Nuevamente, un film basado en el héroe más icónico de los comics ha llegado a las salas de cine; "Superman", película dirigida y escrita por James Gunn, oficialmente da comienzo al "DC Universe" en su etapa cinematográfica relatando una nueva historia que no es completamente de orígenes, pero que si demuestra el difícil comienzo que deberá transitar un alienígena quien está destinado a ser el gran salvador de la humanidad.

Once again, a film based on the most iconic comic book hero has hit theaters; "Superman", directed and written by James Gunn, officially kicks off the "DC Universe" in its cinematic phase, telling a new story that is not entirely about origins, but does show the difficult start that an alien destined to be the great savior of humanity must go through.

En este nuevo film, Gunn tenía primeramente el gran trabajo de crear una versión de Superman que sea aceptada por acérrimos fans y capte la atención de nuevos; personalmente sin ser un hardcore fan, ni mucho menos uno nuevo, la versión del gran héroe para el comienzo de este nuevo proyecto es la mejor, es la necesaria porque inmediatamente te demuestra el simbolismo que tiene el personaje para el mundo, el cual es primordialmente de esperanza, un símbolo de ayuda, lo cual es lo que justamente representa al personaje, pero no es solo eso, ya que se deja atrás esa imagen de divinidad y se genera una conexión con la humanidad, aceptado por muchos y sí, también aborrecido por otros, lo cual es lo que siempre he considerado como correcto porque es un reflejo real de la sociedad tanto en el momento de creación del personaje como en la actualidad; estos aspectos en dónde le sumo que es un héroe inexperto, pasional, con la afirmación de creer fielmente en el bien y que recibe ayuda cuando más la necesita, puedo decir que es una excelente versión por parte de James Gunn.

Lo interesante de que no es una historia de origen, es que permite al espectador presenciar como los protagonistas deben cumplir con roles a causa de los motivos que impulsan o influyen en cada uno de sus actos; por ejemplo, Superman cree fielmente en que fue enviado a La Tierra a ser su protector y salvador, en cambio, "Lex Luthor", cree que como humano tiene la inteligencia y recursos para salvar a su especie; esto genera el gran enfrentamiento entre ambos en dónde es cierto que se explora más los motivos antes dicho desde el punto de vista del héroe, pero eso no evita que el personaje de Lex tenga un importante protagonismo y sea de los puntos que más he admirado del film; siempre he creído que para que un héroe funcione, su contraparte debe ser una verdadera y gran amenaza y en esta ocasión, la manera de escribir a ese personaje es la mejor aunque me sucedió así como con Superman y es que todavía no se está ni de cerca del potencial de ambos y eso me genera aún más expectativas para el futuro.

In this new film, Gunn first had the daunting task of creating a version of Superman that would be accepted by die-hard fans and capture the attention of new ones. Personally, without being a hardcore fan, much less a new one, I think the version of the great hero at the beginning of this new project is the best, and it's necessary because it immediately shows you the symbolism that the character has for the world, which is primarily one of hope, a symbol of help, which is precisely what the character represents. But it is not only that, as it leaves behind that image of divinity and creates a connection with humanity, accepted by many and, yes, also hated by others, which is what I have always considered to be correct because it is a true reflection of society both at the time of the character's creation and today. these aspects, to which I add that he is an inexperienced, passionate hero who faithfully believes in good and receives help when he needs it most, I can say that it is an excellent version by James Gunn.

The interesting thing about it not being an origin story is that it allows the viewer to witness how the protagonists must fulfill roles because of the motives that drive or influence each of their actions. For example, Superman faithfully believes that he was sent to Earth to be its protector and savior, while Lex Luthor believes that as a human, he has the intelligence and resources to save his species. This leads to the great confrontation between the two, where it is true that the aforementioned motives are explored more from the hero's point of view, but that does not prevent Lex's character from playing an important role, which is one of the things I admired most about the film. I have always believed that for a hero to work, his counterpart must be a real and great threat, and on this occasion, the way that character is written is the best, although I felt the same way about Superman, and that is that neither of them is even close to reaching their full potential, which makes me even more excited about the future.

Con respecto a quien considero un protagonista más de la historia, el diseño de la ciudad de Metrópolis es excelente, la arquitectura de sus grandes y números edificios, lo multicultural de sus también numerosos habitantes, es algo que me pareció correcto, ya que es el lugar de muchas aventuras a ocurrir y me gustó la decisión de que las escenas de acción ocurrieran en pleno día lo cual provee excelente iluminación, colorido y mejor captación para el espectador. Las escenas de vuelo por parte de Superman son excelentes, me gustó que Gunn use diferentes perspectivas para captar la manera de volar en dónde se percibe en momentos que son calmadas, pero a la vez son frenéticas, algo que también depende de la situación; otro aspecto que me agradó fue las escenas de peleas, todas son excelentes, existe un uso bueno del CGI en los combates, son muy dinámicas y me gusta que los rivales de Superman sean una amenaza para él y posiblemente mi única crítica negativa sea al diseño de escenografías en dónde creo que se puedo hacer algo mucho mejor, pero de igual manera Gunn genera escenas que son tomadas directamente tanto del comic como de series animadas de Superman.

Regarding what I consider to be another protagonist of the story, the design of the city of Metropolis is excellent. The architecture of its large and numerous buildings and the multicultural nature of its equally numerous inhabitants seemed appropriate to me, as it is the setting for many adventures. I liked the decision to have the action scenes take place in broad daylight, which provides excellent lighting, color, and better visibility for the viewer. The flying scenes featuring Superman are excellent. I liked that Gunn uses different perspectives to capture the way he flies, which at times feels calm but at other times frenetic, depending on the situation. Another aspect I liked was the fight scenes, which are all excellent. there is good use of CGI in the fights, they are very dynamic, and I like that Superman's rivals are a threat to him. Possibly my only negative criticism is the set design, where I think something much better could have been done, but even so, Gunn creates scenes that are taken directly from both the comic and the animated Superman series.

