Scoring Anime is Hard… Sometimes

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June 6, 2016

Its been a while since I’ve done a rant post…right? And of course it wouldn’t be one of my signature rant posts unless it was a topic that 99% of people don’t really seem to care about or even think about. So today I’m going to bring up the issue about how to rate a show. Mostly I want this to be helpful, since I think that if you know where you rate something it can make it easier to talk about it to other people and share that kind of stuff. So before I get into how I think you can more accurately score your favorite and least favorite anime, let me give a little context as to why I felt the need to even talk about this stupid topic.

I was listening to a podcast I hate (because I just do things like that). They ended up scoring a show and I heard one of the reviewers talk about how when they score based on objective things from the show and don’t really compare it to other shows. This is completely the wrong way to score something and you won’t get anything out of scoring something this way. I was so mad that someone with a fair bit of influence would say something that no reviewer or critic would ever say. So I felt the need to contact them and get a little more context (still waiting on a response though).

First of all, scores are entirely personal. When you score something it doesn’t have to do with anyone else receiving that piece of work. A score is a personal decision you make to give something you viewed. Of course scores can change over time for good or bad depending on how your viewpoint changes. But there should never be another person trying to influence you scoring something if that isn’t indeed the way you feel about it. Of course someone can argue your views and maybe influence you otherwise, but thats something different entirely. One of the biggest thing I think is bad about people scoring these days is giving things high scores because everyone else thinks it’s a masterpiece except the one scoring it. That’s bullshit, why would you give something you didn’t like a high score? Some would say objective qualities, but I think that holds little value in a review/score.

They always bring up objectivity on that aforementioned podcast, and it sickens me every time. Everything is subjective to a certain extent and art is “almost” always going to get different opinions on what works for different people. Since there are so many different types of people there are countless things that will work or not work for a person when it comes to art/entertainment. So talking about things that are subjective and making them sound objective won’t help anyone who watches your review (except for the extremely gullible and sheepish type). People respond to emotion and tend to connect with other people’s similar emotions. When your review/score something, it’s better to talk about how something made you feel and why it made you feel that way. Then someone can better understand why you would feel that way and may even realize a shared opinion. Any person can read and understand a book on storytelling and blurt out formula’s on what a show succeeded in or not. It takes a true reviewer/critic to understand why something made them feel a certain way. These are the most important reviews and you will find you get more out of these. How a show makes you feel is the only thing that should drive you to watch it. Hence the way a show made you feel should be the biggest consideration when scoring something. Now of course there are a lot of variables when considering how something made you feel and some of it has to do with why. But if you aren’t being true to your feeling about a show, you might as well not score it at all.

Another thing is that an Anime, or any piece of media for that matter, doesn’t exist in a bubble. Some like to act like they don’t compare things when taking into consideration a score or how to feel about a show. This is a lie and nonsense. Scores mean nothing if you don’t have something to compare it to. It doesn’t matter if a show is the worst thing ever to be made, if it exists in this bubble that some people pretend to use, then its always going to be the best. It has to be, because the only thing it has to stand up to is itself. An easier way to look at this is to think of scoring as giving value to shows on a personal level. It’s in out nature to give value to things and not to other things. Because somethings make us feel better than other things, and we are smart enough to tell the difference between those things. Were not monkeys like those people on said podcast that just forget what they’ve watched previously and try to blindly score something with no compass. We have a compass that remembers what we like and why we like, so we should use it.

Like I said before, this topic is completely ridiculous and petty and wont really enhance your anime viewing experience. But I think that if you are more true to the things you like and show that when you talk to other people, the conversations will be better. There will be better understanding of viewpoints, and empathizing, and maybe a little bit of influence towards something you like. Like scores, anime/art is meaningless if we can’t share it with others, and being able to share your opinions honestly is an important tool when you enjoy that art.

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Sebastian Stan Hints At The Winter Soldier’s Return In Black Panther

By

Kaitlyn Booth

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June 6, 2016

The first end credit scene at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was not the scene that fans were expecting, After two movies of build up and hints many people thought that Bucky would be taking up the shield and becoming Captain America. Instead, Bucky decided to not only willingly freeze himself he does it under the protection of T’Challa in the fictional country of Wakanda.

