Tag: Season Premiere

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Metal Hurlant Chronicles Season 1

King’s Crown

Metal Hurlant ChroniclesThe aging, bloated ruler of a kingdom floating in the clouds nears death, and contenders for the throne line up to do battle. In the time-honored tradition, they state their qualifications to rule, and fight to the death until only one man is left standing. One man, Guillam, promises reform: he will put technology to work for the people instead of making the people slaves to technology. But to put his agenda into play, he must still kill. Does he have what it takes to avoid becoming just a cog in a very literal political machine?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Guillaume Lubrano & Justine Veillot
based on a story written by Jim Alexander and illustrated by Richard Corben
directed by Guillaume Lubrano
music by Jesper Kyd

<Metal Hurlant ChroniclesemCast: Scott Adkins (Guillam), Michael Jai White (Teague), Matt Mullins (Julian), Darren Shahlavi (Adam), Marinela Botis (Spectator), Puiu Mitea (Spectator), Ion Bechet (Spectator), Tatar Anca (Spectator), Gabriel Velicu (Spectator), Idan Roxin (Spectator), Stan Niculae (Spectator)

Notes: The comic story of the same title as the episode appeared in Metal Hurlant #142, published in December 2003.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Wizards vs. Aliens

Dawn Of The Nekross – Part 1

Wizards vs. AliensA pair of wizards cast an incantation in a stone circle, apparently drawing the attention of an alien spacecraft. The Nekross have arrived on Earth to begin harvesting the power of magic, upon which their king and their entire species feeds. Since practitioners of magic on Earth tend to live in seclusion, keeping their powers secret, they’ll make easy prey.

When his class gets a welcome break from school to take a field trip to the stone circle, young wizard Tom Clarke – the latest in a long line of wizards, whose dad cautions him against misusing his powers – finds a magical artifact. His science geek classmate Benny is quick to dismiss the possibility that the item has magical properties, until he sees it glowing in Tom’s hand. The Nekross, aboard a spaceship hidden behind the far side of the moon, detect the surge of energy from the item (dropped by their last victims) and begin a search for Tom so they can drain him of his magic. Tom’s grandmother, Ursula, arrives to protect her grandson by using her own powers, but the two of them make an even more tempting treat for the aliens.

Order the serieswritten by Phil Ford
directed by Daniel O’Hara
music by Sam Watts

Wizards vs. AliensCast: Scott Haran (Tom Clarke), Percelle Ascott (Benny Sherwood), Gwendoline Christie (Lexi), Jefferson Hall (Varg), Brian Blessed (voice of the Nekross King), Annette Badland (Ursula Crowe), Michael Higgs (Michael Clarke), Tim Rose (Nekross King puppeteer), Manpreet Bambra (Katie Lord), Connor Scarlett (Quinn Christopher), Paul Hunter (Robert France), Harry Lawtey (young Mark), Brian Miller (old Mark), Sara Stewart (Miss Webster)

Notes: Created by Russell T. Davies to fill the time slot and resources previously allocated to The Sarah Jane Adventures (whose run ended abruptly upon the death of its star, Elisabeth Sladen, in 2011), Wizards vs. Aliens is not a Doctor Who spinoff. Most of the behind-the-scenes personnel from SJA continue to work on this show, and a few familiar faces can be found in front of the camera as well. Annette Badland portrayed Blon Slitheen in the first season of Davies’ Doctor Who revival, while actor Brian Miller is the widower of Elisabeth Sladen and appeared in Doctor Who and SJA numerous times. Brian Blessed also appeared in Doctor Who (in one of the series’ most controversial segments, parts 5-8 of The Trial Of A Time Lord), but is thankfully better known for appearances in Blackadder, Flash Gordon, and as the voice of Boss Nass, the Gungan leader in Star Wars Episode I.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Doctor Who New Series Season 08

Deep Breath

Doctor WhoA live dinosaur in the Thames proves to be quite a spectacle, one that calls for the expertise of Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. No stranger to prehistoric reptiles, Madame Vastra has just the trick for pacifying the dinosaur, but when the dinosaur coughs up a blue and apparently wooden box, Vastra and her entourage instantly know that more trouble will follow. Clara stumbles out of the TARDIS in the company of an older man wearing the Doctor’s clothes: the Doctor’s new face.

As the Doctor recovers from his recent regeneration, Clara questions whether she can continue her travels with him. Madame Vastra scolds Clara for basing her initial impressions of the Doctor’s new incarnation on physical appearance, but before the conversation can continue, the dinosaur in the Thames stirs before spontaneously combusting. The Doctor, having already awoken and gone to the scene, is angered at the creature’s death, and wonders if there have been other recent deaths by spontaneous combustion. Surprised by the question, Vastra admits that there have been. The Doctor, still behaving in an erratic manner, leaves on his own to start investigating.

