Jessica Jones S01 E05: AKA The Sandwich Saved Me

There is an interesting dichotomy in the life of Jessica Jones. As we open on our girl as a cubicle slave in a dreary desk job eighteen months ago we learn what that is. There's life before Kilgrave and there's life after Kilgrave, that's it. She was still sassy and sarcastic and smart as hell back then, but she wasn't apathetic, mean, paranoid, and in pain.

This is a world of difference. Jessica figuratively and literally trashes her job to join best friend Trish for happy hour. She is actually playful and fun when she teaches the perv a lesson. Believe it or not, Jessica was happy once.

My favorite part, of course, are the thinly veiled hints to Trish's possible future. Trish wants to save the world, and when Jessica suggests she put on a cape and do it herself, she exclaims without hesitation, "You know I would if I could!" Enough foreplay, how long do we have to wait for Patsy 'Hellcat' Walker to arrive??

Back to the present day, having determined that her junkie Malcolm is the Purple Man's unwilling spy, Jessica trails him. It's even suggested Kilgrave made him an addict. A visit to the park leads her to her prey, but just a glance at Kilgrave sends her frantically into her street naming mantra to combat her post-traumatic stress disorder.

I don't know whether it's my comics knowledge that Will Simpson is Nuke, or the fact that I don't even trust the character as portrayed here, but his involvement with Trish is bothersome. He feels like a wedge between the two, and neither Trish nor Jessica seem to be thinking straight when he's around. Could he still be in the Purple Man's thrall? And if not, why doesn't he have PTSD like Jessica?

Along with Trish and Will, Jessica has a plan to capture Kilgrave, but seeing how I don't trust Will, I don't trust the plan. There are times when he talks and acts like Nuke might. More tidbits of background fall through the cracks to us viewers, things like Trish, the highest paid child star ever, took Jessica in after her parents were killed. Hope is apparently in trouble in jail and asked for money from Jessica.

But the biggest treat was in flashback. After saving a little girl while dressed as a hoagie (yeah, thus the episode's title), Trish designs a costume and name for Jessica - Jewel. Yeah, it's the pre-Alias costume, looking pretty sad in live action reality. I would still like to see her wear it at least once though, just for kicks and giggles.

Just when the plan seems to be going so right, Kilgrave drugged, out, and being taken to the safe house, it all goes horribly horribly wrong. He has a tracker on him, and a security detail. He's not as dumb as our erstwhile heroes think. They might not have underestimated his power but they definitely underestimated his brains.

When Jessica tries to get a clue from Malcolm about Kilgrave, a horrible truth presents itself. She saved him once when she was trying to do the right thing, when she was trying to be a superhero (if not dress like one), and that's the night Kilgrave discovered her, and took her away as his prize... Serious props to Eka Darville who plays Malcolm here. He's terrific in this role, and previously has been in a number of projects varying from "Power Rangers" to "Spartacus."

Jessica determines to make/help Malcolm kick in the end, but Kilgrave has a demand. She does Malcolm's job, send him a photo of herself once a day, and Kilgrave will leave the addict alone. It's heart rending, but in a way, Jessica both wins and loses this round...

The Bastard Executioner

I loved Kurt Sutter's "Sons of Anarchy." Sure, it wasn't perfect - I wish I'd skipped the Ireland season, and of course the show went on one season too long - but I really dug it. The series was at the top of its game in storytelling and characterization, truly a pinnacle in epic television. So when I heard Sutter was doing a medieval series next, naturally my curiosity was piqued.

I have to be honest, I nearly turned the first episode of "The Bastard Executioner" off in the first minute. Before anything happens, before we see scenery or set, before a character takes action or utters a word, we get a history lesson. Enough to make me want to give up and turn off the television.

I have never seen so much history crammed into the first minute captions of a show before. I paused the episode and spent ten minutes on Google. Did I really need to know all this? Would there be a test? I was especially irritated because much of this could have been organically explained in the unfolding of the story, or in the mouth of a character should the writer be feeling particularly lazy.

