One of the biggest marks of a quality television show, is when the series in question is so darn good, you essentially drop everything to watch it and that's basically where I am at when it comes to The Orville. Because this phenomenal science fiction series is so top notch when it comes to its storytelling, giving it anything less than my full attention would be a grave mistake on my part because I would most likely miss out on something unique and special.  

It might be a joke, it might be a tender moment, but every single second of this series offers up something truly incredible and as I settled in to focus on last night's episode, 'If the Stars Should Appear', I was left wondering what kinds of surprises we would be in store for when it comes to this particular tale. Would Seth MacFarlane put tears in my eyes like he did with 'About a Girl'? Would he leave me in stitches with hilarious antics, or would the series once again delve deep into a quality homage to Star Trek? Well as it turns out, this latest chapter in the crew's adventures would accomplish all three things since this story was filled to the brim with more quality social commentary, homages and fantastic humor. 

But before we dig too deeply into the more cerebral moments of this episode, we need to take a moment and talk about last night's homage to the franchise this series so loves because this tribute was quite unexpected. After all, while it's easy to focus on the biggest and most memorable moments that Star Trek has to offer, one cannot forget that the soundtrack to this storied series is just as important as the story playing out on the screen and last night, The Orville paid homage to one of Trek's most prolific composers, Jerry Goldsmith. Because when Mercer and the away team approached the mysterious behemoth of a vessel they had stumbled upon, there were overtures of Goldsmith's score from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, specifically when the crew of the Enterprise explored the massive ship that housed V'ger and I won't lie, as a big time Trekkie, I got goosebumps hearing that chilling score come to life once again.

But outside of the wonderful geek out moments this episode provided me with, the centerpiece of the night was the show's commentary on the conflict that exists between religion and science and once again, MacFarlane's script handles this in masterful fashion by giving us a society that hasn't a clue that they're traveling amongst the stars since their religious beliefs matter over anything else and really, what made this portion of the story work so well was the fact that it wasn't done in heavy handed fashion. There were no easy answers offered up here, just an objective presentation on the dangers of religion when it is in the hands of the wrong kind of people, and also, kudos to the show for taking the time to bring this up, and send chills down our spine with the real world parallels it presented when the villain of the story, Hamelac, incited mob violence and murder in the name of his God.

However, while that was indeed a sobering part of the story, MacFarlane found a way to end this tale in the most uplifting way imaginable when the away team finally discovers the bridge of the ship, wherein they learn the original purpose of this vessel was a dedication to exploration (thanks to an ultra cool cameo from Liam Neeson). So, in order to put an end to the internal strife of this isolated society, Mercer has Issac open up the ship's 'sunroof', exposing the vastness of space to the people below and there was something incredibly beautiful and magical about watching this society see the wonder of the galaxy appear before their eyes and considering the fact that Mercer is having Union liaisons sent to this ship to help them figure out how their own vessel works, it's clear now that these people have earned a second chance to do things right and see what amazing mysteries await them amongst the stars...

As for the laughs, well let's be honest, nothing from last night is going to top hearing Lieutenant LaMarr shout 'Boom, bitch!' after blasting an enemy ship to bits, but seeing Klydar enjoy comfort food and musicals to combat the effects of a fight with Bortus is a close second. Which brings me to the last element about last night's episode that truly caught my eye...this crew is slowly becoming a true family, and that's a big deal. Seeing them trust one another, and unify only helps strengthen the story because as they bond, we bond with them and I'm really looking forward to seeing this crew grow closer as the weeks progress. Either way, this was simply another quality episode. Week in and week out, The Orville delivers and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite shows and with Academy Award Winner Charlize Theron dropping in as a guest star next week...it's clear this show is only going to get better. Until next time. 

When we last left President Tom Kirkman and his administration on Designated Survivor, it seemed as though things were certainly looking up. Tom had established himself as a fine leader of the American people, one that appeared to excite and inspire something new in our nation and the monster that is Patrick Lloyd, the man responsible for the destruction of the U.S. Captiol Building was exposed to the world for his actions and on the run, despite having important intel on the nation's defensive capabilities and well, having such a happy ending to a show about a country fighting to keep itself together left me wondering...where would the series go from here? 

Would season two of this refreshing series spend all of its time on the hunt for Patrick Lloyd? Would it show us a United States moving toward a utopian type of environment with such a bright and inspiring leader at its helm? Well the answer to both of those questions is a resounding no. While the hunt for Lloyd is clearly going to be a focus for this season, it's obvious now it won't be at the forefront and if anything, it would seem that season two will be a fine example of how not only does time heal all wounds, it also allows for old habits to die hard since 'One Year In' presented us with a Kirkman administration that is now facing backlash for the things that Americans hate the most, excessive government spending, and inaction on bringing bad guys to justice. 

