Well it kinda happen exactly as I was expecting and to be honest I did not enjoy this episode that much, when the series started I said and thought that “The Ones Who Live” would probably be the best TWD spin off from the three that we were getting this year but the last episodes disappoint me in one way or another, from the very long and extensive arguing scenes between Michonne and Rick to the now rush take down of the CRM, Rick try for about eight years to escape and he couldn’t but Jadis was doing it for many years, yes she was smarter than Rick and join the CRM instead of fight it but she make it look too easy, same goes now that Michonne is with Rick they manage to take the CRM down in a single episode? there was nothing extraordinary that help them achieve this and now that Jadis is dead she is irrelevant, all she did was blackmail Rick the entire season.
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I have not found information that confirms this is a Mini Series the reason I mention this is because it feels like one and not that there will be a second season, after all TWD has a lot going on with three spin off on the same year but I think the big surprise down the line would be that all them collide with each other at some point. If there is a character I would be waiting for is Throne, now that Rick and Michonne took down General Bale I would guess she is the next one in command, Michonne did hurt her badly towards the end but never gave her the final blow.
Thorne was a true believer on Major Beale but she also like Rick specially after she went up in the rank and that’s funny because before that she most of the time was throwing things are him, Rick gets back from the crash site with Michonne with a cover story and Thorne believe him? wtf.
Jadis is dead, why? because she was too cocky, Michonne was right when she said that she have miss the opportunity to take her and Rick down, she should have done it when they were sleeping, instead she prefer to look them in the eye before killing them, this makes reference to Gabriel but Jadis never actually kill him so I got no clue other that she felt cocky because she out smart them and was now in a position of power, we humans are so weak when it comes to holding power, it consumes anyone, that’s what happen to Jadis.
Michonne comes back with Rick to the CRM and her mission was to find the diary that Jadis kept on her room before the CRM swipe it clean once they figure out Jadis was dead, on this diary was her entire story with Rick and Michonne with the latest update of why “Dhana” aka Michonne was at the CRM, this would put Arcadia and her children in danger.
Beale was a total idiot, he ones look at Rick in the eyes and ask him if he can trust him and Okafor knowing what ever Rick answer was probably a lie, a guy who have tried to escape for many years had the golden ticket to stay “dead” for everyone at the CRM but now decides to come back? if this was say a second time thing I would go for it and trust Rick but out of the trailer Beale decides to bring in Rick to the highest level there is for a CRM soldier, makes no sense and shows that Beale was not trying to out smart Rick, he was truly taking a gamble and believe in Rick, yes he offer him to bring in anyone he wanted into the CRM and that could have been the catch but that’s 50/50 I’m not buying it.
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At on this episode Michonne was not arguing with Rick for ever, I really like her performance towards the anger she felt during the briefing for the CRM next missions, how they were going to gas out everyone and only rescue 10% of the children, but then there are details like she have been missing for this long and nobody asks for her? Rick is back but Michonne didn’t have to report to anyone? at least Thorne knew Michonne was back at the CRM, Rick told her and now Michonne is wondering around doing what ever she wants freely to take down the CRM? cmon.
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The speech scene between Beale and Rick was interesting because he gave out details of the CRM operations, Throne was always talking about how she now understands everything and its clear for her why she belongs to the CRM, Baele detail the CRM plans to Rick regarding how this might be a lost cause so all he is trying to is defeat the odds, but the outcome of this conversation was too predictable, Rick was fixed on killing Baele no matter what happens, I never doubt this now that Michonne was on sync with him, a surprise was if Rick took Baele deal to bring in anyone he love into the CRM, could probably be easy for him but either if it was true or not same as Michonne, Rick could not deal with all the killing.
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Same as I have done before I’m trying to avoid describing the action scenes and talk more about the structure of the episode so I don’t ruin or spoil it for others but it was also predictable the fight scene between Rick and Baele, after all he is a man they could not take down from far distance, it had to be a close fight while been alone, this was Rick only chance and Baele was not match for him, actually I though it would be a harder fight for Rick but it was just too easy, another rush scene.
As you can tell from my comments above I’m not so happy with what happen towards the end of the series, I totally understand the goal was to reunite Michonne and Rick once again and escape from the CRM but they could have make it less easy for them, lets just think how they did all this in less than a year and Rick have been trying for almost eight years to escape? the only variant after Michonne got in is that Okafor was not around. If we compare Daryl Dixon series he was on a similar spot, trying to go back home and deal with Genet and her army but it didn’t felt this rush and easy for him to accomplish this besides she is still around while on The Ones Who Live Baele and Thorne are gone, they even play recording of how the remaining of the CRM have take actions to turn things around and not be the dictatorship that Baele was running, I would have to disagree with the internet on this one and only give this spin off a 7.5/10 while on most websites it got 8 and 9.
Its only episode one and a lot of things going on although not much since everything surrounds a single mystery, ever since I saw the trailer this TV series got my attention since it has to be related with some sort of alien tech although I was not sure if its also time travel related or both??
I feel the story is a little bit crowded to start with a lot of characters, there is the main character so far Ye whose daughter killed herself after probably watching a count down same as other scientist who have been going through the same trauma but in the case of Ye she is a survivor from a revolution in China during the 60’s, a revolution mainly about science, I’m still not clear what were their demands but their leaders were after something big, trying to communicate with something out there, do they mean space? or future?
A group of friends, all scientist suffer the death of her teacher Vera, most of their projects are been shut down due to lack of results a common denominator across many Particle Colliders around the world and now one of the them is starting to see the count down everywhere she goes, the question is how, when and why would it stop or what it means?? certain only sci-fi events happen like the universe wink at you, like the starts start to Morse code all at once.
3 Body Problem: Countdown – Season 01 – Episode 01 – RECAP
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Revolution during the 60’s going on in China, looks like a witch hunt, they hunting scientist but I’m not sure if its because they teaching or believe in certain not proven or wrong theories? Ye Wenjie father is on stage accuse, he refuse to accept there is space for God in any of the theories he teach so is this revolution about God? come one people make up your mind.
It seems that this was the young ones only, the puppets, Ye after loosing her father got recruited by higher ranks because they needed scientist like her with lot of talent to help with their communications experiments, makes me think then why kill her father? well probably he was at the wrong place at wrong time, a bit confusing this part of the story and this is not good for viewers.
3 Body Problem: Countdown – Season 01 – Episode 01 – RECAP
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Benedict Wong from Avengers show up this time as an investigator, his name Da Shi; working on a case where different scientist kill themself for unknown reasons, this last one had high possibilities of getting the novel prize on physics, Vera experiment also discover something they could not explain so is there something or someone killing all this scientist on purpose before they get to close to a big discovery?? this is the part that starts to get interesting, there is a connection between all this dead scientist.
3 Body Problem: Countdown – Season 01 – Episode 01 – RECAP
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Continue with introducing characters, Saul was working with Vera on her experiment and its the last day the Collider will remain functional after they were shut down because their experiment was going no where, Saul is very irrelevant at this point but he still alive that’s what matters because what if this is a type of The Ring effect where everyone one of them start to see the count down at some point? Different than others Vera look very calm and cool before she kill herself jumping into a pool of some sort of fluid, probably deadly, her last question to Saul was about God.
3 Body Problem: Countdown – Season 01 – Episode 01 – RECAP
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Next in the group of friends, Jin and Auggie; at a bar having a drink were notified by Saul about Vera’s death, they were discussing the anomalies on Vera’s experiment and how physics and science over all have got to a dead end but I think they were talking about physics mostly, there are other parts of science probably making discoveries and working on things, it was at this moment that Auggie start to see the count down, it started as a Matrix glitch effect until numbers came up in front of her eyes making what ever was behind them look blurry.
3 Body Problem: Countdown – Season 01 – Episode 01 – RECAP
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After Vera’s funeral all five friends gather to have a drink and talk about how weird all this was. John Bradley play the role of Jack Rooney but he is not a scientist, I like he is not playing a nerdy shy role as he usually does, this time a kind of ass hole all about money guy, as usual he is very funny. Auggie has been feeling off after constantly watching this count down even visit a Neurologist to figure out whats wrong with her, only Jin knows at the moment, that night she step out of the bar for a smoke and a young women offers to light up her cigarette with a very devilish smile on her, she tells Auggie she knows about the countdown and the only way to stop it is if she shuts down her lab, Auggie has a nano tech lab; its like some one is trying to stop different experiments going on that could probably lead to new tech? or the end of the world? again this is the part, the idea, that is interesting.
