The Defenders: Royal Dragon

 "Who hears neon?"

This is my favourite episode of The Defenders thus far. I suspect, although I can't comment on what to come, thatI'm not alone in that. I mean, all four heroes all interacting over a meal for the entire (well, close) episode! Stick turning up after a decent interval both to act as a delightfiully interesting catalyst and to provide much-needed exposition about who the Hand are, all five fingers (including both Gao and Alexandra), the link to K'un Lun, the obsession with immortality... and, as Jessica discovers, Alexandra at least is very old indeed. 

And it's wonderful. Yes, there's a lot of reveals and a lot of cool moments, but the episode wisely takes its time, letting the interactions between the characters not be rushed. So Jessica gets to persuade a sceptical Matt at the start, only to leave when she realises what she's getting herself into... only to return once again when she realises her own case, and the widow and orphan clients she cares about, are themselves threatened by the Hand.

Yet both Luke and Matt are reluctant,,, and Matt is in denial about Elektra no longer being the woman he loved. Or is he right and Stick wrong? Even Alexandra finally gets to feel her terminal illness a little. But it will come to us all. And the rest of us have certainly not lives for two centuries, potentially much, much longer.

A superb episode ends perfectly, with Elektra and a crash. This series took a couple of episodes to build, but right now it's bloody good.

Gen V: Welcome to the Monster Club

 "You're a ***ing monster."

Again, wow. Gen V continues to be simply extraordinary, but this week in an entirely different way to usual, with very little humour this time round. Instead we get character, real feeling, and a big, incredible reveal that makes us totally rethink much of what we've seen in the first half of the season. SPOILERS, obviously.

Therre's a lot of cuteness about Marie and Jordan, who still like each other after the night before. I continue to love the strong friendship that's developing between Marie and Emma, even as both of them develop further. Emma's mother forbade her from getting big, yet that's what's starting to make her popular. And Shetty, and Cardosa, seem to have plans for Marie, who has a "benefactor". Hmm. And Cardosa is close to creating a "virus" that will "control them for good". Sounds, well dystopian.

But yeah, the amnesia. Yes, it's a trope and we've seen it many times before in serialised telly. But the narrative is clever here, as characters forget, work things out from clues and forget again: narrative as unreliable narrator. It is, of course, a twist that allows the characters to avoid obvious consequences for the events of last week.

But the reveal- it was Cate all along, working for Shetty- comes asa massive, hugely effective and emotional shock. Gen V has deeply impressed me yet again. Sublime.

Loki: Heart of the TVA

 "I promise you this will make sense!"

Wow. This is some extraordinary, important, timey-wimey storytelling with revelation after revelation. Yet it's all about the characters, the performances, the humour.

So yes, Renslayer and Miss Minutes (does she die for good?) are the baddies. But they have their reasons. We learn at the very start that this version of Renslayer was the partner of He Who Remains, commander of his armies... yet he sent her back in time to run the TVA, and erased her and everyone's memories. Wow. How very Kang and Ravonna. No wonder she and Miss Minutes are now plotting on their own. Yet no one wants to join them, and- except Brad- endure a tortuous death rather than join them. But what's their plan? And are they being manipulated by You-Know-Who?

I love the ideological debate between Loki and Sylvie: the TVA may now mean well, but can they or anyone be trusted with that much power. Loki at this point has come so far from his "glorious purpose" beginning, yet his growth, and his friendship with Mobius, has been believable. And Sophie's bollocking of Mobius is a nice touch too. Is she implying that she may know who he is on the timeline?

But Victor's reaction to the TVA is a joy, as is the mutual fandom- and time paradox!- between him and OB. Yet it all ends in, well, darkness and doom, surely the ultimate cliffhanger. This is truly extraordinary stuff, far above any other Marvel TV show.

Robin of Sherwood: Alan a Dale

 "It's a wedding, Gisburne. Not a celebration.."