En un film en dónde no es perfecto para quienes esperaban una historia superépica, estoy seguro de que es el correcto comienzo no solamente para el ahora conocido como "DCU", sino para el personaje en sí, ya que según palabras del mismo Gunn, cada historia dentro de ese universo tendrá total dependencia y espero que así sea porque este film me generó expectativas a futuro, creo que es necesario ver a Superman/Clark Kent, crecer como persona y por supuesto como héroe y esto lo digo porque el mensaje esperanzador y humano que refleja está historia, que es repetidamente dicho y muy bien interpretado por David Corenswet, es necesario que en el futuro muestre liderazgo que su influencia sea mayor para todos, que no sea un solo hombre quien ayude a Superman a levantarse después de una batalla, que sean muchos más que estén a su lado y ese sentimiento que la película generó en mí es lo que hace que tenga nuevamente ganas de ver películas basadas en comics, que se  recupere o retomar esa sensación de quien lee o quien ve series animadas, que sea reconocible y que genere una nostalgia correcta, eso es lo que espero de futuras producciones en este nuevo universo de DC Comics. Antes de cerrar está reseña, resaltaré la manera brevemente en que Gunn demostró la relación de Clark junto a sus padres terrícolas o como muchos dicen, con sus verdaderos padres, en realidad señaló la relación entre Jhonatan Kent y su hijo, esa escena fue algo especial, fue profunda, de las mejores que tiene el film, una conversación verdadera llena de sentimiento, de preocupación, pero a la vez con las palabras necesarias en el momento adecuado, son frases de apoyo, llenas de orgullo y de amor incondicional de un padre a su hijo; ese fue mi momento favorito del film porque me hizo recordar mis conversaciones con mi padre y estoy seguro de que a él le hubiera gustado está película.

In a film that isn't perfect for those who were expecting a super-epic story, I'm sure it's the right start not only for what is now known as the "DCU," but also for the character himself, since, in the words of Gunn himself, every story within that universe will be completely dependent on it, and I hope that's the case because this film has generated expectations for the future. I think it's necessary to see Superman/ Clark Kent** grow as a person and, of course, as a hero. I say this because the hopeful and human message reflected in this story, which is repeatedly stated and very well interpreted by David Corenswet, is that in the future he needs to show leadership so that his influence is greater for everyone. It should not be just one man who helps Superman get up after a battle; but many more who are by his side. That feeling that the film generated in me is what makes me want to see comic book-based films again, to recover or recapture that feeling of reading or watching animated series, to make it recognizable and generate the right kind of nostalgia. That is what I hope for from future productions in this new DC Comics universe. Before closing this review, I will briefly highlight the way in which Gunn showed Clark's relationship with his Earth parents, or as many say, with his real parents. In reality, he pointed out the relationship between Jonathan Kent and his son. that scene was something special, it was profound, one of the best in the film, a real conversation full of feeling, concern, but at the same time with the right words at the right time, phrases of support, full of pride and unconditional love from a father to his son; that was my favorite moment in the film because it reminded me of my conversations with my father, and I'm sure he would have liked this movie.

Cover image edited in canva; the image was taken from the following source

Love in Cold War Times

On Revival Episode 3 "Reality Check" things are getting messy in Wausau and I'm absolutely loving it, this series just keeps on giving and nothing really feels forced or push out of the way, because everyone in this damn town is finally starting to realize that the whole revival situation isn't going away anytime soon and the way people are handling it is both impressive and completely terrifying at the same time, such a bizarre situation and everyone is dealing with it on their own way. Dana is still trying to figure out what happened to her sister Em but now she got to deal with some seriously sketchy drug dealers who might have killed her and honestly the whole thing is giving me major small town corruption vibes that I absolutely like very much as it adds a lets say subplot because I'm not sure if the entire drug dealer thing is going to end here. The episode opens with Dana talking to Em's roommate Kay, who is basically telling this wild story about how Em supposedly stole drugs from the Check family, which sounds like complete bullshit to me but I was still wondering how she got so many pills? but Dana is desperate for answers so she is listening to every word. Kay's story involves them going to Dorothy's house (Check Family) to buy drugs disguised as art lovers, which is actually pretty clever consider Dorothy has this weird art love for chickens but then Em apparently went upstairs and just decided to rob them blind which doesn't sound like something someone with her mental health would do. The whole thing feels off, especially since Kay was the one providing Em with drugs in the first place so why would Em need to steal more, it just doesn't add up and I think Dana's starting to see through the lies too, there is something else missing and I love how the series is not desperate to tell.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13951052/
• Platform: Peacock

There is still Ibrahim trying to figure out the scientific side of things and in my opinion Andy McQueen is really bringing something special to this character, he shows how much he cares about these revivers as people instead of just treating them like lab rats. When Ibrahim gets the toxicology reports back on Arlene, he finds mercury in her system, which leads him to believe that Bob Dipman was poisoning his own mother in law and honestly that makes so much more sense than her just going crazy because she came back from the dead. The whole scene at the Dipman house is tense as hell, especially when Ibrahim finds those chains and medicine bottles in Arlene's room and Bob pulling a gun on him just confirms that this guy was definitley up to no good. It's actually pretty messed up, again small town weird stuff, Bob was so jealous of his wife taking care of her sick mother that he decided to poison the old woman and when she came back as a reviver her brain was already damaged from the mercury so she acted violent, that could be one believable theory. This whole revelation really changes how we see Arlene, she wasn't some mindless zombie, she was a victim of abuse who came back wrong because of what was done to her while she was alive, and that's actually pretty heartbreaking when you really think about it.

The relationship between Em and Rodie continues to be one of my favorite parts of the show, these two actors have such great chemistry and their scenes together feel so real and sweet. Rodie's whole punk rock aesthetic is perfect and the way he performs by cutting himself open during shows is both gross and fascinating like this guy has found a way to turn his condition into art which is pretty cool, although a bit extremist but their town is already weird enough for that to be a normal thing I guess. When Em tells him about how she has never really lived fully because of her medical condition, it hits different because you realize that dying actually freed her from a life of being treated like she was made of glass and now she can finally experience things like concerts and jumping off bridges without worrying about breaking every bone in her body. The whole avocado story that Rodie tells about his death is probably bullshit but it's sweet that he is trying to make Em feel better about her situation by sharing something embarrassing about himself, rizz. Their conversation about how Em couldn't have jumped off the bridge because she doesn't have broken bones is a crucial moment like something click, there is not much context of how revivers work but I did remember that moment how there was a guy missing an eye on the scene all revivers come from the death because it confirms that someone definitely murdered her and the fact that she remembers seeing Blaine right before she died might not be a coincidence at all, that guy is very fishy.

Speaking of Blaine, Steven Ogg is absolutely killing it as this creepy preacher guy who seems to know way too much about what is going on with the revivers and his whole holy war speech at the end gives me serious cult leader vibes that I'm both excited and worry about Em and Dana, but who knows if this is just cult behavior and he doesnt really know shit. The funeral scene is probably the most intense moment of the entire episode, watching Arlene show up covered in blood and snap Bob's neck like it was nothing before crawling onto her daughter's body was horrifying and heartbreaking at the same time, I found weird she pull a move like that on Bob instead of probably ripping him apart of bite him, I was not expecting a black ops neck breaking move. Blaine showing up with gasoline and setting her on fire while spouting religious nonsense was the perfect way to setup him as a major threat, especially since the sheriff just lets it happen because he is so desperate to deal with the reviver problem besides he did shot Arlene like five times and did nothing on her. The fact that Arlene is still healing even after being burnt to a crisp just shows how hard these things are to actually kill, which makes Blaine's whole holy war thing even more dangerous because regular people are going to get caught in the crossfire. The governor showing up and basically authorizing internment camps for revivers is exactly the kind of fascist bullshit you'd expect in this situation and her whole shark week comment about tagging them is both hilarious and deeply cringe, her bodyguards also look cheap, you cant tell Revivals is not a high end production.

