Buffy the Vampire Slayer celebrated its 20th anniversary this past week. The cult series featured a phenomenal blend of drama, comedy, and non-stop supernatural action. It’s been off the air for years now, but there are still plenty of shows that carry Buffy’s spirit on. Here’s a list of great series on the air right now that Buffy fans can enjoy!
The CW’s latest acquisition, Supergirl, may be one of the network’s strongest shows. The series follows the exploits of Superman’s cousin, as she fights alongside her secret agent sister, Martian Manhunter, and whatever Mon-El is. Much like The Flash, Supergirl is praised for its levity, not allowing too much melodrama into the action-packed show. It hasn’t had the advantage of starting as a CW tie-in, but it’s flourished. Now that its on the CW, it’s only getting better, with no signs of slowing down. Catch S1 on Netflix, then watch S2 as it comes out Mondays on the CW!
That may seem like a thoughtless, uncritical statement, but I mean it in the way Gus and Mickey say it to each other at the end of episode five. I like this show. I don’t love it, and there’s a good chance I never actually will, but I enjoy spending time with it. There are moments where I find myself disliking certain characters (Gus in particular) more than I dislike, say, Tony Soprano, who is an actual murderer, but I keep coming back to them. There are so many riveting series that I adore, and yet when many of them release a season in bulk, I don’t breeze through them as quickly as I breeze through a season of Love. (I’ve watched the first six episodes of Season Two.)
I’m not building up to some brilliant insight as the reason I feel this way, either. Love is a strange, awkward show that often places its characters in uncomfortable or outright humiliating situations. And I don’t know why, but somehow it’s still a lot of fun to watch.
Except Randy. Anything with Randy pretty much sucks. As I mentioned above, there are plenty of moments where I find Gus annoying, and Mickey is certainly more obviously troubled. But these characters are flawed by design, and when the show is at its best, the two of them improve each other. Randy the unemployed barbarian, however, isn’t improved by Bertie, his scenes aren’t funny, his existence as a character feels unrealistic, and yet the show devotes an absurd amount of screen time to him. Maybe later in the season the reasons will for this will become apparent, but as things stand, when Randy comes on, my attention starts to wander. I get that he’s supposed to be sort of a mirror of Mickey, but for whatever reason, something just isn’t clicking there.
That being said, this season is a large improvement over the previous one. Many Netflix or other streaming service original series tend to consist of episodes that are meant to be watched in a clump. This causes most of the episodes to exist to serve the larger narrative rather than form individual memorable installments. In other words, to draw on The Sopranos yet again, we’ll never get a “Pine Barrens” type of episode from many of these series, in which the content is self-contained and more in service of the theme than the overarching story. While more serialized storytelling is currently the norm, there’s a good reason “Pine Barrens” is my favorite episode of The Sopranos. Shows like Jessica Jones or The Man in the High Castle tend to miss opportunities for this type of storytelling.
This season, Love is an exception to that. In almost all of the six episodes I’ve seen, there is a mini-story that furthers the plot. Episode one is all about escaping the apartment complex while it’s on lockdown, and episode four is about the experience the characters have on shrooms. Aside from the magic episode in the first season, I don’t recall the show ever having done this before. As a result, the storytelling feels less like a mess of information being dropped on the audience, and more like a series of coherent chapters in an evolving story. It’s also a lot more fun this way.
The biggest reason I started watching Love is Gillian Jacobs, because Community is one of my all-time favorite shows. But even as a fan of her earlier work, I’ve been consistently impressed with her versatility and vulnerability in this role. Paul Rust is pretty great, but I get the sense he’s more or less playing himself, as one of the creators of the show. Jacobs, on the other hand, takes a difficult, troubled character, and plays her so earnestly that even when Mickey is at her worst, she’s relatable. Instead of hating the character for her flaws, I find myself rooting for her to overcome them. This is quite an accomplishment, because for most audiences, frustrating characters can ruin a show. In this case, Mickey improves it.
