The Gifted Season 1 Episode 8: threat of eXtinction Recap

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This week is an exciting week for The Gifted, as we get a big mythology dump, including the answer to the question of how Lauren and Andy turned out to be mutants when there didn’t appear to be any other mutants in their family. The answers are game changing for the Struckers, the Underground, and Sentinel Services. Sentinel Services also tries its own game changing plays, with less success. Issues of trust and loyalty continue to be important.

The cold open takes place in London in 1952. We see newspaper reports of mutant siblings terrorizing countries around the world. The mutant brother, Andreas, is sitting at a desk, writing a note to tell someone that he and his sister are still in hiding. The phone rings, but no one except “the organization” should have their number. His sister, Andrea, runs into the room. We hear multiple vehicles speeding up to the building. They realize that they’ve been found. A large group of armed men break through the door. The siblings hold hands, and energy glows from their hands. The camera cuts away to the opening sequence as we hear screaming.

We jump to the Atlanta Underground way station and the present day. Reed is informing the rest of the family that the company his father worked at for 30 years, Trask Industries, seems to be the defense contractor that’s turning mutants into weapons that hurt other mutants.

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Riverdale Season 2 Episode 5: Chapter Eighteen- When a Stranger Calls Recap

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Riverdale is all about the tests this week. Tests of loyalty, friendship, love, and strength. Some on purpose, some accidental. Some of the characters pass, some don’t. Betty and Jughead’s loyalties are tested on purpose. Their results are complex, because nothing in Riverdale is ever simple and straight forward.

Except for Alice’s response to slut shaming. Don’t even bother trying to make Alice feel guilty about anything. She’s way ahead of you and You Will Fail. Even the Black Hood can’t hurt Alice.

But we have other things to do before we get to the fun of Alice and her grand entrance.

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The Gifted Season 1 Episode 7: eXtreme measures Recap

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This week on The Gifted, everyone follows a thread from their not so pleasant past. Carmen calls in the favor that Marcos owes her. Clarice discovers what happened to her foster family. Jace discovers the cost of doing business and getting revenge with someone even more unscrupulous than he is. And Reed is shocked, SHOCKED to discover that a homeless teen mutant had to turn to crime to survive. More classism and shaming ensues. I’m starting to wonder when they’re going to throw Reed out of the way station for harassment.

In an opening scene from 3 years ago, Marcos is meeting Johnny and Lorna in a rural diner to discuss the Mutant Underground. Marcos is dating Carmen and heavily involved with the Cartel, but he’s already smuggled a few truckloads of mutants across the border. Lorna and Johnny want him to come work with them full time in the Underground.

Marcos explains that he already has a job and a very demanding girlfriend. Lorna suggests that he get a new girlfriend. Sparks fly between Lorna and Marcos. Johnny reminds Marcos that the X-men are gone and it’s up to them to ensure that mutants survive.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 3 Episode 6: Josh Is Irrelevant Recap

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Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen! Rebecca was given a “definitive” “diagnosis” in this episode. If you know anything about the diagnosis, and if you’ve read anything written by me before, you might be able to guess how I feel about borderline personality disorder.

Let’s get on with the recap, while I try to hold Metamaiden back from turning this post into one long rant about the horrors of the borderline personality disorder diagnosis and the ways it’s overdiagnosed in women, and used to control us, especially when you disagree with your elderly psychiatrist, who probably shouldn’t even be practicing anymore, as evidenced by the fact that he prescribes one medication after another that’s contraindicated for your serious chronic illness and gets defensive when you refuse to take those medications**; or your middle-aged male psychologist who decides that your near death experiences due to your illness aren’t trauma, they’re just white girl problems, while being completely sympathetic to your brother’s trauma from watching you suffer; or your middle-aged female counselor who tries to diagnose you when you’re a teenager despite that being expressly excluded in the definitions of the diagnosis.

There was a very good reason why Rebecca didn’t like what she found on the internet when she looked up her diagnosis. It’s the “my doctor doesn’t like me and thinks I’m difficult to work with because I’m a woman who questions them” diagnosis.*

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The Defenders Season 1 Episode 8: The Defenders Recap

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And They All Fall Down

The Defenders come together as a united team in this episode, for an epic fight to save NYC from destruction by the Hand. Previous to that, Luke, Matt, and Jessica seem to sincerely want to save Danny because they care about him for himself, not just because the Hand having the Fist is a very bad idea.

But, most importantly, this is a Winter Soldier parallel, and those helicarriers have to come down. that building has to come down. We can’t let HYDRA the Hand succeed with its ultimate evil plan to take over the world live forever and take over the world.

