Star Wars: Episode VIII has begun filming in Croatia. During the first days of shooting Mark Hamill made a few random comments about his relationship with Daisy Ridley. This once again sparked a conversation over, who the heck are Rey’s parents?
I’m no Star Wars expert. Sitting next to Alan Dean Foster on a comic con panel is about as close as I have ever been to a true Star Wars expert. Still it is fun to make semi-educated guesses.
It’s fairly clear that Rey is strong with the force and, therefore, most likely comes from a line that is strong with the force. It also makes some sense that we already know or have seen at least one of her parents. That leaves us with a few possible candidates.
Note: possible spoilers if you have not seen this movie and have been living in an internet-free cave. But then why are you reading this?
Yoda: Don’t think he was interested in having kids. Plus there is no hint of green in Rey.
Ben Kenobi: some theories are Daisy can be Ben’s granddaughter. On some level, this could make sense. We come full circle now with Ben’s student Luke training Ben’s granddaughter Rey. The problem with this, in the brief time we got to know Ben he made no reference to a wife no less any children. Plus if Ben were the grandfather that would mean we the audience haven’t met the grandmother and both parents. Too many holes to fill in there.
Leia and Han: they’ve already had Kylo Ren, who is very apt at using the force. Could Rey be his sister or half sister that they had hidden? Much like Ben Kenobi hid Luke and Lei from Anakin / Darth. It’s also not unheard of for the characters in this universe to keep these types of secrets. But if Hans and Leia were Rey’s parents they certainly would have told her. If not before, fighting Kylo than you would think Leia would have done it after the battle. It would have been an emotional mother-daughter moment that lifted both their spirits.
Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader: Just because he was in a mask and was an evil tyrant doesn’t mean he couldn’t have produced more children. He does have a history of producing children that are very force sensitive. This would mean Luke was now training his little sister. Logically this could work. After all, tyrants do like to reproduce. But cinematically it’s not as dramatic as say, teaching your daughter. Which brings us to…
Luke Skywalker: From the cinematic and logical point of view this just makes the most sense. R2D2 popped back on when Rey was around. Luke’s light saber called to Rey. She, like Luke is “way good” with the force. Luke now has a mechanical body part much like his father. It only makes sense that he would teach his daughter how to use the force correctly so she doesn’t tip to the dark side like his father. The mother could very well be Mara Jade or some version of her that will most likely never get to meet. Even it for some reason it turns out Luke is gay (as has been sort of, kind of, maybe suggested) that doesn’t mean he couldn’t still father a daughter especially if were for the benefit of the Universe.
So yeah, I’m using Occam’s Razor, and the simplest and best solution is Luke is the father. The character who did not speak in the last movie may now start the next movie with those iconic words, “…I am your father.”
The largest critique seems to be that the show relies too heavily on the nostalgia factor, which (ironically) gets old after the first episode or two.
John Stamos, the seemingly ageless star who rallied to get the reboot made, responded to the harsh reviews on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Check out the whole segment below:
Early on in The 100, it was exciting entering this new (old) world and discovering the elements as our characters did and dealing with them with the same rough, yet necessary action. We didn’t know what to think of the Grounders or of the Mountain Men or of drones leading to ornate mansions controlled by an A.I. program which gives “believers” access to a Matrix-esque world of perfection. As all seemingly separate strings to a larger mythology, ‘Thirteen’ gives us the largest key yet and one that proves all of these people were connected in ways that truly change the ethical fibers of the show.
In case you were wondering, MASSIVE SPOILERS LIE AHEAD!
Beginning with the continued captivity of Murphy, we flashback for the first time to the 13th station in space as the world comes to an end: Polaris. Here, we finally see that it is Becca (whom we’ve all guess was the culprit) who is responsible for the total nuclear annihilation of earth as she looks down from high above her Polaris station. Like most geniuses incapable of seeing the forest for the trees, she is undeterred from giving up her quest at creating an A.I. that will ultimately save the human race even after destroying it rather nicely. Before condemning her shipmates to death by not destroying A.L.I.E. 2, she implants the chip into herself and jettisons down to earth.