I kept watching, and I'm glad I did. "The Bastard Executioner" is vibrant, vivid, and visceral. Had I turned it off I would have completely missed the nudity and extreme bloody violence that followed in the second minute. If you ask me, screw the history, you should have started with that. You definitely had my attention now - but you could have lost it much too easily.

The premise follows several storylines and characters as cultures and classes clash between wars in Middle Ages Wales. That said, much like Sutter's "Sons of Anarchy," it's a big soap opera writ large in new circumstances with an epic scale. Rather than California motorcycle clubs, it's 14th century Welsh rebellions. That said, it might be a bit much for the usual historical romance crowd.

"The Bastard Executioner" is bloody and violent, yes, sometimes ranging from the horrific hide your eyes type to the silly Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight type, but either way, it's graphic. It is however also engaging and surprising, with just a little bit of that I don't want to know "Rome" and "Spartacus" realism thrown in for good measure. I'm not sure I can recommend it for everyone, but it's definitely worth a look.

Daredevil S01 E01: Into the Ring

I'm not a big Daredevil guy. I know, a lot of you are thinking that's blasphemous. The truth is I'm also not a big Frank Miller fan. And while I acknowledge he did good work on the character, I can never really get past the idea of why a comics creator who so clearly hates superheroes would ever want to work in superhero comics.

My Daredevil is the first one I encountered - the swashbuckling superhero who partnered with the Black Widow and protected swinging San Francisco. Yeah, I know, that was a loooong time ago. I also liked the Ben Affleck Daredevil film, so there you go. At least I didn't say I liked the Rex Smith version.

All that said, when I first heard about the Netflix "Daredevil" series, I was immediately enthralled as it had Steven S. DeKnight as one of the showrunners. DeKnight is the man. Over on Starz, for several seasons, and throughout a tragedy and a recasting, he produced "Spartacus," perhaps one of the most brutal, dynamic, and spellbinding shows I've ever seen. If anyone could do Daredevil justice, it would be him. After watching the first episode, it's all true.

Unlike other entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this series takes place in Hell's Kitchen, just several blocks of one of the poorer sections of New York City. Daredevil exists in the same universe as the Avengers, but he's not going globetrotting, fighting gods, or headed to space, but he is solidly here. Hell's Kitchen has cheap rents and is being rebuilt after the Battle of New York, courtesy of the Avengers. Simple cause and effect. This is a world where super powers exist, but they do not really touch this corner of the Universe.

Charlie Cox, who was one of the best parts of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," is cast in the dual role of Matt Murdock and Daredevil, far exceeds expectations. It is one thing to look at him, look at his body of work, and then actually watch him on the screen as the blind fury. He plays both roles splendidly. And his chemistry with Elden Henson's Foggy Nelson is one of the best things about the show, as well it should be. Henson's acting resume is impressive, and I'm delighted to see him here.

The episode opens with what else, the essential origin of Daredevil, a young Matt Murdock in an accident where radioactive materials get in his eyes. He goes blind, but develops a 'radar sense' that allows him a type of seeing similar to a hyper-advanced bat, through sound bouncing off objects. Yes, it's very hokey, but we're also talking Stan Lee in the Silver Age of comics. This is how they rolled back then. And thus he becomes Matt Murdock, Good Samaritan lawyer by day, masked vigilante Daredevil by night.

Our second scene is pure Miller, who introduced the religious aspect to the character. Matt is in a confessional, giving viewers a quick rundown on his dad, boxer Battlin' Jack Murdock. Did everyone else catch the Easter egg with Crusher Creel, AKA the Absorbing Man? But the big point of the confession was that Matt is there to ask forgiveness for not what he has done, but for what he's about to do.

What follows next is what I was so excited about when I heard McKnight was doing Daredevil - the potential of the fight scenes. As our hero takes down the baddies to stop a slave trade, there are no swords or animation as in "Spartacus," but the action sequence is amazing. This, along with the chemistry of the actors, will be the highlight of the series. And major props to Philip Silvera, the fight coordinator, this is all his prize.