I rather enjoyed this episode, perhaps the best yet. Nickolas Grace really is growing into the part of a properly moustache-twirningly evil Sheriff, and the script this week particularly sparkles with more than the usual level of humour.

This is based around a fairly straight retelling of the tale of Alan a Dale (is it just me who now has the song from that sketch by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore as an earworm?), although it must be noted that Mildred is sixteen years old, barely legal and, indeed, quite illegal in many other jurisdictions. Not only the Sheriff but also Alan are borderline nonces, and Robin and his Merry Men are all complicit in a marriage that is borderline noncery. But yes, moving very swifty on...

All the characters by this point are fully realised. Gisburne as the Sheriff's bullied dogsbody. John as the good natured randy type who is doing it with Meg. Will cynical as ever. Friar Tuck the merriest of the lot but very astute, being a churchman, as to what's going on politically.

The conclusion, and rescue of Mildred, is clever and entertaining, however jammy it may be that it worked. And yet the Sheriff contrives to be the ultimate winner, a nice touch.

One more episode to go and the first season is already over. We're almost a quarter of the way through already. This is brewing away very nicely indeed.

Gen V: The Whole Truth

 "You have a... a piece of eardrum on your shoulder."

Obviously, this episode is awesome. I mean, it's Gen V. I expect all future blog reviews will probably begin with words to that effect.

This episode is fascinatingly different, though. Despite last episode's... dramatic ending, this episode focuses on a cataluyst thrown into the mix to do things to the characters. A catalyst called Tek Knight, who has Daredevil-like powers to act as a sort of human lie detector, yet he uses said powers just to do a TV show and "investigate" crimes purely to cover up for Vought, "find a patsy and destroy their life". He'sa piece of ****, and spends most of the episode showing this to be true in various ways. His comeuppance, and humiliation, is hilarious.

So much happens, though. Emma and Sam really connect, and are sweetly devoted to each other. Emma is now one of the gang, after spending most of the episode being with Sam in a cute but surely doomed relationship, shows that, like Alice and like Henry Pym, she can grow larger as well as small. I would say wow... but I wasn't expecting Marie to get together with Joranin another cute little relationship between probably the two most decent people in this show.

This show is completely insane. I love it.

Out of This World: Little Lost Robot

 "The wheels of Dr Calvin grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small."

This is the first episode I've ever blogged of this fourteen episode ITV series of plays from 1962, all science fiction, whether original or adaptations. It is also, barring a near-miracle, the last, as this episode is the only one to survive the junkings to which British television was so very prone. This being ITV, this time we cannot blame Pamela Nash.

I won't say much about thestory, which I recall from the original I, Robot short story. There is, it must be said, an odd change in that the robot with the modified First Law is said to be able to kill, which it is not: it can merely passively allow a human to come to harm. There was, I suppose, a fear that this, a stoiry of ideas, was too talky and lacking in action. Yet TV of this era was pretty much theatre with a big camera pointing at it. Talky is no sin.

Changes aside, I very much enjoyed this. It is a very early 's view of the future, of course: by 2039 we shall be orbiting Saturn and beginning to master hyperspace with our robot slaves, apparently. The robots themselves look... well, hilarious, and I say that with affection. The banks of computers, at lreast, look way cooler than real computers eventually would.

What makes this adaptation a triumph, however, is Maxine Audley's extraordinary performance as Susan Calvin. It's extraordinarily that she is, I think, still the only person to have played the part. Yet she will be a tough act to follow. This adaptation is, perhaps, just what it is. But it's a very nice little artifact. The intro from the actual Boris Karloff is just a bonus.

Better Call Saul: Fall

 "This is not what fine looks like..."

This episode is eventful, as penultimate episodes of seasons often are. We see Mike's first day as a contractor, for purposes tof proper money laundering, with Madrigal, whom we remember from the final season of Breaking Bad... along, of course, with Lydia.