A newspaper advertisement draws both Clara and the Doctor to a restaurant, each thinking that the other placed the ad, but once they arrive, they are trapped by the restaurant’s mechanical waiters. They are taken to meet the being behind the string of deaths by spontaneous combustion, a mechanical creature harvesting organs and other body parts to keep itself functional in hopes of continuing a mission that was interrupted when it was stranded on Earth. The Doctor has regained enough of his senses the challenge the robot to avoid killing… but in trying to prevent the robot from taking another life, must he take one himself?

Order the DVDwritten by Steven Moffat
directed by Ben Wheatley
music by Murray Gold

Cast: Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Jenna-Louise Coleman (Clara), Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra), Catrin Stewart (Jenny Flint), Dan Starkey (Strax), Nigel Betts (Mr. Anderson), Paul Hickey (Inspector Gregson), Tony Way (Alfie), Maggie Service (Elsie), Sean Ashburn (Restaurant Droid), Peter Ferdinando (Half-Face), Michelle Gomez (Keeper of the Nethersphere), Matt Smith (The Doctor)

Doctor WhoNotes: The Doctor, in his tenth incarnation, encountered similar self-repairing robots aboard the S.S. Madame du Pompadour in The Girl In The Fireplace (2006), also written by Steven Moffat. This is the first post-regeneration story in the history of Doctor Who that features a new scene shot with the previous Doctor.

Maggie Service provided the voice of the ship’s computer in the BBC SF comedy Hyperdrive. Peter Fernandino was the Black Knight in Snow White And The Huntsman, and has also been seen in 300: The Rise Of An Empire and Hyena.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Rebels Season 1 Star Wars

Spark Of Rebellion

Star Wars: RebelsOn the outer rim world of Lothal, Ezra Bridger ekes out a life of causing mischief for the local Imperial garrison, getting what he can for himself, and escaping to do it all again another day. He also has an ability to stay one step ahead of the local Imperial forces, making quick getaways and startling leaps to safety. Ezra notices unusual activity surrounding a shipment of Imperial cargo crates, but what’s unusual is the motley group of people who try to steal that cargo. Since it’s obviously of value, Ezra decides to steal some of it for himself, which endears him to neither the Imperial stormtroopers or his rival band of thieves, led by Kanan Jarrus. Impressed by Ezra’s abilities, Kanan rescues the boy (and the crate of cargo he’s stolen) and makes a quick getaway about his cargo ship, the Ghost. Ezra finds he’s made an enemy of Kanan’s strong man, Zeb, and has simply annoyed explosives expert Sabine and the Ghost‘s pilot, Hera (and her C-10-P astromech droid, Chopper). But Ezra slowly begins to realize that he’s taken his first step into a larger world: Kanan Jarrus and the Ghost’s crew are fighting the Empire on principle, not for profit…and Kanan is not simply a sharp shot with a blaster, but one of the last remaining wielders of a Jedi lightsaber. Kanan believes that, like himself, Ezra has the ability to connect with the Force. Ezra’s life has just become a lot more dangerous.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Simon Kinberg
directed by Steward Lee & Steven G. Lee
music by Kevin Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steven Blum (Zeb / Alton Kastle / Stormtrooper 3 / Stormtrooper 6), David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Keith Szarabajka (Vizago / Transport Captain / Imperial Officer / Old Man), David Shaughnessy (Aresko / Myles Grint / Refugee 1), Greg Weisman (Commander Stormtrooper), James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Greg Ellis (Stormtrooper 5), Liam O’Brien (Yogar Lyste / Morad Sumar / Vendor), Jason Isaacs (The Inquisitor)

RebelsNotes: Star Wars: Rebels takes place five years before the original Star Wars, and 14 years after Revenge Of The Sith. Few Jedi escaped the Order 66 massacre in the latter movie, but Kanan Jarrus was a young Jedi at the time and has escaped detection by putting his Force abilities to use as a privateer. The Jedi Holocrons were first seen on TV in Rebels’ predecessor series, Star Wars: Clone Wars, but mentions of them in print media preceded their appearance in filmed media. Many of the show’s designs were based on unused or early Ralph McQuarrie designs for the original trilogy.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Powers Season 1

Pilot

PowersSuperpowers are real. Those who have them – known simply as Powers – operate on a different level of morality than “mere mortals”, though they themselves are perfectly mortal. Major metropolitan areas suffer serious damage from battles between real superheroes and supervillains, and subterranean prisons exist to house captured villains. Powers have celebrity status; young people with latern powers must choose how to use their abilities, often with little in the way of guidance.

