​You know, I have to admit that there was a touch of sadness in my heart when it comes to last night’s episode of Mission Galapagos. Because last night’s tale, signaled the end of one incredible journey, wherein we’ve learned true wonders about this tropical paradise and just how resilient the wildlife is in this magical place. So, it’s a shame to know that we won’t be learning anything more about this chain of islands for the time being, but that’s okay. Because thankfully the series went out with a bang, since ‘Future Frontiers’ offered us a touch of hope for the future of this place, despite the tough and sobering elements it presented to us over the course of the hour.
 
Because this final episode of the series focused heavily on mankind and how its arrival in this place is already altering the delicate eco system here and much of the research performed in this tale, revolved around exactly how great of an impact we are currently having on the native wildlife. For example, the beautiful sea turtles here, a species in decline, are struggling with survival further thanks to plastic floating in the ocean, since they consume it without giving it a second thought since it looks like the algae they thrive upon and they aren’t the only species experiencing a sense of disruption thanks to the arrival of man.
 
The sharks that come to breed here for instance, leave their pups in a precarious place since their young leave their nesting area at an early age to find food and in doing so, they run into the fisherman near their place of birth and get caught up in their nets and the giant tortoises that roam this paradise, are also running into issues with their food supply. Because these gentle giants have a pattern when it comes to feeding, something that is engrained in them since they live so long, and as mankind begins to spread out into their natural habitat, they’re running into roadblocks such as fences or livestock, that keep them from their food supply.
 
However, while it seems as though this episode was nothing more than a steady proclamation on the evil of mankind, that was simply not the case. Because I did mention that there was hope in this tale, and every single vignette in this story, brought about a sense of joy. After all, the scientists here aren’t saying mankind needs to leave or is the worst thing ever, they’re simply pointing out, we have to do better when it comes to living in harmony with nature, and handle our waste better, not fish in areas where those sharks breed and adapt our expansion to accommodate the wildlife and the fact that people are working toward solutions on these matters, gives one hope that maybe, everything will turn out all right in the end.
 
If anything, this was a perfect close to a perfect series, especially when one considers that it ended by pointing out that Galapagos continues to grow since there is a new island slowly rising beneath the sea here and ending on that note, reminds us that life continues to thrive in this place, and it does find a way to persevere in the face of danger and you couldn’t ask for a more uplifting finale to this series, one that told its tale in unique and beautiful fashion and I thank everyone behind the scenes for putting together such a magnificent look at this special paradise and I cannot wait to see a follow up documentary somewhere down the road to see what kind of progress has been made on preserving the precious life that inhabits the Galapagos Islands. 

​If you’re as massive a Doctor Who fan as I am, you’ve been scouring the internet in your free time, hoping to find any tidbit you can revolving around Series 11 of the show and the brand-new Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker. And more than likely you’ve only found but a handful of treats, simply because BBC America has done their due diligence and they are doing their best to keep the details surrounding this new season of the show under lock and key and I for one, am loving the fact that the details aren’t being released to us on a regular basis.
 
Because by keeping things quiet, there’s an element of mystery and surprise surrounding the show, which will no doubt make the premiere of this year’s series all the more thrilling in its own right. But alas, the premiere date has also been shrouded in secrecy. We know that the show is coming back in the fall, but the exact day when that will happen has eluded us…until this morning that is. Because at long last, BBC America has announced the exact day when Jodie will kick off her run as the Thirteenth Doctor and our first adventure alongside this new Doctor will arrive on Sunday, October 7th!
 
Which signals another big change for this show, since I cannot recall a time I’ve ever seen the Doctor’s stories air on a Sunday and to top it all off, this will in fact be a global premiere, wherein the United Stated and United Kingdom airtimes will be tied together and announced at a later date and if by chance you aren’t able to catch the Series 11 Premiere right when it airs, worry not, since there will be a special encore immediately following the premiere’s initial run and also bear in mind that going forward, Sundays will serve as the show’s new night. 
 
