Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Starman Plays Betrayal at Krondor - Part 44

An unusual episode in which the sound is a bit wonky because my audio commentary was somehow lost , re-recorded, and then went out of sync with the video. At any rate, despite this hardship, we will explore the northeast road from Krondor before returning to The Dimwood to do the one new quest introduced in Chapter Three.


Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Black Lightning Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 4 - The Book of Consequences: Chapter 4: Translucent Freak

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

With Tobias Whale behind bars, Jefferson ponders the future of his life - as a teacher and as Black Lightning. But as much as he'd love to explore rekindling his romance with Lynn and hang up his costume, he finds himself fighting Anissa when he discovers that's been playing Robin Hood with money she's stolen from Freeland's criminals.


Influences

The Black Lightning comics of Tony Isabella.


Performances

Nafessa Williams and China Anne McClain do a great job playing up the relationship between Anissa and Jennifer here.


Artistry

While it's immediately obvious that it is a dream sequence, the opening where Jennifer fights Painkiller after he kills her family and Issa Williams as she's getting ready to go to a dance with Issa, is brilliantly shot and well choreographed.


Trivia

The quote we see on the blackboard in Jefferson's classroom is from Langston Hughes' Let America Be America Again.

(It never was America to me.) 
 O, let my land be a land where Liberty 
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, 
But opportunity is real, and life is free, 
Equality is in the air we breathe.


Technobabble

Sean Phillips - one of the Green Light Babies - was experiencing rapid mitochondrial degeneration. He apparently had the power of cryokinesis but froze himself solid in his pod while Dr. Jace was watching him die.

Jefferson, Anissa and Jennifer all have stable metahuman DNA profiles.  Jefferson's DNA shows signs of having taken The Green Light vaccine. Jennifer and Anissa's do not.


Dialogue Triumphs

Henderson: How is it you never seem to age?
Tobias: Well, a vegan lifestyle with a little yoga really does work. I keep saying black folks gotta get off of that fried chicken & watermelon, Kool-aid diet. Plus I do my best to stay out of the sun.

Henderson: You forgot something, you translucent freak. You are not going to get away with this!
(Henderson turns to leave the room. As he gets to the door, Tobias speaks.)
Tobias: Deputy Chief Henderson? "Translucent." That's a very interesting choice of words. It means you can see right through me. And if you can see right through me, then you know what I'm thinking.

Kara: You lying old hypocrite! You ain't no better than I am!
Gambi: No, I'm not. But I've had time to atone. You don't.


Continuity

Jennifer has a nightmare about fighting Painkiller after he kills her family.

The dream suggests that Jennifer has feelings for Issa Williams.

Jennifer still can't confine her fears in a box in her head. This seems to be tied to her feelings for Khalil before he became Painkiller.

All the DNA evidence in Alvin Pierce's murder disappeared in the last week, as Tobias was captured. It is implied that Detective Summers was the cop who stole the evidence before Tobias killed him.

It is further suggested that Tobias called the cops on himself, so that his name would be cleared on the murder charges that sent him into hiding.

The District Attorney of Freeland is a woman named Ms. Montez.

Gambi tells Jefferson about the Anissa robbing the mobsters in 203.

Anissa moves out of Jefferson's house after he plays the "As long as you live under my house..." card.

Anissa finds out that Painkiller is still texting Jennifer. Jennifer says she still hasn't responded.

Jefferson refers to Lynn killing a man with a shotgun in 113. Lynn says she has made peace with that.

Jefferson reveals to Henderson that he saw Tobias Whale murder his father. He says he never revealed this before because Gambi was afraid it would make Jefferson a target.

Kara Fowdy is revealed to be alive, barely, after collapsing in Gambi's home in 203. Gambi is caring for her but she has sepsis and says it is only a matter of time before she dies.

Jefferson is apparently teaching English at Garfield High now.

Armed security guards are now walking the halls of Garfield High.

Principal Lowry has instituted a zero-tolerance policy, with whoever throws the first punch in a fight being automatically expelled and the other fighter being suspended for one week.

Principal Lowry makes it clear that he doesn't want Jefferson around, doesn't want his input and that he doesn't care about nuance, thinking that zero tolerance policies make it absolutely clear what the rules are to everyone.

Anissa crashes with Gambi for a few days.

Dr. Jace lets one of the pod kids die so she can monitor his vitals as his heart fails and chart what powers he developed. Lynn, naturally, objects to this, but can do little as all the evidence says the boy was going to die before they could try to treat him anyway.

