My Summer Viewing on the Couch

Depending on when classes start, summer is officially over, and school is in session. I thought that I would take this time to write up about what shows I've watched over the summer. Of course, there are shows from Suits, Royal Pains, Hannibal, America's Got Talent, and the new series like Aquarius and Stitchers.  But I'm talking about shows that either have been on or just recently that I've never had a chance to watch. This is my summer viewing.

Daredevil 

This new series released this year has become the biggest show on Netflix, next to House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. I'm never much of a superhero series. I never watched Smallville or Agents of Shield, but when I watched this series, it blew my mind.

We all know the story of Matt Murdock, a lawyer by day and a hero by night known as Daredevil. This 13-episode series stretches out the origin story and the story of Daredevil's first time fighting crime. The series was released on April 10th, but I never watched it until a month later.

As soon as I watched the series' first two episodes, I was hooked and amazed. Charlie Cox playing Murdock/Daredevil is fantastic, and may I say that he's way better than Ben Affleck. When I first saw this guy, I thought it was Will Forte. He hit a home run, but I was impressed with former Law & Order CI star Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk. D'Onofrio hit a grand slam. He was dark and scary, and the character was well done.

This is one of the darkest shows and Marvel series I've ever seen, and I'm counting the films, too. This is what comic-book series and the Marvel Universe should be like: dark and edgy.

Arrow

Speaking of comic-book series, after watching Daredevil on Netflix, I had a chance to binge-watch one of the popular series on cable television, Arrow.

I've heard of the show, and my first thought was, okay, this might be something. I could never watch it because I don't have The CW and always forget to watch it online. So my chance to watch was not disappointing at all.

I was amazed and thought to myself after watching the first season that this seemed to be like what Daredevil was with its origin story by mixing it in with each episode. But the issue is that it could be too long for me to sit and watch all 24 episodes of this series. I did manage it and enjoyed it quite dearly.

Stephen Arnell is unique and gives an excellent performance as the Green Arrow. I enjoy watching Oliver learn from the art of crime, fighting the ups and downs, and facing his fears when he gets his ass kicked by The Archer. I have to give a lot of credit to Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Marc Guffenheim for bringing this series to the airwaves and other shows from The Flash, soon-to-be Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl coming to CBS. I wonder if there will be any more. I hope it's maybe a Batgirl series.

I haven't started watching season two yet, and hopefully will get through season three before the fourth season begins this October.

Mr. Robot 

I was so engaged in watching this series from watching the trailer. Mr. Robot had so much buzz around social media and critics. The series is about Elliot Anderson, who works at a computer security company daily and is a hero by night for catching criminals through the web. But he gets picked up by a man who goes by Mr. Robot, played by Christian Slater. He wants Elliot to take down ECorp (Evil Crop). But things get twisted, and Elliot realizes what's going on.

Rami Malek puts on a fantastic performance. He'll be up for awards for this series—the definition of hitting a home run performance. Not to mention that it's got a great cast, from Christian Slater to Carly Chalkin to Portia Doubleday.

The best part is that this series was renewed for a second season just before the series premiere. What perfect timing for this series to come on the airwaves, with the internet hacking of Sony and Ashley Madison situation.

You can watch the show on demand and catch the series finale this Wednesday night at 10/9c on USA Network.

Bloodline 

You can see where I've been staying most of this summer, at the Netflix Inn. This series, Bloodlines, was such a thrilling and gripping series I've seen.

The series is about a family whose eldest son comes back and brings hell and threatens to bring the family down. He was starring Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) and Linda Cardellini (ER and Freaks and Geeks), along with a great supporting cast.

The show was such a delight,t with enough thrill and suspense that I wanted more. I recommend this series. The series was renewed for a second season that will air sometime next year. Kyle Chandler received an Emmy nomination for his role in this series, and don't be surprised if he wins because he's outstanding.

List of recommendations:

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix
Aquarius, NBC
The Flash, The CW
The Liaison, Showtime
The Americans, FX
Sirens, USA/Netflix
Playing House, USA
Chipped, TBS

So I guess most of my summer I spent watching on Netflix. And now that the summer is over and only a month away, the new television season begins. I'm looking forward to recent seasons of these shows and others in the coming months

Weekend Catch Up Pt.8

Here's another edition of the weekend catch-up.

Suits: "Uninvited Guests"

The 
In this week's episode, things could take a turn for the worst for not just Rachel and Mike but for Jessica and the firm.

With Mike and Rachel's wedding still in the planning, Rachel's mother has some ideas and dates for the ceremony. But when she shows Rachel the list of who's invited, it puts her on the defensive and to protect Mike from his secret.

Of course, there's always an argument between mother and daughter, but the mother wants to give what her daughter always dreamed of. I find it a perfect story this wedding might not happen. This is when Mike and Rachel finally talk and discuss it after Mike has spoken to her mother about this situation. But they love each other, and it looks like they're still in the process.

