Author: Metacrone

Lifelong film, television and theater enthusiast. Choose love.

Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Episode 3: The End is the Beginning Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

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And we’re off! The action picks up in episode 3 of Star Trek: Picard, with Jean Luc acquiring a ship and skeleton crew, then setting off into space. Before that happens, the Romulan assassins find him and Agnes, he and Raffi negotiate a delicate peace, and we’re introduced to the eccentric captain of the new ship, Cristobal Rios, and his look-alike EMH.

Over on the Borg cube, Narek’s sister, Rizzo, arrives in person, Narek and Soji continue to grow closer, and Soji is allowed to interview an important ex drone.

Recap

Every episode so far, including this one, has begun with a PTSD vision of the destruction of Mars in 2385, an event which, 14 years later, collectively haunts the Federation the way 9/11/01 haunts the US and WW2 haunts the entire world. Once the worst of the nightmare recedes, the scene changes to Starfleet Headquarters, not long after the attack on Mars. Picard’s personal nightmare isn’t over yet.

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Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Episode 2- Maps and Legends Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

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Admiral Picard stays earthbound again this week, as he continues his search for clues into Dahj’s origin, sister and killers. The show, however, does not, as the audience is treated to an extended visit to the decommissioned Borg cube known as the Artifact. The cold open shows the synth rebellion on Mars from the perspective of one synth, giving viewers a glimpse into how Picard’s Starfleet career ended.

The CBS All Access companion series Star Trek: Short Treks season 2 released a companion episode about the day of the Mars attacks, titled Children of Mars, that’s worth checking out. Besides showing the day of the attack from a different perspective, the episode shows a slice of modern day life in the Federation and contains hints of conspiracy similar to those in ST:Picard. All of the Short Treks season 2 episodes are delightful and worth watching for long time Trek fans. (More in the commentary section.)

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Movie Review: The Farewell

~ Metacrone

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The Farewell * 2019 * Rated PG * 1 Hour 39 Minutes

😸😸😸😸½  4 1/2 out of 5 Happy Lap Cats

In The Farewell, writer-director Lulu Wang tells the true story of a giant fiction her family created together as a kindness toward her dying grandmother. It’s a complicated story, full of truths and lies and messy family relationships that aren’t easily pinned down into simple words, beyond the word “real”. Despite the fact that this is a story about lies, Wang’s film is painfully honest, showing the love that went into the decisions her family made when her grandmother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

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Avenue 5 Season 1 Episode 3: I’m a Hand Model Recap

~ Metacrone

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The passengers and crew are in for more startling revelations in episode 3 of Avenue 5, as their true predicament sinks in and the situation further unravels. Mental health declines, leading to a sphincter-shaped guest towel, an emotional video sent from the guests to Rav, and a new assignment for Karen.

Judd, Iris, and the crew continue to work on new plans to get the ship back to Earth, ranging from an unethical fundraising vigil to an unethical method of reducing the ship’s weight. Ryan, the fake captain, continues to be shocked at the level of fakery on Avenue 5. Billie continues to be the lone voice of sanity and reason.

Recap

The 3 dead passengers and late engineer Joe continue to orbit the ship and frighten the passengers like 4 small, gruesome moons. Captain Ryan checks in with the bridge on the regular, comforted in the fact that while he might be fake, the hard-working, good-looking bridge crew know what they’re doing.

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Movie Review: One Child Nation

~ Metacrone

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😸😸😸😸½  Rated 4 1/2 out of 5 Happy Lap Cats

One Child Nation is a very personal documentary, made by director Nanfu Wang when she had her own first child and began to seriously consider, for the first time, the implications of China’s one child policy, which she had been born and raised under. Wang had relocated to the US years before her son was born, so her pregnancy was unaffected by the harsh government program, which was in force from 1979 to 2015. But the internalized trauma from growing up in that environment, from events she didn’t even realize she’d absorbed, began to affect her attitude toward her own pregnancy, so she set out to examine the wide-ranging effects of China’s long-term push to gain control of its population size.

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Reprisal Season 1 Episode 4: On the Principles of Horsehound Recap

~ Metacrone
Burt Watches Fire: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." -- Lieutenant Kilgore, Apocalypse Now
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” — Lieutenant Kilgore, Apocalypse Now

Episode 4 opens on darkness and the sound of automatic weapons fire. Gradually, Burt Harlow’s face is revealed, lit by flickering, orange flames. He sits on the back of a truck and watches a large fire in the distance, on the order of several buildings. There’s a man with a gun several feet away. Burt notices the flames are slowing down and goes to the man with the gun, who is wearing a 3 River Phoenixes jacket and surrounded by a dozen bodies.