Also, I would like to state for the record that I think a series about Calista Flockhart as a park ranger detective sounds hilarious and amazing.
I’ll probably check in with this one again when I’ve finished the season, but what did everyone else think of Love? Does anyone actually like Randy? Am I totally off-base about Mickey and she’s actually the worst?
The history with Oliver Queen and the Al Guhl family is a long, messy one. Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim stepped up to talk about the long awaited return of one of our favorite villains.
“We will see her in the present day,” Guggenheim teased to Entertainment Weekly. “What she wants from Oliver in the past is very different from what she wants from him in the present.”
For the time being, Oliver is unaware of Talia’s distinguished lineage because Oliver never learned Talia’s last name. “Oliver couldn’t have heard it, because if he had, when Ra’s talked about his daughter he’d be like, ‘Yeah, the other daughter, I met her back in Russia,’” Guggenheim says. “We were very cognizant not to retcon anything. So yes, she is Talia al Ghul, but Oliver obviously doesn’t know that.”
Synopsis:
After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was missing and presumed dead for five years. Before being discovered alive on a remote island in the North China Sea. Oliver returned home to Star City, bent on righting the wrongs of his family and fighting injustice. As the Green Arrow, he protects his city with the help of former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), computer science expert Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), his vigilante-trained sister Thea Queen (Willa Holland), former police captain Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) and brilliant inventor Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum).
Newly appointed Mayor Oliver Queen finds himself challenged as he fights on two fronts for the future of Star City. With Diggle back in the military and Thea adamant about hanging up her hood as Speedy, Team Green Arrow is down to just Oliver and Felicity. But they’re no longer the only vigilantes in town. Green Arrow’s public defeat of Damien Darhk at the end of Season Four has inspired a new crop of masked heroes to step up and defend the city. Their painful inexperience makes them obstacles, rather than allies, in the field. The arrival of a deadly new adversary will force Oliver to confront questions about his own legacy, both as mayor and as the Green Arrow
‘The Flash’ and ‘Supergirl’ cross over musical event is just weeks away!
Good news for the fans, we get new and exciting details about the singing characters we love so much! Flash and Supergirl take on a musical villain, which means musical action!
A recent interview from Entertainment weekly gave us, “In a nod to Kara’s favorite film, Wizard of Oz. Everyone else in the vocally impressive cast is playing a character within this movie, from Jesse L. Martin, Victor Garber, and John Barrowman as rival mob bosses to Jeremy Jordan’s club pianist and Carlos Valdes’ aspiring artist busboy.”
The amount of musical talent in this episode is going to be bananas. Almost everyone involved has some sort of history in the musical world, including Rent star Jesse L. Martin, who plays Detective West. Most surprisingly, Grant Gustin, Flash himself even sings!
According to my source, inspiration pulled from Guys and Dolls, Singing in the Rain, and West Side Story.
We have to wait until March 21st for this epic musical, but until then we get all the insider details.
DARREN CRISS (“GLEE”) GUEST STARS AS THE MUSIC MEISTER IN THE FLASH AND SUPERGIRL MUSICAL CROSSOVER – Barry (Grant Gustin) and team are surprised when Mon-El (guest star Chris Wood) and Hank Henshaw (guest star David Harewood) arrive on their Earth carrying a comatose Supergirl (guest star Melissa Benoist) who was whammied by the Music Meister (guest star Darren Criss). Unable to wake her up, they turn to Team Flash to save her.
However, the Music Meister surprises The Flash and puts him in a similar coma, one that Team Flash can’t cure. Kara and Barry wake up without their powers in an alternate reality where life is like a musical and the only way to escape is by following the script, complete with singing and dancing, to the end.
Unless you’ve been living under (or on) the Hellmouth, you’re probably aware that this week marks the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This little TV show that could, born from an ill-received flop of a movie, reemerged as an expected to fail mid-season replacement. What followed, though, was seven seasons of some of the best storytelling that ever graced the small screen. And although not every season was equally beloved, each one still had more than a handful of standout episodes that, like Buffy herself, were destined to become legend.
