REVIEW -- Netflix Original: Stranger Things (Season 1)

Stranger Things is an American supernatural horror-science fiction web television series created by the Duffer Brothers. It is written and directed by Matt and Ross Duffer and executive-produced by Shawn Levy. It stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, and Matthew Modine. The plot follows the disappearance of a young boy, and a telekinetic girl who helps his friends in their search, while the boy's older brother, mother, and the town police chief start their own investigations.

The show is set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, and is an homage to '80s pop culture, inspired and aesthetically informed by the works of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King, and George Lucas, among others.

The show was released on Netflix on July 15, 2016. It received critical acclaim for its characterization, pacing, atmosphere, acting, soundtrack, directing, writing, and homages to 1980s genre films. On August 31, 2016, Netflix renewed the series for a second season of nine episodes, to be released in 2017.

Cast:

Main

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
David Harbour as Chief Jim Hopper
Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven ("El")
Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson
Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair
Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler
Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler
Matthew Modine as Dr. Martin Brenner

Recurring

Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
Joe Keery as Steve Harrington
Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland
Ross Partridge as Lonnie
Rob Morgan as Officer Powell
Randall P. Havens as Scott Clarke
Aimee Mullins as Terry Yves

Premise:

On November 6, 1983 in the town of Hawkins, Indiana, 12-year-old Will Byers vanishes mysteriously. Will's frantic mother, Joyce, searches for him while Police Chief Jim Hopper launches his own investigation. Will's friends Dustin, Wheeler and Lucas discover a psychokinetic girl who claims to know Will's location. As they uncover the truth, a sinister government agency tries to cover it up, while a more insidious force lurks below the surface.

Episode List:

1 1 "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" 

In 1983, in a US Department of Energy laboratory in the town of Hawkins, Indiana, a scientist is attacked by an unseen creature. 12-year-old Will Byers vanishes after encountering the creature while riding his bicycle home from a Dungeons & Dragons session with his friends. The next day, a young girl with a shaved head, wearing a hospital gown, steals food from a local diner. The owner, Benny (Chris Sullivan), takes pity on her and feeds her before calling social services. A woman posing as a social worker arrives and shoots Benny. Armed men search the diner for the girl, but she escapes. Joyce, Will's mother, believes she hears Will's voice on a distorted phone call, but her phone short circuits. Will's friends Lucas, Mike, and Dustin find the girl in the woods as they search for Will.

2 2 "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street"

The boys learn the girl's name is Eleven, which is tattooed on her arm; they nickname her "El". Scientists from the laboratory find a substance oozing from the walls of Joyce's home. At Mike's home, El recognizes Will in a photo. She uses psychokinesis to lock the door and prevent Dustin and Lucas from informing Mike's parents about her. Searching for Will, Hopper discovers a torn piece of El's hospital gown outside the laboratory grounds. Nancy goes with her friend Barb to a party at her boyfriend Steve's house. Will's brother, Jonathan, investigates his disappearance, photographing the woods where Will went missing. Hearing screaming, he runs and sees Steve, Nancy, and their friends in Steve's swimming pool, and he photographs them. Barb vanishes from the poolside. Joyce receives another call from Will, hears music from his room, and sees something coming through the wall.

3 3 "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly"

Barb wakes up in an empty pool near a dark creature. She tries to climb out in vain, but is dragged down. Joyce strings Christmas lights around her home, establishing communication with Will, who can turn them on and off. Hopper and his deputies research Dr. Martin Brenner, the laboratory, and a woman named Terry Yves who claimed her daughter was taken by scientists. El has a flashback in which Brenner, whom she calls "Papa", has her put in solitary confinement for refusing to telekinetically harm a cat. Nancy worries about Barb, who is missing. Steve and his friends discover Jonathan's photographs and destroy them along with his camera, but Nancy notices a photo of Barb before she disappeared and returns to Steve's house to search for her. Nancy finds Barb's car and sees the creature in the woods. Joyce establishes a code with Will using the lights, which he uses to tell her that he is alive but unsafe. He tells Joyce to run as a creature begins to climb through her wall. Will's body is discovered in the water at a quarry.

4 4 "Chapter Four: The Body"

El proves to the boys that Will is still alive by making contact through Mike's walkie-talkie. Using their science teacher Mr. Clarke's powerful ham radio to contact Will, El and the boys overhear Will talking to his mother, saying he is afraid. Simultaneously, Joyce hears him through her living room wall and tears the wallpaper, revealing a flesh-like substance with Will on the other side. She breaks the wall with an axe, but this opens only to her front porch. Examining Jonathan's photo of Barb, Nancy realizes the monster is also visible. Jonathan realizes that Nancy's description of the creature matches his mother's: a humanoid figure with long arms and no face. Hopper confronts the state trooper who found Will's body. Suspicious, Hopper goes to the morgue, cuts open Will's body, and discovers it is a dummy. He heads to the laboratory and breaks in.

5 5 "Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat"

Will's father Lonnie assures Joyce that her experiences are hallucinations. The boys conclude that Will is trapped in an alternative dimension which El calls the Upside-Down: the same place but on another level of existence. Hopper infiltrates the Hawkins National Lab and discovers the portal. He pursues the creature but is knocked out by suited guards. He wakes up in his own home and finds it bugged. After Will's funeral, the boys ask Mr. Clarke about dimensions, who he tells them that a spacetime tear could create a passage between dimensions. The deputies inform Hopper that Barb's car was found by the state; Hopper finds the state's involvement suspicious. Positing that a tear in spacetime would disrupt the electromagnetic field, the boys follow their compasses to find the source of the disruption. El remembers being placed in a sensory-deprivation tank to telepathically intercept information from a Russian spy; while listening to the spy, she came across the creature. Scared of finding the gate, El directs the compasses away from the laboratory. Lucas notices the distortion and confronts her. Mike defends her, and he and Lucas fight. El telekinetically flings Lucas off Mike; Lucas recovers and runs away. In the woods, Nancy and Jonathan find a wounded deer, which the creature drags away. Following the blood trail, Nancy crawls through a passage to the Upside-Down world and discovers the creature feasting upon the deer.

6 6 "Chapter Six: The Monster"

Jonathan pulls Nancy through the portal, saving her from the creature. In her bedroom, she is afraid to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay. Steve sees them together through her bedroom window. The next day, Nancy and Jonathan resolve to kill the monster and purchase supplies from an army surplus store. After a fist fight with Steve, Jonathan is arrested after he inadvertently assaults an officer. Joyce and Hopper decide to investigate together after Hopper discovers his home has been bugged. They track down Terry Yves; she is El's biological mother, who underwent MKUltra training while pregnant. Jane, now known as "011", was taken by Brenner. El shoplifts frozen waffles and recalls how she accidentally opened the gate to the Upside-Down on a reconnaissance mission, allowing the monster through. While searching for El, Mike and Dustin are ambushed by Troy and his bully friend; Troy holds Dustin at knifepoint and demands that Mike jump off the cliff into the lake where Will's body was discovered, which will likely kill him. Mike jumps but is levitated to safety by El. Lucas sees agents leaving the laboratory and realizes they are heading to Mike's house to capture El.

7 7 "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"

Lucas warns Mike via walkie-talkie that government agents are en route. Mike, Dustin, and El flee the house and narrowly escape with Lucas; El telekinetically flips a van that blocks their path. At their junkyard base, Lucas reconciles with Mike and El. Joyce and Hopper are called to the police station, where they find Nancy with Jonathan, and Jonathan reveals his knowledge about the creature to his mother and Hopper. The group contacts Mike and his friends, and they rendezvous with him at the junkyard, formulating a plan to make a sensory-deprivation tank to amplify El's powers so she can search for Will and Barb. They break into the middle school and construct the tank in the gym. With Joyce's help, El successfully enters the Upside-Down to find Barbara dead and Will alive, hiding in the Upside-Down "Castle Byers", his makeshift fort. Hopper and Joyce attempt to break into Hawkins Laboratory to save Will, but are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan resolve to kill the monster, and steal their hunting gear back from the police station. In the Upside-Down, the monster breaks into the fort where Will is hiding.

