Smallville (2002) – Tempest, and Vortex

Tempest closes out the first season of Smallville. Written by showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar from a story by Philip Levens, season one came to a close on 21 May, 2002. The spring formal is here, Clark (Tom Welling) and Chloe (Allison Mack) are headed out together. And there’s lots of other character stuff…

One Piece: Season 1 – East Blue, Part 2

There is so much to discover on Crunchyroll, and I may have been foolish to dig into something so huge as One Piece right off the bat, but I was intrigued by the concept, and after watching the first few episodes I was hooked. The first half of the season helped set up a lot…

The Expanse (2018) – Dandelion Sky, and Fallen World

Things are escalating quickly as Holden (Steven Strait) and The Investigator/Miller (Thomas Jane) arrive on the central node at the heart of the bubble that is the Slow Zone. Written by Georgia Lee, Dandelion Sky first aired on 13 June, 2018. He’s not the only one on his way there, however. It seems a Martian…

The Expanse (2017) – The Seventh Man, and Pyre

While Mars and Earth teeter on the brink of war, Anderson Dawes (Jared Harris) reminds the OPA that it’s the best place for the Belters to keep them. At the same time, Draper (Frankie Adams) begins to recall what really happened during the attack on Ganymede, remembering that the UN forces weren’t firing on her…

The Expanse (2017) – Safe, and Doors & Corners

Season two of The Expanse got underway with a two-episode premiere on 1 February, 2017 with Safe and Doors & Corners. Safe was written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and plunges us right back into the realm of the Rocinante and the protomolecule, and the possibility of system-wide war. While Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo) begins…

M*A*S*H (1982) – Promotion Commotion, Heroes, and Sons and Bowlers

Promotion Commotion by Dennis Koenig first aired on 1 March, 1982. It’s just a fun goofy episode, though there’s a nice story that develops between Potter (Harry Morgan) and a wounded soldier, Danielson (Jim Boyce) who is catching flak from the rest of his unit because he wants to stay faithful to his girl at…

The X-Files (2002) – Trust No 1, and John Doe

Series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz pen Trust No 1, a mythology episode that first aired on 6 January, 2002. Scully (Gillian Anderson), Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish) find themselves being used in a plot to flush Mulder out of hiding. It seems there is a super-soldier element working within the NSA…

Battle Los Angeles (2011) – Jonathan Liebesman

Aaron Eckhart leads a squad of marines in this tale of alien invasion, that owes its pedigree to the likes of War of the Worlds and Independence Day. Is it great? No. But it ends up being fairly solid entertainment, and has a pretty solid cast surrounding Nantz (Eckhart) and his marines, including Michelle Rodriguez,…