The camera pulls out to reveal that they are at the old racetrack and this is the night Katherine Harlow was left for dead. The man with the gun is Joel Kelly. He was the third man on the scene that night, along with Burt and Bash, and the man who drove the truck, but he was a Phoenix, not yet a full Brawler.

Burt goes to Joel and jostles him out of the trance he seems to be in. Now Burt begins to create the legend we heard Matty and Johnson tell Ethan in episode 3.

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Charmed Season 2 Episode 10: Curse Words Recap

~ Metacrone

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It’s Jordan’s 26th birthday party and make or break time for his family curse. Maggie’s job in this episode is to keep him alive until the stroke of midnight in hopes of breaking the curse forever, but the ghost of the witch who cursed his ancestor does everything in her power, including possessing Swan, to keep the spell intact. Meanwhile, Abigail asks for Harry’s help in overcoming the poison she’s been given. Sensing that Abigail might not be completely honest about what happened, Macy tags along to Abby’s new Seattle apartment to lend a hand. Mel and Ray continue to investigate the people who are after him, while also working through their issues.

Recap

SafeSpace is hopping with Jordan’s birthday bash. Swan even brought him a sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free cake that’s shaped like a boxing ring. It’s cute, but Jordan looks like he might prefer to look at it instead of eat it.

Maggie has been staring at Jordan staring at her all night, and it’s not because they have adorable crushes on each other. She’s watching him because she’s trying to keep him alive until midnight, when he officially turns 26, since all of the men in his family die at age 25 due to a witch’s curse. He’s staring at her because he knows she faked her own death and is curious, but we won’t be talking about that until later.

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Charmed Season 2 Episode 9: Guess Who’s Coming to SafeSpace Seattle Recap

~ Metacrone

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The Vera-Vaughn witches return from their winter hiatus with the Darklighter once again in play and another family member back from the dead. SafeSpace Seattle has a new billionaire owner with some ambitious ideas that could interfere with the sisters’ use of the command center. Macy finds him intriguing and wants to know more, both professionally and romantically. Jordan deals with the consequences of Parker’s attack.

Recap

Maggie and Jordan’s idea of a friend date has evolved into pretend muggings on dark city streets. Parker spooked Jordan with that jealous attack before the holidays, and he wants to be sure Maggie can protect herself.

When Maggie gets home, Mel is boiling a kettle of water on the table using her new superpower of molecular manipulation. She’s just achieved a new personal best of under 30 seconds from cold water to steam, but they both agree the power needs a cooler name.

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Avenue 5 Season 1 Episode 2: And Then He’s Gonna Shoot Off… Recap

~ Metacrone

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This week on Avenue 5, the passengers learn even more about the mysteries of gravity. NASA reaches its/their/her/zir limit. Everyone discovers that patience really is a virtue, but not many of the souls onboard Avenue 5 are virtuous. And the sexual tension begins to mount between Ryan and Karen.

Yes, it’s another wild and unpredictable week for the cruise ship that might become a moon of Saturn, a ship which now has a few of its own moons. More on that later.

Recap

Episode 2 picks up at the exact moment where episode 1 left off, with Ryan about to address the passengers in the atrium. Karen quickly tells him not to insult them by lying, because they already know the truth. Once the truth is involved, Ryan is already in over his head, so he passes the baton to Billie, who isn’t used to speaking to laymen and uses fancy words like “propellant” that future people can’t understand.

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Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Episode 1- Remembrance Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 4 Comments

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There was tons of excitement in my household when Star Trek: Picard was announced, and, as fans of The Next Generation, there was no doubt that we’d be watching when our favorite captain returned to the screen. Captain Picard is like the father I wish I’d had, and right now we all need his wisdom and patience.

The first episode, Remembrance, doesn’t disappoint. Like all of us, Patrick Stewart and his alter ego, Jean Luc Picard, have aged a few years. Like many of us, Jean Luc has had a few experiences that have changed the way he thinks about the world. Captain Picard was always a bit of a rebel, from that time he ended up with an artificial heart after a reckless bar fight, to those other times that he went rogue and saved the galaxy with Q. But several years before the pilot of Star Trek: Picard, he finally went too far, in the estimation of Starfleet Command. Starfleet itself finally went too far in the wrong direction in his estimation, as well, so they parted ways.

The beginning of the pilot finds Jean Luc just where you’d expect, tending his family’s vineyard in France, with a few aliens hanging around, attempting to keep him out of trouble. He manages to think about making wine, his lost friend Data, philosophy, fomenting rebellion and his dog, Number One, all at once, while his two Romulan caretakers almost visibly want to tear their hair out trying to keep up with the shenanigans of their elderly charge.

It’s good to have you back again, Jean Luc. You’ve been missed.

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