tsn-48730 Reviews

The Twilight Zone: The Hunt (1962) Season 3, Episode 19

Simply the best.

[10/10 · 31 December 2023]

Without a doubt, not even close & with no near second place the single best Twilight Zone episode ever made.

I know that's controversial considering just how many genius episodes were written in this series, especially considering how many were written by Rod Serling and that this one was not. It was written by Earl Hamner Jr who, before he sold out and became associated with the extremely sweet honey covered sugar cubes meal that became "Walton's Mountain" was actually a pretty decent writer with the original "Spencer's Mountain" novel (and better film) and many short stories.

So let all of the supposed "true syfy fans" scream in objection because it's not syfy enough. It fulfills exactly everything Rod Serling set about trying to do when he created the series. It is simply the quintessential Twilight Zone.

Gunsmoke: Magnus (1955) Season 1, Episode 12

Early Chester flop.

[5/10 · 25 December 2023]

Only the first season and already an example of why the writers shouldn't have too many episodes revolving around Chester's character. Dennis Weaver was certainly a good enough actor, but his character was written as not much more then an early western incarnation of Barney Fife, except not as smart. In the entire series the writers never really gave him all that much to work with and the show improved considerably when Ken Curtis came on board full time. Fortunately this one was saved by the other actors, spite of the clinking Chester part.

The premise itself was fine, if a bit hokey with the embarrassing brother showing up the supposedly smarter one. But it was only successful by the subplot of the self-righteous preacher with family issues of his own (dead pretty daughter who apparently went bad) threatening violence & having Magnus save the day. Good acting, with barely adequate writing and a reminder that Chester should have always have been in a further back supporting role because the writers wrote him as more of a jester than as a person anyone could actually take seriously.

Considering that Matt Dillion was a U. S. Marshal in very, very violent and booming Dodge City not long after the Civil War, the idea that he would not have had a more authentic type from the beginning, such as the much more believably tough and dependable in a fight deputy Festus Hagen character (as opposed to a comic sidekick who mostly just swept up the office and made coffee) never really worked. They were still able to have some fun interaction with Festus & Doc Adams, but at the same time there was no doubt that he could be as tough & dependable of a frontiersman, gunman & lawman as he needed to be when he had to be. Also the idea that Matt had no deputy at all for the whole territory for the first few years really made no sense either.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

The perfect childhood late show.

[10/10 · 14 December 2023]

My two cousins & myself used to spend a couple of weeks at our grandparents summer lake log cabin each year in Michigan when we were elementary school age in the early 1960's. Besides fishing, hunting for frog legs & camping in the woods, our grandparents had an older portable TV & we were allowed to stay up to watch the late, late show on WKZO as the embers were fading in the (what we thought was) huge rock fireplace.

I can recall like yesterday the 3 of us watching this very film (also War of the Worlds & Frankenstein, King Kong, etc.) at about 9 or 10 years old, eating popcorn, drinking koolaid & grandma calling out to remind us to turn the set off when the movie was over. There'll never, ever, be days like those for anyone else ever again & that's a damned shame.

I'd laughingly give the rest of my days to just be able to spend one more night with them at that age, at that time, in that sublime innocence once again. Anything.

Gunsmoke: Blood Money (1968) Season 13, Episode 19

Well acted.

[8/10 · 10 November 2023]

I've seen a few reviewers commenting that the dialogue was too long and/or was some how a negative in this episode when in fact it's one of my favorite parts of it. Yes it does drag in places (hence the eight instead of a ten), however it was for me a delight to see Anthony Zerbe in one of his best roles. He was one of TV and films most underrated actors and was certainly more deserving of better roles than he was usually offered. He always made the best of whatever role he had, but he especially shines here.

I especially enjoyed the interaction between his father's character and himself. It shows an authenticity not shown often enough.

Below Deck Mediterranean: Tightly Unwound (2023) Season 8, Episode 7

How blind is Sandy? Intentionally, that's how.

[3/10 · 7 November 2023]

The one and only single problem she has with the interior is (as always) Kyle and he showed it even more than usual in this episode. Of course that is his role in this soap opera. To be sort of a very, very untalented Joan Collins villain. Except as I said. Absolutely untalented. As in no talent. Will never go anywhere. Not just bad talent. Negative talent. Minus-ly talented.