A word or two about the costume. While we know that eventually we will get the traditional red outfit, it's even heavily hinted at in the bloody animation credits sequence, this black thing is what we start with. I didn't mind it, this cross between Rex Smith's outfit and the one from The Man Without Fear. The black with the red highlights works, even in the rain, I just miss the horns.

Action series, superhero series, check, check, but what we really have is a crime drama. That where Karen Page enters the equation. Karen goes back to the old days of Daredevil, and was unfortunately destroyed during the Miller era (I've been told it was Kevin Smith who did the damage, but by that time, because of Miller, I was no longer reading). Her casting, in the firm of actress Deborah Ann Woll, from "True Blood," was one of the few things about this series I was worried about. I needn't have worried, she's perfect.

The thrust of the episode involves a conspiracy Karen stumbled over to rebuild Hell's Kitchen after the Chitauri invasion and how everyone wants a piece of the pie, but it goes deeper. Though unseen, except through his harbinger Wesley, deliciously played by Tobey Leonard Moore, the real villain here is the Kingpin. Wilson Fisk will be played by Vincent D'onofrio, who has promised his will be the definitive version of the character.

A rooftop meeting of Kingpin's pseudo-Legion of Doom introduces us to the lesser villains who will be challenging Daredevil this season. Madam Gao and Leland Owlsley (The Owl!) stand out. There is definitive sense of evil to the unseen Kingpin, especially in the montage scenes toward the end of the episode. He does not play, and you do not mess with him. Of course Daredevil has made himself a serious enemy.

Mirage

Mirage ~ This was another film I had the pleasure of not just seeing on the TCM Classic Cruise on the big screen, along with one of its stars, the great Diane Baker, but I got to see it for the first time that way. The film, Joe Dante's favorite, is the sadly forgotten missing link between the classic film noir dramas of the forties and fifties, and the intense sexy thrillers of the eighties and nineties.

Diane Baker is looking very good for her age. After a brief introduction to the genre, and this movie in particular, she and host Robert Osborne speculated on why this obscure film didn't do better when it came out. I was already sold on seeing a great film noir I had not yet seen, but after hearing the two talk about it, I was really psyched.

I could not believe that there were people who left after the talk but before the film - after they were told what a fantastic film it was. This was something I would see several times on the cruise. I am unsure if it was ignorance or indifference, or the people were simple victims of the unfortunate viewing schedule and had to choose carefully what event they went to. No matter, it still felt kinda rude.

Mirage is a complex 1965 black and white film about a man (Gregory Peck) with amnesia blocking out a terrible memory. Chased by hitmen and a beautiful fellow employee he tries to put the puzzle together. Oh yeah, classic noir, and the black and white over the modernity of the 1960s gives it a very specific vibe - lost between the ages. Based on the book "Fallen Angel" by Howard Fast, it is a classic of the genre. The blacklisted Fast also wrote the novel on which Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus was based.

Walter Matthau plays against type pleasantly, usually gruff and hard to like at first, he is a brief point of light and hope here. The crazy haired and wildly young looking George Kennedy and Jack Weston (who made me forget him as George Stickel in The Incredible Mr. Limpet here) are the baddies. Character actor Kevin McCarthy also amazes as usual.

This flick is a forgotten treasure that needs to be rediscovered. Find it on TV, on video, wherever, and check it out, must see.

Arrow S03 E07: "Draw Back Your Bow"

Back in the day, the 1950s to be precise, Green Arrow wasn't nothing but Batman with a bow. Millionaire playboy with a masked alter ego, check. Young ward/sidekick, got one. Cave headquarters, themed vehicle and arsenal, got them too. He even had a signal in the sky and an arch criminal clown for a recurring bad guy. Much like Batman had Catwoman and Poison Ivy, Green Arrow had his share of romantic interests/opponents as well.

