Tag: review

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Episode 5: Seeds Recap

~ Metacrone

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There will be blood.

You’d think an episode called Seeds would be full of metaphors for growth and fertility, especially since the main character is pregnant. Those metaphors are there, to be sure, but only in the most macabre, twisted versions possible, as befits the malignant culture of Gilead, which relentlessly suffocates anything that tries to grow.

Fittingly, the seeds of the title are seeds of destruction and rebellion. The tiny kernels of hate, hope and despair that push characters over the edge into that realm where they have nothing to lose or something worth fighting for. It’s a different motivation for each character, and a deadly rollercoaster ride through the episode to get to the point of resolve. Women’s blood is spilled, and Nick, the one male ally in Gilead, has his heart broken. But the seeds are unwittingly planted by the agents of Gilead itself.

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The Crossing Season 1 Episode 9: Hope Smiles from the Threshold Recap

~ Metacrone

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As The Crossing gears up for next week’s double episode series finale, this week the penultimate episode, Hope Smiles from the Threshold, crams in as much plot as possible to prepare us for the end. There are several big reveals, more new characters introduced, and background characters given new prominence.

And it’s made clear that this world is a dangerous place for black men. The show started with 3 named black men, and has killed one (Beaumont), kept one physically safe in the current time (Caleb), so far, and has now critically wounded Bryce Foster, Emma Ren’s replacement as head of the refugee camp. Emma died from a less serious gunshot wound to the shoulder than Bryce’s shot to the abdomen, which has left him quickly bleeding out in the woods.

But don’t worry, the white folks, other than Sophie, are all physically fine. As a matter of fact, one of them, Lindauer, appears to have stolen  hidden exploited the talents of rescued Caleb and Rebecca’s missing daughter, Rachel, who is revealed to be a cryptographer. That’s a handy skill for someone trying to amass government and financial power.

I’m sure Greta Eve and Lindauer Noah rescued her from Apex out of the goodness of their hearts, though. And they’ll return Rachel to her birth parents right after they fake the suicides of the refugees in the camp. Oops. This multiracial girl was kidnapped from one form of enslavement into a more subtle form of exploitation. A gilded cage is still a cage.

We also find out more details about the crossing itself, and how the refugees ended up in the water.

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Reverie Season 1 Episode 1: Apertus Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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NBC’s Reverie is a new show starring Sarah Shahi (Person of Interest) as former hostage negotiator Mara Kint, who’s brought in by her former boss, Charlie Ventana (Dennis Haysbert, Allstate Insurance commercials) to help revive the comatose user of a new form of technology call Reverie, produced by Onira Tech. The tech creates virtual simulations within the patient’s own mind, making them indistinguishable from reality. It allows the users to bring back, and interact with, lost loved ones, and reenact favorite memories. Some users find the simulated reality better than real life, and try to stay inside Reverie forever. While they’re living out their fantasy life in the dreamworld, their bodies have slipped into comas.

Mara’s job is to enter the coma victim’s dreamworld and talk them out of their Reverie. Because of the nature of the tech, they be involuntarily removed, and once she’s in, neither can Mara. Each patient has a biotech implant that interfaces with their nervous system, allowing the Reverie to feel real, but making it harder to keep the patients safe when things go wrong.

Reverie (the product) was created by scientist Alexis Barrett (Jessica Lu, Awkward). Alexis also created the Jarvis-like AI that runs the Onira headquarters, Dylan. Dylan and Alexis have a past. Mara is trained in the use of Reverie, and her visits are monitored, by Oneirologist Paul Hammond (Sendhil Ramamurthy, Heroes). Oneirology is the scientific study of dreams. Kathryn Morris (Cold Case) plays Monica Shaw, a mysterious Department of Defense official who meets with Charlie to discuss the future of the project and its DoD is funding.

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Agents of SHIELD Season 5 Episode 22: The End Recap and Season 5 Review/Analysis

~ Metacrone

Episode 22, The End, closes season 5 of Agents of SHIELD, and, as promised in the promos, not everyone makes it out alive. It’s an emotional episode that ties up the Graviton story, at least for now, and settles the question of who’ll succeed Coulson as director of SHIELD, at least for now. The season is wrapped up nicely at the end of the episode, but there’s a clear set up for season 6. I’m still reeling from everything that happened in this episode, and wondering about some of the dangling threads that were purposely left hanging.

Coulson lies unconscious in the infirmary, not dead yet, but inching ever closer. Deke listens from the hall as the team argues about whether to save Coulson or save the world. They don’t currently have a way to get the centipede serum/odium mixture into Talbot, even if they decide to use it on him. Fitz suggests that having Talbot absorb someone who has the serum might work. Mack, of course, is upset that Fitz went there. Fitz tells him it’s a hypothetical suggestion.

There Fitz goes, using big words and getting all sciencey and theoretical again. Next thing you know, he’ll try to get Mack to believe in climate change or that the earth is more than 6,000 years old.

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The Rain Season 1 Episode 8: Trust Your Instincts Recap and Season 1 Review/Analysis

~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments
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Simone stands between her father and Rasmus, and the world and Rasmus.

In episode 8, Simone and Rasmus are reunited with their father at the Apollon headquarters, and the survivors reach the wall that separates the quarantine zone from the world, but nothing else goes as planned. The survivors face new and unexpected challenges at the Apollon headquarters, and have to make some difficult decisions, but they get some good news, too.

At the start of the episode, Thomas drives the survivors toward the grounds of the Apollon headquarters. The 100 foot high wall isolating the quarantine zone can be seen in the distance as well.