That backlash, made for a fascinating White House portion of the episode, where the people that stood by Tom from day one found themselves facing exhaustion and excessive amounts of stress from having to constantly defend their President. In fact, Seth was so worn down he was even considering leaving the press gig for another job and well...this was a wonderful way to re-introduce us to the characters and what they stand for and I truly appreciate the fact that the series injected a sense of complacency to their plight and that they all needed a proverbial kick in the tail to be reminded why they serve and why they took this job and the necessary moment everyone needed for that to happen, came by way of a crisis when a group of Ukrainian nationals took a Russian flight hostage on American soil, one filled to the brim with American and Russian citizens.

It allowed for his team to do their thing and eventually uncover the fact that the Russians paid the Ukrainian nationals to commit this act to force a conflict that would be mutually beneficial to both of those nations. After all, the Russian Federation would be able to finally deliver a show of power and strength and the Ukraine would have the world's eyes turned toward their plight. But alas, this little plot was never given the chance to grow, because unfortunately for the ambassadors of these two nations, they were subject to the patented Tom Kirkman smackdown and let's be honest, it was an utter delight to see Tom unleash his fury this early in the season, and despite the positive resolution to the whole mess, lives were lost in accidental fashion, including an old friend of Kirkman's and it would seem the whole ordeal and that loss has refocused the president and his staff.

As for the hunt for Patrick Lloyd, well that was a far more subtle affair, since Hannah spent most of the hour chasing his ghost around Amsterdam and clearly that's what Lloyd wanted. Because in the closing moments of the episode it was revealed that Patrick has returned to the United States and who knows what trouble he has planned for the American people and it's a great thing that Kirkman and his team are unified once again, because clearly they're going to need one another in the coming days, and when all is said and done, I really enjoyed this season premiere. It was a truly unique idea to allow for a hopeful and inspirational character such as Tom, to lose himself in the daily ether of day to day politics and have him find focus and direction before his nemesis returns to the story and it should be interesting to see what evil Lloyd is going to bring about next all in the name of patriotism, and how Kirkman will respond because I have no doubt that Lloyd is going to test Tom in ways he never imagined. Until next time. 

When we last left the intrepid crew of the U.S.S. Shenzhou on Star Trek: Discovery, the situation was grim. They were isolated from their Starfleet brethren at the edge of Federation space, staring down the barrel of a flotilla of Klingon vessels, unsure of the Klingons overall intentions and considering how tense and powerful the closing moments of the series premiere turned out to be, I think all of us had plenty of questions on our mind.

First and foremost, what would become of Commander Burnham after her Captain was forced to point a phaser at her for mutiny and whether or not she was right about the Klingons and that they had war on their minds and thankfully, Discovery was more than happy to answer those burning questions in epic fashion. Because 'Battle at the Binary Stars' turned out to be quite the jaw dropping episode as once again, this series took us to new places in this universe and completely cemented an idea I floated about yesterday, in that this series is going to be a tale of redemption for the Commander.  

But before we get too deep into that portion of the story, let's discuss the Klingons and what came about of their plan. Because T'Kuvma's lighting of the beacon did indeed attract a ship from every house in the Klingon Empire and he was able to express his belief in the prophecy and how it more or less dictated a need for the Empire to go to war against the Federation and while at first it seemed his ideas were being dismissed as nonsense...all it takes is for one Klingon to be intrigued and his passion piqued the interest of several House leaders and it didn't take long for conflict to erupt, shortly after the Shenzhou's reinforcements arrived. 

Now ship to ship combat is nothing new to this franchise, and we've seen the darker side of it on several occasions over the years as well. But this battle, had a different feel to it simply because, we've rarely seen the Federation be surprised in this kind of fashion and there truly seemed to be a sense of confusion and shock emanating from Captain  Georgiou as she watched the situation unravel before her eyes and kudos to the series for giving us a prolonged and breathtaking battle, and for taking a moment to show us the mental effects this kind of unexpected combat would have on a crew as well since that brief scene in the Brig with Burnham and her shipmate was utterly heartbreaking to say the least. 

But this episode had plenty more to offer outside of sheer action and harrowing moments. As I made mention of before, redemption is the name of the game and in order for someone to be redeemed, they have to reach rock bottom and that's precisely where Commander Burnham went in this episode, in the most unexpected of fashion. Because shortly after escaping the Brig mere moments before she would have been blown out into space, Burnham was able to help the Captain formulate a plan to capture T'Kuvma as the battle came to an end and quite frankly, the plan in question was pretty darn brilliant.