Dana's investigation into the Check family leads to some great action sequences, especially the concert scene where she has to arrest Adam Check while Em and Rodie are trying to enjoy themselves and the whole thing just shows how these two sisters keep missing each other by minutes. The phone call with Anthony Check is interesting because that voice definitley sounds familiar and I love how Dana manipulates the situation to get information while also protecting her family from retaliation. The fact that the Check brothers had no idea Em was Dana's sister until that moment really puts Kay's whole story in a weird spot about them being the ones who killed her so is full of bs?, which just confirms that the roommate is lying about something important. Ibrahim's discovery about the contaminated creek water at the end suggests that whatever caused revival day might be spreading, which could mean more dead people coming back and even more chaos for this already overwhelmed town or even appear in other parts of the country, thats just me speculating but I doubt the series might open country wide. This episode does such a good job at keep building up that tense situation with revivers and now between Dana and the Check brothers while also going deep into the character relationships and I'm really impressed with how the show is balancing all these different storylines without anything feeling rushed or underdeveloped, it's definitley becoming a must watch for me.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #revival, #episode, #recap, #zombie, #drama, #horror, #murder, #mystery, #family, #sister, #investigation, #drugs, #poison, #preacher, #cult, #town, #supernatural, #death, #violence, #corruption, #government, #quarantine, #punk, #romance

Posted Using INLEO

Man, what a mess this episode was, honestly I have been ok ish into this season of Dead City but episode 7 just crashed and burned in the worst way possible. The whole thing felt like the writers got drunk and decided to throw every stupid idea they had into one episode, like seriously what were they thinking with all this nonsense, the entire episode felt like dizzy. Maggie's out there looking for Hershel and runs into the Croat who is supposedly gonna help her but really just wants to drag her around Manhattan doing tourism over broken glass and walker traps, meanwhile Negan was having some kind of mental breakdown at a hospital talking to his dead wive like he was in some bad trip. The episode starts with Maggie searching the theater for her son but instead finds the Croat who initially plays dumb about Hershel's location until she threatens him, then suddenly he remembers there might be another place the kid could be hiding out, so the guy who have been trying to kill her every time he gets the chance now going to help her? tf?!. At the same time Negan's taking care of Ginny with help from this young guy Benjamin who apparently doesn't remember anything from before the apocalypse started since he was too little and was very traumatic for him, which honestly just felt like another way for the writers to make us feel sorry for these characters instead of actually giving them interesting things to do. The whole setup just screamed "filler episode" from the very beginning and it never got any better, actually it got worse as it went along with all the ridiculous hallucination sequences and pointless danger that wasn't really dangerous at all.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18546730/
• Platform: Prime Video

The hospital scenes with Negan were probably the most annoying part of the whole damn episode because they kept promising something scary or interesting but never delivered on any of it, so Negan goes to this supposedly dangerous hospital where "no one comes back alive" to find medical supplies for Ginny and what does he find there besides some sleeper walkers that barely move unless you poke them, what was that about? aside from them been kids doesnt make much sense. The whole place was supposed to be this deadly maze but Negan just walks through it like he was shopping at the grocery store, occasionally bumping into a zombie child that doesn't even attack him properly. Then comes the hallucination bullshit where he starts seeing his dead wife Lucille and then Annie and their kid Joshua, having these deep conversations about how he failed everyone in his life, like come on writers we get it Negan has guilt issues you don't need to beat us over the head with it through fake ghost conversations. The worst part is they could have just done flashbacks to show his regret and it would have been way more effective than this supernatural nonsense that makes no sense in the Walking Dead universe, like are we supposed to believe walkers cause hallucinations now or what. Even the medical equipment he finds at the end feels like an afterthought, just something to justify the whole pointless hospital adventure that added nothing to the actual story except padding the runtime with boring dream sequences that went nowhere, I really thought he would bring back some pills or medicine for Ginny instead gets this artificial breathing machine.

Maggie's storyline wasn't much better because they decided to focus on her fear of heights in the most over the top way possible, turning what should have been a tense rescue mission into a weird therapy session on top of a skyscraper. The Croat leads her through this obstacle course of traps he apparently set up himself, make me wonder a few things about why he had make it so difficult to access his own safe house but whatever logic isn't really important in this episode anyway since a lot of things are very vague and make no sense. They have to cross this glass bridge between buildings that starts cracking under Maggie's weight while walkers pound on it going after her and instead of creating real tension the scene just drags on with Maggie frozen in place being scared of heights like she has never been in dangerous situations before, would have been better if it just breaks and then she was left haging, that type of moment did arrive but felt too long. The Croat tries to talk her across with some philosophical garbage about how fear of heights is really fear of jumping, which honestly was one of the better moments in the episode but still felt forced and unnatural coming from this character since he had no real intentions or motives to help her. Maggie starts hallucinating too for reasons that are never properly explained, maybe it's stress or maybe it's magic who knows at this point but she passes out and wakes up to find the Croat fixing a flashlight like they're camping instead of fighting for their lives. The whole sequence felt like it was written by someone who has never actually watched The Walking Dead before because since when is Maggie afraid of anything, this is the woman who's killed countless people and walkers but now she's scared of being up high.

At least the Croat got some decent character development even though it came way too late to really matter for the overall episode, his backstory about losing his mother when he was twelve and finding her dead body was actually touching in a way. He admits he brought Maggie to the building not to find Hershel but because he wanted someone to help him commit suicide, which is dark but at least makes sense for his character unlike most of the other stuff happening in this episode. The conversation between him and Maggie about pain and loss felt original and fresh coming from him for once, even if it was surrounded by all the other ridiculous nonsense going on around them and you can tell the actors were trying their best to make something meaningful out of the terrible material they were given, at least thats my impression. But then the episode pulls its biggest twist by revealing that Hershel actually is at the location the Croat mentioned, complete with their secret flashlight signal, so maybe he wasn't lying after all about trying to help Maggie find her son, felt exhausting having seen them to go way back, just moving through so many places. The reunion between mother and son starts out sweet but then gets ruined by the reveal that Dama is still alive and has been manipulating everything from behind the scenes and Im done with her character she is one of the most annoying characters from the entire TWD Universe, a woman who has no grip or leverage other her voice over all this grown men?, it all felt like the writers couldn't figure out how to end the episode so they just threw in a shock revelation that makes no sense but at least was shocking at first. The question is how did Dama survive being crushed and burned, why did everyone think she was dead and what was she been doing this whole time while her organization fell apart, none of these questions get answered because the episode is too busy with pointless hallucinations and height phobia therapy sessions.

