Buddy2Blogger

Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue as Detective James Gordon and Harvey Bullock with the rest of the cast in Fox Gotham TV Show Pilot Episode

The episode starts with a young Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), pick pocketing couple of Gotham citizens. One of her victims gives chase. Selina makes her escape and soon becomes a witness to the mugging of a family.

The family in question are the Waynes after an evening at the movies. Thomas (Grayson McCouch) and Martha Wayne (Brette Taylor) are murdered, leaving behind a heartbroken Bruce (David Mazouz).

Detectives James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) form a team at the Gotham Police Department. Both are the polar opposites of each other.

James is a rookie, idealistic and enthusiastic. James is engaged to the beautiful Barbara Kean (Erin Richards).

Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue as Detective James Gordon and Harvey Bullock arrive at the crime scene of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder in Fox Gotham Pilot episode

Harvey is a world weary cynic and is termed “lackadaisical” by his partner. He seems to have been intimate with the local gang boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith).

They are assigned to the Wayne homicide. Arriving at the scene, Jim comforts a grieving Bruce and promises to catch his parents' killer. Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee) arrives and takes Bruce home.

Harvey wants to wash his hands off the case, due to the high profile of the victims involved. Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) and Crispus Allen (Andrew Stewart) are also a couple of detectives from another detective unit and are itching to take over the case.

Working on a tip from Fish Mooney, Harvey and Jim track down a suspect, Mario Pepper (Daniel Stewart Sherman). Mario tries to flee and is shot dead by Harvey, as he is about to kill Jim.

Jada Pinkett Smith as gang boss Fish Mooney with Robin Lord Taylor as her right hand man Oswald Cobblepot in Fox Gotham Pilot episode

Mooney's right hand man, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) is ambitious. He pays a visit to Renee and Crispus and informs them that Mario was made a scapegoat by Mooney and the mob kingpin, Carmine Falcone (John Doman).

Renee informs Barbara about this and conveys her suspicion that her fiancee was a willing part of this conspiracy. An enraged Jim accosts Mooney and is overpowered by her henchmen. Harvey tries to rescue Jim and instead becomes a hostage himself.

Just as they are about to be killed, big boss Falcone intervenes and saves their lives. Falcone and Jim's father, once the district attorney of Gotham, were friends and this is the motivation behind Falcone's rescue.

Mooney realizes that Oswald is the police informant and gives him a good beating. Oswald is set to be executed by Jim as a test of the latter's loyalty to the existing power hierarchy in the city.

Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon with Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot The Penquin in Fox Gotham TV Show Pilot Episode

The conscientious Jim pretends to do away with Oswald and warns him to never set foot in Gotham again. Oswald swims to safety and immediately starts his life of crime across the shore.

Jim also visits Bruce at the Wayne Manor and informs him about the truth about Mario Pepper. He promises to keep looking for the real killer.

The pilot episode started off slow, but picked up steam at around the midpoint. I was skeptical about the show and thought it to be just a cash grab attempt.

The episode turned out to be better than expected. The show has scripted as a city crime drama. As an analogy, it has more in common with The Dark Knight, than with Batman Begins or The Dark Knight Rises.

David Mazouz as a young Bruce Wayne with Grayson McCouch and Brette Taylor as his parents Dr Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne in Fox Gotham TV Show Pilot Episode

The acting is solid, if not exceptional. Jada Pinkett Smith and Robin Lord Taylor make the best impression. Jada in particular is excellent as the ruthless gangster. She exudes beauty and brutality effortlessly. She is effective in the scene with Robin's Oswald, when she assaults him as a punishment for his disloyalty.

Robin is also good as Oswald Cobblepot a.k.a. The Penquin, as he is called by others (much to his distaste). His beating at the hands of Mooney leaves him with a badly injured leg and is a nice nod to the supervillain he will eventually become.

Speaking of supervillain, there are a bunch of them in this show. In addition to the aforemtioned Selina Kyle, we also have Edward Nygma a.k.a The Riddler (played by Cory Michael Smith) and a very young Ivy Pepper a.k.a Poison Ivy (played by Clare Foley). These two are nothing more than cameos and I am sure we will seeing more of them in the upcoming seasons. Right now, the spotlight is on Oswald Cobblepot/The Penquin and Selina Kyle.

Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle the future Catwoman in Fox Gotham Pilot episode

Selina seems to be the audience surrogate as far as Bruce's personal journey is considered. Just as she was a silent witness to the murder of his parents, she spies on their funeral ceremony and is seen outside the Wayne Manor in the closing scene. It appears that Selina is stalking Bruce with some definite goal(s) in mind.

Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue are adequate as James Gordon and Harvey Bullock respectively. Both are one note performances as the idealistic and the veteran cops. The actors could use some humor. In fact, the show itself will do better with more levity.

David Mazouz and Sean Pertwee as Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth do not get much screentime in the pilot episode. It does look like Sean's version of Alfred is a bitter old man. We will get to know more of Alfred's backstory in the upcoming episodes.

On the plus side, the show did not waste time in getting to the meat. In fact, the Wayne murders happened at the third minute after the episode began. Here's hoping that show maintains the same tempo in terms of screenplay and does not follow in the foot steps of the FX Vampire Horror show “The Strain”.

A good start and hopefully the show will get better as the season progresses.

Recommended watch for fans of the Dark Knight/DC Comics.

Click here to read all my posts about Batman.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: Warner Bros. Television, Fox Network

You might also like:

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight

Stephen McHattie as Quinlan the ancient vampire hunter in FX The Strain Season 1 Episode 12 Last Rites

This post discusses the episode in detail. Readers yet to watch the episode are recommended to skip it, if they wish to avoid spoilers.

Thomas Eichorst (Richard Sammel) pays a visit to the sick business tycoon, Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde). Eldritch reminds him that The Master owes him in return for all the help he has done as per the deal. Thomas responds that the Master does whatever he pleases. Eldritch claims to be still having faith that he will get his due.

Flashback to Albania in 1967. The younger Abraham Setrakian (Jim Watson) is still in pursuit of the German strigoi, Thomas Eichorst. Miriam Setrakian (Adina Verson) is concerned about her husband's obsession with tracking down the German tormentor.

Abraham is fooled into a trap laid by Eichorst and his wife is turned into a strigoi. Abraham makes the difficult choice of killing his beloved Miriam and then carves out her heart as a reminder and inspiration to continue his quest/mission.

Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Mia Maestro and Kevin Durand as Eph Goodweather, Abraham Setrakian, Nora Martinez and Vasiliy Fet hunting vampires in FX The Strain

Back in the present, Dr Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) tries to comfort Abraham about their failure to end The Master's life

Gus Elizalde (Miguel Gomez) gets the drop on Alonso Creem in his car. Gus needs money, ammunition and has decided to procure his supplies from Alonso. Things get out of hand, when they come under attack by vampires.

Quinlan (Stephen McHattie), the hooded guy dressed in black (we saw a long time ago), reappears just in time to save the day. His crew kidnaps Gus.

Dutch Velders (Ruta Gedmintas) returns to the pawn shop and explains her plan to broadcast Eph's message to the world.

Richard Sammel as Thomas Eichorst the German Nazi strigoi vampire attacking Abraham Setrakian's pawn shop in FX The Strain Season 1 Episode 12 Last Rites

Just as Eph finishes his first ever speech, Eichorst leads an attack on Abraham's pawn shop. The turned Gabriel Bolivar (Jack Kesy) attacks Nora's mom, Mariela Martinez (Anne Betancourt) with his stinger. As the good guys make their escape from the shop through an escape door, Nora decapitates her now infected mother.

In the closing scenes, The Master arrives at the Stoneheart Group building and secretes his body fluids into Eldritch's mouth. Eldtrich quickly regains his vitality and is able to walk and enjoy the rain on the patio. His assistant/bodyguard Mr. Fitzwilliams (Roger R. Cross) is surprised and concerned with this sudden change in his employer.

The Strain has got to be one of the most pondering shows on TV. Having read the novels on which the series is based, it baffles me to as to why the show has been scripted this way. Things have been moving too slow right from the beginning and this episode is no different.

Nothing much happens of note, except for Gus' kidnapping and the death of Nora's mother. On the plus side, at least we have one less unnecessary character, thanks to Gabe.

Corey Stoll and Ben Hyland as Eph Goodweather and his son Zach Goodweather in FX The Strain

The scenes showing the budding romance between Vasiliy Fet and Dutch Velders feels like more of the filler material that we have been seeing as part of the show. To his credit, Kevin does provide some humor in his interactions with Corey Stoll's character, Eph Goodweather.

Jim Watson gives a good performance as the younger Abraham Setrakian. Credit to the make up department for making Jim's Setrakian look like a credible younger version of David Bradley's older one.

Another nice touch was Thomas Eichorst's reflection vibrating in the mirror.

Hopefully, the season finale will ratchet up the tension that has been sorely missing so far in a show about vampires and humans racing against time to stop a fast spreading infection.

Click here to read all my posts related to The Strain.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Sources: FX Networks

© 2014 - www.buddy2blogger.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.

You might also like:

The Strain - Night Zero

The Strain - The Box

The Couch gag in The Simpsons Family Guy crossover episode The Simpsons Guy

Peter starts a cartoon strip “For Pete's Sake” in the local newspaper. His anti-feminist tone gets him in trouble and the Griffins are forced to leave Quahog, Rhode Island.

On their way, their car gets stolen. The Griffins discover that they are in Springfield, home to arguably the most popular animated family - The Simpsons.

The Griffins run into Homer Simpson at Kwik-E-Mart. Homer offers them accommodation and takes Peter to Chief Clancy Wiggum to have a missing report filed. As is his wont, Clancy tries to get bribe money and Peter's refusal results in Wiggum refusing to file his missing car report.

Brian meets Santa's Little Helper in The Simpsons Family Guy crossover episode

Back at the Simpsons' house, the family members get acquainted with each other. Brian is surprised that Santa's Little Helper (SLH) is nothing like him. He is just a docile and sweet dog, in other words a regular family dog. He and Chris take SLH for a walk and Brian mistakenly unleashes SLH. SLH promptly runs away.

Lisa Simpson offers her saxophone to Meg Griffin in The Simpsons Family Guy crossover episode

Lisa tries to help Meg regain her sense of self esteem. After making a checklist of items (most of which Meg is not good at), Lisa finally suggests playing the saxophone. To Lisa's surprise, Meg proves to be a superior player.

