Sometimes you don’t realize when a certain franchise is special to you. As a youngster, I admit, I didn’t put a lot of attention towards the original DuckTales (Woo-ooo!). This was a time when Disney was churning out one original animated television series every year, and the scope of this animated trendsetter was lost behind the likes of Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, and Goof Troop. But it was unwise to discount the prominence of DuckTales. The original premiere was a 120 minute movie trimmed into five episodes, illustrating that right out of the gate; Disney knew it had an important property on its hands. After all, this was the first time when decades worth of work on Carl Barks’ and Don Rosa’s Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics would venture to be translated into the format that Disney does best: animation. Original works that sprawled further and wider than the mere theatrical format could provide. It was indeed, because of DuckTales, that I was able to find these classic books, and make them a part of my comic collecting efforts.
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When this reboot was announced, people were virtually jumping for joy. It is my generation’s call back to days when we’d watch TV animation in pajamas with bowls of cereal in our laps, but for as much appreciation there was also trepidation, particularly towards the cable network this was announced for: Disney XD. Of course, Disney XD had provided quality animated entertainment in the past. With shows like Gravity Falls the placement of DuckTales on this network was a sure bet the new series would directly imitate that particular animated tone. The nostalgic among us might see the original series as a direct translation of Barks’ and Rosa’s work, although it honestly isn’t, with the addition of original characters like Mrs. Beakley and Launchpad McQuack, and the prospect that this is going to be at all different frightens some people.

It’s true that this new version of DuckTales is different, and it bears more than a small resemblance to Gravity Falls, but these aren’t things that you should hold against it. The Disney XD approved version of the classic series seeks to change more than its fair share of Uncle Scrooge’s legacy, but there’s still enough here to make this series a worthy successor in its own right. 

We start in a place the original series rarely tread: the houseboat of Donald Duck. Donald, voiced as always by Tony Anselmo, has to find a babysitter for his three rambunctious nephews. Huey (Danny Pudi), Dewey (Ben Schwartz), and Louie (Bobby Moynihan), all sporting celebrity voices and personalities which are edgier but still shy of their ‘extreme’ Quack Pack personage; have a knack for getting into trouble. Donald naturally wastes no time dropping the triplets in the lap of his uncle Scrooge McDuck (David Tennant). The three are instantly enamored with their uncle, given his reputation as a treasure hunter, but Scrooge wastes no time in leaving them in an empty room with a batch of marbles while he plans an expedition to the Lost City of Atlantis. After getting sprung from their potential boredom by Webby Vanderquack (Kate Micucci), the exuberant daughter of Scrooge’s housekeeper Mrs. Beakley (Toks Oladundoye), they accidentally set off several cursed artifacts inside Scrooge’s garage. Although pushed to the limits of his patience when the nephews unleash a golden dragon capable of eating the contents of Scrooge’s money bin, he couldn’t be happier to see the chaos his nephews can cause, and invites them on his expedition to find the lost city under the sea.
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The second half of the hour, separated by a version of the DuckTales theme sung by Felicia Barton, Scrooge and the nephews are well on their way to finding Atlantis with pilot Lainchpad McQuack (Beck Bennett) in tow. The downside: he’s being tailed by Scrooge’s all-purpose rival, Flintheart Glomgold (Craig Ferguson). Flintheart has inadvertently hired Donald Duck as a sailor in his attempts to beat Scrooge to the Lost Jewel of Atlantis. Amidst the attempts to make it out of the undersea city alive with the treasure, Scrooge and Donald re-ignite some of their old animosities, as the nephews, Dewey in particular; begin to uncover the reasons of their family’s falling out. It all naturally comes together in a place where Donald and his nephews are invited to live with Uncle Scrooge in his mansion, setting the stage for episodes to come.

With this new series, Disney once again shows that it’s willing to bet the farm on DuckTales, given that the series has already been approved for two seasons, and the hour-long pilot alone aired 24 hours straight on its premiere date of August 12th, but the difference between this and the original series is night and day: Instead of an emphasis on thrilling adventure, it relies on the exact same witty and self-referential humor as Disney XD’s other action comedies. It’s all too telling that the duck-ex-machina comes in the form of some randomly placed magic dragon, while the original’s lengthy pilot had enough time to include mystical elements alongside Flintheart and the Beagle Boys. While it has an overall art-style that is reminiscent of Barks’ original comics, it relies too heavily on the heavily drastic and overly angular redesigns of many of the Ducktales standards. It’s a little jarring to see an obese, almost spherical version of Flintheart Glomgold…that sounds exactly like that guy who used to be on Late Night, just as much as it is to hear the voices of former SNL alums as Donald Duck’s nephews. But all these bells and whistles are just that. A series like this can only be judged by the longevity it will inevitably have.  