The only decent part of the whole episode was Negan's transformation back into his old savage self at the very end, where he tells Benjamin that instead of showing mercy like he used to do he's gonna line everyone up and kill them all. This felt like the first real character development we have gotten from Negan all season, even if it came after forty minutes of boring hospital wandering and fake conversations with dead people, for once felt like the old Negan, similar to when he just arrive to the city with Maggie on episode one, when he open up one of Croat's guy, at least it promises that next and last episode might actually have some action. The Croatian title "Novi Dan Novi Pocetak" means new day new beginning but honestly this episode felt more like old crap new packaging, recycling tired themes about guilt and fear without adding anything fresh or interesting to the characters or story. Benjamin's comment about not remembering life before the apocalypse was supposed to be profound but just reminded me how much better Carl's character from the OG series was and how the show killed him off for no good reason, now we're stuck with discount Carl talking about medical cream while the real action happens somewhere else. The whole episode felt like a setup for the finale but it was such a boring and frustrating setup that I'm not even sure I care what happens next, which is pretty sad considering how much potential this show had when it started. Rating this mess gets a solid 5 out of 10 and that's being generous, mostly because the Croat scenes were decent and Negan's final moment showed some promisebut everything else was just a waste of time that could have been spent on actual plot development or character growth instead of weird psychological nonsense that doesn't fit the tone of the series.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #deadcity, #walkingdead, #negan, #maggie, #hershel, #croat, #dama, #hospital, #hallucinations, #episode, #review, #disappointing, #benjamin, #heights, #fear, #walkers, #manhattan, #season, #finale, #lucille, #annie, #joshua, #traps, #bridge, #survival

Posted Using INLEO

Posted Using INLEO

Murderbot episode 2 really cranks up the psychological tension compared to that wild pilot and it felt like a pretty brilliant shift in gears even though it slows things down a bit. The whole episode basically becomes this super uncomfortable interrogation between Murderbot and Gurathin, who is this augmented human that clearly don't trust robots worth a damn and watching these two go at it is like watching a chess match where one player is secretly having a panic attack. Murderbot is tryin so hard to act normal but you can see every micro expression screaming that this thing has no clue what normal even means anymore, it's like watchin someone try to pass a lie detector test while their brain is melting down in real time. Skarsgard is absolutely killing it here, playing this character who is desperately trying to compute human expectations while fighting against whatever the hell is happening to its programming and so far it's some of the best method acting I've seen in a sci fi show lately. The way he handles the forced eye contact scenes, you can practically feel Murderbot's skin crawling, which is pretty damn impressive considering it's supposed to be part machine and what makes this even more fkn awesome is how the show makes you complicit in Murderbot's deception, like you are rooting for successful manipulation which says something kinda disturbing about how we relate to authenticity these days. The paranoid environment that builds up perfectly its a perfect painted picture of what is going on inside Murderbot's head and you can almost see it calculating conversation responses in real time like some kind of socially anxious computer trying to pass as human, reminds me of when ppl use Ai to pass job interviews in the back.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18177528/
• Platform: AppleTV+

Meanwhile the rest of the Preservation Aux team is having their own drama with Mensah and Bharadwaj deciding to go check out these blank spots on their maps without bringing their security unit along, which is obviously a terrible idea but humans gonna human, or dumb I guess. The whole sequence where Mensah is hiking up this steep hill in bad weather while having a panic attack is so intense and you can feel Murderbot's frustration through the screen as it watches these people it's supposed to protect making dumb decisions without it, it made me mad about it. When that massive centipede creature shows up behind Mensah, I was sure she was gonna become bug food but instead the thing just crawls over her and heads toward this weird alien force field that is apparently killing everything that gets too close. The discovery of all those dead centipede creatures around some kind of crater with a mysterious energy field felt terrifying and when their drone gets blown to pieces by whatever is down there, you know they have stumbled onto something way bigger than just mapping anomalies. This whole alien tech subplot adds a really nice sci fi horror side that balances out the psychological thriller stuff happening back at base and the way Mensah comes back all shaken up from the experience really shows how dangerous this planet is even without the corporate conspiracy as they constantly talk about.

The team is almost a group of weirdos tbh and its very interesting who is going to die first, especially with Arada, Pin Lee and Rathy forming their trio / orgy situation which gives Murderbot something awkward to accidentally show Gurathin when he tries to hack into its memory banks, it was hilarious, like when women put up dildos no their bag so when TSA check. That whole scene is hilarious and uncomfortable at the same time, it perfectly shows how Murderbot is learning to use human behavior against the humans themselves and its all from thos TV shows he has been downloading, the entire fact that an Ai is getting trained itself with pirated content is hilarious, the writers of this series are so creative generating this contradictory scenarios. Gurathin's backstory about coming from a place where constructs get treated as people adds some good context for why he is so suspicious but also why he might eventually come around to trusting Murderbot, assuming it doesn't malfunction and kill everyone first. The way the episode handles these character moments while building tension is pretty skillful, never letting things get too heavy without some kind of relief valve, whether it's awkward robot behavior or humans being adorably stupid about obvious dangers, you can see the writers really understand how to balance the comedy with the thriller elements without making either feel forced or out of place.

By the time the episode wraps up with the team trying to contact that other survey group and getting radio silence, you know something real bad has happened over there and the quick glimpse of the massacre at DeltFall habitat confirms that this corporate conspiracy goes way deeper than just mapping cover ups, now Im not so clear on the hole conspiracy theme because until now they are just assuming although the first rogue SecUnit shows up and intensifies the question of who is behind all this. The fact that even their SecUnit got destroyed suggests whatever is happening might get more than just human bad guys and when Mensah decides they need to take Murderbot along for the investigation, you can feel both relief that they are finally making a smart decision but they still acting irrational and dumb about what they might find, they dont have a drop of malice of that wise kind of thinking that you only get through age, it seems like they are just all some old teenagers. Murderbot's sarcastic "what could possibly go wrong" internal monologue perfectly captures the mood of everything going on but even though he gets it he still doesnt know much on how to improvise and gets caught on big pause before continues, like everyone knows this is a terrible idea but they gotta do it anyway because the alternative is staying ignorant while people die. The episode does a great job of building up these multiple sub plots and character development, from the alien tech to the corporate conspiracy to whatever killed the other team, without making it feel overwhelming or confusing about what the main story, Murderbot eventually going rogue because he eventually get fed up with humans or at least I think thats the assumption the series wants you to think about.