Still he does try, but the problem is that the camera (and therefore the producers/writers) are showing his duplicity so often and so obviously that it's losing interest. We get that he's supposed to be the sneaky drama queen, but where's the sneaky part? And then at the end of the episode to have him, after one of his obviously phony pained screeds in which he is just plain lying through his teeth and trying to whip up sympathy for problems his gossiping butt caused, he's then shown with that wink and a nod smirk to his fans. But could they at least hire some actor who might be able to pull it off? Or maybe some local directors who might be able to make his role believable? I mean take four or five takes if you have to! Hell twenty! But he just ain't cutting it in this role.

Though it does look like on next week's episode we actually will get to see him fake getting a case of "the vapors" in the very best Southern style.

Still, with the hot women in often tiny bikinis it's better than watching World Wide Wrestling. Even if they're both on the same believability scale.

Law & Order: Sundown (1999) Season 10, Episode 9

No easy solution

[10/10 · 6 November 2023]

Mr Hellenbeck's actions, while of course needing to be dealt with, were predicable and of course heart wrenching all around. Yes he was in a more lucid moment in his disease which makes it even more poignant. While in the deeper parts of his Alzheimer's he wasn't aware of his wife's infidelity and so it didn't bother him. And of course it would be easy to chastise her, but they who is without sin... right?

It's why he did it that hurts him the most and no the punishment does not in anyway fit the crime. Can we truly sentence the person suffering from dementia the vast majority of their life for what they did in a brief moment of lucidity? If so how far along does their dementia have to be? Who decides? The family? The court? The family forcing an individual via the courts? The Alzheimer's ward at any state prison really is cruel and unusual punishment and it's getting much worse as all of those drug offenders we sentenced to life are now getting into their 70's and 80's. Our prisons are not just overcrowded. They really overcrowded with a quickly aging population and we're not dealing with it.

Still it's his cry while in court for sentencing were he said he was a sick old man and "She was supposed to take care of me!" That really choked me up, because he was 100% correct. In sickness or in health means in any sickness and yes I know how hard that is because I was a long time caregiver to my dying wife. You do it because it's what you're supposed to do. What you said you'd do when you got married. They're real words. Not just something you just say to get through the ceremony so you can get to the reception. Don't say them if you don't mean them or will walk away if things get hard.

Adam-12: Dirt Duel (1972) Season 5, Episode 1

Really square man.

[3/10 · 2 November 2023]

Why is it whenever they have a biker gang on Adam 12 they're never even close to realistic. I get that Jack Webb was squeaky clean (on the surface though he'd been a notorious pot smoker and partier back during his early days in Hollywood) and was not likely to have stayed caught up on the terminology of the youth of the day, but I would have hoped he'd have hired writers who had. As a child of that era I can tell you no one (and I mean no one) really talked the way he has most younger people talking on this show. And certainly not bikers.

Also, challenging chopper riders to a dirt bike race! And they accept! Those were most definitely NOT Southern California Harley riders. Not from any era. The raw absurdity of that immediately destroys the credibility of the closing statement that this was based on a true story. Yeah. Right. Sure.

The Exorcism of God (2021)

Scary?

[4/10 · 1 November 2023]

Ok so full disclosure, I didn't find The Exorcist scary and don't find possession movies to be frightening as a general rule. Mostly because they're based on a concept I don't believe in the first place. Religious psychosis as a mental illness of course. But actual possession by invisible, mythical creatures, no. So the whole time I was watching this I kept waiting for it to get scary, but it just never did. Instead it was, if anything, even less scary because it was trying too hard.

It's as if the writers and directors just decided they could make a more frightening film by making it just a lot more of the same. More exorcisms, many more pitiful endangered children, more blood, etc., but with really no added suspense. Just more gore. After a bit you're completely desensitized to it and the repetition. And that Esperanza was his daughter was visible coming from miles away and was hardly shocking either.

I guess if you're a follower of religious mythology the idea of being possessed by a demon of some kind would be pretty frightening, but in the light of day and reason, it's just not scary and this film goes way overboard with the mysticism and blood trying to make it so.

Blue Bloods: Family Secrets (2020) Season 10, Episode 19

Great intro...terrible execution!

[5/10 · 30 October 2023]

Having the addition of Detective Joe Hill was exactly what this series needed at exactly the right time. The premise to introduce him into the show was however ignorant and completely unrecognizable in what is usually fine writing in this series.