Since T'Kuvma is all about providing fallen warriors with a proper burial, Captain Georgiou has a photon warhead beamed onto the corpse of a dead Klingon Warrior mere moments before T'Kuvma pulls the body aboard, leading to a spectacular explosion that cripples his vessel, allowing for the Captain and her first officer to beam aboard the ship to grab the intrepid Klingon leader and bring him to justice, because to kill him, would rally the Klingon Empire in a way few could imagine and unfortunately, the best laid plans don't always work out the way you want them to and after watching Captain Georgiou die at the hands of T'Kuvma, Burnham makes another critical error and kills the Klingon leader, giving the Empire a rallying cry for war...

Which brings us to the low point for Commander Michael Burnham. Because with her Captain dead, and the Shenzhou abandoned and adrift in space, Burnham faces a court-martial and is stripped of her rank and sentenced to life imprisonment and well...there's no where to go but up from here and that's where this series becomes supremely Star Trek. Because every mistake Michael has made over the past two episodes have been grounded in her fears and insecurities and now is her opportunity to re-discover the ideals of the Federation and how to face those darkest parts of her soul and in doing so...lies the road to redemption and maybe, just maybe, in the midst of one of the Federation's darkest hours, she can finally be a hero.  

Regardless, after this two episode premiere, I am completely and utterly sold on Discovery. It may be darker, it may be grittier, but everything we love about Star Trek is present here. There's adventure, there's action and most importantly, the always important elements of pushing for a better future and improving who we are as a people can be found here as well and I'm already counting down the minutes to Sunday's brand new episode. Because after years of so-so entries in the saga, we finally have an incredible new tale before us, one that fits the times and boldly goes where no other Star Trek adventure dares to and I cannot wait to see what incredibly storytelling awaits us in the weeks to come. Until next time. 

Fifty-one years ago, Gene Roddenberry's unique and powerful vision of a world where mankind put aside its differences to accomplish wonders and traverse the stars premiered on television, and while this revolutionary television show didn't quite become a ratings smash back in its day, the wonderful and uplifting ideas that it presented inspired a generation of fans and took root in a way no one ever thought imaginable. The end result of Star Trek's inspiration upon its fans helped spawn thirteen motion pictures and four additional television spinoffs, but its legacy is not without its disappointing moments. 

Some of the films simply don't hold a flame to the fundamentals of the franchise and after Deep Space Nine, the quality of the television shows to follow it came into question. After all, the quality of Voyager was a mixed bag from time to time despite a unique concept and stellar cast and Enterprise was a series that unfortunately missed out on the opportunity to tell an incredible story. Those two missteps saw the television side of the business go into hibernation for twelve years, with that break finally coming to an end last night with the premiere of the sixth television series in the franchise...Star Trek: Discovery. 

Now while one would expect that a new entry in this storied franchise would be welcomed by the fans with open arms, that has simply not been the case. After all, there's already been plenty of ire from Trekkies everywhere over the fact that the saga will unfold via CBS All Access, a pay to view service and there's been plenty of skepticism when it comes to the tone and design of the show, as to whether or not it will uphold the uplifting nature of the franchise which means that there was a lot riding on last night's series premiere, 'The Vulcan Hello', and at this point, you're likely all now wondering whether or not is this is a worthy entry in the Star Trek saga and if it does indeed hold a flame to the fundamentals introduced in its predecessors, and the answer to both of those questions is a resounding yes...but bear in mind it accomplishes much of this in vastly different fashion than we are used to.

Granted, the sense of awe and wonder that comes with traversing the galaxy and seeing the sights and beauty that it has to offer is present in this show, but once the Klingons come into the mix, it's clear that this series is indeed going to go to far darker territory, leaving one to wonder, well how in the heck is it going to uphold the vision of a future where life is indeed better and that's where this tense story does the franchise service. Because by introducing what looks to be one grand conflict...the best parts of the franchise are going to be brought to the surface by way of some timely commentary on current events, a Trek staple, and by delivering unto us, an intimate tale of redemption for Commander Michael Burnham by throwing something new into the mix character wise...fear.  ​

But before we dig in too deeply on that particular element, let's talk about those real world parallels because they were striking, since this iteration of Trek presents us with a United Federation of Planets that is supremely comfortable in its existence. Everything is hunky dory in the Federation in this era and the peace and wonder of a galaxy without conflict brings forth a sense of complacency that is challenged by a Klingon religious zealot named T'Kuvma, who spends much of the pilot condemning the Federation and calling for action against them. How exactly he plans to do that isn't quite revealed in the pilot, but his constant talk of prophecy and a union that he deems to be dangerous to his people is woefully similar to our own world, and it's quite satisfying to see the show find a real world element to address straight out of the gate. 