​It’s truly something special when a television show finds a way to surprise its audience in new and exciting ways and that is something that AMC’s Preacher is becoming incredibly good at. After all, season two as a whole has been nothing short of an outright reinvention of the show, which is a pleasant surprise on its own, but last night…well last night the series brought together and resolved several storylines in unexpected fashion, making ‘Puzzle Piece’ an absolutely wonderful episode that also managed to keep me on the edge of my seat.
 
It accomplished that, by giving us one tense tale wherein the grand clash between the Grail Corporation and the Custer Gang finally came to fruition and while Jesse and Cassidy and oddly enough Denis (more on that in a moment) were able to handle the first wave of the Grail’s elite fighting force, the possibility of another assault was more than Jesse could bear. The assault genuinely rattled him and despite putting the Police under the power of The Word to protect everyone in his care, nothing gave him peace as he waited with baited and shaky breath for a second showdown that oddly enough…never arrived and what made this part of the story so incredibly tense was that you truly felt a sense of danger for the Gang and Jesse’s paranoia put an uncomfortable cloud over just about everything.
 
But while it was neat to share in Jesse’s emotions, it was far more awesome to see those lingering storylines find their resolution, specifically the pair of problems that Tulip and Cassidy have been dealing with. Because in this tale we learned that Cassidy made the hard call and in order to win over the love of his son, he converted his boy to vampirism, a decision that Denis relished in throughout the entire episode and used to his advantage to help in the fight, and Jesse and Tulip finally sat down to deal with the terror in her heart and it would seem the only way to cure the enigmatic Tulip of any kind of fear of lack of confidence is to get her into a good old-fashioned fight and while the results of that solution were a tad mixed, it was supremely satisfying to see Tulip snap out of her funk and get back into the game again.
 
However, it’s the big surprise that I made mention of that made this episode so worthwhile and wouldn’t you know it, the stunner of the evening came by way of Herr Starr and the Grail Corporation. Because following the failure of their attempt to bring Jesse down, plans were put in place by Lara to do away with Jesse in far more efficient fashion by way of a tactical missile strike and while she prepares for the aerial attack, Starr begins to research his nemesis and taking a closer look at the power of The Word and hearing Jesse express concern that a lack of God’s presence could mean chaos for our world at some point or another, allows for Starr to come to the realization that he and Custer share a strange philosophical kinship and mere moments before the missile hits, Starr orders a halt to the attack so that he can meet Jesse face to face…
 
If anything, I love the fact that this transitional episode ended up having far more gravity and weight than I expected it to at first glance. Because the scenes where Cassidy and Tulip dealt with their problems were incredibly intimate and touching in their own special way and really…the whole matter with Herr Starr now seeing Jesse as an equal and as he put it ‘the missing puzzle piece’ to the Grail’s machinations is nothing short of brilliant. It puts forth an uneasy but necessary alliance between the two men and it puts the story right back onto the path to finding God and with the Grail’s resources at Jesse’s disposal now to conduct the search…it should only be a matter of time before they find the Creator, the only question remaining at this point, is when they find Him…what happens then? Either way, we are getting that much closer to finding out. Until next time. 

​I wanted to open up today’s recap and say that I was utterly shocked and surprised over the fact that last night’s episode of Broadchurch finally opened up the case in all the ways that we were expecting, but I found, I simply could not. Because what I felt instead last night, was a sense of supreme relief and satisfaction over the fact that yes indeed, the case was blown wide open, the clues kept pouring in and we are now inches away from finding out who the monster is that committed this disgusting crime against Trish Winterman.
 
But before we dig into all the incredible details and surprises that came forth last night, we need to take a moment and discuss the painful storyline that was somewhat resolved from last week, the whole matter with Mark Latimer. Because by the grace of fate he did survive and he ended up in the hospital for his attempt at suicide and well…the fallout of his decision made for some incredibly compelling television. Not because of the fact that Mark tried to harm himself, we already knew he was at that point, no, what made this storyline so incredible was Beth’s reaction and her understanding of how utterly helpless she was in the matter and she also expressed that she was incredibly angry with Mark’s decision and to see her confess her fury, yet still do the right thing was touching, powerful and heartbreaking all at once.
 