Bart Simpson and Stewie Griffin with Bart's favorite slingshot in The Simpsons Family Guy crossover episode

The most interesting interactions are the ones between Bart Simpson and Stewie Griffin. After making a suitably epic entrance, Bart introduces Stewie to his all powerful weapon - the slingshot.

Mystified and awed at Bart's simple arsenal, Stewie starts hanging out more. Bart teaches the art of skateboarding to Stewie.

Stewie Griffin learns skateboarding from Bart Simpson in The Simpsons Guy crossover episode

They run into Nelson Mandela Muntz, the local bully. As usual, Nelson pushes Bart around and an enraged Stewie kidnaps Bart's tormentor and looks set to inflicting some true horror movie style.

Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin car wash service and then pilot a plane to find the stolen car

Homer and Peter decide to take things into their hands and try to recover the latter's stolen car. Homer suggest that they should think like a car to find one. This results in both of them drinking gasoline at a gas station.

When this strategy fails, Peter notices a lady filling gas in her car. These shenanigans results in a porn video that proves to be quite popular. They also organize a car washing service and then take to the skies.

Peter Griffin offering Pawtucket Patriot Ale to Homer Simpson in Springfield in The Simpsons Family Guy crossover episode

Things go smooth for Peter and Homer, until Peter introduces the Pawtucket Patriot Ale to his new friend at Moe Szyslak's bar, “Moe's Tavern”. Homer claims that the ale is a copy of his favorite Duff Beer. The discussion soon becomes unfriendly and a legal case is filed by The Simpsons.

The judge, Fred Flinstone (“The Flinstones”) awards the case in Simpson's favor.

Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson having a chicken fight in The Simpsons Family Guy crossover episode

The Griffins leave Springfield shortly, but not before Homer and Peter have had a Family Guy style chicken fight.

This was one of the funniest The Simpsons/Family Guy episodes I have seen. As Chris correctly commented about crossovers, this episode did indeed bring out the best in both these shows.

Here are some of my favorite moments from the episode:

Jaden Smith reference
Bart's entry
The Griffins discussing about which state Springfield belongs to.
Homer's entrance at Kwik-E-Mart
Peter referring to Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon as a “funny sounding Cleveland”
The final punch between Homer and Peter as well as green colored weapon used by Peter was a reference to the Superman-Doomsday fight from “The Death of Superman”
Stewie kidnapping Nelson, Jimbo and Principal Skinner
Comic Book Guy's appearance and his comment - “Worst Chicken fight ever”
The closing scene with Stewie writing on the blackboard.

The best part was the court scene in which the similar counterparts from both shows were seated together. As much as I like Family Guy, The Simpsons are in a class of their own.

It was a great episode that finally acknowledges how much Family Guy has been inspired by The Simpsons. Must watch for fans of either show.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: 20th Century Fox Television, Film Roman Productions, Fuzzy Door Productions, Hands Down Entertainment

You might also like:

Please adopt a Shelter animal

Save the Mountain Gorillas

Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue as Detective James Gordon and Harvey Bullock with Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney in Fox Gotham TV Show Episode 2 Selina Kyle

Patti (Lili Taylor) and Doug (Frank Whaley) are two henchmen of Dollmaker. They approach homeless children, claiming to be members of the Homeless Outreach Program.

After entreating the children with treats, the thugs inject some medicine that makes them unconscious.

Selina Kyle (“Cat” to her friends) witnesses one such kidnapping incident. The shrewd Selina does not fall prey and flees.

Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot The Penquin returns to Gotham in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 2 Selina Kyle

Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) hitchhikes his way back to Gotham city. As readers might remember, he was supposed to be executed by Detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie). Jim of course let him go, after warning him never to come back.

The guys who give Oswald his free ride are not so lucky. Oswald kills one of them and kidnaps the other for ransom.

Jim and Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) are working on the case of the missing street children. They zero in on one Morry Quillan (Wayne Duvall) based on the substance used by the kidnappers to inject the street children.

Patti and Doug are already in Morry's office, when Jim and Harvey arrive to question him. A shootout ensues and the two kidnappers make their escape. The detectives arrest Morry.

Morry provides the tip that he remembers a depiction of fork on the van used by the kidnappers.

Richard Kind as Mayor Aubrey James with Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen and Detectives Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock in Fox Gotham

Meanwhile, Mayor Aubrey James (Richard Kind) announces a program that will take all the homeless children off the street and send them to an institution.

Selina finds herself being forcefully packed into a bus that purports to serve the official machinery. Selina is horrified to find Patti to be in charge of the situation.

Patti intends to ship all the children to foreign shores. Jim correctly figures out the name of the company using the trident symbol (mistakenly thought to be a fork by Morry) as “Trident International Shipping”.

Guest star Frank Whaley as child kidnapper Doug is caught by Donal Logue as Detective Harvey Bullock in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 2 Selina Kyle

He arrives just in time to save Selina just as Patti is about to shoot her. Harvey arrests Doug.

Selina tells Jim that she might have information about the man who murdered Thomas and Martha Wayne.

At the request of Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee), Jim visits Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) at the Wayne Manor. Bruce has been “testing” himself by doing things like burning his hand deliberately.

On learning about the developments about the rescued homeless children, Bruce offers to donate clothes for them.

Jada Pinkett Smith as gang boss Fish Mooney in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 2 Selina Kyle

Another subplot involved Don Carmine Falcone (John Doman) checking up with Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) about her intentions to replace him as the head of Gotham underworld. Don informs her that he got this information from Oswald. Mooney reassures the Don about her loyalty and seemingly convinces him.

Privately, she regrets the fact that she did not punish Oswald more for his treachery.

For an episode titled “Selina Kyle”, we did not get to see much of the lass destined to be Catwoman. We don't know any more about Selina than what we did from the pilot episode.

Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle the future Catwoman in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 2 Selina Kyle

We already know that she is a spunky kid with lot of street smarts to boot. This episode did not forward her character development or delved deeply into her background to justify the decision to name it after her.

On the acting front, Robin Lord Taylor continues to the best of the bunch. The reason is simple: he offers a healthy dose of humor in his performance. This factor combined with the villainy of Oswald Cobblepot naturally makes him the standout performer.

Jada Pinkett Smith continues to chew the scenery as gang boss Fish Mooney.

Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth with Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 2 Selina Kyle

As I mentioned in the review of the pilot episode, Ben McKenzie could inject some humor into his performance. Granted that his character is a straight shooter and an idealist and is very frustrated with the prevalent corruption. Still his character could use some levity.

Same goes for Sean Pertwee - he also leans towards the all-serious school of acting as Alfred Pennyworth.

Casting such talented actors as Lili Taylor and Frank Whaleyin what amount to one-off roles clearly shows the dedication of the show makers to deliver a product of the highest possible quality. Hats off to them.

Lili Taylor is a blast as Patti. She mixes black humor effectively and gives one of the best guest appearances in a long time.

Recommended watch for fans of the Dark Knight/DC Comics.

Click here to read all my posts about Batman.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: Warner Bros. Television, Fox Network

You might also like:

Gotham Pilot Episode - Review

The Dark Knight Rises - Review

Kevin Durand, Mia Maestro, David Bradley, Ruta Gedmintas, Ben Hyland and Corey Stoll in FX The Strain Season 1 Finale The Master

This post discusses the episode in detail. Readers yet to watch the episode are recommended to skip it, if they wish to avoid spoilers.

Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde) and Mr Fitzwilliam (Roger R. Cross) visit Abraham Setrakian's pawnshop. Eldrtich wants his right hand man to confiscate all the materials and transfer them to his place. He is specially interested in Miriam's still beating heart.

Thomas Eichorst (Richard Sammel) drops in and expresses his surprise at Eldritch's return to good health. Eldritch enquires as to when he will start turning into a vampire. Thomas replies that The Master has only granted him good health and in due time, he will enjoy immortality as well.

It is flashback time (again). Only this time, it is Zach Goodweather (Ben Hyland) dreaming about his missing mother Kelly (Natalie Brown). Eph Goodweather (Corey Stoll), Vasiliy Fet (Kevin Durand) and Abraham (David Bradley) discuss their strategy for fighting the Master.

Robert Maillet as The Master in FX The Strain Season Finale Episode 13 The Master

Vasiliy suggests that he and Eph do some reconnaissance. They end up at a theater supposedly bought by the infected goth celebrity, Gabriel Bolivar (Jack Kesy). They discover The Master's coffin and a bunch of vampires.

Mr Fritzwilliams finally stands up to his employer and quits, citing his discomfort with the latest development.

The current Secretary of Health, Maggie is killed by Eldritch after she refuses to play along. Dr Everett Barnes (Daniel Kash) witnesses this and readily agrees to become Eldritch's pawn as the next Secretary of Health.

Kevin Durand as Vasiliy Fet fighting killing strigoi vampire in The Strain Season 1 Finale Episode 13 The Master

Eph, Vasiliy, Abraham, Nora, Dutch and Zach launch their campaign against The Master. It is a free for all brawl as Eichorst, Gabe and Dutch's acquaintance all join in.

Abraham, aided by Eph fights the Master. Just as Abraham is about to kill the strigoi, he escapes in broad daylight. Abraham himself is surprised by this never-before-seen ability of the Master.

Stephen McHattie as Quinlan the hooded ancient vampire hunter in FX The Strain Season 1 Finale Episode 13 The Master

Gus meets his captor, Quinlan (Stephen McHattie). Gus tries to overcome Quinlan and finds that he is no match for the strigoi. Gus is introduced to Ancients, strigoi similar to The Master.

Quinlan informs Gus that a pact has been broken and that they need a human warrior to move in the broad daylight. Gus happily grabs this opportunity to get revenge for his infected mother.

Natalie Brown as Ephraim Goodweather's ex wife Kelly Goodweather in The Strain Season 1

In the closing scenes, Eph and Zach encounter Kelly in her changed form as a vampire. Eph shoots at her and she leaves. The grief of seeing his changed wife causes Eph to turn to drinking again.

There were a couple of humorous moments, thanks to Bradley and Gomez - Abraham teaching the young Zach about effectively killing a strigoi and Gus asking Quinlan if he is eating “Mexican” tonight.

Still, this is one of the most disappointing season finales. Our heroes did not manage to kill even one major strigoi in the climactic encounter. While I didn't expect The Master to be destroyed in the first season itself, I was hoping that at least one major baddie (Thomas Eichorst or at least Gabriel “Gabe” Bolivar) would be killed. But this was not the case to be. On top of this, there was (as usual) the filler scenes with Eph and Vasiliy's reconnaissance and Dutch Velders' drinking habit.