8 8 "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"

Interrogated by Brenner, Hopper gives up El's location in exchange for neutrality and access to the gate. He and Joyce enter in Hazmat suits and discover the creature's nest, where they find Will unconscious with a slug-like creature in his esophagus. Nancy and Jonathan booby-trap the Byers' home, then cut their hands to attract the creature with their blood. Steve arrives, intending to apologize to Jonathan about their fight. The monster attacks and Steve traps it, but it escapes back to the Upside-Down. In the middle school, where El and the boys are hiding, Mike asks El to a school dance, then kisses her. Agents storm the school, but El crushes their brains. As Brenner recovers the weakened El, the monster enters and begins to attack Brenner. The boys escape with El and hide in a room, until the monster finds and tries to attack them. El pins it against a wall, says goodbye to Mike, and both vanish. Will is hospitalized and reunited with his mother, brother, and friends. Hopper is reluctantly picked up by a black car. One month later, Nancy has gotten back together with Steve, and both are friends with Jonathan. Hopper leaves Eggos in a box in the woods. In the bathroom of his home, Will coughs up a slug-like creature, briefly sees the world like the Upside-Down, and returns to dinner.

The Verdict: 

After hearing people on social media that I know rave about it so much, I took the plunge to check this out a few months ago. I didn't tell anyone that I was watching this as people I know personally have a knack for spoiling something they've seen before me, even more so for television shows that are "trendy" or heavily popular - hence why you don't see me watching nor covering shows like Empire, Game of Thrones, nor The Walking Dead.

Let's go ahead and get this out of the way now, but the biggest spoiler/reference in this show was the kids mentioning X-Men #134 on the first two episodes. I'm sure that reference along with a lot of the more nerdier things referenced by the kids will go completely over most viewers' heads but for me, it kinda spoiled a few things ahead of time as I saw them coming from that one comic book the kids mentioned, much like the foreshadowing from Will being taken by the demogorgon in the game of Dungeons & Dragons they played before Will is abducted by the monster.

X-Men 134 is in the middle of the Phoenix Saga, specifically the one where Dark Phoenix first appears. The Phoenix Saga is one of the most famous X-Men stories, where Jean Grey, a telepathic mutant, learns to fully unlock her powers and becomes the Phoenix, and then the Dark Phoenix. The panel where she becomes the Dark Phoenix is one of the more famous in all of X-Men. 

But that's not all! In the book the Dark Phoenix is accidentally unleashed by the Mastermind who is tinkering around in Jean's brain trying to unlock the full potential of her powers. This is comparable to Brenner pushing Eleven to go poke the monster and then tearing a dimensional wall by accident, letting the monster into our universe. Furthermore, in the comic there is a scene where Jean/Phoenix uses her mental powers to pin Mastermind to the wall, and then unloads on him with the full force of her mind putting him into a coma. Sound familiar? That's how El defeats the monster in the school. Pinning it to the wall and deciding to make it so he can't hurt anyone anymore. 

It's a cool reference/homage, and furthers the idea that the Duffy Brothers really did put good care and attention into the references they make beyond just "hey, that's totally 80s!" -- via reddit

The folks on reddit explained that better and possibly less long-winded than I would have but you get the point. The Duffy Brothers blew me away with a compact and concise story that keep me engaged and interested for the duration of all eight episodes. That's not an easy task either as most shows have bullshit filler or other nonsense to extend their airtime and fulfill their episodes per season order but the Duffy Brothers kept it simple and straight to the point.

Outside of Will's mom and Hopper, most of the parents in this show are oblivious to everything - another joke that anyone born after the mid-90's won't understand in this show. That's another thing I have to applaud the Duffy Brothers for. There's so much charm and nostalgia from the American 80's culture all over this show and it was all in good taste. They didn't do like most nostalgic properties do where they reference "popular" pop culture tidbits in the sake of being "cool", "edgy", and "hipster". No, anything and everything that was referenced here tied to the overall plot and contributed to the narrative in some shape or form, whether it was foreshadowing or adding to character development.

If I had to knock this show for anything it's that the Upside-Down is almost a complete ripoff of Silent Hill in terms of  visual presentation, especially if you've seen how the two live-action adaptations of that video game. Y'know the decent one and the not-so-good sequel. The fog atmosphere effect is almost a spot on match for the "ash" and fog of darkness from Silent Hill. The "monster" even borrowed a few visual cues from that universe, which showed a lack of imagination on the Duffy Brothers' behalf in that department. When they finally showed what it looked like without the aura of mystery of the Upside-Down, that was ultimately the biggest letdown the entire season for me. Then again, most of these horror movies/shows have that moment so I can't really fault them at that. They did a great job of making viewers crave that anticipation of seeing what horrors lay wait in the Upside-Down and kept viewers hooked from start to finish.

As for the ending, I'm guessing that in the next season El comes back with more mastery over her powers and is established as an impromptu guardian between our reality and the Upside-Down while Will finds himself in peril again as he has been somehow "infected" by the demagorgon and is slowly becoming one himself. I would like to imagine that the Duffy Brothers will shed light on how those creatures come to existence and the whole connection to the slug-like creatures and what-not.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

If you're looking for a quick weekend binge or simply have about roughly eight hours to kill, this is a definitely worth a look. You're going to hear me point this out about more Netflix shows, but goddamn an eight episode season is worth it for these hour long seasons for shows like this. Short, sweet and straight to the point without dragging on just to fulfill the show order by the cable networks. 

REVIEW -- Marvel's Jessica Jones (Netflix) - Season 1

Marvel's Jessica Jones, or simply Jessica Jones, is an American web television series created for Netflix by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise, and is the second in a series of shows that will lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Rosenberg serving as showrunner.

Krysten Ritter stars as Jessica Jones, a former superhero who opens her own detective agency after an end to her superhero career. Mike Colter, Rachael Taylor, Wil Traval, Erin Moriarty, Eka Darville, Carrie-Anne Moss, and David Tennant also star in season one. A version of the series was originally in development by Rosenberg for ABC in 2010, which was eventually passed on. By late 2013, Rosenberg reworked the series, when it reentered development for Netflix as A.K.A. Jessica Jones and Ritter was cast as Jones in December 2014. Jessica Jones films in New York City, in areas that still look like old Hell's Kitchen.

All episodes of the first season premiered on November 20, 2015. They were released to critical acclaim, with critics noting Ritter's and Tennant's performances as well as the series' noir tone, approach to sexuality, and coverage of darker topics such as rape, assault, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In January 2016, Netflix renewed Jessica Jones for a second season.

Cast:

Main:

Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
Mike Colter as Luke Cage
Rachael Taylor as Trish "Patsy" Walker
Wil Traval as Will Simpson
Erin Moriarty as Hope Shlottman
Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse
Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth
David Tennant as Kilgrave

Recurring

Susie Abromeit as Pam
Rebecca De Mornay as Dorothy Walker
Lisa Emery as Louise Thompson
Ryan Farrell as Jackson
Danielle Ferland as Clair
Gillian Glasco as Emma
Colby Minifie as Robyn
Kieran Mulcare as Ruben
Clarke Peters as Oscar Clemons
Paul Pryce as Donald
Michael Siberry as Albert Thompson
Robin Weigert as Wendy Ross-Hogarth
Nichole Yannetty as Nicole

Guest

James Colby as Brian Jones
Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
Parisa Fitz-Henley as Reva Connors
Royce Johnson as Brett Mahoney
Thomas Kopache as Kozlov
Joseph Ragno as Roy Healy
Miriam Shor as Alisa Jones

Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance through an on set photograph, the same one seen in Daredevil.

The Plot:

Episode 1 - "AKA Ladies Night"

Jessica Jones, an alcoholic private investigator "gifted" with superhuman strength and flight, delivers a subpoena to strip-club owner Gregory Spheeris for lawyer Jeri Hogarth (who is having an affair with her assistant Pam behind the back of her wife Wendy Ross-Hogarth), exposing her abilities to him in the process. While not working, Jones spies on Luke Cage, a bar owner who sees her looking into his bar and offers her free alcohol as a "Ladies Night" promotion, leading to the two sleeping together. She leaves upset after seeing a photo of a woman in his bathroom. Jones is approached by Barbara and Bob Shlottman after their daughter Hope began acting differently and disappeared. While investigating, Jones discovers that Hope is with Kilgrave, a man with mind control abilities whose time controlling Jones gave her PTSD, and who she believed was dead. Jones wants to flee, but is convinced by her friend and foster-sister Trish Walker to help Hope. Jones finds her, but Kilgrave's hold is still over Hope, and she murders her parents.

Episode 2 - "AKA Crush Syndrome"

Jones is investigated by Detective Oscar Clemons, who discovers photos she took of Cage. Jones lies to Cage that she had been hired by the husband of a woman who Cage had slept with. Cage, having not known that the woman was married, confronts her about it, and when she goes to her husband, he attacks Cage with a group. Jones helps fight off the men, and learns that Cage is gifted with unbreakable skin. Hogarth agrees to represent Shlottman if Jones can prove that Kilgrave exists. Jones remembers leaving Kilgrave to die after he was hit by a bus, and now tracks down the ambulance driver who had picked him up. The driver had donated both his kidneys to Kilgrave, and is now on dialysis. Jones finds the operating doctor who anonymously donated the dialysis machine. He agrees to testify for Shlottman, and reveals that he operated on Kilgrave without anesthesia since that would have blocked Kilgrave's abilities. When Hogarth meets with Shlottman, the latter reveals that Jones was once under Kilgrave's control as well.

