Captain America: Episodes 14 and 15

 

 Episode 14: The Scarab Strikes

"We have nothing to worry about from the District Attorney!"

Not much time to blog tonight, so I'm glad these are short.

A long reprise this time, in an episode full of fistfights- and including a rather nasty whipping to show just how nasty the Scarab is.  

It's the penultimate episode, but there isn't much to show this- even Gardner tracing a call doesn't (yet) led to the Scarab's headquarters. But Gardner's careless comment to where hes going (as Cap) to a goon will have consequences later.

The final cliffhanger- a building being bombed from the air- is admittedly a good one.

 

Episode 15: The Toll of Doom

"It's obvious the District Attorney and Captain America are the same man."

It's the final episode, so the plot has to stop. Gardner and the Scarab discover each others' secret identities in ways they could easily have done much earlier; Gail is put in some intriguing type of peril yet manages to be damn clever; the baddie gets a brutal comeuppance in a way that blatantly condones judicial killing as though no one would object. Wow.

Surprisngly, Gardner is outed as Cap, and it sticks. That's an interesting move.

This was, it has to be said, quite a good movie serial overall. It's a movie serial nevertheless, though. I don't think I'll be seeing another any time soon.

The Boys: You Found Me

 "I was just like you. And then I started givng pieces of myself away, and I guess I gave away everything."

This was an... eventful season finale. Highly satisfying, full of shocks, and very Garth Ennis indeed. It also contains the most disturbng sex scene since Nero and Agripinilla in I, Clavdivs, but that's The Boys for you.

There are of course shocks galore. Homelander kills Madelyn at the end like a bastard, shortly after she gets promoted by the mysterious Mr Edgar whom we will certainly be seeing again as he's played by Giancarlo Esposito. We meet the mysterious Grace. These terrorist supes were deliberately created by Homelander so Vought can make more money. And, of course, we learn the truth at the end- Becca is alive, in suburbia and raising her son with Homelander. Boom.

But it's not just shocks, it's masterful resolution of character arcs. Hence Madelyn's own petard hoisting her. Hence A-train getting back on the Compound V and having a heart attack. Hence Hughie slowly seeing how unhinged Butcher is and returning to his true friends. Hence Annie, knowing the truth about Compound V, confronting her manipulating, gaslighting mother. Hence her deciding to be a real hero after all following an unexpected pep talk, of sorts. from Queen Maeve. Hence the Deep's Britney Spears moment. Hence Annie and Hughie maybe having a future togeher after all.

This is a finale that delivers on the shocks and surprises while still having time for character, humour andsubtext. Its magnificent. 

Season Two to follow within days...

Captain America: Episodes 12 and 13

 Episode 12: Horror on the Highway

"You might as well accuse me of being the Scarab!"

Dare I say it, but this serial seems to be getting a little less aimless and more entertaining as we approach the final strait: this episode is the best in a while.

We begin just after Matson's resirrection as he and his accomplice getaway, although of course there is absolutely nothing in the way of philosophical musing on the miracle of a dead man being resurrected, even if the machine and its inventor are gone.

We then get even more absurdly exaggerated dramatic irony as Grant Gardner once again trusts the scheming Dr Maldor and includes him in his plans.It's all very insidious, and fun to watch, even if the Captain America costume isn't seen again after the first scene.

 

Episode 13: Skyscaper Plunge

"You may tell the Scarab I'll not aid his murderous plans even at the risk of my life!"

The cliffhanger (Grant's car falling off a cliff) is resolved without cheating if a little easily, and were off. This episode is a little less entertaining than the last one, being somewhat full of the usual filler, but we have a new MacGuffin and new Mayan archaeologist character who will presumably take us through the final phase of the story.

But for now it's all set pieces so, after a bit of fisticuffs, Cap falls out of a skyscraper window...

The Boys: The Self-Preservation Society

 "There's always a choice!"

This is an extraordinary- and unusually serious- episode where lots of threads come together and we realise just how damned elegant the plotting is as Homelander reveals the Boys to the surviving Seven- and greatly enjoys doing so, right bastard that he is.

Poor Annie is shot by both sides, as Howard Devoto would have said: suspected initially by Homelander of being in league with Hughie while Butcher remains convinced she's a fully invested member of the supe conspiracy. We also get origin stories, sort of, for both Homelander and Butcher, the damaged indivuiduals at opposite poles. Homelander was raised as a lab rat, while we learn that Becca, after being raped, became pregnant with Homelander's child and died horribly in childbirth.

Parallels abound. After being fugitives the Boys finally accept Fed protection after MM persuades Butcher, and suddenly the Feds have leverage to kep supes and the US military separate. And then... suddenly emerges a terrorist supe in Damascus. Oh dear. Then we have the only comic relief with the Deep in Nowheresville, Ohio... except, on what I suppose could be a kind of poetic justice, a girl hes invited to his room, well, rapes him. In the gills.

There's a lot of pain here. MM's wfe seems to dump him. Annie feels understandably betrayed by the man she trusted. Everthing is very dark. It's all quite masterfully done, and here comes the finale...

Inspector Morse: The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn

 "There's always a fifty-fifty chance that the man who found the body did the deed..."

This second episode is better than the first: a complex yet logical series of events that furnishes us with the clues quite fairly, with well-rounded characters portrayed by an extraordinary cast of some of this country's finest character actors. Even better, there are a couple of fiendishly clever twists at the end- and the traditional Morse conceit of having our Wagnerian detective make a couple of wrong turns only makes the whole thing more effective.

It's been decades, plural, since I last read the novel, but this seemed like a fairly straight adaptation to me, although with a few extra visual clues slotted in at the start, as would sometimes happen in Granada's Sherlock Holmes. No doubt it's an '80s thing for the ITV franchises which were, of course, still largely in their pre-1991 heyday.

It's also notable how much of Morse's character is by now shaping up- the crosswords are prominent here- and, of course, relevant- as is the Wagner. Morse's attitude to real ale is, of course, eminently civilised. It's good too, and surprising, to see pathologist Max fleshed out a bit. Peter Woodthorpe maks him quite the memorable character.

There's more Oxford architectural porn here, of course, no doubt for the last time. But there's some interestingly dated attitudes here, in a 1987 adaptation of a 1977 novel. Personally, I've never seen Last Tango in Paris, but certainly not out of any prudery; I haven't got around to it, plus I understand the actual making of the film was a bit #MeToo. It's a proper film by a reputable director and I would not, personally, think of it as porn, just a serious film with sex in it.

On the other hand, I hate butter...

Breaking Bad: Bit By a Dead Bee

 "It wasn't Whole Foods, was it?"

Now that was impressive. I mean, Breaking Bad literally always is, but they'd written themselves into a corner. And got themselves out of it... to the extent they wanted to.

It was inevitablt going to stretch credibility with Hank getting dangerously close to what Walt is up to, however dramatically effective. They had to bring it to a head, and it's to their credit that it all worked out with plausibility. 

It's plausible because the whole amnesia schtick is just Walt being clever, as well as coaching Jesse on what to say to the DEA- athough it turns out Jesse is genuinely lucky in his choice of girlfriend: Wendy has something on Hank, sort of. Yet Walt stage-manages everything to perfection, with superb acting- including "acting" acting- from the magnificent Bryan Cranston. For a while it seems as though Walt may have a problem in not being released from hospital and thus unable to cook... but the way he plays the psychiatrist (the mayor from Buffy!) is masterful indeed.

There are two loose ends, though, as life isn't that neat. Is Jesse getting cold feet? Oh, and Skyler still wants to know about that second cell phone. Ouch. She thinks he's having an affair. Is this going to push them apart? After all, Walt can hardly maintain both of hs lives forever. Is thisperhaps how his family life ends?

I'm REALLY enjoying this.

The Vault of Horror (1973)

 "No money in horror..."

I've seen lots of Amicus portmanteau horror films by now and enjoyed them all to a greater or lesser extent. This is easily the best of the lot.

Partly it's that this time around the tales are all splendidly gleeful in their ghoulish bad taste as the five men who enter the lift each receive their magnificently grand guignol comeuppance. A greedy murderer ends up having blood dispensed from his neck like wine from a wine box. An obsessively nagging husband who insists on neatness has his organs neatly displayed in jars after driving his wife to murder. An insurance fraudster is buried alive and meets his death. And so on, all amongst the most '70s clothing and interior decor that has ever been immortalised in film. 

It helps that Roy Ward Baker imbues the film with some visually witty touches, such as our insurance fraudster reading a novelisation of Tales from the Crypt, to which this is a semi-sequel. The script, too, is wittier and more gleeful this time round.

Yet what really makes this film shine, well-made as it is, is a superb cast full of the sort of well-known character actors who (Terry-Thomas aside) were not quite stars at the time. Standout performances from Glynis Johns and a splendidly vengeful, bizarrely bearded and deeply charismatic Tom Baker are a huge part of the film's success- and a success it is: I care not for the views po-faced contemporary critics.

Captain America: Episodes 10 and 11

 Episode 10: The Avenging Corpse

"These scientists don't seem to realise they're walking eight into the Scarab's trap!"

Two thirds of the way through. I can do this.

So this episode, after we resolve the cliffhanger with the traditional blatant reediting cheat, suddenly changes track as the brother of the late professor from a couple of years ago has conveniently invented a resurrectin machin which the Scarab will obviously wan to steal, and is even giving a talk about it at the Mayan Explorers' Club just so the plot convenience can be total. No wonder Grant blatantly lampshades this in the quoted line.

The Scarab essentially steals the machine and kidnaps its inventor right after a demonstration, in which the scientist revives a dog whom, presumably, he has thoughtfully killed for the occasion.  And then we move to a chase and cliffhanger. You know the drill.