I do give credit to the show for maintaining a consistency in terms of quality - it has been boring for the most part (except for Episode # 8).

To give an example, this is similar to the underwhelming season finalefor the Season 1 of the CBS show Elementary. Ideally, we would all like to see something like the spectacular finish to the very well made (also from FX Networks) Fargo.

Ben Hyland as Zach Goodweather in FX The Strain Season 1 Episode 13 The Master

David Bradley, Richard Sammel and Miguel Gomez continue to give the best performances. Kevin Durand is good. The lesser about the rest, the better.

The episode ended with a very brief preview of the next season scheduled for 2015. Unless there are some drastic changes (like better screenplay, tighter plotting and if possible, recasting of a couple of lead characters), it will be a real chore to undergo the same experience again.

Click here to read all my posts related to The Strain.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Sources: FX Networks, DelToroFilms.com

© 2014 - www.buddy2blogger.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.

You might also like:

The Strain - Night Zero

The Strain - The Box

Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon in Fox Gotham TV Show Season 1 Episode 3 The Balloonman

A vigilante is killing off rich and powerful wrongdoers, whom the law refuses to touch. He is nicknamed “The Balloonman” because of his modus operandi of killing: the victim is tied to a Weather balloon and is lifted off. When the person inevitably drops back to Earth, he/she is killed.

The first victim is a businessman, Arnold Danzer (Clark Middleton) who has conned many people through a Ponzi scheme. Detective Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) is reluctant to take up the case, since he perceives that the victim deserved what he got. Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), as can be expected, wants to solve the case and capture the killer.

As was seen in the last episode, gang boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), was warned by mafia kingpin Don Carmine Falcone (John Doman) by having her boy toy, Lazlo (Michelangelo Milano) beaten up. Fish can't wait to take her revenge on the aging don.

Victoria Cartagena and Andrew Stewart-Jones as Major Crimes Unit detectives Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 3 The Balloonman

Major Crime Unit detectives Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) and Crispus Allen (Andrew Stewart-Jones) question Mooney about her involvement in the killing of Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor). Seizing this opportunity, she indirectly points the finger at Falcone.

In the meantime, the Ballonman has acquired his second victim, a corrupt Police Lieutenant Bill Cranston (James Colby). The public support for the vigilante killer swells. Jim and Harvey come under pressure from Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara) to catch the serial killer, before he strikes again.

As a result of their investigation, Jim and Harvey zero in on one Carl Smikers (Jonesy), who has stolen some balloons from his ex- employer. Carl reveals that he sold four of them to an unknown buyer.

Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot The Penquin working in a restaurant in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 3 The Balloonman

Following his return to Gotham, Oswald is desperate for cash and applies for a job in a restaurant. He is turned down. Always cunning and resourceful, Oswald kills a worker and takes his position.

The Balloonman's next victim is Cardinal Quinn. The body of the second victim, Cranston crashes back to Earth on top of an elderly woman. Jim deduces the identity of the killer.

Lazlo is losing his confidence and this causes Fish to order his execution. She also asks her henchman to ensure that Falcone's sweetheart Natalia meets with an accident. To ensure that she does not come under suspicion, she casually asks the Don about Natalia and he casts his suspicion on rival gangster Maroni (David Zayas) as the person responsible.

Jada Pinkett Smith as gang boss Fish Mooney in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 3 The Balloonman

I liked this episode better than the second episode “Selina Kyle”. The acting shows a significant improvement. There is far more humor and levity.

I especially liked Jada Pinkett Smith's Fish Mooney. Her taunting of Renee Montoya was amusing and hilarious. Robin Lord Taylor is good as always, but this episode belonged to Jada.

While the bad guys continue to steal the show, the good guys also are coming into their own. This is specifically true of Sean Pertwee and David Mazouz as Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne respectively. After being all serious for the past couple of episodes, the actors finally lighten up as Bruce practices his stick fighting skills with Alfred at the Wayne Manor.

Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue as Detectives James Gordon and Harvey Bullock at the Gotham Police Department building in Gotham Season 1 Episode 3 The Balloonman

The episode showcased the positive effect Jim's idealistic attitude can have on even a cynical person like Harvey Bullock. Initially he refuses to show any sympathy for the Balloonman's victims or Mario Pepper. When Jim and Harvey go to arrest the Balloonman, Davis Lamond (Dan Bakkedahl), Davis holds Harvey at gunpoint. Harvey overpowers him and Davis inadvertently gets tied to a Weather balloon.

Harvey refuses to save Davis. But Jim risks his own life and holds on to Davis in a desperate attempt to save his life. This forces Harvey to shoot down the balloon and save the lives of his partner and the criminal.

The Balloonman also has a significant effect on the young and impressionable Bruce Wayne. David takes to vigilantism as a result of his frustration with what he perceives as widespread corruption and apathy on the part of the concerned authorities to set things right in Gotham.

We can see the youngster taking notes as he observes the vigilante's story in the press. Bruce is also working on clues to solve the murder of his parents.

Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot The Penquin in Fox Gotham Season 1 Episode 3 The Balloonman

The show also indicates a physical intimacy in the past between Jim's fiancee, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) and Renee Montoya. Renee is still convinced of Jim's wrongful involvement in the murder of Oswald Cobblepot. She warns Barbara about Jim.

Whatever doubts, Barbara might have harbored are put to rest when Oswald himself appears before her as he pays a visit to Jim in the closing scene.

The show is improving with each episode and I hope that this trend will continue.

Recommended watch for fans of the Dark Knight/DC Comics.

Click here to read all my posts related to Gotham. Click here to read all my posts about Batman.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: Warner Bros. Television, Fox Network

© 2014 - www.buddy2blogger.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.

You might also like:

Pilot Episode - Review

Episode # 2 - Review

The Flash CW The Flash costume first look poster wallpaper screensaver picture image photo

The episode begins with a Spiderman-type voiceover by Barry Allen (Grant Gustin).14 years ago, his mother, Nora (Michelle Harrison) was killed in a freak accident at their house. Barry's father, Henry (John Wesley Shipp) is arrested and is still serving his jail sentence. Barry himself does not subscribe to this theory and believes that something/someone else is responsible. This event continues to haunt Barry to date.

Cut to the present. Barry is an assistant police forensic investigator at Central City. He is a lazy genius (as most of them usually are) and is brilliant at makingdeductions. These deductions, by the way, are presented in a visual style that instantly reminded me of the BBC show Sherlock.

Grant Gustin and Candice Patton as Barry Allen and Iris West in CW The Flash Season 1 Pilot Episode 1 City of Heroes

Iris West (Candice Patton), daughter of Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) is Barry's best friend. Joe has been like a father figure for Barry and covers up for his laziness. While Iris considers Barry as her friend, he himself seems to be having more than just platonic feelings for her.

Central City is home to S.T.A.R. Labs and being a science geek, Barry is excited about the particle accelerator being showcased by the CEO, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh). Things do not go as planned, when Iris' handbag is stolen. Barry chases the perpetrator and is out of breath by the time he catches up with the thief.

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen in a coma in the hospital in CW The Flash Season 1 Pilot Episode 1 City of Heroes

The particle accelerator itself functions improperly, leading to a lightning strike that hits Barry, putting him in a coma. He wakes up nine months later and realizes that he has superpowers. He heals quickly and has superhuman speed.

Harrison was also hurt during the S.T.A.R. Labs explosion and is now restricted to a wheelchair. He is assisted by Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker). Cisco is a mechanical engineering expert and Caitlin is a bioengineering specialist.

Harrison, Cisco and Caitlin help Barry measure his speed at an unused Ferris Air testing facility site. As readers familiar with DC Comics might know, Ferris Air is owned by Carol Ferris. Hal Jordan works for Carol before becoming a member of Green Lantern Corps. In the 2011 film Green Lantern, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively portrayed Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris respectively.

Tom Cavanagh, Carlos Valdes and Danielle Panabaker as Harrison Wells, Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow in CW The Flash Season 1 Pilot Episode 1 City of Heroes

Superheroes don't exist without super-villains. Ours isone Clyde Mardon (Chad Rook), who can control the weather*. He uses his skills to rob banks. Interestingly, he is believed to be dead by Joe. Joe and his partner pursued Clyde nine months ago, during the night of the S.T.A.R. Labs explosion. As Clyde makes his escape in a plane, the plane is struck by a lightning and goes down.

Barry pursues Clyde as he flees from the cops after one of his robberies. Clyde creates a fog and makes his escape. Barry is convinced that Clyde has superpowers and in turn tries to convince Detective Joe about this.

Barry then confrontsHarrison about his suspicions. Harrison confesses that the S.T.A.R. Labs incident that bestowed him his superpowers affected a large geographic area, covering more than just Central City. Like Barry, many more “metahumans” (term used by Caitlin) were created that night.

Grant Gustin as forensic assistant Barry Allen The Flash in CW The Flash Season 1 Pilot Episode 1 City of Heroes

Barry decides to use his powers for the greater good. Cisco provides him with a heat and abrasion resistant suit that will help Barry exercise a greater control over his superspeed.

Using his new costume, Barry fights Clyde. Detective Joe is also on Clyde's trail and helps Barry subdue Clyde.

This was a good episode. The show does an admirable job of setting up the characters and the relationships.

Grant is adequate as the Scarlet Speedster.Right now, Barry Allen is a lazy genius and an all round nice guy. And yes, he was bullied in his childhood. Hopefully, the characterization will improvein the upcoming episodes. Rest of the characters are stereotypes as well - idolizing geek (Cisco Ramon), serious minded scientist (Caitlin Snow), over-the-top bubbly girl (Iris West) and the inspiring mentor (Harrison Wells).

Jesse L. Martin and Candice Patton as Centray City Detective Joe West and his daughter Iris West in CW The Flash Season 1 Pilot Episode 1 City of Heroes

Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West shows some acting chops. I personally found him to the best performer.

Arrow (Stephen Amell) makes a cameo appearance. His pep talk to Barry about how Barry can inspire and do things that he cannot reminded me of the parallels between Batmanand Superman.

Speaking of Superman, the show's explanation of S.T.A.R. Labs explosion being the cause of creating the metahumans (including the villains), reminded me of another CW showSmallville. The meteor shower in the pilot episode was cited as the reason for “the villain of the week” type episodes that dominated the first season. Hopefully, The Flash will not take the same route.