Simone remembers when her father charged her with taking care of Rasmus. He told her that Rasmus was the key to it all. In the present, she tries to put her hand on Rasmus’ shoulder in solidarity, but he cringes forward to shake her hand off.

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The Rain Season 1 Episode 7: Don’t Talk to Strangers Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

In episode 7, everyone’s bad day continues into the next day, except for Beatrice, whose fight is over. Patrick is now a guest of the Strangers, and they’re too desperate, for reasons of their own, to exhibit much politeness or patience with him. Rasmus has cast himself as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and is unable to cope with his beloved’s death, or let go of her body. He’s the same trainwreck that he’s been since the moment we met him, a force of nature who can’t be stopped and feels no remorse. As Simone will try to tell him, the rest just revolve around him, trying to keep him safe, and falling to the wayside as they fail.

The episode begins with the chief Stranger, Thomas, interrogating Patrick about the location of the rest of his group. When Patrick won’t answer, he does a little demonstration of old school interrogation methods. Once upon a time, they used to believe that insanity lived in the teeth, and kept removing them until sanity was restored. He pulls out one of Patrick’s molars, with pliers and no painkillers, to make sure Patrick’s understands.

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The Crossing Season 1 Episode 7: Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments
The one and only promo photo released for this episode. He’s dreaming a golden dream.

In case anyone hasn’t heard yet, there will only be one season of The Crossing. This episode is an example of the uneven writing that probably turned viewers away and got it cancelled, along with a main character who’s a patsy and a screw up, and not even charming while he’s doing it.

The women of The Crossing continue to be fascinating and amazing, but, after only 7 episodes, the show has developed an alarming tendency to disappear them. One of the supposed leads, Emma Ren, disappeared a few episodes ago. Now Sophie Forbin is also gone, fired from her job and hospitalized with a heart attack. This week we don’t even get an update on her condition. The other important female character, Reece, is written so inconsistently that you’d never believe she’s from a superior race. Tonight, even though she was told point-blank by Beaumont that the 1st wavers are hunting her, it doesn’t occur to her that she’s able to get her daughter back so easily because it’s a trap. Reece also disappears for long stretches of time, despite being a lead.

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Agents of SHIELD Season 5 Episode 21: The Force of Gravity Recap

~ Metacrone

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After half a season of teasing variations on the choice between saving Coulson and saving the world, the choice that Future Elena predicted would be their downfall, the Agents of SHIELD have finally reached the end of the line. There’s no question that the final, life or death choice that the agents are left with at the end of episode 21 is the one that she was referring to. Up until now, the team has been split down the middle, with half the team unable to face watching anyone close to them die, no matter what repercussions it might have on the world, and half believing that sometimes a few (or one) need to be sacrificed in order to save many.

Coulson, the potential sacrifice in question, has been making his feelings on the matter clear for months. He intends to die when his time comes and doesn’t want any heroic interventions made to stop nature from taking its course. But we’ve all seen how important he is, not just to the team, but to keeping the world running smoothly. Are there times when one particular person is more important than a random group of people, because of the contribution that one person will likely make to the future? How would that even be decided? How many lives would it be reasonable to trade for Phil Coulson’s life? How many lives might he save if he lives?

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The Rain Season 1 Episode 6: Keep Your Friends Close Recap

~ Metacrone

This is the episode where the group spins out of control. All of the emotions and tensions that have been building all season, both positive and negative, come to a head. Individuals act on their feelings, for better or worse, and, while some actions are beneficial, others are mistakes that can’t be taken back. The group will be changed forever because of the events of this day.

Keep Your Friends Close is Patrick’s episode, and the cold opening gives us a taste of Patrick’s life before the plague rain. He was a slacker who messed up everything in his life: He couldn’t keep a job, or a girlfriend, and everyone had given up on him. His boss at the fast food joint says that he’s started five fires, among other complaints, so he’s fired. His girlfriend wants someone who nicer, more ambitious, and generally not him. She breaks up with him. His social worker says he’s her first hopeless case. Patrick doesn’t listen to any of them. He sits and fidgets with a lit lighter instead.

In the present, Patrick and Martin sit next to some water and throw stones into it. Patrick worries that the outside world won’t be any nicer than the quarantine zone. Martin thinks that it has to be. Patrick says that they never would have met if it weren’t for the zone, so he can’t hate it. Martin replies that traveling together doesn’t make them friends.

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The Rain Season 1 Episode 5: Have Faith Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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Have Faith, which is Lea’s episode, tells the story of where Lea was and what she was doing when the plague rain came, while also showing the survivors finding a mysterious mansion full of thriving people. The title refers to faith because Lea is a devout Christian, despite the tragedies she’s faced. In fact, it’s almost like God has directly answered her prayers at times, though not in the ways she expected.

This episode examines each survivor’s ability to let go and believe in a fantasy world, based on a little reality, some storytelling, and a lot of trust, faith and hope. But this is still the harsh, post apocalyptic world. Nothing is too good to be true.

As the episode begins, night is falling, the rain is coming, and Simone can’t find the next bunker. The electronic map isn’t working and they’re out in the woods with no landmarks for her to use to orient herself. Tempers flare and everyone yells at everyone else. Patrick becomes aggressive toward Simone, then toward Rasmus.

Lea drags Patrick away from the group before things can escalate further. She tells him that she misses Jean too. He says that Jean was a pain. She agrees, but she still misses him. Patrick admits that he does too. They hug and cry together. Lea tells Patrick that Jean is still in their hearts.

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