In order to truly be successful, a book series, movie franchise or television series has to find a way to connect with its audience on a deep and personal level. Often times that's done with a particular character that everyone can relate to, but sometimes a story is so big and so large that something such as that just isn't possible. Instead, the story has to inject something familiar into the mix to reach us on that fundamental level and thus far, the ability to truly relate to the audience is something that Beyond has been sorely lacking.

Now that's not a bad thing, after all, this is quite the entertaining and fascinating show, but it is indeed a far sweeping and far reaching story, which has made it difficult to find a way to reach us at our core and connect us with the characters and their plight. But thankfully all of that changed thanks to this week's episode because 'Celeste' once more peppered in some answers to the burning mysteries the show has set up and it finally found a way to reach all of us, by giving us a down to earth storyline, that focused on the power of loss and betrayal and by adding those kinds of emotions into the mix, we were treated to one beautiful episode.

The power of loss was explored at first, by way of Holden and his new 'friend', Charlie. That's right, she finally caught up with Holden in the hopes of wooing him to work with Hollow Sky, but the fact that both of them lost years of their lives to a coma, and emerged with incredible powers allowed for these two to instantly relate to one another and form a common bond thanks to their power and their pain. Because those lost years haunt them, and they both feel out of place in a world that has passed them by and that newfound connection allowed for Charlie to be honest with Holden about why she was there...and that she was no longer willing to do Shoemacher's bidding because finding someone just like her, was far more important than making a shady corporation happy. But the show didn't stop exploring loss with just those two characters, it went deeper by showing us how badly Jeff is dealing with the death of his brother, to the point where he reached out to Holden's dad to enlist his help in dealing with the nightmare that is Hollow Sky.

However, the most surprising revelation of the night, that also dealt with the theme of loss, was the fact that the show not only showed us the face of Frost, but it explained why he is obsessed with Holden and people that have powers like him. It turns out that years ago, Frost and Arthur brought Frost's wife, Celeste, back from the Realm and she more or less confirmed...that an Afterlife does exist just beyond the Realm. But unfortunately, Celeste's return was temporary, and whatever injuries put her in a coma...resurfaced and took her life, forcing Frost to quit his research to found Hollow Sky, which we now know is a religious organization, firmly grounded in the belief that death is just the beginning...and how does Holden play into all of this? Well it's clear now that Frost believes that Holden....holds the key to bridging the gap between our world and what lies beyond...

As for betrayal however, that was dealt with via Willa, who suffered some serious pain this episode. Not only did she have to step away from Holden because of his actions in destroying the Realm related gear...but she also found out, while she tried to dig deeper into her grandfather's research, that Frost had a daughter and he abandoned her in his quest to understand and reach the afterlife and Willa...was the little girl that he left behind, and well...you really have to feel for her at this point. She's taken one devastating blow after another in recent weeks and one has to wonder how this latest revelation will affect her further. Either way, what a wonderful episode. We've all been betrayed and lied to by people close to us, and we've all felt like the outcast, or that we're lost in this universe with no one to understand us, and we have all suffered our share of loss, and the fact that Beyond made that the central way to reach its audience is downright brilliant, because now more than ever...we want to see these characters made whole again. Until next time.

Unfortunately from time to time, our favorite television shows stumble when it comes to storytelling. Sometimes the characters make strange decisions that don't make sense at all considering what we know about them and sometimes the story simply isn't strong enough or it's clear that a particular episode is outright filler and sadly...Supergirl turned in a flawed episode last night, one that met all of the criteria that I just laid out. 

It's frustrating to see such a thing happen on this series, especially considering the fact that it tends to deliver quality storytelling week in and week out, but clearly, something went wrong with 'We Can Be Heroes' and that's a shame because a story that featured the return of Livewire should have turned out to be a fascinating character study, one where Kara had to deal with the mental strain of having to face off against her nemesis once again...but instead it became a story filled with selfish, head scratching moments, so let's not waste anymore time and dig deep into what went wrong with this particular episode...starting with some of the strange decisions the characters made.