Read on to find out what I think were the single best episodes from every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I mentioned before how one of Buffy’s strengths was giving each character a moment. Like “The Zeppo”, “Storyteller” uses humor to add incredible dimension to a supporting player, in this case, redemption-seeking supervillain nerd Andrew. Filled with great moments of self-reference and also very honest pathos, “Storyteller” was a welcome break in pace for the very dour and urgent final season. It was almost like a calm before the storm, and it made Andrew, already a fan-favorite, a truly tragic and flawed human permanently taking his place as a true member of the “Scooby Gang” family. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, and you may even cry.
A new Wonder Woman trailer has hit the web. Watch it below, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures on Youtube.
What are your thoughts on the action-packed new trailer? Are you looking forward to the film? Comment below!
“Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.”
Wonder Woman stars Gal Gadot as the title character, Chris Pine, Robin Wright as Antiope, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Connie Nielsen, Ewen Bremner, and Lucy Davis.
The Kickstarter for Namesake: Book 3 has been funded almost three times over, in a tremendous success for independent comic artists Isabella Melançon and Megan Lavey-Heaton. Namesake has been running since 2010, and updates Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
“Namesake is the story of Emma Crewe, a woman who discovers she is a Namesake, a person with the power to travel to other worlds, places we know on Earth as fantasy and fairy tale lands. This power has rules, Alices always go to Wonderland, Wendies always go to Neverland. Each Namesake has a specific destination and mission, in order to keep the multiverse balanced. But Emma goes to Oz in the stead of the expected Dorothy, unveiling a magical conspiracy plot that’s more than 100 years in the making, with Emma and her unique powers at it’s core.” (Kickstarter)
The first and second Namesake books were also funded by Kickstarter. Namesake: Book 1 was funded by 432 backers in 2012. Namesake: Book 2 was funded by 664 backers in 2013. In sharp contrast, Book 3 has 904 backers, four days before the campaign closes. Not only that, but the campaign has surpassed its final stretch goal of $50,000, which unlocks a secret reward. The previous stretch goals were 20,000 (a bookmark added to all tiers), and 40,000 (reprints of the first two books in both softcover and hardcover).
It’s likely the wait has something to do with it. It’s been four years since their last Kickstarter, and the comic’s readership has been rising with the story’s stakes. The sheer amount of new readers is also obvious when looking at the Kickstarter pledges. An amazing 229 backers pledged to receive all three current print books in softcover, which is probably the most efficient way to get caught up!
Namesake deserves its success, too. It’s a beautifully crafted comic, and the books have just as much love poured into them as the digital art.
Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques has always been a strange chimera of a webcomic – it’s a slice of life story, detailing the ins and outs of an indie group of friends somewhere in New England, with artificial intelligences and high-tech robots as an unquestioned, unremarkable part of its setting. Over the last few years, QC has explored its sci-fi side more and more with a trip to a space station and an ex-convict AI character. Then, on February 15th, it wrapped up one of its strangest arcs yet.
RECAP (Spoilers Below!)
Questionable Content, Strip 3311, September 18 2016
The arc began on September 18th with the appearance of Roko Basilisk, an AI cop. She’s investigating the robot-fighting ring that Faye does repairs for, and plants the idea in Faye’s head that somebody might be taken advantage of. That “somebody”, clearly, is Bubbles, by her anti-human, passive-aggressive boss Corpse Witch.
It takes a little while for things to come to a head, and it’s May – everybody’s favorite foul-mouthed ex-con – who sets things off. She comes to Faye and Bubbles with payment for their work, and to fix up her face. While she’s there, Roko Basilisk springs a badly-thought-out raid on the shop. Corpse Witch manages to scare her away with smooth talk and a heavy implication that she’s been paying off members of the force and government officials. Then afterward, she turns to May, and attempts to blackmail her –
Questionable Content, Strip 3365, December 2nd 2016
-with predictable results. Go Faye. Just as predictably, Faye is fired, and Bubbles refuses to speak to her or come with her. Faye takes it pretty personally, but it’s May (genre-savvy and world-weary as always) who puts it together for her that Bubbles is being blackmailed.
