Thursday, November 16, 2017

A Freight Train of Emotions: The Blacklist "Ian Garvey (No. 13)" Fall Finale




The fall finale of The Blacklist wasn't at any point a disappointment as it delivered a finale that will have everyone talking about through the hiatus.

With Tom Keen no where to be found, Liz is worried after trying to call him a lot. They soon pick up clues to where Tom has been around from the motel to the gas station. Liz thinks that Tom is trying to kind Nick's killer.

While Liz is searching for Tom, Tom, who happened to open the flood gates of trouble, is being held by Ina Garvery in the woods. Ian tries to make Tom talk about the suitcase but won't speak of it, not even when both Pete and his girlfriend's dead bodies in the wood clipper. Ian makes Tom call Red and telling where to meet, unaware that he and Dembe are a couple of minutes away but plays to their plan.

With Ian gone to meet with Red, Tom escapes along with the suitcase and runs into the woods, guns a blazing. As it looked like things were coming to an end, Tom runs into a car that has Red and Dembe and gets in even after getting shot in the back. The three rushed off.

Now with Tom being with Red, you know there's going to be some father-in-law/son-in-law bonding time happening here. As they find shelter for the moment, Tom and Red talk about not only the suitcase but the whole reason why Tom got the job to look after Liz and we see flashbacks of Tom getting the information about Liz and only interact but never to fall in love. Well, love is a powerful thing.

Soon Ian and his men get to the house that Red, Tom and Dembe are at, the three hide til when Tom's blood drips down from the vent. Red and tom get out but not without leaving a bit of a warm getaway package for Ian, burning their vehicles. As they stopped at the gas station, Tom asked again about what's in the suitcase, Red talks about how he heard about him and Liz getting married (the first time) and talked about how mad he was but know how Tom makes her happy.

After their talk, Tom makes a getaway with the bones and DNA results. He gets to the Union Station and looks at the results with an expression that quickly makes him call Liz to tell her to meet him at home alone (having the babysitter take Agnus somewhere safe). Red gets word about Liz gone MIA and gets word that the last call came from the train station. He makes a call to Tom at the station and tells him that he doesn't have to do this, but Tom won't stop.

As Liz gets home, she's with worried and excitement but that goes away when she sees him tied up and beaten. That's where Ian and his group surround them. Liz of course, punches Ian in the face. Ian makes Tom pay for what he had done, by stabbing him in the stomach. And again when he asked Tom to call Red but wouldn't. Liz gets punched and falls to the floor where she suffers a severe head injury. There Ian lets his guys clean the place up and to kill both Tom and Liz while playing "Southern Cross" playing in the background. But Tom grabs the knife that was left from Ian and free himself and goes after the guys and then Red and Demeb get there with their guns going off blazing. And when Red gets to Tom, he doesn't kill him, but kills the other guy behind him on the floor.

With Tom and Liz severely injured, Red and Dembe rush them to the hospital with the help of Cooper and the FBI escorting them there. Just before they get to the hospital, Tom and Liz try to tell one another to stay alive and make sure that Agnus remembers her. As the rush in the ER, both in the same room, Liz is put on a tube and gets her head drilled of fear of a brain bleed while they try to get Tom's heart going and fixing up his wounds, but in the end....Tom dies.

We jump to with Red reading off a lovely verse from the bible and gets shocked when Liz wakes up. She asked how long she's been under and Red informs her that it's been 10 months and the next question was about Tom and he tells her that he'd died. And we see Tom's body in the morgue with Cooper as witness being put in the cooler in spite that he is really gone.   

This episode was a freight train of emotions and such memorable moments that it still as I'm writing this had me choking up. I had a feeling Tom was going die, he did open the flood gates to trouble, but did it for the all the right reasons, love and the truth for Liz. I thought that performance between Spader and Eggold was solid and special watching these two in their character moments of the past and present. Even Jonny Coyne's performance of Ian Garvey was thrilling as well. Boone's Liz carries a lot of the emotional scenes through part of the episode til it was between Liz and Tom at the end. The writing was so strong, the directing captured so many great moments from the character's prospective. Even the song choices were should I say memorable and yet very emotional as well.