Yet, what has me equally as excited about this announcement is the fact that BBC America was nice enough to provide us with the title of this all important episode, because it gives us a little bit of insight as to what to expect from the plot and it would seem that ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’ will pick up shortly after the Christmas Special ‘Twice Upon a Time’, wherein we saw the Thirteenth Doctor falling from the sky as the TARDIS burned above the earth and well, it’s good to know that this new chapter in the Doctor’s story will likely be getting right down to business.
 
Either way, today’s announcement has me extremely excited to say the least, because this is it. We are a little over a month away before Doctor Who returns to the airwaves with bold new adventures with a new Doctor that I cannot wait to learn more about and at this point, I’ll be watching the clock and the calendar closely as we close in on this incredible new era for the show, and I cannot wait to see what amazing new adventures await us through space and time when Jodie takes the helm of the TARDIS on October 7. Until then.  

Often times, in film and television, when loss and grief are introduced into a particular storyline, the audience is eventually treated to quite the happy ending. Sure, the character is going to go through complete and utter hell as they deal with the hole in their heart. But in the end, there comes a moment where the sun is shining down upon them and they are now ready to move on in life, with a newfound strength in their heart thanks to their ugly experiences and the reason we consistently see a harrowing story involving those two elements end on a high note is because so many people behind the scenes firmly believe that audiences don’t want to see stories where good people succumb to their pain and slowly slip into the darkness that surrounds them when their lives are turned upside down.
 
Which is why I think season four of Better Call Saul is captivating its audience like never before, because it’s clearly going to buck that trend through and through by not only giving us an up close and unsettling look at how loss and grief can tear people apart, but by also giving us quite the unhappy ending so to speak. Because eventually, Jimmy McGill is going to leave the life we’ve seen him build, behind, and instead embrace a sleazy and shady lifestyle with his alter-ego Saul Goodman at the helm. But, in order to get there, certain decisions have to be made on Jimmy’s part, the kind that see him reject any help and further embrace the darkness within his soul and last night’s episode of the series, ‘Quite a Ride’, served as the genesis of that particular journey since Jimmy finally faced some consequences for his destructive behavior and made a subtle yet powerful choice to seal his fate along the way.
 
If anything, I’m a little surprised that consequences didn’t come into play sooner for Jimmy, since his push to reclaim the wonder that comes with playing the role of Slippin’ Jimmy has already brought him close to disaster, since Ira was almost caught red handed during the heist at Neff Copiers. But while luck was on his side that night, eventually it runs out and despite all the perfect and careful scheming that went into his plan to make some serious money selling burner phones on the street to anyone and everyone, it all fell to pieces when a trio of young punks straight up beat the hell out of Jimmy in order to get their hands on the money he made and for a brief moment there, that beatdown allowed for Jimmy to finally recognize that his behavior was becoming self-destructive and that maybe it was high time to seek out some help and call that shrink before something worse happened to him. 

Which, in any other fictional universe, that epiphany would serve as the beginning of the character’s long and winding journey toward salvation. But here, well, it was nothing more than a speedbump on the road to Saul Goodman since Jimmy made quite the powerful decision after an unexpected encounter with Howard. Because Jimmy was able to see Howard like never before, as a man grieving and embracing his pain in order to overcome it, and the thought of confronting his pain and potentially his past was more than Jimmy could bear and he made the scary decision to shred and flush the psychiatrist’s number, committing him to a personal quest to heal that will likely yield no positive results and the closing moments of his story in this episode were chilling to say the least as he hammered home that in nine months, he would be a lawyer again, the biggest and baddest that New Mexico would ever know…
 
Which in many ways, his statement served as a beautiful and haunting juxtaposition in regard to how this particular story began. Because the teaser for this tale, took us into the future, to Saul Goodman’s last day in the office wherein Jimmy/Saul scrambled to get any and all ties to Walter White removed from his life and well, this moment is what truly served as the reminder as to where this tragic tale is headed and let’s be honest, it was quite the treat as well. Because this is officially, the first time we’ve seen Saul Goodman on the series and it was quite cool to see the Breaking Bad universe fill in the blanks so to speak since we know now what happened right before Jimmy met up with the man who whisked him away to start his new life as Gene in Omaha and this sequence really was awesome any way you slice it.
 