We also see consequences happening to those who are under pressure. Nacho, unable to wait any longer for the poison to take effect on Hector, is forced to come clean to his appalled father, who must submit to Hector after all, the one thing he didn't want to happen. Meanwhile, conscientious and professional Kim is burning the proverbial candle at all possible ends to make up for what Jimmy isn't doing, overworking and spreading herself too thin. There's a nice bit of foreshadowing early on: the concluding car crash, redolent in metaphor, isn't meant to be a surprise.

Jimmy is oblivious to what Kim is doing for him, of course. Much of the episode focusres on his truly evil mind games with the Sandpiper old fols, manipulating them into accepting the settlement now rather than a larger one later... as Howard says, it's purely because Jimmy needs the money. Slippy Jimmy with stop at nothing for his own selfish needs, and he cares not who suffers along the way.

Chuck, meanwhile, is far more urbane, respdctable and, in some ways, principled. Yet, if his condition isn't real (the jury, I think, is very much out), he may be just as much a con man as his father. And his decision to go scorched Earth on Howard and the firm, rather than accept retirement, is very much a prallel with Jimmy. Both brothers are very much capable of cdestroying others to get what they want. Both of them are far more terrible than they seem.

A brilliant and eventful episode, first class telly... but the characterisation is even more suble than it may at first seem. Superb.

Loki: 1893

 "And why'd they include Balder? No one's heard of him."

Oh Boy. This isa bloody brilliant, hugely exciting bit of television, with tension and excitements all the way, and so many twists and turns.

Yes, there's far too much CGI in the Chicago of 1868 and then 1893, but the historical setting is perfectly realised- the sets, the costumes, the social attitudes (sadly having to include some degree of racism directed at Victor Timely without which, unfortunately, the setting would not have been plausible) all perfect, and it being wisely decided that there's no need to include H.H. Holmes, unless one of Timeley's bidders was subtly meant to be him.

So many ideas here, though. Victor Timely is a Kang variant born in the mid-Nineteenth Century, not the Thirty-First. He has the genius of Kang but exists in an age where the necessary technology does not exist, so he is forced to be a con man, set up by Renslayer and Miss Minutes, acting at the behest of the late He Who Remains, who obviously planned all this, and much else, before his surely expected demise at the hands of Sylvie.

Speaking of whom... I love the debate/fight between her and Loki in the Ferris Wheel, but all the more I love her unexpected decision to spare Timely and allow him to be returned to the TVA. After all, who is Sylvie, of all people, to punish a variant for the crimes of another version of themselves?

Also cool is the love triangle, with both Renslayer and Miss Minutes(!) vying for Timely's affections. Miss Minutes is a delight here. But so does the whole damn thing. I've no idea where this is going, but it's clearly pivotal for the MCU. I'm so very here for the ride.

The Defenders: Worst Behaviour

 "The Black Sky! We have it!"

The opening is thrilling. After Alexandra once again hints she may be older than she looks- did she know Istanbul when it was Constantinople and if so under a sultan or a basilius?- we get an incredible sequence in which a vaguely amnesiac Elektra is resurrected, trained, and used by the Hand. Wow.

What follows is equally awesome, as our four heroes follow their different leads to follow Midland Circle and all meet up fighting the rather combat-proficient board of said company... but not without some great character moments along the way. The early meeting between Luke and Danny is priceless. Luke's scepticism about the dragoins and mystic monks is a nice little meta touch, reminding us they're not quite from the same genre. But Luke's reminding Danny of his privilege packs a puch. As does the poor old lady's reaction to the news that Cole, her last surviving son, is dead.

Then their's Stick, escaping from Alexandra like the cool customer he is, casually mentioning a "lifetime of serving "K'un Lun": he's a proper dark horse, he is. And Jessica's private eyeing, finding out about Midland Circle by pretending to be some eccentric tech sis(?), and of course wondering what that suspiciously fleet of foot blind lawyer is up to.

But now, at last, they've all met! I'm loving this, and I can't wait to see what will happen next. But I'll have to, because I'm struggling to keep up with Loki and Gen V...