While on a panel at Wizard World Philadelphia this weekend actor Sebastian Stan was asked about what the next appearance of the Winter Soldier will entail since that scene seems to hint that he will be in Black Panther.

“I don’t know, man. I mean, there’s obviously a very clear answer but I’m not maybe say it, now. Where did he end up at the end of the movie? That’s the movie he should be in. I feel like that would be the natural… But I don’t know.”

It isn’t that surprising that Stan isn’t 100% sure about whether or not he will turn up in the movie but the team up would be an interesting one. T’Challa spent all of Captain America: Civil War trying to kill Bucky only to turn around and not only give him sanctuary but also refer to him as a ‘victim’ which no one in the Marvel universe has done.

The Marvel universe is expanding and with so many characters running around it only makes sense that smaller team-ups would begin to happen. It will make everyone appearing in Avengers: Infinity War a little easier to handle.

Black Panther is due for release on February 16, 2018 and is being directed by Ryan Coogler.

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Will Jon Hamm Play ‘Archer’ In The Live-Action Film?

By

Jamie DeCourley

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June 6, 2016

There’s no doubt that the idea of Mad Men star Jon Hamm playing super slapstick spy Sterling Archer enters the realm of dream casting. That being said, it shouldn’t surprise fans to learn that Archer show producers Adam Reed and Matt Thompson have been heavily considering the possibility. Archer recently completed its seventh season and has unfortunately received declining ratings over its past few runs.

During a recent sit down with Daily Beast, Thompson discussed the future of the series and the very real concept of a Archer live-action film adaptation.

In the interview Thompson talks about the growing debate among his team about the project and the inevitable (and likely soon approaching) last season of the animated comedy.

“It’s all up to whatever Adam [Reed] wants, to do, but he and I have definitely talked about it,” stated Thompson. He added the discussion has been an ongoing conversation over the past few seasons. ““We vacillate between if you do it, why are you doing the TV show? And should it be live-action, or should it be cartoon?”

Thompson went on to explain that the crew behind the hit FX series have always had one name in mind as their pick to play Sterling Archer himself. “It’s Jon Hamm. If Archer goes live-action, I do believe it will be Jon Hamm.” The tone of that remark may seem harsh to fans of the animated series given that lead titular character’s spot-on comedic timing is often attributed to the vocal performance of H. Jon Benjamin. While Benjamin doesn’t exactly fit Sterling’s physical description, it’s hard to imagine any Archer project without him involved.

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Cinema Showdown: ‘Boyz n The Hood’ v. ‘Menace II Society’

By

Larry Taylor - Managing Editor

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June 6, 2016

This July marks the 25th anniversary of John Singleton’s time-capsule urban drama, Boyz n The Hood. The film was a watershed moment in American cinema, bridging the gap between white moviegoers and the issues plaguing the African-American community in South Central Los Angeles. It shined a (soft-focus) light on the bloodshed, the violence, and the cyclical nature of murder and despair eroding the black neighborhoods from the inside out like a social cancer.

The buzz surrounding Boyz n The Hood played into the hands of Singleton and his film, rife with stars like Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, and Cuba Gooding Jr. – who weren’t quite stars yet. It was a massive hit, it launched careers, and it grabbed two Oscar nominations. And, like any vital cultural film, Boyz n The Hood spawned dozens of imitators. Some were okay, others were anything but okay, but one perhaps told the same story even better than Singleton’s film. That was 1993’s Menace II Society.

Directed by the Hughes Brothers, Allen and Albert, Menace II Society was a much more grim, unforgiving look at the road to nowhere young black men were traveling in South Central at the time. The awards weren’t thrown the film’s way, the box office was lighter. But as time, the greatest judge of all, has aged both films, one’s withstood the appreciation process better than the other. Both are monumental films, important glimpses into uncomfortable and distressing swaths of this country, but one is better in just about every way.