In my opinion this episode is prove that the series can handle and balance between robot jokes and sci fi action, not just full blown comedy and also starting to dig into the suspense part of the series, who is behind everything wrong that is going with both teams. On the side we got the entire situation of what happens when artificial intelligence develops anxiety disorders and has to deal with human social structure as it was never design to deal with this kind of situations, situations that some times can not be quantified since they are more of the irrational feelings. The psychological tension between Murderbot and the team creates this paranoid environment that keeps you invested on the episode even when nothing explosive is happening and that is the mark of really solid writing and acting working, well acting is not crazy good, I guess its more about the script tha let this actors been great at been awkward with each other. It's slower than the pilot and some of the interrogation scenes drag a little but the character development and world building more than make up for the pacing issues and Skarsgard performance alone makes it worth watching just to see him nail this impossible role. I'm giving this one an 8/10 because it successfully shifts the show from quirky comedy into great thriller territory while keeping all the elements that made the first episode work so well and that's not an easy balance to pull off without falling flat on your face.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #murderbot, #android, #scifi, #skarsgard, #interrogation, #trust, #crater, #alien, #centipede, #panic, #gurathin, #security, #corporate, #mystery, #drama, #tension, #awkward, #surveillance, #autonomy, #feelings, #humans, #dangerous, #conspiracy, #technology, #uncomfortable

Posted Using INLEO

I just finished watching Netflix's latest expensive disaster, The Electric State and man oh man what a wild ride this thing was. The Russo brothers took Simon Stalenhag's graphic novel and basically turned it into a 320 million dollar playground for robots that look like they escaped from a theme park, Chris Pratt doing his usual thing and Millie Bobby Brown looking way too clean for someone who's supposed to be a struggling foster kid living in the wastelands. The whole setup is basically this alternate 1990s world where robots got sick of being slaves, started a war with humans and now live in some kind of segregated zone called the Exclusion Zone, meanwhile everyone else is walking around with these giant VR headsets that make them look like they are cosplaying as deep sea divers. The movie throws you right into this world without much explanation, just a quick montage of President Clinton shaking hands with Mr. Peanut, yes that's actually a thing that happens in this movie and it's exactly as weird as it sounds. What really gets me is how they took something that could have been this haunting, melancholy story about technology and humanity and turned it into what feels like a cartoon ish with a budget bigger than most worth watching movies. The visuals are absolutely stunning though, I'll give them that, those giant robots wandering around the desert actually look pretty incredible, especially the construction bots that throw refrigerators at people like they are playing the world's most dangerous game of catch.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7766378/
• Platform: Netflix

Rottentomatoes Rating

The movie delops the story of Michelle, who was basically living with an abusive foster dad played by Jason Alexander, when this robot shows up claiming to be her dead brother Christopher, the robot can only speak in catchphrases from some kids show, so communication is basically playing charades with a tin can but somehow Michelle figures out that her genius brother's consciousness is trapped inside this thing, reminds me to Bumblebee from Transformers tbh. The whole plot about Christopher being this super smart kid who finished Einstein's test in hours felt pretty forced, like they needed a reason for the bad guys to want his brain and just went with "he's really really smart" as their explanation. Stanley Tucci plays the villain Ethan Skate, who is basically every evil tech CEO you have ever seen in movies and he is using Christopher's brain to power all the VR headsets in the world because apparently that's how technology works in this universe. The journey to save Christopher involves teaming up with Chris Pratt's character Keats, who's this smuggler living in the desert with his robot buddy Herman, voiced by Anthony Mackie doing his best to sound like a wise sidekick. The chemistry between Pratt and Brown is decent enough, though it feels like they are both just not really trying, Pratt especially seems like he was channeling Star Lord but without any of the charm that made that character work. Brown tries her best but there is something off about her performance, maybe it's the fact that she looks like she just stepped out of a salon despite supposedly living rough in the wasteland or maybe it's just that the script doesn't give her much to work with besides being angry and determined all the time.

What really bothers me about this movie is how it handles the whole robot rights thing like it wants to be this deep commentary on prejudice and discrimination but then turns around and makes jokes about robots arguing over extension cords. The Mr. Peanut character voiced by Woody Harrelson is supposed to be this dignified leader of the robot resistance but he just comes across as goofy rather than inspiring and the whole treaty subplot feels like it was written by someone who has never actually thought about how politics work. The action sequences are where the movie really shines though, watching these massive robots fight with military drones while smaller bots like the postal robot and the baseball throwing robot join the fight is very entertaining. There is this one scene where all the robots are marching to the final battle and it was very intense because of the danger they were in, even though logically it makes no sense that they wouldn't get attacked during this long journey across the desert. The movie also has this weird thing where it tries to be funny but the humor feels forced, like when Pratt's character says "I'm shocked" and it's apparently some kind of code word or when the robot starts playing "Good Vibrations" and somehow that defeats the enemy robots because they hate Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. I kept waiting for the movie to pick a tone and stick with it but it keeps bouncing between serious family drama, goofy robot comedyand big budget action spectacle without ever really nailing any of those elements.

The climax of the movie involves Michelle having to go into VR to talk to her brother's consciousness, which is living in this recreation of their last Christmas together and it's actually pretty sad when you think about it, the kid has been trapped in his own memories for years while his brain gets used as a computer processor and the only way to free him is to basically kill him, which is way darker than anything else in the movie. The ending tries to be hopeful with this whole message about how people should put down their phones and go outside and make real connections but it feels pretty hollow coming from a movie that spent 320 million dollars on flashy CGI robots. There was also this weird subplot about Chris Pratt's character being in love with his robot companion, which ends up in the most awkward way when the robot reveals there is an even smaller robot inside the bigger robot and I honestly don't know what they were going for with that. The movie definitely feels like it had scenes cut out, there are these weird jumps in logic and character development that make you wonder if there's a director's cut somewhere that actually makes sense. Holly Hunter shows up for literally one scene and then disappears which seems like a waste of a good actress and there are all these other big name actors doing robot voices that feel like they were cast just because they could afford them. The world building is pretty inconsistent too, like sometimes the robots are treated as equals and sometimes they're treated like property and the whole exclusion zone concept never gets properly explained, I know I sound mad or just complaining about everything but its just that the whole movie is beautiful and there was this fantasy aspect that could have been exploited so much to make something great, this movie reminds me of Quantumania.