Because what was truly off putting about this episode, was the fact that it basically pulled a giant about face when it comes to one of the central themes that the show has been slowly building up over the past year and a half, in that we are stronger together in any cause and working as one means we can accomplish anything, and all of that was left shattered in this episode with the Guardian and Mon-El sub plots because it was simply stunning to see James and Winn and Mon-El put their own agendas ahead of anything else. It's almost as if all of a sudden they've learned nothing from Kara or what she represents and I'm still uncomfortable with the closing moments of the show where everyone basically parted ways to do their own thing. 

But the problems with this episode didn't quite end there. I made mention of the fact that Livewire's return could have made for some incredible television and I stand by that because when all is said and done, her appearance last night on the show was simply wasted since she was relegated to nothing more than a glorified cameo, which is irritating considering that she was a cunning, intelligent and outright fascinating villain during her first appearance on the show last year and to see her strapped to a chair to serve as nothing more than a plot device to a more forgettable villain is quite the disappointment.  

If anything, I really just don't get what this story was trying to accomplish, and I can't get over the fact that every character was so selfish and angry...for no particular reason last night. Even J'onn was quite the jerk since he was willing to let M'Gann nearly die to hang onto his vendetta. This episode was basically Bizarro World and well...it's clear now that the series needs to introduce another big bad or something to give this team a sense of purpose or direction so this kind of infighting can come to an end. Either way, Supergirl snapped it's long running streak of quality episodes and that's okay...it does happen, I'm just hoping that this particular one is a pure one off storytelling wise and that next week the show returns to form. Until then.

As the old saying goes, united we stand, divided we fall and oddly enough that particular statement can easily be applied to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because when this intrepid team comes together, miracles happen, often times ones that save the world but when they are divided...disaster is certain to strike and as the back half of season four continues along, the unity this team experienced in the midseason finale, is starting to crumble right before our eyes.

Granted in many ways said unity was shattered the instant we found out Agent May was an android, and last night's episode dug deeper into that, but truly the focus of this story were the divisions that are slowly growing in S.H.I.E.L.D., ugly ones in fact, that may change the landscape of certain relationships and if anything the title for this episode was eerily appropriate because 'Wake Up' didn't just refer to May's plight, it directly referenced the fact that Coulson and the gang need to be cognizant of the threats that are growing within their own organization because their true enemy for the remainder of this season, is a home grown one, and one that could care less about the collateral damage that will come from their actions. 

But before we get too deep into that, let's talk about Agent May's story since this episode bothered to fill in the gaps that we've all been wondering about, specifically when did Radcliffe kidnap her and how on earth does one keep an agent as strong willed as May under wraps and as it turns out, the good doctor replaced her shortly before the final mission involving the Darkhold, and he's been using a form of dream therapy where she believes she is fighting a good fight in order to keep her unconscious so that the May-Droid can do her thing. But despite his best efforts to keep this whole mess going smoothly, May 2.0 knows what she is now and confronted Radcliffe about her true origins in a stunning moment that more or less led to the reveal of the fact that Radcliffe is the grand theft to S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything they are working toward.

Granted, the fact that he replaced an agent with an Android isn't exactly a friendly move to begin with, but Radcliffe has been quietly planning his next steps behind the scenes and while Coulson and the gang went to Capitol Hill to have Daisy sign the Sokovia Accords and become a legitimate agent once again, Phil decided to make the most of this opportunity and bug Senator Nadeer's office to keep an eye on her, a move that backfired because she knew they were coming. This is where the divisions within S.H.I.E.L.D. began to grow since Phil and General Talbot were at each other's throats about the decision to bug her office to begin with, and an accusation from Phil that perhaps Talbot was the one who tipped the Senator off offended the General on a level we've never seen before, and clearly Coulson knows he made a mistake in taking his fury that far.  