Episode 3 - "AKA It's Called Whiskey"

Jones and Cage bond over their mutual powers, while Jones also tracks down a surgical grade anesthetic to subdue Kilgrave with. Hogarth, now divorcing her wife and unwilling to risk herself and her reputation despite the doctor's testimony, organizes for Walker to interview Shlottman about Kilgrave live on her radio talk show. Walker asks that anyone who believes they have been approached or controlled by Kilgrave contact Hogarth, before publicly insulting Kilgrave on air. Angered, Kilgrave sends police sergeant Will Simpson to kill Walker, with Jones having to use the anesthetic on Walker to convince Simpson that he has carried out his orders. Jones follows Simpson back to Kilgrave, who orders Simpson to walk off a balcony. Jones again convinces Simpson that he has carried out this order by knocking him out and taking him to the street below, telling him as he wakes that she caught him. Searching through the house that Kilgrave was occupying, Jones discovers a room full of photographs of her.

Episode 4 - "AKA 99 Friends"

Jones accepts a case from jewelry designer Audrey Eastman who seeks evidence of her husband cheating. Jones tracks Eastman's husband to a rendezvous with his girlfriend only to discover a trap set by Eastman, who blames gifted people for the death of her mother during the "Incident" and who learned of Jones' powers from Spheeris. Angered as she recalls the death of her own parents, Jones convinces the Eastmans to leave her alone with a show of her power and a bluff over the number of other gifted in the city. Hogarth and Jones process a large number of people claiming to have been controlled by Kilgrave, forming a support group for those legitimately affected by him. Simpson attempts to apologize to a frightened Walker over his action while under Kilgrave's control; they eventually bond over the experience. Jones uses surveillance footage provided by Simpson and clues offered by the Kilgrave support group to learn that the photographer spying on her for Kilgrave is her drug addicted neighbor Malcolm Ducasse.

Episode 5 - "AKA The Sandwich Saved Me"

Jones recalls her brief time as a superhero as she debates whether to save Ducasse or to use him as a means of locating Kilgrave. Walker and Simpson begin a romantic relationship with Jones grudgingly allowing him to assist in a plot to capture Kilgrave. Simpson supplies ex-special operations skills and contacts, including access to a hermetically sealed room in which Kilgrave could be kept once the effects of the anesthetic wear off. They follow Ducasse to his daily meeting with Kilgrave where photographs of Jones are exchanged for drugs, which Kilgrave had forced Ducasse to become addicted to so he would obey Kilgrave even after his powers wore off, after around 12 hours of no contact. Simpson shoots Kilgrave with the anesthetic; Jones refuses to let him kill Kilgrave so he can be used to prove Shlottman innocent. Jones gets Kilgrave to Walker and the getaway car, but they are attacked by hired bodyguards who escape with the unconscious Kilgrave. Jones then resolves to help Ducasse overcome his addiction.

Episode 6 - "AKA You're a Winner!"

Kilgrave uses his powers to win a poker game, and spends his winnings on Jones’s childhood home. After paying a fellow inmate to beat her, Shlottman confesses to Jones that she is pregnant with Kilgrave’s child and has been trying to miscarry. Jones gives her an abortion pill; Hogarth secretly takes the fetal remains. Cage hires Jones to help find the brother of someone who has evidence on the death of Cage's wife, Reva Connors. Connors had left Cage instructions to find a box she had hidden, but it was not there when he looked. Jones recalls Kilgrave having Connors lead them to the box, with Jones digging it up before killing Connors. Jones and Cage find the missing brother, and are given the file of the bus driver that accidentally hit Kilgrave (and who Cage believes hit Connors). Seeing that the driver had been drunk, Cage seeks revenge. Jones intervenes and confesses that Kilgrave forced her to kill Connors. Cage leaves, unable to forgive her for hiding the truth and instigating an intimate relationship with him.

Episode 7 - "AKA Top Shelf Perverts"

A drunk Jones, having been asked by Hogarth to convince her wife to sign divorce papers, accosts Ross-Hogarth in a subway and almost kills her. Ross-Hogarth refuses to sign the papers. Ducasse helps Jones back to her apartment, where they find her neighbor Ruben, dead. Knowingly blaming Kilgrave, Jones devises a desperate plan: get herself imprisoned in asupermax prison so when Kilgrave inevitably comes for her, his abilities will be caught on camera. Walker and Simpson have their own plan, with Simpson following Kilgrave's security detail, though he does not tell Walker when he finds them at Jones's old house. Ducasse disposes of Ruben's body, though Jones finds him. Enacting her plan, Jones goes to a police station with Ruben's severed head and confesses to his murder. Her processing is interrupted when Kilgrave takes control of the station and declares his love for Jones, as she was the first person to resist him. He invites her "home." and Simpson later watches as Jones voluntarily enters the house with Kilgrave.

Episode 8 - "AKA WWJD?"

Jones spends several days living with Kilgrave. Though he takes her phone so she cannot record him, she secretly gets Simpson's phone when she catches him sneaking into the house to plant a bomb. Unwilling to let Kilgrave die until Shlottman is free, Jones tells Kilgrave about the bomb. Kilgrave, in an effort to prove that his nature was forced upon him, shows Jones a pendrive (this is what Connors had hidden in the box) containing footage that shows his parents experimenting on him as a child and him eventually stopping them by his command during an especially painful experience. Jones shows Kilgrave that he can do good with his power by convincing him to save several people. Jones visits Walker and asks whether she should stay with Kilgrave and try to use his abilities to change the world for good. When Jones, knowing that Kilgrave will harm some of his "servants" if she does not return, goes back to Kilgrave, she uses a distraction to incapacitate him instead, and flies away with him. Then, Simpson is seriously injured by his own bomb, which Kilgrave left for him.

Episode 9 - "AKA Sin Bin"

Walker races Simpson to the hospital, where he insists on seeing Dr. Kozlov, who he knows from his days as an Army sergeant and who gives him some pills—his injuries heal miraculously. Jones imprisons Kilgrave in the hermetically sealed room, where she plans to torture him until he reveals his abilities on camera. Hogarth warns her that this would forfeit their case in court, and that the D.A. has offered a 15-20 year plea deal to Shlottman if she pleads guilty. Jones convinces Shlottman to not take the deal, and devises a new plan. From the footage of Kilgrave's experiments, Jones discovers the names of his parents, Louise and Albert Thompson, and from photographs realizes that his mother is a member of the support group. Jones confronts her and Albert, and convinces them to face their son. Jones also convinces Clemons to come as a witness. In the cell, Kilgrave is remorseful, but Louise attempts to kill him to stop him from hurting anyone again, and he makes her kill herself. Jones saves Albert from a similar fate, but Kilgrave escapes.

Episode 10 - "AKA 1,000 Cuts"

Kilgrave forces Hogarth to take him to a doctor; she goes to Ross-Hogarth, hoping Kilgrave will force her to sign their divorce papers, but Kilgrave orders Ross-Hogarth to kill Hogarth with a thousand cuts. Pam arrives, and kills Ross-Hogarth to stop her. Thompson reveals that Kilgrave's abilities are a virus that he releases, and that a vaccine could be created from Jones's blood as Jones appears to have become immune to Kilgrave's influence. Simpson, under the influence of Kozlov's drugs that enhance combat performance and numb pain, arrives at the cell, where Clemons is guarding the evidence needed to imprison Kilgrave. Set on killing Kilgrave instead, Simpson kills Clemons and destroys the evidence. He finds Walker with Thompson, who is unsuccessful in creating the vaccine, but she sends him away when she sees how unstable he is, managing to take some of his pills from him in the process. Kilgrave gets Shlottman released from prison and trades her for his father; Shlottman kills herself, freeing Jones to kill Kilgrave.

Episode 11 - "AKA I've Got the Blues"

The truth about Simpson's special forces past is shown, as he takes red pills to up his adrenaline. This causes him to go on a kill mission after Kilgrave, leaving Jones and Walker to stop his out-of-control blood-lust. Kilgrave learns about Cage and makes an example of him to Jessica.

