Episode 4:
In the first of a long-running set of pre-show bumpers, The Warners escape their water tower by inflating a giant clown balloon, who takes the water tower’s roof as a hat, and then uses an electric fan as a rudder. 

Hooked on a Ceiling
A historian at the beginning of the cartoon introduces Michelangelo, getting in a dig on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the process. (The one talking ninja turtle is voiced by Rob Paulsen. Nice touch.) Michelangelo, the painter, is voiced by Maurice LaMarche doing an imitation of Kirk Douglas, and he greatly resembles Kirk Douglas as well. They’d later use the same caricature in other cartoons under different names. It is possible that Generation X only really knows of Kirk Douglas as that one guy who got made fun of all the time on Animaniacs.

Michelangelo has kicked out all of his assistants during the painting of the Sistine Chapel, and he needs to have the ceiling finished in time for “his eminence” to arrive. Enter the Warners, who are working as discount painters and wallpaper hangers. After a few running gags involving The Warners getting Michelangelo repeatedly kicked out of the church, they whitewash the ceiling, and then re-paint it with images of a velvet Elvis, dogs playing poker and a pair of kids with giant eyes, all the while commenting on Michelangelo’s proclivity for “painting naked people on a church.” Eventually, they take Michelangelo’s side and they finish the ceiling, except for the “Creation of Adam” in the center. The Warners instead paint a mural of E.T. and Elliot in the same pose, and it impresses his eminence, who turns out to be Stephen Spielberg.

Goodfeathers: The Beginning
This is the very first Goodfeathers cartoon. There’s not a lot about the history of these characters online, but it isn’t hard to figure out their origins. They’re pigeon versions of the characters played by Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Ray Liotta in the film Goodfellas. Why pigeons? Is there any animal more “New York City” than a pigeon? Then there’s the added bonus of using the words “squawk” and “coo” and some randomized names of Italian dishes and celebrities in place of the swear words used by the actors in the original gangster flick. There’s also an endlessly recurring gag taken from the film’s “how am I funny?” sequence, where Pesto always finds a reason to misunderstand Squit, then drag him into a dust-up. 

The Goodfeathers shorts were always rather Sisyphean in their approach. They were man against nature, only the ‘nature’ part was played by a city full of fast moving cars and angry pigeon-hating citizens. In their debut short, the trio waste no time with this premise when Squit, the Ray Liotta pigeon, needs to fetch a bagel from the center of a busy street, so he can be let into the gang. They get pummeled by multiple cars, the New York City Marathon, and the subway, until the Godpigeon shows up. When the Godpigeon roars, traffic comes to a halt, and he takes the whole bagel for his meal. Then he lets Squit into the Goodfeathers. 

Wheel of Morality
Moral #4: Never ask what hot dogs are made of.
This one has a different opening from many of the other Wheel of Morality segments. Wakko is genuinely curious about the moral of the story. In later segments they made use of the “it’s that time again” version, so they could save on time and animation.

In the closing, The Warners return to the water tower using a ladder pulled from Wakko’s gag bag. When Ralph the Guard attempts to do the same thing, the ladder disappears back into the bag, Ralph lands in the bag, and then hops away.

Adult Jokes and Neat Moments:
-Yakko: "We’re not doing it for the sake of art, and we’re not doing it for the sake of money, we’re doing it because….We like drawing naked people!"
-Bobby: ‘Ey coo off! I’ll go for it when I wanna go for it!' (They didn’t get away with this as much in later seasons.)

Second chances are rare in this life. We usually only get one great opportunity to do things right before the moment passes and we are forced to move on and live with how a particular decision went. It's why the second chance is celebrated in our culture, because it provides us with one more shot to set things right and for the most part, fiction as a whole often focuses on the wonder and the journey that comes with being given that second opportunity to repair the damage we did so long ago.

