Marvel's Cloak and Dagger 1x09 "Back Breaker" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please Read with Caution!

The pieces are laid out in this episode in preparation for the season finale. After the events of the previous episode, Tandy, Tyrone, and even O'Reilly have been pushed to their breaking points. Liam made a surprising return, Connors is out for blood, and we learned something interesting about Evita and Roxxon's intentions with the special energy.

Tandy's arc is hard to stomach. After learning her father was an abusive husband, she took it out on everyone's hopes. She did her "cute blonde routine" on some white lowlife and got high off his hope essence. Then she went after Mina next and destroyed her character's intense love for nature (RIP Fly).

It doesn't even stop there. Tandy uses the money she got from Roxxon to bail Liam out of jail. At first, it felt weird considering she abandoned him all the way back in episode two or three, and he hasn't really been mentioned or seen since. But her intentions weren't exactly noble...

When she tried to steal his hope of a future together, Tyrone somehow slipped in using his powers and stopped her. This pissed Tandy off, who hates that kid for always accidentally interfering in her personal life. It's not his fault the two of your powers are closely connected.

Tyrone isn't doing too well either in this episode. After helping O'Reilly put Connors behind bars, Tyrone's parents aren't getting their hopes up about the situation being permanent. This infuriates him because he thought this would help them gain peace about Billy. But they've been through this already and do not have faith in the system any longer.

His parents even lecture Tyrone on his lack of understanding for their feelings. Tyrone, dealing with his own suppressed anger, takes it out on another student in the hallway rather violently, and gets pulled aside by Father Delgado.

He's a new character who is framing the hero's journey for the audience in the form of a classroom lesson. I enjoyed this a lot because we needed a good reminder that our heroes are allowed to go down a dark path in order to rise to the challenge when the time comes.

Father Delgado is trying to help Tyrone in his own way, but he is also dealing with some unresolved issues himself. When faced with potential expulsion for his actions, Tyrone dives into Delgado's fears, which clearly shows his guilt over a drinking problem and a car accident involving a dead kid.

This is enough to shake him... and he orders Tyrone to leave while he calms himself.

After this, Evita tries to talk to Tyrone about his powers but is interrupted by an angry Tandy. Evita tries to dismiss Tandy, who lashes out and goes into Evita's hopes. But this is where it gets interesting...

When Tandy tries to take away her hope, Evita forces her out!! She resisted and runs off before anyone can question her about what went down.

O'Reilly isn't faring too well either. She is spiraling after her boyfriend's death and gets her ass kicked when Connors gets bailed out because the tape was not considered real evidence. He beats her in front of other police officers and warns her not to mess with him again.

What's worse? Tyrone is being framed for Fuchs' death. Connors has the whole department gunning for him and we see him escape out the window before the police storm the house.

After dealing with Tyrone and Evita at the school, Tandy returns to the church and finds Liam gone in addition to the place being trashed. He stole all her money! This puts things in perspective for her... and she returns home.

TO FIND WATER GIRL (GREG'S KILLER) HOLDING HER MOM HOSTAGE! 

The episode ends there... and now our heroes are ready to become the heroes they are destined to become. New Orleans is close to destruction, and only those two can save it.

The Originals 5x12 "The Tale of Two Wolves" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please Read with Caution!

We are one week away from the series finale! The end of "Always and Forever" is approaching, and the adventures of Klaus Mikaelson will finally come to an end. This episode is the perfect setup for the series finale especially if you followed Klaus since his introduction in The Vampire Diaries.

Putting us back in Mystic Falls was the perfect way to set up the goodbye and to also remind us how far Klaus has come as an individual. It is also a good nostalgia trip as we got numerous references to the parent show and it also featured Caroline, Alaric, and their daughters.

Here is a list of the references I caught in the episode:

1. Stefan's diary and the iconic picture of Katherine

2. Stefan's death (cries)

3. Elena Salvatore M.D. on the window (awe!)

4. Matt Donovan bench

5. Bonnie mention

6. Indirect mention of Jenna (plague of a woman in Mystic Grill)

7. Several mentions of how the Mystic Falls Gang tried to put Klaus in the ocean (hehe)

8. Caroline-Klaus Romance

In addition, we visited historic locations like the school, the Grill, and a decades-themed dance. I loved all of it. The episode also acted as a backdoor pilot to Legacies as it introduced Landon, who will act as a main character in the series and reminded us about the Salvatore School.

The main point of the episode is Klaus trying to save Hope before the full moon. Marcel tells Elijah she will likely not survive the transformation with all that magic locked inside her. 

This forces Klaus and Elijah to take Hope to Mystic Falls. He needs Caroline's daughters to siphon it out of Hope and to put it into himself. When Caroline questions how he will control himself with The Hollow inside him, he tells her to sink him to the bottom of the ocean and to make good on that threat this time around.

Anyway, Caroline agrees to the plan and asks her daughters to do it. This leads to a funny negotiation between them. The girls demand phones and to remove the skirt length rule because it is anti-feminist. She agrees only on the rule removal, but before Klaus can properly tell them what to do, he is staked from behind by Alaric.

Alaric refuses to have his daughters help Klaus. He has not lost sight of the monster he is or the agreement about Klaus not being allowed to visit Mystic Falls. He only relents to helping Klaus once everyone discovers Klaus plans to kill himself after absorbing The Hollow with the white oak stake... where did that come from?

Can something comment and tell me how that is plausible? It would've been more believable if Klaus had a syringe of Marcel's venom instead. 

Meanwhile, Elijah is tasked with keeping Hope occupied in Mystic Falls. We meet Landon, get some driving lessons in, and punish a kid for being mean to Landon (her future love interest). He also apologizes to her for putting the pressure on her about being the savior of their family... it wasn't right of him to give her that kind of responsibility.