Which brings us back to Radcliffe, who as it turns out, is the one who leaked the op to Senator Nadeer, all in the hopes of being placed under her protection because clearly Radcliffe was able to think far enough ahead to know that eventually Fitz would figure out that Radcliffe altered Aida's programming to gain access to the Darkhold and Radcliffe even created an LMD of himself to be captured in order to ensure his safety. So, this complex story basically left everything and everyone a mess. S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to be heavily investigated by the Senate, the May-Droid knows the truth about her true identity but likely won't say a word about it because she's programmed not to and at this point...who knows if S.H.I.E.L.D. can properly protect the book with all this infighting now getting underway. Either way, things are only going to get worse before they get better, so here's to hoping Coulson can put a stop to the infighting and get his team back on track in a timely manner so that Radcliffe never gets his hands on the book. Until next time.

The future is something that puzzles all of us. Some of us firmly believe that the future is what we make of it, and our actions today determine what we become tomorrow, and on the flip side of that...there are folks who believe that the future is set in stone and we are merely going through the motions along our predetermined path. But regardless of which school of thought you side with, we know nothing of tomorrow and the future is truly a mystery to all of us. 

But, that doesn't stop us from wondering what we would do if by chance we could get a sneak peek at our future, because that inside knowledge should allow us to alter our path accordingly and make whatever changes we need to if we were to discover that our future was one that we weren't comfortable with, and it is that attempt to change tomorrow, and figure out how to do it that was at the center of last night's episode of The Flash, and 'Borrowing Problems from the Future' turned out to be a brooding and fascinating character study that analyzed everyone's need for control in both the future and their daily lives, all while wiping away the sense of hope we enjoyed at the end of the winter finale.

Because in this particular episode Barry was still haunted by the events of said winter finale and he could not shake the image of Savitar brutally murdering Iris. But he continued to keep that vision under lock and key and go about his day...that is until Plunder, the man who appeared in the future television broadcast came into his life, forcing him to debate whether or not he should catch the man in the hopes of keeping Iris alive. However, the arrival of Plunder and the guilt of keeping this secret from his love was too much to bear and eventually Barry opened up to Iris and let her know what was coming...which in turn led to an open discussion amongst the team (minus Joe) in the hopes of figuring out how to alter the future and keep Iris alive. 

So with Cisco's help, a quick vibe into the future helped the team uncover headlines on that fateful day, in the hopes of finding key moments that they could change before they arrived, and considering the fact that H.R. showed up in this particular trip to tomorrow, change had already come to pass just by Barry telling the group about what was going to happen, allowing the team to band together to make the future a better place and rather than let Barry capture Plunder on his own, the honor was instead handed to Kid Flash...thus altering the future for certain and it didn't end there. Cisco stepped into save the museum since there was a headline discussing that it was going to close down and Caitlin was presented with a new device to help keep her powers at bay since Killer Frost seems to show up in the future as well and more or less that's where this episode left us, with an inkling of hope, and the clock ticking down to the return of Savitar.

Yes despite that happy-ish ending...let's just say it now, this was one dark episode, perhaps the dreariest I've ever seen when it comes to The Flash, simply because I cannot recall the last time I saw the team without hope or direction and resigned to their fears. It's an interesting direction for the show to go in considering how upbeat the series often is, but considering how this season has delved into more philosophical territory for Barry and the gang, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised over the fact that eventually, there were going to be moments that weren't peachy keen, especially when you consider that we are barreling toward the end of Iris and it will take some incredible work to alter those events and save her and it should be interesting to see just how far Barry is willing go to once again alter time and space to save those he loves...and one can only wonder if more consequences will come from his actions. Until next time.

Freeform's Beyond continues to amaze me. Every single time it appears to be heading into traditional superhero territory, or adopting a standard plot line, the show takes a sharp left and does the complete opposite of what the audience is expecting. It makes for fresh stories and fascinating character development and this week's episode has continued in that proud tradition since 'Fancy Meeting You Here' threw more surprises our way, and even provided a few answers along the way as well.  