The Case for ‘Boyz n The Hood’

The story of Tre Styles, growing up under the watchful and philosophical eye of his father, Furious, is an emotionally engaging if somewhat melodramatic examination of gangs and hopelessness in The Hood. The dynamic between Tre and his friends is the nucleus of the picture. Ice Cube’s Doughboy is the best of a trio of friends that includes Gooding’s Tre and Morris Chestnut as Ricky, the athlete who has a football scholarship waiting for him if only he can make it out alive. Sadly, he cannot, and Ricky’s death is one of the more devastating moments in modern cinema. It’s sad and heartbreaking, and despite the weaknesses of Singleton behind the camera – the framing is off, the melodrama ramped up when it doesn’t need to be – the performances sell the tragedy.

Boyz n The Hood can also stand on the merits of its cultural impact. Riots and unrest surrounded the release of the film in some areas, and the danger existing in the periphery added a layer of percolating energy to what happened on the screen. As an important film, it’s one of the most important of the 90s. But, as a cinematic experience, Singleton’s direction is just a little off. Everything feels too saccharine in the end. Despite the title card telling us Doughboy doesn’t make it a month after the end of the film, the story forces an upbeat note though it didn’t earn it moments before, when Ricky’s murderers are executed.

The Case for ‘Menace II Society’

Where Boyz n The Hood falls victim to its own desires to be positive in the end, Menace II Society approaches the very same subject matter with a more nihilistic and unforgiving tone. Caine (Tyrin Turner), our “hero” of the film, is not the greatest person. He may be better than his friend, O-Dog (Lorenz Tate), a psychopath who murders an Asian convenience store owner and his wife for basically no real reason (and subsequently shows off the surveillance tape to his friends over and over), but Caine knows his lot in life. Like so many young African-Americans in the 90s, South Central Los Angeles was the end of the world. The horizon stopped at the edge of their streets full of murder and hate, and Caine was a child borne of this place. He’s a drug dealer, he jacks cars, and he gets uneasy when his grandparents bring up God around him.

All that being said, Caine isn’t a bad kid. It might seem weird to say, but that’s the beauty of the Hughes’ film: not everything is black and white. In Boyz n The Hood, there was a clear delineation between Tre and Doughboy. We are told from the beginning Tre is a wholesome kid stuck in the wrong place. It’s hammered into our head, in fact. Here, nuance is employed. Caine is a product of his environment, shaped by the criminality in his past, in his friendships, and in the inescapable daily life. He does bad things, but we come to understand in the scope of bad shit that goes on, his transgressions are minor. Menace II Society understands to a better degree that there are no clear answers to what ails these young men, and the Tre’s in this world are far less likely than the Caine’s.

As a film experience, Menace II Society buzzes with a ferocity lacking in Singleton’s film. The camera captures the right moments, frames them brilliantly, and the Hughes’ understanding of street culture – a culture they examined to a lesser extent in Dead Presidents and From Hell – brings a pavement-pounding grit. These streets aren’t untouched by the pollution of its characters, like they sometimes are in Singleton’s frame. There is no melodrama here, because melodrama isn’t the right tone to tell these stories.

The Verdict

It isn’t a close race between Boyz n The Hood and Menace II Society when these two pictures are examined back to back. One is a visceral cinematic experience, a brutal and unflinching examination of a world most of us never want to see firsthand. The other, Singleton’s film, is an important film, and a watchable and entertaining movie, but on the basis of cinematic quality and thematic elegance, Menace II Society has aged much better.

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Superman Arriving To The CW’s ‘Supergirl’

By

EJ Moreno

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June 6, 2016

The Man Of Steel Is Being Cast For ‘Supergirl’ Season 2

Although he’s only appeared as a blur in the first season, it looks like Superman will finally be joining his cousin Supergirl on her show.

Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg was thrilled to announce we will be meeting Clark Kent in season 2 but only for the first two episodes. The Internet is buzzing with casting rumors. A younger Superman played by Daniel DiMaggio was featured on the show before but the newer version will be older. This will be the first TV Superman since Tom Welling in ‘Smallville‘.

Imagine Tom Welling being casted after being on his own super CW show!

Also, this does bring up an interesting point that ‘Arrow‘ chose to not use the Suicide Squad on their show due to their upcoming film but Superman is playing an even bigger role in the DC Extended Universe. With the official statement referring to the Man of Steel as Clark Kent, will we only see Clark on the show?

Who do you think should play Clark Kent a.k.a Superman on ‘Supergirl‘? Let me know in the comments below!