3 Body Problem: Countdown – Season 01 – Episode 01 – RECAP
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Jin visits Vera’s mother, Ye; after a few days to help her and get some clues of why Vera would kill herself and Ye mention everything look normal with her, nothing strange, nothing out of the ordinary except a video game that Vera would play none stop, thats when Ye gave Jin the headset, looks like a piece of metal no lenses or headphones. I wonder why Ye been a scientist too didn’t put it on after Vera die, trying to figure out the death of her daughter?
It seems critics and audience are in sync about this series, solid 7/10 on IMDB and RTT, I agree on this after watching the first episode I would say solid 7.5 for me, the mystery about why this scientist can see this countdown and why the women who talk to Auggie ask her to shut down her lab only tells me that either she will make a big discovery or could turn out very bad for humans, Aliens in movies usually want to help humans from eradicating themself although its not clear who is making this scientist watch this count down. The headset I want to see more of that and find out if it is really a game or a simulation of whats going to happen, the story about the China revolution not so interesting to me unless this series is about time travel and they have discover a way to send messages through time, lots of questions, I’ll definitely continue to watch this series but on the traditional one episode a week since I don’t like watching them all at once Netflix release style.
The show is currently on episode 8 about to finish this Friday 15, I have been keeping up with the episodes but had delays as usual to post recaps, it has been a blast for the most part but as any other mini series there are a few slow episodes. Episode six in my opinion doesn’t fall into the full hype episodes and I think from here one the story is about giving some closure to all the characters, specially Crosby, Buck and Bucky. There is something unusual on this mini series, having some other strong characters like Captain Rosie who are so strong but not given enough screen time, the entire problem is that there is too much to the story that does not fit into one season and its a shame AppleTV didn’t think this way, there is so much potential and they decided to make it a mini series.
Episode six is a drama episode but starts with some action, Buck is alive, landed in Germany after he had to jump ship but he was quickly capture by locals and then detain by the Military, this episode is all about Buck. There are other characters who keep developing the story like Crosby and Rosie, both send to rest and clear their minds out of base.
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In times of war must be a constant adrenaline rush to be in the middle of enemy territory, alone with just your pistol and trying to stay hidden from any pair of eyes that come across, you have to assume everyone is the enemy but can’t take defense actions because you will be quickly out number, you might take out a few but once their bodies are discover a lot of heat will be after you, in a very short term this is what happen to Buck, he was found by locals and then detain.
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After the last very rough mission some of the personnel were send out to clear their mind, Crosby was send to Oxford for a conference where there would be all kind of members from the Allies Military Forces, he gets letters from his wife and before Bubbles died he was a bit dry when ever talking about her. Rosie and his crew were send out directly to a resting place, not a spa but all kind of activities to relax, as a fact that was the direct order relax, they were the only survivor of their last mission and the scene where all they see were airplane parts falling from the sky must put a lot of weigh on their shoulders, who would want to go up in the sky again after what they saw? but after all they were the only ones who came back so there must be something special about that Rosie and his crew, Co. want them back sharp as fuck but understood they have to calm down and relax after all the carnage they went through.
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Allies are starting to bomb Germany, they going deep and cities are starting to fall, Buck and some other pilots that were capture were been transport by train until they got to a point were the city was destroy and the train had to stop, from there they had to walk but the main problem were the people around them at the moment, the city just got bombarded by the Royal Air Force at night, the minute people saw American Pilots they brought down the hammer, attacking them, stab them, German Soldiers allow all this until it was enough mayhem and started to put them down one by one with a bullet to their heads, I guess it was a dramatic cliche scene but when the German Soldier tries to kill Buck, he ran out of bullets.
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Buck instead got knock out and though dead, the group of pilots were going to be burred in the outsides of the city but Buck was still alive and try to escape, he was just too weak and now military caught him again, this was the best outcome because he was either going to be burred alive or shot before been 7ft under ground.
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There were all kind of spies on both sides during war, we have seen this many times on WWII TV series recently like A Small Light, The New Look, All the Light We Cannot See, spies was a thing, probably not the James Bond type of spies just regular people that were a sell out, Germany had a lot of intel on American pilots and the moment Buck was capture they knew a lot about him, he was brought to interrogation although he as many others refuse to answer any questions other than his name, rank and serial number.
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This last four episodes of Masters of The Air I think will mostly touch on other topics than air battle, they will probably be more about the physical and psychological struggles of pilots and soldiers during war, in the case of Crosby and Rosie who have gone through so much and they are still free and alive, others with less fortune like Buck were send out to camps where all American Soldiers capture went to, on this series the camp was mostly full of Air Force members, they also show a scene how civilians were taken to work camps it was brutal to see all that people asking for help, I always see the educational side of this scenes, many jump the gun into conclusions like its propaganda on any of the two sides although all I can think is that no body should be treated this way but we also have to realize during war times this things are going to happen or worst.
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Part Six brings a now well known actress Bel Powley, from A Small Light, she now plays the role of Sandra Westgate who ends up to be Crosby roommate at the Oxford conference and they build a bond, I do not applaud cheating on your wife just for been out of the country for that long but we can’t denied that the women is a key component of all adult men, some cant be without one at least for closure for a companion, Crosby has gone through so much and probably after a long time he found something of this on Sandra; their moment ended quickly this time since she was called back to HQ and had to go leaving Crosby hanging.
As you can tell from the cover image Bucky is alive, Buck is capture and during an escape attempt re capture but it was the best it could happen to him after locals try to finish him on the streets and German soldiers participate too, the series is starting to fall mainly into drama of what the Pilots, Soldiers and regular people went through during the war, since Bucky and Buck are back together we will see the rest of the episodes leaning more into their release, escape or death, I have keep up with watching the episodes every week but this are the type of posts that takes me the most to write and haven’t had the proper time, I think I might just speed run the next episodes for the rest of the week so I can finish the episode recaps on Saturday.
It has been a blast so far watching this series, I think most people had a good time specially during the first five episodes when it was full of air battle action, sadly NOW that the allies fighters show up they will have very few minutes of screen, I kept asking to watch a battle with fighters as escorts of the bombers but so far never got it, for the ending of the series I’m open for anything, after all a lot of people were send send to death march where they either die marching on the snow or they got killed by soldiers, sad episodes but again that’s how brutal war is and there is nothing we can do about it just avoid it at all costs because there is no good outcome out of war, never is.
What Was Meant to Be, episode eight of The Wheel of Time Season Two, for me; could be the best episode of a TV series on 2023, everything that was meant to be happen, not necessary as Moiraine thought it would happen since Selene (Lanfear) had a lot to do with it, in fact she was the reason all this happen, she fool Ishamael all the time, she rescue Rand from Amyrlin Seat setting on fire the town as a distraction, took Moiraine and Lan to the exact spot where she could attack Lady Surtoh ships and all this because she loves Rand, really the OG dragon; this time seems she is focus more than ever to help him but at the end her goal is to have him for her but this is something not clear for me because when she was going to do something about it a few episodes back Moiraine show up and cut her through, I have not read the books so all I know is what I have seen so far. Another interesting topic is how Ishamael was imprison with the rest of the forsaken by Lews who was the reincarnation of The Dragon, they were “friends” but had different opinions about The Wheel, Ishamael wanted to distroy it probably he has a similar kind of though like Thanos, why suffer when he can end it all while Lews knew this was not the way, season leaves me with quite a few questions of whats next on season three, at this point everyone has a good control of their power including Perrin, Mat never had any powers he was just destine to do certain things since he was part of Rand inner circle.
Season two started very slow for that getting some what low scores of 7/10 but after episode three things started to pick up the pace rapidly to the point that every episode was a hit, out of the eight episodes it average a score of 8/10 on IMDB, considering the first episode got a 7.1 and the last episode a 9/10 showing in numbers how good this episode was its just pure and constant dopamine rush that kept me to the edge, it is in fact so good of an episode and has so many details that I saw it more than twice.
To this day I don’t know who free Ishamael but at least now I know who imprison him, good old Dragon back in the day who was his “friend” knew Ishamael was a serious problem to deal with and the rest of the forsaken so he put them inside rocks that serve as prison where they will be alive but not aware of time, this seal was suppose to be so strong that not even Lews would be able to break it so how Ishamael got out and then how did he free the rest of the forsaken including Lanfear??