Superpowers no longer exist for Detective Christian Walker. Now the head of the NYPD’s Powers Division, Walker was once a Power himself – a famous superhero known as Diamond. He lost his abilities in a battle with “Big Bad” Wolfe, who now languishes in a federal Powers containment facility. One of Walker’s superhero allies from his days as Diamond, Olympia, turns up dead, a victim of a designer drug that somehow modifies Power DNA. The drug was given to him by a girl named Calista, a “wannabe” who claims she has latent powers. Walker and his new partner, Deena Pilgrim, question the girl, but she vanishes from her interrogation room. Walker suspects one of his old enemies, Johnny Royale, is still on the move, though everyone else thinks Royale is dead. Walker tries to find Calista to learn more about the drug and to find out if Royale is involved, but he finds her on the brink of suicide, and in trying to stop her, he makes the fatal mistake of forgetting he himself is no longer a Power…

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Charlie Huston
based on the graphic novel by Michael Avon Oeming & Brian Michael Bendis
directed by David Slade
music by Jeff Rona

Cast: Sharlto Copley (Christian Walker), Susan Heyward (Detective Deena Pilgrim), Noah Taylor (Johnny Royale), Olesya Rulin (Calista), Adam Godley (Captain Cross), Max Fowler (Krispin Stockley), Michelle Forbes (Retro Girl), Eddie Izzard (Wolfe), Logan Browning (Zora), Claire Bronson (Candace Stockley), Aaron Farb (Simons), Justice Leak (Detective Kutter), David Ury (Dr. Death), Mario Lopez (himself), Phillip Devona (Zabriski), Daniel Thomas May (Bug), Adam Boyer (Olympia), Mickey Cole (Levitation Boy), Pete Burris (Adlard), Brian LaFontaine (Brian Stockley), Johnny Giacalone (Cancilarra), Brett Gentile (Argento), Leander Suleiman (Mack), Jeryl Prescott Sales (Golden), Linds Edwards (Zerotron X), Michael Beasley (Chaykin), Victor Turner (Supression Specialist), B.J. Winfrey (Shaft Guard), Dave Pileggi (Med Tech #1), Troy Brenna (Iron Impact), Sara Pagliocca (Porn Star)

PowersNotes: Based on a series of comics first published in 2000 whose film/TV rights were optioned within a year of the publication of the first collected graphic novel edition, Powers took a long road to the screen. In 2011, filming began on a pilot with an earlier edition of the script (written by Brian Michael Bendis, writer of the comics) and a completely different cast, only to be turned down by cable network FX. A new cast (led by District 9 star Sharlto Copley) began shooting new scripts in 2014, with Bendis and fellow creator Michael Avon Oeming serving as executive producers. Rather than a traditional broadcast or cable outlet, Powers found a home as the first original series on the Playstation Network. Despite mixed reviews, viewership numbers were promising enough for Sony to greenlight a second season, to debut in 2016. You can read reviews of the original Powers graphic novels in our Book Reviews section, and you can also check out a lengthy multi-part interview with Brian Michael Bendis at Dave Thomer’s This Is Not News (part 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Supergirl

Supergirl (pilot)

SupergirlIn the dying days of the planet Krypton, young Kara Zor-El is sent to Earth to protect her younger cousin, Kal-El. When debris from Krypton’s destruction knocks Kara’s escape pod off-course, a detour through the Phantom Zone means that she doesn’t reach Earth until after Kal-El has reached maturity (and become known to the world as Superman). Her upbringing is entrusted to the Danvers family, where she has a normal life, an older sister…and eventually grows up in a very human way, not using her powers at all, holding down a dead-end job at the National City Tribune, being ordinary.

This ends when she learns that a flight taking her sister to Geneva is about to crash. She brings the plane down safely, but in doing so exposes herself to the scrutiny of the public as well as secret organizations. One of them, a cabal of Kryptonian criminals banished to the Phantom Zone, followed her pod to Earth, a planet of weak beings they intend to subjugate. Kara is an obstacle to their plans and is marked for death.

But Kara is even more disturbed to find that another organization, tracking aliens and those with extraordinary powers, includes her older sister, Alex, among its ranks. This organization is aware of, and closely monitors, the Kryptonian criminals, but believes Kara will prove ineffective in stopping them. She is urged to go back into hiding, to retreat into ordinary human life.