But the answers we will get to in a moment, because the big surprise of the night, is that Holden is not the only one who emerged from a coma in fine shape and armed with newfound powers since last night we met Charlie, a tough as nails young woman who awoke from a four year slumber with the inherent ability to run incredible mathematic equations through her mind on a moment's notice, giving her quite the edge when it comes to anything that can make her money, and she's been on Hollow Sky's radar for some time now. While she's been able to avoid their advances with little issue, this time around she's listening to what they have to say since Tess makes a personal visit and impassioned plea to Charlie to help bring Holden in...because of the fact that Arthur is trying to contact him, and the mere mention of Arthur's name, seems to motivate Charlie to help Hollow Sky out. 

That matters because Arthur and what exactly his ties are to this whole coma mess are something we'e all been wondering for weeks and at last, the show decided to address it head on by way of Willa, who, curious after Holden made mention of 'others' finally made a move to uncover all the details about her grandfather, and she carefully watched his old video tapes chronicling his research on coma patients and how he firmly believed that in the comatose state, the brain traveled someplace else. But while it was neat to see that his visionary work was indeed truth, a troubling moment came about when a patient went into cardiac arrest on camera...and Arthur called out his colleague, Doctor Frost. So. Yeah. All this time Frost and Arthur have known each other, deepening the mystery as to what Hollow Sky wants with the research, while raising all kinds of questions about Arthur and Frost's relationship. But since that mystery will have to wait for another day, the show at least decided to answer why Arthur is so focused on Holden, because he needs his help.

Of course Holden didn't discover that until late in the episode, well after his umpteenth attempt to fit in with the rest of the regular world. This time around Holden took himself to college, spending time with his brother at the University to get a taste of adult life and try to rekindle things with Jamie as well. But the visions are still there and after a series of unfortunate events; another blast of the visions at karaoke, Jamie saying goodbye and oh yeah, getting hit by a car...the visions came in waves and at long last, Holden had a chunk of his memory restored and went to Willa's where he saw Arthur on the tapes...and asked to see him. Naturally Willa obliged and that's when it became clear that Holden had to return to the Realm using special gear to save Arthur, but another vision, one where Holden lost Willa, in that mysterious place was enough to prompt Holden to smash the gear in the hopes of never having to lose Willa, or return to the Realm ever again...

Perhaps what was most surprising about this episode, is the fact that Holden will do anything and everything to get away from his destiny, despite his belief in fate and that everything has a reason and his desire to stay away from his powers and his purpose comes from a simple line of logic that was revealed in this story...the fact that he feels he has absolutely nothing in this life. There's no job for him, he technically has no education. His family is a shell of its former self, and Holden simply feels lost and well...it's making this story quite the tragedy since he is ready to abandon something he doesn't understand in the slightest all in the hopes of having something to hold on to and in his eyes, that something is not a thing at all, it's Willa and he'll go to whatever lengths to protect her...and that may be his weakness and what finally brings out the power within him when others possibly choose to exploit said weakness. Either way, this was another fascinating episode and it should be interesting to see what kind of fallout comes from Holden's desperation come next week. Until then.

When we last left Kara Zor-El on Supergirl she was riding on cloud nine and with good reason. She had finally defeated Cadmus and their evil plan to murder the alien citizens of earth with a little help from her friends and Lena Luthor and it seemed as though peaceful times were in store for the Girl of Steel.  

But as we all know, quiet time is never a good thing for a superhero, and Kara is no exception to that rule because last night's midseason premiere, 'Supergirl Lives' gave us a Kara who was more or less bored without a challenge in front of her and as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for. Because the search for a missing girl named Izzy, quickly escalated as Supergirl came to discover that there was a sudden surge in missing persons in National City and the reason for that was simple; Roulette had struck a deal with aliens on a planet far from our own to sell healthy humans into servitude, leaving it up to Mon-El and Kara to save them all from slavery, on a world beneath a red sun, meaning that these two would have to figure out a way to bring these people home...without their powers. 