His actions and prophetic vision definitely draw out fear from the audience and our lead character for that matter as well, since Commander Burnham, the only human to graduate the Vulcan Science Academy and who was also raised by Commander Spock's father, Sarek, has quite the past with the Klingon Empire. In that her family was murdered in a Klingon raid and well...while she has been taught to forget her emotions, it's clear the loss of her family and the fear that resides within her when it comes to what the Klingons are capable of, drives her to do things that quite frankly...we've never seen happen in this franchise when it comes to a lead character and her actions are quite frankly downright stunning and offensive to a degree...at first. 

After all, none of us expected to see a Starfleet Commander commit mutiny in a critical moment the way she did last night, but once you get over the shock, and ponder on her past and her fears...Burnham's actions actually do make sense. She's seen horrible and traumatizing things in a world where such horrors are not supposed to exist. She's run and hid from those emotions and those memories and as they return to the forefront of her mind and wash over her...she's unsure of what to do outside of let her survival mode kick in and because of that, she makes some incredibly poor choices, and since this episode does indeed end on a cliffhanger with the U.S.S. Shenzhou squaring off against a small armada of Klingon vessels, it's obvious that Burnham is going to have to atone for her mistakes at some point and hopefully, set things right for letting her fear get the better of her. 

Of course, this style of storytelling is clearly not for everyone. I've already seen some polarizing responses to the premiere and some folks are clearly disappointed what what the series is setting up, and that's okay. But I'm seeing something special brewing here, because in this universe we rarely see Trek's characters experience true fear or allow their past to come into play and its refreshing to finally see that happen on the small screen and it really does seem that this inaugural season of Star Trek: Discovery is going to focus heavily on Burnham's journey of self discovery and judging from the tone of this series premiere, something tells me that the Commander isn't done making mistakes quite yet, and will be forced to face her darkest fears since the Klingons now surround her and the Shenzhou's intrepid crew. Either way, I personally loved this start to the series. It's great to have Trek back in a serialized form and I truly cannot wait to see what adventures await us in 2356. Until next time. 

Once in a great while, a television show will air something so incredible and so stunning that I am forced to sit in silence and ponder upon what I've just witnessed and often times, the horror genre is the only one that does that to me since I'm trying desperately to process the awful things I've just witnessed. But last night, it was a science fiction show that gave me great pause, but for vastly different reasons that have nothing to do with terror, because The Orville delivered unto us a downright poignant and incredible episode, one that was supremely relevant to our times and quite frankly, I needed the silence to properly work through the wonder and intelligence of what I just saw. 

In fact, let's take a moment to praise Seth MacFarlane's script and what he's doing with this show. Because 'About a Girl' was a tour de force of writing, one that took us on a multitude of emotions and it signifies that The Orville is shaping up to be MacFarlane's finest work because what happened last night storytelling wise, was utterly brilliant, and evolutionary as well. While the first two episodes of this series have served as a love letter to Star Trek, going so far as to include direct homages to that iconic science fiction series, for this tale, everything changed. Gone were the tributes and all that remained was a powerful story that was grounded in pure social commentary and Seth deserves major credit for taking the entire debate regarding gender identity and transgender rights head on.  

It accomplished this, in part, by following up with a brief moment at the end of Sunday's episode, where Lieutenant Commander Bortus and his mate, Klyden, came to discover that their newborn child was in fact a girl and this week, we learned that being a female in the Moclan culture is considered a weakness and it is quite frankly, forbidden thanks to the Moclan species being all male. Which means that all Moclans born as females must undergo a mandatory surgery to make them male; and thanks to the crew of the Orville, and the Planetary Union's forward thinking...Bortus was put in quite the tough position, since he decided that it was not his place to change his daughter's gender, pitting him against the Moclan culture as a whole and well...while that plot should be grounds enough for a brilliant story in its own right, MacFarlane found a way to make this tale far more poignant. 

Case in point, the fact that this episode holds nothing back when it comes to the debate over gender identity and transgender rights because the show straight up condemns the narrow minded line of thinking when it comes to this matter, which is rare for a series in this vein. Normally, both sides of the debate are presented equally in science fiction, and to a certain degree that's prevalent here since we do hear the Moclan side of the matter often, but the examples used there are enough to force an eye roll or two and really, the Union and later Bortus (and the show for that matter) have it right in that, it is up to the individual to make their own decision as to who they are and how they will live their life and to impose a culture's will upon others is wrong because we don't know what the future holds or what others will contribute to society down the line.  

However, the true brilliance of this particular episode didn't end there. This also turned out to be quite the emotional episode as well, because it was heartbreaking to learn that Klyden was born a female and of course, underwent the reassignment surgery as is the Moclan way and kept this fact from Bortus out of fear of rejection and of course, we have to talk about that ending. Because despite Kelly's best efforts to prove to the tribunal on Moclus that Bortus and Klyden should be allowed to raise their daughter as their daughter and avoid the surgery...the tribunal decided that tradition mattered above all else and well, to see the pain in Bortus' eyes and to see the crew defeated in their endeavor was downright devastating and the series gets serious credit for not giving us the traditional happy ending, yet...despite the fact that Bortus lost his case...this episode did end on a hopeful note. 