But it’s too late for that. Cat Grant, publisher of the Tribune, has taken the few blurry photos of Kara from the airplane rescue and has attached a name to National City’s new hero: Supergirl. With some advice from James (formerly Jimmy) Olsen, an old friend of her cousin’s, Kara must now navigate the already-complicated life of a twenty-four year old woman…and a secret life as a superhero.

Get this season on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Ali Adler
story by Greg Berlanti & Ali Adler & Andrew Kreisberg
directed by Glen Winter
music by Blake Neely

SupergirlCast: Melissa Benoist (Kara / Supergirl), Mehcad Brooks (James Olsen), Chyler Leigh (Alex Danvers) Jeremy Jordan (Winn Schott), David Harewood (Hank Henshaw), Calista Flockhart (Cat Grant), Dean Cain (Jeremiah Danvers), Laura Benanti (Alura / Astra), Helen Slater (Eliza Danvers), Owain Yeoman (Vartox), Faran Tahir (Commander), Ben Begley (Tobey), Robert Gant (Zor-El), Derek Mio (Hayashi), Maline Weissman (young Kara Zor-El), Jordan Mazarati (young Alex Danvers), Briana Venskus (Agent Vasquez), Chriss Anglin (Pilot), Rick Garcia (Himself), Nick Jaine (Another Staffer), Kinna McInroe (Waitress), Leyna Nguyen (Herself), Paul Stuart (Yale), Julien Yuen (Terrified Teen)

SupergirlNotes: Kara’s parents are portrayed by actors with significantly super roles of their own. Helen Slater played Supergirl in the character’s sole big-screen adventure in 1984, while Dean Cain played Superman himself, almost as a side-note to the role of Clark Kent, in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. Supergirl was developed for TV by the dynamic duo of Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, who brought Arrow and The Flash to CBS’ sister network, the CW; it was felt that Supergirl was enough of a high-profile character to add her to the CBS schedule rather than the CW. Supergirl proved popular on CBS, winning the series a full-season pickup, though she would eventually migrate to the CW for her second season.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Stranger Things

The Vanishing Of Will Byers

Stranger ThingsNovember 6, 1983: An incident occurs at the Hawkins National Lab in Hawkins, Indiana. Something beyond the lab’s control escapes into the surrounding suburbs.

A marathon weekend session of Dungeons & Dragons breaks up, and Mike Wheeler has to give up being the Dungeon Master and return to school the following day. His friends Lucas, Dustin and Will all get on their bikes to head home, but the sight of a strange, towering humanoid figure sends Will off the road. He ditches his bike and races home on foot, only to find that both his older brother and his mother are still at work. Something beyond Will’s comprehension takes him.

Joyce Byers, Will’s mother, files a missing child report with the local police, though the initial response from Hawkins’ police chief is a bit underwhelming. Mike, Lucas and Dustin are all warned to stay home, rather than going to look for Will. Across town, a mysterious girl in a hospital gown is taken in by a restaurant owner, who pays for his kindness with his life when armed agents come looking for her. The girl manages to escape, and runs into Mike, Lucas and Dustin, who are doing precisely what they’ve been told not to do.

written by Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer
directed by Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer
music by Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein

Stranger ThingsCast: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Matthew Modine (Dr. Martin Brenner), Joe Chrest (Ted Wheeler), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Rob Morgan (Officer Powell), Ross Partridge (Lonnie Byers), Shannon Purser (Barbara Holland), John Paul Reynolds (Officer Callahan), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Mark Steger (Monster), Chris Sullivan (Benny Hammond), Andrew Benator (Elevator Scientist), Stefanie Butler (Cynthia), David Dwyer (Earl), Catherine Dyer (Agent Connie Frazier), Salem Hadeed-Murphy (High School Principal), Randy Havens (Mr. Clarke), Hugh Holub (Scientist), Tobias Jelinek (Lead Agent), Cade Jones (James), Anniston Price (Holly Wheeler), Tinsley Price (Holly Wheeler), Anthony Reynolds (Agent), Susan Shalhoub Larkin (Florence), Tony Vaughn (Principal Coleman), Peyton Wich (Troy), Brenda Wood (Local Newswoman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Red Dwarf Season 11

Twentica

Red DwarfA chance run-in with a particularly nasty breed of simulants called exponoids becomes a momentary hostage crisis. Lister has to trade a piece of arcane time travel technology – which has been propping up Starbug’s pool table – to get Rimmer back. But once armed with time travel, the exponoids go back in time to rewrite human history, outlawing any post-steam-powered technology and forbidding scientific research. Great scientific minds are either locked up, or simply never come into being. Kryten and Rimmer run the risk of being discovered. A dying man hands some kind of electronic component to Lister and tells him to take it to the hostess of a local speakeasy; there, Lister and the others find that science and technology still happen here, but in secret…and Lister has been given a piece of a weapon that could set history straight.