Big clue number one: she has black blood, exactly like our Grounder Nightbloods and Commander Lexa.
Upon arriving on earth, we see that Becca is greeted by surviving humans amidst colossal levels of radiation and is standing at the foot of what we come to know as the center of the tower of Polis. The Grounder nation began with the first Skaikru to come back to earth.
Like the most interesting conflicts, the enemy and the hero are the exact same shade of rusty, bloody gray.
Back at Polis, Clarke and Lexa defend their choices against a raging Grounder Nation, demanding retribution for Skaikru’s latest attack. With Octavia and the temporarily hidden Murphy now also inside Polis, Clarke has watchful eyes and ears on her as she advises how Lexa should deal with their people. Ultimately, the decision is to create a buffer zone around Arkadia, lasting until Skaikru can rid themselves of their new leader, Pike. This doesn’t occur before an attempt on Lexa’s life is taken by one of the furious clan leaders. Showing excellent combat reaction and his true devotion to Lexa, Titus saves her life and kills the dissenter. Titus has become a rather stereotypical character but he plays so many roles in this society and is given enough to do that his presence always draws tension from the viewer. He is Game of Thrones’ Varys, Littlefinger and The Red Priestess all in one.
This act of devotion is inversely reciprocated later but not until…
Clarke and Lexa have their last moment together in who knows how long. With Clarke and Octavia traveling back to Arkadia before the buffer initiates and a kill order in place on all those who cross it, Clarke and Lexa’s passion for each other can’t be suffocated any longer. The two finally consummate their relationship in a heart-wrenchingly lovely scene which all leads up to one horrific moment.
Attempting to frame the now uncovered prisoner Murphy for the murder of Clarke, Titus accidentally shoots Lexa in the chest and kills her.
‘Thirteen’ was undoubtedly leading to this moment in many ways. Titus’ life-saving action coupled with the love scene didn’t leave much room for hope that Lexa would survive the day. While this is the largest character death since that of Finn in season two, this death means just more than drawing a moral line in the sand.
Soon after she passes, with Clarke dismayed beyond belief at her bedside, Titus performs the passing rite of the Commander. He flips Lexa’s body over and examines a vertical scar on the back of her neck that is covered by an infinity symbol. Also the symbol for The City of Light. Also a symbol for Polaris station. Titus makes an incision into Lexa’s neck and removes the exact piece of A.I. that Becca initially installed into her body before making her trip back to earth.
Lexa and each and every Grounder Commander (given the term because of the title appearing upon Becca’s spacesuit when she lands on earth) has been spiritually connected to the last, leading inevitably back to Becca and A.L.I.E. and the end of earth as they once knew it. In The 100, a forming thesis has been that death isn’t the end. For a show that doesn’t delve in to the religious, it is a highly spiritual one that seems to believe in (at least a form of) reincarnation and the lasting impact of one’s life upon the world. It isn’t an afterlife in the traditional sense that Jason Rothenberg and the writers care about, but a death in which your spirit isn’t forsaken.
There are many interesting takeaways from ‘Thirteen’ and it exists very nicely as a lightning rod for the rest of the season to hinge itself upon. One rather worrisome theme is that having sex with Clarke has now become a death knell for the opposite party. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a warning for Clarke that she’ll always be alone but I guarantee she’ll make this realization herself and it won’t feel pretty for a very long time.
Again, John Murphy is privy to some heavy information and is setting himself up to be the most knowledgable character capable of really changing the futures of everyone around him. This has to be one of the more brilliant moves the writers have created for themselves as Murphy has made the unlikely (and initially unwanted) transition into a very complex and intriguing character. Special recognition is due to Richard Harmon for portraying the crazy and the pain in Murphy’s every action.