Episode 12 - "AKA Take a Bloody Number"

Cage reveals to Jones that he was ordered by Kilgrave to destroy his bar, and recounts the events leading up to it. The two go in search of leads to Kilgrave and his father, who Kilgrave is using to concoct a way to control Jessica again. Cage tells Jones that it was wrong to blame her for Connors's death and that he forgives her. Walker's mother, meanwhile, visits her with a file on a company called "IGH", which was responsible for providing Simpson with his pills, and also paid for Jones's medical care following her childhood accident. Cage and Jones eventually find a nightclub which Kilgrave was using to test his enhanced powers on an audience. While they look for video footage, Kilgrave appears and reveals that Cage has been under his control the whole time in order to lie to Jones that he has forgiven her. Kilgrave unleashes Cage on Jones and escapes while the two fight. The fight culminates in Jones's shooting Cage in the head with a police shotgun.

Episode 13 - "AKA Smile"

Claire Temple, after treating Cage for injuries, sees he is superhuman and helps Jones move him to her apartment for treatment. Kilgrave's powers have reached a powerful new threshold and he is willing to use it to end Jones however he can. Walker tells Jones she may have found a clue to how she got her powers. As Jones and Walker track down Kilgrave, he uses his greatly enhanced power to control a crowd and, unsure whether he can also exert his powers on Jones, opts to make Walker his sex slave to punish Jones. Jones appears to accept this under Kilgrave's commands, but as he approaches her and asks her to say she loves him, she demonstrates she is still immune to his influence by grabbing him by the throat and lifting into the air. With a sarcastic repeat of his frequent order to "smile," she snaps his neck, freeing everyone, including Cage, from his spell. Jones is arrested for the murder but Hogarth, acting as her lawyer, secures her release. Word of Jones's heroics begin to reach the population of the city, and she begins to get calls asking for her assistance.

The Verdict:

Unlike my review on Daredevil last year, I'm not going to cite and analyze every single episode of this 13-episode season. I personally feel like the show should be reviewed as a whole and not by it's individual parts, especially since this is the second of these Netflix exclusives from Marvel Studios. This isn't their first rodeo, so they know what they are doing - for the most part.

Casting

Krysten Ritter plays this character flawlessly (an emotionally damaged woman warped in a bizarre twist of being a rape victim, no thanks to being used as Kilgrave's pawn) while David Tennant (a Dr. Who alumni) plays the psychotic, yet obsessively (and oftentimes, hopelessly) in love Kilgrave (commonly known as the Purple Man in Marvel Comics). Carrie Anne-Moss plays a gender swapped Jeri Hogarth. The character was originally male in Marvel Comics, but was made female and lesbian for this iteration of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Wil Traval portrays Will Simpson, the man who will later become the pill-popping super villain known as Nuke. Rachael Taylor plays Jessica's best friend, Patricia/Trish "Patsy" Walker, in a role that was confirmed in interviews was originally written for Carol Danvers but that was changed after Marvel Studios announced that she was getting her own stand-alone film. For the record, I have to applaud the writers for going that far into Marvel's history to dig up a character that obscure. Still, she's not as completely unknown as the Night Nurse/Claire Temple... By the way, she makes a cameo in this show in the last few episodes and ends up being the first character in this side of the MCU to cross from the confines of one Netflix Marvel exclusive to another.

My personal issue with Ritter is that she's not... how do I say this without coming off mean... hot enough for the amount of sex scenes in this show. Sue me. It's the same reaction I had to Gal Gadot cast as Wonder Woman in Warner Bros./DC Comics' DC Comics Extended Universe for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Nerds and comic book geeks like myself have been reading and worshiping these heroes and heroines like idols for the bulk of our lives and we're very protective on the aesthetic appearances of how these characters should look like in reality. That's where I have a major issue with this type of writing. The titular female character in this show is a woman portrayed as a "victim" after going around whoring herself out to the first attractive guy (Luke Cage) she meets that she just happened to be stalking on a job?

Scaling back a bit, I can't frown upon Ritter's casting too much in terms of aesthetics as Jessica Jones wasn't "attractive" in comics until her more modern appearances, so yeah. My issue with Ritter was easily overlooked and forgiven by the point where Kilgrave and Jessica's paths cross and kept things interesting from a narrative standpoint anyway. Her and Tennant's chemistry is amazing together on-screen and perfect for this series.

Speaking of Luke Cage, I'm going to discuss his role in this show compared to his own series in that review, but for what it's worth here, Mike Colter did a fine job with the character for his debut appearance into the MCU. They didn't seem to tease much here, but I guess they are leaving the door open for that relationship to flourish MUCH later down the road in this corner of the MCU.

I know that I'm getting ahead of myself before discussing the series' plot in the first season but goddamn that left a bad taste in my mouth at the start of the first season. I know someone is going to say that I wouldn't have had a problem with it if it was a male in the same position and you would be absolutely WRONG. Sex scenes to further the narrative I'm all for, but sex scenes just to justify your R-rating I frown upon and it just makes your show look trashy from the start. There's more than enough smut on the Internet or on late night Cinemax if you're looking for that kind of fix.

Narrative

My issues with Ritter's characterization in this show just screams to me that this narrative had a bit of a woman's touch. Not trying to be sexist here, but from the way particular themes and situations were handled throughout the course of this first season, I could tell that it wasn't from a male perspective that this show was written by. It's just a lot of stuff just comes across very odd to me. Maybe it's because I'm a guy and this show is geared more for a female audience, I just can't identify with the manner how the story is presented here.

As mentioned before, the story between Jessica and Kilgrave is the best thing going in this season, but it's a little rushed. I was even more underwhelmed when they killed off Kilgrave (Purple Man dammit, even though most nerds will get pissed at me for even referring to him as that...) in the season finale and it makes me wonder what did they have in mind in terms of long-term appeal for this show when Kilgrave could have been around for at least two seasons after his powers were exposed to the public. Imagine how much publicity Hogarth could have gotten for her firm off that instead of just merely representing Kilgrave's victims. It just seemed like a wasted opportunity to rush everything in one season. Kilgrave being the "victim" in season two could have been the theme after Jessica Jones' new-found immunity to his powers.

I'm not even going to dwell upon Kilgrave being Kevin Thompson's "codename" instead of having Zebediah Killgrave (yes with two L's...) as his real name. The child experiment gone wrong works for this iteration in the MCU, so there's not much to complain about here. Everything about the use of Kilgrave is comparable to something straight out of the horror/psychological thriller genre(s). I could easily spend this entire review talking about the brilliance of David Tennant as Kilgrave, but that's easily the best thing that everyone will be talking about this show for years to come.

In my review of Daredevil Season 1, I compared that series as the MCU's equivalent of the Death Note anime series. Jessica Jones can be compared to the anime Silent Möbius. Both female protagonists are given a heroic destiny that they don't really openly accept and often times refuse to act on it's call, controlled by a malign force beyond their control or comprehension to cause irreversible damage to those they care about, but ultimately overcome these hardships to fully embrace their heroic destinies.

The subplot with Will Sampson showing the signs of going down the deep end as he becomes the villain, Nuke, was something else that could have been saved for the second season. He was better off as Jessica's unofficial sidekick, along with his on/off-again fuckbuddy girlfriend, Trish. That's the number one problem I had with this show's first season. It habitually got ahead of itself. From the moment that Jessica and Luke Cage were having sex in the first episode within minutes of meeting each other to Trish's martial arts "training" for her pending superhero career as Hellcat, this show had a common theme of getting ahead of itself.

I have to applaud this show for doing a better job at emphasizing the horrors of PTSD and destructive relationships. Even though I felt that Hope had a more compelling tale of PTSD than Jessica Jones did, it was interesting to see the MCU explore this aspect of human psychology. It was touched upon in Ironman 3 in a joking manner as that film's subplot but to see it explored in this Netflix series in a tasteful manner, deserves a nod of approval.

Closing Thoughts

For a LONG time, I was very nervous to write about a show like this - even more so than the Ghostbusters reboot with the all-female cast - for multiple reasons. For one, this is one of the few newer Marvel Comics properties I never bothered to read the comic book of that it was based off of, so I found myself asking my on-again, off-again occasional co-author Serena stuff about the series before I wrote this review as she's a big fan of this character and the graphic novel(s) that spawned her. I was even at the point of letting her write this review entirely but after discussing it with her, I felt confident enough to tackle this subject on my own.

As Marvel's first female-led television series, Jessica Jones gets it's point across but is Jessica a heroine that you will see girls aspiring to be? I think not. She's as much of a heroine as Lady Death is and in both cases, they took the shit that their lives handed them and made it into a steak dinner. This series seemed to overlook the origins of Jessica's powers in favoring to establish her relationships with her foster family (Patsy and her mother) along with her history with Kilgrave. To a degree, Jessica's powers took a backseat to almost everything in terms of the narrative. To the casual fan who doesn't know any better, Jessica Jones would seem like a normal woman who just happens to know how to take care of herself in a fight. The "super-powered" aspect here is almost transparent. If someone told me this was just another female-led drama in the wake of Rozzili and Isles or Bones, casuals might not have been able to distinguish that this was a superhero show from first glance.

