Supernatural 9.1 "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" Recap (Spoilers)

“THE ANGELS HAVE FALLEN!” I literally can’t watch that Supernatural 8.23 scene and not hear Gerard Butler’s voice in my head from Olympus Has Fallen. The season 9 premiere of Supernatural was jam packed with the humor, action, mythology, and brotherly bond true fans have grown to love and appreciate from the show over the last 9 years. The episode was well paced with Dean, Sam and Castiel going through separate crises, with scenes interspersed throughout with Sam and Dean together.

Revenge of the Fallen: The fallen angel community is gunning for Castiel, believing him to be the source of their predicament. As angels do their best Patrick Swayze, roaming around in search of vessels, they also deal with the major identity crisis that comes with losing their grace and attempting to find their way in a world they have to share with the same humans many resent. Castiel is also thrust into his humanity, experiencing pain and the inability to heal instantly. In an extremely comedic scene, Castiel uses the bass in his voice to order a biker off of a payphone. When that doesn’t work, Castiel comes to the harsh reality that placing his fingers and hand on another man’s forehead only results in the response, “first I’m going to finish my call. Then I’m going to stab you.” In a sequence of events that play out like the film Misery, Castiel meets a fellow angel named Hail who looks to Castiel as an Obi-Wan of sorts. She then knocks him out and later tells him that she plans to take over his vessel because hers is too weak to contain her angelic essence. Cas puts on his seatbelt and crashes the car, throwing Hail out of the windshield and leaving her body a tattered mess. She threatens to put out an APB to all angels about his location if he doesn’t give her his body, forcing Cas to stab and kill her. Nobody puts trenchcoat baby in a corner! 

Can you hear me now?: While in the hospital with a comatose Sam, Dean sends out a city-wide prayer to any angels in hearing distance to come and help Sam. A hottie on a bus, a businessman and a man on a tractor all appear to hear and respond to the prayer. However, angel businessman assaults Dean trying to find out where Castiel is hiding. Angel hottie stops the assault long enough for Dean to stab the other. I don’t remember seeing Footloose arrive on his tractor. It’ll probably take him a minute… My Dollhouse boo, Tahmoh Penikett, guest starred as fallen angel hottie, Ezekiel. In Hebrew, Ezekiel means “May God strengthen him” and as we saw in this episode, Dean implores Ezekiel to heal Sammy and revive him from his coma. Little did Dean know that a deeper battle for the will to live was being waged inside Sam’s own head…

Clusterfuzz: Sam’s head is a bit of a clusterfuzz. Then again, he has died five times, ingested mass amounts of demon blood, gone to hell, lost his soul, and then had it returned at warp speed, practically ripping his head apart. If you remember from the season 8 finale, Sam now believes that he has been a burden to his brother and the world. He was more than willing to sacrifice himself in the final of the Dante Inferno type trials, and could not understand Dean’s desire for him to survive. It was a heart wrenching scene of Sam acknowledging and regretting making bad choices leading to Dean’s disappointment. Dean, however, reassures Sam that he is his rock and the only reason he keeps going. [Insert epic hug]. Visions of Dean and Bobby danced in Sam’s head as Dean represented Sam’s desire to survive and Bobby represented Sam’s desire for eternal rest. It’s always a joy to have Bobby back on screen with the boys. The bond and chemistry between the three is so close that even them snuggly sharing the front seat of a ’67 Chevy Impala was only slightly awkward. After Bobby takes Sam to a place where he can throw in the towel, Dean stabs Bobby through the heart and Sam let’s Dean (his desire to survive) go. Julian Richings definitely plays the coolest depiction of Death I’ve seen in a long time. (I wouldn’t bump into him on the street, though.) Death tells Sam that the prospect of taking him away is a true honor. Sam tells Death that if he goes he does not want to be resurrected ever again.

Choices: Ezekiel informs Dean that he can heal Sam if Dean allows him to merge with Sam and heal them both from the inside. Initially Dean is against the idea of possessing Sam with anything, but relents upon realizing it’s his only hope. Ezekiel appears in Sam’s mind as a vision of Dean. Sam unwittingly gives Ezekiel permission to enter his body and Dean once again has a “Sammich”: Sam on the outside, but a very monotone entity running the show from the inside.

