July 2020

Stargirl – Shining Knight

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Stargirl – Shining Knight
  • wiki: link

Stargirl - Shining Knight television review

Following the death of Henry (Jake Austin Walker), Courtney (Brec Bassinger) receives another gut punch with the arrival of her biological father, a drifter named Sam Curtis (Geoff Stults) who is very much not Starman. Shattering her illusion she was a legacy fulfilling a destiny of picking up her father’s staff in the war against the ISA, the arrival of Sam, neither hero nor villain but simply a selfish absentee father, is a blow as strong as any that left her in the hospital earlier in the season.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Too Long A Sacrifice #1

/ / Comics

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long A Sacrifice #1 comicsSet during the time of the Dominion War, after Worf‘s appointment to the station but prior to the death of Jadzia Dax, the first issue of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Too Long A Sacrifice gives us an explosion in the promenade and rising tensions aboard a station already at war. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has largely been ignored by comics (this marks the first new comic featuring the series in a decade).

Many of the staples of the series are here including Dr. Bashir and Garak enjoying lunch (and surviving the blast that destroys the restaurant). Framing the issue around a mystery for Odo to solve offers a good point of reference for the mini-series. We’re also given our first red herring as early evidence points to Quark being responsible for the destruction of a competitor.

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Warrior Nun – Psalm 46:5

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Warrior Nun – Psalm 46:5
  • wiki: link

Warrior Nun - Psalm 46:5 television review

Adapted from the comic book Warrior Nun Areala, the opening episode of Warrior Nun introduces us to a world where a legion of heavily armed nuns fight battles against an unknown foe. The field leader of the group (Melina Matthews) is injured in an attack and unable to be saved by the medical nuns (guess they have every type of nun in this series) with the yet-to-be-named enemy at the door. The opening episode of Warrior Nun could use a bit more world building as we’re left largely as clueless as to how the nuns operate (are they known? work in the shadows? vigilantes? some kind of official law enforcement?) although Father Vincent‘s (Tristán Ulloa) musings to a bartender near the end of the episode seem to point to most people being unaware of their existence and at least explain what the group is fighting against: demons on Earth.

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Batman: The Adventures Continue #8

/ / Comics

Batman: The Adventures Continue #8 comic reviewThe two part “Darker Knight” story concludes as Batman and Azrael discover who stole the Shawl of Magdalene from the Order of St. Dumas.

As in the first-half of the story, Batman’s concern over the the ferocity of Azrael’s actions (such as beating a lead out of the Penguin) continues to grow. However, despite the foreshadowing of a possible physical altercation between them, the pair do not come to blows as Azrael confronts Mister Freeze who hopes to use the shawl to save the life of his wife Nora. Fortunately for Azrael, after biting off more than he can handle in Freeze, Batman arrives in time to save the day wrapping up the tale and leaving the heroes on good terms.

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Altered Carbon – Phantom Lady

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Altered Carbon – Phantom Lady
  • wiki: link

Altered Carbon - Phantom Lady television review

One of the most intriguing aspects of both the show’s premise and the open-ended Season One finale, is that Altered Carbon can be reset with a new actor and new story whenever necessary (not unlike Doctor Who). 30 years after the events of last season’s finale, “Phantom Lady” opens with Takeshi Kovacs living in the body of a lounge singer waiting for payment. The arrival of a bounty hunter (Simone Missick) working for Horace Axley (Michael Shanks) forces Kovacs back to Harlan’s World in the body of a new sleeve (Anthony Mackie) with a new mystery to solve and a new lead to the whereabouts of Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry). The circumstances of Kovacs being reborn in Mackie’s body make sense (even if it leaves questions unanswered about the sleeve he ended Season One in), and the set-up will offer a new mystery to solve, although I’m mixed on the choice to make the new mystery as personal (involving the love of his life) at the outset as last season (which involved his sister).

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