Sean tells Grandpa Frank about a first cousin that has to be Joe's child and then seemingly the next day (hour?) his mother also comes to Frank, says Joe Hill is Joe's son and wants him to assign him to a safer department. And now we're supposed to believe that Joe Hills mother showing up right after Sean's visit is just a coincidence? Who wrote that! And no they did not connect it via the DNA testing.

But worse is introducing such a potentially important character so godawfully stupidly. I mean having Joe's son! Joe's son!!! Introduced to the show because of something so moronic as Sean spitting into a cup. Damn that was dumb! The writer who thought that one up should be flogged.

How about a shooting where a young detective is wounded and the family finds out through blood samples that he's related! That he's a Reagan! That's a whole season of the family trying to find to shooter. Looking for Detective Hill's mother. Searching their feelings about their lost brother. And on and on and...

But spitting into a cup!!!! My dog could have done better than that!!!

Adam-12: The Adoption (1972) Season 4, Episode 18

Revisiting.

[6/10 · 28 October 2023]

When I first watched Adam-12 I was like a lot of young later baby boomers drowning in testosterone. The show was on in the very latest of 60's to early 70's which was just when the hormones almost destroyed my way of thinking.

Still, while I was able to think, I remember thinking the show was mostly being interesting to me then because of many beautiful young girls and women in miniskirts, minidresses, etc., plus fantastic automobiles. And in spite of it being a production from that closeted liberal tight-ass Jack Webb, there were a whole LOT of young girls in very, very short skirts and dresses in the show. Many, many more times than just a societal representation. Jack w ass a 100% bot again conservative. At least in the eyes of the public. It was a complete farce and a huge Hollywood joke. He started in loving the early L. A. Beat scene and never really left it. He never left Jazz, Blues, the whole scene, including all of the imbibing of natures own that came with it for the rest of his life. Just ask Bob Denver. Or Rock Hudson. Or Liberace. Or just about any Palm Springs resident/vacationer for decades. "Will you have some "Tea", Jack? Well of course! As always!"

Now that I'm nearing 70 I guess I still enjoy this episode in particular because of the usual great car chase. They had drifted away from the day to day police work that had made the show popular and gone to implausible, with silly undercover stuff. Here there was at least a great chase ruined by bad editing.

A green car, granted not on screen long enough to get the make or model but obviously some sort of full size Mercury or such (hard to tell, but a full size fastback) is being chased by a very sweet yellow GTO ('70 "Judge" IMHO)) and then by Adam 12 in their Satellite Sebring. But a few moments later we see some the same GTO chasing what looks like the beat up butt end of a late '60's firebird.

Granted I'd loved to have that 'bird in that exact same condition in my garage to Ishtar now. That said. Still I do love the cats you show.

As for the hot young girl in miniskirts and such? I live in a retirement community and all I have to do is to remind myself that all of those hot and sexy young girls in miniskirts are now living in the same neighborhood I am, except now they're all in they're late 60's too.

Still...if their legs are nice...I'm a widower and Platinum Member on Norwegian Cruise Lines?

Below Deck Mediterranean (2016– )

Kyle's constant gossiping is back...unfortunately.

[1/10 · 18 October 2023]

So now in season 8 we have Kyle back again, as if him being on last year wasn't punishment enough for the viewers, but mostly for the crew members who don't know him yet. And surprisingly enough even for some who do know him, like Natalya. As soon as he arrives on board he sees the rift between her and Tumi and immediately and quite delightedly sets about doing everything he possibly can to make it worse. Why? Because he loves it!

He's nothing more than a huge gossip who gets his biggest thrills talking behind other people's backs to try to stir up as much trouble as he can. That way he is what his ego demands, the center of attention. His self esteem is so incredibly low that the only happiness he can find is In attention seeking, even if it's bad attention, because it's better than no attention at all.

So he tells Natalya that Tumi said she'd have no problem firing her, even though that was a bald-faced lie and he knew it. The camera crew recorded him saying it. That sends both Tumi and Natalya into a big argument that he was the cause of, but didn't have the guts to explain to Captain Sandy about and instead just lied. After the 4th episode he was asked about it on Andy Cohen's show and again sat right there and denied saying again, even though it had just been shown on that very episode. Very cowardly.