I did like the line spoken by the cop to the thief (who stole Iris' handbag) if he wanted to see if he is faster than a bullet. I thought this was a nice reference to the classicSupes description: “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

Trivia

The song “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga isthe song on Barry Allen's facebook page.
The song “Girls Chase Boys” by Ingrid Michaelson can be heard in the scene, when Barry meets Iris after coming out of coma.

* - The character of Clyde Mardon is the brother of Mark Mardon, also known as the Weather Wizard.

Recommended watch to fans of The Flash/DC Comics.

Clickhereto read all my posts related to DC Comics.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, CW Television Network

You might also like:

Arrow - Episode # 3

Arrow - Episode # 1

American Horror Story Freak Show Poster Image Picture Wallpaper Screensaver Cast and Crew

The latest season of American Horror Story, the popular horror show (Freak Show) is set in 1952 in Jupiter, Florida. A milk delivery van stops at a farmhouse for delivery. Bill Palmer (Wilson Bradford), the milkman notices that his previous deliveries have not been taken inside. He enters the house and sees the dead body of the elderly Mrs. Eudora Tattler (Ann McKenzie).

He decides to take a closer look and gets more than what he bargained for, when he discovers the Siamese twins, Bette and Dot Tattler (Sarah Paulson). They are admitted to the hospital.

A mysterious stranger, Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) arrives at the hospital and makes enquiries about the twins from a nurse (Kristin Witterschein).

Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 1 Monsters Among Us

Elsa invites the nurse to visit her show “Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities”. Next we see Elsa in nurse uniform and taking care of the Tattler sisters.

Elsa's business is running out of steam. She is facing pressure from her landlord, Mr. Haddonfield (Thomas Francis Murphy) to vacate. Elsa resorts to various unsavory tactics to extend the lease.

Elsa is looking up to Dot and Bette to salvage her show. Dot is the quiet and serious one. Bette is simple and happy go lucky. Elsa is able to impress Bette but Dot remain suspicious.

John Carroll Lynch as Twisty the Clown American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 1 Monsters Among Us

At the same time, the always smiling Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch) is accumulating his own set of victims. The only difference is that he commits murders before kidnapping his victims.

He start with a young couple, Troy Miller (Andrew Duplessie) and Madison Sanders (Skyler Samuels) making out near the lake. He repeatedly attacks Troy with a knife. As Madison tries to make her escape, he takes her hostage. Then he kills a couple, Jeffrey and Mildred Bachman (Ramona Tyler) in their home and kidnaps their son, Corey (Major Dodson).

The whole town is shaken up by these series of murders.

Evan Peters as Jimmy Darling in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 1 Monsters Among Us

Then we meet the stud of Elsa's group, Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters). Despite his deformed hands, Jimmy longs for a regular life and is quick to lose his temper, whenever someone refers to him as a “freak”.

Jimmy uses his physical oddity to provide pleasure to housewives, who seek escape from their boredom. He wants to break away from the group and strike out on his own.

Kathy Bates as Ethel Darling the bearded lady in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 1 Monsters Among Us

His mother, Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates) is the self-appointed right hand woman to Elsa. She is fiercely protective of her group and strongly believes that the group members need to stand for each other.

Dot and Bette escape from the hospital. Elsa convinces them to join her group, after revealing that she knows that Bette had killed Eudora. During the first performance of the group, patrons Gloria Mott (Frances Conroy), a high brow socialite and her son Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) are impressed with the Tattler twins.

Frances Conroy as Gloria Mott the socialite in American Horror Story Freak Show Monsters Among Us

They even offer to buy the sisters for a hefty sum, but the offer is rejected first by Elsa and then by Dot and Bette themselves. As a parting shot, Gloria makes fun of Elsa's singing, claiming that it was the worst part of the show.

Elsa, who has always harbored dreams of making it big is stung by these remarks. She also becomes resentful of the growing popularity of the Siamese sisters.

There is also trouble brewing on the horizon for the group as a cop comes looking for Dot and Bette. He suspects them to be responsible for Eudora's murder and intends to arrest them. Jimmy kills him.

The group takes out the cop's corpse to a nearby open area and slice him up. Unknown to them, Twisty the Clown is silently watching the proceedings.

Sarah Paulson as Dot and Bette Tattler the Siamese twin sisters in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 1 Monsters Among Us

The production values are excellent as is the music and direction.

One of the main reasons I like this show is the fact that there are no youngsters (with raging hormones) running around waiting to be killed in the most horrid ways.

Being set in the 1950s, there is an old school appeal to it and the cast is full of thespians at the top of their game. This is a dream come true for an old school horror fan like me.

A must watch for fans of Horror.

Click here to read all my posts related to the Horror genre.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Sources: Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Productions, 20th Century Fox Television, FX Network

You might also like:

Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter

City under the Moon

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen The Flash in CW The Flash Season 1 Episode 2 Fastest Man Alive

As seen in the previous episode, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) developed superhuman speed as a result of the explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry used his new found powers to stop erring fellow metahuman Clyde Mardon (Chad Rook).

Barry's support team consists of S.T.A.R. Labs CEO Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh), tech whiz Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) and bioengineering expert Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker).Other than these three folks, only Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) knows The Flash's secret identity.

Barry continues to use his metahuman abilities to save people. At the beginning of the the episode, he saves people caught in a fire in a building. But he starts to get exhausted whenever he exercises his superspeed.

Barry works on a robbery that seems to involve more than one perpetrator. But security cameras capture one person only.

Guest star William Sadler as Simon Stagg in CW The Flash Season 1 Episode 2 Fastest Man Alive

Well known philanthropist Simon Stagg (William Sadler) is awarded the “Man of the Year” award. A gang of robbers gatecrash the event. When one of them shoots at the Security Guard (Seth Whittaker), Barry saves his life. But this effort drains all of his strength.

Joe makes Barry promise that he will not use his powers again to stop the bad guys. Barry works on a specially made treadmill to rectify his recent lapses.

The attack on Stagg was an inside job. Stagg's bodyguard is in cahoots with a disgruntled former employee Danton Black (Michael Smith). Danton has a difference of opinion with his accomplice and kills him using his ability to make clones of himself.

Grant Gustin and Danielle Panabaker as Barry Allen The Flash and Caitlin Snow in CW The Flash Season 1 Episode 2 Fastest Man Alive

Danton's primary target is Stagg. He makes another attempt on his life, right when he is with Detective Joe. Joe is outnumbered by Danton's multiple copies of himself. Hearing about this ongoing assault at the police headquarters, Barry rushes to the rescue.

Barry does succeed in saving Joe's life, but gets beaten up badly by Danton. He is attended to by Caitlin. Joe realizes that it will take more than just Central City cops to stop Danton. He asks Barry to do his thing. Harrison advises Barry to look for the weakest of the Danton clones and knock him unconscious.

In a side plot, Iris West (Candice Patton) is curious about the “Red Streak” as The Flash is referred to in the media. She creates a news alert for him on her smartphone.

The episode improves on the pilot. The Flash versus Multiplex/Danton Black fight scenes have been executed well.

On the acting front, Jesse L. Martin continues to be the most impressive. He has significant screentime with Grant's Barry Allen. Barry has doubts about his effectiveness as a crime fighter. Being the surrogate father figure, Jesse's Detective Joe encourages him to believe in the impossible and helps him defeat Multiplex.

Joe also decides to look into the murder of Barry's mother more closely and promises to unravel the mystery behind her death.

Tom Cavanagh shows some range as Harrison Wells begins to show his true character. In the closing scenes, Harrison kills Simon Stagg to prevent him from disclosing/exploiting his knowledge about The Flash.

Rest of the cast are adequate, if not outstanding.

Batman The Dark Knight vs Mr Freeze Dr Victor Fries DC Comics

Danton working to cure hiswife from a degenerative heart disease reminded me of the origin story of the Batman villain, Mr Freeze/Dr Victor Fries. Dr Fries was also working on his wife's deadly degenerative disease, before he became the supervillain Mr Freeze.

Recommended watch to fans of The Flash/DC Comics.

Clickhereto read all my posts related to DC Comics.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, CW Television Network

You might also like:

The Flash Pilot - Recap

Superman 1978 - Review

Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot Tattler the Siamese twin sisters in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 2 Massacres and Matinees

As readers might remember, at the end of the last episode, Detective Bunch (Dane Rhodes) tried to arrest the Siamese twin sisters, Dot and Bette Tattler (Sarah Paulson). He is killed by Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters) and the rest of the group help Jimmy to bury the body.

Bunch's disappearance does not go unnoticed and compounded wit the series of murders , a curfew is imposed. Local cops check with Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange), since Bunch's last known assignment should have ostensibly led him there.

Concerned by this official scrutiny, Jimmy accompanied with Amazon Eve (Erika Ervin) exhume Bunch's corpse.Amazon retrieves the cop's badge and gives it to Jimmy.

Michael Chiklis as strongman Wendell Dell Toledo with Angela Bassett as triple breasted Desiree Dupree in American Horror Story Freak Show Episode 2 Massacres and Matinees

Strongman Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis) and triple breast hermaphrodite Desiree Dupree (Angela Bassett) are the latest recruits. Dell is a figure from Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates)'s past, having fathered Jimmy Darling.

Dell has just killed someone in Chicago and is desperate to join the group. His physical skills and no-nonsense attitude convince Elsa to make him in change of the security.

Dell proposes to introduce matinee shows, due to the curfew. Despite Elsa's objection, he goes ahead and starts to post advertisements.

The idealistic Jimmy tries to get local people familiarized with his friends, in the hope that the town will accept them as one of their own. He takes them to the local diner. The patrons and the diner employees are not comfortable with their presence and quarrel ensues.

Michael Chiklis and Evan Peters as strongman Dell Toledo and Jimmy Darling in American Horror Story Season 4 Episode 2 Massacres and Matinees

Dell observes these developments and orders the group to leave the diner. He drags jimmy out and roughs him up. He reprimands Jimmy for exposing the group to the town folks, as it would eliminate their curiosity and would impact the ticket sales.

The infuriated Jimmy complains to Elsa and exploits her thirst for fame to get rid of Dell. Jimmy plots to have him arrested for the murder of the local cop, by hiding the cop's batch in Dell's trailer. The shrewd strongman turns the tables on Jimmy by incriminating Meep (Ben Woolf) instead.

The cops take Meep into custody and the same night return his corpse in a body bag.

Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 2 Massacres and Matinees

In the meantime, the matinee show happens on schedule as Dell had planned. Dot's singing talent proves to be a hit with the audience, much to the chagrin of Elsa. To get even, Elsa visits the sisters in their tent at night time and tries to turn Bette against Dot.