Order the DVDswritten by Doug Naylor
directed by Doug Naylor
music by Howard Goodall

Red DwarfCast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Kevin Eldon (4 of 27), Lucie Pohl (Harmony), David Sterne (Einstein Bob), Sam Douglas (Bouncer), Rebecca Blackstone (Big Bang Beryl), Kyle James (Nearly Dead Guy), Suanne Braun (Cpt. Dorothy McCutcheon), David Menkin (Lt. Clarence O’Neal), Alexis Dubus (3 of 63)

Notes: Kevin Eldon was one of the regular cast members of BBC2’s sci-fi comedy Hyperdrive, a show which many saw as the BBC’s attempt to recapture the Red Dwarf audience at a time when Red Dwarf had been out of production for several years. He also voiced a character in the Doctor Who radio project Death Comes To Time.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Rebels Season 3 Star Wars

Steps Into Shadow

Star Wars: RebelsEzra leads a daring raid on a fully staffed Imperial outpost on Naraka to rescue Hondo, who has been a useful informant for past Rebel operations. Hondo points the Alliance toward an Imperial salvage yard where captured Rebel Y-Wings are being dismantled for scrap; recovering them intact would boost Rebel firepower significantly, despite the fighters’ age. Ezra, Sabine, Chopper and Rex scout the salvage yard out in the Phantom, only to discover that only a few Y-Wings remain intact. Ezra, promoted to lieutenant commander in the Rebel Alliance, decides that the scouting mission has become a recovery mission on the fly. Missing all of the action is Kanan, still blinded after his duel with Darth Maul, and deeply disturbed to find that Ezra has been gaining knowledge from the Sith Holocron. Kanan hears a voice that leads him away from the safe confines of Chopper Base, where he discovers a creature that calls itself the Bendu – a being whose Force abilities lie between the light and dark sides. The Bendu begins trying to teach Kanan to use the Force and his own remaining senses to “see” what his eyes can no longer see…but what he sees now is his own fear. But at the Imperial salvage yard, Ezra’s lack of fear and his confidence and reliance on his new abilities may lead him to his own doom.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Steven Melching and Matt Michnovetz
directed by Bosco Ng and Mel Zwyer
music by Kevin Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus / Stormtrooper), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Imperial Officer #2 / Rebel Soldier), Dee Bradley Baker (Admiral Konstantine / Melch / Rex / Stormtrooper Guard #1), David Owelyo (Agent Kallus), Tom Baker (Bendu), Derek Partridge (Commander Brom Titus), Keone Young (Commander Sato), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Governor Pryce), Lars Mikkelsen (Grand Admiral Thrawn), Stephen Stanton (Grand Moff Tarkin), Jim Cummings (Hondo Ohnaka / Imperial Officer #1 / Mining Guild Captain / Terba), Nika Futterman (Presence), Dave Filoni (Rebel Trooper / Stormtrooper Guard #2)

RebelsNotes: Grand Admiral Thrawn has a considerably complex history considering that this is his first appearance in any non-print Star Wars media. Created by author Timothy Zahn and introduced in the 1991 novel Heir To The Empire, Thrawn had become a casualty of the Lucasfilm Story Group’s massive realignment of Star Wars canon in the wake of Lucasfilm’s sale to Disney. However, Zahn wrote a new novel – simply titled Thrawn – to realign the calculating Imperial tactical master with the new continuity, and Thrawn was also introduced as an on-screen character for the first time in this episode. Thrawn lives once again in the larger Star Wars canon. Hera says that the Y-Wings are being sent to “General Dodonna’s unit”, meaning that these may well be the Y-Wings flown by Porkins and his wing during the attack on the Death Star in Star Wars. The name “Bendu” has an even longer history in Star Wars Rebelslore, back to early drafts of George Lucas’ The Star Wars, which featured the Jedi Bendu order rather than Jedi Knights. Bendu is voiced by Tom Baker, best known for his lengthy tenure as the fourth Doctor Who. Baker is the second Doctor to lend his voice to the Star Wars animated universe; one of his successors, David Tennant, voiced a droid character in an episode of The Clone Wars.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Westworld