With all of our characters, both Grounder and Skaikru, now eternally linked by A.L.I.E. and The City of Light, it’ll be interesting to see the degrees to which the writers come down on a particular side. In true The 100 fashion, it will be a gray decision and one that, most terrifyingly, will likely see a drastic decrease in the show’s population once all is said and done.
Lexa was an amazing character on the show and not just for her relationship with Clarke. She was a character truly devoted to her people and a fierce warrior. She exemplified what it means to be a leader in this new, furious world and is a beacon for the demolishing of gender archetypes. Alycia Debnam-Carey’s work will be missed for sure. For now, we’ll all lament the loss of Lexa but also know that death is not the final wave of impact that we have on this planet.
“It is not vengeance, my brother, it is justice.” – Lexa
Check out my reviews of previous episodes of ‘The 100’ here:
Rap superstar Kendrick Lamar shocked just about everyone late last night when he dropped a new album, unbeknownst to the public. And it’s as great as you might imagine.
The album has the very fitting name, untitled unmastered. Especially since each track is simply called Untitled 1, Untitled 2, and so on, each with different dates beside them. Presumably, these were tracks left off the final cut of To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar’s Grammy nominated album from which he performed “Alright” at the Grammys and blew everyone away.
Kanye can pontificate on his God Complex all he wants, Kendrick Lamar is the king of the rap game right now.
Yesterday the long-awaited Ghostbusters trailer exploded onto the Internet. The first trailer is here, and it’s not a teaser, it’s a glorious full two and a half minutes. The reboot takes place ‘thirty years after the beloved original franchise took the world by storm.’ With the original cast listed on IMDB for cameos, it’s likely this new installment takes place in the universe of the original movies. For a first trailer, this gives fans a lot to work with in terms of details, style, characters, possible storylines, and of course the ghosts.
The biggest thing that stood out in this trailer is the concept of ghosts now possessing people. It’s been alluded to in the previous movies. Ghostbusters (1984) had Dana Barrett and Louis Tully possessed by Gozer’s minions. Vigo briefly possesses Ray in Ghostbusters II (1989), as a last ditch effort escape his painting prison. This idea of multiple lower class ghosts having the ability to possess people brings great possibilities in terms of plot and character dynamics. The incredibly popular CW show Supernatural could have spawned this new concept. Supernatural has explored all types of human possession from angels, demons, and even ghosts with ectoplasm.
The Supernatural influence theory is an idea on appealing to younger audiences, but of course The Exorcist is the older and wiser pop culture reference. The Exorcist is one of the best ghost stories from horror’s high time in the 70s. These ghost jokes are for the adults too, not just the young hot things. Hopefully Paul Feig doesn’t go too heavy on the pop culture references, lest the movie gets scant on original material.
Now the direct translation of the Ghostbusters’ original characters to female version is obvious. Melissa McCarthy is the new Peter Venkman, Kristen Wiig is the new Raymond Stantz, Kate McKinnon is the Egon Spangler, and Leslie Jones is the new Winston Zeddmore. Now this is important, because it will be the rationale later as to why Patty Tolan is the only non-scientist in the troup. The Mary Sue wrote a succinct article on how the trailer portrays this. It goes back to issues I have re-watching the original films in how Winston has so little screen time. Leslie Jones looks hilarious on this trailer, cue hilarious The Exorcist jokes, but Patty runs the risk as a stereotypical character with how she’s portrayed here. Hopefully Patty has a great and complex character background for the audience to enjoy.
The trailer also gives audiences a shot at some interesting ghosts that reference the original movies. Of course with today’s CGI, the ghosts look incredible and weirdly different. It’s a thing that fans will have to reconcile with their nostalgia. Two ghosts stand out, the librarian ghost and good old Slimer. “He’s an ugly little spud isn’t he?” “I think he can hear you Ray.” There’s no Ghostbusters without that bright green ghost making a mess. Aesthetically, Slimer is the starting point of the new neon-coloured style Feig has chosen to take with this reboot. Having a unique and striking style in terms of the reboot will also help fans get on board.