‘Supergirl‘ returns for season two on Mondays this fall at 8 p.m. on The CW.

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Is Kristen Stewarts ‘Personal Shopper’ The Best Thriller Of 2016?

By

Jamie DeCourley

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June 6, 2016

The new film Personal Shopper starring Kristen Stewart is being hailed by critics and fans as one of the greatest thrillers ever made. It came out of nowhere earlier this year and has gained momentum and buzz ever since its first screening. The movie is written and directed by rising French filmmaker Olivier Assayas. The picture absolutely dominated conversation at the Cannes Film Festival and won the events coveted Best Director prize. It has since caught the eye of several large studios seeking to distribute the new dramatic horror film.

Here’s the plot. A young woman working in France as the personal shopper to a major celebrity becomes stalked by an unseen malevolent force. Is it a ghost from the past, or someone hiding just around the corner?

Personal Shopper is definitely turning heads and getting rave reviews from top critics. Universal has taken notice as Variety reports the major film studio has recently acquired the rights to distribute the film in several territories around the world.

Personally, I can’t wait to see Personal Shopper. Kristen Stewart’s maturation has been impressive since her run as Bella in the Twilight franchise. There’ nothing tween, young adult or kitsch about her current film. Let’s hope this talented young actress continues on her current trajectory for many years to come.

Here’s a look at the trailer for Personal Shopper.

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Review: ‘Preacher’ 1.2 – ‘See’ Keeps the Show Unclear

By

Larry Taylor - Managing Editor

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June 6, 2016

Many of the complaints around Preacher – not that there are an overwhelming amount, but any show brings with it some dissent – point to the show’s separation from the source material. This Jesse Custer seems vastly different from the one on Garth Ennis’s pages, all the action seems to be funneling into Anneville, whereas the books saw Custer travel to many different places… Things purists of the books can see. I never read the books, so I bring a clean slate with me to the show; tonally and aesthetically, Preacher is wonderfully warped. Narratively, I’m lost.

Now, we are in episode two of the entire series so these things will iron themselves out, and there’s no real way to slow things down it seems. Things are coming fast and furious, explanations are left for another time, and once you can ease your brain and begin to allow the show to work on you rather than aching to figure this thing out, Preacher is great fun.

Jesse is trying to do this preacher thing, but internal and external forces are making it difficult. He baptizes people, he listens to their problems (at least he pretends to listen), but Tulip (Ruth Negga) won’t let him just keep pretending to be something he clearly is not. Tulip is a playful antoganoist, and we still aren’t completely clear about their history together. At the same time, Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) continues to forge a friendship with Jesse, but it seems his confession early in the episode where the two are sharing a drink in the church, when he tells Jesse he’s a hundred-year old vampire, will cause some issues in the future. He also tells Jesse The Big Lebowski is overrated, so he clearly isn’t about making friends with the audience.

When Jesse takes a drink of Cassidy’s poisonous concoction he passes smooth out and Cassidy takes his truck. In the meantime, two mysterious figures arrive and try and do… something… to him. It’s unclear both who they are and what they’re trying to do, but it involves some sort of extraction, perhaps of Jesse’s newfound powers. Whatever the case, these two men aren’t in cahoots with Cassidy since he shows up and subsequently throws down with them in a brutally violent fight that will probably end up being one of the staples of the series moving forward. The bloodshed is counteracted by macabre humor – like a chainsaw vibrating across the floor carrying a severed arm with it – and it’s a great Robert Rodriguez-like moment in a show that seems inspired by the director in several ways.

Meanwhile, we meet Odin Quincannon (Jackie Earle Haley), proprietor of a meat company that employs some interesting characters. In the only scene we have, Odin and his staff strong-arm an older Mexican couple into signing over their home, which is immediately (and I mean immediately) bulldozed. Shortly thereafter, a bewildering interaction happens between Odin’s right hand man – who’s right hand is actually in a cast – and a worker who dropped a pen. It’s weird for sure, but it will be explained before long.

Along the way we get more of Arseface (Ian Colletti), who’s hard to look at but counterbalanced by a sweet and pitiful persona. Arseface appears to be some sort of accidental therapist for Jesse later in the episode, because Jesse realizes after their conversation that perhaps God wants him to be who he really is, despite the fact he is probably a very bad man.