It will be interesting to see what happens when vessels are unable to contain the angels. However, we now know that Castiel's vessel is coveted since it is strong enough to contain his angelic essence. But there's no angel like Cas; only he could make drinking a bottle of water possess more depth than most actors' death scenes.

What did you think of the season premiere of Supernatural season 9? Are you as excited about the rest of the season as I am?!

Drop Dead Diva 5.9 "Trust Me"

Good evening guys and dolls! The fall return of Drop Dead Diva premiered tonight and it definitely started off in full force. The title "Trust Me" was pretty fitting, considering Jane asks Owen to trust her at least seven times throughout the episode. Jane has been plagued with dreams of Grayson and Nicole making out and getting hot and heavy in elevators while she's standing right there trying to break it up like a middle school hallway monitor.

With the fate of the firm hanging in the balance, Jane, Owen and Grayson attempt to keep up appearances so that they don't lose clients to other firms. Jane takes on a case for a woman providing shelter to abused women, while she herself is blocked from an inheritance which could be of use to them. Grayson defends a young man who identifies himself as a vampire, apparently speaks in Parseltongue, and was removed from a flight. Jane misses a clause in the inheritance contract which results in all of the inheritance going to the skeezeball brother. Emotions ran high in the hallway as Owen reprimanded Jane for her mistake, the client declared she would sue the firm, Parker's representative Tuttle chimed in about the impending downfall of the firm, and there was lots and lots of yelling.

During her case, Jane finally breaks down on the stand, in what she would later claim was acting, about her law firm family being in danger and Owen being the potential father of her best friend's baby. I was in tears and was glad that the elephant in the room was finally addressed -in a room full of strangers and Jane's colleagues. After Jane's breakdown, Tuttle informs her and Owen that Parker removed himself as a partner, reiterating the fact that he turned his back on the firm and Jane, who you may remember took a bullet for him.

Surprisingly, Jane's client was in on Jane's "act" on the stand, giving Jane the opportunity to address another technicality in the inheritance clause allowing her client to take full control. Owen promotes Jane to partner and pretty boy Grayson momentarily attempts to play the martyr as he tells Jane of his relationship with Nicole, and adds that a guy can only take so much rejection. Boo hoo, Grayson. I don't think a guy who jumps from woman to woman is too concerned with rejection, so go have your pity party in a corner while Jane has her promotion party. Overwhelmed with emotions, Jane goes to her rooftop spot where Paul finally decides to be a guardian angel. Apparently when Kim's away, he can actually do his job. Paul throws caution to the wind and advises Jane to live her life however she wants, guardian angel punishment be darned.

Though I'm not happy that Jane's love life seems to stay in a perpetual state of limbo, I was right there with this episode of DDD up until the point in the show when I had to contain my vomit. Stacy tells Jane that she's pregnant with Owen's baby and then Owen tears up the amendment he had drafted to the donor contract, essentially saying he wants to be acknowledged as father to their baby, not just as a sperm donor. Upon learning that he will be a father, Owen and Stacy embrace and then start to make out, in the most chemistry-less scene ever, because Stacy wouldn't be Stacy unless she were swapping spit with one of Jane's loves.

Did you enjoy the fall premiere of Drop Dead Diva? What do you think will happen now that Stacy and Owen have crossed yet another line? What are you hoping to see in this second half of the season?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 1.2

After the series premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. last week, I wrote a post on the 5 things fans needed to know about the new hit show. This week, after being only marginally impressed with episode 1.2, I am introducing 5 things the show writers need to know in order to enhance the show and keep the momentum high:    

1. While I understand there’s a pace to things, Agent May is an interesting character with an intriguing backstory which needs to be touched on more, rather than half of her screen time being filled with silent seething in the pilot seat. Viewers know she doesn’t want to be returning to the field, but why? Why was she initially choosing to be on desk duty? No one likes desk duty. I’d also like to see more instances of why the agency refers to her as “The Calvary.” That has a nice Wyatt Earp feel to it. Very interesting character development potential there.  