Despite all my complaints, I actually didn't hate watching this movie, it's the kind of thing that is perfect for putting on while you are doing other stuff or want to kill some time, do you put on movies while doing other things on the computer? side by side windows, I do sometimes which is probably exactly what Netflix wanted?!. The robot designs are very creative and my favorite part, from the giant construction bots to the tiny service robotsand the voice acting is mostly pretty good even if the characters don't make much sense. Giancarlo Esposito shows up as this robot hunter guy who switches sides at the end and he brings his usual sauce to the role even though his character story is pretty predictable. The movie definitely has this Saturday afternoon matinee vibe that makes it easy to watch, even when the plot doesn't make sense and the characters are doing stupid things, the biggest problem is that it tries to be too many things at once, like it wants to be a family adventure movie and a serious sci fi drama and a comedy all at the same time and it doesn't really succeed at any of those goals. The Russo brothers clearly know how to make things look good and move fast but they seem to have forgotten that movies need actual characters and stories that people care about, not just expensive special effects and celebrity cameos. If you go in expecting a big dumb robot movie with pretty visuals and don't think too hard about the plot, you'll probably have a decent time.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #netflix, #movie, #review, #electric, #state, #russo, #brothers, #robots, #budget, #million, #pratt, #brown, #disappointing, #corporate, #product, #placement, #peanut, #virtual, #reality, #technology, #dystopian, #adaptation, #forgettable, #entertainment, #streaming

Posted Using INLEO

Second episodes are always tricky beasts, they either keep the momentum going or they fall flat on their face trying to explain everything, but Revival's second episode "Keeping Up Appearances" lands somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. After the brilliant pilot that had me hooked with its clever take on the zombie genre, this episode takes a more measured approach, focusing heavily on character development while the mystery elements take a bit of a backseat but still adding to them, branching out with more mistery to investigate like why Em died and who supply her with tons of durgs??. The episode opens with Em waking up in a creek, spitting out a ring which immediately sets up more questions than answers and frankly thats exactly what we need at this stage of the game, the show is clearly not interested in giving us easy solutions. What really works here is how the writers handle Em realization that she's different now keep in mind at this point she doesn't know anything about revivers but something feels off, her attempts to get high fail miserably, drugs don't work on her anymore and when she cuts herself the wound heals instantly, its a nice touch that shows how being a reviver affects every aspect of them, this is going way beyond just some type of Zombie, seems simple and brilliant at the same time. The scene where she punches the mirror and her hand heals while the mirror stays broken is a perfect metaphor for her situation, she is healing but everything around her is still shattered, are all human problems can only be solved if one become a reviver? no drugs, no pleasure, more appreciation for life itself, think about it?!. Dana's reaction to learning about her sister's condition feels real too because its this mix of sadness, humor and caring for her little sister, the shock and confusion are played really well by Emelanie Scrofano who continues to be the emotional of the show. The way she tries to protect Em from the police while dealing with her own professional responsibilities creates some nice tension, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of the previous episode's climax.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13951052/
• Platform: Peacock

The hospital sequence with old Arlene coming back to life is where the episode really kicks into gear, the idea that revivers can regenerate from having their scalp completely removed looked terrifying, specially when her brain starts to regenerate, I knew and was expecting this to happen in a good way. Steven Ogg's introduction as Blaine adds more mystery to whats to come next, his cryptic comments about gates of hell opening suggest there is something much bigger going on here than just random resurrection. The way he appears with the baby after Arlene's rampage got me thinking first how the fuck and second why? how did he end up with the baby? does he have any powers over revivers or certain revivers, see how this series just keep generating questions by the minute that keeps you thinking, oh lord keep this writer safe and healthy because he is the BOSS!!!. The maternity ward sequence was very creepy and intense as its such a delicate place to have a crazy zombie like Arlene running around on top with her super powers but then gently hold a baby before running off with it creating this situation between nurturing and menacing behavior. Ibrahim's autopsy scene earlier keeps giving us detail on how the reviers ability to regenerate work, this becomes crucial when we learn about Em's brittle bone disease later. The hospital chase feels a bit rushed though, like they wanted to get through the action quickly to focus on the character stuff, which is fine but it does make the pacing feel slightly uneven throughout the episode. Wayne's growing hostility towards revivers becomes more evident here and knowing that his own daughter is one of them adds this tragic irony to his character that the show is clearly building up, its amazing how the show keeps on adding and building up on this characters and the revival event. The aftermath of the hospital incident had everyone debating whether to lock up all revivers, feels very timely and relevant to current social issues.

Em's drug complex situation is handled with a lot of sensitivity, its not your classic thrown in jail or slap the F out of you situation as big sister, mostly because how good of big sister Dana is to Em, also the fact that Em can't get high anymore becomes another way her reviver situation isolates her from normal human experience and the discovery of her stash leads to some great sister bonding moments. The conversation between Em and Dana about their mother's death adds needed context while also explaining why Em was at the bridge that night, the timing being the anniversary of their mom's death makes her presence there feel organic rather than coincidental and give more clues to the hole situation. Dana's investigation into the drug supply chain leads her to discover that Em's roommate Kay has been arrested for drug offenses, which opens up another thread of mystery about who Em was really involved with before her death, to all this lets add the very dramatic situation when Em was driving when their mother died adds a ton of guilt and trauma to her character, explaining why she turned to drugs in the first place and why she is struggling so much with coming back to life. Professor Wymer's scenes with Em at the bar feel a bit melodramatic but they serve their purpose in drawing the line in the sand that he wasn't involved in her death and that their relationship had ended badly. The ring that Em vomited up turns out not to be his, which eliminates one suspect while adding another mystery to the pile, whose ring was it? and why did she have it in her mouth when she died?. Em's confrontation at the bar came out of rage, it was not about fighting it was about feeling pain and overcome it, sings that she is getting fed up with everythig going on and even makes me think she could turn out violent in the future, its a dark but understandable response to her situation. The introduction of Roadie as another reviver gives Em someone who understands what she's going through and his invitation to join his band, based on his appeariance and his idgf expression makes him a loose canon, Em is about to make some questionable choices, he reminds me a lot of how aged modern vampires think and look on movies, they are superior and know can out run 99% of humans so they dont need money or power, all they need is time.