Tobias grants the mobsters Anissa robbed permission to try and deal with her violently on one condition - set up facial and body recognition monitors outside Rev. Holt's clinic in case Black Lightning shows up.

Tobias' new goal is figuring out who Black Lightning is, so he can kill him for causing his sister, Joey Toledo and Syonide to die, albeit indirectly.

Jennifer accidentally destroys her computer after Painkiller sends her an IM.

Dr. Jace says that she is basing all her theories around the fact that the Green Light Babies can't be saved. Lynn's are based around predicting improvements and trying to save them.

Dr. Jace discovered Lynn's DNA samples of Jefferson, Anissa and Jennifer. She says the ASA would love to find a family of metahumans to experiment on.

Black Lightning and Thunder do manage to stop the free clinic bombing, but the woman who planted the bombs gets away.

Jefferson offers to let Anissa move in to Alvin Pierce's old home.

Jefferson speaks to DA Montez and she agrees there is no way Jefferson's testimony would be enough to convict Tobias Whale.

Gambi says he destroyed all the evidence Jefferson was at the crime scene to protect him.

Jefferson and Lynn decide to home school Jennifer because she can't control her powers.

Kara Dowdy tells Gambi that Tobias has Proctor's briefcase.

Jennifer replies back to one of Painkiller's texts and meets with him in Garfield High at night.

Tobias Whale is cleared on all charges related to Alvin Pierce's murder and announces his intention to become a pillar of the community in Freeland again.

Tobias Whale throws a massive party for The 100, reaffirming his leadership of the gang.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode that pushes all the storylines forward a bit. It's not quite as surprising as last week's but how can you top Tobias Whale suddenly being arrested.  Great stuff, all around.  It may not be The CW's showiest superhero show, but all in all I think it may be the strongest of the 2018 Fall Season.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 4 - News Flash

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Barry and Iris face the ultimate parenting test when Team Flash battles Spin, a savvy millennial armed with meta tech, and a dangerous agenda for their daughter, Nora. Ralph is feeling defeated until an unlikely source issues a challenge to help boost his confidence.


Influences

Cloverfield (the opening sequence with Spencer Young talking to her phone while filming The Enlightenment) and The Flash comics of Tom Peyer (character of Spin).


Performances

Tom Cavanagh does a lot to humanize the latest Wells here. He's still playing the broadly comic character, but he is shown to actually be a good detective and he does honor Ralph's talents. He also plays well with Hartley Sawyer and the two have good comic chemistry together.

Jessica Parker Kennedy gets a truly heart-rending speech at the end of the episode and sells the hell out of it as she discusses how deeply her mother's betrayal in the future hurt her. Yet she also excells at the more comic moments and manages the perfect balancing act between Nora being earnest yet annoying.


Flash Facts

This was the first episode of Season 5 to open with a new introduction.

Spencer Young is a gender-flipped version of a villain who first appeared in The Flash #238 (May 2008). Only known as Mr. Auerbach, Spin was a news network executive who discovered that a man named Edwar Martinez had the telepathic power to sense the fears of other people and make them into reality. Spin manipulated Martinez's powers, using them to further manipulate the public and boost his ratings.

The new Spin (or Spyn) is a young social media maven, who tries to use XS as a means of boosting her brand.

Caitlin calls Spencer Young "an Early Edition meta, who creates stories." This is a reference to Early Edition - a TV show which ran from 1996 to 2000, based around the concept of a man who got the next day's newspaper and used the knowledge it gave him to try and avert the catastrophes described in that day's major headlines.


Technobabble

Ralph noticed that Cicada's breathing got heavier the more he exerted himself - more than normal. Barry later found traces of flurorpolymers at the site of their first battle with Cicada. Ralph's research revealed that flurorpolymers are prone to flaking. Industrial respirators use a protective coating made of the same fluropolyumers around the nostrils. When this is exposed to another compound, dimethyl sulfate, the flurorpolymers release a smell like burnt onions. The practical upshot is that this means they can track the respirator used in Cicada's mask to discover more about who he is.

Caitlin theorizes Spencer's power is based around some kind of hypnotic induction. She also guesses that Spencer might have some power to manipulate reality to make her stories become real.

Barry suggests Spenser might be a meta-psychic who sees the future and writes about it or predicts what will happen.

Barry asks Caitlin to download the cortical biometrics from XS's suit and compare that to his brain scans.