“See” is about the push and pull inside Jesse, who tries mightily to keep his evil urges at bay. But when he figures out he has a distinct power, the ability to speak from somewhere deep inside him and control people (and dogs), he finds a new motivation. The end of this Preacher episode clears nothing up really, and it adds a few more external plot lines to iron out in the coming weeks. Don’t try and figure these things out right now, just let them happen. Enjoy the scorches aesthetic of the show, the pitch-black humor working furiously, and the fleshing out of this rogues gallery. You’ll understand eventually.

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Mark Waid: The Wrong Lessons Were Learned From ‘Kingdom Come’ [Awesome Con]

By

Roger Riddell

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June 6, 2016

Few modern comic writers have the superstar pedigree of Mark Waid. The Eisner award-winning writer has written just about every major superhero you can name, with a number of character-defining runs under his belt on books like The Flash, Captain America, and Daredevil. He and artist Alex Ross also penned one of the medium’s most influential graphic novels for DC, 1996’s Kingdom Come, a cautionary tale juxtaposing the superheroes of old and a group of morally ambiguous and irresponsible younger vigilantes.

We recently caught up with Waid at Awesome Con in Washington, DC, to talk the legacy of that now-20-year-old story, as well as his current work on Archie, Black Widow, and All-New, All-Different Avengers.

MONKEYS FIGHTING ROBOTS: You all were just talking about the DC Rebirth one-shot. What do you think about the return of Wally West?

WAID: I am thrilled about the return of Wally West. I’m curious to what they do with him, but he was always the symbol of that generational aspect of DC Comics that I thought was a very important part of it that we’ve lost over the years — the idea that he was the first sidekick in comics that actually fulfilled the role, right? I’m glad to see him back. I’m glad that his voice is back in the DC Universe.

I like a lot of stuff about Rebirth. I like the idea that Oliver Queen is much more of a left-wing political animal. I like the idea that Superman is back. There’s a lot of stuff in there that I really like.

One of the things that really stuck out to me, and I guess a lot of other people, is that one-shot kind of critiqued the sort of cynical and grim direction a lot of DC stuff had gone in. It’s particularly interesting in the wake of Batman v. Superman.

WAID: [Chuckles] Yeah. That I appreciated as much as anything else — the shift in tone. The idea that not everything has to be grim and dark and ugly. It doesn’t mean that all superhero comics have to be light and breezy and swashbuckling. There should be a wide range — the range is the important part. There should be a little variation, so not everything is dark and gloomy and evil and arms ripping off all the time because then nothing means anything. Nothing has any impact if that’s all it is.

Do you think Kingdom Come potentially had some impact on influencing that direction?

WAID: I hope not. Alex and I talk about this all the time. The perplexing thing is Kingdom Come was supposed to be a cautionary fable. It was supposed to be like, “This is what happens when you go down a very dark road. It ends up very badly.” It seems like a lot of people only took the first part of that message, which is, “Oh, look at the cool stuff in Kingdom Come.” No! No, no! Lois Lane is not supposed to die. Superman and Wonder Woman are not supposed to be a couple.

It’s kind of fascinating to me to see some of the wrong lessons learned, but some of the right lessons, too. I love the fact that Kingdom Come managed to elevate Wonder Woman to the “Trinity” level. It wasn’t just Superman and Batman anymore. I’m proud of what we accomplished, but every once in a while I think, “Oh, you learned the wrong lesson there.”

So now you’re working on All-New, All-Different Avengers. There’s a lot of characters on the team now that are younger, new superheroes. How do you feel about having the opportunity to sort of shape the direction of these younger characters?

WAID: It’s great. We didn’t set out to create a super-diverse Avengers deliberately. I just knew I wanted Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man regardless of who was in those suits, because that’s who the Avengers are to me. And once we realized who we were looking at there, we thought Ms. Marvel would be a great character. I love her. She’s like the best new comic book superhero created in 15 years.

We sort of realized, “Well, that’s interesting. What else can we do along those lines? Who else do we have in the Marvel Universe?” We got halfway there and realized, “Let’s just follow this out,” to the point where Iron Man is the only white guy on the team. I like that. Everything else fit together nicely, and those characters — especially the younger ones — just mesh together so beautifully. I love writing them.