This brings them closer as she wants to know the burden Elijah carries for protecting Klaus and how they both were burdened with things they didn't deserve.

Then Hope reveals she knows she's dying. And that she doesn't want to fight anymore to live. This breaks Elijah's heart who begs her to keep fighting. She also confesses that she blames herself more than Elijah when it comes to her mother's death. All she wants is her mom and to be with her, even if that means she has to die to get there.

After the punishing of the boy, Hope tires out and falls unconscious. Elijah brings Hope to Klaus, who is furiously trying to bring her back to him.

Hope ends up in Peace... that's what I'm calling this world because The Other Side doesn't exist anymore. She reunites with Hayley and they embrace!

Hayley appearances are the best! I did not appreciate them enough when she was alive! 

But Hayley begs Hope to go back to her father. Hope refuses because she can't forgive herself for her role in her mother's death. Hayley tells her she is forgiven and that she didn't cause her death, she helped her find Peace.

Hope sees everyone... Hayley's parents, Grandma Mary, Jackson, and other Crescent Wolves. Hayley is at Peace and will wait "a very long time" until she can see her daughter again.

Before Hope leaves though, Hayley gives her one more message.

Klaus is able to revive Hope and holds her close in his arms. This is a beautiful scene and how strong Klaus has become as a loving father. He will do anything to keep his little girl alive.

The two of them spend the rest of the day together. Klaus watches Hope dance with Landon at the decades-dance, and Caroline meets him there. He thanks her for letting his daughters help and for trusting him.

This leads to a cute scene between them!

Caroline admits to Klaus about the time she and the girls were in trouble. This was back in The Vampire Diaries Season Seven... when she drove all the way out to New Orleans for Klaus' protection, but he was too busy rotting underground at the time to help her.

The point is... Caroline tells him unlike everyone else (Alaric, Stefan, etc.), Klaus wasn't the villain of her story. He almost kisses her for the thoughtful confession, but their lips never touched! This is so cruel! 

She is also having a hard time dealing with Klaus' decision, begging him to part wisdom onto Hope like on boys, taxes... SOMETHING! But Klaus chooses to say nothing. All he wants is to watch his daughter dance with a boy one last time. Caroline leaves him at that but gives one last look before disappearing.

As Klaus prepares Hope at the Salvatore School, Elijah confronts him about his plan. Caroline filled him in because she doesn't want Klaus to die! He wants to take Klaus' place so Hope can keep her father, but Klaus refuses to kill his own brother. They fight over the stake until Klaus manages to break his neck.

I wanted Elijah to take his place and watched closely, hoping he'd find a way to get to Klaus before his plan went into action.

The full moon rises and Hope begins her transformation. She got off really easy compared to Tyler Lockwood's first transformation, who actually suffered for hours. Hope only went through a couple minutes at most until her transformation was complete.

While that went down, Josie and Lizzie performed a spell to transfer the dark magic out and managed to get it all inside Klaus. Elijah made it too late! 

The episode closes right before Klaus plunges the white oak stake into his chest. 

What a set up for the series finale! Come on, Elijah! You gotta make it through!

Hope needs her father! You need to dance with Hayley! By the way, the final message Hayley sent out through Hope was to Elijah. She is still waiting on that dance!

Sound off in the comments! Always and Forever indeed!

The 100 5x11 "The Dark Year" Review

Major spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

Hello The 100 Fans! We finally got some answers in this episode about the mysterious "Dark Year" everyone kept blabbing about. It's like what we suspected, but the execution of it was definitely unexpected. 

"The Dark Year" is a dark time for Wonkru during a short food supply of protein and seeing why in addition to the deadliest decisions Octavia and Abby had to endure was also stomach-churning. The show did not play around the idea of cannibalism and effectively utilized how uncomfortable/disgusted everyone was.

The flashbacks are seen whenever Abby slipped in and out of consciousness while she also confided in Clarke about the things they had to do in order to survive. Abby and Octavia pushed Wonkru to eat, but not even Octavia's speech was convincing enough. 

When Octavia chewed and made it go down with the broth, it was the most uncomfortable thing in the world. The audience could feel the uneasiness with them. But when Kane and many other people refused to eat their own people, Octavia had to take drastic measures, which probably put her on the path to becoming the ruthless woman she is today.

Octavia kept shooting whoever refused to eat (ironically making more food... ew), until Kane complied and everyone else fell in line. The worst part about this was Abby... it was her idea to force people to eat people and to make Octavia enforce that ruling in order to keep Wonkru alive for that year.

In the present day, Clarke made a deal with McCreary to keep her, Madi, and Abby alive. The tension between Madi and Clarke is high, as Madi does not approve of Clarke's actions (healing the prisoners of their disease) and is ashamed of her mother. This does not sway Clarke to reconsider her decisions as she continues to do the "wrong thing for the right reasons". 

Side note: I did enjoy Madi trying to knife one of the prisoners. Very teenage rebellious.

Elsewhere in the forest: Echo, Raven, Murphy, Emori, Shaw, Diyoza, and Kane are hiding out figuring out how to help Wonkru and Bellamy. Murphy suggests stealing the Prisoners' bullets and guns, which is a typical Murphy thing to do. 

Then they discover McCreary stole Diyoza's battle plan against Wonkru, which is airtight and efficient. Echo warns Bellamy, who warns Octavia, but they continue marching like planned. The tension between the siblings is high too, and it is clear Bellamy no longer considers Octavia his sister. He cares more about his other "family". 

Shaw and Raven are officially love interests too. I called it... I have no other opinion on it.

By episode's end, Diyoza and Kane approach McCreary willingly. They are switching sides because they do not want Octavia taking over the Valley. Kane has never approved of Octavia, the flashbacks to The Dark Year made this clear, as the leader and wishes to start over with peace rather than violence.