 

Episode 11: The Dead Man Revives

"I didn't contruct this machine to bring a dead murderer back to life!"

The Scarab's henchman Matson is killed, but the Scarab can now resurrect him- and we spend the entire bloody episode in suspense for this to happen. That is, literally, the episode, plus a standard bit of peril.

How many more episodes do I need to sit through? Four? Sigh...

 

The Boys: The Innocents

 "It snapped off..."

They cast Haley Joel Osment as an ex-child star who is now all washed up. That is simply the most meta thing ever. And it's brilliant.

And so is the episode. We see the fakeness of life in the Seven clearly, with manufactured documentary footage showing very clearly how curated are their lives, their histories, even their feeling. Starlight's cry of genuine rage last episode is gradually altered to fit a pre-conceived narrative, with the Deep uttering a carefully crafted apology. Yet the Boys are discovering the truth, piece by piece. All superheroes are manufactured in childhood with the possible exception of Homelander- where did he come from, then?

This is the episode where we learn what's motivating Butcher- his wife was raped eight years ago by Homelander and then vanished, which is horrible, and one of many example of how the untouchable supes ruin lives. Yet Butcher is very blsck and white about the supes. He doesn't trust Mesmer (quite rightly!), and won't believe that Annie is genuine. He's very big on the truth... yet he lies to the team at the end having turned down official status from the Feds. There's a strong theme throughout of truth versus lies. And Homelander is the still, evil centre of all that is wrong.

And poor Hughie is going to have to betray somebody...

Inspector Morse: The Dead of Jericho

 "You're one of these people who have breakfast, aren't you?"

I've read all the Colin Dexter novels at least once although, I'm sure, it's been at least twenty years. I've never seen any of the TV series before though, at least not a whole episodes. I'll not be blogging these quickly as the episodes are bloody long, but the first one is fascinating. This is in some ways the Morse of the books- bloody minded, knows his beer and his culture, but in other ways he isn't: this isn't the course misogynist that Colin Dexter wrote but more of a gentle soul who courts Anne Stavely sensitively.

John Thaw is superb, but credit is also due to Anthony Minghella for perhaps the hardest adaptation- one that has to introduce the series and the characters. He does so with subtlety and writerly restraint, with shortand simple scenes that don't show off, and by showing, not telling; the hallmark of a certain sort of good screenwriting. A shockingly young Gemma Jones is also excellent as, of course, is the great Patrick Troughton in what must be one of his last roles.

I thought I remembered little of the story as it unfolded but the Sophocles red herring came to me as the camera focused yet again on a copy of Oedipus the King just after we learned that Ned had blinded himself. But it was all quite clever, and a cosily enjoyable thing to watch without being too cosy. It helps that morse himself is a compellingly nuanced character.

I'll keep occasionally blogging these. Look out for another episode sometime...

Captain America: Episodes 8 and 9

 

Episode 7: Cremation in the Clouds

"I wonder what's keeping the DA..."

Sigh. This is a perfectly decent movie serial, it really is, but movie serials are just one damn set piece after another. This serial is fine, but if, like myself, you only watch the genre because of superhero completism or some such reason, they start to try the patience by the halfway point, especially as we start with a cliffhanger resolution that is yet another blatant re-editing cheat. And that within a serial that is only sort of about Captain America.

Lionel Atwill is good, it's amusing to see Grant Gardner walk yet again into the Scarab's lair unwittingly, and the stuff with the blowpipe is a rather fun way of seeminly engineering a sdden absence of Henley from the plot.

Whats this? A cliffhanger of Gail piloting a plane with a time bomb on it? How very original...

 

Episode 9: Triple Tragedy

"Don't start anything unless you absolutely have to..."

This cliffhanger is the most blatantly dishonest piece of re-editing since... last episode. Yes, this time we splice in some footage of Gail jumping out with a parachute. This kind of cliffhanger cheating really is becoming a hallmark of this serial. 

This is the point where the serial really starts to bcome repetitive, and the lack of actual plot progression starts to feel really annoying. Yes, I like how Grant trusts Gail as a woman to be badass even though it's 1944, and badass she certainly is, but this episode ends yet again with another bloody building blowing up.

Another six to go...

 

Breaking Bad: Grilled

 "Hey, you got the C bomb, man. All right?"

Every single episode of Breaking Bad so far has been a superlatively good bit of telly. For an episode to be excellent is, so far, the norm. Yet this episode manages to stand out. It's extraordinary.

There's a lot of story arc stuff here, obviously. Life goes on for the whole supporting cast, even if everything is centred around Tujo's kidnapping of Walt and Jesse. We see Hank, first of all in a hilarious opening scene at work and as he moves in and out of his comfort zone (acting all macho, chasing criminals even if he always fails to realise Walt's involvement), a shootout in the desert, even skilfully questioning Jesse's mother) and areas there he is much less assured (talking to Skyler, anything involving emotional intelligence). We see the devastating effect on Walt's family of his disappearance. And we're left to wonder just how the hell he's going to explain all this.

But much of the episode is heavily concentrated on the experiences of Walt and Jesse, completely at the mercy of the utterly fickly and mindlessly violent Tujo, a man who could simply kill them just like that for the slightest of reasons. There are so many moments of intense danger, and the feeling of constant tension is amazing, a testament to the excellence of both the script and the direction- and I suspect the unique mood of the artily shot New Mexico location has a lot to do with it too.

The acting is universally excellent, not least from Mark Margolis as Tujo's seriously ill father, uncle or whatever he is. The ending is surprising, satisfying, relieving and another kind of intense, all at once. How is Walt going to avoid Hank? How is he going to explain himself? How is he going to deal with the inevitable trauma?

This is as good as television gets.

.

The Boys: Good for the Soul

 "You played my butt like jazz. With poise and skill, and willingness to improvise."

Hooray for The Boys having to do the courage to do an episode which so joyously and righteously skewers the evils of fundamentalist Christianity (which, I stress, is a totally different thing from actual Christianity) any hypocrity, cynicism and greed that lies behind the whole thing. It's nice that we get different perspectives, too, from the cheerfully irreverent atheism of Burcher to the honest and simple religiosity of Annie, whose faith may not be dogmatic but is much more real than that of the forces behind fundamentalism.

The beginning is very dark, as Popclaw confesses to A-Train... and he immediately makes her take a fatal heroin overdose. We then learn that he did this at the orders of Homelander, who now controls him even more deeply than before... and views the video of what happened that day. Including Frenchie's face.

Frenchie is in trouble. Yet he seems to be developing a real bond with the girl which is touching to see, and his joy at the end when she seems to heal herself after apparently dying is deeply touching and, indeed, humanising. Hughie, too, impresses MM and, indeed, the viewer hugely as he manages to blackmail Ezekiel successfully, improvising after things go terribly wrong.

Hughie, also, is struggling not only with the conflict between the mission and real feelings for Annie but with the conflict between these feelings and those for the recently departed Robin, whose ghost is ever-present. Annie, meanwhile, struggles with the expectations of the Believe festival, under pressure to pretend beliefs she does not hold, not only for the Seven but her own manipulative, selfish mother.

And then there's Homelander's speech, and the subsequent scene with him and Madelyn, which... let's not go there. It reminds me of Nero and his mother in I, Clavdivs. But quickly moving on... there are other things, too. Rebecca has been missing for eight years yet Butcher won't give up. And Maeve has a bit of a drunken breakdown in front of her ex after last episode's hijack hijinks.

But this is the best ending yet- Compound V is being given to a baby. And Butcher uses the baby as a gun. This is, still, awesome telly.

The Boys: The Female of the Species

 "How do you know so much about the Spice Girls?"

Butcher's monologue about the Spice Girls alone would make this a bloody excellent hour of telly. But there's more. So much more I'm really enjoyng The Boys. Every episode advances the arc in various wool ways with lots of character development, world building, and the kind of dark humour that can only have come from the brain of Garth Ennis.

We begin with an intriguing flashback to Butcher's wife or girlfriend Rebecca who is no longer around- presumably dead? I'm sure we will be drip fed much more of this backstory over the coming episodes. We aso learn more about the Compound V den- A-Train has been running it, and V has been fed to a mysterious and now missing girl who speaks no English and has fearsome powers.

But there's much more. Horrifyingly, Homelander and Queen Maeve (mainly that cynical, self-centred bastard Homelander) arrogantly swan around while trying to stop a hijacking... and end up having to leave all 123 passengers to die as the plane crashes, deliberately not even saving a few people so there can be no witnesses to their incompetence. It's a magnificent sequence that reveals so much about these characters and this world. And worse, Homelander manages to turn it to the supes' advantage.

Interestingly, though, Maeve is clearly having a quiet attack of conscience. This whole sequence, if anything, overshadows the "Boys" and their search for the mysterious girl as they struggle to trust each other. But this is yet another episode of incredibly good telly. And next episode Hughie is expected to blackmail Ezekiel, a kind of closeted, Chrstian fundamentalist Mr Fantastic...

The Matrix (1999)

 "There is no spoon."

This film, by its very cinematography, may well sinply ooze the essence of the late '90s. But it is timeless.

Obviously, this is a truly great film. The fact that a film so drenched in philosophy and wonder can be such a blockbuster hit is a testament both to the genius of the Wachowskis and to the openness of humanity to ideas. And the fact that the "red pill" has in recent years been adopted by thenow thankfully dated alt-right is as meaningless as the alt-righ themselves,  along with everyone who doubts that Trump is a wannabe dictator or that Brexiteers are all Putin's bitches. These people are sad, hateful virgins, while this film is full of joy.