However, while all of that was incredible to watch, it was grossly overshadowed by the revelations that came forth in the Winterman case, and as it turns out, there wasn’t enough evidence in place to keep Ed in custody so he was let go…but it wasn’t long before the cell he occupied found a new tenant. Because shortly after releasing Ed, it came to Hardy and Miller’s attention that the company that Laura Benson used to service her broken down vehicle was Jim Atwood’s and well…while he was brought in for questioning on the matter, things went from bad to worse for dear Jim because of what Cath found inside the house.

​While she was cleaning, she discovered a hidden stash of pornography and the suspicion that comes with the obvious question of ‘what else is he hiding’ led her to dig into Jim’s car and discover; a pack of condoms, the same brand that was used in the attack on Trish, and wouldn’t you know it…Jim purchased them the day of Cath’s party, a decision he claimed was related to a cute waitress that had been giving him the eye. But her damning testimony that she never allowed any intimacy to occur, thanks to the fact that Jim was far too rough with her, only makes it look more and more like he’s the guy that did it.
 
Yet while that would have served as plenty for this episode, it wasn’t quite done yet dealing with the many fascinating plot threads it has introduced this season. The whole mess with Ian was thrown back into the mix as well since he finally manned up and confessed to the police what he did with Trish’s computer, in that he had Leo install a little bit of spyware to keep an eye on Trish, and while it was nice to finally see Ian come clean about something, it doesn’t absolve him or Leo for that matter from the crime in question because while all signs point to Jim…there’s still the matter of Clive’s ‘souvenir’ tray, that his wife finally discovered in the garage, and the fact that the sock used as a gag came back from the lab, complete with the DNA of one of our suspects…
 
So yeah…this was the big one at last, and I don’t even care that it ended on a cliffhanger because that really is the right thing to do for an episode of this caliber. After all, this is the penultimate tale for the entire series, and we are now primed to see justice be delivered at last, but alas…we still have to wait one more week. However, it should be noted that while it was wonderful to see everything come together this week, it was also bittersweet. Because while it was thrilling to see the case unfold in this manner, it’s also the last time we are ever going to bask in that kind of wonder since next week’s story, is the series finale for Broadchurch, and judging from last night’s story, it looks like the show is going to go out in impressive fashion. Until then.  

I will openly admit that I was never into science when I was growing up, that was until Bill Nye the Science Guy came on the screen. While this show was able to get my mind juices flowing, it helped me to understand more of what I was doing in the classroom. As I had some teachers that were very student friendly, I also had the ones that seemed to relish the opportunity to make the kids who did not understand feel like they were failures. That is really the only reason I would watch Bill’s show when growing up, because he seemed to want everyone to understand what he was talking about and was able to dumb things down enough so we could.
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So, I was happy to see that Bill Nye got a new show on Netflix called Bill Nye Saves the World. Taking on the hot topics of today, this show is directed towards the kids that watched him back in the day. With a very new format, Bill Nye wants to make sure that everyone understands what the problems are out there in the world and has fun in doing it. With skits showing how the issues are affecting the world, it brings the issues to life. I will admit that they bring a smile to my face, especially when I was forced to consider that all of our favorite foods could be taken away and the only thing we will have left are black jelly beans. 

The thing I like most about the show is the round table discussion that Bill Nye has with his guests about how to combat the issues at hand and it helps to enlighten the different points of view. Now I will not lie, Bill Nye does show his political views on the issues as well, and that might generate some polarizing opinions about the show. But the one thing that I can tell you is that whether you agree or disagree, you do get to hear both sides of the discussion and that is what makes this show enjoyable for me.

The only thing that I miss about the show is the actual science being done on screen. There are some experiments being done in the lab, but not as many as I would like. With more of a commentary style, you do get good information from Bill Nye and his team. Then you also get to hear Bill Nye rant for a minute about his feelings surrounding the issue he is discussing for the episode which is priceless.

I really enjoyed this show and I hope it gets seventeen more seasons, which is something that Bill Nye wants. Being able to dumb down the issues so the layman can understand it is a talent that not everyone has. Putting the issues front and center is something that not everybody would take a shot at doing and while not everyone will like the different stances being taken, it could help in everyday life, hopefully by starting more discussions, because that is the first step in saving the world, being able to talk about the hard issues. Getting his point across has never been an issue for Bill Nye and I believe he does a very good job at that in his new show and hope he is able to continue in the future as the world continues to change. 

​When you take a moment to think about it, we have just about seen it all storytelling wise when it comes to season two of AMC’s Preacher. After all, the series has made a point to drop some fun stories our way, and some chilling ones that have also featured some serious gore to say the least, and we cannot forget that some of the stories presented to us have been downright hilarious as well. Yet, the show has made a point to avoid telling any heavy or darker stories for the most part, a trend that the series bucked last night. Because ‘Holes’ went to some supremely dreary places, where the characters of this series were forced to face some harsh and painful realities.
 