The Original

WestworldVacationgoers flock to a futuristic, robot-populated amusement park, where, for a hefty fee, they can experience the dangers and delights of bygone eras – indulgences that tend to focus on sex, violence, or both. The robotic “hosts” are constantly maintained by a team of technicians, programmers, and scenario writers, and after each scenario reset, the robots’ memories are wiped…or at least, that’s the plan. Some of the robots begin exhibiting signs of a crippling existential awareness, to the point of total breakdown. It doesn’t help matters that a black-clad visitor to the park has made it his mission to torture various robots to the brink of total failure, searching for a “deeper level of the game”. As Dr. Ford, the creator of Westworld’s robots, diagnoses a troubling case of this existential breakdown, the robot he is examining demonstrates a disturbing awareness of who, what, and where it is…and promises revenge upon its creators. Another robot, the oldest one in the entire park, returns to her existence as farmgirl Dolores Abernathy, but she too has experienced an awakening. Despite these and other failures, Westworld remains open to paying guests.

telepaly by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy
story by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy and Michael Crichton
directed by Jonathan Nolan
music by Ramin Djawadi

WestworldCast: Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores Abernathy), Thandie Newton (Maeve Millay), Jeffrey Wright (Bernard Lowe), James Marsden (Teddy Flood), Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (Armistice), Luke Hemsworth (Stubbs), Sidse Babett Knudsen (Theresa Cullen), Simon Quarterman (Lee Sizemore), Rodrigo Santoro (Hector Escaton), Angela Sarafyan (Clementine Pennyfeather), Shannon Woodward (Elsie Hughes), Ed Harris (The Man in Black), Anthony Hopkins (Dr. Robert Ford), Louis Herthum (Peter Abernathy), Steven Ogg (Rebus), Michael Wincott (Old Bill), Eddie Rouse (Kissy), Brian Howe (Sheriff Pickett), Demetrius Grosse (Deputy Foss), Ptolemy Slocum (Sylvester), Leonardo Nam (Lutz), Kyle Bornheimer (Clarence), Bradford Tatum (Bartender / New Abernathy), Lena Georgas (Lori), Currie Graham (Craig), Timothy Lee DePriest (Walter), Jeff Daniel Phillips (Tenderloin), Bridgid Coulter (Mother of Young Boy), Regi Davis (Father of Young Boy), Mataeo Mingo (Boy of 8), Trevante Rhodes (Bachelor), Micky Shiloah (Bachelor), Keller Wortham (Bachelor), Olivia May (Hooker), Jackie Moore (Hooker), Alex Marshall-Brown (Hooker), Jeffrey Muller (Man on Train), Brook Kerr (Woman on Train), Bradley Snedeker (Passenger), Patrick Quinlan (Passenger), Bianca Lopez (Diagnostic Programmer), WestworldMolly Schreiber (Bachelorette), Stefanie Chin (Girlfriend), Joshua Sawtell (Controller), Nihan Gur (Female Laughing Host)

Notes: Actor Eddie Rouse (American Gangster, Pineapple Express), died of liver failure several weeks after filming his role in the Westworld pilot in 2014. The character of Kissy was meant to be a recurring role for him; the pilot episode is dedicated to his memory.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Black Mirror Season 3

Nosedive

Black MirrorSocial media “ratings”, bestowed by friends, strangers and random passerby alike, are as much currency as actual money, determining not just social standing, but what kind of jobs and housing are available. Smiles are everyday attire, worn to avoid “downvotes” for being considered surly or impolite. Lacie Pound, hovering between 4.0 and 4.5 out of 5, “upvotes” everyone she meets; it’s the polite thing to do, and it’s expected. At home, however, she is stuck living in a small house with her brother, but Lacie is eyeing a more upscale residence – one that she can only afford if she reaches a steady 4.5 social media rating, qualifying her for a discount. The opportunity to boost her profile appears in the form of an invitation to be the maid of honor at a childhood friend’s wedding…but does Lacie even have the necessary clout to make the trip?

Get the DVDsteleplay by Rashida Jones and Mike Schur
story by Charlie Brooker
directed by Joe Wright
music by Max Richter

Black MirrorCast: Bryce Dallas Howard (Lacie Pound), Alice Eve (Naomi Jayne Blestow), Cherry Jones (Susan), James Norton (Ryan Pound), Alan Ritchison (Paul), Daisy Haggard (Bets), Susannah Fielding (Carol), Michaela Coel (Airport Stewardess), Demetri Goritsas (Hansen), Kadiff Kirwan (Chester), Sope Dirisu (Man in Jail), Clayton Evertson (Ted), Andrew Roux (Electro Station Assistant), Anjana Vasan (Space Cop), Colin Moss (Anthony), Nambitha Ben-Wazi (Glam Woman), Jeffrey Davenport (Cab Driver), Ntokozo Majozi (Jack the Barrista), Justin Munitz (Keith), Zandile Madliwa (Alien Girl), Kevin Otto (Pastor), Shane Zaza (Chuck), Abubakar Salim (Airport Guard), Jennie Nielson (Woman in Car), Deon Lotz (Man in Car), Daniel Newton (Kid on Quad Bike), Rebecca Newton (Kid’s Younger Sister), Lewelyn Van den Berg (Male Jogger), Blessing Mamuesa (Glam Woman’s Son)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Class Season 1