His job is supposedly as a stew, yet as often as I have seen him on the show I have never even once seen him actually do any work at all. At anything. Ever. He never cleans anything. He starts to, but always finds an excuse to leave it to be finished by someone else or fakes getting hurt or sick and cries in bed for days at a time begging for sympathy. He always seems to be sleeping or wandering around the crew quarters or lusting after one of the guests.

Other than being a whiny, backstabbing troublemaker what function does he have on the boat? Or the program? Considering he never lifts a finger to do the slightest bit of real work what is he even getting paid for? It's certainly not for being a stew. And if he had any shame at all he'd be far too embarrassed to accept any part of any of the crew tips. He certainly never earns any of it. In fact he should be paying back all of the people he screws over behind their back & end up fired.

Or is that why he was hired? Just for the soap opera drama he provides?

Below Deck Mediterranean: The Fall Guy (2022) Season 7, Episode 17

Kyle...again.

[1/10 · 18 October 2023]

So Kyle "accidentally" falls down the stairs in a phony flop worthy of major league soccer. One wonders, considering he actually never does any work anyway, why he even bothers to fake these things just to get away with doing even less than he already does. Instead now he can just lay in bed and cause trouble between the rest of the crew without even having to leave the comfort of his cabin plus he gets to get waited on hand and foot, making him that much lazier. Of course there's always a very tiny chance that he may have a very, very slight sprain (though very unlikely).

Still, even the smallest stubbed toe would cause him to take sobbing to his bed like a big crybaby. He does the least amount of work of any of the crew and his only function on board seems to be to talk behind the backs of everyone else and then deny it when caught. Of course from time to time he makes an equally phony apology that he almost immediately goes back on by doing it all over again. I have no idea why anyone who has ever worked with him ever would again because he simply can not be trusted in any manner.

He delights in causing discord among the staff because it makes him the center of attention, even though it's in a bad way, because he's so desperate for attention that any attention is better than none at all. His biggest terror in life is not being constantly in the limelight and he doesn't care who he stabs in the back to get it.

Below Deck Mediterranean: Take It to the Bridge (2023) Season 8, Episode 4

Kyle strikes again...unfortunately...& as usual.

[1/10 · 17 October 2023]

Kyle finally made it on board last episode and immediately lost no time in causing trouble, as usual. He saw a problem between Tumi and Natalya and gleefully set about inserting himself in the middle of it to see what problems he could create. Why? Because he loves doing it! It makes him the center of attention and nothing gives him more joy than that.

He tells Natalya that Tumi would have no problem firing her (a complete lie he just made up himself), which has its intended effect of causing a fight between the two of them, getting both in trouble with Capt. Sandy 100% because of him. But of course he not only doesn't have the guts to tell the Captain the truth, he loves the fighting he started. Then he lies on camera by saying he didn't say it. Of course he's shown on camera earlier on this episode actually saying it, but even on Andy Cohen afterwards he still sat there and lied about it all over again. All the while keeping that "I have them all fooled" smirk on his face. He doesn't.

He is one of the most toxic people to ever have in any workplace that I have ever seen. Not just on the show, but period. He seems to take unending delight in turning one coworker against another, apparently just for the pure fun of it. Then when his deception's are exposed as has happened in prior seasons, he instantly turns into a complete and total whiner, complaining that he is being persecuted for some reason (that he usually makes up on the spot and is always absurd (or fakes an injury or some other such distraction to get sympathy)). Even though he is the one causing the drama, he always deflects and tries to blame others and this episode is no different.

Eventually, when backed into a corner, he apologizes. But it is always insincere since he immediately returns to his usual troublemaking ways. He's addicted to the drama and anger that he creates and makes him the center of attention that his fragile ego demands he be. It's his only joy. Rather pathetic/sad actually, but Borderline Personality Disorder doesn't belong in any functioning workplace.

Of course Captain Sandy is also partially at fault. She has blinded herself to Kyle's divisive antics. The issues between Tumi and Natalya could be dealt with, if not for Kyle constantly pouring gasoline on the sparks. Of course he'll be staying because the show's producers know he's good for the soap opera part of the show.

As an aside, he's listed as a stew, but I have never once seen him actually do any kind of work at all. Ever. He's always sleeping, wandering around the crew quarters, flirting with some guests or whatever. But never actually cleaning anything or any other stew work. He starts to sometimes, but always finds an excuse to stop and leave it for others to finish. Why exactly is he collecting a paycheck? Let alone tips? He never earns any of it.

Independence Day (1996)

Many clinkers, but what the m...