Next week is part one of the season finale! We're finally going to war (Finally! The pacing has been off this entire season!) and we shall see who will reign over Shallow Valley... Wonkru? Prisoners? Madi out of left field as the New Commander?

Marvel's Cloak and Dagger 1x08 "Ghost Stories" Episode Review

Major spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

This show is on the right track with another strong episode! I am thoroughly impressed how the action and plot are finally progressing, but it is coming too late in the game. However, Cloak and Dagger has been renewed for a season two!

Yes! This is exciting! 2019 will bring us another chance to put this show on the map!

But enough of that, let's carry on to the episode itself.

The episode centers around the eighth anniversary of the oil rig explosion. In other words, the day both Nathan Bowen and Billy Johnson tragically died. Tandy and Tyrone are grieving and dealing in their other ways, but thankfully, they have grown close enough to rely on each other for support. 

Tandy and her mother try to do a traditional balloon thing to honor Nathan Bowen (this is a yearly thing), but there is still no mention of Greg or Liam in sight. Does her mother assume Greg went back to his marriage? Is Liam not important enough for Tandy to save? 

Questions that are not answered this week. 

Tyrone and his family are avoiding the subject entirely. His mother is putting on a strong front, but it is clear that she is grieving and struggling. This is abundantly clear when Tandy visits to check on Tyrone (awe!) and tells his parents how she lost her dad the same day they lost Billy.

But Tandy's visit has an ulterior motive. She also came to swipe Tyrone's mother's ID card. She needed it to access the Roxxon building... so she can kidnap the CEO Peter Scarborough. The man she failed to kill earlier in the series. 

After learning about the memo sent out by her father from Ivan Hess, Tandy makes her move to have Peter clear her father's good name. Ivan Hess, an amazing character, was not given much to do besides provide this information, and I wish he was able to keep his memories while he was trapped with Tyrone and Tandy.

However, I hope Ivan and his daughter Mina continue to play a bigger role in the next season or even in the next two episodes. I think their characters have potential for more. 

Tandy uses her daggers, rather effectively, in this episode. She cut electrical wires, stone walls, and even parts of a building. She also learns a shocking secret about her father, but I will get to that further down...

Tyrone and O'Reilly's storylines blended in this episode. O'Reilly and police officer Fuchs are officially a couple. They live together and have special breakfast. The show put them on the spotlight as we got to see Fuchs work close and his name is mentioned a couple times.

Honestly, I had a hard time remembering his name, thinking he was only a hook-up buddy. But Tyrone thinks of a good plan to arrest Connors for murder. With a combination of relation, the day, and Connors' guilt, Tyrone believes he can trick Connors into a confession.

Once he explains his powers to the police officers, O'Reilly and Fuchs are game.

This feat is amazing display of Tyrone's powers and how far he's come in the season with them. He dons the cloak to mask his appearance and teleports around Connors, driving him insane. This forces Connors to confess to murder, which leads to his arrest as Fuchs records the entire thing. A victory for the good guys!

And a nice mention to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to boot! When Fuchs questions O'Reilly on why she isn't surprised about Tyrone's powers, she simply says, "I lived in New York" and even name drops "Misty Knight" as a friend.

After all this, Tandy and Tyrone meet up on the beach with Tandy's mother. They recap what they did and are glad to have each other in their lives. When they touch the mother's hands though, the two of them are transported to a horrific memory.

Tandy and Tyrone are in a movie theater, watching something alongside the mother. The screen shows Tandy's mother giving Nathan a cup of coffee while he worked. He is grateful and smiles at her.

But then they go behind the scenes of the memory, the truth that wanted to get covered up. How the memory really went down:

Tandy's mother accidentally spilled that coffee onto his papers, and this leads to Nathan slapping her into the wall. HE IS AN ABUSIVE MAN! Everything clicked when he hit her! 

The seeds were planted in the earlier episodes and even in this current episode: how Tandy was deserted for hours after her ballet lesson was done, how he yelled on the phone right before the accident, and then how he pushed Tandy's ballet using passive aggressive methods: "leave the TV on, the distractions are needed". 

After learning this, Tandy gives up on saving her father and focuses on saving her mother. She calls Peter to make a deal: to hand over the evidence in exchange for money!

The episode closes out with O'Reilly coming home and finding Fuchs dead... stuffed into a fridge. He was literally FRIDGED! A horrible trope usually reserved for female characters... I think Marvel is starting to listen to us.

Two more episodes are headed our way. Let's see how they plan to end this somewhat interesting first season.

The Originals 5x11 "Til the Day I Die" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

Family reunions are always the best... especially for an immortal family of vampires and a few witches thrown in there. The special occasion of Freya and Keelin's wedding is the reason everyone returns while also mourning the lost of Josh in last week's episode.

Rebekah, Kol, and even Davina came back in this episode to celebrate/mourn. I loved Davina in this episode, but she was completely underutilized. The short scene between "Aunt" Davina and Hope was a nice touch and a nice surprise considering the last time they spoke on-screen, Hope banished her away for trying to kill Klaus back in season four.

I wish Davina was given more to do, but she was only given that scene, a cute one with Kol, and then a plot moving scene with Marcel. Davina and Marcel had such a strong bond in the first three seasons but season four and five have done nothing with their daughter-father love for each other.

She only gives him some wise advice on how to deal with Declan and his threat to regroup the Human Faction. I wish the season had more time to develop Declan and his motives... because if he wasn't related to Father Kieran and Cami, I wouldn't care about him that much. 

Freya is having cold feet on her wedding day, which is worsened when Vincent can't be her best man and Elijah refuses to walk her down the aisle. Then she drops the bombshell of "not wanting kids" on Keelin because of the miscarriage she suffered under Aunt Dalia's tutelage.