For Tonight We Might Die

ClassShadows stalk the students of Coal Hill School in Shoreditch, London. For some, it’s the shadow of loneliness, while for others, it’s the shadow of their parents’ expectations and lack of understanding. For Charlie, however, it’s a more literal threat, an alien race called the Shadow Kin who wiped out the entire species he ruled over as its prince. A soldier of a rival species, the Quill, is beholden to protect him for the rest of his life. Rescued from the last days of the Shadow Kin’s genocide against Charlie’s people by a time traveler called the Doctor, Charlie and “Mrs. Quill” are quietly dropped into Coal Hill School as enigmatic student and short-fused teacher. The Doctor believed both of them could learn much from each other, and from humanity. But when the Shadow Kin rip open a tear in the fabric of space and time, allowing them to run riot at Coal Hill on prom night, time may be up for Charlie, for Mrs. Quill, and for the entire human race unless the Doctor intervenes again.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Patrick Ness
directed by Ed Bazalgette
music by Blair Mowat
theme song “Up All Night” by Alex Clare

Cast: Katherine Kelly (Miss Quill), Greg Austin (Charlie), Fady Elsayed (Ram), Sophie Hopkins (April), Vivian Oparah (Tanya), Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Jordan Renzo (Matteusz), Ben ClassPeel (Coach Dawson), Shannon Murray (Jackie), Aaron Neil (Varun), Natasha Gordon (Vivian), Anna Shaffer (Rachel), Paul Marc Davis (Corakinus), Nigel Betts (Mr. Armitage), Pooja Shah (Miss Shah), Alex Leak (Kevin), Laura Jane Hudson (Mrs. Linderhof), Satnam Bhogal (Counter Clerk), Ellie James (Student 1), Moses Adejimi (Student 2), Assay Hagos (Student 3), Shalisha James-Davis (Student 4)

ClassNotes: Long-suffering Coal Hill head teacher Mr. Armitage, played as always by Nigel Betts, previously appeared in the Doctor Who episodes Into The Dalek, The Caretaker, and Dark Water. Due to a year-long hiatus in the show as a result of the changeover from Steven Moffat’s production team to that of incoming Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall, this was – apart from a specially-made trailer to introduce new companion Bill – Peter Capaldi’s only in-character appearance as the Doctor between the 2015 and 2016 Doctor Who Christmas episodes; he is not expected to be a recurring fixture of Class.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Mars Season 1

Novo Mundo

Mars2033: Daedalus, a multi-national, partially privately funded interplanetary vehicle, is about to land the first human expedition on the surface of Mars. After a year traveling from Earth to the red planet, a fault develops in one of the braking thrusters used to slow Daedaleus for a soft landing. Mission Commander Ben Sawyer personally takes on the task of replacing the circuit that will allow the thruster to fire, but this means he’s out of his seat when Daedalus enters the Martian atmosphere, subjecting him to a sudden return of gravitational G forces without the benefit of his seat in the crew cabin. Daedalus also lands off-course, away from a habitat/lab module already delivered to Mars via an unmanned rocket, but a closer workshop module may offer shelter in the meantime.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Karen Janszen
story by Karen Janszen and Paul Solet
based on the book “How We’ll Live On Mars” by Stephen Petranek
directed by Everardo Gout
music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

MarsCast: Jihae (Hana Seung / Joon Seung), Alberto Ammann (Javier Delgado), Clementine Poidatz (Amelie Durand), Anamaria Marinca (Marta Kamen), Sammi Rotibi (Robert Foucalt), Ben Cotton (Ben Sawyer), Olivier Martinez (Ed Grann), Nick Wittman (Oliver), Antoinette Fekete (Sam), Kata Sarbo (Ava Macon), Laurent Winkler (Flight Director, Mission Control), Sara Martins (Louise Varda)

MarsNotes: Interspersing dramatic re-enactments of a potential Mars landing scenario with modern-day interviews with such figures as Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Andy Weir (author of The Martian), Mars is produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (producers, through Imagine Entertainment, of such past space exploration fare as Apollo 13 and From The Earth To The Moon).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 10

The Pilot

Doctor WhoBill Potts works in the university cafeteria, and though she’s not taking his classes, she attends lectures by a mysteriously tenured professor known only as the Doctor. He’s as likely to lecture on poetry as on physics, and seems to know a little bit about everything – a lot, actually. He’s also very observant, and knows that Bill isn’t one of his students, and offers to tutor her anyway.