Most notable is Miss Arrowette, who for decades was lost to the mists of time until resurrected in the Young Justice comics as the mother of new member Arrowette. Like similar villainesses, like the aforementioned Catwoman and the Harlequin who pestered the Golden Age Green Lantern, Miss Arrowette may have posed as a criminal, but she really had a soft spot for Green Arrow, which could reform her at the drop of a bow.

In the Modern Age, a new darker take was tried with an Arrowette-like character. This one however was a full-fledged sociopath, and her name was Cupid. "Arrow" showrunner Andrew Kreisberg created Cupid himself for the Green Arrow/Black Canary comic in 2009, so really it was only a matter of time before she showed up live action. CW veteran actress Amy Gumenick plays the bow and arrow armed villainess obsessed with Arrow on the TV series, and she is very good at psycho. As far as psycho girlfriends go, I much prefer Gumenick to Jessica DeGouw's Huntress.

In the Felicity subplot, she delivers the best line of the episode while watching Brandon Routh's shirtless Ray Palmer doing the salmon ladder in his office, "Oh god, I have a type." It still creeps me out that Ray thinks he can buy Felicity's love, but I kinda dig how Routh is out-barechesting Stephen Amell. I never really thought of the Atom being so buff though. I guess you miss it because he's so small. And just wait, it looks like he'll be getting smaller.

Just like in the comics, Cupid finds an arrow shot by Oliver in a previous battle (Brother Blood's assault on the city in this case) and fixates on it. She begins hunting Arrow's enemies and killing them, for him. Her lair, a love nest that would make any stalker jeal, is really really crazy ex-girlfriend creepy. Over at "The Flash," Cisco usually names the bad guys, and here Felicity pegs Cupid as 'Crazy Pants.' I like that name better.

At last in Flashback Hong Kong, we not only have a few nice moments between young Oliver and Tatsu, but finally we get to see Katana in action. Thea finds a potential new boyfriend in a really annoyingly cliché subplot, and Oliver pushes Felicity into the arms of Ray Palmer, only to change his mind too late. I'm also happy to see the name Arsenal in use finally as well.

Lots of DC Comics name drops this time out. There's St. Walker most famous of the Blue Lanterns, Baron Street in homage to writer Mike Baron, and Sherwood Florist which in the comics was the flower shop run by Dinah (Black Canary) Lance for years. And of course, rather than Iron Heights, Cupid is put in with the other inmates in the Suicide Squad, and an indirect reference is made to Harley Quinn. The biggest Easter egg however is Palmer hunting white dwarf alloy and revealing his A.T.O.M. suit of armor.

This is also the second episode in a row to end with a sneak peek at the next episode's villain of the week. I'm not sure I like that. It just seems a little bit too much Batman '66 for me. In this case, we get another "Spartacus" alum Nick Tarabay as the decidedly non-Australian Digger Harkness AKA Captain Boomerang.

Next: Flash Vs. Arrow!



And remember to see all of my reviews of the "Arrow" series, click here, its companion series "The Flash," click here, and if you'd like to discuss the latest episodes on Facebook, here and here.

Arrow S02 E15: "The Promise"

Deathstroke the Terminator. Since before "Arrow" even started, in the earliest publicity shots that featured only his mask, the ones that made fanboys and fangirls want to watch the show even more than the fact it was a show about Green Arrow, Deathstroke has been here. Introduced several episodes in, and expertly played by Manu Bennett of Starz' "Spartacus," he has been hero, friend, and now villain to Oliver Queen, but who is he really?

In the comics, Slade Wilson, better known as Deathstroke the Terminator, was created in 1980 by Marv Wolfman and George Perez in the second issue of the breakout comics series The New Teen Titans. Granted superhuman strength, agility, endurance, and an enhanced healing factor by government military experiments, Slade Wilson became DC's resident mercenary. He would go on to become that revamped team's most dangerous and persistent foe.