Rebekah and Freya shared the most scenes together in this episode. She reminds Freya how she sacrificed everything for their family and how they are not doomed to become their hated parents (Esther and Mikael). If Rebekah continued on as a series regular, I would've loved to see moments like this between them in the earlier seasons.

After the sister pep talk, Freya consults Keelin and is now more open to the idea of having children someday. Keelin also admits how she didn't want children originally, not wanting to pass on the werewolf gene, but Freya changed her mind for all the love she had for family. 

HOW BEAUTIFUL! I love them so much as a couple!

While all this drama is going on, Elijah continues to harbor his guilt over Hayley's death. He pains himself with a memory of Hayley, who visited Elijah in France during the time jump. She used her birth name "Andrea" and their chemistry was on high alert. Even memory-less Elijah picked up on their profound connection. 

I have never been a fan of Elijah and Hayley, but their feelings for each other were indeed powerful and toxic, not even they could explain it better themselves. Klaus and everyone else is starting to come around on the idea of forgiveness, but Elijah chooses to run, not wanting to be forgiven for this horrible act.

Only after learning of Hope's imminent death and reading Hayley's letter addressed to him, Elijah begins to forgive himself and offers to walk Freya down the aisle. Klaus joins in and also wishes to escort his sister. This is a touching scene between the three of them, a scene that would've been way more powerful if it was Rebekah's own wedding to Marcel.

While Freya, Klaus, and Elijah are a fierce group of siblings, it doesn't hold a candle to the Original Original Mikaelson Trinity Group: Rebekah, Klaus, and Elijah. But the wedding carries onward, without Vincent, and only happiness lurks throughout the day. 

Hope is genuinely happy for one day. She is surrounded by her growing family and how the vow "Always and Forever" will always keep them all together. The full moon is coming and so is her first transformation, but she is happy and grateful that her dad will be there with her.

The episode ends with Klaus being unable to tell Hope about her approaching death and Elijah hugging his brother out of comfort. These two are going back to "protect family at all costs" mode for the final two episodes of the series.

I bet y'all those two will die by series end to save Hope.  

The 100 5x10 "The Warriors Will" Review

Major spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

This episode gave us insight on one character who needed it the most: Octavia Blake. Also known as Blodreina. While other characters have been judging, criticizing, defining, and defying all of Octavia's motives throughout this current season, this is the first time we got a glimpse behind the blood.

We saw her vulnerabilities and the moments where no one was looking whenever she made a tough decision. The private two seconds she uses to cry or struggle with the decisions she has to make: to kill or not to kill her most two favorite people.

Indra and Bellamy have their stances clear in this episode. Indra is willing to kill Bellamy and then herself in order to save Gaia, her blood-daughter. She cares for the Blake siblings, but she values her blood more. The same goes for Octavia, who'd rather have Bellamy "be the last" than Indra.

Then there is Bellamy. He plans to not fight in the hopes Octavia will call the entire thing off. Before the fight in the Pits, Octavia pleads with Bellamy to survive, but he calls her pleads silly because her entire rule is "unreasonable" to him. He regrets not being there for her during the time jump, but he warns her that "there is no coming back" if she goes through with this.

Damn. He is unable to see her side of things at all. He's right and she's wrong. Nothing else matters. Alright then, brother!

The fight was nerve-wrecking, but we all knew they'd find a way to survive. Honestly? I was sure Bellamy and Indra were going to survive, but Gaia was either way for me since I'm not as attached to her. Luckily, she did survive with the rest of them... all thanks to Monty and his algae! --- this gives Wonkru no reason to claim Shallow Valley as their own from Diyoza.

It looked like Blodreina's rule was coming to an end. The heroes have triumphed over the dictator, but alas, it was not meant to last. Octavia heads to the Hydrofarm and burns the entire thing down, leaving Wonkru the only option of marching into war.

I'm so sorry, Monty. But at least everyone survived the Pits. That's something...

On a serious note though, I can't believe Octavia would rather have Wonkru march into a war they could easily lose than rely on the replenished Hydrofarm for crops to live on. I think the plot made her go with the illogical plan.

I believe Octavia did this in order to keep control of her people, as she values having followers - her leadership - more than their actual well-being. This is shown when she lost about half of Wonkru to Madi, the new Commander. 

Clarke and Madi head toward Shallow Valley to reach Diyoza. The Flame begins to show Madi some visions of the previous Commanders, something we never experienced with the previous ones. Madi sees Becca get killed, which makes Clarke wonder if she's seen Lexa yet. 

Any mention of Lexa is like getting pierced by a sharp spear. Plus Clarke calling Madi "her child" was also a sweet moment.

Clarke does not want Madi to end up like all the other Commanders, like Lexa, and pleads with her daughter to remove the Flame. But Madi confirms that its too late to extract it... if anyone tries to remove it, Madi would die.

The dynamic between the two of them is pretty outstanding in this episode. This is the best we got of Madi and Clarke as daughter and mother all season. They truly fight like mother and daughter, full of angst and immaturity to an extent despite the high stakes involved.

Back at Shallow Valley, Abby is going through withdrawal and a need to outlast McCreary, who is now the new boss man. She has only one ally, Vinson, who is the one man she cured. She begs Vinson to get her more pills because she thinks that without them, she'll seize and die. 

Vinson gets her the pills, but at what cost? After Vinson is discovered as Abby's ally, he murders the guards in pure gory, but all Abby can care about is the pills scattered all over the floor. She has completely lost control of herself and apparently overdoses.

Eventually, Clarke and Madi find Abby overdosed in the house, wondering what could've happened to her. I forgot Clarke has her own mother to deal with it as she is not aware of her mother's pill addiction (if I'm recalling correctly) and this ominous "dark year" that transpired inside the bunker.

