Smallville (2003) – Rush, and Prodigal

A rave in the caves causes problems for Pete (Sam Jones III) and Chloe (Allison Mack) in Rush. First airing on 4 February, 2003, this episode was written by Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer. The pair are infected with a parasite that makes them adrenaline junkies, and that is not only going to cause problems…

Star Trek: The Mimicking Menace (1975)

January 1975 got underway with a new adventure of the U.S.S. Enterprise courtesy of Gold Key Comics. Issue 28 featured a story by George Kashdan, and the continued art of Alberto Giolitti and a cover painting by George Wilson. The issue’s splash page shows McCoy and Spock under fire from Captain Kirk and Lt. Calder…

Stargate SG-1 (2006) – Flesh and Blood, and Morpheus

The final season of Stargate SG-1 began on 14 July, 2006 with the episode, Flesh and Blood. Written by Robert C. Cooper, the episode picks up with the Ori arc right away. The Ori invasion continues, a large portion of the human fleet has been destroyed. Vala (Claudia Black) delivers her baby, who grows at…

Mickey 17 (2025) – Bong Joon Ho

Bong Joon Ho the writer/director of Parasite dove into Edward Ashton’s science fiction novel, Mickey7, and brought it to the big screen. And it gives us a quirky, darkly comic, and smartly told film starring Robert Pattinson. Pattinson is Mickey. He and his ‘buddy’, Timo (Steven Yuen), need to get off of Earth, They owe…

Dreamcatcher (2003) – Lawrence Kasdan

I don’t know why this one didn’t work so well twenty years ago. Lawrence Kasdan (!) directs from a script he wrote with William Goldman (!), based on a novel by Stephen King (!) , a score by James Newton Howard (!) and a top-notch cast; Damian Lewis, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Morgan…

Fringe (2008) – The Cure, and In Which We Meet Mr. Jones

It’s Olivia’s (Anna Torv) birthday and she gets handed a really bizarre case as a means to celebrate. The Cure was written by Felecia D. Henderson and Brad Kane and had an original airdate of 21 October, 2008. Through the course of the episode, Olivia reveals a tortured past to Peter (Joshua Jackson) even as…

TIFF 2021: Encounter dir. Michael Pearce

From the beginning of the film, thanks to the way the film is told, and the willing suspension of disbelief that is inherent with cinema, we believe Malik (Riz Ahmed) and his conviction that a microscopic parasitic alien organism has come to the planet and is slowly taking over, manipulating people to their own end….

The X-Files (1994) – Firewalker, and Red Museum

Leland Orser, Shawnee Smith, Hiro Kanagawa and Bradley Whitford guest star in the first episode of The X-Files up this week. Firewalker was written by Howard Gordon and first aired on 18 November, 1994. Agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) have their office back! The X-Files are re-opened, and they are off to…

The X-Files (1993) – Ghost in the Machine, and Ice

Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon pen the first kind of ‘iffy’ episode with Ghost in the Machine. First airing on 29 October, 1993, it’s Halloween and Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) find themselves investigating a murder which may have been committed by a smart building. They are called into investigate the case by…