This is a show about women with a lot of psychological issues and how do they cope with living with these issues more than anything. Jessica deals with PTSD from her experience with Kilgrave throughout the course of the entire season while Patsy is emotionally scarred by being forced into the spotlight by her mother for her entire life to the point that she thrives off toxic relationships, which led her with Will Thompson shortly after he attempted to kill her. Jeri Hogarth has a ton of control issues that this show seems to merely scratch the surface of, but I can see affecting the Defenders in the long run.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Yes this show is worth a look at least once. Like previously mentioned, David Tennant's performance as Kilgrave rivals Tom Hiddleston's own as Loki as Marvel fanboys and fangirls will be arguing for years to come for who is the best Marvel villain to date between those two, along with Vincent D'Onofrio as the Kingpin in Daredevil.

At first glance, this feels like a total chick flick until the show hooks you in by the end of the first episode with the elements of a psychological thriller. Jessica Jones manages to take what could have been a lackluster subject manner to wade through and create something truly special within the confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this corner of the Marvel Netflix properties. Unfortunately, there's a few shortcomings that cut the life support off of this wildride a bit prematurely for my taste. Kilgrave was the type of villain that could have had a lasting impact in this series, but ultimately falls victim to Marvel's constant trope of killing off their villains (especially potentially great ones) before they have a firm foothold into this continuity.

NXT Takeover: Toronto (November 19, 2016) -- Results and Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver: Toronto was a professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on November 19, 2016, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event is produced by WWE for its NXT brand, and streamed live on the WWE Network.

Bobby Roode def. Tye Dillinger

This was a solid opener for this event, but if I'm perfectly honest, I'm not really blown away from anything Bobby Roode has done since his arrival in NXT. I'm not knocking the guy - it's just that I have been bored with him since his last run in Impact Wrestling and Global Force Wrestling. That goes double for Austin Aries too. It just seems like those guys are riding off the same old shit that they were doing in TNA for the last decade or more and the WWE marks who haven't bothered to watch anything outside of Vince's kingdom don't know any better, even though NXT is supposed to be the smarky audience.

To say that Roode dominated the majority of this match to a minor comeback by Dillinger, only for Roode to ultimately win at the end (with a fucking Impaler DDT no less) just seems like another blow to Dillinger as NXT continues to chop that guy's legs out from underneath him. Despite how stupid he looked in his entrance and he had to follow behind Roode's fucking mass choir singing along with his GLORIOUS entrance theme, Dillinger didn't allow that to shake him and the crowd was really behind the guy - even carrying on his memory throughout the weekend. I just wish WWE would give him a chance to shine instead of allowing him to fizzle out like most of their homegrown talent in NXT in favor of the established "indie darlings".

Dusty Tag Team Classic 2016 Finals - Authors of Pain def. TM61 with Paul Ellering confined within a shark tank hanging above the ring

Speaking of indie darlings, this is one case where the established indie guys should have gone over. The Authors of Pain have been lame since their debut and having Paul Ellering in their corner has done them absolutely no favors. They pulled that shark tank stipulation right out of their asses too as who saw that one coming. I guess they wanted to hype up that new playset for the kids with the holidays right around the corner.

Outside of that crazy dive spot off the structure at ringside, I couldn't have cared less about this match. Both teams tried but this year's Dusty Classic has been a complete waste just to feature the former CWC talent in pointless tag team matches as filler while taking away the focus from deserving new and established teams in NXT. Goddamn, this tournament has been such a wasted opportunity this year.

I'm guessing that they gave Paul Ellering's team the win since they are trying to brown nose him into sticking around even though his daughter recently signed with Ring of Honor for their women's division.

By the way, Paul Ellering would be one hell of a Hall of Fame induction sooner more than later. He's MORE than qualified at this point.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match - DIY def. The Revival (c) in a Best of 3 Falls Match

After the first fall, I stood up and applauded as I thought that was the finish. I had NO fucking idea that this was a Best of 3 Falls Match like Revival's last encounter against American Alpha. That Shatter Machine counter to Gargano's Slingshot Spear was fucking beautiful. That being said, Revival and DIY put on a tag team clinic in this match. It was as great as their last Takeover match, despite a few miscues and botches but it came together by the end. This was the ONLY match the entire weekend that had me emotionally invested from bell to bell.

I predicted that DIY would win the gold here, but at the same time, I was a little heartbroken to see Revival lose the titles. I hope they are getting a call up to the main roster sooner more than later as both brands could benefit from a tag team of their caliber on their rosters. If it is time for Revival to move up, then the division is in good hands with DIY on top.

NXT Women's Championship Match - Asuka (c) def. Mickie James

I don't get why the Canadian crowds were chanting that Mickie "still got it" when she honestly never quit wrestling much other than during her pregnancy. Just because you leave WWE for roughly the last few years doesn't mean that you haven't been wrestling period. Geez, folks. Give TNA some credit for keeping her memory alive after all of WWE's work lately to drag the post-Lita and Trish era of WWE Divas in the mud until the Bella Twins came around.

This match just seemed off. It wasn't as bad as Gail Kim and Mickie James' lack of chemistry from throughout the years, but to me, it felt like that Asuka and Mickie James were struggling to click with each other on this one. At the same time, I couldn't help but think in the back of my mind that Trish Stratus turned down this match because there wasn't no way in hell she would have come back just to get stiffed by Asuka and job out in her homeland. Yeah, I'd get knocked up too if that meant I would have an excuse not to fight her. Mickie did enough to keep this one interesting but not at one moment I felt that Mickie was going to win here.

Sadly, this match had a rushed/sloppy finish that just came off awkward in the middle of their reversal exchange. That alone left a bad taste in my mouth as we didn't get a true "decisive" win here. Instead, it just looked like a botch and the girls went with it. On top of that, this seemed like a missed opportunity to not have Asuka's next challenger make herself known after this match but I guess they didn't want to take the spotlight away from Mickie's "glorious" return.

As for Mickie James, I doubt she'll come back to a full-time WWE schedule when she's got a kid at home and her husband is still working the indies as well.

NXT Championship Match - Samoa Joe def. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) to become the first ever 2-time NXT Champion

Outside of not dislocating Samoa Joe's jaw again, I felt that this was about the same as their first match. Not saying that was a bad thing, but if you enjoyed their first encounter then it was a lot of the same here. I was really surprised to see Joe bust out the Chimera Plex in this match, but I guess that was to cater to the New Japan fans. I was even more surprised to see Nakamura lose here. I thought they would have given the two-time NXT Champion spot to Balor before he left but I was definitely wrong on that one. Samoa Joe seems like he's going to be one of Triple H's pet projects for a long time. If handled well, Joe could be a more dominating and unstoppable force than Owens and Lesnar combined. That would definitely make up for how TNA handled that guy's main event push.

I have to wonder if Nakamura is getting the call up sooner than we are expecting. I mean c'mon the guy is FAR too big of a star too keep him down in NXT for two WrestleManias in a row. Then imagine the crowd reaction for his entrance at WrestleMania, let alone for the Rumble next month if they debut him like they did AJ Styles last year. Just imagine that crowd reaction for Nakamura if he showed up in the Rumble match. It would be crazy if Nakamura and Styles have their Wrestle Kingdom rematch at WrestleMania next year.

After seeing people mention this online, I have to agree with the predictions that Nakamura will more likely get the belt back when NXT tours in Japan next month. That makes perfect sense for Samoa Joe's last hurrah and for Nakamura to regain the gold back in his homeland. I'm fine with that as long as they don't start tossing the belt back and forth like a hot potato like how Sasha Banks and Charlotte were doing on the main roster for the last few months.

Closing Thoughts

If I were to give this show a grade, I would give it an average B. That's it. It was your average run of the mill NXT episode stretched into two and half hours. The best match was easily the best match of the night and I'm sure people will be buzzing about the entrances for months to come, but there's nothing much else to write home about this event. Sad to say, but this was EASILY the best thing that WWE offered during Survivor Series weekend. If forced to pick between the two to watch, I HIGHLY recommend watching this show over wasting 3.5+ hours of your life watching that mess that was Survivor Series.

REVIEW -- Supergirl: Season 2 Episodes 1-2 - "The Adventures of Supergirl" and "Children of Krypton"

Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents Zor-El (Robert Gant) and Alura (Laura Benanti). Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth's yellow sun.