That's really all we're going to cover when it comes to the plot of this particular episode, simply because of the fact that the plot merely served as the setup device for something bigger on the horizon, something that clearly has to do with Mon-El. His past is something that the show has been hinting at for some time, but last night's episode offered us better insight into said past and well...none of it appears to be good. After all, the fact that a Dominator had the courtesy to spare his life and bow to him is disturbing to say the least and we also saw the return of the aliens that were searching for him in the midseason finale, which begs the question...is Mon-El a good guy or a bad guy? Because the implication here is that he is a wanted man and has some kind of nefarious past...which may explain his sudden desire to be a hero, so he can atone for his actions and wipe that ugly past away.

But the entire episode wasn't just centered on Mon-El's strange past...there were plenty of sub plots to go around as well. Alex learned how difficult it is to juggle life and a relationship at the same time, and through her struggle, Maggie managed to figure out Kara's true identity. Winn dealt with the harsh realities of being a vigilante and the raw fear that comes with it before the mission to rescue Kara restored his confidence and most importantly, the show stayed true to its roots by allowing for Supergirl to inspire everyone around her. Because without her giving everyone on this desolate planet the hope they so desperately needed, there's a chance that escape might have been impossible and let's be honest...it's always awesome on this show to see Supergirl do her thing and pump everyone up. 

When all is said and done however, this was at its core a transitional episode, one that was designed to ease us back into Supergirl's world before unleashing the big bad/plot for the second half of the season and thanks to the steady hand of this episode's director, indie film legend Kevin Smith, it turned out to be a rousing success. It certainly had my attention every single step of the way and well...at this point I'm dying to know what the heck is going on with Mon-El and what, if anything, will come from the fact that Maggie now knows Kara's secret. Either way, it's simply wonderful to have Supergirl back on the air and I cannot wait to see what wonders the back half of season two has in store for us. Until next time.

Well, it is certainly safe to say at this point, that season three of The Librarians has been nothing short of a rousing success. The finest episodes this show has ever sent our way debuted this season, giving us incredible insight into our intrepid characters, all while building the story toward an epic showdown between good versus evil and that exact showdown took the center stage last night since 'And the Wrath of Chaos' saw Apep arrive at the Library in a season finale that will be discussed at length by the fan base for days to come because this episode wasn't quite what anyone expected.

Case in point, this was at times a hard one to watch because of how the plot played out. This is a story that saw Eve Baird don a DOSA uniform and make a deal with these anti-magical devils all in the hopes of saving the Library and well...I don't think anyone was comfortable watching Baird help these guys out in the slightest, but thankfully, this all turned out to be a ruse, one designed to get Apep into the Library wherein Flynn could isolate the Egyptian God and sacrifice himself as planned to save the Library and the world from the spread of evil and in the end...he didn't have to. His friends found another way, using the powers and trinkets they picked up during those more intimate stories we enjoyed earlier this season, in order to defeat Apep and save their friend.

Yet, while the show ended in happy fashion, for a brief moment there I felt cheated. The show kept building and building to what appeared to be the death of Flynn and by not delivering his exit, or the exit of someone, anyone trying to save the Library, we were in essence robbed. But after taking a few moments to just ponder on this episode and the rest of season three, it hit me...I was in the wrong and this was the most Librarian way that the season could have ended and in its own magical way, the series bucked the current trend of killing off major characters and gave the audience, and definitely this reviewer pause about what we have come to expect from our favorite television shows as of late.

Think about it for a moment. Plenty of us that watch this series enjoy other shows like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones and the past couple of years on both of those respective series have been outright blood baths when it comes to major characters disappearing from the series by way of death. It's truly become the norm on television anymore to simply kill off a character and in a way we've come to expect it and find ways to brace ourselves for the emotional pain and I think it's safe to say that Librarians fans have spent weeks preparing for the tears, but in the end the show managed to avoid that kind of heartbreak, by staying true to its roots.