Meanwhile, Harvey apologizes for his action towards Louis as the partners will vote to either not suspend or to suspend Harvey. It was split, and Harvey stayed. And well, hell's lazing when Jack mentions that Daniel Hardman has made a deal to take back his firm.

It draws both Harvey and Mike to take care of this, and with Mike's ideas, one shitty and the other brilliant (something he's been doing to Harvey for a long time). They stop the bleeding of Daniel from coming back, but it just puts more and more pressure on Harvey and Jessica.

Harvey talks to Charles, who's in prison, trying to scare him, but it doesn't work. For this to stop, Charles wants Harvey to resign from the firm. As for Jessica, she double-crossed Jack, thinking he would be a partner in the firm, but not quite. It turned into a heated match of words. Jessica is never afraid, but she should be when Jack votes for her to leave.

This episode leaves up to a perfect season finale. This episode had plenty of drama carrying from last week's episode.  There's no doubt that things will happen. Things are differently going to change. Will Jessica be voted out? Harvey Quit?

Overall, I give this episode an 8.5/10.

You can catch the season finale of Suits Wednesday night at 9/8c on USA.

Mr. Robot: "eps1.8m1rr0r1ng.qt"

Last week's episode was jaw-dropping. This week's episode was yet another.

So, in this case, Mr. Robot is Elliot! Holy Shit!!

This episode had some backstory when Mr. Robot had an electronic store called "Mr. Robot." And when a customer comes, he says his kid took $40. Robot doesn't take this crap and tells the guy to leave. It was then that he called out his son, Elliot.

Of course, Elliot has been freaking out since he kissed his sister Angela. So, Elliot has been talking with his dad, going from his place to his old childhood home. He was thinking that we saw Elliot push Mr. Robot through the window. We see them walking to the cemetery, where they stop at a grave, and Robot sits down, but just before, he tells him that he loves Elliot and that they're trying to take him away from him. From then on, it was getting too freaky until Darlene and Angela found him, and soon, Robot was nowhere to go.

Elliot freaks out and soon realizes that he's Mr. Robot.

In the meantime, Tyrell is a father and soon gets fired. How interesting is that when joy comes to you, and soon it's taken away?

Soon, Tyrell goes to Elliot's apartment and talks to him about what has been happening with the hacking and all. Also, he killed his neighbor and had discussions about that. So, Elliot shows Tyrell the place where everything has been happening and tells him that he's the one who's been doing it.

It seems like Tyrell wants to help Elliot and get revenge from Evil Crop for his firing. I guess Tyrell was right in the pilot that they'll be working with Elliot in the future.

I enjoyed this episode. This show is a lot different from any other television show this summer. Some so many twists and turns keep me interested and wanting to watch more. I think that something big is coming, and when that happens to Elliot, it will be something he can't stop.

I give this episode an 8/10.

You can catch the season finale of Mr. Robot on Wednesday night at 10/9c on USA.

Aquarius:  "Old Ego Is a Too Much Thing"

In the season finale of "Aquarius," Ken and Hal return to Charlie for help. Hodiak tries to deal with his son's service records, and life and death come into play.

Ken gets into such deep stuff that involves a dead girl. He goes to Hal's place and tells him that his girl wasn't there that night, so he had to settle with this girl. Suddenly, things go wrong, and he leaves the body at Charlie's place, which isn't a good idea because Charlie will use it as leverage for both of them.  We see a flashback of both guys in 1959 when this incident happened, and Charlie made Hal kill the girl.

Hodiak tries to save his son from his actions of telling the truth about the war. Arranging a meeting with an officer with a good enough deal, his son goes to LA Times and soon gets arrested and taken away.

Meanwhile, a case breaks, and he and Shafe go to the suspect's home, where guns are a blazing. Hoak took one of the suspects who was caught and used him to stop his brother from shooting, for which he shot him a couple of times. Then Hodiak tackles and fights with him until he breaks the guy's neck.

Shafe and Hodiak were awarded a medal for their duties in this killing case. Soon after Hodiak was awarded, a guy from internal affairs came and told him he had questions because a witness saw what happened.

Grace and Hodiak are a couple now after all this mess went down. She finally gives up on her daughter after being in jail and just isn't listening to her. I did predict that Grace and Hodiak would wound up as a couple.

Charlie, on the other hand, became a father, but the baby wasn't breathing. Then, one of the girls, who was jealous of Charlie, steals a baby from the local hospital and brings the child back.

This episode was pretty good. There didn't seem to be any closing storylines except for Emma and her mother—a cliffhanger for Hodiak of the incident.  I look forward to seeing what Season Two will bring.

In this episode, I give it a 6.5/10.
You can catch "Aquarius" On Demand at NBC.com

Hannibal: "The Number of the Beast is 666..."