Bill catches the eye of a fellow student named Heather, though their conversations never seem to go where expected. Heather is preoccupied with a puddle of standing water which has the audacity to exist in a fenced-in concrete area where there has been no rain for days. Bill relates this to the Doctor, who is suddenly very curious about the puddle, and the scorch marks surrounding it on the concrete: the telltale sign of a recently landed spacecraft. The next time Bill sees Heather, the girl is drenched in an unending torrent of water, has dead eyes, can only repeat what Bill says, and seems to be following her obsessively. Bill races into the Doctor’s office to get away from her, and the Doctor (with Nardole still in tow) whisks her away in the TARDIS. But wherever they go in time and space, whether it’s sunny Sydney or the hell of the Dalek-Movellan war, Heather follows…and won’t give up until Bill joins or rejects her.

Order the DVDDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Steven Moffat
directed by Lawrence Gough
music by Murray Gold

Cast: Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Pearl Mackie (Bill), Matt Lucas (Nardole), Jennifer Hennessy (Moira), Stephanie Hyam (Heather), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices)

Doctor WhoNotes: This is the first (and only) screen appearance of the Movellans since their only other appearance in 1979’s Destiny Of The Daleks; they are primarily a background detail here, and not central to the plot, just like the Daleks that show up without being the central threat. The Doctor seems to have an abundance of his retired sonic screwdrivers on hand – score one product placement for Character Options and Underground Toys – and has framed photos of River Song and Susan on his desk.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Orville, The Season 1

Old Wounds

The Orville2418: Slowly-rising Planetary Union officer Commander Ed Mercer arrives home to find his wife in bed with a blue-skinned alien. Not interested in talking the situation out, he leaves to seek refuge in his career in the stars.

2419: What a difference a year makes – Ed Mercer is still a commander, albeit one whose career has become even more aimless, punctuated by a few incidents of reporting for duty while hung over. (Not all differences are good ones.) Still, to his surprise, and despite his spotty career record, Mercer is offered a promotion to captain and command of the medium exploratory vessel U.S.S. Orville. He raises eyebrows at Planetary Union Central by hand-picking his somewhat uncouth old buddy Gordon Malloy to be the Orville‘s helmsman, but he has no say in the filling of the vacant first officer position, a candidate for which will be selected by the admiralty. But not in his worst nightmares does Mercer expect his new XO to also be his ex-wife.

There’s barely time for a reunion through clenched teeth before the Orville is dispatched to answer a call for aid from a scientific colony. The chief scientist there, Dr. Aronov, introduces them to a device capable of accelerating time; while he’s rattling off a litany of potentially beneficial uses, Mercer’s new security officer, Lt. Alara Kitan, wisely deduces ways it could be weaponized – and that’s why Aronov issued the vague call for help. He believes that if the warlike Krill learn of the time accelerator, they’ll descend upon the colony like a plague of locusts.

But the warlike Krill are already there, planting the seed for Mercer’s first true test as a commander.

Order season 1 on DVD and Blu-RayDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Seth MacFarlane
directed by Jon Favreau
music by Bruce Broughton

The OrvilleCast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Halston Sage (Lt. Alara Kitan), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Victor Garber (Admiral Halsey), Brian George (Dr. Aronov), Joel Swetow (Krill Captain), Patrick Cox (Ogre), Norm MacDonald (voice of Yaphit), Christine Corpuz (Janice Lee), Sean Cook (Derek), Dylan Kenin (Krill Soldier), Dee Bradley Baker (Dr. Jorvik)

The OrvilleNotes: With a writing staff loaded down with veterans of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Voyager (Brannon Braga, Andre Bormanis, David A. Goodman), and Star Trek veterans aplenty among the cast (Penny Johnson Jerald played Kasidy Yates, Captain Sisko’s love interest on Deep Space Nine, while Brian George guest starred as Dr. Bashir’s estranged father on the same series), a ship – with physical filming models no less! – designed by Andrew Probert, and diehard TNG fan Seth MacFarlane creating and starring, it can’t possibly be a secret to anyone at the end of the first hour that The Orville is both an homage and spoof of Star Trek: TNG. McFarlane, Braga and Goodman also collaborated on the 21st century relaunch of Cosmos, while Bormanis worked on National Geographic’s Mars series. Brian George and Dee Bradley Baker are also voice actors with many a role in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

LogBook entry by Earl Green