The point is not that this film posits a reality in which our lives are not only but a dream but are simulated realities while we are farmed horribly by AI's resulting from a singularity that looks worryingly as though it may happen within my lifetime, competing with global heating in the fear stakes. The point is, on the one hand, that this film has such a bloody good soundtrack (Rob Zombie, he whose "Dragula" was ubiquitous, and rightly so in late '90s rock clubs, and, er, Marilyn Manson, a genius who may possibly also be an abusive bastard). On the other, though... yes, this is an action sci-fi film with sci-fi protagonists. Yes, it uses its premise to mimic the martial arts visuals on the popular martial arts films of the time. Bjut it means something.

There may well be a religious subtext. If so, it's refreshingly subtle and not preaching uselessly to the converted. There may, as chronicled in recent years, be a trans subtext, endorsed by the Wachowskis who have both transitioned. But subtexts naturally abound with a subject matter so deep as the nature of reality and the ethics of living in a comfortable simulation vs. harsh reality. Should we pretend that there is a spoon?

And yes, I noticed: said bent spoon was in the real world, not the matrix. This film is awesome.

The Boys: Get Some

 "Hughie, you just arse-bombed America's sweetheart..."

An awful lot seems to happen in every episode so far, and this is no exception. We're introduced to Mother's Milk(!), another old mate of Butcher's who seems to have reason, like the rest of the gang, to hate the supes. And Frenchie. He's a cool addition, and at this stage a person Hughie can usefully confide in for the benefit of the viewer.

I love the montage as the corpse of Translucent is cleaned up- to Jane's Addiction's "Stop". And the events following from what Translucent let slip- that A-Train is having an affair with Popclaw, a kind of female Wolverine. And then there's a lot of intrigue about Popclaw and A-Train's relationship involving toe-sucking and resentment... and the discovery (after Hughie uses his own superpower of installing electronics in people's houses) that A-Train is using a steroid called Compound V... and was high on it when he killed Robin. All this stuff makes for great viewing, and not only because Popclaw accidentally makes her landlord's head explode while sitting on his face. It's not only in The Sopranos that cunnilingus can be deadly.

Annie's story is also unfolding nicely as her little problem with unauthorised crime-fighting turns out to work unexpectedly in her favour after the victim comes forward. It's all so fickle, and ironic, as she proceeds to be given a new, highly sexualised constume and has a narrative imposed on the whole thing for her... by, yep, a couple of men. The social commentary may not be subtle, but arguably it shouldn't be. And it's very well done indeed.

We also get more of Homelander being an utter douche, Hughie realising who Annie is and getting her phone number- but being expected to plan a bug on her (ouch). And the cliffhanger- of the Seven finding Translucent's body promises "war".This is well-paced, witty, gloriously irreverent yet meaningful telly that reminds me a hell of a lt of reading Garth Ennis' Preacher.

The Boys: Cherry

 "You're not the hero of this story..."

The second episode is, if anything, even better than the first as both Hughie aStarlight continue to disciver how deeply twisted is this world, with its cynically corporate and utterly immoral superheroes- and the whole thing manages to be great fun while this is happenning. It's all very, very Garth Ennis.

The plots drive forward perfectly while developing the themes. Starlight manages to get back at the pathetic Deep after last episode's #MeToo moment, but proceeds to get in trouble for stopping a rape without permission. And her first official patrol (with the Deep) proves to be a cynically stage-managed affair.

Meanwhile, Madalyn (Played by Jennifer McFly!) cynically and deliciously blackmails a senator in her ongoing plan to take over the US military, and seems to have a disturbing relationship with breast milk fetishist Homelander, who proves to be just as cynical and amoral as them all. This story may have an obvious political point, but doesn't forget to be darkly funny while making it. That awkward scene with A Train and the kid with cancer is magnificent.

Hughie, though, is truly dropped in the deep end. yes, his plot strand this episode consists of wonderful black humour as he, the now even more mysterious Butcher and the intriguing Frenchie spend most of the episode working out how to kill Translucent. There's an excellent dialogue between Hughie and Translucent which, I suspect, points towards the arc we can expect as he slowly morphs into a kind of hero. Or not. There's also a nice scene with him impotently punching a wall, showing very much that he's no superhero. And, of course, he ends by popping his kill cherry.

Translucent's death, though (by ass bomb, which is genius), is hilarious. I'm loving this.

Captain America: Episodes 6 and 7

 

 Episode 6: Vault of Vengeance

"Now the homicidal maniac will plan a counter-attack!"

There's actually a rather good cliffhanger resolution, for once, as this episode's peril monkey Gail is saved from the guillotine by a realistiv distraction before Captain America arrives to fight the baddies- ultimately stopping the blade from touching her by mere inches. 

We then move to the baddies pretty much suspecting the D.A. of being Cap, as a surprising series of cat and mouse games ad tricks commences between Cap and the Scarab. It's all rather good fun. And the cliffhanger involves Cap with a rifle(!), and an impressive-looking mine shaft.

 

Episode 7: Wholesale Destruction

"It'll blow sky high!"

The intrigue grows, as last episode's extortion victim is afraid of his life, as the Scarab is rather miffed that the $100,000 he extorted has been rendered useless by Grant's cleverness. Meanwhile, Grant does some clever and plot-convenient sleuthing in a place what repairs vans.

We end up with a rather ominous cliffhanger as the building with Cap in it is blown up with "Nitrogas", with some rather impressive and explosive effects. This is still just a load of random set pieces, but I'm enjoying it.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Sixth

 "I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe..."

And so it ends, with a twist that was much more powerful the first time but still feels worryingly true: the human race is fundamentally a race of useless management consultants, marketing executives and so forth- no civil servants, of course. We would have been on the "A" ark. Yes we would. 

And then there's what is, apparently, the ultimate question- although I'm not sure why it would be in Arthur's subsconscious in the first place, as he's descended from Golgafrinchans and thus surely not part of Deep Thought's computer program- is a mathematical equation that is incorrect. This does, indeed, explain so much about the universe. 

The Golgafinchams are great, and Aubrey Morris in particular. It's a powerfu end to a splendid visual adaptation. It may look cheap, ot may look dated, but it's bloody brilliant.

Captain America: Episodes 4 & 5

 Episode 4: Preview of Murder

"The robot truck is on the way..."

We dispose of the fiery cliffhanger, somehow, by a few shots of a pistol, which seems to make no sense: Lionel Atwill twirls his moustache splendidly as the Scarab, plotting to kill the poor professor for inheriting what he needs.... so, naturally, he fills a "robot van" which is something to do with television with explosives to control it remotely (televsion, in 1944, is super impressive tech) and crash it into the home of the unfortunate prof. This is, of course, in no way absurdly convoluted, but simply what villains in movie serials do.

Cap is there at the explosion. How on Earth can he get away from this one?

 

Episode 5: Blade of Wrath

"Professor Dodge has been murdered!"

Er, that's a blatant cheat with footage blatantly edited to show Cap getting away. That's very cheeky indeed, and not even the first time this movie serial has played that old trick. 

Still, Professor Dodge is killed- finally- and we get a promising-looking cliffhanger with a guillotine. The whole thing makes very little sense, and we would be wise not to connect these set pieces into any kind of plot, but heigh ho: this is a movie serial. 

Also, Gail is a bit badass and awesome, isn't she?

Breaking Bad: Seven Thirty-Seven

 "I'd say these two know their chemistry..."

This is exactly how to open a second series. It carries on smoothly from the end of the previous series... but it's already clear that Walt's ambitions are going to have to reach another level. He's having to get deeper in.

Not that he realises this at the start. After a short reprise we have further scenes of terrifying violence from Tujo, and it's already clear that, through sheer necessity, Walt is going to have to get rid of him. Life is simply too dangerous and fearful with Tujo around. Raymond Cruz does a superb job of portraying an absolute and unpredictable psychopath. And yet Walt- trying to hide his fear behind calm reason- tries to persuade humself, working things out in his head, that he needs to make $737,000 from all this, and then he can stop. Hah.

It soon becomes clear that Tuho is after them, as they've seen too much. It's a case of kill or be killed, and it's fascinating that, already, Walt is not even talking to Jesse about the morality of it all: it's all about the how. And Jesse feel huge relief when Walt tells him that he has a plan- even if it involves an adaptation of the famous killing of Georgi Markov- which again subtly shows how he looks up to his old teacher.

And yet the tension builds and builds up to the shocking conclusion. Worse, Walt's problems continue to build unsustainably. He just isn't going to be able o keep making excuses to Skyler. He needs to confide in her, but can't. And his instinctive post-crime sex goes horribly wrong this time. He just can't keep living these two lives. Something just has to give- and Hank, too, is again getting dangerously close, even if he has his own problems with his wife's acknowledged shoplifting.

This is a powerful and promising opening.

The Boys: The Name of the Game

 "What do I look like?"

"Like you're starring in the porn version of The Matrix."

This is something Mrs Llamastrangler and I have just decided to start watching... and it's rather good. I have no knowledge of the original comic books by Garth Ennis (whom I know well from Preacher- and no, I haven't seen that series yet), but this is certainly very much reminiscent of Watchmen, at least superficially.

This is, essentially, a world where there are superheroes... yet, beyond the surface, those superheroes are amoral,  money grabbing, corporate bastards who behave like the very worst kinds of rock stars in the days before punk, and worse. We have two POV characters through whose eyes we see this world. The first is Hughie, whose girlfriend is gruesomely killed by speedster A-Train in suspicious yet covered-up circumstances and who, while struggling against a history of meek unambition, strives to get justice. We also have Anna, a privincial superhero who achieves her dream of joining the Justice Lea... er, the Seven... and ends up sexually abused in a shockingly #MeToo moment. These people are above the law, and it stinks.

