The Lion's Club
The classic 50 year old Glenda Jackson tv series. There is a nice title card but this is stagey and overlit. Most of the budget went on Jackson's costumes and the sets are very bare and stark. A Seymour stabs the King's dog. Men wear furs that look like loo mats. There are flashbacks and why is the protestant Kat wearing a cross? Jackson is caked in makeup and is her hair real or a wig? Cecil shows up.
Edward is TB riddled which is shown by messy hair and bad makeup. Mary is tubby and badly dressed. People are threatened with the Tower and never leaving it. Mary has historical disgust for Elizabeth. People are locked up in cells that look cardboard. Jane Grey is doomed. There are limited loyalties to Elizabeth. Mary wears really unflattering clothes and is old. Mary is unforgiving. Mary Stuart is mentioned. Elizabeth's mother is spoken badly of. Elizabeth faced notoriously daunting risks.
There are widely held suspicions of Elizabeth. Mary makes her ill-fated marriage to a man who thinks little of her and treats her badly. Mary's wedding night is terribly sad, her life is grim. This was good and Mary vows to burn the heresy out of England but dies instead and Elizabeth is queen to her great joy.
Best Lines:
“Take the dog and bury it.”
“I'll bring you another dog tomorrow.”
“I will never marry. Never, never, never!”
“Trusted no man.”
“Screaming still.”
“Vile and filthy rumours.”
“You have a guilty look and a guilty manner.”
“Evilly spoken of.”
“You are banished out of the house.”
“All affection is false.”
“Laugh at my grief.”
“Innocent and alone.”
“Loving company.”
“Nothing will save him.”
“Proper order of the realm.”
“Pope and old religion.”
“Speak softly and wait for better times.”
“Tormenting her to the grave.”
“Why am I hated?”
“A witch and a whore.”
“Of blessed memory.”
“I was brought up differently.”
“All be content with our lot.”
“Foolish strutting man.”
“God comes 1st in all things.”
“Diplomatically ill.”
“Writes most lovingly.”
“A man of much wit and very little judgement.”
“My enemy in religion and statecraft.”
“Your master?”
“No more.”
“To the joy of all heretics.”
“Disinherited and named bastard.”
“Again?”
“Daughter of a whore.”
“Their sister's murderer.”
“So cast down.”
“Old, ugly and barren.”
“The lady you married to her father.”
“Cruel and doleful place.”
“Full of wit and learning.”
“During the late reign.”
“False repentance.”
“Carry death in my womb!”
“Let the past be buried.”
“Foul practices.”
“Do not cast me away.”
“The Pope shall forgive us.”
“The Spaniards will rule here.”
“Terrible rumours.”
“He has mistresses! He has bastards!”
“Treason we must have.”
“Vile death.”
“One of that family is enough for any man.”
“Traitors are not pardoned twice.”
“No other friend but god alone.”
“May come to judge us in time.”
“Keys in locks.”
“Humble penitence.”
“Too devout to hear reason.”
“Much wronged.”
“Punished as a public strumpet.”
~
Ties That Bind
Annie sees undead Ace, who is neither intimidating or frightening. Pop has ordered and orchestrated everything that happens in town. Annie is dour and sullen as her non-fortuitous circumstances go on. People are not of good character. Social circumstances capture and chance condemns various people. Annie is not wily. People are traumatised and are dishonest and discredit is brought.
One watches this with iritated perplexity. This was not eccentric or interesting. Circumstances around events remain unclear. This was not freighted with tension. Things get drastically worse. How did the concerete fill up the big ass hole? Where did Annie get the truck? Shouldn't she be at work? Her reckoning is overdue. Joy is annoying, not fundamentally sad.
Annie is wholly unaware of things like good and evil. There is an insidious presence and inherited enmity in the bleak, violent and nihilistic town. Hostility simmers and there is weirdness and Annie and the zombie things bore. People look for Ace's body. This was not a positive experience.
This does no finesse. There is indecision. Joy is as smart as a box of hair. Wackiness abounds. There is not much space for nuance. People have evil destrucitve plans. Annie is a terrible, toxic person. Annie is a power mad lunatic. This was unsatisfying. Annie is narcissistic. Undead Ace is still a dirtbad Stanley Kowalski type. Annie quirks around and is unhinged.
Things are emotionally hideous. There is an unwitting march to doom. This tries to be infinitely bleak. Annie has the grimmest beliefs. Joy's an idiot and Greg Grunberg is in this violent and nihilistic dross.
Best Lines:
“Wanna go look for a dead guy?”
“I would have left me there.”
“Rapey ass dude.”
“Him who?”
“Monsters out to get us.”
“It wouldn't be good I think.”
“Disney lies.”
“I ended him.”
“40,20,10.”
“Told a lot of lies to a lot of people.”