Next week's episode looks like it will definitely dive into the Dark Year and how it affected everyone inside the bunker, particularly Octavia, Indra, Kane, and Abby. An event mentioned once every other episode but never fully explained, if not explained at all. This horrible year will shed some light on why our characters are the way they are, and how it has darkened Octavia to the point of almost no return.

I have faith in Octavia. She'll come back or at least consider the idea of returning. 

We'll see how everything plays out as Diyoza is no longer in control of Shallow Valley and Wonkru is headed there now to claim what is "rightfully" theirs? 

Sound off in the comments and discuss how we're feeling about the latest episode!

Marvel's Cloak and Dagger 1x07 "Lotus Eaters" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

While the last few episodes held only a parallel life story structure for characters Cloak and Dagger, we finally get a character-driven story with the two of them. There are surprisingly only a few problems with this episode: predictable time loop, little room for grief (Duane and Greg), and no plot movement, but the episode makes up for it with something important:

Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson shared the screentime - and wow it is emotional! The two of them were stuck together for the entire episode, and it showed how crazy their chemistry really is. We see them work together, fight against each other, and relate to each other in ways they can't do with anyone else. 

Ivan Hess, when he is out of his mind, is an interesting character. He was a good third party to the two of them and while unfortunate he doesn't remember them by the end (HE WAKES UP!), his reunion with his daughter Mina is beautiful.

We can all bet the Roxxon Company will be gunning for this man once they learn he is out of his catatonic state.

Tandy's emotional arc this episode was a long-time coming. Once she discovered a version of her father, Nathan Bowen, existed in this world, she refused to leave and tricked Tyrone into leaving her behind. When Tyrone eventually returns for her, he realizes how far she has gone.

After a couple dagger throws, Tyrone manages to convince Tandy that this version of her father is not worth staying for and promptly hangs up the phone. The episode drove home how their bond has improved and what it means to have each other in their lives.

This is especially potent at the end of the episode. Tyrone finds an old recording of him and his older brother Billy, but before he listens to it, he calls Tandy first. He wants to share the moment with her, and like what he did for her in the time loop, Tandy carries his grief with him... while also teasing him on his rapping skills. 

I enjoyed this moment immensely. It reveals how close they've become and how much they rely on each other. If the show gets renewed for a second season, I hope they start developing their romance around then. While it may be Marvel, but it is streaming on FreeForm. 

Sound off in the comments and share how we're feeling about this show.

The Originals 5x10 "There in the Disappearing Light" Episode Review

Major spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

The heartbreak keeps on coming! The show was not kidding about how Hayley was only the beginning of the major death pool.

I did not expect the aftermath of the last episode to have such consequences. Now we're three episodes away from the finale, and I'm not ready! The tension is rising and while one threat is eliminated, another is on the horizon.

We lost two major characters in this episode and while one of them was indeed Ivy (she woke up in vampire transition but chose not to go through with it), the other character was out of nowhere. In fact, I went into the episode hoping he'd contribute more or have a heartfelt reunion with Davina next week. 

That's right: Josh got killed off!

Did anyone expect that? I cried for the baby vampire who bled loyalty and helped everyone who took his happiness away. His goodbye with Marcel was beautiful and his reunion with ... AIDEN was fantastic. A wonderful surprise they saved for us all.

Marcel's solo toast for Josh was emotional and Josh's ghost watching over him was such a TVD move. It was both weird and great at the same time if you enjoy both shows. 

But It showed how strong their bond was over the years, and how much respect he had for his best friend. The one vampire he trusted more than anyone else to protect their home. Losing Josh was so unexpected, but I'm happy he got back with Aiden in the end.

The show never allowed Josh to move on after Aiden... who died all the way back in season two.

This episode had a lot of familiar elements of its parent show, The Vampire Diaries, with all the love stories addressed.

Vincent and Ivy deserved better! Josh and Aiden found peace together (that's right!), Hope and Roman are still cute, and Elijah and Antoinette need to figure out their shit! 

Speaking of love stories, Freya and Keelin being absent after the proposal was not cool. After the engagement, I would've expected them included in the episode especially with all these other love relationships coming forward. But their wedding is next week, so can't complain too much...

But I'm going to anyway.

Klaus and Elijah's stance with each other was made clear. I'm glad they addressed how they felt about each other and the resentment Klaus has for what happened to Hayley. I'm sure this friction between them will continue until the finale. What Elijah did while memory-less is hard to forgive.

But now Klaus has bigger things to worry about. Hope managed to wipe out all of Greta's remaining vampire followers, but she also accidentally hurt Declan in the process. Klaus saved Declan, thinking he prevented Hope's werewolf curse from being triggered, but he did not account for the priest with him.

This random character did not survive. This turns Hope's eyes into a werewolf blue.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode, and it was clear Julie Plec had a hand in the writing. Daniel Gilles also directed, which explained why his character was not around as much.

Vincent and the other witches' decision to destroy the Ancestral Realm was a long time coming. The witch politics with the Ancestors was always murky, but I'm glad we're done with it now... to save Ivy from rotting in the Realm with the rest of the spirits.

I hope Elijah and Antoinette find their way back to each other someday. Or by the end of the series. He deserves happiness after 1,000 years and so do the rest of his siblings. Actually, "deserves" might be a tad strong, but he has endured a lot for the sake of Niklaus Mikaelson.

Sound off in the comments and let's discuss how this show might end. In addition, how they're going to set up for the spin-off show, Legacies. 

The 100 5x09 "Sic Semper Tyrannis" Review

Major spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

The 100 brought us another episode filled with civil war violence and shocking betrayals from all fronts. The impending war between Wonkru and the Prisoners is still approaching, and I'm wondering if we will ever reach that point... most likely not if everyone on both sides keep turning on each other. 