We also have the awesomely sweary New Zealander Butcher, who enlists Hughie in his quest to encover the superheroes' many transgression. This is a superb basic concept, and an admirably successful first episode which succinctly introduces the many characters while balancing humour and tragedy superbly. More please.

Breaking Bad: A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal

 "Why was it so damn good?"

"Because it was illegal."

This is a bloody good, bloody clever season finale that ends things at a perfect point:Walt and Jesse are now solidly established and in business- although the last scene with Tujo beating his own henchman to a pulp reminds us (and Walt) that this is a world where violence is not far away.

It's also a scene that establishes Walt, in this context at least, as the apha male he hasn't been for most of his life- it's a sign of Tujo's respect for Walt that he beats his own man for dissing him. But Walt gets off on risk, and feels horny during the opening scene as he hides in the very plainest of plain sight from the narco authorities, leading to what seems to be some rather good car sex.

There are some interesting contrasts with Hank- out of place in the baby shower scene- as he and Walt discuss the arbitrariness of the drug laws, something Hank can't see even as he smokes (illegal) Cuban cigars.

The theme of middle class "respectable" criminality spreads wider than that- is Marie secretly engaging in some fairly major shoplifting? And we also see Skyler using her wiles to wiggle out of admittedly unfounded suspicion. None out of either couple are entirely free of some kind of lawbreaking, and the episode nods at the sexiness of this.

Yet Walt's subtle attempt to see how Skyler would react if she only knew the truth yields no answers. Still, he and Jesse, after an episode of chemical cleverness solving problems and some top heist-themed farce, end up in a good position. This is a magnificent end to a splendid season.

So is Walt now going to move on Tujo...?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Fifth

 "The first ten million years were the worst, and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline."

Although I have, naturally, experienced the events of this episode repeatedly, and in multiple media, it is nonetheless fresher to me than the preceding four episodes, and the ideas are, of course, as awesome as anything that comes from the mind of Douglas Adams.

We have a rock star, spending a year dead for tax reasons, whose over-the-top gigs illustrate precisely why the galaxy so urgently needs punk. We have Colin Jeavons, whom I tend to think of as Lestrade from the Granada Sherlock Holmes, as a splendidly over-the-top compere. We even have an utterly unrecogniseable Peter Davison as the Dish of the Day, which longs to be eaten.

But Marvin is, as ever, the best bit. This is wonderful stuff.

Captain America: Episodes 2 and 3

 Episode 2: Mechanical Executioner

"All the wealth and art treasures of the world will be mine!"

So, er, Cap jumps out of the collapsing building on to the next building. Ok...

Again, this is Captain America in name and costume (minus those silly wings) only- but so far it's solid, if stolid, movie serial. Lionel Atwill continues to be excellent as the greedy, arrogant Scarab, there's plenty of action, and it's all nice and simple.

It's already clear that this is going to be a succession of set pieces rather than a plot as such, but we knew this- it's a movie serial. Who cares if we start with a cliffhanger resolution cheat: this time Cap is in a barn and, er, about to be run over by a little tractor...

 

Episode 3: Scarlet Shroud

"He's a brave man, but I'd feel better of Captain America was with him."

This is still enormous fun. Like any movie serial it lives and dies by its set pieces, but they're good ones. It matters not that Dick Purcell isn't that great an actor- he isn't exactly called ipon to d much acting as such, but he's great as a stuntman, which is pretty much what he is.

The Scarab seems a pretty cultured baddie, only stealing Old Masters and priceless manuscripts. Gail is unexpectedly good with a gun. And it's always fun (as per The Adventures of Captain Marvel) to see a sequence where the hero's vehicle is booby trapped to explode once a certain gauge reaches a certain point.

It's all very straightforward, but it's a movie serial. And this is good, solid fun.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Fourth

 "We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

This episode is, of course, where the novel ends: it is also, if I recall correctly, where we diverge from the radio series. But that's after the ecxplosion at the end: until then we hae plenty of Douglas Adams' signature absurdity to look at.

The whole thing about Deep Thought and the Ultimate Question is conceptually awesome, of course, however dated the computing looks forty years later. Yet there's more going on than this- the ridiculing of philosophers (personally, I think we need rather more of them in today's accessible cultural media, but...) and the fact that they behae exactly ike the more rigidly-minded trade union leaders of the time. I somehow doubt Arthur Scargill would have enjoyed this episode much.

Yet we also have an absurd, timey-wimey series of events cause by Arthur's tremendous difficulty with his lifestyle,and a wonderful sequence about the mice offering to buy Arthur's brain: there will never again be a sitcom quite like this. And that's before we even get to the glorious piss take of cops at the end...

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: One World, One People

 "I'm Captain America!"

In the end, I think this series has been good but not great. The concept works well, bt the chracterisation (despite superb acting) falls a little short. It's only in the final two episodes that the series catches fire. Still, this makes for a strong finale.

In theory this is about Sam and co finally defeating the Flag Smashers, with Karli getting the death she probably deserves after such fanatcal willingness for so many others to die for her beiefs. It's about Bucky learning how to truly atone for his past misdeeds. It's about the shocking revelation that Sharon is the Power Broker, a proper baddie- and, with the newly restored Agent Carter, the US Government has a cuckoo in its nest. It's about John Walker finding some small redemption, and a new costume ("It's the same, but black(!)" as the US Agent, courtesy of the splenid Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra La Fontaine.

But mostly this is about Captaim America, and what it means for him to be black. Sam's entrance, with his new costume, and announcing himself, is a huge moment. So is Bucky calling him Cap, and the nod from Walker. So is his rather awesome speech about idealism and not being dicks to refugees, words that certain British politocoans, some of whom bully their civil servants, would do well to heed.

And the moment with Isaiah is sentimental, yes, but just about earned. There's a hell of a big history of racial oppression behind all this, and not only in the United States. In the end, I think, the script tries hard to address this enormous subtext but doesn't quit hae the eloquence. But, as Isaiah sort of says to Sam, not everyone can be Martin Luther King.

Breaking Bad: Crazy Handful of Nothin'

 "The faster they undergo change, the more violent the explosion."

Damn, this episode is clever.

I mean, there are all sorts of touches I could point to, from the flash forward to violence at the beginning to the way what Walt says in his chemistry lesson (see above) tends to foreshadow events. Yet ultimately this is an episode that pushes Walt's hands deeper and deeper into the blood as he commits more ad more heonous acts.

Things are out of control. Walt's chemo is leading to serious symptoms. He can no longer hide his cancer from Jesse, leading to a nuanced and extraordinary scene between the two men in which they seem to grow a little closer- and he may have to rely on Jesse for at least some of the cooking because of his ill health. This is not what he wanted: Walt makes it clear to Jesse at the start of the episode, tempting fate somewhat, that  he wants a clear division of labour. Walt cooks, while Jesse handles the sales and the "business" side. Walt thinks he can be the "silent" partner, and shield himself from all the ugliness. But we know that ain't gonna happen.

Nor are his excuses about why he comes home so late, or his lies about where the money for his treatment is coming from, at all sustainable. And he needs more money than can be gained from Jesse selling on the street- he needs to sell wholesale to a distributor. It feels natural at every stage how Walt is drawn deeper and deeper in, which is a sign of masterfu writing. It's a nice twist, too, that Hank's investigations get close to Walt but end up destroying the wrong man- the kindly caretaker who has helped Walt and whose only crime is to have smoked some weed. This is yet another tap, tap, tap on Walt's conscience.

In the context of al this, then, the conclusion is explosive in every sense.  Jesse has been hospitaised following his attempt to deal with the dangerous Tuco yet it is the badass Walt, armed with a little chemical oomph, who ends up the alpha male here- cleverly foreshadowed earlier as he bluffs Hank at cards, in turn reflecting how Hank failed to get his man. Layers upon layers. 

Walt gets what he wants, but at the cost of getting deeper and deeper in. He is slowly leaving his orderly life for one of violent chaos. "Heisenberg", as he is known to Tujo, is very much becoming a kind of uncertainty principle. This is clever, clever stuff, and bloody good telly.

The Doors (1991)

"Does death turn you on?"

This is, I believe, the first film helmed by Oliver Stone that I've ever blogged, and I believe it's my 758th film. Most odd. 

This is, I think its fair to say, a brave and triumphant rock biopic that dares to be art. The real Jim Morrison was both a genius and a twat, and the film illustrates this perfectly. He would not have enjoyed surviving to the #MeToo movement, which would have dealt a just comeuppance; he was a hopeless addict; he was a two timing bastard with double standards who didn't like it when Pam slept with others; worst of all, he reacted with cowardly denial to the babies he fathered, roving himself less than a man. If you father a child, you love that child with all your heart, or you fail to be a man. As a father who dotes on the wonderful Little Miss Llamastrangler, despite her trying to "teach" me ballet, I have to despise the coward. He was not a mn.

Yet he had a magnificent singing voice, his lyrics were extraordinary and he was (despite contemporary criticism that supposed a long-haired man who fronted a rock an roll band could not be cultured, well-read or talented) a poet of real genius and significance. Morrison was not Bob Dylan: he had a good grasp of poetic structure and rhythm.

He was a genius. He was a wanker. He was probably a rapist. Val Kilmer, in an extraordinary feat of acting, IS him. His performance is magnificent.

