The third season of Netflix’s Spanish hit Cable Girls started with a bang. Drama, fire, mysterious deaths and a baby kidnapping all within the first episode was almost too much for my poor heart to handle. While I thought season 2 had been a little on the slow side, season 3 went from zero to sixty in record time and maintained the adrenaline throughout its 8-episode run.
Continue reading “Cable Girls Season 3 Review: Hell Hath No Fury Like a Mother Scorned”
Bellarke fans, I count myself among you in how much I love Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin’s story. However, the mood as of late around the fandom has left a bad taste in my mouth, where I feel compelled to get a few words out there.
To start, I’ll freely admit that I love and easily get attached to TV shows and their characters. That said, when I don’t like a specific direction that storytelling has taken, I either suffer through it, hoping for the best, or I quietly show myself out. We all have a choice of what to spend our time watching, as it’s not like there’s a lack of options in peak TV era.
Continue reading “The 100: The Virtues of Patiently Shipping Bellarke”
Sassenachs, it’s just under two months until another Droughtlander finally ends, and Starz has decided to whet our appetites with a dynamite new preview! Season 4, in case you have lived under a rock, is adapted from Outlander‘s fourth novel “Drums of Autumn”.
Let’s start with this: I know nothing about Tom Clancy or Jack Ryan. I have seen one Jack Ryan film and I am told it is the worst interpretation of the character. So, if you are reading this review and expecting the opinion of someone who has intimate knowledge of the source material, that would not be me.
However, if you are reading this and want an unbiased opinion on a highly anticipated television show then look no further. This is my first true exposure to this character, so I can only judge on what I believe is entertaining and what makes sense in the context of this series. Are you ready? Let’s get started.
Continue reading “TOM CLANCY’S JACK RYAN: SEASON ONE REVIEW”
You can say it — it’s definitely an ironic title. But it’s taken a long time for these words to come together and make sense in my own head, so I can write them down for you. As most of us, who take to the vast space of the internet in search of fellow fans, opinions, and thoughts about our television shows will tell you, it can get — to put it politely — dicey.
Can a show be resurrected for the second time, two years in a row? Apparently, yes, if that show is called Timeless. In an unprecedented move, NBC decided to bring the cult phenomenon back (again!) for one last ride in the Lifeboat. Timeless returns this holiday season with a two-part series finale to wrap up the story. After all, Clockblockers don’t do anything halfway, do they?
Today marks the end of an excruciating wait for Timeless fans. The show lived in limbo for six weeks after the finale until NBC ultimately decided to cancel it, despite the outcry from fans on social media. Although Clockblockers were incredibly loud online, to the point of trending #RenewTimeless and #Timeless worldwide, ratings still weren’t up to par for the network to consider a renewal, so NBC finally pulled the plug on the beloved show.
(We can all agree Nielsen ratings is an outdated system that doesn’t accurately measure ratings anymore and needs to die)
The thing is, Clockblockers are a resilient and determined bunch, and they didn’t just go quietly into the night. A major fan campaign to save the show was launched then and fans tweeted nonstop at networks and streaming services — really, anyone that would listen — about the merits of the show and why it needed to be saved.
Because, see, Timeless is an incredibly diverse, complex and extremely well-written show with a stellar cast, that has been quite literally changing history. In its time travel adventures, the Time Team — historian Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), Delta Force Sergeant Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) and scientist Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) — serve as conduit to bring amazingly well produced history lessons to our homes in each episode. Teachers across America have been using Timeless as a way to get students more interested in learning history and other subjects, making the show an excellent cross-disciplinary tool for education not only in America, but worldwide.
And then, as if a tweet storm wasn’t already big enough, Clockblockers raised money in record time to fly a gigantic Save Timeless banner over San Diego Comic Con a couple of weeks ago — a move that definitely didn’t go unnoticed by The Powers That Be. After that stunt, we knew there was definitely something happening behind the scenes, especially when the Timeless Writers tweeted the following:
Did that really happen?!! A humble thanks to all the #ClockBlockers who paid for and arranged for that awesome HeliClockter display at #SDCC2018! Your voices were definitely heard. We hope to have some answers/clarity for all of you soon.
— Timeless Writers (@TheTimelessRoom) 23 de julho de 2018
Expectations were through the roof for the past week and today our efforts have finally paid off. The Timeless Writers finally ended their over a week-long suspense and put us all out of our misery with the best news:
You did it again #ClockBlockers! Two hour finale movie coming to NBC this November. #SaveRufus pic.twitter.com/RNRGlbilv4
— Timeless Writers (@TheTimelessRoom) 31 de julho de 2018
Of course we all wanted a season 3, but at least now we’re getting some closure and the chance to save Rufus. After all, wasn’t that what we wanted? And according to Sony president Chris Parnell, not all hope is lost:
Thank you to all of the helicopters, tweets, paperclips, cupcakes, popcorn, cookies, and the fans. Especially to the fans. We’re not done yet. Please encourage everyone to catch up on @hulu and get ready to make the push to watch our show live this holiday. #Timeless #SaveRufus pic.twitter.com/C2mpA7XzXL
— Chris Parnell (@ChrisFParnell) 31 de julho de 2018
It’s time to rejoice, Timeless fans! You did it! We get to save Rufus and go on one last adventure together. What a time to be alive, my friends. What a time to be alive.