After all, we cannot forget that the greatest writer in the history of the Moclan culture is in fact a woman, a truth now known amongst the population of Moclus, and in the closing moments of the episode where Bortus spoke about giving his son, Topa, a good life, there seemed to be a hint that perhaps the solution to Bortus' concerns lie in how he raises his son, since a new generation can bring about a new way of thinking, and considering how intelligent this episode turned out to be...I'm sure the message buried in that moment applies to our world as well. Either way, wow...this was quite the powerful story, one so strong that the ending of this tale brought this reviewer to tears and this episode serves to cement the fact that The Orville is hands down the smartest series on television right now and definitely some of the finest science fiction I've seen in years and I cannot wait for it to be Thursday again so I can see what incredible adventures, and stories await us. Until next time. 

There really is a lot to like when it comes to Seth MacFarlane's new show, The Orville. It's hilarious for starters, and a breath of fresh air as well since it's positive outlook and lighthearted style of storytelling separate it from the rest of the science fiction pack. But of course, the real draw to the series is the fact that MacFarlane and company pay great homage to Star Trek and the wonder that it inspired in all of us and as I settled in to watch the second episode of the series, 'Command Performance', I really only had one question on my mind, was Seth going to take this series to the next level and bring another element of this storied franchise into the fold?

Specifically, I'm referring to the fact that Trek as a whole has always been big on social commentary by putting the characters into situations that reflect our world and our time, and as it turns out, the answer to my question was a resounding yes. MacFarlane did indeed add plenty of relevant commentary into this episode, but he injected a few extra surprises into this story as well, since he also made sure to pay homage to one of Trek's most iconic episodes, while at the same time, maintaining the wonder that made the pilot episode so incredibly magical. But, before we get to discussing the reflections upon our modern world that this episode offered up, I really want to focus on what made this episode so unique and different, specifically...its look at the perils of command.

Because when you think about science fiction as a whole, and shows likes this for that matter, we rarely think twice about the person who is chosen to sit in the big chair once the Captain leaves the ship. The officer who takes the Conn does so without question or fuss, which is why I truly appreciate the fact that Alara basically freaked out over being in charge, and made mistakes along the way as well. It shows that command of that many people cannot be an easy thing in the slightest and it was wonderful to see her go through a true trial by fire and figure out how to become a quality commander and a better person for that matter in the process.

But truly the centerpiece of the night was Mercer and Grayson's storyline since the two of them were kidnapped by a species known as the Calivon, and were forcefully put on display in a Calivon Zoo. While this allowed for some quality character development to occur between Ed and Kelly, since they were able to answer the burning question as to whether or not they would have made a great couple, this is where the series paid big time homage to Star Trek since the whole notion of being on display in a zoo is incredibly reminiscent of The Original Series pilot episode, turned regular episode, 'The Cage', and once you got past the wonder of that tribute...that's where the social commentary came into play.

In fact, I have to admit the commentary in this particular episode ended up being quite cerebral, after starting out in fluffy fashion with a speech from Kelly about how mankind evolved beyond the point of trapping animals in zoos. If anything, leave it to this show to reflect upon our world in comedic fashion since the brainy commentary came by way of what Alara gave the Calivon in exchange for letting Mercer and Grayson go free...planet Earth's entire catalog of reality television, and the wonder and awe that the Calivon gave these shows, spoke wonders to our own world and how perhaps...modern man is no different from the Calivon, since we have no problem with the menagerie we've created to look into other people's lives...  

In the end however, I really, really loved this episode. It was filled to the brim with incredible charm, perfectly timed jokes and every time I settle in to watch this show, I'm instantly reminded of the wonder and awe that came with enjoying science fiction like this my youth and I truly cannot get enough of it. Not to mention, it was incredibly stunning to see a show this young drop that kind of commentary into our laps and if The Orville already has something to say about our world two episodes in, then it's clear that the sky is the limit when it comes to this series, and I cannot wait to see what other wonders await us as this series rolls on. Until next time.

You know, it's rare that a television show drops something so surprising in my lap that I sit at my laptop with my hands hovering over the keyboard as my mind struggles to put into words what I've just seen, but the season two finale of Preacher has managed to do just that. Because 'The End of the Road' was well, an episode that completely and utterly reflected its title since, this story saw the end of a great many things, including the more joyous and wild moments we've enjoyed this season since this tale went to some supremely dark territory. 