En route to Earth, Kara's spacecraft was diverted by a shock wave from Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara so, when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The main series begins eleven years later when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.

Kara hid her powers for more than a decade, believing that Earth didn't need another hero. However, she has to reveal her powers to thwart an unexpected disaster, setting her on her own journey of heroism as National City's protector. Kara discovers that hundreds of the criminals her mother prosecuted as a judge on Krypton are hiding on Earth, including her mother's twin sister Astra (also played by Benanti) and Astra's husband Non (Chris Vance), who seek to rule the world. After briefly becoming suspicious of the true agenda of her boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), she and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh), secretly discover that Henshaw is actually a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz, who has resided on Earth for over fifty years after escaping a holocaust on his homeworld of Mars. J'onn infiltrated the DEO to reform the organization as well as to watch over both Alex and Kara in addition to guiding the latter in the use of her powers due to his experience with his own abilities. Kara is also being targeted by Earth's criminals as the result of her being related to Superman, and later on encounters an emerging community ofmetahumans and individuals from parallel universes. In the process, Kara accumulates her own rogues gallery who seeks to defeat and destroy her. She is aided by a few close friends and family who guard her secrets—most notably her cousin's longtime friend,James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks)—which also serves as a major plot in high tech mogul Maxwell Lord's (Peter Facinelli) scheme to expose Kara's identity.

Plot (FULL Spoilers)

"The Adventures of Supergirl"

Kara finds an unknown young man lying unconscious in the pod and takes him to DEO. She prepares for a date with James just as the commercial spacecraft, the Venture, is launched into space. It suffers engine failure and descends to Earth, but Kara saves the craft with help from Superman. They find the main target to have been Lena Luthor, the new CEO of Luthor Corp after her brother, Lex, was convicted. In a ceremony where she renames the company L Corp, she is attacked again by John Corben, the assassin. Alex engages him while Kara and Clark stop a building from collapsing. Corben reveals he is working for Lex before he is shot by Lena. Kara chooses to be a reporter for CatCo, a decision supported by Cat. Kara and James decide to keep their relationship friendly. Winn is formally hired to work with the DEO. Meanwhile, J'onn reveals to Alex that he was the one who found the Kryptonite and decided to keep it against the wishes of Clark, who wanted to destroy it. At Project Cadmus, an unnamed woman revives Corben and begins turning him into a metahuman called Metallo.

"Children of Krypton"

Kara and Clark continue operating together in National City before he decides to return toMetropolis. However, they encounter Corben, who challenges them by the kryptonite he possesses. The DEO deduces that there is a mole who smuggled the kryptonite out. In another encounter with Corben, another Metallo goes on rampage in Metropolis without opposition. Alex finds the mole, who is killed by the Cadmus leader, who intends to destroy aliens. Winn manages to build an anti-kryptonite suit for Kara and Clark, who manage to defeat the Metallos by the help of Alex and Hank, respectively. Kara promises the Cadmus leader to find her. Hank entrusts the remaining kryptonite to Clark, who returns to Metropolis. Meanwhile, Cat introduces Kara to the latter's new boss,Snapper, who does not like her and refuses to give her an assignment. Cat advises her to solve the problem herself, deciding to leave CatCo for other adventures, giving her place to James. Cat manages to prove her value to Snapper, who agrees to teach her. In the DEO, the alien man regains consciousness and attacks Kara.

The Verdict:

Originally, I was just going to cover the premiere of this season but I went ahead and added my thoughts on the second episode for this season as well.

"The Adventures of Supergirl"

This episode served as killing two birds with one stone - it served as the premiere of the show on the CW Network while simultaneously kicking off the new season. Right off the bat they addressed the biggest criticism concerning the show in the first season and its lack of Superman despite the several name drops and references. Now we finally get to see the Man of Steel in the flesh so to speak. Even though I read the casting news for the months leading up to this, I have to admit that I was still ultimately underwhelmed by how Superman looks in this show. Then again, we weren't given much in terms of physique when it came to Supergirl so I can't be too surprised. Compare to Henry Cavill, I guess we're all a bit spoiled to how Superman is "supposed" to look like so I wouldn't be too surprised if fans don't cut Tyler Hoechlin any slack about his lack of a Superman-worthy physique.

I will admit that they did manage to capture Superman's presence to the public. They made it a big deal for him to be apart of this show's universe and rightfully so - it IS a big deal, especially after an entire season of teases and minor mentions. Everyone was starstruck and in such awe of him and his reputation while Clark Kent was getting the opposite reaction - save from Cat Grant, who was surprisingly caught up in a schoolgirl-like crush over him. I'm guessing her fixation over Clark is the polar opposite of what drew Lois Lane to him. Cat fell in love with Clark Kent while Lois fell in love with Superman. I guess we'll find out over the course of the next few episodes since Clark is expected to stick around for a bit this season. 

Cat's still my favorite character on this show if I'm perfectly honest...

As usual, the true star of this episode - much like the bulk of Season One - was Cat Grant in all of her brutally honest glory. She puts Kara on blast throughout this episode, pointing how she's become complacent with her position in CatCo and life in general. In a said truth of reality, that's the problem with a lot of these comicbook-based shows. They get stuck in their own repetitive nature of a fairy tale-like narrative but are often afraid to "take the dive" to try something new and different. Sure, the path may be difficult along the way but even if it's a flop or a bust at least the teams behind these shows like this can look back confidently and say that they weren't afraid to take the plunge and do something outside of the box instead of sticking with what is easy or is the safer option for drawing in ratings. 

In terms of action sequences in this premiere, I have to admit that they look a lot better compared to the low quality stuff that we saw last season, but they have a long way to go to blow me away with the action with anything in these shows based in the Arrowverse in general.

I have to ask, what is up with this show's obsession with almost every new female minor character that is introduced is in a position of power? Lana Lang was made the interim head of the DEO last season after J'onn was demoted, the new mystery lady appointed as the figurehead of Cadmus, that woman who ended up being a White Martian in Manhunter's focused episode, and now Lena Luthor too. I'm all for equal rights and building/establishing powerful women in narratives but it seems a bit excessive in this show as the writers are going a bit out of their way to keep doing that.

Project Cadmus finally making their presence known was a pleasant surprise after staying in the shadows for the bulk of Season One, but I fear the weak narrative writing for this show will drag it down in the long run. Not even the mysterious Kryptonian has my interest perked enough to care about what he brings to the table. The rift between Superman and Martian Manhunter made me roll my eyes more than actually care about it from a narrative standpoint when most fans should know that if Superman really wanted to be petty he could just keep a book of matches laying around when the subject of Manhunter's weakness comes up.

Seriously... Just ask Batman.

"Children of Krypton" 

This episode continued the Project Cadmus plot that was teased at the end of the season premiere but we are treated to the first fruit of their labors as Corben is transformed into Metallo. This version of Metallo wasn't really memorable but it wasn't bad for this show's first attempt at the character. Seriously, it could be a lot worse as I think we can look no farther than Smallville and The Lois and Clark: New Adventures of Superman versions of the character. Yeah, I went there...

They didn't butcher Metallo like they did Livewire in the first season, so I can't complain. Let me get into what I'm really upset about on this episode...

Cat Grant is fucking leaving. Reportedly, this has to do with the show not filming locally where Calista Flockhart lives so travel is an issue but she's set to still make sporadic appearances throughout the season. She's just not listed as a series regular from here on out. From a storyline perspective, they are writing her off as being "burnt out" and taking a leave of absence while James takes over her position at CatCo while Kara takes on her new reporter job. Boy, seeing the arguably the "best" character on this show being written off doesn't give me much high hopes for this season. The Project Cadmus plot is intriguing enough as it makes me wish that Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice went that route in terms of being opposed to powered-people like Kryptonians, especially with their propaganda video.

No one gives a pep talk like Cat Grant. #Supergirl pic.twitter.com/jpXcRJKciO

— SupergirlWritersRoom (@SupergirlStaff) October 18, 2016

Snapper Carr seems like a piss poor replacement from this first appearance and comes off as a poor man's J. Jonah Jameson to add onto Kara's moping around like The Flash's Barry Allen, if these CW shows don't have enough of that with their young adolescent protagonists. At least Cat went out with a bang with her sassy attitude and brutally honest life lessons for Kara/Supergirl. We'll definitely miss you, Cat.

This episode has more awkward looking action sequences, somehow managing to top how poor the premiere's sequences looked. Can someone explain to me how Alex was punching Metallo in that exo-frame armor when it wasn't covering her hands? She should have shattered her fist to dust if she was hitting him as hard as Supergirl was. (Sighs) At least we got a Superman and Martian Manhunter team-up in this episode along with another look at the Fortress of Solitude, so I won't complain too much in that department.