Gen V: #ThinkBrink

 "Shall we talk about our intercourse situation?"

The quote isn't even the funniest thing about sex in this episode: that would be Jordan discussing Marie during sex, pausing briefly to climax, and then continuing. It just goes to show how very The Boys this is... like the last scene with Emma shrinking and, you know. Euurgh. Which reminds me of a certain parallel scene from The Boys. Yes, that one.

I'm so impressed by this. The balance between plot, character and world building is perfection. I love how Marie and Emma reconcile, hopefully the start of va beautiful friendship. They are alike in more than having powers that areb metaphors for self harm: both have low self-esteem. Both are made to be useful, Marie forced to parade at the Brink party for the university, having the kind of background that makes rebellion a luxury. Emma, meanwhile, eagerly siezes a chance to be a hero, to be really useful... and is out of her depth. It's sweet that Sam likes her though. Shame about her mum.

It's nice to see Marie open up, and reconcile a bit, with Cate and Jordan: she's not alone in having killed her parents in manifesting her powers: Cate did the same with her little brother. And she has a point. It's not their fault, but the parents who drugged them with Compound V. Jordan's parents, in a nice little metaphor (sometimes an obvious metaphor can work well) for transphobic parenting.

All this is unfolding at a perfect pace. The arcs advance yet the characters breathe. And Andre's dad knows about Sam and the dungeon beneath. Ouch. This is brilliant telly.

Robin of Sherwood: Seven Poor Knights from Acre

 "You'll get too big foryour boots, you will."

"Then I'll get bigger boots."

This episode impressed me. In theory, I'm annoyed by stories in which someone is famsely suspected of something they didn't do: it's frustrating , and the frustration tends to overwhelm any sense of drama or peril unless handled with great care. And here we seem to have a tale in which seven crusading knights- looking very, very High Middle Ages- falsely suspect Robin and his outlaws of stealing some fancy MacGuffin.

But that's not the point at all, really. The episode deconstructs the idea of the crusading knight. Friar Tuck pretty much tells us that, yes, they're fighting monks, with a vow of poverty and everything, Yet they are violent,pitiless, overbearing, known for massacring both "Saracens" and Jews. Even the Sheriff is wary of these vioilent warriors who are accountable to no one but the Pope himself.

The pace is slow in places, Marian and most of the Merry Men are sidelined a bit, and that same old incidental music is getting a bit samey. Yet it's all so well shot in its action sequences and the look is so wonderfully gritty. There are moments that really hit home- the Sheriff deciding to put out Siward's remaining eye for thieving in particular. Yet the episode works, and it's truly rewarding to see the knights getting their comeuppance.

The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

Having reread this novel for the first time in decades- this time having actually having read Caves of Steel first- I've concluded that it's good, very very good. In fact, I'm pondering on the possibility that the two novels taken together may be Asimov's masterpiece. Then again you could argue that about Foundation. In both cases, it's all about the ideas, and the ideas are profound.

Like its prequel, this is a whodunit set in a future with an overcrowded Earth and robot-obsessed colonists, "Spacers" who lord it over the old homeworld, with complex and intriguing sociological undercurrents.These's a bit of an emphasis on the Laws of Robotics, but the ideas in play here far bigger than merely those.

Oh, the novel dates in places. In the future, everyone smokes, at least on Earth. Gendeer roles are very '50s. It's taken as axiomatic and universal that children are to be disciplined by physical force. Most amusingly, sex is rationed on Solaria in order to control the population, in a serialised novel written just three years before the advent of the contraception pill.

Yet there's so much to explore here. Ideas of decadence through technology slowly giving us lives of ease, something which, I think, in 2023, is very far off. Yet Solaria, though an extreme example, is a cautionary tale of what happens if we put too much of our social life into virtual channels rather than face to face, which since Covid we've all done to such extent, with a certain amount of our social skills beginning to atrophy.

This is a work of genius, both as a whodunit and with its conclusions on the future of the society it depicts.