Nora was implanted with a power dampening chip as a child at Iris's request to keep her speed powers from manifesting.

Sherloque asks that Caitlin punch him above the diaphragm, right in the solar plexus.

Iris runs the code from Spencer's web posts through a compiler and then compares it to the brain scans of Officer Jonesy. The brain scan and code are an exact match. This leads Iris to conclude that Spenser's headlines are somehow hypnotizing people into acting on them.

With DeVoe having saturated the STAR Labs satellite with dark matter, this means that the shrapnel of the satellite breaking up resulted in a new batch of metahumans being born from people who were hit and changed by the shrapnel.

The STAR Labs satellite destruction did not just infuse people with abilities - it also changed objects, such as Spenser's phone and Cicada's dagger, giving them powers that can be utilized by the person holding them. Barry dubs these items Meta-Tech.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: My name is Barry Allen and I am The Fastest Man Alive. To the outside world, I'm an ordinary forensic scientist, but secretly, with the help of my friends at STAR Labs, I fight crime and find other metahumans like me. But when my daughter came back from the future to help, she changed the present and now our world is more dangerous than ever. And I am the only one fast enough to save it. I am... The Flash!

Ralph: No shrap, Sherlock.
Sherloque: It's Sherloque.

Iris: Writing articles about XS could make her a target.
Spencer: Or it could make her famous. I mean, people are already obsessed with her. And my app even more. Besides, a little threat never stopped you from writing about The Flash, back in the day.
Iris: That was different.
Spencer: Because it was your blog? What, do as I say, not as I do?
Iris: Look, please stop, okay? Before someone gets hurt.
Spencer:  The only one who is going to get hurt is you, when I make your blog irrelevant.

(Sherloque is trying to goad Caitlin into hitting him to test a theory, talking about how weak she is.)
Caitlin: For the record, I know what you just did.
Sherloque: And?
Caitlin: And it worked.

The Flash: (To Spenser, as he holds up her phone.) Looks like you'll be trading this cell in for another.

(Iris tells Nora that she's sure that future her had a reason for trying to repress Nora's powers.)
Nora: No! What happened today has nothing to do with what happens in the future. You didn't suppress my abilities my whole life because I was brainwashed or attacking people. You did it to control me! My whole life I felt like I was different than everybody else but I didn't know why. You took away a choice away from me that I didn't even know I had. A choice to be a hero like my dad.


Continuity

Spenser Young's cell phone repairs itself after being struck by a piece of the STAR Labs satellite on the night of The Enlightenment. It is later revealed to have the power to command people who read various headlines that Spencer writes on the phone and then swipes onto another screen.

Iris is still, as has been noted before, a bad cook.

Nora says that Iris can't cook in her time either.  She takes photos to prove that Iris makes "lumpy pancakes" in all time periods.

Jitters, like Starbucks, apparently sells coffee that can be brewed at home.

Barry got Nora a phone several days earlier. Iris did not know this.

Sherloque is not much of a texter.

Nora is not a breakfast person.

Cisco is laying low at his parents' house while his hands heal.

Sherloque runs through everything Team Flash knows for sure about Cicada - he has killed two metahumans and seems to target them exclusively, he is a parent, his dagger dampens metahuman powers and he can command the dagger like an extension of himself, suggesting that he acquired his powers at the same time as the other metahumans.

Ralph suggests that the design of Cicada's mask might lead them to who he is.

Sherloque says this has never been a factor any of the 37 times he caught Cicada before, but agrees to investigate it with Ralph.

Barry was a terrible athlete as a kid and still is.

Nora says that Joe (whom she calls Papa Joe) told her stories about how bad Barry was at sports before he became The Flash.

Spyn Zone is an app that alerts people as to when anything newsworthy happens in Central City.

One of the stories on Spyn Zone mentions a jailed Oliver Queen support group.This is a reference to how, in the timeline of The Arrowverse, Oliver Queen would have been sent to jail just a few weeks before this episode occurred.

Another Spyn Zone story mentions Airpline Passengers demanding a full refund. This is likely a reference to the plane that was downed in 501.

Yet another Spyn Zone story mentions a strip club called The Golden Booty. This was the strip club Ralph frequented before getting banned for life at Barry's bachelor party in 405

Spyn Zone is run by Spencer Young, who once worked with Iris at CCPN as a junior reporter. She didn't last long, however, as she didn't fact check her stories and was more concerned with fame than writing good stories.