I will complain about how stupid they made the whole "shipment/supply" of kryptonite issue in this episode. How the fuck does Superman know that's all of the world's supply of kryptonite? Like LexCorp or Cadmus might have their own supply somewhere. Jesus H. Christ, Superman is stupid when it comes to this whole kryptonite thing in this universe. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having an insurance policy if his ass gets brainwashed or something. The last thing the world needs is some rampaging rogue alien going around doing what he pleases - we had enough of that last season in this show.

How the writing on this show makes me feel at times...

I should look up the side effects and see if long-term exposure to kryptonite makes Superman stupid - kinda like the Orb of Confusion from Spongebob...

Watch it or Don't Bother?

From the ratings numbers, it seems like that a LOT of people tuned in - old and new viewers - just to see Superman in this premiere. If that's all you want to see then go nuts. But if you're looking for anything more than that, you might not be getting what you were looking for, especially when there's a lot of MUCH better shows to be watching than this. As the season continues on, I see those rating numbers going further and further down the hole unless this show really pulls something out of left field. With both Cat and Superman not sticking around for the duration of the season, I think those new viewers who turned in for Superman will quickly give up the ghost to watch something else in this time slot on Monday Nights. 

REVIEW -- Marvel's Agents of SHIELD - Season 4 Episodes 1-4: "Ghost", "Meet the New Boss", "Uprising", and "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire"

The fourth season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (promoted as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Ghost Rider), which is based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division), revolves around the character of Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and allies as they deal with various enhanced individuals following the signing of the Sokovia Accords. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The season is produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, with Jed Whedon,Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell serving as showrunners.

The season was ordered in March 2016, and production began that July. Alongside Clark Gregg, who reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, principal cast members Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge and Henry Simmons return from previous seasons while John Hannah was promoted to the principal cast after appearing in a recurring role inseason three. This season deals with how the film Captain America: Civil War affects the series, and introduces recurring guest star Gabriel Luna as the mystical Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider to coincide with the film Doctor Strange, which explores mysticism in the MCU.

The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

"Ghost"

Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson, now the vigilante "Quake", is hunting gang affiliates of the anti-Inhuman terrorist group Watchdogs in Los Angeles when members of the Aryan Brotherhood are murdered by the fiery "Ghost Rider" in front of her. Agents Phil Coulson and Mack, who were forbidden from searching for Johnson by the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, are tipped off to her location by Agent Melinda May. They fly to Los Angeles under the guise of checking in on Inhuman asset Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, who has signed the controversial Sokovia Accords and is now under the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United Nations.

Agent Leo Fitz visits friend and S.H.I.E.L.D. ally Holden Radcliffe, a transhumanist doctor who is on probation after previous illegal experimentation. Fitz discovers that Radcliffe has secretly transferred his artificial intelligence AIDA into a human-like body, which he intends to be the first in a line of decoys for field agents in danger. Believing Radcliffe's altruistic intentions, Fitz agrees to help him perfect AIDA, and to keep her a secret from his girlfriend Agent Jemma Simmons, who is in the paranoid Director's inner circle, and takes daily lie-detector tests. Simmons realizes that Coulson and Mack are investigating Johnson, and orders May to stop them; May and her new strike force arrive to find Coulson and Mack surveilling Chinese gangsters, who they believe are potential targets of Quake.

The gangsters have bought a weapon off the Brotherhood which can help them fight against Inhumans. The open the box containing the weapon, and unleash a mystical being who turns the gangsters berserk. She secretly infects May as well, as the strike force takes out the gangsters. Johnson meets with Rodriguez, who stole medication from S.H.I.E.L.D. during their brief check with her which can help Johnson heal—her recent over use of her Inhuman abilities as Quake has been fracturing her bones. Johnson then tracks down the Ghost Rider and confronts him, but he defeats her, explaining that he only murders people that deserve it. She later sees his human form, Robbie Reyes, looking after his disabled brother Gabe.

"Meet the New Boss"

S.H.I.E.L.D. and Johnson independently investigate the figure, an apparent ghost of a woman named Lucy Bauer, both concluding that she worked at an abandoned facility, Momentum Energy. Johnson confronts Reyes again, and he once more overpowers her. Restraining her, Reyes searches Johnson's belongings and discovers her research on Momentum. He leaves, and Johnson escapes her restraints. As Mace plans to officially announce S.H.I.E.L.D. as a legitimate organization again, the infected May grows increasingly paranoid, seeing all people as monsters, and eventually attacking other agents. Mace restrains May with his Inhuman strength, and promises to take care of her. Mack and Fitz arrive at Momentum to find more ghosts, who attempt to blow it up with them inside. Ghost Rider intervenes, destroying one of the ghosts, and Johnson arrives to stop S.H.I.E.L.D. from taking him in. Rather than rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D., Johnson agrees to work with Reyes, who believes that the actions of the ghosts and Watchdogs may be tied to him.

"Uprising"

Inhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. asset Elena Rodriguez is caught in a blackout in Miami. Reyes and Johnson are caught in another in Los Angeles. A group claiming to be the Inhuman resistance, fighting registration with the Sokovia Accords, take responsibility. Reyes explains that his uncle, Eli Morrow, was imprisoned for causing an explosion at Momentum that apparently created the ghosts; he believes that atoning for Morrow's sins will pay his debt to the Devil, and rid Reyes of the Ghost Rider. At the Reyes' house, Gabe realizes that Johnson is Quake and asks her to leave Robbie alone. Radcliffe and Simmons 'cure' May by killing and reviving her. Coulson, Mack, and Fitz save Rodriguez from a group of Watchdogs, and find the EMP that caused the blackout—it was set off by the Watchdogs, who had access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s list of registered Inhumans, and have backing from Senator Rota Nadeer, whose brother is encased in an Inhuman terrigen cocoon. Hoping to assuage public fears of the Inhumans, Mace announces the return of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire"

Johnson forces Simmons to help track the Watchdogs' actions. They discover that the group hacked an Inhuman's monitoring device, and race to save the next Inhuman on the list. Coulson visits Morrow in prison, but gets no answers. Reyes arrives to talk to Morrow, and Mack recognizes him as the Ghost Rider. They capture Reyes, and earn his trust. AIDA supervises May's recovery, as a Turing test by Radcliffe. Johnson and Simmons find the Inhuman JT James and destroy his monitor. Reyes visits Morrow, and learns that the Momentum explosion was caused by a group of scientists studying the Darkhold, a mysterious book. Only Lucy's husband Joseph, whom Morrow had put in a coma trying to stop the experiments, survived. James betrays Johnson—he hates being an Inhuman, and gave the Watchdogs access to his monitor. Coulson, Mack, and Reyes save Johnson and Simmons, alerted by the monitor's destruction. They then get May to help find the Darkhold, and when Simmons sees AIDA she deduces her true nature.

The Verdict:

"Ghost"

Let's start this review off right...

I TOLD you guys on social media that I had the utmost confidence in what Marvel Studios was going to do with Robbie Reyes in this continuity. They wouldn't go out of their way to introduce this new character after getting the Ghost Rider license back from FOX. Just because Agents of SHIELD isn't on Netflix doesn't rule them out from being another solid contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether you have followed the show or not up to this point, but Agents of SHIELD have been the glue that holds this universe together between the blockbuster film releases and the narratives told in Hell's Kitchen with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and shortly Luke Cage on Netflix. This show shouldered the aftermath of the original Avengers, demonstrated how vast HYDRA's infliction was like a disease to the SHIELD organization following Captain America: The Winter Soldier, introduced the Inhumans to this continuity - along with the Kree Empire via T.A.H.I.T.I., long before Guardians of the Galaxy and the conversation of the Inhumans ever getting a feature film came to fruition, and most importantly, this series serves as the origin story for one of the titular SHIELD agents in the comics continuity, Quake/Daisy "Skye" Johnson.