The film is at once a linear biopic, with extended footage of gigs, an art flick, with multiple rather successful attempts to simulate a drug-induced haze. There is plenty of selective use of the Doors' transcendent music, which seems to be considered unfashionable by various young fools with no understanding of what makes good art. Kyle Machlachlan is superb as the genius Ray Manzarek, yet Meg Ryan as Pam and Kathleen Quonlan as Patricia are transcendent as his "muses" who were fascinating women in their own right.

I hope, one day, to find a rock biopic as good as this. I shall try more Oliver Stone films, amd try not to be put off by the stupid conspiracy theories of JFK.

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)

 "Is there anywhere a man who simply takes?"

This is an unorthodox adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella- with the action for some reason moved from Edinburgh to a London with a dark underbelly- but it works. This is, incredibly, the first film adaptation of this that 've blogged, but it's a bloody good one.

Paul Massey is, of course, magnificent in his dual role, but it's extraordinary that the film should have Hyde be young and handsome- a cad and a seducer- while Jekyll should be aged and bearded with make-up. It's a mystery that Massey's career should be so relatively sparse on the evidence of this.

Yet just as interesting is the very Hammer treatment of Jekyll, who is a scientific obsessive on the way towards obsession himself- a character who owes as much to Hammer's Frankenstein as the novella. His early dialogue on the duality of man sounds positively Nietzchean, and I'm sure this is intentional.

Indeed, Jekyll is a neglectful husband, whose wife is having an affair with the spendidly unscrupulous Paul, played with superb loucheness by Christopher Lee, who absolutely nails a role which is completely against type.

This is ultimately a gripping and fresh version of the tale which dares to give us something new. It's another early Hammer triumph, whatever the critics may have said at the time.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Third

 "Is there any tea on this spaceship?"

Tonight was going to be the finale of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Disney Plus is down, so I've brought this forward instead. Expect to see your previously scheduled blog post on Monday, probably, stuff permitting.  

Anyway, Douglas Adams' magnum opus continues to unfold televisually here, with those elements that have dated continuing to charm, forty years later. I've mentioned Zaphod's no doubt budget-busting animatronic head, but we also have fairly blatant switched between the Heart of Gold, in studio, and the legendary planet of Magrathea, on film. It is, of course, also amusing that the ancient Magratheans should have left a venerable answerphone message.

But the point of all this is Adams' gloriously absurd conceptual coolness, all filtered through his gloriously individual sense of humour. We get our first hints at the true history and purpose of Earth. Yet this, along with the narration of the demise of the old Asimov-like Galactic Empire, plays once more with notions of extinctions and the ends of civilisations, yet lightly, which possibly gives away the Cold War themes of nuclear holocaust. If only nuclear missiles really would turn into a whale and a bowl of petunias.

Yes, I know what you're thinking, but sod Agrajag.

Captain America: Episode 1

 The Purple Death

 "You'll never get away with this!"

This is easily the first Marvel screen action of any sort, from a time long before Marvel as we know it in 1961. But Marvel was an offshoot of Martin Goodman's Timely Comics, and creators such as Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon had already created the Sub-Mariner, the first Human Torch, Captain America and more. This serial is the only screen relic of that strange proto-Marvel time which, perhaps, we never quite see in its own terms as opposed to what came later.

Yet neither, on the evidence of this episode, does this serial. Captain America wears the costume and is a hero, but there the similarities end. Here he is not Steve Rogers but Grant Gardner, district attorney in an unnamed city and conveniently close to the mayor and commissioner. There is no shield to be seen, but Cap is always toting a pistol, which is the most jarring thing.

However, even if this is Captain America in name and costume only, it's an impressive start. The Scarab, a scientifically hungry criminal, who mind controls people via poison to suicide(!), is a worthy foe, ably played by a monocled Lionel Atwill- and, in a brave departure from conention, we learn the villain's identity in the first episode. 

This is a strong opening episode wgich looks to be a superior example of the genre. So far, so good.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Second

 "Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."

You can tell a superior sitcom (if, indeed, that is what this is, with its ever-shifting "situation" by how it uses narrative cleverness and manages to be funny at the same time. Here, even the "previously on" bit is hilarious, featuring a fun little Reginald Perrin-like cameo from Douglas Adams and lots of 1981-ness, with jokes about digital watches.

The Guide is again used cleverly in order to excuse any kind of narrative trickery Adams like- and the Improbability Drive is a splendid concept that excuses the absurd number of coincidences going on here, serving to subtly introduce Zaphod, Trillian, the wonderful Marvin and the new status quo. It's all well enough realised by the standards of the time, and I think that afer forty years we can just about see that animatronic second head as a charming relic of the time as opposed to, say, embarrassingly awful. Although not as awful as the poetry of Paula Millstone Jennings, which I reproduce below because I'm evil...

 

The dead swans lay in the stagnant pool.

They lay. They rotted. They turned

Around occasionally.

Bits of flesh dropped off them from

Time to time.:And sank into the pool's mire.

They also smelt a great deal.

That, however, in no way makes this episode anything other than a triumph.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Truth

 "There will never be a Black man be Captain America."

So far this series has been consistently good, but has never reached greatness. Its been enjoyable, well-structured and well made with a great cast but, I think, the dialogue has never quite taken flight. That changes here: this penultimate episode, at least, whatever happens in the finale, achieves greatness.

The whole thing is, of course, a meditation on what it means for Sam to be, quite transparently, on the cusp of being the first Black man to be Captain America. The meeting with Isaiah is necessary: Isaiah stands for the many crimes against Black Americans over the centuries, the burning crosses, the Jim Crow laws, the unspeakableness of slavery and its lasting scars, the continuing unspeakableness of voter suppression and mass incarceration- although we non-Americans cannot smugly assume that we do not have similar sins of our own, particularly after the Windrush scandals and the racist attacks we've seen in the last couple of days aimed at three brave young men. It is not only in America that racism is institutional and has tendrils that get everywhere, no doubt including my own subconscious.

That said, I like the handling of John Walker here. Yes, he has done a terrible thing, but it was the disturbingly military-worshipping culture of the USA that made him a monster, and seems to betray this damaged man who has only become what they made him. So it's intriguing to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus, with an outageous accent, approaching him as Valentina Allegra La Fontaine, a very retro character from the days of Jim Steranko. It seems, from the closing credits, that US Agent will be appearing soon.

However, this is about Sam, about his family, his sister, and their boat- all symbolising their heritage. There's a lovely bit of flirting between Bucky and Sarah, but an equally lovely scene between the two friends as Bucky admits he failed to appreciate what he was asking Sam to do in being the first Black man to take the shield, and taking some good advice. But the groundwork is laid as Sam prepares for his new role. 

We end with the Flag Smashers about to strike for the finale. But, quite rightly, this episode was not about such things. A superb piece of drama.

Breaking Bad: Grey Matter

 "I have the talking pillow".

This is yet another first class bit of telly from Breaking Bad. It has a very good reputation, but seems not only to be living up to it but improving with each episode as the situation becomes more established.

There are two parallel storylines here. The B plot concerns Jesse, who attempts to go straight but comes up against the reality of demeaning minimum wage jobs for anyone without a uni degree- not only is there obvious social commentary here, but it's emphasised just how attractive the undeeground economy can be for someone whose only alternative is this sort of job.

It's no surprise to see him return to cooking meth with a new, thicker partner, Laurel to his Hardy. Yet it's revealing, as well as funny, to see how he eagerly adopts the methods, views and mannerisms of Walter White- who, to return to a theme tht continues in this episode, is an alpha male in this context, even though he doesn't know it. It's a nicely subtle bit of acting from Aaron Paul at the end as a slight facial twitch tells us how pleased he is to see Walt.

As to how Walt gets to cooking Walt again... its brilliant, complex drama yet at the same time so simple and watchable. Yes, Walt and Skyler go to the birthday party of a super rich old friend who offers to pay for Walt's treatment, but there's more to it than that. There are hints that Elliott ended up married to Walt's ex, and that Walt made a huge contribution to the company that gave Elliott his riches. I'm sure we will learn more, but Walt refusing help out of pride (in his position I'd have bitten Elliott's arm off), hints at the darker, evolving alpha male side that we've seen in previous episodes.

The family conference s a fabulous character scene. Hank is there as the macho comic relief, and both Skyler and Walt Jr try to articulte their powerless anger that Walt is terminally ill- and seems uwnilling to "fight" it. Yet his eventual monologue is both wise and powerful. Who would wish to spend their last months in humiliating suffering for the sake of a little extra time?

Walt tells us, eloquently, that he feels that he hasn't made a decision about the course of his life, ever. This one time, he wants agency, to make his own decisions.

And yet... he concedes to Skyler in the end. He doesn't even have that decision.

This is very good indeed. It reminds me more of theatre (Terence Rattigan and Arthur Miller, oddly, not that they are exactly similar) than of other quality episodic telly. But this is sooo bloody good.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

 "The Beast? Wait, there's a beast?"

 This was, until tonight, the only Star Wars film I hadn’t seen. And it was very far from being a disappointing  postscript.

This is the second of two films in what must surely be an abandoned attempt to produce a series of films outside the narrative. And it's a shame. No, Alden Ahrenreich doesn't remotely convince as Han Solo. But this is nevertheless a magnificent sci-fi heist film, Woody Harrelson is brilliant, Emilia Clarke is nuanced and alluring, and Paul Bettany (he who has recently so impressed in WandaVision) makes a splendid crimelord.

Ron Howard may, on occasion, give us a little much in the way of a subdued colour palette. But he gives us a solid action film which may well have no illusions of intellectualism, but does the job well. Han's origin is given to us satisfyingly, with Chewbacca's introduction being particularly clever. There's a real sense here, too, of a criminal underworld being semi-tolerated by the Empire. The nods to what is to come are, perhaps, a little too indulgent, but surely we can forgive that.