In his frequent battles and schemes against the Titans, he became quite popular with fans. Fan favorite status gained him his own series where he went from villain to anti-hero. Marvel Comics even parodied him with much success as Deadpool. He has been included in many of DC's big events as one of the continuity's major villains.

The biggest turning point for the character may have been during Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis maxi-series when Deathstroke took down the Justice League singlehandedly. In just a few pages, he did what serious JLA foes like Amazo or Darkseid or the Secret Society had been unable to do for decades. It was also in this comic that the vendetta level feud with Green Arrow began. GA didn't defeat Deathstroke, but he hurt him, and a dangerous grudge began, one that bleeds into "Arrow."

On the show, Slade Wilson is still a mercenary, but one that was stranded on what I've been calling Flashback Island with Oliver, and at times Yao Fei, Shado, and Sara. He taught Oliver to survive and to fight, along with the others. While a romance bloomed between Oliver and Shado, Slade loved her silently from afar. When Ivo captured everyone but Slade, Oliver indirectly caused Ivo to kill Shado. In Flashback Island time, the now superhuman (thanks to Mirakuru) Slade is gunning for Ivo, not knowing Oliver's involvement in her death.

In the present, Oliver has mentioned more than once that no one made it off the island alive except him and Sara. So, surprise surprise when Slade not only turns up alive, controlling Brother Blood and other baddies stalking Starling City, but suddenly in Oliver's own home, supposedly making a donation to his mother's mayoral campaign. And that was our cliffhanger last time. We open seconds later in "The Promise."

The first thing I notice is how touchy feely Slade is with Mom. It's more than a little creepy. His conversation is filled with double meaning as he and Oliver both pretend they haven't met before. Of course predictably, it leads to a flashback, this one with the two as friends planning the attack on Ivo's freighter, the Amazo. We're going to learn what happened finally. The shame is we already kinda know... or do we? One of the best things about "Arrow" is the twists and surprises.

There is one thing I liked that I'm not sure if it was planned, or if the writers were covering their asses. Either way, it was done well and seamlessly. Sara makes Oliver promise that if she doesn't make it, he's to tell her family that she died on the Gambit. Continuity hole filled in nicely.

While Oliver deals with Slade's family visit in the present, he is captured by Ivo on the island, and given truth serum. But like most of their plan of attack, it's all diversion, and it's beautiful watching it come together. Best parts? Oliver in his hood and Slade in his mask.

When the moment of truth comes and Oliver confronts Ivo, he breaks down in misdirected guilt and admits he killed Shado, unknowingly in front of Slade. And thus the rift. Slade turns on him. After he kills Ivo, he makes Oliver a promise, matching this episode's title, that he will make him feel complete despair. And that's where we're left in the past - Oliver on the ship now run by Slade, and Sara along with a handful of freed prisoners on the island.

Meanwhile Team Arrow plans an assault on the Queen home to save the family from Slade. Roy shows up, trying outhandshake Slade with his Mirakuru strength, and then Sara. They subtly and threateningly surround him, until Slade says good night. Diggle is outside however waiting to take him out sniper style. Slade knows already and Diggle us disarmed. Slade leaves, swearing to fulfill his promise.

"The Promise" was a fantastic episode, one of the best as friends had been telling me before I'd had a chance to see it. They were right. There are some nagging questions though. Why did Ivo need an eye? What's Slade been doing for five years? Can Moira be more of a bitch? And is that Harley Quinn in the preview for the next episode?? Yeah baby, next: Suicide Squad!

Arrow S02 E06: "Keep Your Enemies Closer"

At last, we're going to find out where Oliver got his Russian mob cred, and where he got that Bratva tattoo, as the crew takes a trip to Russia. Almost sounds like an "I Love Lucy" episode, doesn't it? Just not as funny.

In our opening sequence, after some Lucy style secret identity shenanigans with Summer Glau's Isabel Rochev, Arrow and his sidekick, um, snitch, um, sidekick, Roy Harper bust up some counterfeiters in short order. In the midst of it, and here's where it gets good, Diggle gets kidnapped.