[5/10 · 8 October 2023]

There are so very many, many, many ways to pick this film apart for so many different reasons, most of them having to do with personal, scientific, technical, continuity, etc., reasons that it's become somewhat of a sport and rightfully so. The demands of the suspension of belief come at you so fast that it's near impossible to keep up with them. Artistic license is one thing, but still...

He asks her to gather some things so her and her son can come out to El Toro to stay with him because there is this incredibly huge, terrifying, alien spacecraft covering Los Angeles and yet, instead of waiting for the two of them to do do, he just leaves them behind? So while the whole of the greater LA area looks under the greatest threat EVER, he thinks it'll be just fine if she takes her son and goes to her regular shift as a stripper at some airport club, instead of going to the base? And BTW, El Toro MCAS was never out in the desert East of LA. It shut down because it became too closed in by LA's suburbs and the neighbors complained about the noise too much.

And this was a woman he wanted to marry so much that he bought her a ring. A ring he keep in his pocket until he knew he wasn't going to get into the astronaut program. Because, what the hell, if she'd said yes and NASA had too, I guess she'd have been screwed, so he had a back up plan anyway. And what was with Jimmy picking up and opening that box in the locker room and saying "This is a wedding ring." No, it's not. It looks nothing even close to a wedding ring. It looks sort of like a cocktail ring? Kind of. In a sort of cheap costume jewelry/gum ball machine sort of way.

Again, there are far, far too many places to pick at this film. Like where from the original showings did the illness of Russell Cates younger son go? In the first release he was throwing up by the side of the road because he was chronically/deathly ill and it was also talked about earlier. Also at Area 51 there was a deleted scene where Cates was demanding medical treatment for that son. Why was that cut after the first few times? I thought it was great and really humanized Cates, before the "heroic death " that redeems him. What idiot decided to cut that out? Though maybe they wanted him to be a pathetic clown instead? That's a shame. For those who have seen it you know it was better the first time. For those who haven't, you should try to find it. It's very small, but it really does add.

The the President's wife is dying from internal bleeding and she's not screaming in pain? Because if she's not then she's whacked out on such strong meds that she's dead to the world and ain't talkin' ta no one. And none of those dozens of MDs, including from that near flying OR on Air Force One, are even trying cutting into her to stop the bleeding? Bull! And where's the O2! No IV? Just a heart monitor that sounds really, really strong.

And it goes from one example to another to another to another, but no one ever watches these movies for them. Sigh. Oh well. It's still really, really fun to watch. So park your brain in neutral and keep repeating to yourself over and over again; "It's only a movie. It's only a movie. It's only a movie." You'll be just fine.

Blue Bloods: Open Secrets (2014) Season 4, Episode 15

Blindingly Obvious Script!

[1/10 · 8 October 2023]

The whole main plot of this episode was so glaringly obvious from one step to another that, even if one had never seen it before, whenever that part was on you could have practically have spoken each character's lines for them with only very few inconsequential differences.

A previous childhood abduction that has haunted Danny from the past that you absolutely KNEW the very second the father from that abduction was introduced into the storyline, was going to be solved at the very last second of the show in an extremely tear jerking ending. That's just how the Danny and the Reagan's roll.

And when Danny and Bias were walking down the hallway and met the school janitor? The director might just as well have had light people start flashing massive neon signs over her (with equally large reminders for the rest of the episode) saying "Hey! Everyone! Over here! Stop looking! She's guilt as hell!!!" Then rescuing BOTH girls alive and completely unharmed, from a locked basement!!! That's a Reagan family Sunday Dinner Orgasm of Righteous!!!

Adam-12: Log 135: Arson (1970) Season 3, Episode 10

One great subplot.

[7/10 · 5 October 2023]

There was much that clinked about this episode, not the least of which was they didn't catch the arsonist. Though it does happen from time to time that they don't always get all of the criminals and they do get some kudos on the show by demonstrating that sometimes one arsonist can give others the idea of using an ongoing arson spree to try to attempt insurance fraud. Unfortunately it also sometimes brings out the crazier firebug imitators who cause even more damage and even death.