Take Cassidy’s journey for example. Last night he was forced to more or less watch his son die. Granted, Denis didn’t pass into the great beyond in this particular tale, but he’s clearly near the end and having to sit back and watch this, brought out a softer side to Cassidy we’ve never seen before. He spent a lot of time in this episode taking the time to reflect on the failure he is as a father and surprisingly, how hard life has become for him as an immortal since he’s had to watch everyone he’s ever cared for or loved die while he stays behind and to top it off, he spoke to the fact that not being able to die has in many ways removed any and all meaning to life, making it and its rich experiences as dull as they come.
 
Yet while Cassidy wrestled with all of that, and the decision as to whether or not he should convert his son into a vampire to save his life, Jesse was dealing with his own struggle this go round…specifically the grand failure of his mission to find God. Because now that he’s visited every Jazz Club in the city and found nothing, he went all in on a last-ditch effort to find some sort of clue as to where the Almighty has gone by taking the video to some professionals for analysis, in the hopes of being able to follow through on Cassidy’s idea to blow up the image of the gun and get the serial number off of the thing. But while the idea actually works, the serial number in the video has been scrubbed off of the gun, leaving Jesse lost and despondent since he’s out of ideas and leads as to how to find God.
 
Those two bleak storylines alone could have filled an entire episode, but as we all know, Preacher is all about packing each episode to the brim with storylines and this week was no exception because we also returned to Hell in this tale to catch up with Eugene, who as it turns out, is indeed the cause of the power outages in this dark and dismal place because he simply does not belong there. Of course, he believes otherwise because of the whole Tracy incident, but the agents of darkness are closing in on the truth, to the point where there seems to be a crackdown on niceties in Hell, something that of course gets Eugene into trouble and into the infamous Hole…and man, what awaits people down there is downright brutal.
 
In the end however, this sudden left turn into the shadows was quite the surprise. After all, the plot really did come to a standstill since the trail has gone cold for God, but despite that, this episode was incredibly engaging. I know that I was hanging on every moment as I watched these poor characters struggle with their respective problems and I certainly hope they find resolution or peace soon because with Herr Starr on his way and Grail Industries keeping an eye on the gang, it’s only a matter of time before big trouble falls into their lap and they need to be ready for it. Either way, I really enjoyed this one, it was a beautiful character study and I can’t wait to see how Jesse and his pals get over their strife. Until next time.

​After weeks of giving Hardy and Miller plenty to digest when it comes to who may have committed the atrocious crime against Trish Winterman, it would seem that Broadchurch is finally done with its slow burn style of storytelling since last night’s episode kicked the story into overdrive. After all, we finally have a suspect in custody, one that seems to have evidence stacked against him and his reveal was surrounded by tense and heartbreaking moments that made this hour fly by. Which means we have plenty to discuss when it comes to this one, so let’s get right down to it. 
 
In fact, let’s start with the biggest bombshell of the night, the all-important suspect, and as it turns out, the first solid lead in the case didn’t come from an unexpected clue or a confession from someone with a guilty conscience. No instead, it came from a single angry moment, one that we witnessed last week when Ed beat the living hell out of Jim and wouldn’t you know it…Ed turned out to be the prime suspect in question. Because after being arrested for assaulting Jim, a quick search of his office and the rest of the store revealed all kinds of damning evidence against Ed.
 
The notorious blue twine was found everywhere on the produce that Ed sells, plus…the exact kind of greeting card that was left on Trish’s doorstep with a bouquet of flowers was found in his desk (with matching fingerprints) and it didn’t end there. Ed’s phone was full of thousands of pictures of Trish…and he even admitted to being completely and utterly in love with her. While all of this doesn’t necessarily mean he committed the crime, none of this looks good in the slightest, in fact it looks extremely bad for the man, and his obsession with Trish certainly could help Hardy and Miller uncover a motive for this awful, awful crime.   
 