Fans know the trailer came out yesterday, but did everyone catch the nerdy Ghostbustersfeaturette? Well this brings up the great mini montage of the new team’s updated technology. The proton packs look great of course, but there are also handguns, an electronic bear trap, and hopefully some other stuff audiences haven’t seen yet. This is where the reboot looks to take it a step up from the original movies. Traditionally, the science stuff in Ghostbusters felt incredibly dumbed down for the sake of the audience. This always felt slightly counter-intuitive in terms of the main characters as scientists. Ghost-trapping tech would be a great way to get into this without boring the audience. It also of course works to further the new flashy aesthetic.
Ghostbusters hits theatres on July 15 of this year.
Tina Fey headlines Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, a seriocomic look at a female reporter in Afganistan, directed by Glen Ficarra and John Requa and co-starring Margot Robbie. It has all the promise of a fresh narrative on a difficult topic but, in reality, the film has a predictable thrust on a difficult subject.
In its review of journalist Kim Barker’s 2011 book The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, The New York Times remarked that the author “depicts herself as a sort of Tina Fey character.” So it should come as no shock that Fey herself was the one to don the headscarf of a fortysomething adrenaline junkie who puts her life on the line as a war correspondent.
It does seem in recent years that Hollywood has developed a new sub-genre for these type of wartime comedies. See if this sounds familiar to you: Hapless non-combatants find themselves in the worst part of Afghanistan in the midst of a war and among the bombs/bullets the non-combatant strives to find purpose. If someone guessed either Whiskey Tango Foxtrot or Rock The Kasbah, he or she were right. In fact, the similarities between these two films are plentiful.
There’s a nerve-racking flight to Kabul (just like Rock The Kasbah); Fey’s character is greeted by a hunky security personnel, the terrible hotel, and, of course, the Westerners night club which looks like a psychedelic nightmare. Even in the face of all these similarities, it can be decisively stated that Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is far superior to Rock The Kasbah (that’s not saying much).
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was written by longtime Fey collaborator Robert Carlock (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Tina Fey benefited from this as the film is without question written with her type of comedy pathos in mind. However, having Carlock write the screenplay is a bit of a Catch-22. While it’s always great to write with a certain actor or actress in mind, Carlock’s experience is in comedic writing, and it shows on screen. The dramatic scenes felt too campy and outmatched by the whimsy.
Are we to believe that Kim Baker was super serious about getting help from the Afghani Attorney General (Alfred Molina) and blackmailed him using a video depicting him dancing that she took on her iPhone? Am I to just accept that Kim can clear a workout room because she gives a concerned look to a general? I’m not saying that this film should have been all serious, but it is the responsibility of the writer to develop characters in such a way that elicit some credibility. In a movie where someone is struggling to adjust while living in a war-torn region of the world, I should have at least felt sorry for her. In this case, I felt nothing towards Fey’s character. In fact, Carlock’s characters in the film are not written like typical “real people” but are more stereotypical roles that are commonly found in this type of film.
We veer off course with the career-minded woman who’s bored and wants a change (Fey). Then we mix in the bad boy whom the girl doesn’t want to date but ends up dating (Martin Freeman). Then there’s the strange authoritative figure that is tough but has some compassion (Billy Bob Thorton). Finally to round off the roles, we get the über beautiful girl who is also career minded and double-crosses the lead (Margot Robbie). Carlock seemingly penned this movie with a Mad-Lib mentality, focusing on too much dramedy.
Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa play it safe and develop a film that has minimal complex shots and a plethora of tight shots focusing on the interactions of the characters. Rarely did we see them throw in wide lenses which could have conveyed better the depravity of the circumstances that they were facing in the Afghanistan.