Once again Lanfear shows Rand she is the only one who really care for him but specifically told him the rest only care for what he can do when she doesn’t so this clear out the question she is not after his powers? because that would be the most obvious answer, during this entire process as I mention, Lanfear was the one pulling the strings and putting all the pieces in place so Rand can win this battle, Lanfear still have bone to pick with Moiraine, if she provoke Lanfear and Rand is not there to get in the middle I’m sure she would not hesitate to take Moirinae life, once again Lanfear helps Moiraine and Rand, dropping Moiraine close to Falme but far enough so she could claim the Dragon with a fire banner on the sky as she mention but this distance also gave her the perfect strategy to attack the city from far away, on top she now has Lan to cover her back again.
I just love how Lanfera manipulate Ishamael, he knows it but has no other option on the other hand Rand tries to manipulate her with cheap tricks and even having all that power she agrees every time he ask for help and she likes it, so hilarious. Now I understand Ishamael wanted more time, from the start he was trying to make Rand feel everyone abandon him because that story that the Dragon eventually kills everyone so far doesn’t fit with Rand, he was not going to kill his friends so Ishamael had no other option to separate them, for some time it work but Ishamael worst mistake was to awake Lanfear thinking she was going to kill Rand.
This is one of the best Karma scenes I have seen this year, on previous episode Egwene told Renna, “I’m going to kill you” and Renna did nothing, but the worst of not doing anything is that she didn’t realize Egwene just went over the adam, she though of ways to hurt her suldam, that’s rule number one you cant hurt your suldam or even think about it. Renna keeps provoking Egwene, the city is under attack and all suldam and damane need to defend it, when a damane refuse orders during battle first punishment is cut her tongue and second her hands, Renna cut Egwene hair to show off her power while still holding the leach, Egwene was like bitch did you just cut my hair?? That look on Egwene before she start attacking the white cloaks who are invading the city said it all.
Ishamael is highly suspicious that Lanfear is going to betray him mainly because he feels she is rushing things and been so sure that Rand is going to switch sides on top of that Turak the leader of seanchan was murder by Rand but he has an ace with him, Mat is “suppose” to kill Rand but Kim did said many times that her visions not always become true, temptation knocks at Mat’s door, Padan Fain brought him the dagger that once posses him and the one he will use to kill Rand, Mat knows he is not strong enough not to touch it so went around and made a spear out of it, problem solved right? not really.
The episode is about Rand been declare as The Dragon but in my opinion this was Egwene episode, Nynaeve is suppose to be way stronger than Egwene something that might come up on season three but for how the one that has shown her powers more than anyone else is Egwene, she is not only strong and pretty but so fucking smart, the tower gets hit badly by the White Cloak army, a big rock hit them and some suldam and damene die but not Renna and Egwene, she use the opportunity to gram an adam collar from a dead sedai and wait for the exact moment to put it on Renna’s neck, so they are both suldam and damane, takes the big risk to hang Renna by the collar and waits to find out who will die first or who forfeit and release the other from the adam, eventually Renna accept because she doesn’t want to die expecting Egwene to release her from the adam and to my joy she doesn’t and watch Renna die kicking and screaming while hanging from pilar.
During previous episodes I constantly complain about some characters that basically do shit, two of them are Mat and Perrin, well Mat in fact hurt Rand badly, it did not play out exactly as Ishamael though but he did set a trap so Mat tries to kill him from behind but Ishamael some how predict it and it was an ilusion, ends up stabing Mat and almost kill him if it wasn’t by Egwene, Perrin and Elayne, btw Nynaeve did’t do shit during this episode, yes its me complaining again but its just so stagnating with some of this characters, I wonder if on the books its like this?
Egwene stand against Ishamael taking almost all his attacks so thats shows she might go hand to hand with some of the forsaken, until Perrin shows up with a shield that was giving to him by Uno who is now one of the Heroes of the Horn so there must be something special about that help Egwene hold the attacks until Elayne is healing Rand, there is a scene I did not show and thats Moiraine attacking the Seanchan ships with damane holding down Rand, after the ships are destroy and Elayne heal Rand he was then able to kill Ishamael.
The scene that sets Season 3, the seals for the rest of the forsaken are broken, every single one is free now, Lanfear is the only one on Rand side, she is suppose to be the strongest one of all them but there was something about Moghedien, another forsaken; that scare the shit out of her or was it the fact that they are all free against Rand? Lanfear thought everything went according to her plan but she never thought Ishamael could or would free the rest of the forsaken.
Ishamael is gone now, Seachan’s are done too but there is a bigger threat and that is the other forsaken together after The Dragon now that everyone knows its Rand, truth is that Rand and his friends now know how to control their powers way better that the start of the season but how powerful the forsaken are? Egwene and Rand can exchange blows with them but is the White Tower and Aes Sedais be on their side too? considering Moiraine and the Amyrlin Seat are not in good terms? this puts Rand in the middle of multiple battles on top of this a small civil war against the White Cloaks, this make think they might be surrounded, more powerful than before but more direct enemies than before so it won’t be easy to stay alive, another question that is left hanging is on what side will Lanfear be? what are her true motives to be with Rand? she keeps saying she loves him and is the only one not after his powers? I’m sure season three will be as explosive as season two.
There are some TV series and movies that when it comes to make my post about it, a recap trying to narrate the events that I consider the most important or make the more impact for me, there could be so many details that I kind of hate the process of creating the post although once it is done it feels very satisfying, WOT is one of those TV series probably why it took me some time to create the post, didn’t want it to be short and cover my favorite events during this episode, same thing happens to me with For All Mankind.
La Dame de Fer, the title of this episode that I assume makes reference to the Eiffel Tower that swings with the wind and the noise made by the rusted metal is heard all over the city of Paris, I guess most names are in French because where the story develops but I would rather like the tittle to be “Squeal Piggy” since Daryl use a common reference of how load pigs squeal when they are been killed while he was torturing one of Quinn’s goons.
The series remains strong in the ball part of a solid +7, its not boring although there is one thing that annoys me a bit and that’s how episodes mostly happen in close spaces and the camera has to go back and forward to register characters expression since there is very few open shots and also I think it has to do with light since most part of the series is very dark and I guess it has to do with the fact that there is no light, it keeps moving, entertain, zombies are still relevant since on this side of the world there are variants of Zombies, the series is more about a country that is starting to re establish their society, some just taking care of their people peacefully and others trying to build a regime as they think what the world need now is order and control, both sides might be right but forcing things as Genet wants its just too extremist besides all the experiments she is doing with Zombies has nothing to do with rebuilding society she is just playing to be a Commander and doing what she wants, so far we haven’t got any background of her, how she got into that position its interesting to me how she got all that power.
At the end of episode three Daryl falls down from a roof made of wood during the rain, it was rotten so his weigh broke it and he falls, he had this dream where he and Laurent are in a tunnel but separated by a gate, Zombies start to surround Laurent but they don’t touch him after he start to pray, what this dream might mean is that they are officially saying Laurent can communicate with Zombies?? I though this could also be a scene latter on during the episode but at least it was not on this episode, Laurent’s mother died during birth and she was bitten hours before giving birth so he probably has it on his DNA, the genetic mutation of Zombies mix with his human side.
After Daryl fall through the root he almost drawn, he falls into a place that was probably flooded and there were Zombies under water, I don’t know how they got to attack him if Zombies don’t know how to swim and they didn’t fall from the roof with him so that got me thinking for a minute, lucky for Daryl there were just a few and he manage to kill them, kill zombies hmmm.
Another Dame de Fer, Genet; visits Fallou camp after Cordon raid it last night, Isabelle, Laurent and Daryl manage to escape but the rest stay after all they were not the ones been chased, on this scene two things are confirm, Genet wants nothing to do with the Messiah story surrounding Laurent as that divides the people that she is trying to control, all she wants is them been under her command and not a religious story, nobody gives out Laurent besides none of them knows where they are.
I have thought since episode two that there is probably something cooking between this two but so far nothing, Daryl told Isabelle to meet at her apartment after the camp got raided, problem is where the fuck is Laurent. Daryl keeps telling Isabelle all this happen because she keeps lying to him about everything, if she really believes Laurent been the Messiah I think it should be the other way, she should have him inform as much as possible to avoid this mental break downs, Laurent has grown extremely naive.