As for what will happen in the second half of the season, I think Liz is going to probably have a tough time getting back to business. Hell, I can't wait to see how Ian is going to use the bones and DNA results against Red. I do think and I'm saying that I think that maybe those bones are those of Liz's mother.

Overall, I give this episode a 9.5/10.

You can catch The Blacklist when it returns Wednesday, January 3rd at 8/7c on NBC.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

True Relationship: The Blacklist "The Kilganoon Corporation"


This week's episode of The Blacklist was one to remember.

"The Kilganoon Corportation" might as well be best remembered for the character growth and understanding of what the relationship between Reddington and Dembe really means.

After Liz tells Red about her and Tom getting married in the previous episode, Red lays the next line of work of a human smuggling ring that he use to be a part of, but thanks to Kaplan I guess that ship had sailed. In order to stop, they must go undercover and send in Dembe, who really shines in this episode.

Putting his life at risk, Dembe does what it takes to find where they put these people that are just dying to leave the country because of war, law or freedom. Just as things were going well, Liz and the gang goes in to take down the men that are sending refugees. But one truck leaves just as the FBI move in and Dembe has it.

Red hunts for the driver of the truck that Dembe is in.  He does what he can to find Dembe, as you can understand that Dembe is the one true person that has shown Red the light of good and evil. This episode really revealed the meaning of the two.

With the truck stuck and only a few hours of air left, Dembe does what he can to have order in the truck without people killing one another. Also he was protecting a scared little girl who was separated  from her parents. But just in time, Red gets there and drives Dembe and the girl to the hospital for the girl to get treatment.

When the FBI get there, Ressler has a change of heart when he sees the refugees and tells Cooper that once you actually see it, it really takes a whole affect on you. Red and Dembe reunited the child with her parents.

Meanwhile, Tom gets a lead of where Pete is located. The so called girlfriend/fiance looked up her credit and sees that Pete purchased a few things at a local gas station. There they met and looked around, Tom search through the security cam and spots him and takes photos. They found a clue to where he might be, which happens to be in a motel.

There, Tom goes in and demands answers until it was too late and he gets knocked out cold. Later, he wakes up with a man speaking about the brief case. He too demands of the suit case, he kills Pete and the woman and threatens Tom. Tom gives Red to him saying that Red trusts him and he can bring Red to him. The leads one of Red's henchman to call and inform that there's a situation.

"The Kilganoon Corporation" was such a memorable episode, mostly the relationship between Dembe and Reddingotn. Yeah we know that Red saved Dembe but in return Dembe saved Reddington in the process of being a better man. That scene when Dembe had to go back undercover again and Red didn't want to and when all was agree, Dembe asked Red for one thing, one being to watch Dembe's family but it mainly to have someone watch him to care for him. That got me choking up a bit. Another memorable moment came when that little girl scared, Dembe comes and shows her a bunny rabbit out of a tissue and his hands, which was so so cute.

Also let's not forget Tom and his doing in this episode that happens to be in serious trouble at the end. Could this be the end of Tom when the fall finale comes tomorrow? Everything seems to point to that, but even though Red doesn't like Tom, I still think that Red will do everything he can to keep Tom alive for Liz. I just have that feeling. But with someone being so happy, it all has to come down sooner or later and sooner is coming fast.

Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch the fall finale of The Blacklist tomorrow at 8/7c on NBC.

Chicago Med Season 3, Ep. 1 "Speak Your Truth" Preview, Clips and Promos




We're just one week away from the season premiere of television's best medical drama, Chicago Med. Here's a look into the season premiere.

"Speak Your Truth"

The doctors of Chicago Med take their opinions to the extreme as they try to bring justice to the perpetrator in the shooting of Dr. Charles. Dr. Halstead and Dr. Manning work on a heart-wreching case that forces them to examine their own matters of the heart. Though Robin's brain tumor was removed and she is discharged from rehabilitation center, Dr. Rhodes remians on edge that her problems are not quite resolved. Maggie sticks up for a patient while Dr Choi and April try to move their new working relationship in the right direction.