What leaves a big impression, though, is Phoebe Waller-Bridge's performance as L-37, the sadly doomed droid liberation activist. The character hits a nerve- are all the fleshy characters in the Star Wars universe, rebels included, bastards who evilly enslave sentient AO's? Free the droids!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the First

 "They hung in the air in exactly the same way that bricks don't..."

Before I start, two things.

One: I don't blog sitcoms. Except when I do. This is one of those exceptions which simply, obviously, need to be made.

Two: I know Hitchhikers very well. I first saw this aged about ten when my parents, rather wisely, introduced me to it. They'd seen the original broadcast in 1981 and, indeed, my dad happened to catch the first episode of the radio series in 1978, and was immediately hooked. I may not have got into it in March 1978, being under a year old and that, but I later made up for it. Let's just say that, over the last three and a had decades, I've come to know the radio series (all of them) and the books (ditto) moderately well.

I'm not, therefore, going to spend these blogs recounting the plot, and the witty lines. Or, at least, I'll keep tht to a minimum. Instead I'll remark on such things as the perfection that is Peter Jones' voice, or that Simon Jones is Arthur Dent. I'll also remark on how long ago 1981 was on the evidence of this: a pub landlord offering change from a fiver for six pints, or those bowler hatted city gents coming out of the tube station. It's also obligatory to point out how quaint the Guide itself now seems in our internet age. Also, the Ventraxi is literally a Muppet an the Vogons look rubbish.

But I don't care. This is magnificent. It's not just the wit, or the pefrformances. It's how the demolition of Arthur's home parallels the destruction of the Earth, or how the indifferent officiousness of Mr Prosser parallels that of the Vogon captain. This is a universe of harsh, heartless officialdom but with room for hoopy froods to hang out and chill regardless, provided they know where their towels are.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Whole World Is Watching

 "Being Cap is the first time I've had the chance to do something that actually feels right."

This is still no WandaVision, but it's a complex and nuanced action drama with actual subtext and proper characterisation. There are echoes of Mark Gruenwald's John Walker storyline in Captain America, most obviously at the shocking final scene, but this is very much its own thing.

It's to the writers' credit that the plot is bloody complex at this point- we have Sam and Bucky, who are not quite on the same time as Walker and Lemar, let alone the compelling Zemo; we have Karli Morganthau and her Flag Smashers; we have the Wakandans, who just want Zemo; and, of course, we have the mysterious Power Broker (probably not quite as Gruenwald originally wrote him). Some of these want justice, but not all of them agree on what this is. Some want power, very literally symbolised by the Super Soldier Serum.  And evryone is an individual with their own motives. There are nice character touches, too, like the flashback to Bucky's "unbrainwashing" in Wakanda.

But there are, I think, two themes here. One is the ethics of terrorism. Karli is a genuine idealist, whose ideology appeals to Sam, yet her methods are murderous: the ends justify the means, however vague her ideology (Socialism? Anti-Nationalism?) may be. Yet Walker simply accepts the US government line, while Zemo simply says that "The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideas". He may be a cynic, but this works on more than one level. Altruistic aims can subtly shift, and if one's peers are super soldiers...

This segues into power. Karli has some further vials, most of them destroyed by Zemo (giving Karli a problem; the Power Broker ants those vials or else), but one secretly pocketed by Walker, who spends most of the episode losing fights. But would you take one if you could? Sam has no hestitation: no. Afte all, he refused the shield. Lemar, asked by John, is an instant yes. Given how the episode ends, I think we all know what he's going to do.

But, given how the episode ends... this man is a damaged war veteran and as much a victim as anyone. But John Walker is no Captain America. And, while this may be no WandaVision, it's very good telly.

Breaking Bad: Cancer Man

 "I'm thinking Albuqerque may have a new kingpin..."

The above line from Hank, near the beginning, is immediatley juxtaposed with a shot of Walt brushing his teeth and looking every bit the middle aged nerdish square. This sort of nice little touch- of which this episode has many- is key to what the episode is about, but we shall come to that.

The episode is about how Hank is, unwittingly, proceeding on Walter's trail. It's about the deepening of Jesse's character by showing us his parents and his privileged upbringing. It's about the reaction of Walt's family to finally being told about his cancer- from Skyler's irrational yet necessary optimism to the dickish yet understandable behaviour of Walter Jr, whose teenage mind proves incapable of processing this unacceptable news. It's about how school swots who play the piccolo can nevertheless smoke weed.

It's also about the grim reality of Walter's treatment, and the sheer expense of it all, with no guarantee of success and the certainly of massive debts either way. It can hardly, of course, avoid being a commentary of how unspeakable it is for a first world country to have no free-at-the-point-of-use health system. Yes, the wealthy can pay for quicker treatment elsewhere, but most Europeans have never known a time where being treated decently for cancer depended on one's ability to pay.

Yet this is Walter's dilemma. To die pointlessly, to bankrupt his family. Or...

At one level, Walter seemd to suppose that he can return to his old life as though the things he's done lately had never happened, as though there will be no consequences and he can leave all that behind. He certainly sends Jesse away with a flea in his ear when he offers to resume the partnership... for now. Yet it's clear he needs money, if only to save his family from crippling debt.

But the episode is, more even than this, about more than this: it's about what it is to be an alpha male, and how Walter needs to change and become one if he is to survive in this world. From Hank offering to support his family after Walter dies, to that yuppie wanker who gets his just desserts at the end, Walter's masculinity is under challenge. 

He has a decision to make.

And this remains superlatively good television.

Breaking Bad: ...And the Bag's in the River

 "I've got lung cancer. I'll go make you another sandwich."

Yes, well I suspect I'll have to find endless ways of praising an episode as superlative if this third exercise in sublimity is anything to go by. This is television of the very first class.

We begin, after a nice bit of directorial showing off, with Walter continuing to clean the blood while we have a flashback to Walter and a woman to whom we've yet to be introduced. They are workimg out the percentages of elements in the human body: the literal human condition. This nicely artistic use of chemistry reminds me of Primo Levi, and makes me wonder if this is going to be a cleverly done episode of cleaning up blood (itself symbolic) with lots of flashbacks to flesh out Walter's past.  

But no. It's better than that.

Stuff happens, of course. Skyler gets even more suspicious to the point where Walter has a lot to do to explain himself to her... but that's next episode. So is the fact that, in a nice touch, Hank is slowly but unwittingly on Walter's train as he and his men examine the scenes of previous episodes.

But no: the episode starts properly as Jesse buggers off and leaves Walter with the dilemma of whether or not to kill Crazy Eight. It begins with a hilariously nerdy list of pros and cons but centres around a long and extraordinary scene, a simple two hander between Walter and Crazy Eight which is at once superbly scripted and proof that Bryan Cranston is an extraordinary actor with phemomenal range and talent.

Ultimately, after discovering he was about to be betrayed, Walter ends up committing his first unambiguous murder. The following scen finds him at a literal and metaphorical crossroads. He's taken yet another big step into darkness. Can there be any way back?

Also, loving the way Walter makes sandwiches ithout crusts. These little touches say so much.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 4

 "This place is nowhere. And it's forever."

Well, it's fair to say I wasn't expecting that. A magnificent ending to Sapphire & Steel, and a properly weird and, er, final finale from a televisual age when such things were not routinely done. The whole set-up is indeed a trap, and we end with Sapphire and Steel trapped in a 1940s cafe, for all eternity, with nothing outside but endless space. Wow.

It matters not that there are so many questions unanswered- the background of the "Transient Beings", and the true nature of the woman from 1948- this episode is about mood and weirdness. As ever with Sapphire & Steel, the point is ro reveal just enough to tantalise but not enough to penetrate the sense of mystery and unknowability. Ths episode achieves that magnificently.

It also achieves the shocking effect it intended, with the twists and turns for once occurring quickly, and with a truly outstanding bit of villainy from Edward de Souza.

The series ends memorably, in a way that will stay with me. Alas, the series wasn't of this quality throughout, with P.J Hammond's magnificently weird ideas not matched always by his plotting or pacing. But I shall miss Sapphire & Steel.

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

 “There’s a maniac trying to kill us!”

“Welcome to New York.”

I know this film is supposed to be where it all goes wrong for good after the previous two instalments had managed to be bizarrely impressive instalments of a franchise which had, let’s be honest, been a bit rubbish until that point- after all, a franchise doesn’t knock up eight instalments over ten calendar years through rigorous quality control. So I watched this film expecting the usual rubbish to resume.

Except.. this is not actually a bad film at all. Yes, it’s a cheesy B movie with no stars that cheerfully leans into what were, even in 1989, long-established horror tropes. And yes, precious little of this film actually takes place in New York as opposed to most of the running time being spent with Jason killing teenagers one by one in the claustrophobic environment of a boat. But isn't that as it should be? This kind of slasher works best in a proper base under siege environment, and it works, with plenty of suspense and lots of fun with the absolute predictability of who's going to die next.

The New York scenes at the end are a kind of postscript, and that's fine. Having Jason wandering round a big city killing scores of anonymous people would have been much less fun than what we have here- the focus on a small gang of teenagers and teachers who may not be the most well fleshed out characters in cinematic history but all have easily recognisable characteristics which allow us to quickly grasp who they are. It works, and it's fun seeing why the victims deserve to die, from vanity (Julius); poor swim teaching technique and being a dick (Charles) and being the cokehead queen bee type (JJ).

Naturallyn the only survivors are clean cut lovers Rennie and Sean. But the fact this film leans into the tropes of its genre is only a problem if you don't like B movies. Sometimes we don't need high camp. Well-executed low camp can be good enough.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Power Broker

 "I can't run in these heels!"