“Stop dishing all my family trauma.”
Restore Hope
Dr H learns Pop's dark secret which was obvious from day 1. There are nefarious forces and TPTB have no ability to convey nuance or emotion. There is cringey Irish-American crap. There is death and violence and the 'Stand By Men' gang aren't in this. This was hopelessly grim and full of remorselessness. This bored.
Best Lines:
“Sh*t even you wouldn't be able to live with.”
“Dimwitted boob.”
“You high right now?”
~
Smile Time
Why is Harmony on this show? Why is Spike? Wesley is a joke. Nina lurks. Angel is turned into a puppet by demons. This ep once had acclaim. There is bad ADR. TPTB can't be unaffected. Fred took over the show, TPTB ignored the awful price Cordy paid. This show deserves reappraisal. An evil puppet show needs foiling. Whedon's crap didn't exactly remain concealed from view. There was too much indulgent admiration for Whedon. Spike fistfights puppet Angel. The demon puppets are defeated. The Angel puppet did a power walk. This was written to cover up the lead actor's knee injury. No.
Best Lines:
“Stress response.”
“Don't Room.”
“Crap hole.”
~
To The Death
The Jem'Hadar inflict damage on DS9, which was gone by the next ep. The Defiant crew and the Jem'Hadar end up teaming up. Jeffrey Combs guest stars. Iconian tech has been found. This was good. Combs has a distinctively creepy voice. Jadzia mentions her mother, where was her mother when Jadzia died?
Best Line:
“No sleep, no food, no women. No wonder you're so angry.”
~
Legends Of Tomorrow 2x02 Rewatch
The Justice Society Of America
Stargirl is in this ep but not the other 2 versions. People big up the JSA. Nate joins the team. His grandfather is mean. Why is Sara such a jerk? The old guy is a jerk. The JSA are jerks. This was truly horrific in places. Nate nearly dies until he is given superhero powers.
Best Lines:
“Regular person name.”
“Planting his flag on the White House lawn.”
“I fell after my grandfather decked me.”
“Knocked out by a teenager in a star spangled leotard.”
~
Chapter Eighty-One: The Homecoming
Toni and Hiram face off. The gang reconcile the past and the present. Riverdale High faces an uncertain future. Hiram is uglifying and demeaning. This was an awful enterprise. There is a grim reality. Betty justifies her crap treatment of Jughead. Archie and Veronica have indifference. Riverdale is a dark place to be. Misery looms. Alice let Jughead be homeless. Jughead lives in storm drain again and is in debt.
This was half-hearted. Betty's not an FBI agent yet. Why is Veronica calling her father daddy and daddykins? Jughead is billy-no-mates. Hiram is devious. Betty went to Yale? This show had a hideous aesthetic. There are derogatory remarks. This was not elite level. There is complacency. Toni holds opinions and is a guidance conesllor. Polly is in peril.
This is like 'Walking Tall' and Archie's actions endure certain things. They could have lived quieter lives. Veronica's hubby is controlling and angry and she seems to hate him. This was not carefully calculated. There are errors of judgement. People ignore the realities of what might be coming. Hiram has caused so much pain. Polly's up to something and has twins.
Toni is the serpent queen? Jughead looks fat and greasy and isn't included. Pop is retiring. Archie is a terrible friend to Jughead. Archie is potentially volatile. This was not interesting. Who does Jughead owe money to? Polly is a junkie? This was not insightful or astonishing. The gravest consquences await. Archie is patronising. There is serious escalation and Polly lies and Archie leads a raid on his old house.
The foursome become teachers at their old school. Jughead is an afterthought. Riverdale High goes private. Veronica is arrogant and disappointing. Hiram is tirelessly awful. There is perennial difficulty. People are sick of Betty. Despair, distain and apathy rule. Archie clears out his house. Archie and Betty are unpleasant and screw in the shower. Jughead is wistful. There are ugly aspects.
Archie is not fundamentally noble. Jughead is marginalised. This was appalling. Hiram is ill raised and aggressive and causes social injury. Cheryl is awful. This was ill conceived and a dreadful mistake and there are ill-judged secrets.
Best Lines:
“Toni was queen of the serpents.”
“Elegy for a small town.”
“Taking this town back.”
“Lost and wayward souls.”
“Conversations that awaited us.”
“Made a lot of enemies in this town.”
“Destructive whims.”
“Turned my house into a drug den.”
“Tragic Americana.”
“Dealing? Tricking? Both?”
“Wipe Riverdale off the map.”
“Riverdale as a town ceases to exist.”
“Dying community, all of the miserable people who live there.”
~
Minefield
Archer tries to bond with Reed. First contact is made with The Romulans. Archer does weird intonation and line deliveries. This is more about Archer than the Romulans. So thumbs down.