Daryl been the good old tracker he is, has a good idea of where Laurent might be, at first I thought he was at Quinn’s bar since now he knows who his father and mother are but Laurent actually went to the Eiffel Tower, here the name of the episode La Dame Fer; there were a lot of Zombies trapped and when the saw Laurent they ran towards him, at first I thought ok if the first scene that makes reference he can some how talk to Zombies then this might be the moment Laurent shines but he panic and hide, he didn’t, lucky him Isabelle and Daryl found him, they try to take care of the Zombies around but at the same time Quinn’s goons snatch Laurent.
After a Zombie apocalypse, Isabelle leaving Quinn behind and now knowing Laurent is Lily’s son, his son, I can relate how he might feel the need to be a dad for Laurent, problem is that he has grown too naive but at the same time too cold, cold in the sense that he haven’t live enough to be scared or worry about things the same way the rest do, its like when a baby does something risky, they don’t know fear until they get hurt, Laurent has not been hurt, he is what 15 years old and never knew his mother and father until now so for him probably doesn’t make that much difference.
Genet is going around Paris tracking down Daryl and Laurent, Quinn ask her to come to his place because he wants to negotiate and here is the part that I think will cost him a lot in the future, not only he is asking for a bounty in exchange of Daryl but he also lie to her face after she ask her if he has Laurent that is at his office in the same bar they are at that moment, in exchange for Daryl he asks for a Monet, a painting. I think Quinn is a visionary, at some point in time he believes society can be similar to what it was, the world and he wants to be in control of the many things people value in the past like art, he is a collector and has a lot of art that could be very valuable once again.
Now probably my favorite part of the episode, Isabelle and Daryl manage to get one of Quinn’s goon while they put Laurent in a car and ran away with him, that scene was a bit stupid since I only saw one guy driving and Laurent alone in the back seat and Daryl still couldn’t get him out of the car, but at least the next scene when they try to get some intel from the one they caught was worth it. Isabelle try her nun way, been patient, nice, just talking while Daryl he brought a very dark story of a kid and his pet piglet, Daryl kept stabbing the guy on his torso, I don’t know how deep it was but he took about five or six to he body and was still taking, Daryl did get that piglet to squeal, he told them how to get into Quinn’s bar from a back door.
It was funny to me how Isabelle thought Daryl was the kid of the story he told and Daryl sarcastic that he is answer her no, but I do think it was him, on the original Walking Dead he constantly tell stories about bad his childhood was, his father was a drunk, kids use to bully him until he became a bad ass and no body mess with him anymore so I do think it was a true story, with the info on how to get into Quinn’s bar without him notice they plan a distraction.
Fallou and the rest attack the entrance of the bar as a distraction so all the guards go to that side of the building while Daryl gets from the back and takes Laurent with him, the distraction scene was not so interesting, I just mention it to give some context.
Anna will turn into Quinn demise, all this time before Isabelle and Laurent show up Anna was there for him, it looks like she is in love with Quinn but he is a selfish man that only cares about what he wants so at the moment he doesn’t want her anymore, when Daryl got to the place he found Laurent and Anna let them go in purpose just to screw with Quinn. Daryl had to fight Quinn on the way out, it was a short irrelevant fight, they try to make it interesting with them fighting on a suspended runway so viewers might think like ooohhh what if one of them fall? but they never did, I knew it would not happen.
They manage to get Laurent out of Quinn’s bar, no body from Fallou camp died and now Laurent is on his way to the nest with Daryl, it was actually very easy since there were not too many guards at the moment and the only person that could have really stop Daryl was Anna but she let them go, question is why the FUCK did Isabelle came back to Quinn, I would guess she went there to offer herself in exchange Quinn leaves Daryl and Laurent alone, trying to buy protection but in my opinion that only make things worst because when Genet finds out she is going to doubt Quinn and if that happens then going back with Quinn is worthless, Quinn can only protect Daryl and Laurent until Genet allow it.
When I look back to episode four nothing really important happen, it was a transition episode after Fallou camp was raided, Laurent got lost, then caught by Quinn and then Daryl got him back end of the episode, I don’t want to make it boring but it was literally what happen, the good part about the series is the details scenes they put in the middle so it doesn’t feel that way, they had to fight Zombies to get Laurent at the Tower but no luck, then they had to fight Quinn to get Laurent and the only true obstacle, Anna; let them go like it was nothing but what really makes up for this episode is how cruel Daryl was during the interrogation scene, things I already mention, what I want to see is if Laurent is the real Zombie Pied Pipper and I think that is the entire reason why others think he is the Messiah who safes the world, also we got pending the reason for Genet’s experiments with Zombies something that was not mention during this episode but its ok since this was the one very slow episode of the series.
I feel this episode took me more than usual to write bu I wanted to do something different with the images, I don’t want to just take screenshots and past them so I try to add more to it to explain the scene, I have even consider making gifts for key scenes or just the cover image, something I will do in the future, all this details take time, an entire post can take me between two to three hours depending how long is it and how concentrated I’m.
I don’t think, I’m certain this is the most brutal episode I have seen on this series so far, season two of The Wheel of Time pick up the pace episode by episode, as always I’m just a regular viewer, not an expert and have no opinion about the books, I’m not the reading guy but still here I’m writing a blog.
On episode two you will fell the pain and agony of some of the characters, I think at some point even Rand shows how impotent he feels with all this power but still has no clue how to use it or control it, on the other hand there is Egwene how now has a better understanding how to weave and use The One Power but unfortunately she falls into the hands of the Seanchan, given as a Damane to Renna who now controls the leash and now way to escape from her d’ama, a device so powerful that can’t be broken and looks like it feeds from the power of the damane protecting the sul’dam, the one holding the leash in this case Renna, I mention all this about Egwene because she is the one that turns the jets on this episode.
Episode six is like the season exploded in pieces, like it was holding so much information and now even though there are scenes that only have a couple of minutes it goes one after another in an adrenaline rush that you keep asking for more drama, for more fight, more blood, more use of the one power, it is this moment when more than one character shows their power but I think the main reason is been so expose to an enemy like the Seanchan. As I mention there is a rush of feelings going on through the episode because other characters like Liandrin, Ryma, Maigan, Siuan, they all suffer one way of another, some are even torture, broken from the inside once they are under the leash, episode six is really a jewel of season two.
On episode five Moiraine understood that Rand doesn’t need her protection, Selene/Lanfear is in love with him, that’s their never ending story, both are entities that reincarnate in the case of Rand although Lanfear never dies she can only be contain so she does remember every time this exact same thing happens, every time the Dragon is Reborn and at some moment in his life she meets him again, the most easy way for Rand to contact Lanfear is in the world of dreams but she feels Lanfear is going to hurt him or worst kill him, Rand is outgun at Lanfear world of dreams but he is safe, Lanfear wants him with her, for her, so he can trust her, she wont hurt him in exchange Rand ask her to help him in Ishamael to that she puts one condition, NO MOIRAINE.
Lanfear explicitly tells Rand that if she sees Moiraine next to him she will kill her so he had to go away, from her house, Rand feels now that more than ever he needs to wild his power and be able to control it, some times Moiraine is a bitch too, he will visit the only man who can teach him, Logain; but then she told him SHE put him away from the Tower so he never be able to teach him but that’s not true, Logain knows now that all this happening, him and Rand at the same place its Moiraine’s work.
Thanks to Moiraine now Lanfear can reach Rand anytime he sleeps, he keeps having nightmares of how he keels everyone he loves, at least that the curse of men who wild The One Power, Ishamael is also a dream walker and torment Rand but Lanfear protects him now, she even grand him a wish, she ask Rand who he would like to see and he ask for Egwene, Lanfear shows him the cell she is in, she looks beaten, no shows, desperate and Egwene can hear him but cant see him, this broke him and now is determine to safe her. Lanfear gets jealous when he ask her where Egwene is but still tells him Ishamael got her and THATS when Rand makes a pact with the devil, he tells Lanfear he will do anything to rescue her basically asking Lanfear help me and I’m yours.
Talking about making pacts with the devil there are a few rules, first rule is you can’t take it back if you try you will suffer the concurrences and most of the time before you get what you ask for you will go through a series of extreme suffering that will leave a permanent mark in your soul.