I really liked the one subplot of Malloy and Reed answering the call of the escaped mental patient who managed to get home and was holding his wife hostage with a knife to her throat. It was very tense and looked like it could go either way, until the stern, no nonsense Psychiatric Nurse walks in and demands he hands it over and he does! My late wife was a Psych RN for 35 years and when I was an EMT I worked with her in Psychiatric ER in Phoenix for two years. The truth is sometimes (if she'd dealt with them before) no matter how big and dangerous they really were (& many really, really were) that was just exactly how she handled them. All five foot two inches of her! It could be an amazing thing to see and used to scare the heck out of me until I realized she knew exactly what she was doing. Nurses in general, but Psych RN's in particular, are incredible people! 😎👍

Below Deck Mediterranean: That Was Very Greek of Us (2016) Season 1, Episode 13

Not all about Danny.

[4/10 · 3 October 2023]

Yes of course this episode was about the continuing misadventures and complete screw ups of Danny. And there were many. His thick headedness by this point in the season was both incredible and mystifying. One wondered just how any person could have even survived to his age while being as mentally dense as him. The only possible explanation is that he had had a very spoiled and protected childhood where he got away with murder and his every whim was indulged. Of course he was fired, though it's very obvious the producers of the show made sure it didn't happen as soon as it would have on a real yacht instead of on a floating soap opera. He was better for the ratings then the boat or "crew".

Still Bryan was in his own way just as bad Danny when it came to his complete inability to also take any criticism. He is a very sexist and misogynist man, but is just as weak as Danny when it comes to the lack of ability to see anything but absolute perfection in himself. He believes he is a perfect boss, but he does treat all of the females on the show as lesser people. As below him. Even the women who are not in his department and it's certainly worse after he has been drinking. I am not in yachting, but I have managed people for more than 40 years and he has a huge ego problem and an even worse problem managing women. It will eventually destroy his career if he doesn't stop being such a 19th century male chauvinist and join the 21st century soon. And rightfully so. Neanderthals like him don't belong in today's workplace.

Below Deck: The Smell of Sweat and Desperation (2022) Season 9, Episode 10

More phony story arc.

[1/10 · 1 October 2023]

This is the third episode of Rayna supposedly being extremely insulted at Heather for calling her the N-word on the previous crew night out after Rayna had just used it on her while they were both drunk and both were laughing and there obviously was no offense from Rayna whatsoever.

Then I have no doubt that one of the shows on scene producers saw the tape or remembered it happening and decided it would be a great dramatic story line to get Rayna to pretend that she was actually offended (when she she obviously was not on camera), because racism, even as phony as this is, is always a good ratings draw, right? But Rayna, nor the rest of the "crew" they hire for this "reality soap opera on water" are nearly good enough actors to pull it off. Her "hurting" is just so obviously phony that you even catch a glimpse of a grin flash across her face when she's trying to force it out. Even she can't keep a straight face trying to deal with this dreck. Same with Heather's terrible acting, especially her weak attempt at crocodile tears. Then they force her to keep bringing it up time after time after time, no matter how many times she accepts apologies wants to drop the whole thing too. I mean who writes this garbage?

The truly sick thing about this episode and the rest of the ones involved in this farce is that took a serious issue that should be addressed and turned it into a really, really, poorly acted joke. The producers who whipped this up on the spot and which ever of these crew/actors that went along with this whole mess of a story arc should hang their heads in shame.

Allure (IV) (2017)

Shocking lesbian love scene?

[3/10 · 23 September 2023]

The single most shocking thing about what might have been a lesbian love scene just before the end of the film is that it may have actually been the only lesbian love scene in an entire film that is advertised as a lesbian erotic romance/triller, but we don't know if it even happened. We're not even sure it happened...or if there ever was one in the whole film. This is not an LGBTQ+ love film.

It's a story about how a father's sexual abuse of his daughter echoed down to the next generation, damaging his daughter grievously (which he sadly gets away with). His daughter, Laura, struggles through life as a lesbian wanting a normal life with another woman, in this case a younger Eva (& yes I know she's too young), but is unable to have any form of sex to orgasm, except in an aggressive, even painful manner. And apparently only with men.

So is she a lesbian? Certainly and not because she was sexually abused as a child, though that certainly might account for her beef for violence and anger during sex. Is Eva? Almost certainly. The first time Laura asks her to share her bed she very eager to so. When Laura gets into bed kisses her on the cheek, turns off the light and then just rolls over and says goodnight (especially after just removing her top) without making a pass at her was obviously disappointing for her. Julia Sarah Stone did a brilliant job of going through facial expressions from young eager curiosity and anticipation when Laura was removing her shirt, to confusion and disappointment when she realized she was not about to have her lesbian virginity taken. From what I can tell from Laura's violent (& painful), unsuccessful attempt to have at least some kind of sex with her right at the end, she stayed a lesbian virgin. Maybe that was part of the point.