I think the best part about this episode is how Clarke and Bellamy were not on the same side for once. The time jump has changed them both and how they see each other. While the two of them are fighting for their respective families, this is the first time in a long time that they don't consider each other a part of the family.

A lot of things do not work in this episode but it did cover a lot of ground.

The first thing is how they handled Wonkru: Indra and Bellamy assumed they could sway Wonkru easily after poisoning Octavia but did not count on Miller leading the charge for his people to go to war based on Blodreina's wishes. 

The second thing is the tension between Echo and Raven. It feels like their disconnect for the escape plan is more recent since they arrived back on Earth, and that is something that needs to be addressed. Why is this happening now? Is being back on the ground resetting their old personalities? Are the past six years of friendship erased?

Am I thinking too much into it? Probably.

John Murphy continues to give me feels. His partnership with McCreary is short-lived as he only needed him to instill civil unrest between Diyoza's and McCreary's factions. I enjoyed how Murphy threw a rock into the factions and it set off a full-out brawl. 

All he could say was "oops" to Kane when they realized they needed Diyoza alive for peace to happen between Wonkru and the Prisoners. But he makes up for his mistakes by going after Abby because "she's Abby". I don't know how Murphy is still alive, but I'm so glad he is.

The most powerful scene in the episode is reserved for Octavia and Indra. The two of them have the strongest familial bond and to see it tested like this, to see it broken, hurt us more than it hurt them. But it got messy when they brought up the "dark year" again, as we still do not know what happened during that time. 

I hope they tell us soon. We need answers. 

Madi has also ascended to Commander and has inherited the knowledge of the previous commanders, including Lexa. I wonder how this will affect Clarke and Madi moving forward, as they are now fugitives of Wonkru and the Prisoners. In my opinion, I believe Clarke is too blinded by her love for Madi to do anything right, as a lot of her actions don't seem really thought out.

Example: pulling a gun on Octavia. That achieved nothing.

Octavia is supposed to fall into darkness, but we are never allowed to see it from her side of things. We are always told she's evil through other people, and the only thing we get her alone is the conclusion of the episode. Her humanity slipped as one tear escaped. She loves her brother and mother-figure... she can't bear to lose them.

Oh yeah... McCreary is the father of Diyoza's unborn child. I'm not surprised.

Sound off in the comments and share your feelings on the latest episode.

Ant Man And The Wasp Movie Review

Welcome to another movie review!

I got the chance to watch this movie on Monday after the weekend and found it quite "fun". The simplest way to describe this movie compared to the heart-breaking but epic Infinity War movie. By the way, if you haven't read my review on it or seen that movie, check out the link here.

Anyway, let's dive into the specifics on what worked and what didn't in this movie. 

The movie picks up two years after Civil War but before the events of Infinity War and Thanos' finger snap. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest for helping Captain America and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank (Michael Douglas) have cut ties with him to protect themselves from the government.

But days away from getting released from house arrest, Lang gets a vision of Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), Hope's mother and Hank's wife, which forces him to work with his former girlfriend and mentor to rescue her from the Quantum Realm. 

This is the primary goal of the movie, which allows Hope Van Dyne to spotlight as the main heroine to retrieve her mother at all costs. While Rudd brings a lot of his comedic prowess from the first movie, it's Lilly's performance as The Wasp that really got my attention. It should've been called The Wasp and Ant Man.

The flashbacks involving Janet, Hank, and a young Hope and then Hank's past coming back to haunt him in the form of Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) makes this arguably more Hope's story than Lang's. While their dynamic is fun to watch, it's her charisma that carried the movie for me.

The theme of redemption also lingers in this movie when Lang tries to make up for what he did in Civil War and how he never even asked Hope to come along, while also trying to give his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) the attention she needs. It also shines on Bill Foster (an antagonist) when he brings up his past partnership with Hank Pym during their SHIELD days.

The humor also plays off really nicely when Lang's suit malfunctions and Luis' (Michael Pena) monologues. Oh gosh how I missed him!! His monologues are the best part of the Ant Man movies. Only problem with his role? It wasn't big enough unlike the first movie.

But I did enjoy whenever Luis and Hope were put in the same car together. Their dynamic and scenes were limited but definitely memorable. 

What also got me laughing was Rudd's performance as Janet in that one scene and how he got to become motherly and loving to both Hope and Hank. Hank and Lang are also amazing foils to each other, and this movie really explores that, especially whenever Hope and Lang had any romantic moment whatsoever. 

Now let's talk about FBI Agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Parker). I love Parker's performance as the idiotic but lovable agent and his strange relationship with Lang. Only with this agent could Lang get away with essentially everything. I hope they do catch dinner at some point in the future. I really do.

It also helped to keep the stakes low in this movie, so it had less reason to take itself seriously. One of the big negatives for me in this movie was the mid-credits scene, when they referenced the finger snap and had the entire Pym family vaporized.

This disappointed me because we watched a movie about a torn family coming together only to have them die to keep the universe balanced (damn you Thanos!). A part of me also had high hopes for The Wasp to have a big role in Infinity War Part 2, but now we gotta rely on Ant Man - trapped in the Quantum Realm - again to save everyone alongside the rest of the surviving Avengers.

The villains also didn't work because Ghost wasn't really a villain. She is an antagonist in the sense that she opposed the protagonists, but she acts more like an anti-hero. Ghost was only doing what she did to survive. The same goes for Bill Foster who is genuinely too nice to be even considered a villain (example:evil monologue scene where he gives Lang a chance to talk to his family). 