This is exactly what happens to Liandrin when Lanfear pays her a visit, I think Lanfear doesn’t know all the details of Ishamael plans and knows Liandrin is working for him, although the oath was not to Ishamael but to the Dark, she kills Liandin’s son Aludran in front of her, a way to bully the powerful Liandrin, showing her she is not on the same league as Lanfear, then she tells Liandrin “there are many paths to walk through the night” , I think what she is trying to tell Liandrin is that she doesn’t work for Ishamael but for the Dark, in this case Liandrin represents the Dark Power while Ishamael is just a messenger, I’m sure Lanfear is doing all this to help Rand, Lanfear is on the same side as Ishamael but doesn’t work with or for him.
Lets get to the meat and potatoes of episode six, Renna and Egwene. Renna is a Seanchaw in Falme, I always say I’m ok with inconsistencies and in this case looking up who was Renna I find out a particular fact online about the book, Renna held Egwene leash after she was collar and on the series she let Egwene kept her name but on the book she didn’t she change Egwene name to Tuli and some other details that are different in the story, point been Renna was Egwene’s d’man who really wanted to be on Egwene good side so they can be one making them the strongest couple in the entire army but Egwene refuse and kept trying to release her.
Renna kept trying to be on Egwene good side and one day show her how powerful they can be together, that was the first time they channel together, Renna must have some kind of power too, probably she cant channel as Egwene but there is something between them or its just the collar and the leash that creates the bridge between them, Egwene felt it but she also felt something else and I think it was Renna help, I still believe that she can some how channel but may be they were not though how to. On the series not many details are given on how exactly the a’dam work only the obvious.
The A’dam is design to protect the one holding the leash, you know how you can also sin of though, well the a’dam very well brings that to life, the Damane cant get her hands on anything she thinks can use to damage her sul’dam, Renna test for Egwene was very simple, serve me a glass of water, Egwene constantly failed, she has to be pure of though before she can even serve Renna a glass of water, on the next cell was Maigan Sedai who was send by the Amyrlin Seat to scout the Seanchan but eventually got caught and collar, she mention how Egwene lasted more than her and she was a Blue Ajah, to become a Damane they have to be pure of though against her sul’dam, this break Egwene soul the moment she was able to serve Renna a glass of water.
When Nynaeve and Elayne escape from High Lady Suroth after been betrayed by Liandrin, they went after Egwene ending in Falme where Ryma Sedai got them first before the Seanchaw army who was looking for them through the city and kept patrolling the city looking for any infiltrates, Nynaeve tells Ryma about Liandrin how she is friends with the dark and have broken her oath, she also tells about Egwene been collar and want to rescue but Ryma makes them aware of the collar that so far no one have broke out of it, the three Ryma, Nynaeve and Elayne channel together without pushing too much power into the collar so others Damane cant detect them, the only one who felt something more was Nynaeve she actually understand the collar, its like the collar is ill or curse and the only way to be fix or heal is by putting it to a women, in this case a women that channel and it CAN NOT be broken.
The local patrol discover their hide out, they felt the power, both Ryma and her warden Basan sacrifice themself trying to stop the Seanchan before they discover Nynaeve and Elayne, this fight was also very brutal both when Ryma explode in tears after Basan was killed, how she almost turn into a ball the Sul’dan that killed him but they were out number, after so long she finally would join her sister Maigan Sedai after been collar.
Rand is about to go to Falme and rescue Egwene, he knows Ishamael will be waiting for him that’s why he got his hands on Egwene, probably he was only willing to get Nynaeve and drag Rand to flame after capturing her through Liandrin but he end up with Egwene that would still work for him, Rand visits Logain so he could teach him how to channel but its too little time and too soon, channeling is something that takes time and in the case of Rand he needs to be very careful if you will blow into dust after taking too much power, on this scene Logain only tells him the start but Rand goes further taking too much power and ends up puking, this was very lame in my opinion because right after this he decides to still rescue Egwene knowing he is no match for Ishamael and has no control over his powers.
Mat is now in Cairhien after Min brought him, she was instructed by Liandrin and Ishamael in exchange she ask him to get rid of her visions, all her life her visions were curse that make her life miserable after been used as a fortune teller since she was a kid, not only that but seen other people die before they even get to know each other, she saw Mat killing Rand and still betray him. Mat and Rand found each other in the streets on Cairhein then had a drink but Rand had to tell him the truth because he was in a hurry, so both agree to got to Falme and rescue Egwene, another stupid idea, the two will safe Egwene from a place flooded by Seanchan besides the fact that is Ishamael is waiting for them.
Mat agrees with Rand to meet at the gate in one hour, before Mat leaves with Rand he visits Min to let her know but she is drunk, she was visited by Ishamael, he ask her to make sure Mat leaves with Rand and realize they both know about her vision, Ishamael break their deal and ask her to do this one last thing, she gets drunk and when Mats get to tell her he is leaving with Rand tells him the truth, Mats is broken, after loosing everything and his friends he is and feels betrayed by Min who he truly consider a friend, Mat doesn’t have a good record when feeling down, the last time he felt this way end up been consume by the dark power inside a knife and that’s what I thought it was going to happen because Min vision is that Mat kills Rand with the knife but no body knows when, where and why, Mat gets pissed off and leaves the room but never left Cairhein with Rand who after waiting more than an hour decides to leave without Mat.
The Amyrlin Seat, Siaun Sanche, leader of the Aes Sedai arrive to Cairhein after Lan confess to her about Moiraine plans that she have found The Dragon Reborn, he betray Moiraine trust by doing this but he was trying to protect her from herself, Moiraine was decided to die if necessary to protect Rand but without the help of The White Tower, she didn’t want them to cage him like an animal and use him as a weapon, when The Amyrlin Seat knows she put together fourteen Aes Sedai in Cairhein a very unusual move but her plan is to capture Rand for this she brings all her sister’s power in case Rand turns out to be more skill than she thought.
I have seen longer posts on Hive but this is a new record for me, not all of this is part of my imagination as I’m just giving my opinion on the different scenes. Episode six of The Wheel of Time feels as I mention, very brutal specially the scenes of Liandrin loosing her son, how Lanfear catch her Liandrin attack when she got into the room like it was nothing, that moment she knows there is no chance she can even touch Lanfear after all she is one of the most dangerous and powerful forsaken and then had to watch how Lanfear kills her son, the reason why she betray her sisters and broke her oath, because if we think about it yes Liandrin doesnt like anyone at the white tower and if it was for her she would be in charge and only Red Aes Sedai existed but wouldn’t betray them if it wasn’t for her son that was dying so seen Lanfear kill him broke Liandrin badly, Lanfear also remind her of why she doesn’t like men and its because she was force to get married very little basically abuse by men at a very young age that’s why she hate so much men specially those that can channel like Logain. All the scenes where Egwene was force against her will to obey, act and thought, was very difficult to digest, all that power contain, how she feels incapable of doing anything to get free of the collar, every time she tries to take it off, attack Renna or even get close to her or touch something she might think to use against Renna the collar push her making her twist and puke out of pain, ironically Renna kept trying to be “her friend” even showing her how powerful they can be together but at the same time treating Egwene as her powerful pet on a leash and the moment when she finally serve the cup and then screams out of her lungs. Episode six reveal many details of both sides plans:
Lan tells The Amyrlin Seat, Moiraine plans and about Rand (The Dragon Reborn)
Lanfear gets on Rand side, helping him against Ishamael
Ryma learns about Liandrin treason, even probably why her sisters got caught at Falme
It was Liandrin who kept talking about the invation and probably why Ryma end up in Falme
Mat finally knows Min set him up to meet with Rand
It was secret after secret reveal almost every scene, not much fighting and action happen across the episode except for Ryma and her warden fighting the Seanchan army so I guess the next two episodes will have more fighting and action, even some more treason between sides, there were some scenes that I didn’t mention because I felt they were not as important, for example there as an argument between Moiraine and her sister about her been Moiraine and not giving a shit about anyone when she is busy, also how Lan was basically force to tell the truth about why he wanted to go to Cairhein that was to visit Moiraine but when Alanna and her two warden threat to kill him if he didn’t tell the truth Lan gave up so they caught up with The Amyrlin Seat, it was not on her plans to visit Cairhein and setup such a great force of all her sisters until she knew The Dragon Reborn was probably there, Lan snitching on Moiraine was very shitty of him because one way or another he betray her trust, you got to sink with the ship when it comes to trust.
From time to time there is that TV Series that I enjoy watching a lot, I do like fantasy theme TV Series although at a adult age not young kids discovering magic, for example The Magicians was a TV Show I enjoy same as The Rings of Power but I’m not a such a fan of other fantasy stories like Harry Potter.
