The group is reunited with Appa, and Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) is now determined to get to the Earth King (Phil LaMarr) and explain the upcoming eclipse that will temporarily disable the Fire Nation, and reveal the truth about his kingdom of Ba Sing Se. This will lead them into direct conflict with Long Feng…
Tag: manipulate
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 1: Water (2005) – Jet, The Great Divide, and The Storm
Problems arise for our heroes, when they meet a young revolutionary named Jet (Crawford Wilson). This episode, written by Aaron Ehasz, was first broadcast on 6 May, 2005. After stumbling upon a Fire Nation encampment, Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), Katara (Mae Whitman) and Sokka (Jack De Sena), Jet rescues them and reveals his hidden encampment…
Star Trek: Picard (2022) – Monsters, and Mercy
Monsters is probably my least favourite episode of Star Trek: Picard Season Two, and perhaps the whole series in general. It changes several things about Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) established past, though they can be argued the other way, the age of his mother, Yvette (Madeline Wise) when she died, there’s next to no mention of…
Family Ties (1983) – Sherry Baby, The Fugitive Part 1, and Part 2
Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Alex (Micheal J. Fox) find themselves manipulated and used in Sherry Baby. Written by Barbara Hall, it first aired on 12 January, 1983. Mallory is intent on getting into a sorority and her classmate, Sherry (Lisa Lucas) may be the key. But Sherry has her eye on Alex. So Mallory attempts…
Batman: Hush (2019) – Justin Copeland
The DC Animation adaptation of Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee is a solid piece of work and attempts to walk a balancing act between the established canon of the animated films, and the comics. There are also a lot of layers at work throughout the course of the film, something that doesn’t happen…
The Equalizer (1986) – Torn, and Unnatural Causes
Robert McCall (Edward Woodward) is Torn in this episode written by Carleton Eastlake from a story by Maurice Hurley and Joel Surnow. It first aired on 5 February, 1986. McCall is asked by a young girl, Laura (Melissa Joan Hart) to help her and her mother, Jessie (Caitlin Clarke) from her abusive father, O’Toole (Robert…
Mission: Impossible (1970/1971) – The Hostage, and Takeover
Sometimes, your cover is just too good. Paris (Leonard Nimoy) finds that out in the first few minutes of The Hostage. Written by Harold Livingston, this episode first debuted on 19 December, 1970. The IMF is working south of the border again, and Paris has been posing as a hotel magnate that has agreed to…
Nightmare Alley (1946) – William Lindsay Gresham
Before I see del Toro’s new film, which is an adaptation of this novel, I wanted to visit the source material, because I do love me a good noir story, and this one is a classic. And perhaps because the beats and the tropes of the noir genre are so familiar it’s easy to suss…
Weird Science (1985) – John Hughes
John Hughes’ Weird Science is very much a male teen fantasy fulfillment. It riffs on Frankenstein while drawing in themes of self-confidence, and being who you are instead of worrying about what others think of you, because in the end, if they really like you, they’ll like you for you. Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and…
Mission: Impossible (1969) – Submarine, and Mastermind
Donald James pens an exceptional episode of Mission: Impossible, Submarine, which was first broadcast on 16 November, 1969. Phelps (Peter Graves) and his IMF team are working with a ticking clock. They have to kidnap former SS officer, Kruger Schetlman (Stephen McNally), and learn the location stolen Nazi funds, before the local military police track…
The Mind Reels 