First, we need to convince Luke that the architect was right, and we should use his C4 and plans to collapse the building. Sweet Sister, Luke’s not okay with violence unless he’s instigating it! His trusted women, Claire and Jessica, make good points in the argument; enough so that he reluctantly gives in. Jessica, in particular, wants the Hand to be stopped permanently. She still has the architect’s brains all over her apartment and once is enough with a rude enemy like that.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 3 Episode 5: I Never Want to See Josh Again Recap

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After the last two tumultuous episodes, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend settles down a bit this episode. That’s not to say that Rebecca’s life settles down, though not for lack of trying by her mom, Naomi. Despite Rebecca’s severely depressed state of mind, this episode felt more like the show I love to watch. The end of the episode reached the conclusion that, if we’re honest, we all know we’ve been heading toward since the pilot.

Rebecca has been staying on her mom’s pull out couch since last weekend. Naomi, played by the ever glorious Tovah Feldshuh, has had enough of Rebecca’s lying around. She attempts to get Rebecca to go back to her life by using all of the usual methods, including shaming, hovering and controlling.

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Marvel’s Inhumans Season 1 Episode 8: …And Finally: Black Bolt Recap/ Agents of SHIELD S5 Promo

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Remember those promising days of early August, when it seemed like this might at least have writers who made sense, despite the awful hair and costumes?

We did it! We made it to the end of Marvel’s gag reel! They saved the worst for last, with the writers barely bothering to try to make this episode hang together and make sense. They also diabolically threw in new plot information from out of left field, just in case this torture device gets reviewed.

Hold your noses and read on.

We pick up right where we left off, with Black Bolt confronting Maximus in the royal bunker. Except the writers got drunk in between, and forgot that the two men were alone, so this week the whole family is there. Why not? Let’s say that invisibility is now a temporary talent.

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The Gifted Season 1 Episode 6: got your siX Recap

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This week on The Gifted, everyone is very aware of their connections and responsibilities to each other. With Reed back in his role of patriarch, the Struckers struggle to figure out who they are in their new lives as fugitives. Lorna and Marcos embrace their roles as future parents in their own unique ways. Jace renews his commitment to avenging his daughter’s death, taking his mission to an even greater extreme in the wake of Dreamer’s brain scramble. And Johnny questions whether he’s the right man to lead the Underground. The X-men said a war is coming, and he couldn’t even keep his best friend out of the clutches of Sentinel Services.

Clarice realizes that her connection to the others has never truly existed at all.

We begin with a flashback to four years ago. Johnny and other mutant military veterans are in Phoenix raising money to help victims of the Dallas 7/15 incident. That was the peaceful mutant rights march that spiraled out of control until at least one mutant released their powers, killing many people, mutant and human, including Jace’s daughter.

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Marvel’s Inhumans Season 1 Episode 7: Havoc in the Hidden Land Recap

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The royal family is reunited on the moon this week, after 6 episodes of stumbling around a tiny Hawaiian island trying to find each other. Watching these guys, one begins to understand why the Kree decided to leave them behind.

Black Bolt reveals the existence of a fully stocked royal apocalypse bunker known only to the king, which suggests that the servants who periodically switch out supplies are subsequently murdered. Another mark in favor of keeping Black Bolt as king, no? Maximus proves once again that he got the entire genetic allotment of intelligence for the family, as he easily tricks Black Bolt into turning Declan over to him. Then it’s fun and games with terrigenesis experiments all around. But first, Black Bolt proves to have pulled off another deception, as Triton appears from the ocean, alive and well.

Down on earth the royals recapture everyone who escaped when Gorgon died, including Auran and Declan. Medusa and Karnak question Declan about his research, which they learn has been funded by Maximus. The royals realize that Maximus wants to go through terrigenesis again, and has probably murdered the genetic council so that they won’t stop him.

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Marvel’s Inhumans Season 1 Episode 6: The Gentleman’s Name Is Gorgon Recap

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This week the royal family members on Earth are reunited, in preparation for the season finale. Each side of the ongoing battle in Hawaii loses a key member. Human friends are ditched, having served their purposes. And Maximus continues to go through more advisors than the Trump administration. The phrase “peaceful transition of power” clearly doesn’t mean what he thinks it means.

Maximus is walking down the halls of the palace, alone, when Lockjaw drops in with the entire royal family, wearing their original outfits. They are out to get Maximus. Black Bolt blames Maximus for Triton’s death, and knows that Maximus is the one who really killed their parents. Maximus begs for a peaceful transition of power, as Black Bolt draws a deep breath before using his voice on Maximus.

Before Black Bolt can speak, Maximus wakes up, sitting on the throne, still king of Attilan.

Down on Earth, Dave’s crazy ex-girlfriend/vet tech Audrey is examining Lockjaw and complaining about his injuries and treatment. Crystal gets defensive about her right to use Lockjaw for teleportation, no matter what his injuries are. Then Audrey changes tactics, and tells Crystal to go home, or get registered. In fact, she’ll take the photo for the ID herself.

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