HOLY SHIP!!!!

I CAN NOT BELIEVE WHAT I'VE JUST WATCHED!!!!

The hunt for the Red Dragon is still on, and Will and Jack have an idea. With the help of Fredrick, they're going to draw the guy out and attack them by putting out an article describing the dragon.

That did work, but instead of going after Will, he went after Fredrick (who, in my opinion, got what he deserved). As Fredrick was heading out, the dragon snatched him and took him to his place, where it was the episode's best scene.

The dragon is talking to Fredrick, making him fear him. Soon, Reba comes by with chicken soup but tells the dragon how much she likes him. After that, the dragon shows pictures of his work to Fredrick and soon gets the photo of him and Will.

The dragon takes the video camera out and records, telling Fredrick what to say, and soon, the dragon is unleashed and goes to Fredrick, biting off his lips and fashioning the shot of Fredrick screaming with blood and teeth, showing so gruesome but so fantastic.

But if you think that was the end of Fredrick, not at all. The dragon later poured gasoline on him and lit him up on fire, pushing him down the pathway toward the water fountain.

Hannibal, of course, might have set it up for the dragon to hurt Fredrick. After all, he did get his lips in the mail from the dragon and ate one before Jack could see it.

Never have I seen such a gruesome scene in my life on television. This episode is as gruesome. Hannibal mentions that the lamb will soon be a loin. I think that in next week's episode, that lamb will become something of a loin.

I enjoyed this episode so, so much—mind-blowing scene with Fredrick and the Dragon. And Hannibal and Jack's conversation was good as well. The actors were just so damn good.

Overall, I give this episode a 9.5/10.

You can catch the season finale/series finale of Hannibal on Saturday nights at 10/9c on NBC.

Sports Talk:

What a weekend the Chicago Cubs have had, sweeping the Atlanta Braves and winning today's game 9-3. 

The player of the game, Kris Bryant, hitting two home runs today, was flat-out remarkable. 

Cubs seem to be hitting at the right time, and pitching is good enough to get through. But I can't stress enough on the offensive side that this team is red hot. 

I know it's getting my grandfather, a Cardinal fan, worrying about how they're playing. 

We've only had less than 40 games; things can happen. But I do hope that what the Cubs are doing keeps going and hopefully shows a tremendous playoff run.

Chicago Fire: Could Pregnancy be a Silver Lining for Casey and Dawson?

On Chicago Fire, Dawson's unexpected pregnancy could be the silver lining for Casey after his distress kidnapping.

Bu don't worry, he'll "make it out of that situation alive when the NBC drama returns for Season Four on Oct. 13." But there' won't be much jot as he'll be trying "to copy with the aftermath."

Casey will have to deal with "what he had to do to survive that ordeal, which would haunt a lot of people," said executive producer Matt Olmstead telling TVLine. "He had to punch his way out."

Just to add more pain to the lieutenant's plate, Chicago PD's Antonio delivers the news that "the case isn't going to go forward because the feds are involved (and) there's complications, which sends Casey through the roof," Olmstead previews.

With that in mind, the firefighter is thinking, "Not only did I see a girl get shot in front of me- she was trying to do the right thing like I was to bring these guys down-now you're telling me that she, basically, is going to die in vain and this whole trafficking operation is going to go. I'm not going to let that happen."

Olmstead adds that "Voight advises him not to do what he thinks he's going to do, and Casey is hellbent."

As for Dawson, she's waiting for the right time to tell Casey that she's expecting. Given that everything that's been going on, it's kind of a no surprise that trying to find the perfect moment will have it's demanding. But when the cats out of the bag and it's finally out, "She-and the news she brings to him-is what really helps pull him out of the quagmire that he's been in," Olmstead revealed.

Casey takes a hold of the announcement of his upcoming fatherhood "wholeheartedly, because it helps make him stay away from what he went through," Olmstead shares, adding that this pregnancy will also help reunit the former couple.

But with Casey being 100 percent in, there are doubts of their relationship from Dawson. "There's definte ramifications in terms of her wanting to know, 'You're doing it for the right reasons, wanting to be back with me? Because we weren't even a couple when this happened,'" said Olmstead. "It just becomes like, 'OK, you got what you wanted. Now what?' Reality sets in. So it gives them some nice twist and turns as a couple. But they're galvanized as a couple, certainly, in the first part of the season."

You can catch the season premiere of Chicago Fire Tuesday, Oct. 13th at 10/9c on NBC.

Will #Linstead Get Back Together on Chicago PD?

The last time we saw Chicago PD's Erin Lindsay (played by Sophia Bush), she'd turned in her badge to be at the bar with her mother. So how will Halstead (played by Jesse Soffer), her partner react to this and is there any hoe that they could get back together?

