Santa Clarita Diet Season 1 Episode 2: We Can’t Kill People! Recap

~ Metacrone

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Joel and Sheila have driven out into the desert to dispose of Gary’s remains. Sheila’s gossiping about friends who might sell their house. She’s excited about the listing. Joel seems a bit tense. They have a Rubbermaid bin full of Gary, but Sheila couldn’t find the lid. They have an argument about the lost lid that has been had by every single cohabitating couple since the invention of Tupperware. They might be the first ones to have it over a container holding the body parts of a coworker. Let’s hope so, for our peace of mind.

Another car appears in the desert. They rush to push Gary toward the hole they’ve been digging, but without a lid, he slops over the sides and ends up all over the place. Joel and Sheila prove how strong their marriage is by putting aside the argument and shoving the Gary mush toward the hole together. The other car pulls right up in front of them. By now, they’re covered in blood, holding shovels, and surrounded by a bloody mess on the ground. Joel suggests they act casual. They should pretend to be helpful Mormons who’ve stopped to clean up a murder site. Mormons do have a reputation for being helpful during crises. It could happen.

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Santa Clarita Diet Season 1 Episode 1: So Then a Bat or a Monkey Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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Santa Clarita Diet is Netflix’s latest offering. It stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant as a pair of upper middle class,  married, suburban realtors who live in sunny Southern California. They are devoted to each other, and seem to be living the American dream, until something goes terribly wrong. But this couple has a can-do spirit and a willingness to work through their problems together, which is frankly refreshing to see on a TV series these days.

What goes wrong and threatens to ruin their nearly perfect lives, you ask? Well, Sheila, the wife, dies during a house showing and comes back as a zombie. Now she needs to eat people to survive. And her impulse control is nearly nonexistent. Other than that, she feels great!! Better than ever, in fact. As long as she doesn’t get too hungry.

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Nashville Season 5 Episode 6: A Little Bit Stronger Recap

~ Metacrone

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I have not been adequately keeping up with Nashville casting news. Until this episode, I had no idea that Rhiannon Giddens, who plays Hallie, is a Grammy winner, and that the group she played with in the episode, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, is her real life music group. I also totally missed it when CMT announced in September that they’d hired an out transgender actress for the first time. Nashville is becoming much more diverse lately. It makes Scarlett’s extremely triggery storyline a little easier to take.

Deacon and Rayna are spooked by the stalker who approached her at Highway 65 last week. Personally, I find Zach’s attitude about Scarlett and Damien way creepier, but I am not a celebrity. Last week’s guy seemed totally harmless, like he just wants to share the love. Anyway, Rayna and Deacon have hired a professional security firm with former soldiers who mean serious business. Do not take a wrong turn down Rayna’s street if you know what’s good for you.

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Nashville Season 5 Episode 5: Love Hurts Recap

~ Metacrone

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This week, we’re all super excited about shooting Gunnar and Scarlett’s music video with the famous, A-List director, until things take a nightmare turn for Scarlett. Like the title says, love hurts, and so does shooting music videos, at least if you’re a woman being directed by Damien George.

But first, Rayna, Zach and Damien have a self-congratulatory love fest on the way into the mansion where the video is being shot. Inside, Scarlett is unhappy with the dress she’s wearing for the video. She feels it’s too revealing. Let’s recall that her one condition for the video was that she didn’t have to show too much skin. Damien looks at the dress and explains that her character is wild, with no filter. Scarlett doesn’t understand what that has to do with the dress. Damien explains that it speaks to the character, and tells the costume mistress to remove more of the dress.

We’ve established with this scene that Damien is going to ignore Scarlett’s concerns, that he feels women should express their emotions through their sexuality, and that women can only express their sexuality through nudity. Scarlett’s character is going to get inside Gunnar’s character’s head and become an obsession for him, but Gunnar is fully clothed in a loose tuxedo, including a bow tie. Men are capable of expressing emotions and sexual desire without nudity.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2 Episode 13: Can Josh Take a Leap of Faith?

~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

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Welcome to the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2 Finale. Things just got a little more “Ex” and a hell of a LOT crazier. This episode definitely answered its title question, Can Josh Take a Leap of Faith? I don’t think anyone saw the answer we got coming, though.

The previously on… reminds us that Josh called Rebecca weird when he broke up with her at the end of camp, and that she’s always felt that marrying Josh would make her problems magically go away. He’s not just the person who makes her feel loved. He’s the arbiter of normal. If Josh says she’s normal, then she’s not crazy or weird.

We find Rebecca sitting on her couch texting her dad. It’s word for word the same as her first text to Josh when she arrived in West Covina. She’s hoping to spend time with him before the wedding. Paula arrives with Rebecca’s wedding veil, which she’s made for Rebecca. They take a second to marvel over the fact that Rebecca managed to nab Josh Chan. Then they duet on a punk metal song called What a Rush to Be a Bride. There might be a bit of underlying panic and anxiety in the room. They go back to cooing over wedding accessories.

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Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale: Watch the New Trailer

~ Metacrone

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Hulu has released a new trailer for its upcoming series The Handmaid’s Tale. The trailer is set to air during Super Bowl LI on Sunday, February 5th. Hulu premieres the 10 episode series on April 26th.