​But what happens if we are granted a second chance...and there's a good chance we are going to screw it up? It's a simple but loaded question that AMC has decided to explore in depth with its brand new series, Feed the Beast. This particular tale introduces us to two men, Dion Patras and Tommy Moran who have both seen better days. Once close friends, this pair worked in a restaurant as a chef and sommelier respectively with Tommy's wife Rie before tragedy struck. Rie passed away in a hit and run accident leaving Tommy to raise their traumatized son alone shortly after Dion burned down the restaurant they worked at while high on cocaine.  

The act puts Dion in prison, and the loss of Rie sends Tommy into a deep depression where his only comfort comes from the bottom of a wine bottle. But after spending eight months in prison, Dion is free and ready to leave the country because as it turns out, the restaurant he burned down belonged to the mob, and they want financial restitution for what they have lost. It puts Dion in one tough position, but one that might benefit he and Tommy in ways they could have never imagines since Dion is ready to follow through on a idea long thought forgotten...it's time to open their own restaurant, in the heart of the Bronx so Dion can pay back his debts and live the life he has always dreamed of. ​

That is in essence, the grand setup that Feed the Beast spends its two first episodes putting together and while at first that plot seems pretty cookie cutter and by the numbers, it's the tiny nuances that make this show worth watching. As mentioned before, this is indeed a story about second chances, filled with incredible and rich characters and well...they seem to screw it up as they go along since Dion's heart is in the right place, but his mob ties and the secrets he hides from his friend make his attempt to live the dream a dangerous one to say the least, but the sheer fact that he is trying his best to get his life back on track and find a way to get the ends to justify the means is a noble quest to say the least, and speaks to what kind of man Dion really is. 

But Dion is not the only man looking for a second chance, Tommy is a man floating through life without purpose or direction since the loss of his wife. His alcoholism is presented in a frank and terrifying fashion since we are witness to him drinking on the job, and drinking pretty much every single chance he gets. The damage done to his life has made him morose on many levels but the moment the restaurant comes back into play Tommy is suddenly able to find focus once again, making for an incredible transformation on screen. But he too is screwing things up along the way by letting his fear overcome him as often as possible and his protective nature may also eventually be his undoing.  

Either way, this is already an intriguing show to watch because David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess are simply magical to watch on screen together and their ability to sell these flawed characters, along with the show giving us just enough about the many mistakes these men have made along the way are enough to keep your attention the whole way through. My only complaint thus far is that it took two episodes to truly put together a plot that could have been assembled in a single one, and the slow burn of this story over ten episodes could possibly come back to bite it in the rear, but this is a show with serious potential to become a powerhouse drama, so the only wise thing to do is tune in again and see if it rises above its simple plot in order to serve up a masterful story about overcoming loss and past mistakes. Until next time. 

The quest for the truth, is often times a noble cause. It allows a person to discover something special about themselves, and provides them with the answers they so desperately need in this life. But since life is always about the balance between light and dark, sometimes the truth can be absolutely terrifying when we discover it. It can shatter our lives and our world and we lament its existence. But regardless of what kind of truth one uncovers in their life...the end result is knowledge, and how one deals with the truth going forward, regardless of what they discover, is what truly matters in life.

So it makes sense that the ugly truth, and everything that comes with it would serve as the focus for the seventh episode of True Detective, because truly...this is the episode that we have all been waiting for. "After You've Gone" was the grand reveal of every question we've had this season, of every mystery and guess what? Every single bit of it was terrifying and disgusting. It turns out that there is indeed some kind of weird conspiracy going on behind the scenes with the Tuttle family, and Rust was right all along, the killer has been at this for quite some time and when all was said and done, we were left with perhaps the darkest episode the series ever put forth and one shocking final moment.  