Nora notes that Spyn Zone has three-times more users than Iris' blog has followers and that she thinks Spencer Young is cute.

Jonsey, one of the cops who didn't show up for the game, arrives late and attempts to run onto the field carrying a backpack full of explosives. Cecile telepathically senses something isn't right and XS, being controlled by Spencer Young, runs in to save the day.

When someone is taken over by Spencer Young, their eyes flash purple.

The bomb Jonsey used at the baseball game bombing was stolen from inventory from the Jensen-Moretti case (i.e. Block in 502.) Security camera footage saw Jonsey removing the bomb from lock-up and placing it in a backpack.

Spenser Young mind-controls The Flash into running to Las Vegas so XS has to deal with the fire at CCPN by herself.

XS has never created a vacuum to put out a fire using her speed powers before. Iris is able to talk her through it.

The time-stamp on Spencer Young's report on the CCPN fire is 7:52 pm - minutes before the fire was reported, when Nora and Barry were still interviewing Jonesy.

The business Ralph and Sherloque go to first is Szrek Chem, after Ralph tracks the particular brand of mask he thinks Cicada wears to their plant and determines they use flurorpolymers in nearly everything they make.

Szrek Chen has three plants in the Keystone/Central City area and 14 in the Midwest alone. Ralph is told that virtually every chemical plant in the country uses respirator masks like the one he singled out as Cicada's.

The irony is that Ralph was right and Cicada DOES work at that plant and he sees Sherloque and Ralph questioning the foreman.

Barry give Nora the meta-detecting watch from Earth 2 so they can see if Spencer Young is a metahuman. It says that Spencer Young is not a metahuman.

Nora is either bisexual or a lesbian, as she is attracted to Spencer Young and flirts with her, much to Iris's annoyance. Spencer Young seems to reciprocate the attraction.

Nora reveals that the reason she has been so standoffish toward Iris is that, in the future, Iris implanted a meta-power dampening chip in Nora when she was a child as a means of "protecting" her. Until six months earlier, relative time, Nora had no idea that she had speed powers.

Sherloque acquires one of the respirator masks Ralph thinks is used by Cicada and asks Caitlin to punch him in the chest while he is wearing it. The resulting stress causes him to make alter his breathing in such as way as it makes him make the same noises as Cicada.

The calls to the CCPD about a bomb being planted at Central City Stadium started five minutes after Spencer reported on it.

Iris stops XS from killing The Flash with a tranquilizer dart.

Ralph and Sherloque realize Spencer must be in the stadium to get her headlines to post, since all the phone towers around Central City are shut down to prevent a remote bomb detonation.

Mayor Van Buren of Central City resigns.

Officer Jonesy is cleared of all charges.

Sherloque notes that, in the past, there was an incident that caused David Hersch to develop an injury that required him to wear a respirator mask. With Nora having helped to punch the STAR Labs satellite, the debris that was meant to hit David Hersch and change him into Cicada. That debris has now hit a new person, given them the injury and created a new Cicada.

Sherloque theorizes that Cicada gained powers on the night of The Enlightenment and his dagger was created from a piece of the STAR Labs satellite.

Sherloque gives Ralph credit for his discovery, as it was Ralph's idea to trace the mask and determining that was what Cicada was wearing, even though it didn't lead them directly to him, gave Sherloque his theory on where Cicada got his powers from.

Barry determines that objects, not just people, were changed by the STAR Labs satellite explosion. He dubs these objects Meta-Tech.

Barry says that he supports Iris's decisions - past, present and future.

XS says that the worst part about discovering she had powers was not learning it from her mom.

Nora asks to stay with Joe and Cecile. Joe agrees to let her move in and discuss the reasons why later.

We see that Cicada has a house in the country and he does indeed have labored breathing. He is also shown to have enhanced strength and accidentally crumples the metal of a lamp post when he grips it. As he does so, he moans in pain and we see that the wound in his shoulder is glowing red.


Location

Central City - The Night of The Enlightenment.


The Boomerang Factor

Barry defends the actions of future Iris to present Iris, saying that he is sure that she would only try to remove their daughter's powers for a good reason, completely undercutting the lesson Iris seems to be learning about how her control freak nature is pushing away her daughter.


The Bottom Line


A mixed bag, over all. The idea of meta-tech is intriguing and a real game-changer for the nature of The Arrowverse. Unfortunately, it's never made clear exactly how Spencer's phone works and the whole thing comes off as a forced gimmick taken from a comic that was meant to be a metaphor for how the media manipulates people with fear and further forced into a metaphor for "fake news", which the real issue is media manipulation rather than falsified stories.