There are two other secondary storylines in the show and both came together nicely to promise a exciting new thread in the future episodes.

As seen in the previous episode, rich socialite Gloria Mott (Frances Conroy) and her son Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) tried to purchase the Tattler sisters and failed.

Dandy is one really bored chap. Even the delicious looking Escargot, prepared by their cook, Nora (Patti LaBelle) does not excite him. To get some much needed excitement, Dandy kills the neighbor's cat and dismembers it.

Frances Conroy as Gloria Mott the socialite in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 2 Massacres and Matinees

His real intention is to become a thespian. In desperation, he tries to convince Jimmy to join the group. Jimmy turns him down.

Gloria is driving along, when she notices Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch) walking along. Twist has been busy himself and has added two more murders to his collection - a toy store owner, Mr. Hainey (Tony Bentley) and his employee.

Gloria enlists Twisty's help to make Dandy happy. Twisty attacks Dandy and returns to his hideout in the woods. His hostages, Bonnie Lipton (Skyler Samuels) and Corey Bachman (Major Dodson) make an escape attempt.

Bonnie runs into Dandy, who has followed Twisty all the way from his house. Instead of saving her, Dandy takes her back to Twisty and advises him to make better restraints for his captives.

Michael Chiklis as Dell Toledo the strongman of the Freak Show in American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode 2 Massacres and Matinees

The show continues its strong run in the second episode. The acting talents are enhanced by the latest additions - Michael Chiklis and Angela Bassett. The returning actors are excellent as well.

I personally liked Peter Evans, Sarah Paulson and Jessica Lange. Each is effective in their roles - Evans as the high minded Jimmy, Sarah as the talented & independent minded Dot and not-so-talented & naive Bette, and Lange as the attention craving and jealous Elsa.

As the story moves forward, each actor gets to display their acting chops as their characters face the consequences of their actions. Jimmy is heartbroken to see Meep's dead body as a result of his own scheme to dispose of Dell. Elsa has to come to terms with the rising popularity of Dot among the group and the ticket paying customers.

Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities Freak Show American Horror Story Season 4 circus carnival tent entrance wallpaper photo image screensaver

I also liked the clear contrast between Dell and Jimmy. While Dell is purely motivated by his greed to make money, without any concern about the impact of his actions on the concerned people. Jimmy is more of an idealist and wants his group to be accepted as part of the human society. Both actors deserve credit for bringing out these aspects of their characters well.

The production values are top notch and the recreation of the 1950s has been done with taste and dedication. The sets, the costumes, the props - all combine to create a classic period feel to the happenings onscreen.The music adds to the eerie atmosphere.

Kudos to the cast and crew for delivering such an engrossing episode.

A must watch for fans of Horror.

Click here to read all my posts related to American Horror Story.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Sources: Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Productions, 20th Century Fox Television, FX Network

You might also like:

American Horror Story Freak Show Episode 1 Review

Freak Show "Monsters Among Us" - Review

Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter book review

Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter - Review

Avengers Age of Ultron movie sequel poster image wallpaper picture robert downey jr iron man sequel marvel cinematic universe

The trailer for the upcoming movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man is out. The ensemble cast includes Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Joining the regular cast are James Spader (as the voice of Ultron), Elizabeth Olsen (as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver).

Andy Serkis is also seen in the trailer, but it is not clear what character he is playing in the movie.

As fans of Marvel Comics will know, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are the children of Magneto. This is interesting as Quicksilver was recently portrayed by Evan Peters in X-Men: Days of Future Past. I am curious to see if Aaron proves to be a better impersonator than Peters, whose turn I enjoyed very much.

It seems that Tony Stark has created a robot that goes against his maker and it is upto The Avengers to stop it. We can also see The Hulkbuster in action. Thor also manhandles Stark in the trailer.

I have read on the web that Iron Man will be the main antagonist in Captain America 3, which is reportedly based on the popular Marvel Comics storyline, “Civil War”.In that story, Captain America and Iron Man find themselves on the opposite sides of a Superhero Registration Act. The trailer strongly indicates to these turn of events.

Tony Stark also speaks the line: “This is the end... The end of the path I started...” and Natasha replies: “Nothing lasts forever”.

Robert Downey Jr. has been earning hefty paychecks and it is not much of a stretch to imagine that Marvel Studios would like to cut down on their expenses. This probably explains why Chris Evans is featured more prominently than Robert Downey Jr. in the trailer.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: Wikipedia

© 2014 - www.buddy2blogger.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.

You might also like:

The Wolverine (2013)

Iron Man 3 (2013)

NBC Constantine Matt Ryan 2014 TV Show poster wallpaper image picture screensaver DC Comics Hellblazer character

As the pilot episode begins, John Constantine (Matt Ryan) has been institutionalized in Northern England. He receives shock treatment and attends counseling sessions with Dr Roger Huntoon (Miles Anderson).

Constantine is bored out of his wits with the pedestrian life at the institution. He does not have to wait for long. During one of the group therapy sessions, he notices a lot of beetles moving in a particular direction and follows them.

At the end of the trail, he finds a possessed girl and proceeds to exorcise her. She was writing a message on the wall, when she was interrupted. The message reads: “LIV DIE”.

Lucy Griffiths as Liv Aberdine with Matt Ryan as John Constantine in NBC Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode Non Est Asylum

Liv Aberdine (Lucy Griffiths) is a young woman, who is the person referred to in the message. After a long day at her work, she is about to leave in her car when she is attacked. The ground near her opens up and couple of cars go under.

John arrives in time to save Liv. But he is not alone. Constantine's guardian angel, Manny (Harold Perrineau) is looking out for him. John gives a suspicious Liv his business card and advises her to look him up, should she find herself in mortal danger.

The stranded Liv finds help from her friend Talia (Julia Lehman), who works nearby. Talia lives in the apartment opposite Liv's. As Liv enters her apartment, she notices a stranger lurking in the shadows.

Harold Perrineau as Manny Constantine guardian angel in NBC Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode Non Est Asylum

An unseen assailant tries to enter Liv's apartment and is foiled by the inscription on her door. The unlucky Talia becomes the victim.

Convinced about the seriousness of the danger surrounding her, she agrees to take Constantine's assistance. John takes her to a safehouse, that belongs to Liv's father, Jasper Winters. John had promised Jasper that he will keep Liv safe.

Soon, Liv starts to see dead people, including her dead grandmother. John explains to her that she has inherited these powers from her father.

Charles Halford as Chas Constantine closest friend in NBC Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode Non Est Asylum

John's closest friend Chas (Charles Halford) is along for the ride. He is the one who inscribed the spell on Liv's door.

Constantine discovers that Furcifer is the demon trying to kill Liv. He decides to take the fight right back by baiting Liv. He also takes the help of a hacker/computer expert Ritchie Simpson (Jeremy Davies).

In the final showdown, Furcifer possesses a security guard (Victor McCay). Constantine is about to destroy the demon after entrapping it, when it tries to trick him by using his guilt over his failure to save a young girl, Astra (Bailey Tippen).

Victor McCay as the security guard possessed by Furcifer demon in NBC Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode Non Est Asylum

Liv uses her new found powers and informs Constantine about Furcifer's tactic. Constantine proceeds to destroy the demon.

The NBC show got off to a great start with the first episode. The production values are surprisingly good for a pilot. Credit goes to the director Neil Marshall and the script by David S. Goyer and Daniel Cerone.

I have enjoyed the werewolf horror movie Dog Soldiers by Neil. He continues his good run with this episode. Goyer redeems himself after the unmitigated disaster of Man of Steel.

Matt Ryan as John Constantine with sunglasses in NBC Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode Non Est Aslyum

Constantine is an antihero and not a regular run-of-the-mill superhero per se. He is a self proclaimed Exorcist, Demonologist and Master of the Dark Arts. He also has a wicked sense of humor and an attitude to boot.

The casting of Matt Ryan as the titular character is one of the best casting choices among the TV shows I have seen in the recent past. He is spot on as the smooth talking con man/exorcist. Matt's Constantine has a great sense of humor and this makes a world of difference to a viewer like me.

It also helps that Matt has the acting chops and charisma to make for a genuinely appealing lead. Despite the fact that Constantine suffers from typical leading man fallacies such as angst over the past etc., Matt made an impression. I find his performance far more enjoyable compared to the leads in other DC comics based shows like Arrow, Gotham and The Flash.

Helmet of Fate Dr Fate DC Comics reference in NBC Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode Non Est Aslyum

Another enjoyable aspect was the cameo by the Helmet of Fate. As fans of DC Comics might be aware, it is used by Dr Fate.

I am not familiar with the history or background of the character of John Constantine, except the 2005 Hollywood movie starring Keanu Reeves. The movie reportedly features significant changes to the character.

The NBC show returns the character to his roots as a blonde British at home in the UK.

After a disappointing vampire seriesand the ongoingAmerican Horror Story that started well but is slowly losing steam, this might be just what the doctor ordered for horror buffs. Let us hope they will keep up the quality for the rest of the season.

Talia possessed by a demon in NBC Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode Non Est Aslyum

The music, cinematography and the makeup greatly enhance the horror aspects of the show. Kudos to the cast and crew for delivering a great horror show. Talia's possession reminded me of the classic Sam Raimi movie Evil Dead.

A recommended watch for fans of Constantine/DC Comics/Horror genre.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Sources: DC Comics, Warner Bros. Television, National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

You might also like:

Christopher Reeve Superman The Movie 1978 review

Superman (1978) - Review

The Dark Knight Rises Christian Bale Batman review

The Dark Knight Rises - Review

Lucy Liu as Joan Watson with Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 1 Enough Nemesis To Go Around

The episode starts with a quick recap of how Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) was offered a position with MI6 at the end of Season 2.

Cut to the present. It has been six months since Holmes has joined MI6. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) has become the sole consulting detective for NYPD. Her current case involves Elana March (Gina Gershon), a suspected leader of a drug cartel. Joan has Karen Lloyd, a key member of Elana's cartel, arrested while Elana is having lunch with her.

Joan finds new love in the form of Andrew Mittal (Raza Jaffrey) after helping him find his missing pet lizard. During their date, Joan notices a young woman (Ophelia Lovibond) following her.

Ophelia Lovibond guest stars as Kitty Winter Sherlock Holmes new apprentice in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 1 Enough Nemesis To Go Around

Karen and her police escort are murdered in the elevator, just as she is leaving to the court. Even after a lapse of two months, Joan is still working on the case, when she receives a tip from one Montcliffe Ekuban.