What made this particular episode so dark, was the grand reveal of what's really been going on behind the scenes. The fact that those that have gone missing in the southern part of Louisiana, Dora Lange and even young Marie have in essence been murdered brutally, serving as some kind of sacrifice to Carcosa and The Yellow King and perhaps one of the most uncomfortable moments I've ever experienced watching television period came about in this episode when Rust showed Hart the tape he discovered in Tuttle's safe. Despite the fact that we the audience are spared from the exact details of the tape, the look on Hart's face and the chilling images we are "treated" to moments before the camera cuts away speak to the fact that Marie and no doubt everyone else that faced these rituals spent their final moments in agony and utter fear. 

While that particular moment in essence sold Hart on taking the case back up and getting the old team back together if you will, the horror of it hung over this entire episode and it was only made worse by the visit Hart had with his ex wife since it seemed to imply that the danger here was beyond anything both men had ever faced as police officers. But this episode didn't totally leave us with a bad taste in our mouth and a cloud hanging over our head. There was one wonderful moment early in the story that speaks to the battle between light and dark that continues to permeate the fabric of this show, with Cohle pointing out to Hart that in a way, some of this was their own doing by not finishing the case that they started so long ago. Somehow, that moment, made the horrors to follow palpable simply because at last, they were doing the right thing and making up for their mistake. 

But one cannot discuss the power of this episode, without discussing the power of its ending. Because those final moments, with Detectives Papania and Gilbough lost in the middle of the bayou seemed harmless enough until they ran into a familiar figure riding atop a lawnmower. At first it seemed like coincidence, until the man spoke and then it hit me...this was the caretaker that Cohle was talking to at the Light of the Way Academy back in episode three, and that matters because this man has horrible scars upon his face...this man, is our killer. The weight of that, and the haunting image of him standing in the midst of the beauty of the bayou was an incredible way to end this episode. With dark bathed in light, unaware that Hart and Cohle are closing in. It should be one incredible season finale, until then.

For each and every one of us out there, there is unfinished business that resides within our heart. It may be something simple, something that we wish that we said to someone important long ago. Or it may be something major, a mistake we would love to correct, or a relationship we wish we could somehow rekindle; but make no mistake about it, these are moments and memories we carry with us and what we do with those dangling threads is important to say the least.

The best case scenario, is that we can face them head on, admit where we went wrong and find beautiful and wonderful resolution internally with them before letting them go. But often times, they eat at us, despite our best efforts to keep such negativity at bay, and if we let these issues take root within our soul and grow, they can be our undoing, and when it comes to True Detective the latter of those possibilities is exactly what catches up to Hart and Cohle years after their sloppy and fevered handling of the Dora Lange case and the botched arrest of Reggie Ledoux.

"Haunted Houses" is an episode that took us back to the basics of police work that we were introduced to in the first couple of episodes since Cohle has poured his heart back into the Lange case. The Tax Man returned in this story as we watched him methodically begin to put the pieces together on a strange little quirk to the case he thought was closed so many years ago, the fact that a lot of missing people seem to be tied to the area where Dora and Marie went missing, leading Cohle all over the bayou in an unofficial investigation that manages to ruffle the feathers of state facilities and the mighty Billy Lee Tuttle.

But while Cohle works to right the wrongs he's set forth in a productive manner, Hart simply regresses. After years of keeping the drinking to a minimum and quite frankly, finally keeping it in his pants, everything falls to pieces as he begins a new affair. While it's never directly stated that the incidents at the Meth Lab are the driving force behind his stupidity, something has to be forcing quite a change in his personality and his actions are enough to drive him back to the womanizing bastard we have come to know, and his inability to make peace with his past...is what eventually forces his wife into Cohle's arms and puts an end to Rust's time on the force after one incredible fight between the two men.  

Oddly enough, it's clear that this episode is another filler one for certain, but it's another serviceable one since it allows the story to finally bring us into present day. Everything that can be wrapped up is done so with a neat and tidy bow, except for the Lange case, and seeing as how Rust finally made contact with Hart, I would imagine that means it's finally time to solve this thing once and for all. It doesn't matter that the plot wasn't advanced too far this episode, since once again the characters shine and draw us in with their incredible stories, what matters now is that it's clear that there will be no filler past this point. It's all about the hunt for the Carcosa and The Yellow King from here on out in what should lead to a stunning conclusion. Until next time.