Because while this season took us to new places, sometimes dark ones at that, it has never strayed from the two key concepts that this series was founded upon, to celebrate the wonder of life and the wonder of unity and that was never more evident than in those final moments where it seemed as though Flynn was about to say goodbye before his friends, scratch that, his surrogate family, stepped in and worked together to make sure that he survived and well...when all is said and done, I applaud this season finale for bucking a current trend and doubling down on the positivity simply because maintaining a constant and uplifting message seems to be a rarity in television these days.  

Either way, it was wonderful to see every single storyline that the show put forth this season come together in magnificent fashion and considering just how good the stories turned out to be this season, I have high hopes that TNT will renew this lovely show, especially when you consider that it is just now finding its stride and still has plenty left to offer the fans. But while I wait with baited breath to hear as to whether or not this series will get the all important green light for season four, I'll be making a point to revisit my personal favorite episodes from this season just to serve as a reminder as to what great storytelling looks like and to celebrate a show that makes hope and positivity a priority over anything else. Until next time.

You know that a television show has done an incredible job of telling its story when you feel butterflies in your stomach fluttering away mere moments before tuning in for the season finale, and that's precisely what I felt when I started the season two finale of The Man in the High Castle, because so much needed to be resolved in this finale. Would World War III be averted? Or was the series about to plunge us into its darkest storyline yet? Thankfully...'Fallout' addressed every single one of these mysteries, and also had an unlikely hero emerge in the process. So with that in mind, let's get right down to it and break down this stunning conclusion to season two.

Now what immediately made this finale special and different from every other episode in the series to date, is that it just so happened to start with a cold open, taking us back to December the 11th, 1945...a night when John Smith and his lovely wife Helen checked into a hotel just outside of Washington D.C., mere moments before the city was destroyed by a nuclear attack and well, while this was a short and sweet scene to add into the mix, it was one that served quite an important purpose. For starters, we finally saw the titular moment when the Nazis turned the tide of the war in their favor and because John Smith, wearing the American flag for a change...witnessed first hand the power of the atomic bomb and the devastation it can create and that would prove to be a huge deal as the episode wore on.

In fact, this was really John Smith's story through and through, despite a couple of breaks away from him in the overall story, and after that bone chilling introduction that set the somber tone for this episode we immediately returned to San Francisco right after the bombing of Kempaitai HQ, wherein Tagomi thankfully discovered that Kido survived the explosion and he quickly wasted no time in showing Kido the footage he had discovered in the alternate reality he found peace and solace within and the two came up with a plan to do something, anything to try and prevent the forthcoming war that was looming between the Pacific States and the Reich, prompting Kido to head to New York City. 

As Kido took to the skies with the film in hand, the Reich was preparing for war. The grand plan to put an end to the Japanese Pacific States was coming together in Berlin, in a chilling scene where the discussion of using their nuclear stockpile was treated as though it was everyday business and despite Joe's efforts to talk his father out of the attack...Martin simply wasn't listening. As the march to war continued, John Smith found himself facing further pressure from Berlin regarding the sudden resurgence of the Resistance, and an envoy from Berlin, made the chilling suggestion that John begin to firebomb American cities in the hopes of quelling the insurgency. Of course, John kept that option off the table...and found himself pulled away from the matter at hand, to deal with an unexpected guest in Kido. ​

While John waited for the Inspector to arrive at his home, a long awaited moment finally came to fruition by way of Juliana, who was waiting to be moved to the Neutral Zone after fulfilling her part in the deal she made with the Resistance, but that deal was changed yet again for one glaring reason...the fact that she didn't come to Dixon to inform him about Thomas Smith's illness. It's the kind of information that the Resistance has been searching for in order to bring down John Smith and armed with a tape of Juliana and Thomas' conversation, they can ruin him at last. But before Juliana can talk Dixon out of destroying Smith's family, once again she finds her life in danger over her actions with Joe, forcing her to fight her way out...and endure a final confrontation with Dixon, one where she shoots him dead and takes the tape before disappearing into the heart of the city. 

