talent for making deadly enemies, as we learn in the first teaser trailer for the fifth film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

During the season finale of Fear the Walking Dead, Disney unleashed the first teaser for Dead Men Tell No Tales, which featured no footage of Jack Sparrow. However, it did serve as an introduction for the franchise’s latest adversaries: Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) and his band of ghost pirates (or are they pirate ghosts?). The clip very effectively established Salazar’s threat in a way that seems much darker than some of the previous films, as Bardem hasn’t been this intimidating since he was carrying a captive bolt pistol in No Country For Old Men. Salazar has a message for his old foe, Jack, and he’s writing it in blood.

Earlier today, Disney also released the poster for Dead Men Tell No Tales, which features a new take on the series’ recurring skull motif.

Depp isn’t the only cast member coming back for this sequel. He’ll be joined by Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, and even Orlando Bloom, who sat out of On Stranger Tides. Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites will also be featured in the cast, and Paul McCartney reportedly has a small role as well.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will sail into theaters on May 26, 2017.

What did you think about the new teaser? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Bonus points if you write in pirate style!

Images: Disney