Loki: Breaking Brad

 "We're all gonna die! Oh, hey, pleased to meet you."

This new season continues to be very good indeed. In fact, thus far it's the best Disney Plus Marvel show for some considerable time.

Ostensibly there's a lot of plot. Loki and Mobius need to find Sylvie, so they inyterrogate Brad, an agent working for Dox who may have found her, and said interrogation takes up much of the focus.

Except the interrogation is not the point: it's really aboiut the amazingly deep friendship and rapport that has built up between Loki, a god and a bureaucrat, who have really bonded to the point that Loki can relate... well, the plot of an episode of What If? (nice touch) while Mobius can express his fears aboiut finding out what his life would have been on the original timeline. I'm fairly sure jetskis would be involved.

Eventually we end with truly horrific scenes of Dox and her crew carrying outb their mission- not, as we'd thought, to find Sylvie, but to prune all the new timelinesband therreby slaughter untold quadrillions. We can sympathise with Sylvie- a goodess, albeit never having lived like one, who has found happiness in 1982 Oklahoma working a dead end job. A normal, humble life is heaven for her.

Last erpisode was about awesome concepts. This episode, while advancing the plot, reminds us that this show has such deep characters and such bloody good actors. Top telly.

Gen V: First Day

 "That is really Freudian..."

Two episodes in and... this is just as good as The Boys. No wonder it seems to be doing very well indeed. It's the same mix of plot, character, satire and outrageous humour. I for one am loving it.

We begin with university leaders, and Ashley from Vought, cynically doing PR after last episode's explosive events. Marie and Andre are to get all the credit; Jordan just won't do in the red states, what with the "pronoun ***ery", as Ashley puts it. So Marie, who was to be expelled, is suddenly catapulted into the top ten, status, stuff, popularity. Will it spoil her?

She's a fascinating character. As Dean Shetty correctly says, she's determined to do good in order to atone for her past, and to win back her sister. She has genuine moral integrity, unlike may characters... yet this is in conflict with the ambition that is every bit as much a product of her past. As she tells Andre- who seems to understand- she's taking the luck that comes her way because, without it, people like her would have very bleak prospects indeed. Not all of us have superhero dads.

And so it's no surprise when, being interviewed on telly, in the end she does as she's told rather than give Jordan credit as she'd meant to. Her background is precisely why Vought can control her, good person though she is.

There's a parallel with Emma who, for the second episode in a row, is exploited and abused. Both of them are being used, and both have powers that are not pleasant to use. The parallel scenes of self-harm are revealing.

There's also some very dark humour with Cate's mind control powers, and she and Andre do some interesting detective work into the Woods. The two of them are fascinating characters too. This is bloody good stuff.

Better Call Saul: Slip

 "This is the land of the free and the home of the lawsuit."

Once again, and I know I'm always saying this, an episode that's clearly setting stuff for later proves to be a superb character piece. The dramatic episodes aren't necessarily the only good episodes.

Jimmy is still struggling to earn a living and pay his half of the office money. There's a brilliant early scene where his TV commercial racket is brutally exposed. Yet Jimmy is a con man par excellence. The pre-credits scene is highly revealing: not only is he in denial about how his selfish actions ruined his opnen and generous father, but he sees his father's honesty and integrity as a weakness. Manipulate, or be manipulated. And this is how he gets out of the hole he's in.

So he gets out of a day's community service by conning the supervisor, rather impressively, and earning himself $700 into the bargain. Why should Jimmy have to suffer consequences for his behaviour? Shame is for suckers. And worse, he seems to manipulate Kim, who adores him, into letting him off paying his half... and taking extra work, spreading herself thin. Ouch. Does Jimmy care at all about the woman who clearly loves him? Obvioisly not. Behind the surface charm is a cold, calculating, self-centred git.

As an aside, I wonder about Chuck, too. Was his "condition" always a lie? Does this episode show him finding a way to escape from having to pretend not that the condition no longer serves its purpose? I don't know, and I may be wrong that he's ben faking. We shall see.