The family drama continue to be one of the show's strongest elements, Wayne's protective instincts towards Em because of her bone condition create this tragic irony now that she is actually indestructible and his growing anti reviver agenda makes the situation even more heartbreaking. Dana's struggle to balance her professional duties with protecting her sister feels real and the way she lies to cover for Em shows how far she is willing to go to keep the family together. The way Em uses her condition to feel alive again through violence is a bit worry and distrubing but generate the perfect effect and makes a lot of sense for someone who is so devastated and have found an escape gate to finally say fuck it let all hell loose, she also finally beats one of her worst fear and its her brittle bones and wanted to test her new limits. Ibrahim's character continues to develop nicely, his outsider perspective on the town's problems provides a good counterpoint to the locals reactions and he also has this weird friendship with Dana that will most likely end up into something more intimate. The political maneuvering between Wayne and the mayor over how to handle the reviver situation feels real because any other politic would want to take advantage of the situation, different people would absolutely have different opinions on how to deal with this situation. Kay's final revelation about knowing Em's killer is just so beautiful, creating such a huge cliff hanger without feeling forced or manipulative and setting up whats comming up so nicely and smooth as the story keeps expanding the world while keeping the focus on the main characters and the multiple subplots that keep coming up.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #revival, #zombie, #revor, #mystery, #character, #development, #hospital, #family, #sister, #drugs, #healing, #violence, #cliffhanger, #investigation, #bones, #condition, #trauma, #death, #resurrection, #drama, #pacing, #buildup, #supernatural, #small, #town

Posted Using INLEO

Man, Dead City Season 2 Episode 6 was such a weird mix of stuff that I'm still trying to figure out if I actually liked it or not but I guess it was expected to things turn out very GOT, every man and woman for themself trying to grab as much power they could now that Dama was ""out"" of the picture, you know what I mean, like the whole thing felt super slow and dragged out but then boom, they throw this crazy bear scene at us that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. So we start with Negan and the Croat talking about what happens now that Dama is toast and honestly the whole conversation felt forced as hell plus it felt like Negan was teasing him about the rat incident the hole time like he wanted to tell Negan or the script wanted to, although they are still trying to figure out their next move but it's all just so predictable at this point. The Croat keeps going on about how he didn't save Dama from the fire, which we know until then he didnt because he is a coward and then he's all like "oh we can go back to Croatia together with our families" which sounds nice but come on, this is The Walking Dead, nothing ever works out that smoothly. What really got me was how they handled the whole rat situation, like Negan crushed this rat earlier and when the Croat sees the blood on his boot, suddenly he figures out that Negan set him up, which leads to this big fight where they are wrestling over Lucille and honestly it was kinda cool to see some action but also felt like they were just filling time until something more interesting happened besides none of them got really hurt, at worst Croat him Negan just once with Lucille, really crappy fight scene.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18546730/
• Platform: Prime Video

The whole Maggie and Bugal storyline was even more frustrating because it makes zero sense why anyone would trust this guy, like Maggie literally saw him being buddy with the Croat before and now he is trying to make deals with New Babylon, offering methane in exchange for help against Negan's crew. Bugal keeps talking about how impressed he is with what they have done on the mainland but it's all just smooth talk bullshit that anyone with half a brain should see through, yet somehow Pearly is actually considering taking the deal which is just dumb as rocks, he has always been like that since season 1. Then we get this whole thing where one of Bugal's guards gets attacked by something mysterious, its hilrious how fast she got dragged into a bush like a human or monster pull her and she comes back all torn up before dying, which is supposed to build tension but honestly just felt like they were setting up for the bear scene that comes later, a bear would never pull her like that. The dinner scene with Bugal was so awkward too, like he was trying to be all diplomatic and charming but everyone can see right through it, especially Maggie who was clearly not buying any of his crap and then Pearly starts wavering which made me want to slap the fuck out of him for been that stupid. What really bugged me was how they kept hinting at this bigger threat lurking around but never really explained what was going on, they were like "do you think it was...." , like are we supposed to just accept that there was some monster roaming around Bugal's compound without any backstory or reason, honestly I though it was Bugal fighter from a few episodes ago but he killed that guy.

The bear scene was probably the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a Walking Dead show in years and that's saying something considering all the crazy stuff we have witnessed over the years, they had something good on episode 5 and then destroy it on this one, like seriously what the hell were they thinking when they wrote this. Then there is Hershel is trying to poison everyone water supply with walker blood, when will they kill Hershel?? pls do us that solid, then Maggie catches him and they have this big argument where he is basically telling her she's a terrible mother, which leads to him running off into the night like the city is a safe place because literally nothing happens to him. Then out of nowhere this massive grizzly bear shows up and starts chasing them around and I'm sitting there thinking "did they really just add a bear to this zombie show" like what's next, zombie sharks or something as stupid, plus I thought it would be a Zombie bear but nop just a regular one eye bear, the CGI on this bear was actually pretty decent, I'll give them that but the whole sequence felt so out of place and unnecessary, like they were trying to create this big action moment but it just came across as desperate and random. Maggie tries to use the chained up walkers as distractions, which barely works because this bear is apparently stronger than anything we have seen before, tearing through zombies like they are made of paper and then Hershel saves the day by throwing knives at its face which somehow works perfectly and the bear falls into the spike fence of the Zombies fight cage, which is such a convenient way to end the fight and then Hershel just disappears again leaving Maggie all alone, which brings us back to the same family drama we have been dealing with all season, just when we thought it was over after episode five

What really bothered me about this episode was how everything felt so irrational and forced, like the writers were trying to move pieces around the board but couldn't figure out how to make it feel natural or believable, there was the bear, the sky bridge where Maggie almost fall, Croat taking her around the city like it was Disney land. Then we got Negan's whole emotional journey with Benjamin Pierce in the tunnels was probably the best part of the episode, where he was reflecting on his past and wondering if his people needed saving from him rather than the world, which is actually pretty deep character development that I wish they had focus on before and not now. But then we get this scene where Annie and Joshua show up at the docks and instead of reuniting with his family, Negan tells his people to send them back to Tennessee, which is supposed to be this heartbreaking moment but honestly just felt manipulative, I know he did it because of what was coming up if Bugal decides to attack him, so now you telling me that Negan is the new leader of the Burazi??. The whole Jinny storyline has been building up for weeks with her waiting for that moment to pull up on Negan but she has also been hiding this infection and when she finally pulls a gun on Negan, she collapses before she can do anything, which is such a predictable twist that I saw coming from miles away you just had to look at her pale face, which leads to this scavenger hunt for medicine where the series put out a bunch f zombie kids and felt like the writers were afraid to have the kids kill / tear apart someone or Negan putting a knife through a zombie kid on TV? wtf!!