Executive Producer Matt Olmstead told TVGuide.com that, "Halstead refueses to believe she would do this. There's a line coming up where he says, 'Tell me to my face that you're down with this.' And when she tells him, he says, 'I don't know who you are, but if you ever see Lindsay again, tell her she made me a better cop.' So, he doesn't even know who this person is anymore."

So, they're no long friends and their relationship (#Linstead) is pretty sounds like they're on a long break.

"We're going to wait," said Olmstead. "The immediate concern is to get her on her feet again and out of harm's way, but down the road...we're exploring that."

But does that mean it's too late for Halstead? "In the meantime, there's nobody else (for him)," said Olmstead.

You can catch the season premiere of Chicago PD Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 10/9c on NBC.

Mr. Robinson "Can't Buy Me Love"/"School's Out For Summer"

In this one hour season finale of Mr. Robinson, Craig tries to be there for Victoria. Does he have a chance to win her? Also a career opportunity has Craig making a tough decision.

First of all, let me just state that I enjoyed watched this series. I thought there were some really good humor and also really upbeat comedy tunes. Craig Robinson, Spencer Grammer, Brandon T. Jackson and Peri Gilpin were just fantastic.

In the first episode, "Can't By Me Love" has Craig getting closer to Victoria when she talks to him about how her and her boyfriend haven't been close lately. In the meantime, Principal Taylor informed the teachers that the school will have to cut PE and Music classes due to budget cuts.

In one attempted, there was a teacher auction. Craig plan trying to save his job but also to buy Victoria's love after news that she might move with her boyfriend to New York City. When Victoria was up for auction, her boyfriend arrives and both Craig and Robert were off to the races. But it was Robert that won at the end with his final offer and a ring.

Probably the funniest scene in this episode was when the kids got Ben to help make them a video that will have viewers donate. One scene Ben snaps out on the kids and breaks chairs. When the kids come up with an idea to show how bad a teacher Ben is that people donate to get Craig back. And of course that works really well.

In the final episode, "School's Out For Summer" after performing at the club, Craig gets an invite to join the Earth, Wind & Fire band and tour for a whole year. That leads to Craig not coming back to teach next year and that makes some kids really disappointed.

Principal Taylor cons Craig that he needs to stay and teach by using one of his students. Also Jimmy and Dalton wasn't to pleased after they were planning on going with Craig on his Nasty Delicious tour.

After going back and forth on it, Craig decides to stay with his band and teach. The best part was that Craig got to perform with Earth, Wind and Fire performing my favorite song "September."

Overall, I thought it was a really good season ender. To be honest, the last scene look like it was a goodbye with some of the cast waving goodbye.

I give "Can't Buy Me Love" a 7.5/10 and "School's Out For Summer" a 7.5/10.
As for the season, I give it a 7.5/10.

I do want this show to comeback and made re-tweak a few things with some story-lines and characterization.

You can catch Mr. Robinson On Demand.

New NBC Sitcom: The Carmichael Show

A new comedy is coming to NBC next week.

From the comedy of Jerrod Carmichael and Nick Stoller (Neighbors) brings you The Carmichael Show, an irreverent sitcom inspired by Jerrod's relationships with his say-anything contrarian father, therapist-in training girlfriend, ever-hustling brother and mother, who always, always, always right with Jesus.

Taking the next step and moving in together, Jerrod and his girlfriend, Maxine (Amber West), are your average young couple trying to make it in the city. They're smart, motivated and looking to build a fulfilling life together. The one thing standing in their way is family. Between Jerrod's larger-than-life brother, Bobby (Lil Rel Howery), and his smothering and passionate parents (David Alan Grier, Loretta Devine), Jerrod and Maxine will be put to the rest navigating the boundaries of romance, family and sanity.

Here's a quick look.

Jerrod Carmichael, Nick Stoller and Ravi Nandan serve as executive producers. "The Carmichael Show" is co-produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Universal Television.

You can catch the season premiere of The Carmichael Show Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 9/8c right after America's Got Talent Results with back to back episodes.

Necessary Roughness star joins Mysteries of Laura

Season two of "The Mysteries of Laura" might get interesting for Detective Laura Diamond.

According to Entertainment Weekly exclusively, "that Callie Thorne will be joining the cast of Mysteries of Laura in a recurring capacity for season two."

The Necessary Roughness alum will debuting in the season premiere as Captain Nancy Santiani. She's "the all-business new boss at the 2nd Precinct. Despite how young and small she is, "Santiani runs a tight ship and refuses to take any crap from Laura, who doles out plenty of it."

They will clash as they are two strong women that are both single mothers. They'll "find common ground and come to understand each other, even if they can't stand to be in the same room with each other."

You can catch the season premiere of "The Mysteries of Laura Wednesday, September 23rd at 8/7c on NBC.