The Timeless two-part season finale is scheduled to air this coming holiday season at NBC.
Sweet Jesus.
No joke. Those were the first words out of my mouth after “The Dark Year” closed out. If anyone ever doubts The 100 and its ability to brilliantly throw in surprises no one saw coming, I’ll just casually refer them to this episode. As hard as everyone worked to find the right “side” to be on, the lines were drawn in the sand and war is on their doorstep.
Let’s dive into this, shall we?
The 100 has never been less subtle than it is now about the hell these characters have gone through the last six years. Wonkru’s fight to survive in and out of the bunker, Octavia’s battle with the Red Queen, to each and every person making decisions that turn others into the last one they may ever make.
When you are fighting for the people you are responsible for — or people that you love — the passion drives your actions. You may think you’re acting from a place of caring, but in reality fear is what clouds your choices. It affects everything you do, and as we have seen, it usually blows up in your face.
Octavia’s choice to listen to Abby, and use fear as her weapon molded her into the person she was when she was pulled out of the bunker. Wonkru may have survived, but the trauma will never fade, no matter what Octavia says about it “being worth it.” Clarke narrowing her people down to Madi is not an excuse to act out of fear, and ignore everyone else’s safety for one person’s alone. Kane’s condemnation of Octavia, and fear of a war decimating the valley does not excuse all but ensuring a bloodbath is brought on their doorstep.
The only kind of relief I felt during this hour was finally understanding what path led Octavia to become the Red Queen. I don’t excuse her choices post Bunker — most of them power mad, insane and just flat out shitty to exert her power — but now we know how she got there. I had seen the theory of cannibalism floated around for weeks online, and to see it confirmed was both horrifying, and completely signature to how this show operates. They take the unimaginable, and make it to where we can see how these characters were pushed to this point.
What made my jaw drop, though, came down to two characters alone – Abby and Kane.
Abby’s slow decline has been difficult to watch, but the rapid detox was a thousand times worse. Paige Turco knocked it out of the park showcasing how Abby’s struggle with the pills was truly a deep rooted escape from her guilt. That SHE was the one who told Octavia to enforce cannibalism. The fact that Octavia took the blame and responsibility for it was, as Madi said, not entirely unlike what Clarke did at Mount Weather. How they turned out after defined how Octavia and Clarke, respectively, handled the burden of making these kinds of choices.
The fact that Kane views Octavia as the devil from forcing Wonkru to make that choice, means he has no idea Abby was behind it. Kane would rather help the creepy torturer win the war, and undermine everything Wonkru and Spacekru has done to peacefully take the valley. Soon to be a bloody war ground, for the first time I’m genuinely afraid Eden will not survive the fear driven choices of what’s left of humanity.
The truth tellers in the realm of “calling people out for their shit” fell to Bellamy and Madi this week. Bellamy is done playing nice with his sister after being thrown in a death pit, and I can’t blame him in the slightest. Octavia’s plan to march blind into the valley was indeed monumentally stupid, and his focus on being with his family shut the door on any brother/sister reconciliation possibilities for the moment.
Madi — continuing the Flame saga in her head — gets a full history of what Clarke left out of her stories in the last six years, and I can imagine how illuminating it must have been. Madi’s age doesn’t preclude her experience living in this world, and as harsh as it might have been to Clarke, she needed to be called out. I understand wanting to do everything in your power to protect someone you love, but she needs to remember what she’s forgotten over the last six years of peace. Namely that there is no such thing as “safe” right now, and that won’t happen until this war over Shadow Valley has been put to rest.
I have the distinct feeling Clarke’s going to hit her breaking point and, of course that’s when all hell is literally going to break loose. Due, of course, to the double cross I did NOT see coming. I don’t know how these guys keep these twists fresh, but kudos to the writers on letting cannibalism somehow not be the biggest twist to happen in an episode.
As hard as everyone has worked to stay “safe” and find peace, the fear led straight to war. I can’t even predict who will and won’t live, but I am terrified for SO MANY PEOPLE. Let it never be said The 100 didn’t know how to make your heart beat a million miles an hour, one night a week. Thank god for romance that blooms during the calm moments, and balances out the insanity. Yes, I squealed when Raven and Shaw kissed, because I’ve shipped them since Raven outsmarted him up on the ship in space. Therefore, I declare Shaw will not die — please, show, don’t prove me wrong.
How about you guys? Are you excited for the last two episodes of this season? Who do you think will win this war?
God knows I’m dying to find out — pun not intended!
The 100 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on the CW.