You’re also doing Archie right now. What’s the contrast between working on that property and doing superhero comics?

WAID: You know, here’s the thing. It’s still storytelling. I thought it would be a harder thing to shift gears myself, but it’s not really. It’s still about getting in and thinking about what the characters want, what’s important to them, what they’re afraid of, and really taking them apart.

The beauty about the Archie characters is, even though they’ve been very simplistic over the years, if you drill down, they’re pretty interesting characters. All you have to do is really think about what it was like when you were in high school, and think about the things that stay constant. I don’t care what generation you’re in; everybody knows what it’s like to have your first kiss. Everybody knows what it’s like to be afraid of making an idiot of yourself in front of your classmates. Everybody knows what it’s like to flunk a grade. Everybody knows what it’s like to skip school.

Those are bad examples, but you know what I’m saying. Everybody remembers certain things about being that age, so tapping into that is the fun part.

Tell me about the Black Widow book you’ve been working on.

WAID: Black Widow was a dream job because Chris [Samnee, who worked with Waid on Daredevil] is doing all the heavy lifting. We talk about it on the phone, I do a quick one-page outline for the editor, I sit back and 20 pages of artwork roll in, and I add dialog. It’s the easiest money I’ve ever made in comics, because it’s Chris. He’s such a genius!

Are you excited that they’re finally giving Natasha a movie, or at least talking about it?

WAID: Yeah, I heard about that. She’s prime for a movie like that, and I really hope that comes to fruition because she’s such a terrific character.

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Review: Game of Thrones ‘The Broken Man’ – Deceiving Appearance

By

Curtis Waugh

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June 6, 2016

Game of Thrones, like the best fiction, is just as aware of its form as it is its story. When the viewer isn’t treated to the now famous duh-duh duhduh duh-duh theme over the building map, something is up. Our ears and eyes perk at this drastic shift and we’re wondering if there’s a glitch in the system; if the show has actually started*. We see brightly lit images that look like they should be in a Game of Thrones shot, but are a little too positive with folk happily building an edifice (not unlike the building of cities in our esteemed credits sequence). Then enter Ian McShane and we’re absolutely lost. In ‘The Broken Man’, it isn’t until we see the familiar face of a character long thought dead that we are assured this is the Game of Thrones we’re familiar with.

*To my knowledge this is the first episode since season one episode one that started with a cold open and not the credits sequence.

SPOILERS BE AHEAD!!!

Good old Sandor “The Hound” Clegane is alive and well. Having been saved by McShane’s Septon Ray, The Hound has been helping Ray and his band of missionaries in building a new sept. The Mountain’s brother is a one man tree-destroyer amongst this group of amateur lumberjacks and Ray shares The Hound’s haunted past. He may be a Septon now, but wasn’t so unlike Sandor Clegane in a previous life. Can you leave behind a life of violence and be something you’ve never been before?

Margaery Tyrell, newly freed from the High Sparrow’s cages, puts on the face of a woman who has turned over an entirely new leaf. She recites The Mother’s prayers and entertains High Sparrow’s advice, humbly laying herself at the altar of The Seven to repent. When High Sparrow lets slip that her grandmother’s safety is potentially in danger for her unrepentant sins, Margaery goes to her under the guise of a devout child of The Seven. Doubling down on what got her to this point, Margaery plays the part to a tee, but slips Olynna evidence that she’s truly a strong Tyrell woman, looking for her grandmother’s safety. We’ll see how long Margaery can wear this mask against this tyrannical Gods-fearing horde.

Jon Snow and Sansa Stark are mounting a battle to take back Winterfell and are on the campaign trail trying to shore their numbers. In equal measure, they are lucky and unlucky, garnering fealty from the Wildlings and the House Mormont while losing the argument to many, many more houses. Both the Wildlings and House Mormont are headed by people who aren’t at all what they may seem.

The Wildlings are a faithful group of warriors who will fight to survive. Even the giant, Wun Wun, shows a level of honor and understanding of the situation that I’m sure many Westerosi wouldn’t expect his kind to have.