2. Fitz and Simmons need to delve deeper into their inner geeks without so much mousy dialogue. With an actual rocket scientist in the mix, that leaves the door wide open for more witty jokes and awesome science projects!  

3. Pairing two unappealing characters together for numerous scenes just makes certain parts of the episode…unappealing. I’m looking at you, scenes with Skye and Agent Ward. I read an article last week saying don’t be afraid to kill off non-essential characters. Go with that. I can’t help but roll my eyes whenever Skye is onscreen aiming for quippy when she’s altogether forgettable. It’s looking like Skye is going to be the traitor in the group, so she’s typically seen standing a part, receiving mysterious Rising Tide texts. Obviously that storyline will grow, but I’d appreciate her so much more if she were similar to the character of Bella from Supernatural. I hated that gal’s guts, but she played the role of antagonist/occasional, egocentric ally to Sam and Dean flawlessly, with just the right amount of sardonic banter. Oh and let’s never again compare Skye’s role as “consultant” to that of Tony Stark’s.  

4. Please don’t get to the point where you’re relying on end-episode surprises and Marvel nuggets to be your big draw. You’re better than that. I wasn’t too impressed with all of episode 1.2, but I stuck around because I knew a Marvel Universe cameo was planned.  

5. The thing about bad guys and villains is that they need to at least make a viewer’s butt cheeks pucker out of fear and/or excitement. If not, then they’re not doing their job and need to go back to Bad-Anon. Last night’s bad guys were pretty lame, although Agent Coulson’s marksmanship, Agent May kicking more butt, and Agent Ward employing a handy dandy bad guy repellent device were high points. They don’t have to be “super” villains, per se, (although that would be a great opportunity for Fitz and Simmons to utilize some more S.H.I.E.L.D. weaponry and technology) but they do need to be more challenging than the hole in the jet, which, let’s be honest, was the true adversary for our heroes last night.    

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Premiere (Spoilers)

5 things you need to know about the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series premiere:

1.       Agent Phil Coulson is most likely a Life Model Decoy. (It’s okay, don’t dwell.) LMDs are S.H.I.E.L.D. designed androids that have appeared in various Marvel comic books. There are many LMDs of S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury himself. During a scene where Agent Coulson recounts his peaceful, yet unfulfilling time away from the field, Agent Hill and Dr. Streiten exchange discreet words about Agent Coulson being under the impression he spent his recovery in Tahiti, when really he has no idea about his previous whereabouts. If you saw The Avengers then you know that Agent Coulson got, as he put it, “shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini.” It was pretty brutal, he clearly had internal bleeding, and he seemingly died, but now Agent Coulson’s “death” is only referenced as a ruse; the catalyst the Avengers needed to band together and take down Loki and his minions.
2.       Agent Coulson’s team is a well-balanced mix of brain and brawn (with three strong, intelligent women!) Agent May is an ace pilot, weapons expert, and trained combat fighter; Agent Ward is a black ops specialist; Agent Fitz and Agent Simmons (initially referred to as Fitzsimmons, which reinforces their closeness) specialize in weapons technology and human/alien life sciences, respectively. New recruit Skye is an advanced computer hacker. They all bring charm, wit, intelligence, warmth, and goofiness to the table, which makes them a formidable and appealing team.
3.       In regards to canon, the pilot takes place after the events of The Avengers, and most likely either before or during the events of Iron Man 3.  Both the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode 1.1 and IM3 plots revolve around the Extremis Virus (an experimental regenerative treatment intended to allow recovery from crippling injuries).
4.       Did you notice Ron Glass from Firefly and Serenity as Dr. Streiten? How about J. August Richards from Angel as Mike Peterson? My guess is that we will be seeing a lot more actors from some of Joss Whedon’s other stellar works like Buffy, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and of course, hopefully, The Avengers.
5.       Agent Coulson’s red 1962 C1 series Corvette convertible, Lola, is fitted with Tony Stark hover technology. That baby purrs and flies! So definitely, “Don’t touch Lola!”

*I think Joss could also tap into the Marvel animated universe a bit. If you watch, or have kids who watch, Ultimate Spider-Man, Agent Phil Coulson is acting principal of Midtown High School where some superheroes, like Iron Fist, attend. I think that would be a cool way to incorporate new superheroes and some undercover type work from Agent Coulson and/or his team.