In fact, it is the ominous clouds that hung over this episode that truly gave me pause since holy cow, it would seem the absence of God is truly starting to be felt all over this fictional world because it would seem all things good are fading quickly from this story and the most blatant example of this came by way of Eugene's story. After all, the Superintendent was more than happy to point out that without the Lord in charge she could do whatever she wants, including dragging a good soul back to Hell simply because she felt like it and her desire for more power led to utter chaos because Hitler was able to return to Earth with Eugene and unfortunately...while it seemed at first that Adolf had redeemed himself, his decision to run off and do who knows what demonstrates the power that darkness is starting to gain without God sitting atop his throne.

But the ugliness of this episode didn't end there. Cassidy found himself at a crossroads in this tale, and in subtle fashion we learned a lot more about the man. We came to discover that he has in essence turned his back on his own kind in order to be a functional member of modern society. But the power of vampirism is still present in his soul since for a short while there it seemed as though he was quite tempted to give in to his more primal nature and he is so focused on being good and not a monster that he was willing to murder his own son to maintain that purity and well...it was simply stunning to see Cassidy toss his son out of the window and into the daylight to save his son's soul, and his own for that matter, all while atoning for the mistake of turning his boy into a vampire.

However, the centerpiece story of the night belonged to Jesse and Tulip, since the fate of these two are always intertwined. While Jesse was off learning how to be a Messiah under the tutelage of Herr Starr, Tulip made the discovery that the Grail has been watching everything going on​ and have in essence, played everyone from day one. At first it seems she's willing to let the matter go, but eventually, her anger gets the better of her and she confronts Lara and unfortunately, is mortally wounded in the process. To make matters worse, Jesse is there to see her off in her final moments, but not all hope is lost, since the episode ends with Jesse and Cassidy on their way to Angelville, where it seems Jesse will be able to work a little voodoo magic and save the love of his life...

So, yeah, that's where it ends, on the most dismal and hopeless note possible and what gave me pause was not just the shock of seeing everything fall to pieces in this story; it was taking a moment to ponder on the greater meaning of these events, and I am convinced there is more to all this than at first glance. If anything, I think we've been privy to a cliffhanger of sorts. After all, God is still out there, as evidenced by the scene in the hotel, and Starr and the Grail as a whole have all spoken to the fact that the end is near, and considering that Hitler is loose upon the world again, it would seem that Jesse Custer is indeed going to be brought to his knees to perhaps serve a higher purpose after all when all of this comes together.

But for now, we are left with a bleak story that saw close friendships completely and utterly shatter and allowed for evil to continue to win and there are definitely plenty of questions on my mind after this one. For example, what will become of Tulip after Jesse more than likely resurrects her with Voodoo? What is Hitler's plan now that he's back on Earth and most importantly, will Jesse Custer ever find God and redemption for that matter? Sadly we will have to wait until season three to have those questions answered and to see if our characters and the world will ever find hope again. So in the meantime, I'll likely just watch this season over again to catch anything that I've missed and to get my Preacher fix until the next season arrives. Until next year. 

The Legend of Korra is easily one of my favorite shows. From the very beginning, we got a darker look into the Avatar realm. Lighter tones and humor were still there, but this was not the show my sister grew up watching. The Avatar was a young woman struggling to come into her own as the balancing force of the world. From the first moment we meet Korra, we learn that she is a force to be reckoned with. Unlike Aang, Korra has no problem jumping into a fight. Having mastered three of the four elements, this new Avatar is bold, head strong, and is a bit stubborn. With the help of Aang's youngest son, Tenzin, Korra does manage to master Airbending. This wasn’t an easy task for the young Bender. Having spent most of her life isolated from most people, Korra breaks free the second she can. Book One introduces us to Korra's first love interest, a Pro-Bending Firebender named Mako, and his Earthbending brother Bolin.

Together, the three must fight the Equalists who have a bit of a problem with the majority of the city being run by Benders. Having spent Avatar: The Last Airbender with mostly Benders, it was almost a shock to remember that there were people in the world who were, well, normal. Heiress Asami Sato joins the group; the non-Bending genius can hold her own against just about anything. Just like that, our new Team Avatar is established. Asami and Mako date, while Equalist leader Amon takes away the Bending abilities of many. It’s soon discovered that Asami’s father is part of the Equalists and the theme of familial betrayal begins. Amon, however, turns out to be a liar, and a Bloodbender…the first season ends with Korra setting things right, and Amon’s brother killing them both…

Book Two kicks off with a different antagonist. Thrown back to the very beginning, we see the original Avatar’s story. The fight between light, Raava, and dark, Vaatu, is one that has been battled for far too long. Vaatu is ready to escape…and he does with the help of Korra's own uncle. For a while, it looks like Korra was happy, she and Mako were together, she’d mastered Airbending, but happiness never lasts in this world. A civil war between the Southern and Northern Water Tribes have hit a bit too close to home for our Avatar. The release of Vaatu and the opening of the spirit portals have not helped. Eventually, Korra and Raava are separated and she has lost the ability to connect to her past lives. Of course, this isn’t to last. Korra eventually reunites with Raava and Vaatu is defeated for good. Sadly, Korra and Mako’s relationship didn’t last. The world is changed forever when the Spirit Portals are left open.