As Juliana fought for her life, Kido arrived at the Smith residence and showed him the footage from another world, giving Smith one heck of an idea, one that he could only execute in Berlin. So after pulling a few strings, and gathering up some important paperwork, John Smith disobeyed orders and abandoned his post to head to Berlin, wherein he pleaded with Joe to gain an audience with his father and was granted his wish and showed to the top officials of the Reich, the footage given to him by Kido, footage that John claimed to be irrefutable proof that the Japanese Pacific States had crafted a bomb more powerful than anything the Reich had in its arsenal. It led many of Heusmann's advisors to question the forthcoming war, but the Chancellor was unmoved by the footage and continued his preparations for war...something John was ready for...and he called for a private meeting with SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler.

It was in this meeting that John Smith dropped the conspiracy bombshell, revealing Heydrich's actions against the late Hitler and the fact that Heusmann was behind the whole mess to begin with and armed with this knowledge, Himmler had the new Chancellor, and his son, arrested for treason against the state before addressing the Reich from the Volkshalle to inform its people of the conspiracy that cost Hitler his life and to thank John Smith for his dedication to the Reich and its ideals, and he became the first American to be saluted by the Iron Guard. But more importantly, John had finally become a true hero. The angry and determined man we met a year ago has been replaced by a good man, one who now believes in the value of life and one who saved millions from ever seeing the horror he witnessed on December 11, 1945.  

So it would seem then, that a happy ending was finally in order for this show, but that's just not its style. If anything John's actions became a pyrrhic victory. For by going the extra mile to save nations, and his son from certain doom, Thomas saw the value of the Reich and its ideals...and turned himself in to be euthanized in one heartbreaking moment...but there was some bright spots to end this dark season. Juliana did make it to the Neutral Zone and she burned the tape she took from Dixon regardless shortly before meeting with Hawthorne once again to discuss the fact she helped save the world at a great cost, and to thank her for her sacrifice, Hawthorne gave her quite the gift...a reunion with Trudy and how she has returned to life...is a question for season three to answer. But in the meantime, we can bask in the wonder of one top notch season finale, one that was riveting, fascinating and downright thrilling and I cannot wait to see what surprises this series has in store for us come season three. Until then.

Normally when I watch a television show on a streaming service, I tend to watch one episode at a time so I can properly sit down and digest everything that I just witnessed in the story. But the last three episodes of the second season of The Man in the High Castle completely changed that rule for me. I had to know how this story was going to end, and I had to know right away, so in rare fashion...I powered through these final episodes, on the edge of my seat the entire time thanks to the grand setup that the last episode assembled for all of us.

After all, Hitler and Heydrich were dead and Martin Heusmann was now the Chancellor of the Reich and finally revealed to be the big bad of the series and part of me wondered as I settled in for the ninth episode, 'Detonation' how the heck they were going to top that kind of epic reveal and as it turns out...a blend of the gentle storytelling this season has offered our way and the outright intensity that the last episode brought forth would come together to provide us with another stunning story, one filled with some incredibly jaw dropping moments.

But before we get into those, let's talk about the gentle moments, because this episode returned us to Trade Minister Tagomi's alternate life in an alternate San Francisco, where he was more or less privy to the duality of man in a rush of hurried moments. Because on one hand, peace was coming to America once again with the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but on the other hand, the arms race was still on and the footage of a Hydrogen Bomb being tested in the Bikini Atoll shook Tagomi to his core forcing him to make a big decision to return 'home' and he took that footage and said his goodbyes to his alternate family...in the hopes of using this footage to save his own world from destruction.