I have to admire the way this episode is constructed. On the face of it the plot is a load of fairly obvious padding, as Sam and Bucky look for clues on how the Super Soldier Serum has been recreated, in the form of a kind of treasure hunt. Also, John Walker and Lemar Hoskins are getting jealous of them, while it's established that the only twenty vials of the Serum in existence are held by Kari Morgenthau, with the mysterious Power Broker in pursuit. That's it.

And yet we also have strong characters, good dialogue and lots of globe trotting between Bavara, Latvia and... Madripoor. There may be no sign of a certain eyepatch wearing Canadian mutant, but I think this is the first appearance in the MCU of something which was once part of the X-Men bunch of characters and concepts formerly owned by Fox before Disney ate it. Am I right?

Of course, we also have Bucky springing the ever-entertaining Baron Zemo, who makes for a splendid triple act with Bucky and an exasperated Sam. We also meet Sharon Carter again, on the run- not pardoned, like Sam and Bucky- and dealing in stolen Monets. Her situation is a massive rebuke to Sam, who has never stopped to consider the present condition of thise who sacrificed everything for him and Cap in Civil War.

There's also a nicely played scene where Kari's friend and underling is shocked that she is now willing so set off bombs in situations where there are likely to be casualties. And John Walker is turning out to be more and more of a massive dick.

This is good stuff. Not WandaVision good, but good.

The Producers (1967)

 "Deutschland is happy and gay...."

I haven't blogged much in recent days because I'm cramming for a big interview on Wednesday morning for a potential promotion at work, after which normal blogging will resume. Tonight, however, is my night of rest, with good Cornish ale and entertainment of the strictly relaxing kind.

It's absurd that I should see this film for the first time at forty-four, but there are so many seminal films I still haven't seen, even having blogged more than 750 of them over the last ten years. It is, of course, no less brilliant for the fact that I haven't been living under a rock all my life and am very much aware not only of the concept (if not the precise accounting subterfuge) but of the signature song.

It's surprsing, I suppose, how long it takes to get to the theatrical performance, but this is a surprisingly linear film, plot-wise, setting up and executing the conceit with very little deviation. Yet it's very Mel Brooks somehow, even if his films don't usually show such focus. This very Jewish comedy about Nazis is full of grotesques, not least Max and Leo themselves. I knew that Gene Wilder was a good comedy actor but Zero Mostel, whom I've never previously seen in anything at all, acts him right off the set. We also have the parade of randy old ladies, the Nazi scriptwriter, and the camp director and his associate who perhaps show us how far we've come in LGBT+ representatives in cinema over the past half century.

This was 1967, though. I suppose it was somethging to have LGBT+ representation at all. And this film is a comedy triumph. Just the thing to prepare me for three whole evenings of soul-destroying interview prep...

Update

 I’m being interviewed for a possible promotion at work on Wednesday next week so I won’t be blogging at the usual pace while I’m preparing for that. I’ll still try and get some blogging done before then (certainly Saturday), but things won’t return to normal until Wednesday night.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 3

 "I mean,the future could have been a lot of fun. Provided the price of a pint hasn't changed."

This is an unusual third episode, essentially consisting of shoving an extra character into the mix and seeing what happens. Johnny Jack seems at the start to be the Big Bad, but he's just some kind of creepy cockney carnival performer with a dodgy attitude to women and a creepy rhyme, an exemplar of the fact that childlike things can be scary. Johnny Jack, "and all the children on his back" gives us some weirdness and menace, but rather less mystery than intended.

He's from 1957, a different time period again, although everyone seems to be from within the last sixty years or so. and there's a third, bearded, figure. 

But things only get more intriguing towards the end, as the woman from 1948 wants to talk... and it seems everyone is like Sapphire and Steel, with similar powers somehow. This is a trap, and it's a random yet ending to an episode that really seems to go off at right angles. Who is this "higher power"?

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Star-Spangled Man

 "Time to go to work..."

An impressive, and very different, second episode here in which Sam and Bucky finally meet up again and immediately, action sequences or not- and the action sequences are good- have great comic chemistry as the kinds of friends who constantly insult each other. I particularly love the extended riff on Sam's theory about "androids, aliens or wizards", and Bucky's boast about having read The Hobbit... in 1937.

This episode also gives us our first look at this version of John Walker- from Custer's Grove, Georgia as Mark Gruenwald originally wrote him but this time less of an obvious redneck, although he's still something of a jock and naive square jawed conformist type. It's notable how this version of Lemar Hoskins is considerably brighter than this John Walker.

There's lots of tension between all of these characters. As we find out at the end, Bucky resents Sam for spurning the shield as Steve Rogers' hand-picked successor and, of course, both of them are wary of the initially friendly new Captain America and Battle Star. The subtleties of this awkwardness are well handled. There's some nice political subtext, too, in the context of American racism- Sam is only not abused by racist cops because of who he is, and we meet Isaiah, a black super soldier from the Korean War who seems to have been treated abominably by his country.

And the learn more about the Flag Smashers- this time most certainly not a bloke but an organisation much less organic, and its leader is a young woman (with a nice bit of misdirection as we meet her) called Kari Morganthau. Her "imagine there's no countries" ideology is channelled through "the Blip" here, and the whole gang appear to be super soldiers. This is very interesting, as is the mention of Gruenwald perennial baddie the Power Broker.

This isn't quite up there with WandaVision, or indeed Gruenwald's splendid run on the Cap comic. But it is, nevertheless, very good.

Breaking Bad: Cat's in the Bag...

 "The hell is a MILF?"

This second episode is just as good as the first but, fascinatingly, very different. Walter has got his hands dirty, started cooking crystal meth and committed his first murder. I'm reminded of Macbeth in that our protagonist, a seemingly decent man, makes a few decisions that seem to make sense and suddenly there's no going back. And yet, serious though the underlying themes are, on the surface the episode is basically slapstick comedy about disposing of a body (the Denis Nielsen way) and killng someone whose existence is somewhat inconvenient.

And it's good comedy, with Jesse dragging the corpse upstairs and, yes, the incident with the bath. Jesse is clearly being treated as the Stan Laurel to Walt's Oliver Hardy here- yet he's also Walt's mentor into how the business works.

We get some nice contrasts between all this and Walt's home and work life, and another partly comedic sub-plot as Skyler gets suspicious and ends up getting the wong idea about Walt's secret being weed. Yes, the scene where she confronts Jesse is hilarious farce, but Walt's face and manner to her after his "confession" shows a new, menacing side to him. And then there's the scan, as the couple discover the sex of the baby Skyler is carrying, and the look on Walt's face as he hears the words "when she's sixteen, when we suddenly remember the inoperable cancer that is the catalyst (See? I can do chemistry allusions too!) of all this.

I love the slower pace here, as we see how Walter slowly adjusts to the consequences of his actions and his slow yet inexorable descent into villainy. This is, yet again, first class telly.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 2

 "We happen to be running away, that's all."

The second episode of the final story, like the first, consists of further intrigue and revelation along with tension rather than action as such- and this is no bad thing. I continue to be gripped, and P.J. Hammond's problems with pacing are not so far in evidence here.

So we begin with a little relatively tame intrigue as it's confirmed that our curiously taciturn couple from 1948 are adulterers running away from their respective spouses. They're defensive, despite the fact that adultery is no crime and "They can't hang you for it". More intriguing is Silver's statement that, if they were both to drive off in a straight line, they would simply return to where they started.

Then things move up a gear as Sapphire, Steel and Silver questin why they are there with so little briefing. And why was Silver, a technician, sent early to "watch"? Could it be some sort of trap. Even more curiously, they again see the old man from last episode. Except this time he's not a ghost- they are. In 1925. Ooh.

And we end with the clock moving on ten minuts, mysterious footsteps, Steel seeming to disappear- and a myserious, shadowy, behatted tramp...

This is good stuff.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: New World Order

 "Every time something gets better for one group, it gets bad for another."

This may not be as high concept as Wandaision and, I'm guessing, won't have been as popular. From this first episode is looks like fairly standard Marvel superheroics fearuring several Captain America supporting characters in Stee's absence with a few nice fan touches- it's nice to see Georges Batroc, although sadly there's neither any leaping nor any facial hair on this upper lip. We'll have to satisfy ourselves with the outrageous accent.

I haven't read a Captain America comic since 1994, so there may be allusions to more recent runs that go above my head, but so far it looks as though there's going to be an exciting amount of linkage with the late Mark Gruenwald's seminal yet underappreciated run on Captain America from 1985 to '94. We have Flag Smasher, presumably (so far shown as a group, although perhaps with a super strong leader) and we end with a new Captain America- presumably John Walker?

This is a good first episode, though, giving us a lot of introductory exposition and showing us Sam (with his nifty robotic Redwing) and a pardoned Bucky in a world six months after the "blip". Sam is clearly the star, bequested the shield by Steve: we begin the episode (after an awesome Falcon action set piece) with his declining to be Cap and returning the shield to the US government- only for th episode to end with someone ese being appointed Cap. But we also get to see his family, and his sister's financial struggles, as well as facing both the question of just how Avengers support themselves and what dying in the "blip" does to one's credit rating.

For Bucky we get both his coming to terms with his past actions and the weirdness of living in the present day at the age of 106 with a young body: his only apparent friend is a man close to his own generation, and he struggles with both relationships and friendships. But Sam is very much the focus.

It's a promising start, although this was pretty much a busy first episode full of exposition. But I bet the series ends with John Walker anding over the shield to Sam after failing in a similar way to Cap #350?