This is a sad drama about a whole group of damaged people, who most likely never will recover or change or even get much better than they are now. Very dark and very much a drag.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Vicious Circle (1957) Season 2, Episode 29

Ten out of ten.

[10/10 · 16 September 2023]

This one gets a ten from me for a few different reasons. First of all, as I'm not the first to notice, are the subtle homoerotic undertones of the script and the acting. There had always been a gay presence in film and TV, but it wasn't always apparent on the surface. Many of the writers wrote the characters as such quietly and many members of the audience (both gay and straight) recognized what was being said, without perhaps the majority of the viewers even picking up on it. Hitchcock had already addressed this in what was (IMHO) one of his best films of all in "Rope" in which the two main characters were obviously a gay male couple (Leopold and Loeb) living together, though it was never explicitly said so. This episode would have also made an exceptional 120 minute feature.

Second of course is that it's an early Dick York vehicle and he's one of Hollywood's most tragic figures who deserves more credit as an actor than he received (Inherit the Wind comes to mind) and, when he was disabled and penniless, certainly deserved to not have all of his old Hollywood fair weather "friends" turn their collective backs on him so he ended up dying in near poverty because of their heartlessness.

Blue Bloods: Close Calls (2018) Season 8, Episode 17

Not a "Treat".

[5/10 · 14 September 2023]

As is normal in most (though not all) episodes this one is divided into a couple of different plots, but one of them really, really drags this one down because of one poor actor, the late Treat Willams.

The plot with the Muslim undercover officer being trapped in his assignment because of his qualifications was excellent, if a bit questionable on it's accuracy considering how many Muslim officers are (and were at the time) serving at many levels of different rank in the NYPD. Still it was a good story line.

Also the one with Danny again having to deal with his brother-in-law (nice seeing Kevin Dillion back as his wonderfully sleazy, but welcome and even funny self again!) was also great! The interaction of loathing, but a sort of grudging affection (because of Linda (and it actually comes through on the show as whole LOT more "real" than any chemistry between Linda and Danny ever did). I never bought them as couple on the show? Then again I never thought she was right for the part.

Still whenever Frank's old partner Lenny has shown up on the program we have had to suffer through Treat Williams' terrible, fingernails on a chalk board excuse for acting. I get that he has many fans, but I see him as someone who an influential person or group of people once decided was a good actor and it became sort of a "given" that "everyone knows" and no one ever challenged, even though he just wasn't very good and never had been. But by a certain point it really takes on a life of its own. Like for decades every major critic always putting "Citizen Kane" at the top of their list as the best film ever made, in spite of the truth that it's really not all that good of a movie and many more made at the time and since are far, far better. Still, whenever a critic or movie reviewer was asked to list the top 10 films of all time, there it always was at the top of the list even if they didn't really think so themselves. You would all of your credibility as a film critic if you didn't automatically put it at the top of your top ten list because, well "everyone knows" it's the best one ever made and who are you to question it! It'd become an "given".

Sort of like actors such as Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio and a few others. "Dahling! Simply everyone says they're one of the great actors ever! So they must be! Right?" It's become "given" that they good actors, when they really are just plain not. They're both really terrible actors but it's become a given that they're better than they actually are and it's gained its own momentum. No critics dare say otherwise because they're terrified of having their credibility attacked for stating that actual truth.

Blue Bloods: Two-Faced (2019) Season 9, Episode 17

Lenny spoils another.

[4/10 · 13 September 2023]

I always record Blue Bloods in advance so I can blow past the commercials and also every scene in every episode with the Commissioners old partner Lenny in it. As in every time Treat Williams is on the screen. A long time ago someone (apparently influential?) for some unknown reason decided he knew how to act and many other people apparently bought into it also for some unknown reason. Since then he has been a plague on whatever screen he has ever appeared on and always to the detriment of whatever show or film it was. And the longer he was in acting instead of getting better with experience he just became worse and worse and worse. I can only assume that he was cast as Lenny in Blue Bloods as a favor to one of the Producers or perhaps even Tom Selleck himself, because it certainly wasn't because he ever learned his craft.