Diggle gets kidnapped by dudes namedropping Task Force X, the Suicide Squad's official codename, and answering to Mockingbird, who gave orders to the Secret Six in the comics. When he comes to, he is confronted by, da da da dum, a very svelte looking Amanda Waller, played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who you might remember as Naevia from "Spartacus," which also starred our Deathstroke, Manu Bennett.

Waller, who Diggle identifies as being with ARGUS, tells him that Lyla has vanished after following up some leads in Russia. Specifically Lyla was tracking Deadshot for Diggle. Waller, who also knows what Diggle and Oliver Queen do with their nights, wants Lyla extracted. So much for sightseeing in Russia, it sounds like it's all business.

Back on flashback island, or more accurately, the Amazo boat, Professor Ivo interrogates Oliver with Sarah present. It seems that the island was where a Japanese World War II secret super soldier formula is, and Ivo's looking for it. The formula, that gifts super strength and enhanced regeneration, is called Mirakuru - miracle.

Or is that Miraclo? With the recent announcement of an Hourman series possibly in development, I can't help but wonder if The Flash isn't the only back door pilot being prepped here... For those who don't know your Golden Age comic lore, Miraclo is the drug that Hourman takes to gain super strength, super stamina, and yes, even regenerative abilities for one hour.

Dylan Neal's dad next door portrayal of Anthony Ivo is extremely creepy when you think about this guy was up to in the comics, and what he's probably up to here. There is just this very scary chord of quiet menace in his performance. Factoid: Neal played a character ironically linked to Amanda Waller back on the CW's "Smallville." And could the sadistic Captain of the Amazo… be the future Amazo??

Back in the present, Wendy and Marvin, ahem, I mean Isabel insists on tagging along to Russia with the Arrowcave trio. It's like a sitcom setup almost, and infuriating. They have to avoid Isabel while trying to find Lyla and Deadshot. Let me tell you, this does not make Summer Glau any more likable or tolerable. She is even less likable drunk, and downright hatable as a one night stand.

We do get the goods on how Oliver is a Bratva captain. Anatoli Knyazev, known as the KGBeast in the comics, was his prison mate on the Amazo boat. Oliver saved his life, and was rewarded with tattoo and rank. Anatoli helps them find Lyla and Deadshot, beginning Diggle's brief prison movie inside the show. In the end, everyone gets saved, but Diggle can't kill Deadshot.

However Diggle does learn who hired Deadshot to kill his brother. In a reveal that may bring some loose ends full circle to a knot, Deadshot says he was hired by H.I.V.E. Not in the comics, but in the "Teen Titans" cartoon, the H.I.V.E. was run by a guy called Brother Blood. Da da dum.

On the subplot track, Jean Loring makes her third appearance as Moira Queen's attorney. This is the first time however I was aware of her name. This is Jean Loring?? I was very surprised. Teryl Rothery is a beautiful but older woman, but based on the character's previous mention ('Ray and Jean'), I would have assumed she was younger, much younger, a contemporary, a peer, of Laurel and Oliver. Let's just hope she's not being paid in white dwarfs or black diamonds...

The Blood Rush mini-adventure starring Felicity and Roy, and sponsored by Bose, is dumb. There I said it. It's out of continuity, confusing, and dumb. Just give the actors more screen time in the real show and give the audience a real Bose commercial. Otherwise, this is a waste of time.

Speaking of dumb and waste of time, it seems that Felicity is being groomed for the role of Oliver's romantic interest, or worse than that, his fawning crush. She tells him he deserves better, regarding Isabel. I'd like to tell the producers that Felicity deserves better than this kind of crap. Come on. Make Felicity a strong female character on television, not another one of Oliver's failed attempts at a relationship.


Next week: The return of (The) Count (and) Vertigo!