Season two of WOT is in full force and introducing new characters or catching up with story lines is over, the fourth episode introduce its last main character with Selene now known as Lanfear, she was a mystery at first during the season but now she is pissed, not only now we know that she is a forsaken but we are starting to understand her interest to Rand, she is basically in love with him, he is too precious for him but she wants him to join her, she doesn’t want to force him this is why so far she haven’t hurt him, it will remain a mystery what she was going to do when she started channeling. Rand finally meet her real personality, Lanfear on his dreams, she is a dream walker, she can get into others people mind when they are dreaming without been invited, once she is in you are on her world with her rules and you can die on that world too.
On episode five we also get to know a bit more about Seanchan too, a city that looks a lot like Constantinople to be honest, Damane another term on their thong use to those women who can channel, they are not free they are leash by Seanchan and are use as a weapon by their controller or master in this case known as Sul’dam using a collar known as a’dam, all women who can channel including Aes Sidai are consider a marath’damane, an abomination of nature and need to be controlled, similar to how Aes Sidai think of men who can channel although they have this though because men who can channel usually go mad including the Dragon Reborn.
Moiraine got just in time when Selene was on top of Rand, she was about to channel after she tied him to the bed and Moiraine cut her throat but this was just a temporary solution and to loose her they had to pull a few old tricks like getting on horses and then leave them going into an opposite direction on foot but this was just to gain some time before Lanfear figure it out. Moiraine plan didn’t work as she thought because Logain was suppose to teach Rand how to explode his power but that never happen, now he is unprepared and Lanfear is after them, she also told him the truth, this is just starting and a higher dark power has been unleash.
Perrin finally gets some good amount of screen time, we already know he is a tracker but for some reason he is having a hard time to accept what he is, Elyas tries to guide him although he is not a big help since he is of the mind that the pack has to stay together and all Perrin can think about is his friends who have been capture by the Seachan Army, one of them Uno Modesta killed when he revise to swear loyalty.
Eamon Valda and the White Cloaks, children of the light, a blast form the past season one, Eamon torture Perrin because he is consider a monster, anyone who can channel is a monster for the White Cloaks, they have now take over the small village that Seachan Army and High Lady Suroth attacked.
When Perrin return to the Village with the intention of finding some of his friends or where they were taking, he free Aviendha who is a Maidem of the Spear, a great fighter that was capture by the White Cloaks and put on a cage, Perrin who has a great heart free her without knowing who she is but soon she show him her skills as a fighter, a fucking John Wick of the Spear putting down a good amount of White Cloaks when they surround them after Perrin free her, she is now in debt with him so she follow him where ever he goes.
Things start to unfold at The White Tower when Verin Mathwin gets back, there are rumors of Aes Sidai missing, she also went looking for Egwene and Nynaeve but they were no where to be found at the tower, she seek information on her two friends at the library who can get her more information about this reports, who got in and out of the tower but something is odd about the reports, like either someone fake the reports or use some sort of spell what they call a weave, in this case on Sheriam Sedai who wrote the report. This would only mean that there is a traitor between the lines of the Aes Sidai, someone join the dark power, one of her sisters.
At this point no body knows at The White Tower but the traitor is Liandrin, I have been thinking why she did it and there is only one answer, her son who is dying, she actually explain this to Nynaeve before knock her out and deliver her with Egwene and Elayne to High Lady Suroth by orders of Ishamael, Liandrin had some compassion for Nynaeve and before she left cut her ropes so they could have a chance to escape. This shows how Liandrin is not that bad but still a selfish traitor after all.
Verin Sedai caught Liandrin when she was coming back, of course Liandrin had alibi and brought some white asparagus to try to sweet Verin wiith but she already know something is cooking and is after the traitor, she doesn’t know yet Liandrin is guilty.
High Lady Suroth is just part of the army, she is not the one in power to dictate what their people do or not, in fact Ishamael is using her, High Lady Suroth doesn’t seem she can channel, nos sure how then they get to such high power probably just been part of a royal family. Ishamael was after the Horn of Valere and deliver it to the High Lord Turak who is commander for the Seachan Army, I dont know what is up with this people and long nails but it seems a symbol of high power among them, High Lady Suroth nails get trim because she disobey orders at invading land she was not suppose to but this was Ishamael plan all this time.
To calm down things and get on High Lord Turak good side, Ishamael not only offer The Horn of Valere as a gift but also brought a very powerful women, this was Egwene who gets put on a’dam, a very powerful collar and then a leach by her new master, I like this scene very much since Madeleine Madden did a great job at showing Egwene pain when she was put on the collar, it has some sort of power over those who can channel that makes Egwene scream in pain and put her on her knees without giving her any orders, just looks insane, also the way the collar turns into a half chest piece in a transformer way look so sick.
During the entire episode Moiraine and Rand were running from Lanfear until they got back to her home, at home was her sister and nephew who welcome both, Moiraine was running out of time and knew it was only a few days or hours before Lanfear find them, she once gave her sister an advice and that is to truly think if things are necessary, in this case means “Does Rand really needs to be protected from Lanfear?” even though he is not in control of his powers Lanfear would have kill him long time ago, been with Rand for three months and it was just fucking around, literally, so Moiraine throw him into the lion den, let Rand sleep so Lanfear can come to him that way they will find out her real plan, that’s the cover image for this post.
There is really no excuse to think this TV Series is crap, its true that season two started very slow but it was necessary, even though the TV Series is not probably word by word close to the books they at least taking some time to not rush things, make it last as much as possible to develop the story at a pace that doesn’t feel they cutting corners like for example the Perrin story, it was about time his character get a bit more of screen time, same goes for Mat and I think they will on the next episodes, it cant be always Egwene, Nynaeve and Rand, so to balance things some episodes need to be a bit slower, for example episode five there was not much fighting but there was a lot of good drama and unfolding more of what Ishamael and High Lady Suroth want, that’s to take over Seachan, he is expecting Rand to join them at their city and be on their side too, WOT is just getting better and better.
I know I’m behind on this series but I love it and prefer to take my time to enjoy it, not staying up late during weekdays, I usually load up everything into my VR setup and watch all this TV Series on Saturdays when I stay home, relaxing.
Ever since I made that post about the upcoming Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023) TV Series I got interested on finding out the start of MONARCH and the chronology of the movies, there are other stories made up from multiple movies but they are just too big for me to learn everything from the start, it is just too much time so this seems smaller and about to kick off with its first TV Series based on a series of movies. The first movie that started things was Kong: Skull Island (2017) where Bill Randa finally find all this monsters he has been talking about for years, but he was not the first man from a modern society to discover the island after Hank Marlow a USA pilot from World War II crash there and had his first encounter with the guardian of the island, Kong.
At first I really thought I was going to be disappointed by this movie since the score on sites like IMDB was very low with only a 6.7/10 but when I start to go through the reviews most of them were positive, lots of 7+ reviews but it was only a few bastards that gave the movie a 2 or 3 complaining about the story that they probably didn’t that much attention to, others complaining about how the concept about Kong was completely change from this giant ape who normally terrorize cities to now been the guardian of the island. I think MONARCH made a favor to Kong bringing it into the MONSTER VERSE, no body cares about movies based on the same concept over and over, what they were trying to do is build up the foundation to something bigger that now days will turn into a TV Series potentially extending the story of all this monsters into something different and bigger.
The Vietnam war is about to be over and all troops send back home, Bill Randal currently in charge of MONARCH knows that the program can be shut down at any moment because so far they have found nothing and when the war ends things are going to rapidly change politically, he feels its now or never go make a discovery and prove the monsters he and his assistant Houston Brooks have been speculating about do exist so they talk to Senator Willis, ask him for one last chance to send them on an expedition to Skull Island, a place that has not been explore yet with many stories about boats disappearing, mysterious bombing like they were trying to kill something but its all speculation, luckily there is already an expedition to Skull Island and Bill and Houston knew about, LANDSAT a program to discover and explore the Earth is sending a team to Skull Island so MONARCH was able to piggy back after Senator Willis approval. A common question that came up was WHY THE FUCK ITS NOT BEEN EXPLORE? the reason is because its surrounded by a perpetual storm system like God doesn’t want anyone else inside the island.