​Often times, stories that focus on men and women that have fallen from grace, or seen their lives torn asunder from their decisions in life, really only focus on one particular thing as they let us get to know these people...the finer details of what exactly tore their lives to pieces. We are privy to every single bad decision and mistake and in many ways we suffer alongside them because of it.

Preacher on the other hand, is a show that has decided to handle a storyline that features a character just like that in vastly different fashion. We know Jesse Custer has turned to the word of the Lord as part of a grand plan to escape the rough and tough lifestyle he once knew, yet, to date; we know nothing of the mysterious past that broke him. We only know that he will do anything to avoid it, fight hard to resist the man he used to be and while this is a fascinating twist on this whole notion, last night's episode, "See" took his internal battle to stay the course to new heights by challenging his faith left and right.  

After all, it's inherently clear that Jesse really does want to do the right thing and inspire faith in people, but it's people that are making that mission extremely difficult for him to become the beacon of hope he needs to be. He has to deal with one ugly confession from the town's bus driver regarding the urges he has toward a little girl that rides his route, and surprisingly it only gets worse from there. Despite his best efforts to provide comfort to a mother whose daughter is missing half of her brain and is deep within a coma because of an accident, the mother finds no solace in his words and refuses to believe in anything outside of the horrors she can see before her. 

Yet as brutal as those moments were last night, the show wasn't done making life difficult for Jesse. He had to deal with the constant push from his former partner in crime Tulip as she poked and prodded him to return to that unsavory life he once knew and despite his best efforts to brush her off, Tulip simply upped the ante and when all was said and done, this was an episode that produced a strong sense of pity for Jesse. This is a man that has tried his best to reimagine his life for the better and regardless of the work he continues to put in, he seems to simply fail at every turn, and because of that, all the pain and suffering we endured with Jesse up to this point made the finale of this episode so incredibly satisfying.  

To see him go the bus driver's house and force him to purge the possibility of hurting that little girl was heroic enough, but to see Jesse find empowerment from the strange being living within was a whole different thing. It turns out he can inspire ideas way more useful than people ripping their own hearts out, he can get exactly what he wants if he says the words just right since creepy bus driver forgot about the little girl and well...we will have to wait until next week to see if that comatose girl will open her eyes. Either way, in two weeks time this has simply become a fascinating television show because its characters continue to intrigue us. We're still no closer to learning every detail about Jesse, and that's okay. It's clear Preacher is going to be a slow burn of a show, one that takes its time in building its world because it also left us with quite a few questions last night as well.

We still don't quite know why those mystery men are after Jesse and the organism that merged with him. We only know that these men cannot be stopped since being carved into little pieces by Cassidy doesn't even phase them considering that we saw them talking to the Sheriff no problem at the end of the episode. Plus, there's still the matter of that cold open this week with that mysterious cowboy, roaming the land in 1881. This is a show that is clearly not wasting a single detail or a single moment, so it's only a matter of time before that little flashback comes back into play. Either way, we are two weeks in when it comes to this show and so far, so good. Everything they've put forth is downright fascinating and it will be fun to see how all of this comes together. ​Until next time.

There are certain expectations we as the audience have when it comes to fictional detectives and their often times grandiose hunt for scumbag criminals. We expect them to be flawed men, ones that understand the world is not always what it seems. But more importantly, we expect them to be heroes on some level and do wonderful things as they bring those who do wrong to justice. 

The first four episodes of True Detective have done a fantastic job of giving us the first part of that goal. Hart and Cohle are indeed flawed men and Rust for certain has seen a darker underbelly to the world. But "The Secret Fate of All Life" decided to throw us for one incredible loop and ignore the second half of our expectations for TV Detectives completely. Rust and Cohle were already walking a thin line in the last episode to say the least, but this episode, holy cow...they crossed every line imaginable and I am still shocked over the incredible events that played out before our eyes. 