Arrow: Betrayal

"Arrow" is at a point now where you need a score card to know what's what and who's who. I'm not sure that's a place this show should be at right now. I'm sure there's a core audience, but despite the handy elevator pitch origin story in the opening of every episode, I'm not sure that any new viewers wouldn't be hopelessly lost. No matter how you slice it, even I was having trouble keeping all the balls in the air at the beginning of "Betrayal."

Oliver confronts his mom about the notebook full of names that he got from Felicity last episode. She throws it in the fireplace, suggesting the only way the family can heal is to stop asking questions. Diggle tails her throughout the episode, discovering some nasty secrets. When Oliver confronts her later as Arrow, heh, well, that's this episode's cliffhanger.

In the main story this episode, Cyrus Vanch, former muckety-muck of the Starling City underworld has been released from prison, Iron Heights specifically - nice shout out to the comics. He wants what's his back, as well as the Triad's and the Bertinelli family's (I guess that means we haven't seen the last of China White or the Huntress). And he also wants Arrow out of the way. Using his contacts on the police force, he learns Laurel knows Arrow, so he kidnaps her. This forces Dad to cooperate with The Hood.

In the attack on Vanch, I am again struck by the violence of this so-called hero's methods. By my count, there are at least eight of Vanch's men who take arrows right in the chest. Can you live through that? It's what bothered me about previews of the show before it aired. Have they made Green Arrow into a serial killer? Man, give me an old-fashioned boxing glove arrow any day.

In the soap opera portion of the show, honesty gets between Laurel and Tommy. Disappointingly this coupling has yet to be used to its potential as far as being a plot complication. So much unused potential, but I'll keep waiting. Laurel's relationship with her dad is suffering from problems similar to hers with Tommy as well this episode. I wonder what's next on "All My Arrows"...

On the island, Oliver meets Slade Wilson, played by Manu Bennett, Crixus of Starz' amazing "Spartacus" series. Comics readers will immediately recognize the name Slade Wilson as the not so secret identity of Deathstroke. Again, for TV they have flipped things. Wilson is apparently one of two Deathstrokes, and not the one Oliver encountered earlier. Apparently Slade is who trains Oliver. I won that bet.

There are other cool shout outs this episode as well. Vanch's lawyer worked for Wolfman and Perez, referencing the writer/artist team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez, who created the New Teen Titans, a team that occasionally featured Speedy. They also, most notably, created Deathstroke. Laurel wants to call DA Kate Spencer for help to put Vanch back in prison. Kate is of course the civilian identity of Manhunter. Arrow and Laurel meet atop the Winick building - Judd Winick, former MTV "Real World" wrote the Green Arrow comic for a while.

Be here next episode when Oliver tells his mom that she's failed the city, same Arrow time, same Arrow channel.

Spartacus: Vengeance

I recently had the chance to see a sneak peek of "Spartacus: Vengeance" from the Starz network. This is a very different television series from its predecessor "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" and its sequel, "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena."

"Vengeance" is not just different for the obvious reason, Liam McIntyre replacing the late Andy Whitfield. McIntyre is a different Spartacus. This is not just a Darren Stevens type change out. He plays the character differently. In comparison to Whitfield, he seems smaller, softer, and tense, rather than intense. He also has compassion, and appears to care, and be more of a leader than Whitfield's predominantly loner from "Blood and Sand." While there's nothing lacking in McIntyre's performance, there still needs to be quite a bit of suspension of disbelief that McIntyre went through all that Whitfield did to get Spartacus to the place he is now.

And the place he is now is what the major difference in this cycle of the show as compared to the first two. The story has left the arena and the world of the gladiators, which was where much of the show's charm was in my opinion. Let's hope the characters, those that remain from the previous series, are enough to propel viewers along this new path.

Having freed himself and his allies from slavery in the house of Batiatus, Spartacus is now on the run and rampaging hit and run style against the Romans and the city of Capua. We see a brief glimpse of the arena, and I have to admit it's a highlight, but I wish there was more. I loved the first two series so I'm willing to give the new season, and Whitfield more than a fair chance.