In this trailer we get a glimpse of some the main characters: Elizabeth Mass as Offred, Joseph Fiennes as The Commander, Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy, Madeline Brewer as Ofwarren, and Samira Wiley as Moira. We hear The Commander and Offred having a conversation. He says they only wanted to make things better, but better doesn’t mean better for everyone. It reminds me of my favorite George Orwell quote, from Animal Farm: “All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others.” In Gilead, they aren’t even pretending everyone is equal.

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Riverdale Season 1 Chapter Two: A Touch of Evil Recap

~ Metacrone

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Jason Blossom is still dead. Jughead feels that most people hoped that he was still alive until there was irrefutable proof otherwise. That he didn’t drown on July 4th, and he would walk into school Monday morning (we see Jason in the hall with the other football players) or would be spotted sharing a booth at Pop’s with Cheryl (the twins are in their white outfits, splitting a milkshake). We also see Cheryl and her parents identifying Jason’s body at the coroner’s office.

Archie is tossing and turning in bed, remembering being with Miss Grundy and hearing the gunshot on July 4th. He texts Betty, but she doesn’t want to talk. Archie gets up and goes for a run, straight to Miss Grundy’s house. They argue again about the gunshot and whether they should come forward. He has no understanding of the fact that her career would be ruined and what that would mean for her (whether or not she deserves it is another issue).

In the morning, Fred asks Archie where he ran to in the middle of the night. Archie is surprised that his father heard him. Fred replies that he’s been hearing Archie sneak out since he was 8 years old and sneaking over to Jughead’s tree house. He tells Archie to stop going on late night runs until the murderer is caught.

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Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 Episode 10: The Legion of Doom Recap

~ Metacrone

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“My name is Damien Darhk. In 2016 I was murdered by the Green Arrow, but I was removed from the timeline 31 years before my death by a speedster named Eobard Thawne, together with Malcom Merlyn, the former head of the League of Assassins. The three of us are going to locate the spear of Destiny, a mystical object which can rewrite reality itself. With the spear in our possession we will change our past, and our future. And the world as you know it.”

Wouldn’t we all love to see that show, with the addition of a few more Legion of Doom members? We could probably write a popular post ranking our choices for who should fill out the remaining regulars in the Legion. (The Snart siblings, Carrie Cutter/Cupid, and Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress, for the record). Alas, it’s just the fake out opening for this week’s episode of Legends of Tomorrow.

Following that fun opening, we flashback 8 months to find Malcom watching Oliver Queen/Green Arrow killing Damien Dark to foil Damien’s evil plan to destroy Star City. Damien and Eobard pop into Malcom’s shabby little apartment and offer to take him away from all this. Malcom obviously accepts.

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The 100 Season 4 Episode 1: Echoes Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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This season begins moments after last season ended. Everyone is waking up from the City of Light, assessing injuries, finding missing loved ones, and seeking to lay blame. Octavia is climbing down the outside of the Commander’s tower to find Indra, who is being taken down off of her cross. Octavia gives Indra the news that the City of Light has been destroyed, and Pike is dead.

Clarke and Bellamy arrive on the ground and survey the damage. Bellamy feels guilty about the City of Light because he’s so used to being wrong and feeling guilty at this point that he’s starting to feel like everything is his fault. This one’s on Jaha, though. Certainly not on any of the 100. Jaha is the one who let himself be seduced by ALIE’s promises to the point where he lost his common sense and unleashed her on everyone else.

They move on to their typical argument about whether to tell everyone the truth now, or to wait. This time the subject is the nuclear reactors that are going to melt down and produce enough radiation to make 96% of the earth uninhabitable in 6 months. Clarke thinks they should speak up now, because she never learns. Bellamy thinks they should wait, because he’s learned how to read a room. He can see the Grounders circling, looking for someone to blame for their current losses. They don’t need more bad news from Wanheda right this minute. And he needs a nap before he has to act as her knight in shining armor again.

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Agents of SHIELD Season 4 Episode 12: Hot Potato Soup Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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This week, we meet The Superior of the Watchdogs and he is… Zach McGowan, of The 100 and Black Sails, who is an amazing, sexy, dark, intense, commanding actor. King Roan has become one of my favorite characters on the 100. He’s playing Anton Ivanov, a rich, reclusive Russian industrialist who hates inhumans and Phil Coulson, and collects military antiques, including a submarine. He’s a traditionalist who doesn’t hold with all of these new types of aliens and humans mucking things up on earth. It seems like a role with a lot of potential, but Ivanov spent most of his onscreen time tonight trading threats with Radcliffe and looking broody and menacing. Hopefully they’ll let him off the submarine soon so that he can get involved in the action. His motivations also don’t completely make sense yet. There was some vague link to the attempted assassination of the Russian Prime Minister last season, but nothing that would explain the extreme hatred necessary for Ivanov’s level of obsession.

But first, we get Patton Oswalt times three! Sam and Billy Koenig are hanging out at their favorite arcade/bar trading movie quotes when they’re rudely interrupted by a couple of Russian Watchdogs, who kidnap Billy (Sam? No. Billy.) Sam uses his watch to notify Coulson immediately. The shot of stunt Patton leaping behind the bar to hide was especially fun.

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