The other villain Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) also fell short. He didn't seem like a hard-core Alpha villain but more like an underling. But it was fun seeing him try to steal stuff from the heroes... he provided the car chase scenes and those were incredibly satisfying to watch... especially when Luis took the wheel.

Overall, the movie was "fun". That's what the word means when I say it. 

It was a chance to breathe after Infinity War and it brings us up to speed on how Ant Man will factor into the second part of the Avengers movie. I just pray The Wasp gets to come back early on so we can see her kick ass with the rest of the Avengers.

Sound off in the comments and let's talk about how we got trolled again in the post-credit scenes. An ant playing the drums? Been there done that... earlier in the movie.

Marvel's Cloak and Dagger 1x06 "Funhouse Mirrors" Episode Review

Major spoilers are in this episode review. Read with Caution!

I think this show has found its footing. The two stories and a surprising third came off strong and now it looks like Cloak and Dagger may be working together moving forward. From my own personal viewings and other reviews I read, this show has the potential to become something, but it is taking too long to get there, similar to Marvel's Runaways. 

But this episode is finally taking a step in the right direction. The three stories involved Tandy and Tyrone are pretty strong and hold fantastic parallelisms, but the third one is only between Evita and her Voodoo Aunt.

Their scenes were intertwined with the other two stories and ends with a cryptic prophecy:

"One will live and one will die."

It sounds like Evita's Aunt stole that straight from Harry Potter and most other movies, but it is ominous nonetheless. I hope they make their roles in the show clearer later on because the show is setting them up like a magical element is going to get introduced.

Tyrone's story impressed me a lot more compared to the last few episodes. He consults Tandy (YES! I love how they visit and confide in each other) about his friend Duane dealing drugs, and she suggests "creating opportunities" to get closer to him and Connors. In addition, she also suggests using his powers to "see nightmares" to his advantage.

Taking this advice to heart, Tyrone goes after one of Duane's drug runners, but then the runner pulls a gun and makes his escape. The second time they meet, during a police bust involving Connors and O'Reilly, Tyrone decides to use his powers to get the red backpack (full of drugs) from the runner.

Creating an opportunity, Tyrone delivers the backpack back to Duane, and their conversation gets heated. Duane reveals he saw Billy get murdered but never came forward about it in order to survive, thinking getting killed himself wouldn't do any good. But Tyrone insists that Duane be better than this, but before they can talk any more, Connors and O'Reilly arrive.

While Tyrone goes hide, Connors tries to get Duane to shoot O'Reilly before she walks inside, but before any deal could be struck, O'Reilly enters the room, setting off another horrific death. Duane is shot dead, forcing Tyrone to cry out for his friend. 

Connors goes after Tyrone and tries shooting him a few times, but Tyrone manages to teleport away before he can get hit. 

On the other side of New Orleans, Tandy is pulling another scheme to get closer to Mina Hess, a scientist at ROXXON. She puts on some cute glasses, slaps on a nice smile, and pretends to be an "intern". Tandy bonds with Mina and asks repeatedly about Mina's father, but the question keeps getting noticeably dodged. 

Mina is an enjoyable character and a representation of the life Tandy could've had. This is made clear when Mina talks about her passion and how she admires Nathan Bowen (Tandy's father). The same could be said for Tyrone and Duane, as he also represents a potential future Tyrone could've had if his brother wasn't murdered.

I hope to see her character in the future. Mina Hess has a lot of story-telling potential.

After some delicious cookies, swamp searching, and talk about magic being "science we don't understand", Mina puts the pieces together. She realizes Tandy is not "Liz the intern" but rather Tandy Bowen.

When Mina goes to visit her father, who is in a catatonic state after the oil rig explosion, Tandy follows her. Mina wonders why she lied and didn't lead with the truth. Then Tandy says something pretty profounding, "the truth never occurred to me".  She had to lie her whole life and using the truth was something she could never rely on.

Mina sympathizes with Tandy's situation and allows her to talk to her father. But when Tandy touches him, she is unable to see his hopes. It is blocked by something dark. She concludes she knows someone who may be able to help get past the dark. (Tyrone!). 

After this failure, Tandy and Tyrone are reunited. Tyrone teleports back to the church, clearly distraught, and then Tandy calls out "Ty?". When did she start calling him that? Do I care? Nope because it's adorable. 

She tries to hug him in comfort, but their powers hit a feedback. Tandy is forced to watch Tyrone break down, unable to physically comfort him over the loss of his friend.

The episode closes and now I'm eager for more! The show has found its way and next week's promo has high promises for action and emotion. Cloak and Dagger are finally on the same page and they're going to kick ass together!

iZombie Season Four Review

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Read with Caution!

I finished the latest season (13 episodes) of iZombie with my younger brother this past week.

It was arguably the best season yet. I'm not sure how I feel about a fifth yet final season as this season ended well enough that I would've been satisfied with it. But I'm always up for Liv Moore (Rose Mclver) and her crazy brain-fested personalities. 

But this season proved it no longer needed to rely on "brains-of-the-week" like the previous three seasons. I mean, we still got Liv on fascinating brains while solving crimes, but it wasn't the main focus of the show anymore. With the truth about zombies exposed to the world and the declaration of New Seattle, the stakes are higher than ever. 

I enjoyed the game-changing role Liv played as Renegade, a human smuggler who scratches humans who want to start over as zombies in New Seattle. This puts her in the crosshairs of Filmore-Graves, the main antagonistic group of the season. Putting Liv in this position helped flesh out her character and resolved her feelings about zombiehood. 

Blaine took a backseat in this season as did his love story with Peyton, but he was rather tied to the overhyped Angus (his father) arc known as Brother Love. I had high hopes for that arc to pay off but it fell flat in the end.