Here are some clips and interviews:









You can catch the season premiere of Chicago Med Tuesday, November 21 at 10/9c on NBC.

Monday, November 13, 2017

A Bond and Separate: Supergirl "Damage"

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This episode was all about damage control, both professionally and privately.

Let's get to the pulling off the band-aid part of the episode as Alex and Maggie finally talk it out again about whether they are done because Alex wants kids and Maggie doesn't. When they finally talk it out, it turns out that they have to break up.

But there's some bright side to breaking up, mainly between Alex and Maggie. As Alex was packing things up and listening to a depressing song, Maggie changed the music to a friendly and upbeat one. The two kiss and move to the bed, where they spend one more time together. Maggie packs and leaves, but not with a long, emotional goodbye kiss.

Meanwhile, Lena deals with her crisis when Edge blames her for the lead poisoning of the kids from the lead bomb in the season 2 finale. With the whole city hating Lena, she tries to calm the storm, but one of the parents tries to assist her but fails. Samantha takes Lean in until they figure out the whole problem. Kara and Samantha investigate and figure out (mostly Samantha) that all the kids who became sick were at a local pool.

The two break in (thanks to Kara) and look around with a sample of the pool water that turned out to have lead. Samantha and Kara quickly found the chlorine from a company that had information in it. Kara informed Lena about it and asked the company if she ever heard of it. She tells her no, but she knows it's Edge's company.

Lena confronts Edge and threatens him with a gun, but he gets the last laugh as one of his guys knocks her out and leaves her in an airplane carrying the same chlorine. Edge controls the plane, but with Lena's quick SOS SOS call, Kara gets there just in time and saves both Lena and the chlorine barrels. 

Kara confronts Edge about attacking Lena, and the two butted heads until Kara steps away.

Lena and James' relationship seems to be going better than it had been since Lena bought CatCo. Kara, Lena, and Samantha have a lovely sisterly evening to celebrate. Kara later confronts Alex about her break up with Maggie, and at the end of the episode, Samantha finds out that she was shot but didn't get injured.

"Damage" was an episode in which I endured intense emotions and excitement. The Alex and Maggie scenes were so good and, at times, faced with real raw emotions. With that, the Lena, Samantha, and Kara storyline was even out with thrilling and fun at times, mostly watching Samantha and Kara scenes. Katie McGarth, Oddette Annable, and Melissa Benoist show naturally good chemistry. Chyler Leigh and Floriana Lima gave an excellent performance. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Supergirl on Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.

Here's a promo for the next episode:


Chicago Med - Next: Charles' Life Is in Jeopardy on the Season Premiere ...



Just one week away til the season premiere of Chicago Med. Here's first look clip of next week's episode:




The new season of Chicago Med begins Tuesday, Nov. 21st at 10/9c on NBC.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Chicago Med Season 3: Cast Photos




Here's are some cast photos for the new season of Chicago Med. You can catch the season premier Tuesday, Nov. 21st at 10/9c on NBC.















"Bitchin'" Stranger Things Season 2, "Chapter 9: The Gate" Season Finale




Everything has been leading up to this moment!!

In the season two finale, we first get a very nice and emotional reunion between Eleven and Mike and finally the cat was out of the bag when everyone learned that she has been living with him for a year. That didn't go well with Mike and when Hopper took him to talk privately, Mike let his anger out at him as Hopper hugs him.

After a quick hugs and greets with everyone, including Max, Joyce takes Eleven to see Will. Seeing also the message about close gate, to Eleven that means the gate in the upside down is about to be open and she can close it. Along with that plan, Joyce figures out instead of letting Will die with the gate closing, they heat up his body so the creature that's inside him can get out before the gate closes.

So Joyce, Johnathan and Nancy take Will to Hopper's cabin where he and Eleven have been staying. They cranked up the heat with fire, space heaters, etc to make sure it's hotter than the sun. Will wakes up and screams that he's burning. As they watch him, it doesn't seem to work so Joyce cracks up the space heaters more and soon, the creature was about to come out but they needed more and that's where Nancy grabs the hot poker and burns Will's side.

