(episode review) - Peacemaker: Season 2 - Episode 6

The first season of Peacemaker was a surprise because I really enjoyed it. For what it was, it was astonishingly good. I was taken aback because I did not know what to expect from it. The first trailer was interesting, but I only knew James Gunn from the limited films I have seen of his. So, with the restructuring of the DC comic book universe due to having a change in leadership over at Warner Bros. and due to the mentality the leadership at WB had trying to "catch up" to Marvel Studios, James has managed to continue the Peacemaker show and also make it fit within the new regime. With that said, I have been watching this second season, secretly. I say secretly due to not watching it through official channels, although I have the access, but at the same time, there are so many things to watch right now, it has been difficult to focus on the release date and time, so I cannot simply focus on this show, and ultimately, I am being lazy, I'll admit that. So, as this second season has been released and the episodes have come out weekly, I have caught up and I am fully up-to-date, and I am really loving where this season is taking Chris Smith.

Chris Smith, aka Peacemaker, has been struggling all season with being a hero, but everyone pretty much still dislikes him for who he is and his actions in the Suicide Squad movie. Spoiler alert! For The Suicide Squad, he kills Rick Flag, and he has been beating himself up over it ever since season 1. Having saved the world, he thought things might have changed, people's perception of him, but it had not. Whilst having feelings for Hardcourt, he really wants to see where they are going with their friendship and if it could be anything more following an incident which occured between them, and although Chris wants to feel loved and secure, and Hardcourt might be the person to help him with his feelings towards himself knowing someone loves him, and the fact he continues to feel alienated on his own planet, Hardcourt has her own issues and past and ultimately rejects Chris. He then decides to leave everyone to travel to an alternate dimension with a device he has had for years after discovering it in the woods as a kid. This new world seems great and is everything he has ever dreamed of, where people love him, he is adored for who he is there, even that world's version of Hardcourt, but being caught in the bliss of it all, Chris remains ignorant to what lies beneath and by the end of the episode, we find out, where Chris really is.

Leading up to this episode, John was spying on Chris, only to be asked by Rick Flag to find out what Peacemaker is doing, but as soon as Rick becomes head of Argus, Rick wants revenge. The episodes have been really good, and the gradual reveal of what we are getting into with the new world will be devastating for Chris. All the characters are great as they are all unique. Some characters are better than others, but they are written in a way by James Gunn with great dialogue and character interactions. The last episode, surprisingly enough, had me a little emotional because I can identify with a man trying his best and feeling like he is failing in every which way he can to fail and feeling like he is not loved or anything which he does matters. This show shines a light on men's mental health, and one of the reasons why a lot of men do not speak about their feelings or leave the planet. This show gives us Hardcourt, who is also messed up in her own way; they are both broken people for different reasons. One is broken, but sees love in another person, and that person is broken and doesn't know if she can love another person. This episode was the start of the rescue mission, and the next episode is where shit will hit the fan with a devastating, crushing blow to Chris, and a huge fight is likely to occur because of this. Also, Adebayo and Judo Master are definitely not in the best place, so the next episode might pick up with him, and enemies might need to join forces to defeat the evil that is around.

(episode review) - Alien: Earth- Episode 8

 

 

Aside from the fact that this has always been one of my favourite franchises, this episode was spectacular! The inmates are running the asylum. The second-to-last scene (for me) was telegraphed from the previous episode as I knew this person had to be used for the Ocellus, and we were shown in the first episode that Atom was a Synth, but as usual, humans and their hubris are the hand to their own demise, and I absolutely love it. What is that phrase I love so much, oh yes, death by misadventure. This episode is the final episode of the first season, and although there are a lot of threads left hanging, they managed to tie up some things, but left enough to have you wanting more, because there are so many unanswered questions. What happens now, next, in the future (the future we all know), or do we?

First of all, this episode picks up with most of the people together, but slowly, people start to go in their different directions to track down these different people. I am trying to remain spoiler-free and as vague as possible. The fight between those two in the elevator scene was really good, although it could have done with being longer. The monologue was so unnecessary, but that is what people do when they feel they have the upper hand. In the end, I was surprised that they were both still alive, as I thought one would kill the other. I hadn't realised that the communication between the Xenomorph and Wendy is like an echo-location or something, that she could be in one place on the island and make a noise and communicate with the xenomorph, which can hear it from a completely different location on the island, so that was cool. I mean, we had seen it before, but not with a distance so vast. Any scene with the Ocellus is a thing of nightmares, and I always feel uneasy when we are in a scene with it, but the setup was sinister, and the scene was great. There is a moment where Wendy shows up and does something...if you had seen my face, my jaw had dropped open and was open for that entire scene thereafter. Yes, we have seen some things, but this one was elevated and was a truly amazing moment in the scene, AMAZING. It was just something, I guess I did not expect she could do, but it also made sense when explained. Some really great moments had me clapping and cheering, such as the moment where Marcy clicks her fingers, because just when I thought, 'could she not...?' moments later, 'yes, she could'. It was a pre-hit wind-up which teased us to get ready for the moment. And when that ball, hit, I was thinking, "Badass!" This season of Alien: Earth has been great, and I can totally understand that not all questions are answered, and there is a lot of "stupidity" from the characters on the show, and that it has been a slow burn of a show. I cannot think of a reason why they will not do a season 2, but when that does happen (because I am sure it will), it will be interesting as to how this will all go down next season.

(trailer review) - The Mandalorian and Grogu

Since the ending of season 3 of 'The Mandalorian, ' there has been talk of a film, and there definitely were some groans. I mean, when the first episode came out of the first season, everyone gravitated towards this Star Wars project. There have been a few since, and even though I always saw 'The Mandalorian' being about 'A' Mandalorian and not THE Mandalorian (despite the show being called The Mandalorian), I enjoyed the 3 seasons, including season 3, which was not very well received. I believe a lot of the fans felt that The Mandalorian was Pedro Pascal's character and that the show was about him. Also, something about Bo-Katan, and she not being THE Mandalorian. To be honest, I felt The Mandalorian could have been any mandalorian (and at a point whilst watching the show) WAS about The Mandalorian who reclaimed Mandalore and The Mandalorian we follow is the person who started the revolution or got the ball rolling on that or, again, was the person to help bring the Mandalorians together, but...we got what we got. Can you imagine if it were, and all the Mandalorians returned home, but then it ended up being more infighting, leading to another spin-off show just like 'Game of Thrones', but between the Mandalorians and someone trying to sit on the Mandalorian Throne, but again...we got what we got, and to reiterate, I enjoyed season 3. But this trailer, it's really interesting for me to say, I don't care for the movie, but I am also still very interested in it.

Not seeing much from this official trailer, but it looks like 'Mando' will be pulling off an attack on the Empire (or what's left of it) with the help of Ripley and the small guys from another Star Wars project, and I am assuming they will succeed in the end and be the badass hero we have known him to be. You saw that kick, correct? The music is great, and the action looks decent. It actually looks like a film rather than a TV show. The quality is different. But also with this trailer, I am not kidding, but all I saw was puppetry and toys watching this trailer, and during it, my first honest thought was, "Who gives a....who cares?" But immediately said to myself straight afterwards, "looks cool, might watch that". I mean, we definitely did not need a movie of the show, but I guess if they can get something great done, minimal expense and possibly with a great storyline, we are looking at a winner, maybe (I mean, the fans are tired), and maybe they can sell toys and make sequels. Skeleton Crew was good and charming, but is The Mandalorian and Grogu the way to go? Let's await the next trailer to decide.