Joan is pursued by the same young woman she encountered earlier. Joan confronts her and the two engage in a brief single stick fight. Joan overcomes her opponent and deduces that she works for Sherlock. The lady introduces herself as Sherlock's new partner.

Joan realizes that the name refers to two persons famous during the Victorian era. She visits the old brownstone to find Sherlock in a mask at work.

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes with Ophelia Lovibond as his apprentice Kitty Winter in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 1 Enough Nemesis To Go Around

Sherlock informs Joan that he has a new protege, Kitty Winters (Ophelia Lovibond) who has been shadowing Joan for the past week. Joan is angry with Sherlock for leaving her with just a note, instead of a personal farewell. She asks Sherlock to stay off her case.

Sherlock approaches Captain Thomas Gregson (Aidan Quinn) to renew his consulting for the NYPD. Gregson clarifies that while he has always respected Holmes for his talent, he has never considered him as his friend. He also informs Holmes that he needs to get Joan's consent before he can start working for NYPD again.

The person of interest in the case is one Kevin Elspeth, suspected to be a hit man on March's payroll. He has been staying in the hotel, when the murders took place.

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 1 Enough Nemesis To Go Around

Despite Joan's clear message to the contrary, Sherlock starts working on the case. He has a theory about how the murders were done and passes on his idea to Joan.

Holmes tries to patch up with Joan at her apartment. He reveals that his failure of getting addicted to heroin was what prompted him to return to London. He tries to offer his assistance in solving the case as a “sounding board”, but is rebuffed.

Joan is used to solving cases all by herself and proceeds to achieve success with this one too.

Guest star Gina Gershon as Allison March, a suspected leader of a criminal enterprise in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 1 Enough Nemesis To Go Around

The best performance was given by guest star Gina Gershon. She projects subdued but very real malice, especially in her scenes with Joan Watson.

Lucy Liu continues to be the main lead of Elementary. She hogs the limelight from the first scene and deservedly so. She makes a far more believable detective than Jonny Lee Miller.

Jonny Lee Miler Sherlock Holmes locks on the wall in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 1 Enough Nemesis To Go Around

Speaking of Miller, the only difference is that he is clean shaven now. Otherwise, it is business as usual with the same old exasperating body language, mannerisms and the locks on the wall. Yes, those locks.... they are back.

The latest addition to the cast, Ophelia Lovibond is adequate in her role. It is her character itself that is more appealing than the actress. Kitty Winter appears in the original story “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client” as a bitter former mistress of Baron Adelbert Gruner.

Sherlock Holmes enlists her help but unknown to him, she has an agenda of her own and throws vitriol on the Baron's face. It will be interesting to see if Elementary's version also has an ulterior motive.

The mystery component was OK. The episode was good by usual Elementary standards i.e. it was not boring for the most part.

Recommended only to fans of the show.

Click here to read all my posts about CBS Elementary.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

You might also like:

Elementary Season 1 Review

Elementary - Cast Review

Matt Ryan as John Constantine in NBC Constantine Season 1 Episode 2 The Darkness Beneath

In the town of Heddwich, Pennsylvania workers in a mine are hearing strange noises and are quitting their jobs. This creates a major headache for the owner, Lannis.

Lannis' personal life is not rosy either. He takes bath in the shower. The water turns muddy and then stops. Lannis's luck runs out, when he is burned to death by flames in the shower.

This incident comes to the notice of John Constantine (Matt Ryan). However, this time he has to work on the case alone as Chas (Charles Halford) still has a warrant out for him in the state of PA for a train derailment.

After arriving at the mining town, Constantine does some investigation in the mines and is scared out of his wits. He tries to get some details from Lanner's widow, who throws him out.

Angelica Celaya as Zed Martin in NBC Constantine Season 1 Episode 2 The Darkness Beneath

At the end of the pilot episode, we saw a girl drawing Constantine's pictures. She is revealed to be Zed Martin (Angelica Celaya), who happens to be in Heddwich at this very moment.

The rest of the episode focuses on how Zed and John team up to unravel the mystery behind the deaths of the miners.

After the strong pilot episode, this one is a bit of a letdown. The focus is primarily on Zed Martin. She has “clairsentient” powers that nicely complement John's in his fight against supernatural forces.

Matt Ryan as John Constantine with Angelica Celaya as Zed Martin in NBC Constantine Season 1 Episode 2 The Darkness Beneath

The show heavily foreshadows a physical intimacy between John and Zed. This point is hit over our heads with a sledgehammer.

The plot takes a backseat. There was a mention of “Coblynau”, spirits of the dead miners. These are harmless by nature. John initially suspects pastor Ellis McGee (James Le Gros), but ultimately deduces the identity of the culprit.

It is not really a mystery and astute fans would be able to easily recognize the character pretty quickly. It was more like a SyFy/Asylum movie with special effects that would also befit such a production. Interestingly, the pilot episode fared better.

Djimon Hounsou as Midnite with Keanu Reeves and Shia LaBeouf as John Constantine and Chas Kramer in 2005 Constantine movie

Now that Zed has been introduced nice and proper, things shoud return to normalcy. The preview for the next episode indicated the debut of Papa Midnite.

As some readers might remember, Djimon Hounsou portrayed Midnite in the 2005 Hollywood movie, starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine. In the NBC show, Michael James Shaw plays this character.

The humor was the sole saving grace of the episode with John referring to himself as “Occasional Dabbler” in the Dark Arts.

Click to read all the posts related to Constantine.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Sources: DC Comics, Warner Bros. Television, National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

You might also like:

Superman (1978) - Review

The Dark Knight Rises - Review

Jonny Lee Miller Lucy Liu and Ophelia Lovibond as Sherlock Holmes Joan Watson and Kitty Winter in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 2 The Five Orange Pipz

In the previous episode, Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) returned to New York with a new apprentice Kitty Winter (Ophelia Lovibond). Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) is initially angry with him, but reluctantly agrees to let him consult again for the NYPD.

As this episode opens, a unidentified man arrives at his house. Checking his mail, he opens an envelope containing five Pipz orange plastic beads. He calls Theodore Fordham, who is already dead.

Captain Thomas Gregson (Aidan Quinn) is already at the scene and answers the call. The man assumes he is speaking to Theo and informs him that someone has found about him.

The man is shot dead, even as Gregson tries to help him. The dead man turns out to be one Elias Openshaw (John Rothman), former owner of a toy company. Theodore was the company attorney.

Jonny Lee Miller Lucy Liu as Sherlock Holmes Joan Watson in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 2 The Five Orange Pipz

Sherlock deduces that there have been earlier attempts on Elias' life. Some children were killed by the poisonous substances found in the toys sold by Elias' company. Elias has been on the run for some time now.

Sherlock sends Kitty to the Theodore's crime scene and observe Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill). Sherlock sends her the list of the addresses of the families whose children were victims of Elias company's products.

She discovers that the orange pipz that Theodore received were sent from the same zip code where Gabe Coleman (Zak Orth) lives. He lost his son Dylan, after which his wife Amy left him holding him responsible for not bringing justice for their departed son.

Lucy Liu as Joan Watson in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 2 The Five Orange Pipz

Special Agent Boden (Chris McGarry) was shadowing Fordham and meets up with Sherlock and Joan.

In the meantime, Gabe confesses to Joan that he murdered Elias and his lawyer. Sherlock is convinced that someone is framing Gabe.

Sherlock, Joan and Kitty visit Angela White (Sonya Walger), Assistant U.S. Attorney to get more details. The jealous Kitty insults Angela and unintentionally causes a roadblock for the investigation.

A witness, Azeem (Shayan Shojaee) has seen Angela and Fordham running into each other.

Lucy Liu and Ophelia Lovibond as Joan Watson and Kitty Winter Sherlock Holmes new apprentice in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 2 The Five Orange Pipz

Armed with this information, Angela is questioned by the NYPD. Angela confesses that she was being blackmailed by Fordham, but asserts that she was not involved in the murders.

Sherlock deduces that Boden is the killer.

Canonical References

1. The episode title refers to Arthur Conan Doyle's original story: The Five Orange Pips. A young client, John Openshaw has lost his uncle and father. Both of them received a letter with the initials “K.K.K” and contained five orange pips. Soon after, they passed away in what seemed to be natural causes, but Sherlock deduces the real cause.

2. The character Elias Openshaw - In the original story, The Five Orange Pips, Elias Openshaw is the uncle of Sherlock Holmes client, John Openshaw. He is the first member of the Openshaw family to fall victim, followed by John's father Joseph Openshaw.

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 2 The Five Orange Pipz

3. Elementary Holmes remarks to Kitty: “I never guess. It is a shocking habit, destructive to the logical faculty.” - In The Sign of the Four, Sherlock Holmes remarks to Dr John Watson: “No, no. I never guess. It is a shocking habit, - destructive to the logical faculty.”

4. Elementary Sherlock's remark to Kitty: “Genius is an infinite capacity to take pains. That is a bad definition, but applies to detective work.” - In A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes makes the observation: “They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains,....It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work.”

This was an OK episode.

Ophelia Lovibond guest stars as Kitty Winter Sherlock Holmes new apprentice in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 2 The Five Orange Pipz

The focus this time is on Ophelia Lovibond's Kitty Winter. We learn that Kitty has been the victim of a terrible crime five years ago. Kitty does not want to be identified as a victim and this is the reason for her aggressive behavior.

In the end, she does reconcile her differences with Joan and encourages her to read her personal file.

The attempts at humor were uneven with the one about Openshaw/Osamashaw being the least successful.

The show's attempt to give a modern update to a Canonical story is much better than the previous one, Dead Man's Switch.

Trivia

1. Kitty Winter is listening to the song “Weatherman” by Dead Sara, when Sherlock Holmes walks in.

2. The song “Every Time the Sun Comes Up” by Sharon Van Etten is heard in the closing scenes, when Kitty Winter asks Joan Watson to read her file.

Click here to read all my posts about CBS Elementary.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

You might also like:

Elementary Season 1 Review

Elementary - Cast Review

Elementary Sherlock Holmes Jonny Lee Miller in Season 3 Episode 3 Just a Regular Irregular

The episode opens with a quick refresher of the second episode of the second season, “Solve for X”. We had met Harlan Emple (Rich Sommer), the mathematician who was solving a mathematics puzzle being completely naked in the brownstone.

Harlan is back. He is playing a mathematics game “Belphegor's Prime” and encounters the corpse of a man over the course of the game. He calls 911 and is taken into custody as the main suspect.