As Tagomi made the trek back to his world, chaos was becoming the norm in the Greater Nazi Reich. Because armed with the knowledge that Hitler was dead, The Resistance went to work, getting to Lucy's husband by way of Juliana...and forcing him to announce live on air that Hitler was dead before an official announcement could be made. It put the pressure on John Smith to quell The Resistance as quickly as possible, but before he could put his plans in motion, Heusmann took a moment to address the entire Reich, informing its good citizens that Adolf Hitler was poisoned by an assassin from the Japanese Pacific States and that the Reich would take swift vengeance against them in what Martin called an 'outright act of war'.  

That meant at long last, the war the Reich had been hoping for was now inevitable and as preparations began for the conflict...The Resistance all over the GNR and the Pacific States, jumped into action. They had of course, been waiting for this moment of weakness and in San Francisco, Frank was finally ready to truly give his all for a greater cause, and volunteers to drive a car filled with explosives into Kempaitai Headquarters to send quite the message and get Frank a little payback in the process. But while the delivery and arming of the device goes off without a hitch, Frank and Sarah are stopped mere seconds before Frank is recognized by Kido, forcing a firefight mere moments before the bomb goes off...

So there you have it, just like that the episode ends with devastation and sheer implication that Frank and Sarah are dead and to top it all off, war is coming and this has to be the darkest episode the series has put forth yet because it truly feels as though everything is falling apart and this one left us without hope or a way out and heck, to make matters worse, there's a good chance the secret is out as well on Thomas Smith's illness since he visited Juliana about said illness and their conversation was recorded. Either way, this is it, one episode left in the books, and one last chance to save the planet from the Third World War and at this point, the world is either going to be plunged into a hellish nuclear nightmare, or somehow the good people in this story will find a way to save millions of lives...until next time...

Season four of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been quite the wild ride, one filled to the brim with exciting episodes and stunning reveals. But despite all the incredible twists and turns we have enjoyed, there's one secret that the show had yet to address, what exactly is Director Jeffrey Mace hiding? We know he's an enhanced individual, and we know his abilities, but the show continues to imply that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to this man.  

Well, the powers that be finally decided that it was time to quite messing around with Jeffrey Mace and all of his secrets, making last night's episode, 'The Patriot' the big reveal that we've all been waiting for, and well...the show did it in classic fashion, by putting our characters into the toughest of situations and away from the prying eyes of headquarters in order to reveal the stunning fact that Director Mace...is just a regular everyday Joe who just so happened to be recruited for a job. 

As it turns out, after the events of last season, when it was decided to return S.H.I.E.L.D. to the public eye, General Talbot came to realize that there were no qualified enhanced candidates to take the all important Director gig...so he simply created his own. Using a new and improved version of the serum that Daisy's father used to create Mister Hyde, Talbot was able to have a bonafide super human, one that could run the day to day operations of S.H.I.E.L.D., could kick ass and save the day when necessary, and most importantly...become the bridge that the government needed to finally create some trust for the Inhuman community.

But thanks to the always charming Senator Nadeer and her little band of Watchdogs, Mace's secret is out in the open now, but rather than allow Jeffrey to resign in disgrace over the fact that everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. now knows he's a fraud, Coulson saw a golden opportunity, one that could mutually benefit the both of them; Mace stays on as Director, handles the political malaise that Coulson simply doesn't have a stomach for...and Phil gets to get take over the operational side of the business and just like that it seems as though all is well in S.H.I.E.L.D. once again. But alas, there's still the matter of the May android running around HQ...and the fact that she now knows exactly what she is.

It's Radcliffe's worst fear come to life, because if the May-Droid now has a complete understanding that she's not human, well his quest to get his hands on the Darkhold just became all the more complicated...which let's be honest, isn't exactly a bad thing. When all is said and done however, kudos to this episode for taking the time to explore Mace and what his character is all about, and I'm glad that he no longer has to hide behind this ugly secret and that he's going to be hanging around the office because Mace has kind of grown on me as the season has progressed. Either way, this really was a nice little break from the madness and chaos of season four, and I'm sure it won't be long before the action, adventure and thrills return. Until next time.