"Spartacus: Vengeance" starts on Starz on January 27, 2012.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

I've been looking forward to this six-part prequel to "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" since I first heard of it, and that was before I had even finished watching that entire series. Yeah, that's how good it is. As with most prequels, we know the way things are going to turn out, we just don't know how they're going to turn out.

The series follows the young Batiatus (John Hannah) and his wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) as they rise to the top of the gladiator management game in Capua. We get to see their early doings as well as those of "Blood and Sand" favorites Crixis (Manu Bennett) and future Doctore, Oenomaus (Peter Mensah).

We're also introduced to an earlier and cockier champion of Capua, Gannicus (Dustin Clare) and the seductive Gaia (Jaime Murray). You might remember the latter as Dexter's sociopath girlfriend and as H.G. Wells on "Warehouse 13." Both characters are much fun, and a reason to watch even if you already know what happens to everyone else.

"Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" airs Friday nights on Starz. Check it out.

Best of 2010, In My Opinion

Movies ~ I tried to limit this list to movies that came out in 2010 as opposed to movies that I had first seen in 2010. If it were the latter, I would definitely include things like Suck, Gran Torino, Whip It, Big Fan, Me and Orson Welles and the best flick I saw this year, which is in fact from 1999 - Cradle Will Rock.

Nevertheless, here's my top ten or so (fourteen actually) for 2010: Julie & Julia, HBO's multiple Emmy Award winning Temple Grandin, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Despicable Me, the Danish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Shutter Island, The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, should-be Oscar contender Secretariat, the surprising Megamind, the equally surprising Hot Tub Time Machine, The Runaways, Tangled, from the Cartoon Network Firebreather, and my favorite film of the year Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

Among the worst I saw this year, again, of those movies that came out this year, would be Dinocroc Vs. Supergator, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and the second and third installments of The Twilight Saga.

Television ~ My favorites on the TV this year are pretty predictable, sadly enough, but at least there's a quorum. The top three for me are obviously "Mad Men," "The Walking Dead," and "Boardwalk Empire," that's easy. I was also a sucker for "Doctor Who," "Misfits" and "Castle" this year, caught on to the amazing "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" better late than never, and I got my comic book geek groove on with "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes."

Still hanging in there with my favorites, but a bit on the decline in quality would be "Chuck," "Glee," "Entourage," "True Blood" and as much as I hate to say this, "Dexter." Here's hoping they improve in coming seasons. This is not to say these are bad series, mind you, they are all head and shoulders above most of the stuff out there.

Music ~ While I was still riding high with Lady GaGa and "Glee" from 2009, 2010 will go down as the year I discovered nerdcore. I spent a lot of my time listening to MC Frontalot, MC Chris, Beefy, Schaffer the Darklord and especially Adam WarRock. As a matter of fact, "The War for Infinity" and the West Coast Avengers Mixtape from Adam were among my favorite albums of the year. Also in there I would put "Something for Everybody" by DEVO and just to make it an even nostalgic choice, the just released "All You Need Is Now" by Duran Duran. I also kinda dug the soundtrack to "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" by Joseph LoDuca.

Songs that I loved this year would have to include that song by Cee Lo Green, edited or unedited version, it was great. The Human League had a nice comeback with "Night People," I also liked some stuff by Arcade Fire, Ke$sha and Florence + the Machine, but my real favorite of 2010, for both all the wrong and right reasons would have to be "Miracles" by ICP.

Everything Else ~ My favorite books this year were "Pandemonium" by Daryl Gregory and "Heart-Shaped Box" and "20th Century Ghosts" by Joe Hill. Comics by Paul Cornell, Gail Simone and Jim McCann were the best this year. My favorite podcasts included "Tom Vs. Aquaman" and the excellent "Better in the Dark." My favorite blogs included "The Age of Reasonable Doubt" by Fran Metzman and "The Aquaman Shrine" by Rob Kelly.

Here's to a great 2011!