At the brownstone, Kitty Winter (Ophelia Lovibond) is practicing single stick fighting. Yes, the people behind Elementary clearly love showing this over and over again.

Phil Simms guest stars as himself in Elementary Season 3 Episode 3 Just a Regular Irregular

There is a knife thrower in the apartment and Sherlock is taking his help in solving the mystery behind a circus accident in the 50s. This talented individual is none other than NFL Legend Phillip Simms playing himself.

Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) offers a chance to Kitty to spy on one Keswick. Kitty claims to work only for Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and refuses to help Joan, despite being offered a share of Joan's commission.

Sherlock comes to Harlan's rescue and takes up the responsibility lf clearing his name. Harlan informs Sherlock that there were a total of nine competitors, including himself, in the game.

Harlan Emple Rich Sommer with Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 3 Just a Regular Irregular

One of the other players is Beka (Audrey Lynn Weston). She corrects Harlan that there were totally sixteen players. Next on the list is Paul Ladesma (Jacob Pitts). Paul explains about an anonymous mathematician who has been exposing government secrets.

Sherlock deduces that Harlan is the person Paul is after. I can go on with the rest of the plot, but this is the bottom line: This is hands down the weakest episode of the third season.

The mystery component was OK. The initial setup was interesting, but the rest of the episode did not live up the expectations.

Jacob Pitts and Rich Sommer guest star as mathematicians Paul Ladesma and Harlan Emple in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 3 Just a Regular Irregular

The worst part was the handling of the conclusion. Readers familiar with Elementary know that the murderer/culprit is usually the character who is introduced and disappears shortly. By this rule, I had guessed the killer to be either Beka or Paul.

Sherlock anonymously calls Paul and gives him Harlan's address. In the next scene (after the commercial break), we see Sherlock meeting Harlan at his place.

While Sherlock explains to Harlan, an unseen person is seen approaching. I was hoping that this person would turn out to be Beka. But it is none other than Paul, whom we just saw being contacted by Sherlock in the previous scene.

I was just dumbfounded by this revelation. What was the use of building up so much suspense when the resolution is so certifiably anti-climactic.

Joan Watson and Kitty Winter Sherlock Holmes new apprentice in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 3 Just a Regular Irregular

The subplot has Joan patching things up with Kitty Winter. Readers might remember that Joan accosted Kitty and engaged her in a single stick fight in the first episode.

Though Kitty initially refuses to work on Joan's case, she agrees to do so on Sherlock's instruction. With Kitty's help, Joan is able to solve the case.

In addition, Joan suggests to Sherlock that he have Kitty admitted to some kind of counseling session. Kitty is revealed to be a rape victim.

Kitty acknowledges Joan's help and starts attending counseling.

Acting wise, it is the same story. Lucy Liu as Joan Watson gives the best performance. Ophelia is adequate as Kitty Winter. She seems to be going through the motions.

Joan Watson Lucy Liu in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 3 Just a Regular Irregular

Guest star Rich Sommer is good as the mathematician obsessed with solving puzzles. But his habit of going barechested is quite jarring. Speaking of which, he is not the only character to display male nudity. Joan's boyfriend Andrew Mittal (Raza Jaffrey) also goes shirtless after an unnecessary scene showing him and Joan in bed.

It seems nudity is the norm when it comes to the recent Sherlock Holmes adaptations. In the first Guy Ritchie movie, both Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) both bare their skin. In the sequel, it is the turn of Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry).

Again in the BBC show Sherlock, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Irene Adler (Lara Pulver) similary showed some skin.

The only difference being, unlike this show, the other two adaptations are much better in terms of production values, acting leads, music and pretty much every conceivable aspect.

Click here to read all my posts about CBS Elementary.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

You might also like:

cbs elementary sherlock holmes season review recap discussion summary

Elementary Season 1 Review

Elementary cast images pictures wallpaper screensaver

Elementary - Cast Review

Sherlock Holmes pastiche short story poster image screensaver wallpaper pic review recap blog

Having enjoyed Anthony Horowitz's previous Sherlock Holmes pastiche “The House of Silk”, I had high expectations for his next effort. The book under review is not a full length novel, but a short story that makes a quick and a very enjoyable read.

Readers familiar with the Sherlock Holmes Canon will be familiar with the line spoken by Sherlock Holmes to Scotland Yard Inspector Lestrade in The Adventure of the Six Napoleans: “You will remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day..”

This short story by Horowitz deals with this aforementioned incident.

Dr Watson has moved out of 221 B Baker Street with his recently married wife, Mary Morstan. Memories of his adventures with the Bohemian detective still haunt him. On Mary's advice, he pays a visit to the old rooms and most importantly, his former roommate and friend, Mr Sherlock Holmes.

He finds Holmes listening to a case from another Scotland Yard detective Athelney Jones. As readers might be aware, Athelney Jones has appeared in the novel The Sign of the Four.

Jones needs the Consulting Detective's help to solve the mystery behind the break in at the Abernetty's house. The intruder is shot dead by the elderly Abernetty.

The thief has stolen three china figures from the Abernettys and others. I will leave it to the readers to discover the solution for themselves.

Sherlock Holmes Sidney Paget illustration Arthur Conan Doyle story

The author is good at imitating Arthur Conan Doyle's tone and style of writing. Like most of the original stories, this one begins with Dr John Watson's voice.

Canonical References
1. Sherlock Holmes refers to the Trepoff murder - In A Scandal in Bohemia, Dr Watson states: “From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland.”

2. Holmes mentions the strange behavior of Dr Moore Agar - In The Adventure of the Devil's Foot, Dr Watson writes about Dr Agar: “In March of that year Dr. Moore Agar, of Harley Street, whose dramatic introduction to Holmes I may some day recount, gave positive injunctions that the famous private agent lay aside all his cases and surrender himself to complete rest if he wished to avert an absolute breakdown.”

3. The Abernettys have inherited their house from one Mrs Matilda Briggs - In The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, Sherlock Holmes explains: “Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,...It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.”

Despite the brief length of the story, Sherlock Holmes' powers of observation and deduction are on full display. Credit to Horowitz for making this an enjoyable experience.

Recommended read for fans of Sherlock Holmes.

Click here to read all my posts related to Sherlock Holmes.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: Anthony Horowitz, HarperCollins Publishers

You might also like:

The House of Silk Sherlock Holmes Anthony Horowitz pastiche review recap plot summary spoilers blog

The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes novel

Bending the Willow

Sherlock Holmes Joan Watson consulting detectives in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 4 Bella

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) is hired by one Edwin Borstein (Michael Chernus). Edwin owns a software company specializing in Artificial Intelligence. Someone has stolen a copy of Bella, an AI program.

Sherlock is so intrigured by Bella's thoughts about love, he takes the case without any pay. He is more interested in beating Bella, rather than catching the culprit. He leaves that part to Joan Watson (Lucy Liu).

Joan and Kitty Winter (Ophelia Lovibond) strike a working relationship. They notice a similar case involving theft of a human genome. They narrow down the list of suspects to a single individual, based on a match in fingerprints.

Condola Rashad Elementary Season 3 Episode 4 Bella

Sherlock and Joan conduct investigation at Edwin's office. We learn that only Edwin and Melinda Yee (Condola Rashad) had access to Bella.

Sherlock has already identified the aforementioned suspect as Mr Raffles, the legendary criminal. He also discovers that Mr Raffles has recently started working for Robert Burnett (Bill Winkler), Edwin's competitor in AI field.

Sherlock deduces that Burnett used Mr Raffles' skills to illegally obtain a copy of Bella. He threatens Burnett into destroying the stolen copy, failing which Sherlock will reveal his misdoings to the authorities.

Michael Chernus Jonny Lee Miller Sherlock Holmes Elementary Season 3 Episode 4 Bella

Before Sherlock can inform his client about the latest developments, Edwin is found dead. Melinda thinks that her employer has died from an epileptic attack.

Sherlock believes that his client has been murdered. Sherlock has a theory: Members of Existential Threat Research Association (ETRA) killed Edwin to gain more credibility for their message about the threat posed by AI to human survival.

Since Edwin was a fan of Death metal music, Sherlock listens to a CD (formerly in his client's possession) real loud in the NYPD office. He notices some anomalies in the track.

Sherlock's conjecture about ETRA is proven correct when another suspect, Michael Webb (Jonathan Judge-Russo) identifies Halley Feiffer (Ellen Rabin) as the person who entered his house under the disguise of a professional cleaning company worker.

Detective Marcus Bell Joan Watson Elementary Season 3 Episode 4 Bella

Halley adores her mentor Isaac Pike (Michael Cristofer) and makes a quick confession. Sherlock deduces that she is covering up for Isaac.

He devises a less than ideal way to make Isaac confess to his crimes - by using his drug-addicted brother Joshua as a trump card. But Isaac has already done some research on Sherlock's addiction problems in the past. Isaac knows that Sherlock would not send a fellow addict to prison and calls Sherlock's bluff.

This is probably the best episode of this season. I liked the final chat between Sherlock and Isaac. There were some genuinely funny moments involving Mason (Robert Capron), the irregular hired by Sherlock for his AI skills to take down Bella.

Sherlock Holmes Joan Watson investigating a corpse in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 4 Bella

This is the first time that Sherlock gets to do most of the detective work. Unlike the previous episodes, Joan enters the scene only at the sixth minute.

Speaking of hogging the limelight, it is Clyde (supposedly the breakout star of the show) whose face looms large at a very close range in the first scene. Sherlock is watching him eat lettuce, while delegating tasks to an understandably vexed Kitty.

The secondary plot involved Joan Watson's boyfriend Andrew Paek (Raza Jaffrey) helping out Sherlock, after the latter explicitly seeks his help. Initially, Joan is not happy with this interaction, but Sherlock convinces her of his benign intentions.

Ophelia Lovibond Kitty Winter Sherlock Holmes apprentice in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 4 Bella

In the end, Andrew is off to Copenhagen on a new business venture with Magnus, one of Sherlock's friends. Joan accompanies him on his flight trip, giving her interest in exploring Copenhagen as a motivating reason for her action.

Ophelia's Kitty Winter is relegated to the background this time.

But the episode did have a jarring moment: In an earlier scene featuring Edwin explaining his case to Sherlock, Jonny Lee Miller delivered a line off screen as the camera cut him off. Hopefully, such glaring lapses will not recur.

On a side note, there was mention of Turing Test: this test measures a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to or indistinguishable from that of a human.