Even though Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has a tremendous cast and is based on relevant subject matter, it falls below anything that should be considered acceptable. Wait a second … an excellent cast … great subject matter .. and it falls below expectations … maybe Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has more in common with Rock The Kasbah than we realized.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Distributor: Paramount
Production companies: Broadway Video, Little Stranger
Cast: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Christopher Abbott, Billy Bob Thornton, Nicholas Braun, Stephen Peacocke, Sheila Vand, Evan Jonigkeit, Fahim Anwar, Josh Charles, Cherry Jones
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Screenwriter: Robert Carlock, based on the book The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Kim Barker
Producers: Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey, Ian Bryce
Executive producers: Charles Gogolak, Eric Gurian, Sam Grey
Much to the chagrin of moviegoers, Grammercy Pictures is set to release London has Fallen to a worldwide audience this weekend. Gerald Butler returns in this sequel to the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen, and this is brutal in every sense of the word.
If anyone is shocked that a sequel is coming out this weekend, remember that Olympus Has Fallen surprised everyone. Olympus Has Fallen grossed $161 million worldwide. The film was extremely budget conscious, so this sort of financial windfall amounted to an enormous economic victory for the studio.
In a plot twist that is just as shocking this time (sarcasm font), the plot around the terrorists is more sophisticated and ambitious. These manage to take down one world capital and many world leaders within a long, tedious plot. The bad guys are successful in a way that for anyone who loves London, is distressing. The visual effects are on par with what the public has seen in any of the Final Destination film (which detracts from the startling image of Westminster Abbey and Parliament being blown up.)
So who’s the villain this go round? Aamir Barkawi (Alon Moni Aboutboul), is set to exact revenge on the United States for a drone strike that was meant to kill him but instead killed his daughter. His scheme he devises is to use the death of the British Prime Minister (which he secretly arranges), to bring all the western leaders in one place so he can wipe them all out at once. Barkawi lives by the motto “Vengeance must always be profound and absolute.”
The occupants of the White House are certainly aware of the danger on this trip. President Asher (Aaron Eckhart), Mike Benning ( Gerald Butler), and the secret service director played by Angela Bassett all at one point make mention that this seems like it could be a trap. Once again, much to the shock of all us (we really do need that sarcasm font), they decide to go and pay their respects to the fallen British prime minister and leave a freshly promoted Vice President, played by Morgan Freeman (remember he was speaker of the house in the first film), in charge. Of course, despite every imaginable precaution, things begin to go boom on the afternoon of the funeral, and it is evident that all hell has broken loose.
One of the lone positives of the film was its run-time. At 99 minutes (it felt like it was double that time), the producers, at least, recognized that there was no sense in stretching this “B” movie out any further. It was as if Gerald Butler wanted to show mercy to us all and we are thankful for it.
What was profoundly shocking to was how many screenwriters this film had. The original’s writers, Creighton Rothenberger, and Katrina Benedikt were aided and abetted here by Christian Gudegast and Chad St. John. Did It take four screenwriters to punch out this atrocious dialogue? What, were the first two not acceptable enough at writing bad grunts and cheezy one liners that they had to call in a team of experts? It was as if these men just graduated from a weekend course in script writing and this was their post-graduate work. We did, however, learn that lines can still sound like hot garbage even when spoken in Morgan Freeman’s voice. Truly, the idea that a script was even developed for this movie is unbelievable as the performances were reminiscent of watching a bad improv troupe.
In fact, it is hard to pinpoint what London Has Fallen is good at. The chases are laughable. The use of mismatched stock footage was not shocking. The special effects make the ones in Death Wish 3 look cutting edge. The cinematography in the film was abysmal. The director Babak Najafi felt it was necessary to cover up the incoherent action with shaky handheld shot and rapid cuts. Add it all up and what we have is one of the worst action movies ever made.