Hopper and Eleven headed back to the DOE building and close the gate before the creature monster gets out. But before they got there, the two finally made peace after talking of where she went and why he's been the way he was with her. As they go in the DOE, Eleven gets flashbacks of her stay there, then Hopper and Eleven go in and after getting word from Johnathan to close the gate after the creature had escape Will's body.

While all of this was going on, Mike doesn't want to be the player sitting on the bench, even though he hates sports analogy. Trying to convince Steve to take them to the pumpkin patch, he gives a big no. Well then comes big bad step brother of Max, who really has a good lie detector on him to see that Steve lied to him and soon the two fight. Steve was going so good til the dude starts swinging back like a mad man. Kicking the crap out of Steve, Max grabs the syringe and injects her step brother with the same dose that Will got and after a few minutes the dude finally went down but not before Max threaten him with Steve's bat.

Mike and the gang head out to the pumpkin patch as Max drives her brother's car probably one of the humorist highlight of the episode. They get there and headed in, Steve leads the way and as they get to the spot, they start spraying and dumping gasoline all over and soon starts the fire. This happens the same time as Will was burning up. Mike and the gang head out but not before Dustin sees his Dart in the way and gives him a couple of Musketeers and head out.

As Eleven trying to close the gate, she has a hard time doing it but remembers what Eight had said and taught her to remember the events that make you upset and use that anger, which she did. And just as the creature was coming out in the same form as it was in Will, she used all of her powers to push it away and closed the gate. As the gates closed, it all killed the creature dogs, including Dart.

As soon as it was over, we jump a month later to see that the DOE has been shut down and things were looking so good for the town of Hawkins. Hopper has lunch with Owens, who'd survived, and he gives Hopper a present that he is the proud father of Jane Hopper (Eleven). He asked Owen how long before she can go out, Owens gives it a year. But how about one night?

We jump to the Snow Ball dance, Dustin fixes his hair the way Steve does and after losing to Lucas to dance with Max, he jumps to two other girls before Nancy dances with him. Will gets to dance with someone too. Hopper and Joyce share a smoke like they did in the good old days. But the one moment we've all been waiting for with the song "Everything Breathe You Take," comes Eleven/Jane in her dress and Mike walks up to her and soon dances (as they try to learn) and soon kisses (short one).

With everything that seems to be going to well and trying up with a nice big bow, as we see the school's gym, we see the upside down version of the school and sees the shadow monster that Will has been seeing. Could it be that it's finally going to be staying in the upside down for good or will we see this thing back in Season 3?

"The Gate" was one hell of a good season finale and I thought that it really wrapped up some of the story-lines probably since the beginning of the series. Like Nancy and Dustin, who Dustin had a crush on her and a season later she's dancing with him. Mike and Eleven finally are at the Snow Ball dance. Even Joyce and Hopper spending some time with one another, who I think would make a really good couple. I really can't pick who outperformed who because everyone in this episode really did an outstanding and equal part. The one thing I still don't get is Max's step brother has to what part was he there, just to give us some intense scenes with Max and Steve? The writing of the episode was so so good as well. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

Season 2:
I thought Season 2 was a step up from Season 1 with the writing and character growth. The performances from Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, David Harbour, Noah Schnapp was just outstanding, mostly coming Ryder, who should be considered for awards for her role as Joyce. Not to mention Millie Bobby Brown, with only a shorter screen time than last season, had another amazing season too.  Sean Astin's performance grew on me from time. I didn't care much for Bob at first and the way he was telling Will about facing your fears head on didn't really settle with me, but later helping with Joyce and Mike and being the superhero he said he is, I really liked the character.  And I couldn't left out Paul Reiser, who played Owen well to his ability as a dark and mysterious in the beginning but was kind of caring at the end of the season.

The anticipation for this season was not disappointing at all. Yeah there were some stories that felt lite like the Nancy and Johnathan relationship to even the Max and her step brother, for which I'm still scratching my head about. But most of the other stories from Will and Eleven made me forget some of those stories. The writing was really amazing. Overall, I give this season a 9/10.

You can catch seasons one and two of Stranger Things on Netflix now. Also you can catch the Blu-ray/DVD of Season One available in stores now.