​With so much destruction having happened, our young Avatar is starting to feel the weight of it all. Book Three brought us some new, yet old, faces. We get a closer look at Tenzin's siblings, Bumi and Kya. We also meet Lin Beifong's little half-sister, Suyin and her family. Thankfully there is no family betrayal, but there is a new threat. With the Spirit Portals open, the new Airbenders have awakened. Among them is Bumi and Suyin’s only daughter, Opal. A dangerous leader of the Red Lotus, Zaheer, has awakened as an Airbender as well. The Red Lotus’ purpose is to destroy the Avatar and plunge the world into anarchy. This is the defining moment of Legend of Korra. The series will never quite be the same after this season. Zaheer outright kills the Earth Kingdom Queen, and it is Suyin that sees to it Zaheer’s love interest, P’Li dies. Korra is nearly killed by the Red Lotus. This season was the darkest in Avatar history…yet, in the end, it did something remarkable. While Korra saves the world and defeats Zaheer without actually killing him, she is left far from unscathed. In a world where we constantly see the heroes survive everything, Legend of Korra took a moment to show that it can come with a cost. Showing that Korra was hurt and suffering from PTSD was something I’ve never before seen in any series. The recovery of our heroine would be a long one.

Book Four showed us that recovering from something like that doesn’t happen overnight. With several attempts on her life, and the latest being the worst, it seems 3 years isn’t enough for Korra to recover. She’s left her family and friends behind, attempting to recover on her own. It’s far harder to do things alone, and Korra soon finds herself meeting an old friend. Toph shows herself, and finally talks some sense into our Avatar. It’s shortly after making some peace with what happened, that Korra is swept away into another fight. Kuvira has taken these three years to ‘unite’ the Earth Kingdom under her command. However, she’s far more ruthless dictator that ‘uniter’. Korra promptly loses that fight, and Opal’s family is captured. Well, all but her oldest brother, Bataar Jr., who seems to be Kuvira’s fiancé. It takes a visit to Zaheer for Korra to finally get the closure she needs. And from here, the season closes with one of the most satisfying endings of all time. Verrick, our Water Tribe native, and dubious genius, finally proposes to Zhu Li, Prince Wu decides to let the Earth Kingdom govern itself, and Kuvira surrenders… At the very end, our Korra walks into a Spirit Portal, hand in hand, with Asami.

I cannot stress how important this show has been in breaking certain barriers. The ending with Asami and Korra leaving together, (creators have confirmed the two are indeed a couple) was a statement of so many things. It doesn’t show two gay characters leaving. It shows two friends having evolved into a relationship. While a win for so many things, this is a bigger win for me, because it showed two characters, which have both dated a male character, loving one another. To me, the message wasn’t that love is confined to gender. It showed that love is love, no matter what. With a revolutionary series that showed struggles such as war, battling mental struggles, and so much more, it seemed fitting to end on another strong note. As far as finales go, this one takes the cake as my all time favorite. While, Legend of Korra will forever be a great series, it is highly underrated for the many topics it tackled. It took a deeper look into many of the issues Avatar: The Last Airbender touched on, and threw them violently into the air. It wasn’t all betrayal and hardships. It was love, friendship, and the inner struggles of the vicious wars that have been fought. Equality, in this show, wasn’t about being the same, but being treated the same despite differences. Never before has a cartoon touched on so many strong topics as Legend of Korra did. This show has left a bigger mark on the world than many of us may ever realize. For a show designed for kids (and us adults to enjoy), the themes are a brilliant reminder that the world isn’t perfect…but it could be a bit better. At the end of it all, this show is still missed by many, but thankfully there is always the DVD’s.

I've started to notice that every single year, Comic Con drops a show in our laps that hasn't received a ton of hype, but certainly catches our attention and for me this year, that particular series just so happens to be; The Orville. Because I literally heard nothing about this show until its Comic Con trailer was released and being a fan of Seth MacFarlane and Star Trek, I dug right in because a show in this vein is most certainly up my alley and it didn't take me long to start pouring over every interview and promotional piece that I could find to learn more about this series.

What I found was one concurrent theme. In that Mister MacFarlane was hoping to do something that we haven't seen for some time when it comes to science fiction; to remove the grit and the dirt and dystopia that currently fuels the genre and instead provide the audience with a fun and hopeful romp through the galaxy and really, as I settled in to watch last night's series premiere, 'Old Wounds', two key questions were on my mind...was Seth going to be successful in his quest to bring back the good old days of sci-fi, and, was this show going to be any good?