Questionable Content, Strip 3374, December 15th 2016
It’s here that matters finally come clear. After the loss of her military squad, Bubbles began to develop severe PTSD, and Corpse Witch offered – under the table and illegally – to partition the offending memories away. However, it turns out that CW had also encrypted them – and demanded 10 years of servitude in exchange.
It seems like an impossible situation. The encryption is too strong, and there is no option that doesn’t give CW time to delete Bubbles’s memories. Then, a new figure presents themselves.
Questionable Content, Strip 3391, January 9th 2017
Yes, that’s how they introduce themselves. It’s possibly the scariest line in the comic to date. Turns out they’re an AI, far more powerful than any ever encountered in comic before, and they’re offering to help Bubbles recover her memories, with no strings attached. Suspicious? Suspicious.
Spookysuit (as dubbed by the fandom) sends Emily into Bubbles’s mind to get her memories. She does so with gusto, but there’s a problem…
Questionable Content, Strip 3400, January 20th 2017
Turns out Corpse Witch deleted the memories anyway. However, this makes things a little easier. There’s no longer anything tying Bubbles to CW, and Bubbles makes this very, very clear, before walking away forever. She’s free.
Corpse Witch, however, hasn’t escaped justice. Spookysuit apparently has some very strong opinions on people like her, and after getting the truth out of her – that deleting Bubbles’ memories was an accident – they give her a choice. An eternity with them, or the cops. CW chooses the cops, rather reasonably.
Then, it’s just a matter of cleaning up loose ends. Spookysuit signs the building over to Jeremy, hands over the evidence to Roko Basilisk, and tips Emily off to further research into AI mindspace. CW is arrested, Faye and Bubbles are cleared, and all is well. And the only answer we get – so far – about Spookysuit’s origins is the final comic of the arc.
Questionable Content, Strip 3418, February 15th 2017
Questions, questions and more questions! All else aside, three things are now certain: Bubbles isn’t going anywhere as a cast member, Spookysuit is bound to return, and the QC universe has just gotten a lot more frightening.
What were your thoughts on this arc, and what do you think is going to happen next? Comment below.
The DCEU Makes A Fierce Comeback With This ‘Wonder Woman’ Trailer
How can someone not be excited for this? ‘Wonder Woman‘, directed by Patty Jenkins, is shaping up to be a masterpiece with each look. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is going to be this generation’s Ellen Ripley; mark my words.
The newest trailer shows so much more than we’ve seen before but still doesn’t give too much away. I’m impressed with the marketing route DC has taken this year after their polarizing 2016. It seems like they’ve taken a few notes from what the public wants.
But what does this mean for the ‘Wonder Woman‘ film? This new trailer feels has serious ‘Game of Thrones‘ meets World War 1 vibes going on. The third trailer shows we are going to spend some time with a young Diana as she trains to become Wonder Woman. More time on Themyscira is good, as the land of the Amazons looks gorgeous. How much time we will spend on this origin story is unknown.
Also, the trailer still doesn’t give away much about the villain. It’s been leaked due to some toys at the 2017 Toy Fair so you can easily find it but I won’t spoil it for fans here. Maybe this mysterious bad guy will explain some of Diana’s backstory as well? It’s hinted that her mother Hippolyta is hiding something from her; how long till that is revealed?
Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts spoke to Cinemablend about that amazing post-credits scene, and revealed that it nearly didn’t make it into the film.
“We shot that during production, and it was actually one of those things that they had taken off the movie at one point. For some reason, there was concern about it, and I was really happy when everyone decided let’s bring this back. I think that’s what people want to know is happening.”
Story-wise, it’ll be interesting to see how Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Godzilla, and King Kong all come together. What were your thoughts on the scene? Are you looking forward to the Warner Bros. “monsterverse”? Comment below!