However, while Jimmy’s journey in this tale was powerful in its own right, he’s not the only one seeing consequences for his actions since Kim is also starting to endure her own downward spiral since her desire to do something good with the law by taking on tough cases as a public defender is bringing about friction with Mesa Verde and it’s interesting to see her newfound desire to help people take priority over a corporation and really when all is said and done, there’s a real ominous cloud that continues to hang over this episode a day later. Because Jimmy’s decision really does have some incredible weight to it, and it seems as though we are barreling toward the creation of his alter ego and I am quite curious to see what other decisions Jimmy is going to make in the weeks to come to help Saul Goodman, come to life. Until next time.

It’s rare that I find myself counting down the minutes to watch a particular documentary, but thanks to BBC America’s One Amazing Summer series, I’m starting to do just that. Because every single series we’ve enjoyed this summer from under that banner has provided us with magnificent visuals and powerful information and the latest entry in this incredible collection of learning, Mission Galapagos, did such a fine job last week of drawing us into the plight of the wildlife that lives in this mysterious and majestic place that I simply had to know more about how the creatures here are learning to cope with the changes in our climate, and in turn, I found myself watching the clock yesterday so I could settle in and discover more about this wondrous place and thankfully, last night’s episode of the show delivered one heck of a learning experience.
 
If anything, this particular chapter in the story may turn out to be my favorite, because I have a soft spot for ocean related stories and all the wonderful creatures that swim in the ocean and seeing as to how the title of this tale is ‘Secrets of the Deep’, I knew that we were going to be in for some awesome underwater treats. In fact, we were able to get up close and personal with the giant sun fish in this story, and see how these massive fish go about their day beneath the waves, and we also got to learn more about how Sea Lions are handling climate change in this region of the world, since a stronger El Niño is also altering their food supply and while their numbers are starting to dwindle, the good news is, they are finding ways to eat, it just involves diving a little deeper than they are used to.
 
But truly, the centerpiece of the night revolved around sharks, which brought me endless joy since I am a shark aficionado through and through, and in this tale I learned much about the Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, an endangered species that just so happen to congregate in the Galapagos Islands for reasons unknown, something that the research team worked hard to figure out, in dangerous conditions for that matter as well. But their tireless efforts eventually paid off in spades because it would seem that these majestic and gentle sharkies come to this place as part of a mating ritual, making their survival all the more important and hopefully the footage present in this documentary will help to protect this species from facing any further trouble. 
 
However, while it was cool to learn about all of those animals, there was a surprise present in this story that I wasn’t expecting and it all revolved around the crew of the Alucia. Because this time around, we were privy to some incredibly candid moments with these researchers and this is really the first time that I can remember, where the audience is given the opportunity in a documentary to see exactly how much these people love what they do, and how dedicated they are to finding the right answers since several of the crew put their lives in jeopardy to get the information they needed on the Scalloped Hammerhead and well, it was just refreshing to see how much these researchers genuinely care about this part of our world and will quite frankly, do whatever it takes to help preserve it.
 
In the end however, this was quite the thrilling episode to watch, thanks in large part to the whole sequence where the two submersibles below the surface of the water struggled to deal with underwater currents because the danger was quite real to say the least. But thankfully, everyone returned to the ship safely and once again, we came to learn just how resilient nature can be since sea lions are finding a way to get by and well, while I’m still hungry for more, there is a touch of sadness in my heart when it comes to this series, because next week’s tale brings forth the series finale of this incredible journey but perhaps that’s the best way to handle this, to give us just enough, so that we seek out more knowledge about this magnificent place on our own. Either way, once again I’ll be counting down the minutes until our next adventure through the Galapagos Islands and I cannot wait to see how this saga wraps up. Until next time.