London has Fallen
Opens: March 4 (Gramercy Pictures)
Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Moni Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Sean O’Bryan, Charlotte Riley, Waleed F. Zuaiter
Director: Babak Najafi
Screenwriters: Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Christian Gudegast, Chad St. John,,
Producers: Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, John Thompson, Matt O’Toole, Les Weldon
Wrestlemania is about 4 weeks away, and the biggest storyline going isn’t the main event, it’s an upcoming match between WWE Champion HHH and ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ Dean Ambrose.
Dean Ambrose has a title shot at Roadblock photo: WWE
Ambrose has made himself the ever-present thorn in the side of the champion ever since The Authority targeted his buddy Roman Reigns and even more so when HHH claimed the belt at the Royal Rumble. Normally this would make for an interesting plot, the issue here is Ambrose isn’t ‘The Chosen One’, he’s not Roman Reigns, but he is probably the most popular superstar in the WWE right now not named Brock Lesnar. While he hasn’t been in the title picture for all that long, Dean Ambrose has had the audience behind him for the better part of a year now for the simplest of reasons. He has no agenda, he’s a dog chasing a car and the crowd loves it. His recent run as IC Champ really cemented what the WWE seems to not get, and what they keep insisting they have with Roman Reigns. A bonafide superstar.
It’s no secret that Reigns is supposed to be the next face of the WWE. The future franchise star that can carry the company for the next decade or so, and it’s not working. The crowd doesn’t buy it because it is being forced upon them. Reigns was in the main event of last years main event at Mania, and got the title snatched from him by Seth Rollins, who would then go on to have a stellar run as champion until his knee injury last year. Now his other friend, the one who didn’t turn on him, is stealing his shine because he is simply better. Better in the ring, better on the microphone, and a much better story then the WWE could ever craft for Roman Reigns.
Dean Ambrose recently aggravated HHH into giving him a title opportunity at the upcoming special event, WWE Roadblock. Roadblock is one of 3 or 4 ‘special events’, basically glorified house shows, that the WWE will air this year. Roadblock also presents a unique opportunity to capitalize on Ambrose’s rising popularity and still keep Roman as their guy in reverse.
First Option: Make Dean Ambrose WWE World Heavyweight Champion
This is highly unlikely but it would make for the most interesting WrestleMania main event in the past few years. Brother against brother. Two of the WWE’s rising stars in the biggest match on the biggest show of the year for the WWE title. Probably not going to happen this year, but a definite possibility down the road.
Second Option: Dean Ambrose beats Triple H via DQ
This seems to be the most likely scenario. The WWE can’t deny the momentum that Ambrose has been building these past few months. He has a title match against one of the WWE’s biggest stars in Triple H, right before the biggest show of the year, and he can win by DQ, thus keeping the main event for April intact, and also rocketing him into a great position.
While Dean Ambrose may not be the “face” that the WWE is looking for, he can be so much more than he currently is. He can fill the void left by C.M. Punk in the vein of that smirking, smart aleck that has the crowd behind him no matter what. He also has a better chance considering all the injuries plaguing the WWE lately with the current absences of John Cena, Randy Orton, and the former champ Seth Rollins.
We’re back for the Season 2 finale of Agent Carter. It’s been a season of meeting new characters only to have them disappear shortly after being introduced, but now that we’ve reached the “Hollywood Ending,” let’s start off with a recap.
The Recap
This episode picked up where last week’s cliffhanger left off. Agent Carter, holding a gun on Chief Thompson, demands that he drop the detonator to the gamma bomb. Their tense interaction is ended by a shockwave, not from the gamma bomb but from Dr. Wilkes releasing the store of Zero Matter from his body. Unfortunately, like all of this season’s cliffhangers, this one is basically just another tease.
When the team goes to investigate the blast they find no trace of Masters. They do find an unhealthy but Zero- Matter-free Dr. Wilkes. Whitney Frost absorbs Dr. Wilkes’s previous store of Zero Matter for herself and becomes more powerful than ever. The team runs in fear but Frost, in a pretty goofy turn of events, is hit by Edwin Jarvis driving Howard Stark’s car. The villain temporarily subdued, the team makes its hasty getaway.