Major and his new recruits also had the same promise but one ended up getting killed off and the other wasn't developed enough in the overall season. I invested too much into those two. But Major becoming the new commander by season end does feel right. 

The whole Zombies being public was also fun to play off in this season as everyone began to see through Liv's usual tricks of eating brains and even encouraged her to do so, as the rest of the police department also implemented this handy trick. Other people taking on personalities and eating brains is a super plus in my book.

Clive and his love story with Dale felt off to me. When they conducted the whole "open-relationship" and then they threw in Michelle, the show kept on confusing me. I wondered if their relationship was even worth investing in. I enjoyed Clive and Michelle, but I appreciated the resolution for Clive and Dale.

Just wish Michelle didn't get tossed aside for that resolution to occur.

Liv's romance with Levon, fellow Renegade follower, was the weakest one developed. I didn't get a sense of development for them and believed they were tossed together so Liv could lose yet another boyfriend for the season. Also it was another excuse to hate Major when Levon was ultimately killed off.

Ravi and Peyton also felt rushed on how they reunited as a romantic couple. They resolved their differences and got together rather quickly... I think it took one episode and only one. I wish Blaine was given a fighting chance to win her heart back, but with his status as a zombie, I can understand how the relationship would've ultimately not work out. 

Overall, I did enjoy the season though. I'm looking forward for the final season. Sound off in the comments and share how we're feeling about iZombie.

Pitch Perfect 3 Movie Review

Last weekend, I finally got around to watching Pitch Perfect 3 with my brother and now I wish I could unsee it. The final movie of the Pitch Perfect trilogy, compared to the first two, was not the best conclusion. If I knew this was the mess we were going to get, I would've requested them to end it at Pitch Perfect 2 and call it a day.

Let's start at the beginning. At first, I thought we put in the wrong movie as it set up like a typical action movie rather than a fun singing comedy in the form of a boat explosion. Everything wonderful about the first two movies must've got lost somewhere after that. 

All the Bellas are taken out of the college world and thrust into the real world where none of them are doing too well. Beca (Anna Kendrick) is working at an awful record label, Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) is her roommate doing a one-woman show, and everyone else is doing something they hate too. 

Beca and Jesse have also broken up. The excuse for not including Jesse and his singing group in the third movie. Their lack of presence was probably one of the things that made this movie not as successful as the first two. 

The plot itself felt tiresome and weak especially when they're all thrown together unevenly. Fat Amy and her father were the most interesting, but it was treated as a subplot to the main plot of the musical competition. So when Fat Amy's father ends up kidnapping the Bellas, it didn't feel like a lighthearted comedy anymore.

The musical numbers were fine and well-done, my favorite performance was "Toxic" when Beca and the Bellas sung for their kidnappers to buy Fat Amy some time to rescue them, thus catching us up to the start of the film.

I just wish the other singing groups on the tour, especially EverMoist, got more screentime because I loved watching them perform. The "Riff-Off" was one of the few great moments in the movie and the only time I was forgetting how awful this movie was. 

All the somewhat interesting stuff like Aubrey (Anna Camp) missing her father, Chloe (Brittany Snow) and her one-dimensional romance with Chicago (his name is Chicago), Esther and her romance with one of the band members, were all shoved in the after-credits to resolve them since we got no development to any of these plot threads. 

Overall, this movie should be avoided. I enjoyed the Pitch Perfect franchise since the beginning and to see it end like that made my heart hurt. Let's leave it alone and try not to revive it or anything. We need to put this behind us and move on with our lives. 

Marvel's Cloak and Dagger 1x05 "Princeton Offense" Episode Review

Major spoilers ahead! Read with caution!

This week's episode keeps the duo separated but determined to get their justice. Tandy, after Greg's death, is intent on taking down Roxxon. On the other hand, Tyrone wants revenge/justice on Connors for his brother Billy's death.

Sometimes I wish the show would allow them to work together, but at least their separation works in this episode, unlike in the past four episodes. While Tandy is developing and messing with her powers for personal gain, this causes Tyrone's powers to go out of control. These two are more connected than they think. 

After Tyrone reflects on the past, he is transported to Billy's old friend Duane. This was a nice scene, a good sense of what Billy's life could've been, and how Duane managed to escape the bad neighborhood they were raised in. 

This connects perfectly with the basketball game. While his mom believes Tyrone will honor Billy by winning, Tyrone instead misses the winning shot to give the team something to celebrate. After he looked into their fears, Tyrone realized how much the other team suffered and what they have to face outside of basketball.

Tandy, on the other hand, meets up with Tyrone beforehand at school. She shows him how she can control her powers and asks for a printer to use. After this, she steals a school uniform in order to get a hostess job at Roxxon and to gather more information. 

It's crazy how she is doing all this "real stuff" while Tyrone is focused heavily on a basketball game. The two extremes between the characters seems ridiculous at times, but whatever, it works for me.

But...

A lot of names have been thrown at us. I didn't memorize them all. But one name is made clear in this episode: Peter Scarborough. He is the evil mastermind who hopes to make money even if it gets a lot of his people killed. It's an awful sight to see, but despite witnessing such horror, Tandy refuses to murder him when she has the chance.

Detective O'Reilly also got down to business in this episode. After her tryst with a random officer in the back of the police car, she has a talk with Tyrone about Connors. She also mentions how she transferred to New Orleans from Harlem, cementing the connection between this show and Luke Cage.

Then the most bizarre thing happens... she does cocaine to get closer to Connors? I don't understand how she does high-level drugs like that without question. Unless she is corrupt like the rest of them, this seems out of character. But it would pull her arc in a different direction if she turned out to be dirty too.

Side note: Liam was sighted in this episode but still in prison and bitter about Tandy! Hang in there, buddy! You deserve better than her.

Sound off in the comments. Share how we're feeling about this latest episode!