I'm glad that we can put the memory of Nicholas Cage's Ghost Rider behind us - even though I didn't "hate" those two movies but I wasn't really crazy about them. Agents of SHIELD used this single episode and portrayed the best iteration of Ghost Rider to date. I'm sure the hardcore Robbie Reyes fans will be mad that it seems like they made Robbie into a "traditional" Ghost Rider instead of being possessed by a demonic serial murder, but I thought they settled for a happy medium, giving fans and casuals the best of both worlds for this character. That being said, I love this new "darker" approach to this season. Outside of a few rare instances in the previous seasons, this show was a bit too light-hearted for my taste at times, especially for the subject manner that was touched upon. I was glad that Agents of SHIELD is moving away from being all smiles and giggles and into a much more serious tone that was needed since the HYDRA reveal. We were given a lot of insight on the surviving members of Coulson's team have been hardened by the friends and loved ones that they have lost over the last three seasons. I think the darker approach and tone for this season is going to pave the way to some rather dark storytelling portraying how far away from the traditional "heroic" path some of these characters are going to walk to insure that they won't lose anyone else dear to them again. It's painfully evidence in Quake's character now, who is still suffering from the events of the Season 3 finale along with the loss of her parents in Season 2. I'm anxious to see how Robbie Reyes and the Ghost Rider's principles and personal outlooks on life will clash with Quake's own.

I'm glad that AoS didn't just completely write off or "forgot" about remaining Inhumans or rather Secret Warriors that were recruited during the ordeal with Hive and HYDRA last season. This premiere saw the return of YoYo Rodriguez, who is continuing her on/off romance with Mack who is ironically not trying to get his "mack" on.

I honestly don't know where they are going with Fitz and Radcliffe's subplot of working on LMD (Life Model Decoys) but I hope and pray that's not an excuse/copout to bring back everyone they have killed off up to this point as LMDs. I said it on social media last season and I'll say it again now. Keep Grant Ward away from this show. We've all had our fill of him. Let him stay dead and gone. Another thing I hope they don't do is have Fitz with a Weird Science-style imitation of Jemma Simmons that does "anything" he wants. To be honest, I thought LMDs would have been introduced in Captain America; The Winter Soldier when Nick Fury "faked" his own demise.

"Meet the New Boss"

The biggest takeaway from this episode is the revelation that the new director is an Inhuman credited as Jeffrey Mace. This is the first time I've actually seen how Jason O'Mara looks like despite being a fan of his voice acting work. I'm surprised that he hasn't tried his hand at getting a role in more live-action superhero roles until now.

On top of that, we're treated to the fact that the Ghost Rider is the only one who can "kill" these new ghost adversaries that have popped up this season that are aligned with Lucy Bauer. We also learn that Bauer is after a spell book referred to as the Darkhold. In the comics continuity, the Darkhold directly ties to Dr. Strange as it is considered to be the ultimate dark grimoire, a collection of all evil spells in the existence collected by the Elder God Chthon. It serves as the anti-thesis of the Book of the Vishanti. Trust me, if a lot of this magical stuff is over your head then fear not as it's just to warm people up to this side of the MCU before Dr. Strange's formal introduction next month in theaters.

I had to feel bad for May this season as she's been sidelined as the show's resident badass, only to be one-upped by the Ghost Rider. I'm sure May will take her place back in due time but there's no denying Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider's presence in this show. Two episodes in and he's like the best thing that's happened to this show to say that he's just a guest star/recurring cast member for this season.

"Uprising"

About time we got a Yo-Yo centric episode. I was starting to miss her as a regular from last season's focus on the Inhumans. Out of all of the "New Warriors" Daisy recruited last season, she was definitely my favorite and I was glad to see that she was sicking around. Much like the treat we got of May in a dress a few seasons back, it was nice to see Yo-Yo in one for this episode, even though it was brief.

I found it rather odd that it took them like what, two seasons now to show the public populace are reacting to the Inhumans living among them. Agents of SHIELD are sprinkling these "X-Men-like" issues of dealing with indifference and racism to potentially prepare audiences for whenever Marvel Studios finally actually gets the X-Men license (along with the use of mutants period) back and are able to integrate them into the MCU.

I wasn't surprised to see that Radcliffe had to risk exposing AIDA to Simmons to save May's life, but I'm left wondering how are they going to prevent future "infections" from contact from the ghosts in future conflicts. It's not like they have protection against that or anything. I have to be honest that I have felt that Simmons has been sketchy since her time away from the Coulson's team to do her undercover op as an agent for HYDRA a few seasons ago and her new role as a high ranking SHIELD agent is rubbing me the wrong way. Remember that she was the main one who didn't want to give Inhumans a chance at all about two seasons ago so what makes you think that her intentions have changed since then after all that has transpired despite the fact that the new director is one himself? I have a feeling that she's going to let the sheep out of the bag and expose her real intentions sooner more than later and it will ultimately drive her and Fitz apart.

I thought it was interesting to see that Robbie's brother was the one who got Daisy to leave after seeing her powers firsthand, yet he's blind to see that his own brother isn't normal himself. I'm familiar with Robbie Reyes' comic book counterpart and I'm anxious to see if this show draws from the demonic possession by a serial killer (his uncle Eli) or not. So far, it's looking like they aren't dwelling into the comics too much but I want to see where this goes.

At the end of the day, this was a fun episode that we needed to remind viewers that Coulson's team still has it and can hold their own. I'm glad that they are actually picking up this storyline of the Watchdogs after leaving it floating in the air for a while in favor of the plot with Hive last season. They make for a nice diversion among all of this mystical and magical stuff being introduced this season.

One of my favorite things this season is that I can sit back and enjoy the ride with most fans who aren't savvy to the bulk of this stuff. The mystical/magical realm of Marvel Comics is something I have no problem admitting that I'm not very knowledgeable on so I'm enjoying learning about this stuff as this season peters out, along with Dr. Strange around the corner.

That being said, I have NO idea what they got planned for Senator Nadeer's brother locked up in that carbonite... err terrigen cocoon. Whatever it is, I'm positive he'll end up being something that Daisy, Yo-Yo, and Robbie will end up having to deal with.

"Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire"

Ha, Daisy keeps using her powers recklessly and she's going to quake her arm off. I'm finding it rather hard to believe that she was too stupid to take the special gear and gloves that Simmons made about a season ago for her NOT to hurt herself with her own powers with her when she left SHIELD. Even Simmons reminds her about them but Daisy blows her off about them not being incognito. Fuck being incognito if it they are going to help her in the long run.

I couldn't help but find it to be hilarious that Radcliffe addressed my question from the last episode on how were they were going to prevent future "ghost" infections by telling May that they are developing a countermeasure to that. I don't see Radcliffe's "experiment" going bad unless Simmons spills the beans and I know she will... I just can't shake this feeling that she's sketchy this season. I will admit that AIDA seems confused about the conception of "lies" and that might come to bite Radcliffe's ass later in the season.

About time we get a car chase with Coulson's Lola in this show. Even better that it was against Reyes' Charger.

Here's where the comics' Reyes is different than the MCU Reyes. Uncle Eli was a serial killer and is already dead. Eli made a pact to become a demon in death and that's what possessed Robbie Reyes to give him his powers. He wasn't in prison nor a noble man like the one depicted here. I guess since Reyes is the "first" Ghost Rider introduced into the MCU properly into this continuity so I'm guessing they are going to keep with the traditional Ghost Rider story and axe the whole twist about being possessed by a serial killer. A guy gives up his soul to become an avatar to fight in the presence of evil. Hmmm... I wonder if they are going to introduce Mephisto in this show or not then? All of this talk about God and Devil has me wondering...

Was anyone really surprised that JT James ended up throwing Daisy and Simmons to the "wolves" or rather to the Watchdogs? That dude was shady before Hive infected him and recruited him to his group of Inhuman "superfriends" so I wasn't surprised in the least at that double cross. It's times like this that I'm a little sad that Raina's not around to serve as a better villain when it comes to these clever double crosses.

Everytime Robbie's eyes flare up, I think of this from Ronin Warriors...

Most bad ass moment of this episode was Reyes grabbing that flaming chain from James. James couldn't been more stupid to fight a guy who's immune to fire though. I keep hoping that they are going to have Reyes bust out the Penance Stare but nope. They keep teasing it but no dice. I'm guessing they are saving that for last hurrah of this season.

I have to share Coulson's feelings about being stern with Daisy though. She didn't have to run but I guess she's unofficially back on the team for now along with Reyes.

This was another fun episode that built off the previous one of Coulson rebuilding his team with members old and new to prepare to deal with this upcoming threat of whoever is going to get their hands on the Darkhold first. This Marvel team-up might not go as well as they all envision if Simmons ends up spilling the beans to the new director. I swear... that girl has turned into a wet blanket to be the buzzkill on everyone's parties lately.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

If you haven't given Agents of SHIELD a chance until now, this is a great place to start, especially if you want to see what Marvel has done with Ghost Rider back under their roof of cinematic properties. I think this episode will turn even the hardest of skeptics into fans of what they have done with that character being introduced into this continuity. Each episode thus far has been better than the last and I can't help to see how this season plays out. Marvel's definitely raising the bar on the superhero dramas right now.