Bill ask for a military escort, he knows if they find something on that island only military power can help them to get out alive, that’s when one of my favorite characters comes in by the hand of Samuel Jackson, Colonel Preston Packard who doesn’t want to leave the war, he is that soldier who feels there is nothing else at home that matters and he just want to keep pushing not to mention that they are “abandoning” the war but that’s a total different topic. Colonel Packard is in charge to take LANDSAT and MONARCH to Skull Island and provide protection so they can explore it and come back home.
As secondarily characters there are soldiers under Packard wing, most pilots, there is Cole, Slivko, Reles and Chapman all this pilots will follow Packard orders at all times, that was at first, until Packard obsession gets them close enough to death.
Chapman a pilot who was flying the helicopter with the most gun power is played by Toby Kebbell who is on For All Man Kind new season, he did very well on this movie although his part was very small, this is Packard’s first obsession to find Chapman when his helicopter goes down after an attack but not necesarly because he wants to safe Chapman, Packard was really after all the armament on Chapman’s helicopter.
#photo fotographer and james
Last duet of the story are James Conrad and Mason Weaver, Conrad the man in charge to guide them through the island he is famous for exploring inhabitable places and getting out alive so Bill and Houston look for him, they knew it would be expensive and they running low on money but if they want the best chances to get out alive Conrad is the guy to go with, as a bonus we get Mason Weaver who is going to play the pretty lady on the movie, photographer who actually goes to cover the LANDSAT expedition but she knows there is something else cooking besides the LANDSAT expedition but none of them have a clue of what they going to find on Skull Island.
There is one detail that I didn’t like and that was the amount of Choppers on the first shots when they get to the Island, there was only one ship that look like it can hold at best five to seven of them but when they start flying towards the Island looks like they were ten of them, also when already in the island they started to drop some small bombs to map out the surface because of the seismic waves.
After they start dropping bombs this obviously disturb nature, you got the noise, the impact on earth, animals going wild running scared and this is when big dawg Kong shows up for the first time on the movie, I really like how they gave it this classic Vietnam war scenery with the sun going down and the sky orange but in some cases it was hard to see although I still think it look great, Kong itself was very well design in my opinion but it look small, latter on during the movie it is mention that he is still small, he is probably on his teens, point is that he got mad as fuck for all the bombing and shuts down all the choppers one by one this made him enemy number one to Colonel Packard, on this movie Kong is the protector of the Island, he is not a predator he protect humans and animals mainly for the real predators, GIANT LIZARDS!!
After Kong shuts them down Packard had a little chat with Bill who then told him why they were there, what is MONARCH, he is not there to explore the land, he is there to find monsters and bring proof back because he believes there are way more monsters that have not been discover and they need to prepare, bring the cavalry, on the island they had many encounter with huge animals, from what looks like a giant Buffalo, spiders, insects, its like Australia x100.
The survivors of the attack start exploring looking for shelter and how to get out of the island, the group split in two, you got Packard and his soldiers looking for Chapman and all that fire power and then there is Conrad leading the other group (MONARCH and LANDSAT) until they found Hank Marlow, the guy I mention crash the island many years ago during WW II, he has been living there for twenty eight years waiting to be rescue without luck until now when Bill and the rest arrive but this was not necessary a good thing for the island. Hank has been living with natives of the island and gave the guys a tour and had a short Q&A with them so they know whats the deal of the island, who is Kong to them and where not to go.
I don’t like to spoil the cool scenes so I’m just going to mention that there was NO LACK at all of fight scenes between humans and monsters and monster against monsters, you got flying monsters, you got giant baby lizard and then you got big mama lizard against Kong in the final fight, nothing was left to the imagination wondering of why things happen or what if, none of that bullshit, its true that we don’t know yet from where all this monsters are coming but Houston did mention that his planet is not theirs, it belongs to this monsters and it was just a matter of time before they take it back, that’s one of the reasons why MONARCH exist to prevent all this events.
This was for sure the beginning of MONARCH, on this movie we only get that a man called Harry Truman funded MONARCH in 1946 but that’s all we got from this movie, after credits there is a scene where Houston give more details to Conrad and Weaver of who are they facing but that’s it, but he does show them some pictures of cave explorations and images on the walls of this caves that represent many of the different titans like Godzilla.
The reason to watching this movie was to find out more about MONARCH, I know I can go and read the MONARCH Fandom but that is not what I want, I want to have the same perspective of any other viewer once MONARCH: Legacy of the Monsters TV Show starts and that is the reference to the movies themself, my next movie to watch is Godzilla (2014) that is heavy shown on the first trailer for the tv series.
Kong Skull of Island as a Monster or Titans because when you say monster most people think about demons probably but this case its titans or MUTOS as MONARCH describe, this movie did a great job, the CGI was very good nothing to criticize also the amount of monsters that appear on the movie is good enough since it was not only Kong, on the movie appear seven monster animals in total that I can remember so it was not only about Kong, there is even an extra small fight between Kong and a Giant squid that felt like a bonus fight. In terms of the cast it had a good amount of known actors who also did a good job at bringing all this characters alive, I don’t feel anything was fake or over the top neither. The only thing that I would do different is not killing Bill on this movie because I think he was a leader for MONARCH and finally when they get all proof they need to show he was right about all this monsters he gets killed, I don’t him been alive would change the end/meaning of the movie but just a small detail that I would prefer.
Referring to MONARCH itself this is the movie that opens the door to explore what they have discover so far, from here its all about looking for all those other monsters out there, try to understand them, protect from them and even dominate or kill them depending on how dangerous they are, MONARCH already knows there are more out there and its a matter of time before they claim Earth back.
For anyone that doubt WOT season two because of it’s very slow first two episodes I have to say things are starting to turn up and everything starts to make sense, on episode four more about Ishamael and Selene or by her real name Lanfear, Daughter of The Night the most dangerous Forsaken finally we get to know who this mysterious women who does nothing during the day and only fuck Rand’s brains out at night and who Moiraine fears a lot, but it still yet to know what are her motive and reasons to be after Rand? the most obvious reason that comes to mind is that she either wants to drain his powers, use him to do something for her or just kill him and as a last crazy idea is that she is truly in love with him. Moiraine has mention before that what they living right now has happen before many times through the centuries, meaning that Rand or The Dragon Reborn is an entity that comes to the world many times and even dies but always the story is very similar so there must be a connection between LanfeAr and Rand so yes probably she is in love with him but he doesn’t remember, the difference between them even if they met before is that Rand is a new men when Lanfear was awaken so she was probably a prisoner of some spell.
Episode four keeps telling us more and more about the past of some of the characters, in this case a bit more about Moiraine Damodred, she goes back to her home town where her little sister Anvaere Damodred lives and haven’t seen in many years, Aes Sedai live longer than other mortals because they are connected to the true power so they will age slower and see friends and entire family die before them, that’s the case of Liandrin and her son, same case between Moiraine and her little sister Anvaere.
Its on Episode Four when we see Moiraine change her clothes into what she is wearing on the Season Two Cover Poster so probably from now on she means business.
The reason for Logain to be in this town same where Rand is, all that happen because Moiraine wanted so, she is looking for Rand around town and visit the Asylum he is was working at where Logain is but can’t find him, goes and visit Logain who wants to kill her if he could, keep in mind that may be he can since Moiraine has no powers but she wont let him besides she has a dagger, she offers it to Logain and what I can interpret from their conversation is that she will either let him kill her or give him the dagger so he can kill himself, she mentions “…what all those cut off from the One Power desire most of all”
Perrin and Mat are two of the least important of the main five characters so far with very little screen time plus I still don’t know how their powers help or relate to Rand, they cant channel but still have to do with The Story that repeats over and over.
Perrin was help to escape by the pack of wolfs and Elyas who serve him as a guide to discover his powers, most of the things that they talk about are very vague, like Elyas doesn’t want to talk to Perrin about his powers but let him discover them by instinct.
Liandrin has been trying to bond with Nynaeve for her own benefit, she has been talking about how great it will be to use her as the biggest wepon The White Tower has ever had but now she tricked her, sitting at the Arches Liandrin tells Nynaeve that there was an invasion on the west, a black smith from The Two Rivers traveling with an Ogier were caught prisoner, this is a lie because at this point because they WERE capture and then Perrin got away but that’s not the point, Liandrin knows Nynaeve can’t get out of the tower without reporting and if she does then she has to sneak out, Liandrin knows exactly what escape route she will take so she ambush her and knock her out, to make things worst Nynaeve was not alone she was with Egwene and Elayne who probably where not part of Liandrin plan. It is still yet to know why Liandrin ambush them and I think this time it has nothing to do with The White Tower and Nynaeve becoming an Aes Sedai.