What are your thoughts? Did you enjoy the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiere? Will you be tuning in for the rest of the season? Sound off in the comment section below!

Lucas Black Returns to Fast and Furious

Maybe it’s the rush I’m still on after watching Fast and Furious 6 for the first time this past weekend (I know, I know I’m late) but upon (finally) reading confirmation that Lucas Black will be returning to the F&F series, I literally busted out a dance move at my cubicle. Sean Boswell’s return would be the logical step for the next film which chronologically follows his starring role in 2006’s Tokyo Drift. There has been much hype about other new casting choices such as Jason Statham, Tony Jaa, Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou, and Ronda Rousey, but I, and many other fans I’m sure, have been waiting to hear about Black. I have been checking his Wikipedia page incessantly since the spring to see if his filmography would be updated with Fast & Furious 7, even if they were attempting to keep it hush-hush in the entertainment news. Tokyo Drift wasn’t necessarily my favorite film in the series, but it had Black as Boswell, along with Han, and introduced Drifting. I have been a fan of Black’s since American Gothic. That little boy could act! I’m sure his onscreen chemistry with Tyrese and Ludacris will be hilarious. I can’t wait to see what the next installment has in store for fans!

Sleepy Hollow Comes Out Ahead

Sleepy Hollow premiered with over 10 million viewers, chopping down the Monday night competition and becoming Fox's highest-rated fall opener in seven seasons.

If you merged Jason Vorhees and Ghost Rider together during the Revolutionary War, I’m pretty sure the result would be Sleepy Hollow’s menacing Headless Horseman. (Especially after you witness the Horseman rise out of the lake and stride over to his horse like a GQ model, sans skull.) The premiere of the new FOX show had me hooked for its witty and charming characters, stellar camera work, and unique, original storyline. Initially, I wasn’t too impressed with the previews and thought the show might be cheesy but chose to watch because, though FOX doesn’t always know how to keep great shows on, the network has had its share of gems that didn’t get the time they deserved to shine: Tru Calling, Dollhouse, Lie to Me, Dark Angel, Night Visions, Millennium, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Firefly, and M.A.N.T.I.S. I was thoroughly entertained with Sleepy Hollow. The fact that there is a diverse cast with a strong, tough, beautiful leading African American lady in the form of Nicole Beharie was just icing on the cake. (She went total Tyson on a thumb.) Ichabod Crane and Abbie have a chemistry that cannot be ignored, highlighted by their tête à tête conversations on slavery emancipation, women wearing trousers, and Starbucks. Ichabod and Abbie also have an inherently deeper connection which will continue to emerge as the season progresses, primarily due to the fact that they are the two witnesses who must face seven years of tribulation in order to save the world. Welp, that’s one way to get to know someone.

Another interesting piece of the puzzle is that Ichabod’s wife, burned at the stake for being a witch after she cast the spell which sent him 200+ years into the future, remains stuck in an alternate plane, reaching out to warn and advise Ichabod through his dreams. Then there is the Headless Horseman who turns out to be one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; a truly formidable opponent, I’d say. When we first see the Horseman, as he prepares to battle Ichabod pre head loss, he has a mask covering half of his face and eerie, glassy blue eyes. In the present, the Horseman decapitates his victims with a heated broad axe blade, and some color guard style embellishments, leaving no messy cleanup. However, the Horseman quickly and proficiently begins using a shotgun and automatic rifle because…why not? If I could function without a head, I’d be pretty bad-ass, too, using Post-Its as throwing stars.

In a Harry Potter type twist, Ichabob and the Horseman are oddly connected after some icky co-mingling of their blood following their first altercation. Moreover, now that Abbie has discovered a mysterious key in Sheriff Corbin’s office, there is sure to be more evil creatures, bad guys posing as good guys within the police department, and more of Clancy Brown’s notable narration as Abbie uncovers additional secrets and answers from his research into the mysterious town. Because only a town named Sleepy Hollow could have unsolved cases; mysterious, supernatural occurrences; and remain in a perpetual state of autumn. Hopefully the creative juices will continue to flow as writers embark on what looks to be a great first season to a new hit show.