Well the answer to both of those questions, is a resounding yes, for several reasons. First and foremost, MacFarlane has indeed built a world featuring a beautiful and hopeful future. Set in 2419, the Earth of tomorrow is a prosperous and magnificent place where people truly do aspire to be more in life, since Ed Mercer, the main character of the show (played brilliantly by Seth), wants nothing more than to be the Captain of a Planetary Union ship and traverse the stars and that kind of grand ambition definitely brought a smile to my face, in addition to the quality comedy. This is also quite the funny show, with perfectly timed jokes that are grounded more in the 21st Century, and that grounding in our own time is something that also helps the series stand out as well.

Because what I truly enjoyed about this series premiere, was the humanity that it put on display. Sure in 400 years we have accomplished wonders and seen our world survive the things we fear today, but the little things about mankind that we often hope to conquer are still around. Case in point, Ed Mercer's storyline. He's a Commander who is fighting to keep his career on track thanks to his struggles with his painful divorce and by adding our modern day battles with love, heartbreak and acceptance into the future, Seth MacFarlane has created a world that actually accomplishes something that Star Trek could not. Because while Gene Roddenberry's vision was genius, he also believed we could get past the insecurities that have plagued mankind from the beginning, allowing for Seth's vision of the future to not only be relatable and realistic, but all the more magical.

After all, in this world, while these issues still persist, people are able to move beyond them and find ways to come together for the greater good and we see that come to fruition when Mercer's ex-wife, Kelly (played by Adrianne Palicki), comes aboard to serve as his Executive Officer and her decision is not designed to antagonize the man, it's to make amends for her infidelity and in-between her attempts to set things right, she and Ed are able to put their personal issues aside to save countless lives and there's something supremely uplifting about that, and about the fact that in many ways this series seems to focus on second chances since Mercer, Kelly and Gordon Malloy (played by Scott Grimes) are all receiving an opportunity to accomplish wonders after stumbling about in their everyday lives.

When all is said and done however, I have to hand it Seth MacFarlane. I honestly think he's struck gold with The Orville. It's funny, it's uplifting and it is downright refreshing. You don't really think about how many gritty stories are out there until you see something such as this and there is nothing wrong with enjoying a story that resurrects the best parts of Star Trek and the fact that I'm still smiling and chuckling over the jokes from last night's episode, means that this one has me hooked and I'll definitely be tuning in next week, and every week thereafter to enjoy this series and all the positive things that it has to offer. Until next time. 

​The more I ponder on it, the more I come to realize that the ‘two-parter’ that is often featured on television, has to be an incredibly difficult thing to pull off. If the folks behind the scenes put together an amazing part one, part two has to be equally as incredible or the audience will most certainly be disappointed. It’s an event that has garnered mixed results when it comes to our favorite shows from time to time, but one series was always able to deliver when it came to this kind of storytelling; Battlestar Galactica.
 
Because this is a series that made use of the ‘two-parter’ in liberal fashion and I’m hard pressed to find any particular pair of episodes in that vein that managed to disappoint, and that includes the second half of the Eye of Jupiter saga, ‘Rapture’, since this second half of the tale managed to once again deliver on the action and tension, with a majority of that of course coming from the struggle and battle planet side as both mankind and Cylon worked to uncover the Eye’s secrets.
 
But while all of that was fun and amazing, what truly made this episode so outstanding was the sheer push toward ‘destiny’ that the series had toyed with prior to this tale, but had never truly dug into until this episode came along. Case in point, D’Anna’s quest to see the faces of the Final Five. Because I cannot recall a time I’ve ever seen a Cylon focused on anything but revenge and her desire and determination to make this happen speaks to a new beginning for the show, and while the Final Five have been in the back of our minds this season, this episode moves the whole matter to the forefront and it’s clear we are now barreling toward that big reveal.
 
Yet I can fully understand if that plot point seems like I’m reaching when it comes to the notion of destiny, and I would agree with you, if it wasn’t for the fact that this entire two-parter is a perfect set of circumstances come together. Think about it. Man and Cylon in the same planet’s orbit, searching for the same thing mere moments before a star goes Nova, and that event ends up helping mankind figure out that they are on the right course to Earth, well…that is all too much to ignore. Destiny is truly coming into play when it comes to this story, plus…the whole matter of the Mandala in the Temple, matching the drawing in Kara’s apartment, is also something that cannot be ignored.
 
In the end however, this particular episode deserves some serious props. To combine an action/adventure story with an overreaching story arc in this manner is incredibly impressive to say the least and now that the immediate danger is behind us, I’m curious to see where the story goes now that Baltar is back aboard the Galactica and I’m looking forward to refreshing my mind on the nuances of the Final Five storyline as we grow closer and closer to discovering their true identities. Until next time.