House Mormont (from which former Night’s Watch Commander,Jeor, and his son and forever lover of Dany, Jorah, hail) is headed by ten-year-old Lyanna. As Jon, Sansa and Ser Davos enter her hall, we and they expect to have to explain the politics of the situation to an immature, naive and possibly scared little girl. On the contrary, Lyanna hands Jon and Sansa their asses with her understanding of her house’s allegiances and reasons for wanting to stay behind. It takes Davos to treat her as a true equal, not appealing to her womanly nature (as Sansa does) or her family’s warrior honor (as Jon does), to draw reason and a positive response from Lyanna…

…To attain 62 men.

Jaime Lannister and Ser Bronn the lordly sell sword are back on the battle trail together, this time attempting to stamp out the Tully name once and for all. Facing off against the Blackfish, Jaime fails miserably at intimidating him to come out of his castle. Why should he? The Blackfish can outlast this army and even if they battle, the numbers lost on the side of Houses Lannister and Frey would be catastrophic compared to the gain they would receive. And let’s not be so sure Jaime’s army would truly win that battle. After sizing up Jaime, the Blackfish mentions that he’s not impressed with the stature of the Kingslayer. Even Bronn wagers Jaime to lose that fight.

With the teaming of the Freys and the Lannisters against the Tullys, our own alliances have become so splintered that there’s no chance we make it out of this one happy. On one side we have the allies of Robb Stark. On the other we have those who are responsible for cutting off his head and a horde of Lannisters with a more likable Jaime at their helm (Plus Bronn. Please, don’t kill Bronn…).

In Braavos, Arya Stark is making her play to leave this stage of her life behind her. In a true yell-at-the-screen moment, Arya disregards an old woman as she stabs her in the stomach, revealing herself to be the crazy red-headed assassin. Arya falls into the water and comes ashore, bleeding to death, amidst townsfolk who have no idea what to do with this girl. We’d think that all the time Arya spent becoming other people would enable her to at least sniff out a threat this obvious. She’s no doubt learned her lesson as she regards everyone around her now as a possible murderous sycophant of the Many-Faced God.

As Arya is in the same position she left The Hound way back on that moor, The Hound finds himself healthy and with a new lot in life. His clearly cynical nature will never wane but listening to Ian McShane tell him there’s not just one way to be is taking hold. Sandor was a troubled man, unhappy with this past long before Septon Ray. He doubted his ability to be good when he was busy saving Stark girls from certain death and torture. This stuff isn’t new, it’s just proof that it’s possible to leave that behind and attempt to bring some good into this world.

That’s something we haven’t seen much from in Game of Thrones: the positivity required to build and not just burn everything to ash. Septon Ray only has one goal and that’s to make up for all the awful shit he’s done to people in his past. The Hound might even hope he can be this himself one day.

Until Ray and the entire village are murdered by the Brotherhood Without Banners.

The Hound may now have evidence that it’s possible to find some mental peace with the nature of his past but the show reinforces that this sort of blind ignorance is more apt to get you and everyone around you killed rather than saved. Sandor Clegane picks up an axe and storms off, venturing again into the game of thrones.

So where are we? ‘The Broken Man’ is exactly the sort of episode essential to understanding all of the characters we’re about to see brutally murdered and unceremoniously rewarded over the next few episodes. It’s a breath before the plunge. That’s a cliched metaphor but an appropriate one because it takes moments like these to reinforce the pain we’re going to feel when a sword is plunged into our hearts and the blade is twisted. Game of Thrones has, to this point, delivered on this sort of promise but I feel, without any good reason, that the pendulum will swing the other way. There will be victory. Even if it is for the precious few, we’ll have our day. I believe that is the intent of the final shot of ‘The Broken Man’. We may be losing people like The Hound to do so, but he and so many others will be necessary to the emotional and literal events about to occur.

From the sheer gorgeous photography and set design, to the well-rounded and satisfying writing of ‘The Broken Man’, this is one of the best episodes of Game of Thrones yet and is destined to be one we look back upon as the last moment before it all went wrong/right.