Back at the SSR LA office, Thompson and Sousa are rounding up the agents who were working with Vernon Masters, presumed dead after Dr. Wilkes’s Zero Matter expulsion that Masters was present for. Dr. Wilkes with a new lease on life as a solid person describes Zero Matter as a cancer and underlines the importance of ridding the world of it.
It’s trouble in paradise for Whitney Frost and Joseph Manfredi. Frost is diligently coming up with plans to re-open the Zero Matter rift but her changed and withdrawn personality troubles Manfredi. He consults his nonna who asserts that if Manfredi wants his old Whitney back then he must make a deal with the devil, in other words Peggy.
Back at Howard Stark’s mansion, Manfredi arrives to make a proposition. After a few non sequiturs are exchanged between Stark and Manfredi, it becomes obvious that they’re old friends. Manfredi agrees to help the team lure Frost into a Zero Matter trap that will allow the team to suck the Zero Matter out of her and into the Zero Matter rift. First, though, the team will have to steal the Zero Matter rift generator designs from Frost. Agent Carter and Chief Sousa are able to do so by taking photographs of Frost’s designs while Manfredi keeps Frost busy in the other room. During this tense scene, Sousa and Carter find some time to engage in a bit of office flirtation and escape out the window in the nick of time.
While placing the team’s dinner order back at the SSR LA Office, Chief Thompson finds Masters’s Arena Club pin that turns unexpectedly into a key.
After a quick recap of the plan and a safety meeting from Dr. Wilkes, the newly-built rift generator is assembled at Howard Stark’s movie lot. The rift generator is engaged and once again the laws of time and space are manipulated. Frost, having a kind of telepathic link to Zero Matter feels the rift in her mind and starts making her way to the movie lot.
Stark, not fully appreciating the gravity of the situation, slices golf balls at the rift while they wait for Frost. Chief Thompson who appears to have made peace with Agent Carter reveals his discovery of Masters’s key-pin to her. Frost arrives before too long and, lined up for the shot, they blast her with the gamma cannon. Her Zero Matter gets expelled into the rift and Frost is arrested.
The catch is that the remote shutdown of the rift generator is broken so it must be shut down manually. Unfortunately the generator is inside an unsafe zone within which all objects will levitate and be sucked into the rift. While the team argues about who should be the one to do it–all of them volunteering–Sousa runs in to shut it down. The hose that Sousa had tied around his waist slips from its anchor point but Peggy and the team are able to hold on until Stark’s hover-car, which contains the power core from the gamma cannon, can be auto-piloted into the rift. The hover-car explodes and the rift is closed. Here endeth the conflict.
The morning after, Howard, Peggy, and Dr. Wilkes have breakfast in Stark’s mansion. Dr. Wilkes, we find out, has agreed to work for Stark at Stark’s Malibu facility doing work involving something Stark found in Peru. Peggy and Jason bemoan their ruined chances at love and Howard swims naked. Peggy, on her way to the SSR LA Office to finish up her paperwork runs into the Jarvises. Peggy and Ana make peace and Edwin coerces Peggy into letting him drive her to the office.
The audience gets to see an unhinged Whitney Frost ranting at her window. She hallucinates that she is talking to Chadwick but is in reality being kept in solitary confinement in a psychiatric ward. A regretful Joseph Manfredi appears with roses. Unfortunately, he can’t give them to Frost. As the attending intern says, “She’ll just try to use them to claw her face open.”
Ross and Rachel–er, Carter and Sousa finally kiss
In a touching goodbye between Jarvis and Peggy, Jarvis attempts to convince her to stay in LA, “perhaps all you need is one convincing reason to stay.” And, in Chief Sousa’s office, the audience is treated to a cute scene between the de facto romantic leads. Chief Sousa reprimands Agent Carter for saving his life and the two steam up the office windows with an old-fashioned American make-out session.