However, in between that incredible mess, another powerful storyline took place, the one involving Mark and Joe Miller. Because years after Danny’s death, the two finally met face to face and Mark finally got the answers he’s been looking for when it comes to the fateful night he lost his son, and unfortunately for Mark…the truth about Danny’s death may be more than his soul can ever handle since it would seem his quest for answers has completely and utterly broken him. Not only did he spend a fair amount of time dreaming of Danny as a young man with his whole life ahead of him, he apparently has given up on life in general since the closing moments of the episode featured him drifting away in the ocean…
 
Hopefully, that isn’t the end for Mark Latimer. Despite his breakdown this season and flaws in general, he’s a character that quite frankly is owed better considering how his story arc over the past three seasons has gone, so I guess we will have to wait and see if Mark will ever receive some kind of redemption. But that dark ending along with everything that came before it, just goes to show how powerful this episode was and this story only intensified my desire to see justice for Trish. I’m dying to know if Ed is indeed the criminal Hardy and Miller have been searching for. I’m still curious as to Ian’s involvement in the whole mess and it should also be interesting to see if Ed’s relationship to DC Harford will have any bearing on the case as well. Either way, this is the best episode that Series 3 has offered up to date and it should be interesting to see where we go from here since the grand finale of Broadchurch is right around the corner. Until next time.

So, where does a television show go once it decides to resolve a plot line revolving around a villain way ahead of schedule? Well...if you're AMC's Preacher, you go all out, that's for sure. Because not only did last night's episode, 'Pig', provide us with a storyline that dealt with the fallout from battling the Saint of Killers, it also introduced the new big bad for season two in stunning, and hilarious fashion, along with all kinds of details about the secret organization that's been lurking in the shadows this year. So, since we have lots to cover when it comes to this particular tale. Let's get right down to it.  

Let's start with the whole matter of fallout from the showdown with the Saint because holy cow, there was plenty of that go round, especially when it comes to Tulip and Jesse. For starters, it would seem that by making contact with the Saint and surviving that encounter (a rarity, no doubt) that Tulip is fundamentally changed. She cannot shake the horror of that moment and it's breaking her down minute by minute to the point where she's risking her life to even feel remotely alive or normal for that matter, and in a weird way it almost seems as though his touch, is a little slice of death that infects those he comes into contact with and who knows if there is a cure for that kind of poison.  

If anything, what made Tulip's story so fascinating is the fact that I think we expected Jesse to fall deeper into some strange emotional sinkhole just as she did, since he's the one who gave up a bit of his soul to defeat the Saint and well, while he didn't go into the darkness, he's definitely not in a good place after this encounter. There's some severe regret pouring out of Jesse for giving up that tiny 1% of his soul to save his friends. In part due to the fact that there seems to be a lack of gratitude from Tulip over saving the day regardless of the fact he was indeed a minute late to the whole mess, but also because...by giving a tiny part of himself to that monster, and sending that tiny part to Hell...Jesse has put the redemption he so desperately seeks into jeopardy...

But while all of this, and the fact that Denis wants Cassidy to turn him into a vampire to stave off death, was downright fascinating and would have served just fine as an amazing standalone episode, as I mentioned before, there's a new bad guy and evil organization to deal with on this show and at long last, we now know who the people in white suits with red ties work for, they work for an organization known as The Grail. As it turns out, these men and women have some interesting goals in mind. For starters, they work to protect their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is alive and well and under lock and key and machine gun guard and they are also hellbent on ensuring the survival of Christ's bloodline since the Messiah fathered a child before he died, and most importantly, they work behind the scenes to keep mankind focused on Christianity and the salvation it can provide in order to maintain order and control over the world once the end of the world arrives. 

The top man in charge of this bold and powerful quest, is the strange bloke we met a few weeks ago, a Mister Herr K. Starr and the show took its time to properly introduce us to the man and let's be honest, he stole the freakin' show. Not only did this man just so happen to provide the biggest laughs of the night, with his unique solution to getting out of a headlock and quite frankly...his amazing one liners since I'll never be able to use the phrase 'I have to see it to believe it' without cracking up ever again, we also learned that he's going to be quite the formidable monster. He will truly stop at nothing to ensure a streamlined world full of order and unity and for proof, look no further than the moment where he murdered the man who recruited him into The Grail so that he could be in charge and do things right and wouldn't you know it...he's headed to New Orleans to deal with Jesse Custer...

Regardless, it is simply amazing how much stuff this series is starting to pack into a single hour. This completely felt like two separate episodes, seamlessly blended together and the credit for that goes to the writer of this episode; Olivia Dufault. Seriously, this was an outright screenwriting clinic so my thanks go out to Olivia for putting together one amazing episode because this one had it all. There were tender moments, a fear of the unknown and of course plenty of laughs thanks to Herr Starr and truly, this show is doing such a good job with its writing that once again, I'm left counting down the minutes to next week to see what incredible things await us when it comes to this completely amazing series. Until next time. ​