I know one is not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but it's a huge relief and a massive benefit to the show that there'll never be another grating, fingernails on the chalkboard appearance of Lenny again.

And no I'm not an actor myself, but one does not need to know how to play a piano to tell when someone is slaughtering a Mozart concerto.

Law & Order: Political Animal (2008) Season 18, Episode 6

Looks familar.

[9/10 · 11 September 2023]

I have seen this episode several times and the more things change the more they stay the same. This episode is from fifteen years ago (2008) as I write this review, but it could have been produced today. In fact the main character, Victor Vargas, may be playing the role of a political fundraiser, but considering how easily he lies and how much even he believes those lies he bears a striking resemblance to a certain Congressman from Long Island named George Santos (if that is his real name?), right down to a reference to South America.

Granted Congressman Santos is not accused of anything like a triple murder. Yet the whole time anyone is watching this one I dare them to not see George Santos every time Victor Vargas is seen obviously lying on the show. Even the mannerisms are the same.

Wagon Train: The John Darro Story (1957) Season 1, Episode 8

Poor writing.

[3/10 · 5 September 2023]

As another reviewer has pointed out the coincidences in the script are just far too many and far too contrived to make the story believable. The subject of a song of cowardice concerning a wagon train, being sung on a wagon train, about a massacre on a wagon train, while at the same time as a survivor of the aforementioned wagon train massacre song happens to join the current wagon train, then meets the subject of that song on that wagon train, humiliates him in front of everyone on the wagon train and than is saved by him in a sudden act of courage? That's the writers piling it more than a bit high and deep. Way, way, way more. The rewriting of the really bad song at the end certainly didn't help any either.

Then there's the casting. Kim Charney was one of the most irritating child actors of all time and this was a prime example of why he rightfully left acting and went into medicine instead. It's also always amazed me at how Eddie Albert seemed to be cast in roles of cowardice considering that he was actually a genuine WWII Naval hero (Bronze Star recipient) while commanding a landing craft in the invasion of Tarawa for going back and saving the lives of dozens of Marines caught on the reefs during the disastrous first landing.

Waco: Madman or Messiah (2018)

Skews way too much in Vernon Howell's favor.

[3/10 · 3 September 2023]

The first part is much more balanced, but it takes a sudden, screeching turn toward the Davidians favor in the second half. We are presented with the still blinded believers in the dead cult leader in the same light as if they still have some rational credibility, instead of those who would still be followers of Jim Jones or Charles Manson as they more properly are. Instead of being the delusional followers of an equally delusional twisted sociopath.

Then there are the biblical scholars who showed up on the radio program giving Vern a further excuse (as if he needed one) to yet again refuse to come out when he never had any intention to all along. They only added fuel to the fire. He had already lied once when he said he'd lead everyone out if his religious screed was played on national TV, but when it was he refused. He said his "commander in chief" now told him to wait. BULL! He'd been lying all along. He lied for a living and to keep his status as the cult leader. Besides he was soaking up the attention and spotlight in classic Borderline Personality Disorder fashion and was much too cowardly to come out to rightfully face the legal repercussions for all he'd done. The Seven Seals was just another distraction and there would have been more excuses after that. He was never, ever going to come out of there alive voluntarily and was always going to make sure as many of his followers died with him as possible. He was suicidal, but was going to put on as much of an egotistical circus show as he could, for as long as he could beforehand.

From the beginning to the end there is, was and always has been only one single person responsible for every single death in the whole Waco tragedy. And that person was a narcissistic Bible-beating lunatic cultist named Vernon Wayne Howell. His are the only blood soaked hands. If he hadn't been born extremely mentally twisted in the first place (or at all) none of this would have ever happened.

As for my sympathy for those who died, I save it for the innocent children. I have nothing but contempt for the parents who let them die with them. That includes several of those who appeared in this program, still trying to rationalize in their own minds the insanity of what they did and the innocent deaths they were complicit in, especially their own children's.

The adults, those who weren't shot and murdered by the others, all made their decision to burn with him (though he chose to shoot himself in the head instead rather than burn with them also) in a fire they set themselves, so I could care less about them. They got what they prayed for and deserved.

I also have no patience for the ones who say they wish they'd died in the fire too. I simply don't believe them. They're just plain lying. They had their chance to do it and they screwed even that up. Their "faith" is just as phony as they are. They all belonged to a suicidal cult and they turned out to be in the cowards wing.