WandaVision: The Series Finale

 "Your power exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme. It is your destiny to destroy the world."

Now that's how you do a series finale. Satisfying, action-packed, eventful, and full of several little geeky Easter Eggs.

The main A plot is, of course, the battle between Wanda and Agatha, which is epic, cool and full of revelations. The Darkhold makes its MCU debut, and Agatha claims that the Scarlet Witch has her own chapter... and gives the above quote. Ominoud. As is the fact that we end up with a maturer Wanda, having accepted what she's done and the people she's hurt (the scene where the citizens of Westview literally beg Wanda is both powerful and necessary), flying away to explore the full extent of her magical nature. Agatha's fate is an act of almost fairytale cruelty, forced to live indefinitely as her sitcom character.

Then there's the white Vision. Those of us who remember John Byrne's run on West Coast Avengers at the end of the '80s are well aware we need to be alarmed. But in the end we get a fight between Visions which is both cool and satisfyingly resolved.

It's a busy episode, perhaps. Darcy skewers naughty old Hayward but that brief moment is pretty much all that we see of her. Woo gets to look cool in the end, and Monica (still not Captain Marvel- yet) gets a nice little post-credits sequence with a Skrull. But it is, in the MCU way, perfectly balanced between story beats, action and character. 

It's true that Wanda (and Vizh) seem to get over the twins not being real a little too easily. But overall this is a superb ending to a magnificent series.

Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986)

 "I you can fly a Sopwith Camel... you can fly anything..."

This is, let us make no bones about it, a B movie with inexplicably high production values. This is no bad thing.

Let us be equally clear that this an utterly bonkers concept. I remember naff all now, but I read two or three of the '50s publications of the W.E. Johns novels inherited from my dad in my childhood. That someone decided to make a cinematic tribute to Biggles by doing all this sci-fi stuff about a sonic weapon and, indeed, random and unexplained time travel, is enough to restore one's faith in human eccentricity. This film is both silly and wonderful. It knows damn well that ir's a B movie, as all the best B movies do.

Alex Hyde-White is superb. So is Cushing, who nevertheless looks much older than 72. So is the direction, from an old Hammer veteran. The opening titles and, in particular, the music, are both magnificent and from no other conceivable year than 1986. This so splendidly of its time. There's even a moment where Biggles gets to see a load of proper 1980s punk rockers and declare them "inconceivable"

This is wonderful. I don't care how silly it is. I don't care that airmen are inexplicably doing missions best suited to ground troops. I'm not going to criticise a B movie for this or that moment of implausibility. Just watch this film.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 1

 "I suppose it's how the future would feel..."

It's back to P.J. Hammond for the final four parter of Sapphire & Steel, and this time it's yet another highly intriguing conceptual first episode. Yes, once again it's about weirdness with time, but it feels fresh. The setting- a petrol station in 1981- is nicely different, even if it is all rather obviously in studio. It's well shot, too, with a nice tracking shot at the start, and Silver is back along with all he brings to the dynamic between Sapphire and a jealous Steel.

But the concept is nicely nuanced and original. A couple from 1948 are displaced in time to 1981, and 1948, with its ration books and newspaper headlines such as "OPERA NATIONALISED", was only as long ago as 1988 was to us, which feels weird before you reflect that the filing caninets, smoking paraphernalia and cash registers are obviously closer to the 1940s than the 2020s.

It's not just the fact that the couple are displaced, though- they are secretive, and may be running off together from their respective spouses.Time is rerunning the same few seconds as heard in traffic noise and the radio. There was a mysterious old man in 1948. There's a feeling of fear and violence. And it's allways 8.54pm, but the clocks are working... until time jumps forward a few minutes at the end.

It's an intriguing start. Let's hope this final serial, hopefully not overlong at four episodes, lives up to it.

WandaVision: Previously On...

 "The only way forward is back..."

This penultimate episode is, in its metatextual way, a flashback episode, and thus full of exposition. It's also rather serious, being full of the trauma of Wanda's tragic life, meaning the metatextuality can't be allowed ro get too fun- although Kathryn Hahn is a hoot (in a good way) as Agatha. Nevertheless, the episode is necessarily formulaic and, while well-executed, was never going to be the highlight of the season.

There's good stuff here, though, starting with Agatha's origin in Salem, Massachusetts in 1693, hinting at unseen depths of MCU magic lore. Wanda's tragic life is necessary to be seen, and her childhood love of American '50s and '60s sitcoms is cute. It doesn't really matter that the events leading to Wanda creating sitcom magic Westview through awesome power ("magic on autopilot" as Agatha says) are pretty much as we expected: it's all about the emotional beats.

And then there's the revelation at the end from Agatha: Wanda uses "chaos magic" and (let us old Marvel Zombies forget we knew this of old) she is the "Scarlet Witch", which no doubt means something in terms of MCU magic lore...

This was worthwhile. But bring on the finale...

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 6

 "Would you have me be the man who destroyed the human race?"

A fitting ending, then, to probably the finest serial so far- and yes, the only one not to have been written by P.J. Hammond. Where Hammond is full of ideas but not necessarily great with plotting or pacing, this serial may not be full of original ideas beyond letting the ravages of Time loose on the events of an Agatha Christie novel, but the execution of the plot is confident and assured.

In the end this final episode hinges on the question of who originally murdered George, as we see suspect after suspect almost kill George, only to turn out to be misdirection. It's amusing, but not so much as to be silly or to undermine plausibility, as much as one can use the word with a story like this. The same goes for the amusement value in George desperately trying to work on his breakthrough while his two women fight over him.

One cannot really defend the portrayal of Emma as a dim and gullible man-obsessed female who resents men and their work which distracts them from shagging here: it's certainly sexist, much as there are also undertones of her being a spoilr aristocrat. But 1981, let alone 1930, was a different age.

This is a satsfying finale, setting time back on track via Sapphire's well-established powers and concluding all the plot threads elegantly. It's a joy to see that being done for once in Sapphire & Steel.

Breaking Bad: Pilot

 "Actually, it's just basic chemistry, Jesse. But thank you."

Fear not: my existing series will continue to be blogged as normal. But Sundays will (usually) be Breaking Bad for the foreeable future. So let me start with the executive summary: this is sublime, as good a first episode as The Sopranos and Deadwood managed and a very similarly arthouse directorial style. The first things we see are a cactus (the New Mexico locations are magnificent) and a pair of trousers floating in the breeze like that plastic bag in American Beauty.

This episode is, basically, art, while still functioning as entertaining drama. On both counts it's rather helpful that Bryan Cranston's acting is simply incredible. Already it's quite plausible that Walter While could be a role as complex and multifaceted as Hamlet. His moral situation is exquisite.

I don't think it's the premise, superb though it is, that makes this as good as it is, though. Yes, the concept of a fifty year old chemistry professor, struggling to support his wife, disabled son and another baby on the way on his chemistry teacher's salary suddenly developing inoperable lung cancer and deciding to cook crystal meth to raise money is a bloody good one. There's an awful lot of subtext there, from the absurdity of the world's biggest superpower settling for a third world health system to the implied criticism that crystal meth dealers are crap at chemistry.

Yet it's the handling of White's interiority, more than the concept itself, that this programme reaches sublimity. Is he a good man, this meth maker in a pinny and a pair of pants? Is he, er, breaking bad? Was he always a latent psycho underneath? There's a fascinating late scene where some kids mock his son and he threatens them with violence... and all three of them sod off. It's a little microcosm of the benefits of being bad. To misquote Blackadder's Christmas Carol, sometimes we want more from life than a Bible and one's own turnip.

It's also interesting that he can't get it up early on during a delightfully awkward hand job scene but later pounds the missus properly after killing a couple of violent thickos. There's also a moment at the end where Jesse finally realises that his new partner may well have what it takes.

Excellent stuff. More please.

WandaVision: Breaking the Fourth Wall

 "Agatha all along..."

This episode, like all the rest, is enormous fun. This time the sitcom fun comes from The Office-type mock documentary comedy, which fits perfectly with the theme of a depressed Wanda as her reality seems to fall apart- with even Billy and Tommy seeing, worryingly, to have disappeared by the end.

Meanwhile there's fun with clown Vizh and escape artist Darcy at the circus, followed by his feeding him much-needed exposition as Wanda's subconscious seems to delay them. The two of them make a great double act.

But the real hero- and in some ways the real star- is Monica, who heroically manages to fight her way into Westview once again, and it's hinted that she may have gained her Captain Marvel superpowers along the way. Her confrontation with Wanda is magnificent, and would have been the highlight of the episode... were it not for the revelation of Agnes as being Agatha Harkness, and that she has been the baddie all along... as attested by her awesome theme song.

Fourth wall... who needs it? I'm loving this.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 5

 "Are those cultures...?"

It's rare for a fifth episode of a six parter to be interesting in its own right, or for it to introduce or develop new ideas: usually it's all just about moving the pieces on the board into position for the finale. Not this time.

We break the pattern a bit as Annabelle (the youngest remaining guest) is killed halfway through, while Felix- the last guest standing to have been born after 1930- dies at the end. Everyone believes by now that this is 1930. There's a rather clever scene juxtaposing a game of bridge with some telepathic exposition as Steel telepthically discusses things with Felix, now brough into the confidence of our titular couple.

Yet what makes this superb is not only the masterly progression of the plot but the concepts. George opens and walked through a door that is locked for everyone else, but not him. The guests quockly forget the deaths. There was a fire in which George was killed, as reported in the press- yet the physical evidence shows there wasn't.  We begin to see what the bacterial culture does to people as Felix's face is horribly dissolved.

This is a superb episode within a superb serial, easily the finest so far. I'm excited for the finale.