As a contrast, other characters prominent in this episode are all, to a degree, on the criminal side. But they have morals and integrity, at least of sorts, things that Jimmy will never have. A tense and extraordinary scene shows Nacho delivering poison pills into Hector's pocket, but he's doing it for his dad. Mike is also trying to do Hector over, but he has his reasons. And then we have his arrangement with Gus at the end... Gus, too, has his principles.

A nuanced and fasdcinating episode. As ever. These characters are extraordinary.

Jason X (2001)

 "Be glad you weren't alive during the Microsoft conflict..."

It's the tail end of a tired slasher franchise, known for its very straightforward take on the genre. The last instalment was eight long years ago. Things have fizzled out. So what to do? Put Jason Voorhees.... in space. yes, it's utterly bonkers. But it really works. However mad an idea mayu be, if the execution is good, the end result is good. And this film, laregely devoid of big names (despite a rare acting cameo from David Cronenberg, no less) is one of the finest instalments in the Friday the 13th series, rivalled only by the sixth film.

I have, perhaps, been overly kind to this franchise in the past. A slasher film lives and dies by its characters more than any other genre of horror. We need to get to know them for the deaths to have meaning. And too many of the earlier instalments failed in this regard. I gave them too much credot for the fact they are from a pre-Scream era when the slasher genre was less associated with the fourth wall.

This film, of course, has a good few metatextual moments (love the reference to weed, alcohol and pre-marital sex), but these are not the real focus. What really impresses is the lived-in, well-designed future world with robots, nanotech medicine, interstellar travel and a new Earth to replace the environmentally devastated old one. There are nice little ironic comments on what we expect from the future- the mention of "beaming up" gets a puzzled look.

Yet people in 2455 are the same as ever. There is greed. There is denial. There is fear. There is cowardice. These feel like real people. Human nature doesn't change. Yet there is also courage, integrity, nobility. Regardless of the future, space setting, the core of this film is its characters. That gives meaning to the threat Jason poses.And it's why this film is such an unexpected gem.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

 "The desert is merciless. It takes everything from you."

It's up in the air, at this point, whether I'm going to blog the Clone Wars series, as there are over a hundred bloody episodes. Eek. But it seemed worthwhile to have a look at the initial TV film and experience Ahsoka's first appearance, having only known her from the recent live action stuff on Disney Plus.

All the same, I rather enjoyed this. I'm not sure I liked the rather odd animation style, but this was a nice little bit of fanwank to pass the time. You could tell the voice actors were different- although kudos for getting both Samuel L Jackson and Christopher Lee- but for the most part they were quite convincing.

The story, a sinister attempt at diplomatic skulduggery on the part of Count Dooku to use Jabba the Hutt's bizarrely cute son as a pawn against the Republic, is rather good, though. So is the nuanced characterisation of Anakin Skywalker which, if anything, is better than anything we see onscreen during the prequels. But, of course, the main reason for watching this is to meet a very young, enthusiastic, rather awesome Ahsoka as she becomes Anakin's apprentice against his will and, rather ttouchingly, a genuine bond starts to fall. This rather pivotal bit of characterisation is handled very well indeed.

I also enjoyed the campest Hutt in history, and the comedic incompetence of the separatist droids that is, quite rightly, played for laughs. This probably shouldn't be seen as any more than what it is, but I rather enjoyed it.

Loki: Ouroboros

 "I need a Loki who remains!"

Yep, this is bloody brilliant, all right.

We ended last season on a big reveal and a big dilemma: to kill He Who Remains... let's justcall him Kang, ok? To kill Kang or not to kill Kang? Kill him, and his TVA will no longer prune the other timelines, meaning countless quadrillians will not be murdered. But does this mean inevitable multiversal way with multiple Kangs, and extinction? Yeak. Tough choice for Loki. So Sylvie makes it for him.