The final scene sees a potentially grim end for Chief Thompson. Following a phone call in which he’s told that Agent Carter will be taking more vacation, Thompson gets shot in the chest by a mysterious man who knocks on his door. The mysterious shooter walks over Chief Thompson’s body and steals the doctored file that purports to show that Agent Carter is a war criminal.
My Critique
Although this wasn’t a bad episode, it wasn’t a really good one either. This episode was almost completely devoid of a conflict aside from the near death of Chief Sousa. Frost was dealt with so easily and Chief Sousa seemed in so little danger that the episode was basically just a romp. “Hollywood Ending” was also missing what generally makes Agent Carter worth watching, solid scenes between good actors. Although there were a few emotional moments, the only really solid acting was in the scene leading up to the kiss between Carter and Sousa.
I suppose, though, that at the end of the season I’m still interested to see what will happen next, so this season obviously wasn’t horrible. All in all, I hope Agent Carter gets renewed for a third season. We still haven’t seen her form S.H.I.E.L.D., nor have we seen her get married. Will she marry Sousa? Will she ever go back to New York? What’s the deal with that key? Who killed Chief Thompson? If Thompson’s dead, will Carter become Chief of the New York Office? Will we get to see Whitney Frost in a mask? And, as always, what about Zola?
I hope these questions get answered, some more than others. With Hayley Atwell purportedly starring in another show from ABC next year, though, I have my doubts that there will be any answers. This could be the end of Agent Carter. And, although it wasn’t an absolute garbage heap, it left me thinking about why it’s sometimes so hard for great ideas to translate into great TV shows.
Mark Hamill appeared at the Oxford Union Wednesday night for a speaking engagement. Since Episode VIII just started filming, you would expect the cast of the movie would be locked in a dungeon somewhere in the UK hillside. Just like with The Force Awakens, fans are salivating for any details concerning the future of Star Wars Universe. One of the big mysteries of The Force Awakens is who is Rey, who left her on Jakku, and how is she related to Kylo Ren? (Was that three mysteries?)
Hamill poured gasoline on those theories when he was asked a cryptic question about whether he was a father figure to Daisy Ridley.
“Daisy is incredible, so genuine, appealing, loveable, she beams, she has a wonderful charisma, I adore her. She’s my daughter’s age – and that’s how I relate to her,” said Hamill.
According to the Sun, the audience gasped and laughed Hamill winked and quickly added wryly: “I don’t mean anything by that. As actors, that’s how I relate to that.”
Do you think Lucasfilm and Disney let Hamill read the entire script for Episode VIII?
Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, which began principal photography at Pinewood Studios in London on February 15, 2016.
Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, which began principal photography at Pinewood Studios in London on February 15, 2016.
Star Wars: Episode VIII, is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcomes back cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. New cast members will include Academy Award® winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award® nominee Laura Dern, and talented newcomer Kelly Marie Tran.
Star Wars: Episode VIII is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin and Tom Karnowski. Joining the production crew will be some of the industry’s top talent, including Steve Yedlin (Director of Photography), Bob Ducsay (Editor), Rick Heinrichs (Production Designer), Peter Swords King (Hair and Make-Up Designer), and Mary Vernieu (US Casting Director). They will be joining returning crew members Pippa Anderson (Co-Producer, VP Post Production), Neal Scanlan (Creature & Droid FX Creative Supervisor), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Jamie Wilkinson (Prop Master), Chris Corbould (SFX Supervisor), Rob Inch (Stunt Coordinator), Ben Morris (VFX Supervisor), and Nina Gold (UK Casting Director).
Star Wars: Episode VIII is scheduled for release December 15, 2017.
(Yes, the same Oxford Union that Shia LaBeouf spent 24-hours in an elevator.)