This somehow reminded of the soon-to-be-released picture The Imitation Game starring the other Sherlock(Benedict Cumberbatch) as Alan Turing.

Click here to read all my posts about CBS Elementary.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

You might also like:

Elementary Season 1 Review

Elementary - Cast Review

Sherlock Holmes Jonny Lee Miller in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 5 Rip Off

A business woman (Paige Patterson) discovers by accident a severed hand in a pool of blood on the road side.

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) wants Kitty Winter (Ophelia Lovibond) to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA), to safeguard his interests. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) is still in Copenhagen.

Sherlock and Kitty arrive at the spot where the severed hand was discovered. Sherlock deduces that the hand's owner is already dead and that the dead body will be in a parking lot. He is proved right shortly.

Captain Thomas Gregson (Aidan Quinn) finds himself in a tough spot after physically assaulting Chris Stotz (Derek Grabner), a fellow cop. Turns out that he did so to retaliate against that Stotz's abusive behavior against his daughter Hannah Gregson (Liza J. Bennett), who is a police officer herself.

Sherlock Holmes Detective Marcus Bell in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 5 Rip Off

Dr Grannis (Nadia Dajani), who performed the autopsy on the dead man concludes that he was attacked with a blunt instrument and had fought back hard. She also informs Sherlock that the deceased person was making a good recovery from an unknown ailment.

Sherlock deduces that the deceased was a devout Jew by observing his clothes. Sherlock and Kitty visit synagogues and track down the victim's brother, Josef Shapiro (Stuart Zagnit).

Josef confirms that his brother, Moshe Shapiro was recovering from bone cancer. Moshe owned a Postal Unlimited and was murdered within a block from his office.

Sherlock and Kitty visit Moshe's office and question one of his employees, Amit Hattengatti (Rafi Silver). Amit confirms that Moshe was a very kind human being, without whose help it would have been hard for him to get through graduate school.

Sherlock Holmes and Kitty Winter in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 5 Rip Off

While working together on the case, Sherlock refuses to lend his laptop to Kitty. We soon find out the reason for Sherlock's lack of trust: He has discovered a 474-page transcript titled “The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes” written by Joan.

Joan has not properly deleted her draft and Sherlock is not sure if she has any more copies lying elsewhere. He is determined to ensure that she destroys all other copies (if any exist).

Sherlock figures out that Moshe was involved in the diamond smuggling trade. At the NYPD, Sherlock does some lip reading and is able to recover the diamonds.

Kitty Winter Sherlock Holmes new apprentice in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 5 Rip Off

Sherlock further deduces that a yet to be identified strong individual has ripped off Moshe's arm. He hopes to find that person in Ritchie's gym, which is very close to Moshe's murder site.

At the gym, Sherlock has his eyes set on one Dana Kazmir (Michael DeMello). He challenges him to an arm wrestling contest. He does this in order to get Kazmir's DNA and accomplishes his goal successfully.

Realizing the possibility of facing legal consequences, Dana makes a full confession that he was hired by an unknown man (known only as “Mencius Blackbag”) to kill Moshe Shapiro. He was told to deposit the bag containing the diamonds in a dumpster.

Dana has not met his employer, but could make out a Dutch accent over the phone calls. Dana's attorney Cynthia Kerr (Leslie Hendrix) provides a list of three more persons who were supposed to have been killed by him. The third individual on the list is Moshe's employee Amit.

Sherlock Holmes cooking in the kitchen in CBS Elementary Season 3 Episode 5 Rip Off

Amit informs Sherlock that one Leonard Oosthuizen (Daniel Abeles) had threatened Moshe at his office in front of Amit and two other customers. Sherlock and Kitty realize that these three eye witnesses are the names on the list.

Leonard is taken in by the NYPD for interrogation. He denies any involvement in the murder of Moshe Shapiro.

Kitty proposes that Amit is the mastermind behind Moshe's murder. She is proved correct. Amit was working for Moshe in the diamond smuggling trade.

He bribed Kerr to make Dana make the false confession and provide the fake list of targets (including his name) to mislead the investigators. Amit intended to take over from his boss and at the same time get rid of his competitor, Leonard.

Elementary turtle Clyde Sherlock Holmes pet

Canonical References

1. The name of the manuscript written by Joan Watson: “The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes” is a direct reference to the final set of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle.

2. Elementary Sherlock refers to Joan Watson's prose as prosaic - The Canonical Holmes often complained about Dr John Watson's writing style:

Sherlock Holmes writes about Dr Watson's writing style in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “..since I have often had occasion to point out to him how superficial are his own accounts and to accuse him of pandering to popular taste instead of confining himself rigidly to facts and figures.”

Sherlock Holmes tells Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange: “Your fatal habit of looking at everything from the point of view of a story instead of as a scientific exercise has ruined what might have been an instructive and even classical series of demonstrations. You slur over work of the utmost finesse and delicacy, in order to dwell upon sensational details which may excite, but cannot possibly instruct, the reader.”

This is easily the best episode in this season and one of the best episodes in all three seasons combined. I did suspect Amit, but still the episode managed to surprise me with the twist. This is one of the best plots.

Credit to Jason Tracey, the writer for this episode. The director, John Polson has also done a great job. It is no coincidence, that he has also worked on some of the other episodes I have enjoyed so far: “M.” and “The Deductionist”.

Jonny Lee Miller and Ophelia Lovibond share a good chemistry as a mentor and his protege. Despite being initially apprehensive about Joan writing about the cases, Miller's Holmes finally acknowledges that she did have the right to do so. He cancels the Non Disclosure Agreement and even encourages Kitty to publish her own memoirs about their cases.

Ophelia finally comes into her own. She shows her trust in Sherlock's judgment by destroying the laptop containing Joan's draft. Being a victim of abuse, she can empathize with Gregson's daughter Hannah and plays a crucial role in resolving the conflict between Captain Gregson and Stotz.

I also enjoyed Elementary Holmes' comment about prosecuting “Mencius Blackbag” for his crimes against the English language.

The best compliment I can pay is that Joan Watson was completely absent and the episode still managed to hold my attention till the end.

Hopefully, the show will manage to keep up the quality for the rest of the season.

Click here to read all my posts about CBS Elementary.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

You might also like:

Elementary Season 1 Review

Elementary - Cast Review

Sherlock Holmes sunglasses in Elementary Season 3 Episode 6 Terra Pericolosa

Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) has returned from Denmark and is catching up on the latest developments with Kitty Winter (Ophelia Lovibond).

Kitty receives a text from Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and is dispatched to help Rafael (K.Todd Freeman), a curator with a theft. Rafael suspects one of his security guards, Gerald Vogel of stealing maps. The surveillance cameras were deactivated.

Rafael's suspicions are laid to rest when Kitty discovers Gerald's corpse. Sherlock deduces that the thief wanted to steal one particular map and stole some others just to mislead the investigation.

Elementary guest star Mamie Gummer as Margaret Bray with Aidan Quinn and Ophelia Lovibond in Elementary Season 3 Episode 6 Terra Pericolosa

Sherlock determines that one particular map was the actual target of the robbery. That one turns out to be“The County of King James, Virginia, 1794”, of which only one copy exists in that very library.

Sherlock contacts the granddaughter, Margaret Bray (Mamie Gummer) about the significance of the stolen map. Sherlock works with Margaret to get more details about the map.

Sherlock initiates a correspondence with one Austin Cornblatt (David Adkins). A person of interest, Stuart Zupko (Gabriel Hansen) is found dead. Sherlock theorizes that Stuart killed Gerald after stealing the map, but the question now is: Who murdered Zupko?

Sherlock and Joan pay a visit to William Hull (Skipp Sudduth), a real estate magnate offers to pay Sherlock for retrieving the original copy of the map. Sherlock figures that William wants the information hidden in the map.

Elementary guest star Eric Schweig as Leon Moody in Elementary Season 3 Episode 6 Terra Pericolosa

On further scrutiny, Sherlock deduces that a river depicted in the map has changed course and this could disrupt plans to construct a Indian Casino. The trio then question Leon Moody (Eric Schweig), who occupies a high position in the Gaming Commission and has vested interests in Indian Casino,

Joan is able to figure out the identity of Zupko's murderer, based on the observations she has made so far.

Joan Watson returns in Elementary Season 3 Episode 6 Terra Pericolosa

The secondary plot involves Sherlock and John quarreling about his interference in Kitty's personal life. Kitty has a new acquaintance, Zachary and Sherlock is wary of his influence on his protege.

He finally relents and informs Kitty that Joan has offered to play a larger role. In turn, he offers Kitty the freedom to spend her time as she wishes.

After two strong episodes, this was a weak episode. The mystery component was good, but somehow the episode on the whole, lacked the excitement.

Click here to read all my posts about CBS Elementary.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by email or RSS by clicking here.

Image Source: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

You might also like:

Elementary Season 1 Review

Elementary - Cast Review

Gotham Season 1 Episode 1 Pilot - Recap and Review

The Strain Season 1 Episode # 12 "Last Rites" - Recap and Review

Family Guy Season 13 Episode # 1 "The Simpsons Guy" - Recap and Review

Gotham Season 1 Episode 2 “Selina Kyle” - Recap & Review

The Strain Season 1 Finale Episode # 13 "The Master" - Recap and Review

Gotham Season 1 Episode 3 "The Balloonman" - Recap and Review

The Flash Season 1 Episode 1 "City of Heroes" - Recap and Review

American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode # 1 "Monsters Among Us" - Recap

The Flash Season 1 Episode 2 "Fastest Man Alive" - Recap and Review

American Horror Story Freak Show Season 4 Episode # 2 "Massacres and Matinees" - Recap and Review

Marvel's "Avengers: Age of Ultron" - Teaser Trailer

Constantine Season 1 Pilot Episode "Non Est Asylum" - Recap and Review

Elementary Season 3 Episode # 1 "Enough Nemesis To Go Around" – Recap and Review

NBC Constantine Season 1 Episode # 2 "The Darkness Beneath" - Recap and Review

Elementary Season 3 Episode 2 "The Five Orange Pipz" – Recap and Review

Elementary Season 3 Episode 3 "Just a Regular Irregular" – Recap and Review

Anthony Horowitz Sherlock Holmes Short Story "The Three Monarchs" - Book Review

Elementary Season 3 Episode 4 "Bella" – Recap and Review

Elementary Season 3 Episode 5 "Rip Off" – Recap and Review

Elementary Season 3 Episode 6 "Terra Pericolosa" – Recap and Review