A lot happens here, not least with Loki slipping between what we learn is not different realities but the TVA in the past and present. It seems Kang has been changing things over the millennia and wiping everyone's minds, again and again. And the TVA, led by a general and a judge we haven't previously met, are having to face this new reality. It's going to tke a while to see how this all shakes down.

We end with an exciting action sequence which really shows us the genuine friendship and bond between a much-changed Loki and Mobius. Well, esxcept for the post-credits sequence with Sylvie in a 1982 Oklahoma McDonalds, which is a whole other thing, but the characterisation here is superb, as is the humour. This is a supremely well written, acted, directed and designed piece of television. I'm excited.

Ahsoka: Part Eight- The Jedi, the Witch and the Warlord

 "Perhaps this is where a ronin such as you belongs."

This is, perhaps, the perfect finale. A satisfying ending... and a very StarWars fairytale vibe. I'm not just taking about the zombie stormtroopers, awesome though they were.

Consider the fate of Morgan Elsbeth, who has worked so hard and sactificed so much. She is honoured by being accepted by the Great Mother asa witch- although at the further cost of absolute loyalty- yet, that same day, she is expected to sacrifice her life so that Thrawn may escape.

We have avreconciliation between Sabine, whose gambit has paid off, and Ahsoka who has learned that, like Anakin, she ought to show faith in her apprentice. And it is only after realising she is trusted that Sabine, at last, uses the force properly, in the time honoured way of making her lightsabre fly towards her hand.

Yes, Thrawn escapes. But so does Ezra. Ahsoka and Sabine are stranded on the other galaxy with Huyang but, it seems, there is a mystery that they need to unravel. For Baylan and Shin are both there too. We know not what they are planning, but there have been hints. I sense a second season.

This was superb. The reactioin will be interesting. There is, of late, a certain negativity towards Disney's Star Wars content that seems to bear little relation to the material itself. This caps an excellent season.

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

This is,in one sense, an odd beast: a magic realist novel, that most South American of genres, yet utterly, utterly English, indeed utterly, utterly London despite being set mainly in czarist Russia, a novel born within the sound of Bow Bells that tastes like jellied eels, guvnor. Dumf dumf dumf, he said, wondering who will get the pop culture reference.

It is also, of course, utterly exquisite, whether in concept, in character, in prose, in everything. This is an utter believable, realistic 1899, whether in London, in a St Ptersburg circus, in a Siberian winter made very real. There is philosophy, there is a humane feminism which, as feminism usually tends to be, is extraordinary kind and unforgiving to those of us, the weaker sex, with y chromosomes.

The magic does not overshadow the realism, but it is there. There is metaphor, of course: Fevvers, the aerialist whose story we follow (although generally through the eyes of Walse; her interiority remains a mystery) was born, with wings, yet she was also born into a society where women are unable to spread their wings- metaporically or, in Fevvers' case, also metaphorically. A bird in a gilded cagre, indeed. Yet the circus is a magical place too, on more levels than the literal.

This is a novel of tragedy, hope, unexpected redemption, tigers, and more, but ultimately of love and unexpected happiness. It's bonkers, it's brilliant,it's gleefully erudite, it's full of heart.

Update

 So... Ahsoka finishes tomorrow. I shall attempt to blog it on the day. There are also two further ewpisodes of Gen V to catch up on. Then there's Season Two of Loki starting on Friday- yes, I'll do my best to blog it on the day.

And it's not too long until new Doctor Who. Eek.

Rest assured, I'll continue blogging the older shows- Robin of Sherwood, Better Call Saul and The Defenders. But bear with me over the next couple of weeks if I blog them rather less frequently as I try to keep up with all the new telly.

Gen V: God U.

 "It's like a big, fiery cucumber..."

I had no idea what to expect from this university-themed spin-off from The Boys, full of very uoung actors who make me feel old, sort of, as their young people music sounds awfully... conservative? It seems as though this exists to tide us over during the long delay until the next season of the parent show.I have to admit, though, this first episode is bloody good. And absolutely as hilarious and dark in equal measure as is said parent show.