This should have been a proud episode. One filled with wonderful moments as these two men finally brought Reggie Ledoux to justice. A clean collar would have in many ways allowed everyone to forget about the ugliness from the last episode, and at first it seemed like that was what we were going to get. They found Ledoux, they had him in cuffs...and then everything went off the rails as something we discussed a few episodes back, Hart's temper and conviction to righteous concepts, came right back into play as he discovered the two young children Ledoux and DeWall had locked up for horrific purposes; and promptly let fury take over...before blasting Reggie's face right off. 

It led to a disappointing sequence where Rust helps Hart cover it up so everything looked like an incredible gunfight where both men had to be put down to save the day and the children and well, when all was said and done, truthfully I felt dirty watching Hart and Cohle be celebrated as heroes. They're better than this, but they simply chose not to be and nothing about watching them shake hands and get pats on the back felt right in the slightest. Hart killed a man in cold blood and didn't think twice about it, which is a little scary considering he wears a shield and it's equally disturbing that Cohle was quick to cover up the mess as well.

Which is what made the back half of the episode a welcome addition to the story as we watched Hart and Cohle move on in their lives and their careers only to discover they did not get the right man. That's the kind of poetic justice, or karma if you prefer that needs to come about from such an irresponsible set of decisions and it means that there is now a chance for these two men to set everything right again. How long that will take, who knows, but on a final note, I am fairly certain the allegations being brought against Rust in "present day", specifically that he may be the killer are a load of crap. He may be dark, but that's not his style...and he and Hart need to redeem themselves after what happened this go round. Until next time. 

Every single one of us have wondered at some point or another, just how far we would be willing to go to accomplish a goal or to get exactly what we want. It's only natural to ponder on something like that, after all, it's a good thing to know your limits. But in reality, it's rare that we have to go to the ends of the earth to get what we want, and that's not necessarily a bad thing when you think about it.

After all, if you are truly committed to the concept of 'doing whatever it takes', you will absolutely go to any lengths necessary to achieve your goal and that could turn out to be dangerous on so many levels. Suddenly your morals will be thrown out the window. People could get hurt physically, emotionally or both as you barrel forward in your goal and while you may achieve everything you hoped and dreamed of, the damage is already done; and that particular concept and the consequences that come with it were explored in depth in the True Detective episode, "Who Goes There".

This particular episode picked up right where we left off, with Hart and Cohle working to find Reggie Ledoux and at first it seemed like this manhunt was going to stay in line with the show's precedent of staying true to police work and how it is really done, before taking one hell of a left turn. I really was not expecting to see Cohle go back undercover to get to Ledoux, and the fact that he did this off the books, as did Hart; committing some pretty messed up crimes along the way was absolutely stunning. This went right along with what I mentioned a moment ago, digging into the idea of how far one would go to get what they want. As it turns out, Cohle and Hart are a pair of men that have no problem indulging their darker side to get what they want in life and goodness, the carnage that came from this was simply epic.

But being the character study that this show always turns out to be, it wouldn't be enough to simply give us action and adventure, we need to explore these men further and well...Cohle once again became the focus this go round and what we learned in this particular chapter of the tale, is that despite his best efforts to be a great guy and do the right thing in a world he deems ugly; the man embraces the darkness like no other and can tap into it on a moment's notice. He was truly transformed this episode, slipping right back into undercover mode seamlessly and with as much coke and booze as that man put down, it's a freaking miracle that any part of this plan worked.  

Either way, this truly was in many ways a filler episode for the series, but I have to admit that this was one of the best fillers that I have ever seen. Often times these type of stories tend to drag on and on, but this one managed to hold my attention, especially during the finale when everything absolutely fell to pieces. Oddly enough, this one didn't exactly move the case along either for that matter, but that's okay. Something tells me seeing Hart and Cohle indulge their darker sides is foreshadowing for certain, the only question now is when will their dark sides catch up with them?  Until next time.