“Never too late to come back.” – Septon Ian McShane

Show Notes:

Just how great is it to have Ian McShane back on HBO? So what if he’s a one-off character, Ian McShane brings all the necessary gravitas to overwrite some of the rote nature of the character and the situation.
Why is the Brotherhood Without Banners unceremoniously killing random villagers? This can’t be the way of Beric Dondarrion. Could this be a sign that, wait for it, Lady Stoneheart will actually make her appearance as the new leader of the clan? Is the resurrection of two key characters too much for one show in a season?
Ser Davos’ respect of Lyanna’s 62 men speaks to his strengths in not underestimating a person and also befriending a young girl, a la Shireen Baratheon. Such a sweet moment.
Ser Bronn’s (trips me out but tickles me to no end to call him “Ser”) toss away comment about the eunuch army, The Unsullied, was an interesting tidbit in making this world a little smaller. The characters are aware of what’s going on across the seas and no one still with a head on their shoulders is disparaging of these former rumors and myths.
It seems as if Sansa has learned the error of her choice to forsake Littlefinger. Surely the note she pens is for him to join Jon’s army. Will he accept? Sure he will, but he doesn’t easily forget.

Check out my reviews of previous episodes of ‘Game of Thrones’:

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UnREAL – One Of TV’s Best Kept (And Smartest) Secrets

By

Mat Douglas

-

June 5, 2016

Reality television is a morally bankrupt but successful genre, but a television show that puts those traits on full display makes for a clever and fantastic concept.

UnREAL on Lifetime Television — Quinn (Constance Zimmer) and Rachel (Shiri Appleby
photo: Lifetime / A&E

UnREAL tells the story of ‘Everlasting’, a ‘Bachelor’ analogue that has been running for multiple seasons. The show picks up at the beginning of the season where returning producer Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby) is back at work after a full tilt meltdown on the shows previous season. Her boss Quinn King (Constance Zimmer), has pulled Rachel back because Rachel is damn good at her job, which is creating content for ‘Everlasting’. In this world content means manipulating contestants and nudging the narrative where the show wants things to go.

This current season of ‘Everlasting’ has 25 women competing for the affections of Adam Cromwell (Freddie Stroma) a charming British playboy who has spent some time as tabloid fodder and is looking to change his image. Right from the first night Quinn and Rachel start planning out how the show is going to develop over the season. They find their ‘villain’ in the outspoken Britney, their ‘hot mom’ in Mary, a divorced single mother with an abusive ex-husband, and their suitable ‘wifeys’ in Anna, Faith, and Grace. A monkey wrench is thrown into the plans that first night when Britney is eliminated and Quinn orders Rachel and the other producers (each of whom are assigned a few of the contestants to handle) to find content and angles to use to keep things interesting.

UnREAL on Television — Quinn in her element
photo: Lifetime / A&E

The strength of the series comes from behind the camera in the relationships of the production crew. Quinn has an on/off relationship with Chet (Craig Bierko) who is the co-creator of ‘Everlasting’ and also married. Rachel’s ex-boyfriend Jeremy still works on the show, along with his new girlfriend. Quinn’s method of using anything and everything to create ‘content’ may seem harsh, but it is enabled by Rachel, who is amazing at carrying out her boss’ directive. Rachel convinces Adam to accompany a contestant to her father’s funeral after he dies while she is filming the show. Quinn and Rachel bring Mary’s cretin of an ex-husband onto the show to make Mary look favorable to the audience after the network voices their concerns that she is ‘too old’ for the show.

The writing is top notch, the subjects they cover are topical and handled in a very blunt manner. The chemistry between Quinn and Rachel is amazing as while they are boss and subordinate, they need each other. Quinn believes in Rachel, that is why she bought her back to the show. Rachel is a great producer, she keeps multiple plates spinning, makes abhorrent decisions in the name of ‘good television’, but is always keeping one eye on her mentor.

UnREAL‘s second season looks to be just as captivating and intriguing as Quinn moves into the executive producer role while Rachel is promoted to showrunner, Quinn’s old position. ‘Everlasting’ will also introduce the show’s first black suitor in Darius Hill (B. J. Britt), something even The Bachelor hasn’t had the temerity to present. It is also worth noting that UnREAL was a recipient of The Peabody Award in 2015.

Season 1 of UnREAL is now available on Hulu

Season 2 of UnREAL premieres Monday June 6 @ 10pm on Lifetime

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