It's a good idea to have Marie as audience identification character, and Jaz Sinclair is superb. Not only is her backstory as tragically dark as hell, but her blood superpowers are the grossest thing ever. Then we have nice seeming Andre, whose powers are unclear; Cate, with her "these aren't the droids you're looking for" powers"; and Emma, who can shrink and is burdened, beneath the surface cheer, with low self esteem that leads her to be used, bless her. Then there's Jordan who, well, it's laudable to have a trans character, and I like the concept that being trans is heroic, nicely done... but is switching gender really a power that can be used to fight crime?

The question is perhaps not all that pivotal; it's made very clear that 90% of alumni are destined for showbiz rather than crimefighting, and even crimefighting classes are half about branding... and all bery much controlled by Vought. But the ending is shocking... Luke, Golden Boy, our pampered little Johnny Storm, ends up killing the superstar prof and then exploding himself. Wow. At least this means poor Marie isn't expelled in order to save the reputations of others further up the pecking order.

Why does Luke do this? What is "The Woods", where kids are seemingly sent? I'm sure we'll find out. I'm very much hooked.

Ahsoka: Part Seven- Dreams and Madness

 "He was a good master."

On one level, this is a penultimate episode that serves to get all the pieces on to the chessboard. Thrawn and the witches seem to have Sabine and Ezra at their mercy until Ahsoka rescues them, meaning all three are reunited. Meanwhile, Thrawn seems to be using all this fighting as a bit of misdirection so that Ahsoka neither suspects nor stops his cunning plan toescape back to their home galaxy. I heavily suspect that bothe he and they will end up in the main galaxy after the finale.

Yet there's so much more. Baylan's agenda continues to be mysterious as he goes off on his own, leaving Shin with the imperials. Sabine yet again uses every excuse to avoid telling Ezra of her recent shameful deeds, putting her friendship for him above the safety of the New Republic. And there's a great opening scene with General Syndulla facing the music... until she is saved by none other than C-3P0, relaying that Senator Leia Organa sanctioned the mission. The late, lamented Carrie Fisher may be gone, but Leia is ever with us.

And yet... the ghost of Anaking still hangs over it all, from Ahsoka's recorded messages as she regains her old fondness for the old master who cared for her, and Thrawn's reaction to the fact that she is Anakin's apprentice.

I have certain expectatiins as to where the finale will end, but no idea how we will get there. Good stuff.

The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

 "To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness."

Somehow, in twelve years of blogging, I've somehow contrived never to blog and adaptation of an Oscar Wilde play, something which must be remedied forthwith. Comedy, often though not always, tends to date as the decades pass. Not only to tastes in humour change but so so the social more on which the humour depends. Yes Oscar Wilde remains as funny in 2023 as in 1895, as shown by this, the last of the style of plays for which he is most known, before his sad, complex, undeserved and much misunderstood downfall. Wilde should have lived and written for many more decades.

We no longer live in a world defined by the Season and the obliquely shifting snobbish oddities of the aristocracy: indeed, most of us never did. Yet we do not feel alienated. There is no anger aimed at the upper classes here, mainly observation, yet the humour skewers this world with perfection. Interesting that this, the result of aestheticism, should come from an author who, wearing another hat, happened to be a socialist.

This film is, perhas, unambitious in its direction, being little more than a stage play with a camera pointed at it, which it cheerfully confesses by presenting itself in this way. Yet it is perfection. Oh, Michaels Redgrave and Denison are merely quite good as Jack and Algy. Joan Greenwood is better, the poshest woman who ever lived and born to play Gwendoline. Yet Dorothy Tutin excels as Cecily. Any version of this play, though, stands or falls by its Lady Bracknell. And Edith Evans is simply THE Lady Bracknell. All other performances of the part are but a shadow of hers. It is she who makes this production simply unsurpassable.