This episode really made me have second thoughts on this series, I know out of the three current spin off this is the weak one, yes it had a nice twist at the end but that can't safe the day and makes it more predictable, it's clear that Dead City is struggling with pacing issues and doesn't know how to balance character development with action sequences, which is frustrating because the show has so much potential when it focuses on the right things. The performances are still entertaining or plain good, especially Jeffrey Dean Morgan who continues to bring emotional scenes to Negan even when the script lets him down and Lauren Cohan does her best with Maggie's material even though the character keeps making some of the dumbest decisions. The hole post apocalyptic Manhattan and production quality is still there, from costumes to the entire city as an entity but none of that matters if the story doesn't make sense or feels forced. I keep waiting for this show to find its rhythm and deliver on the promise of what could be a really good spin off that might connect to the rest in the future but its so far away from Darel Dixon spin off and episodes like this one make me wonder if they are just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. The bear scene will probably be talked about for all the wrong reasons and I think they wanted to give the same impression of how Maggie fought that multi zombie in the tunnels on season one because it was on similar circumstances and very close to the season ending, it definitely feels like the writers were running out of ideas, which is concerning since we are only in season 2 and this might get cancel if it keeps dropping the ball like this, I got to mention this is the worst episode of the series so far.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #negan, #maggie, #croat, #bear, #bugal, #jinny, #hershel, #dama, #manhattan, #zombie, #walking, #dead, #city, #methane, #review, #episode, #season, #fight, #infection, #poison, #family, #betrayal, #survival, #violence, #drama

Posted Using INLEO

Posted Using INLEO

SyFy really doesn't put out the best stuff these days but damn if Revival didn't hook me right from the start with its first episode, I was not expecting this series to be this good and have such a great opening. The show kicks off in this small Wisconsin town where dead people just start coming back to life and its not your typical zombie bullshit where everyone's brain dead and walking around moaning. Most of the "revival" come back pretty much normal, which makes everything way more interesting and fucked up at the same time, there are some with scars or body damage but there are also those who seem to have other abilities that we are just starting to discover. Dana Cypress is our main character, she is a cop who us trying to get the hell out of this small town with her kid Cooper but then Revival Day happens and suddenly she is stuck dealing with all this supernatural crap. Her dad Wayne is the sheriff, so that creates this whole awkward situation where she is working for him while also trying to escape the family business, this might sound familiar for some. The episode opens with this crematorium scene where dead bodies just start getting up and walking around, not just walking but talking and action all normal like they were never dead, which was pretty damn creepy and set the tone perfectly for what we are dealing with here, the feeling was so funny because I had just finish Dead City S02E06 episode so my brain set the signal "Zombies" but they are not, they are Revivals.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13951052/
• Platform: Peacock

The mystery aspect is what really grabbed me though because Dana ends up investigating this dead horse situation that turns out to be way more complicated than it seems. There was human teeth scattered around the scene, which is gross as hell but also makes you wonder what the fuck is going on in this town, how and why is all this happening?. She meets Ibrahim, who is this CDC guy that shows up to help figure out what's causing all these dead people to come back and their chemistry is pretty solid even though she initially just wanted to hook up with him at a bar. The way they handle the relationship between Dana and her sister Em is really well done too, you can tell there are some serious family issues going on but they still care about each other, so the series not only keeps building up the hole revival event but also the characters around it, its not just focus on the main event. Em's character is dealing with her own problems, she has got this bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta that makes her bones break easily but she's also hiding something major from her family, he moment I saw her without knowing I imagine she had to be a revival but nobody is action like she was so the episode does a great job of building up to that final reveal without making it feel rushed or forced, which is harder to do than it looks, it was a real jaw dropping surprise.

The series does great at not only showing the supernatural and horror aspect of what is going on and continues to unfold but there is others in town who get heavily affected by the psychological impact of having dead people come back to life in a small community. You've got people like Mrs. Shaw who lost her husband just one day before Revival Day, so she is dealing with all this grief while watching everyone else get their loved ones back, between the weirdness and creepy you cant stop feeling bad for her, she just had no luck and keeps asking why and if anyone can do something about it, about a situation that nobody has a clue, I think just been her and on top a lonely old woman adds a lot of emotions and really makes you feel bad for her. That's some heavy emotional stuff right there and the show doesn't shy away from showing how it affects people differently from some been scared of the revivers, others want to help them, and then you got people like the mayor who is trying to figure out how to manage this whole situation politically, in my opinion he is just taking advantage of the situation to generate rating for himself. The episode shows how the town is divided about what to do with these people who came back, which creates this tension that runs throughout the whole thing. Wayne's character is interesting because he is trying to maintain order while also dealing with his own family falling apart and David James Elliott does a solid job making him feel like a real person instead of just a stereotypical small town sheriff.

The action sequences are pretty good too, not that we getting car chase or people jumping out a plain but the small fight scenes feel like they belong and fit to the episode and in fact they have been building up as Dana keeps investigation, especially that barn fight scene near the end where Dana had to fight this crazy old lady who keeps pulling her own teeth out and they keep growing back, aside from not understanding the "rules" of revivals she is clearly not mentally ok. This particular reviver seems different from the others, she is violent and has super strength, yup its not only about coming back from death, this right away makes me questions about whether all revivers are really as harmless as they seem, what other powers they have? we already know their flesh can heal from Ibrahim small experiment with Dana back at their improvise lab. The fight scene was simple but started to put down bodies very fast, it felt brutal and chaotic without being over the top and when Em shows up to help her sister, that is when things get really interesting because is WAS dead as I thought but looks like nobody knew about so it is possible she died alone and nobody knew and lucky for her now she is back but there is much more to her dying because she had some romantic problems going on. The series doesnt just Data Dump everything at once, its more complicated than it seems and it doesn't try to explain everything right away but gives you enough information to understand what is happening, like the healing factor that the revivers have is explained pretty well through Ibrahim's character, showing how they can regenerate from new injuries but not from stuff that happened before they died, this are all questions that will eventually start getting answers. This creates some interesting possibilities for future episodes and makes you wonder what other abilities these people might have, almost like now we going to start finding others with abilities aside from super strength and regenerating.

The ending was a jaw dropping moment, HUGE WTF!!! when they reveal that Em is actually a reviver and I think this was handled perfectly because she is screaming IM DEAD but they never specify it before, they even include that she has been missing for some time so it all look normal, even though you could probably see it coming if you were paying attention. Romy Weltman who plays Em does a great job playing someone who is trying to hide this huge secret from her family and when she gets stabbed through the stomach and then heals up is so ironic and that scene makes me laugh because the first words was "dont tell dad" between sisters, it was hilarious. The way she cuts off that crazy lady's head with the scythe was badass, also didnt felt over the top because the cut was very awkward, I though she was going to shop the entire head but it was just the top of the skull and then asking Dana not to tell their dad shows how complicated this whole situation is going to get. The episode manages to balance all these different elements, the family drama, the supernatural mystery, the small town politics and the action sequences without any of it feeling forced or out of place, no wonder why this series 93% from critics and 88% from audience. Melanie Scrofano brings this great energy to Dana's character, she seems tough but also vulnerable and you can see why she wants to get out of this town while also understanding why she stays to help. The episode had good dialogue that feels natural and character development that doesn't feel rushed, which is something a lot of shows struggle with in their first episodes.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #revival, #syfy, #supernatural, #zombies, #wisconsin, #mystery, #family, #drama, #revivers, #death, #resurrection, #smalltown, #police, #investigation, #healing, #teeth, #barn, #fight, #secrets, #grief, #emotions, #characters, #premiere, #episode, #supernatural

Posted Using INLEO