Moiraine keeps looking for Rand every where but can’t find him, she is starting to worry Lanfear will got him first but she has been with him all this time, none of the things that she plan for happen, Logain have not train Rand at all and Lanfear has been with Rand all this time.
Rand is starting to manifest his powers but only when he is under a lot of pressure, meaning when he is mad, angry and this makes him dangerous because this are the moments he has less control of himself but I wonder if this is exactly what Landfear wants, for some mysterious reason a Fade or Myrddraal appears and tries to attack Rand from the back, when they were together out side of Selene cabin at the top of the hill and Rand display his powers burning the Fade to aches.
This seem to be a turn on for Selene because very casual they go into the cabin, she wants more of Rand but this time not only sex, she ties him to the bed and confess to him that she is also a monster, Rand can’t get out of his head that he will eventually go mad and kill everyone he loves with this power so he thinks he is a monster too and just in time but I’m not sure if this is good, Moraine cut her through from the back leaving Selene laying on the floor all bloody, what a mess.
Moiraine keep saying Lanfear/Selene is not good for Rand but so far he has done nothing to hurt him, the moment Moiraine shows up Selene was starting to channel and now I’m wondering what exactly she was going to do THANKS MOIRAINE!!! At first Rand gets mad as fuck with her and puts her against the wall because lucky for him Moiraine has no powers at the moment, if Moiraine had her powers she would probably kick Rand ass in a second, yes he is The Dragon but he has no training, similar Liandrin knock out Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne all at the same time.
What annoys me of this episode is how many dark scenes there were, you really need a good video source and good definition screen to see all the dark colors and go through this scenes, but we are starting to see more characters channel for example Rand, Selene, Ishamael, I hope it comes to that and more characters channeling at the main battle of this series since at some point Rand will face Ishamael again either alone or with the rest of his friends. Another thing that bugs me is that Mat is set to some how kill Rand like its destiny so may be the same thing has happen over and over through their history, remember all this characters have reincarnate.
Finally knowing who Selene is, that’s a great relieve, watching her doing nothing during the day and just fucking Rand at night was not fun for me, I knew there was something else than that but never thought she was a Forsaken, based on Moiraine one of the worst, the first scene when Ishamael wakes up a women cover in blood did make me think about Selene also Moiraine kept saying since episode one that their encounter with him was not the last battle and she was wrong, it was the start of everything and that he was going to awake a higher power. Season two is turning into a banger, I really like this series and would like to see at least five seasons if possible out of it, I don’t know how far advance the story is at the moment compare to the books but over three seasons is a win. I give this episode a solid 8/10.
Lucille makes it back to the screen, that is Negan’s baseball bat name, on his left next to him with the top full of barbed wire that is what he use to smash Maggie’s husband head in front of everyone just to put on a show, through the series even if they kinda bond, Maggie and Negan; from her side it still feels she had that desire of vengeance and who would not after how Negan savagely killed Glenn, after all for her is all about that moment, she is trying to rescue her son Hershel with the man that killed her husband, it all comes back to the moment they met.
Episode four starts with that moment that Negan has mention before, the moment he knew The Croat was a problem, savage dog without a leash and he had to take care of business, cant let The Croat running around disobeying his orders and making important decisions on his own, what let Negan to take action was when The Croat torture a girl “just to be sure” she was not a scout, it was brutal, she was still a teen.
This look on Maggie is exactly what makes me think she obviously still wants to kill Negan, I would even bet she swore to kill him after her husband death, on this scene everyone is looking for Luther, the big guy from the local group Negan had problems with and eventually killed unintentionally on Episode Three.
The start moving out, on their way to take over the stadium and kill The Croat but first they go down to the train station, its a place also use for interrogation and torture so probably Hershel is there. Through the entire season Negan has basically been trying to make things up with Maggie, trying to be on her good side, I might think there are two reasons for this first that Giny is staying at Hill Top and second because he killed Glenn, on this scene they see a guy probably similar age to Hershel, he is dead and Negan will lift his head to see if its really Hershel, looks like Maggie didn’t had the strength to go through that suffering so he did it for her.
Amaia had everything figure out how to take over the stadium and lure The Croat out of it using Negan as bait but Maggie was action all suspicious besides before they went out Negan ask her if she has seen his matches and Maggie said no, weird then before they roll out of that room, above picture; she had Negan’s matches on her pocket so she is lying about basic stuff so why she wont be lying about something bigger. This is the moment that IMO confirms Maggie had plans for Negan, not sure what is it but its not help him get back to Giny when its all done.
To make things worst for Negan, before they left Maggie saw something shiny, familiar on Negan’s bag-pack, it was Luther’s wax that he didn’t want to share with Negan, at this point Maggie knows Negan has been lying about Luther but now also consider that he killed Luther too.
Amaia plan is rolling, Negan gets to the garage and starts his classic whistle and The Croat recognize him right away, question is how was The Croat that close to the garage at that very moment, probably TV Show coincidence but they all thought he would be alone so he just takes off after Negan and left the Burazi pack without their leader at the stadium.
Something wrong happen with their plan or then how The Croat react to it so easy? he must know something they don’t, first he was not alone at the garage, the Burazi were with him and second the moment Amaia and the rest of her crew was inside the stadium the doors blew up letting all the Zombies in besides they were playing loud music to get the Zombies inside the stadium.
Maggie was suppose to help Negan to lure The Croat out of the stadium but she could not because fucking Giny shows up and she goes after her ending in the middle of the arena inside the octagon surrounded by all the Zombies that just got in, lucky them there were not that many Zombies inside so they grap the protective material from the octagon and use it as a shield to push Zombies out of their way all of the sudden Tommaso shows up to help, where the fuck was him?
Tommaso, Amaia, Maggie and Giny where the only ones to make it out, from the group that got into the stadium, but got trapped into a room that had access to the sewers, problem is that its filled with bodies, so many of them that its highly contaminated with methane gas, Tommaso already use that route back in the day when he escape from The Croat and it didn’t sound like the best experience so I would expect a few nasty scenes coming up on the next episode.
After The Croat heard Negan they start chasing him around but the plan was to jack up a car and let him chase Negan out of the stadium, that didn’t work because they were too many of them so Negan didn’t had time to jump into a car so he got back into the stadium, The Croat never attempt to shoot Negan he wanted him alive but on this scene he says “I come only in the spirit of friendship…” like he really wanted to talk with Negan, who knows what for but the everyone thought he would only wanted to kill Negan.
The Croat throws Perlie Armstrong, the Marshall that was after Negan but on his way down he manage to hang on to the railing and Negan safe him, this is until now a new Negan, he is now old and wants to live in peace so he is trying to make things up for others that he hurt in the past.
Sometimes life is a real bitch, doesn’t matter how you try to fix things up that you fucked up in the past at the end it all comes back, even after Negan saved his ass, Marshall Perlie still wanted to arrest him, the moment he got his hand of one of those hock guns he point it at Negan and freeze him.
Episode Four was a solid episode for me, lot of details that had to pay attention to like Maggie and Negan lying to each other, the matches, the wax, Luther missing, also how The Croat knew they were coming, the stadium doors blowing up, the Zombies walking toward Maggie and Amaia getting them trapped inside the arena octagon, but something that got me thinking is why Giny there? I’m probably going to burn a two good hours tonight watching the last two episodes, I really don’t like this new spin off format of only six episodes, yes they are long episodes but thats not like the OG series format was and not even Fear The Walking Dead is. So far this is probably the best episode of the season with only two to go so I’m curious about how strong the season will end, good 7.5/10
Well it kinda happen exactly as I was expecting and to be honest I did not enjoy this episode that much, when the series started I said and thought that “The Ones Who Live” would probably be the best TWD spin off from the three that we were getting this year but the last episodes disappoint me in one way or another, from the very long and extensive arguing scenes between Michonne and Rick to the now rush take down of the CRM, Rick try for about eight years to escape and he couldn’t but Jadis was doing it for many years, yes she was smarter than Rick and join the CRM instead of fight it but she make it look too easy, same goes now that Michonne is with Rick they manage to take the CRM down in a single episode? there was nothing extraordinary that help them achieve this and now that Jadis is dead she is irrelevant, all she did was blackmail Rick the entire season.