Ignoring that, there's some great performances here. Tom Cavanagh develops Sherloque beyond the joke he was in his first appearance and Hartley Sawyer is getting a chance to turn Ralph into the great detective from the comics he is meant to be, thanks to the writing. And let's not forget that Ralph was dead on correct about Cicada's mask leading them to him.

Unfortunately, Iris continues to officially be the worst and it seems that she's on the verge of learning not to be a control freak when Barry comes in and co-dependently supports her need to try and control every aspect of their child's life, despite her being a grown-ass woman, and force the relationship that she wants on her daughter. Oh well - one more bit of drama.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4, Episode 2 - Witch Hunt

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here




Plot

With a new magic-sensing time-seismographic set up on The Waverider, The Legends travel to the time of the Salem Witch Trials in search of a magical creature. As Zari promises to save one innocent mother from being burned as a witch and the rest of The Legends deal with a rogue fairy godmother, Ava and Nate must prove that magic is real to the Department of Defense to maintain the funding of The Time Bureau. Unfortunately, the military official making the decision is Nate's estranged father.


Influences

Disney's Cinderella (the general appearance of the Fairy Godmother, the singing, her making reference to the song "A Dream Is The Wish That The Heart Makes", the fairy godmother almost says Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo)


Goofs

Despite great play being made about how burning at the stake wasn't used at the Salem Witch Trials, the townsfolk still try to burn Zari and Jane Hawthorne at the stake.

The entire episode makes Nate into a complete idiot man-child for the sake of its humor. Nate is absent-minded enough to not have currency good in 2018 when he takes his dad out to dinner. He is not stupid enough to try and pay for a bill with Athenian coins. And he should not be stupid enough to try and convince his dad magic is real using a pig he claims is his transformed best friend, in the hopes that he will change back any moment now.

Wouldn't using a Time Courier to take Hank on a trip in time be much better way to convince him The Time Bureau isn't a bunch of nonsense?


Performances

Jane Carr is a laugh riot as The Fairy Godmother.

Tala Ashe gives an outstanding performance here. You truly feel Zari's pain at wanting to find a way to save Jane Hawthorne as a substitute for saving her own mother, who she can't save from unjust execution from a future fascist government.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

As Mick Rory of all people points out, The Salem Witch Trials did not involve burning people at the stake. With the exception of one farmer who was pressed to death under heavy stones, all of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials were hanged.

Mick also points out that The Catholic Church banned burning people. This would have had no effect on The Puritans, however, who were a Protestant sect.

While The Catholic Church banned burning people to death for church crimes, various civil courts in Europe still allowed death by burning for offenses such as treason, sodomy, bestiality, minting false coins and (ironically enough) arson. Even when death by fire was considered a legally acceptable punishment for witchcraft, hanging was still the preferred method of execution during witch trials in England.

Ray asks about paying his restaurant bill with notgeld. Notgeld (German for "emergency money") is a catch-all term for currency printed by an institution during times of economic crisis. The term is more specifically applied to specific notes issued by the German and Austrian government during WWI.

This is not the first time Jane Carr has played a Fairy Godmother. The highly talented voice actress also played the role of Cosmo's Mother in Fairly Odd Parents.


Technobabble/Arcana

Ray integrates the knuckle bones of a martyred saint into the Time Seismograph, reprogramming it to detect magical creatures across time.

Aswangs are, as Ray notes, an evil, cannibalistic shape-shifting spirit with a proboscis like tongue from Filipino folklore. There are many legends about Aswangs - so many that cultural archaeologists have had trouble tracking the stories to a single point of origin. Varying tales describing aswangs can be compared to the stories of vampires, were-beasts, ghouls and witches. The is some debate, for instance, if aswangs are beasts that assume the shape of men or men who take on the powers of beasts. All the legends agree that aswangs are best avoided.

John uses the food replicator on The Waverider to recreate some organic items he needs for his apothecary bag. The first item he asks Gideon to make is a pinch of possum's tail with three ounces of frogs' testes.

John says that spells have a verbal component to them, so a gagged witch would not be able to work her magic.

According to John, fairy godmothers are parasites who feed off their hosts. They develop a connection to their hosts so that if they are sent to Hell, the charge goes with them. Fairy godmothers can only work magic in relation to their hosts wishes and the only way to depower one is for the host to willingly reject the fairy godmother's help.

A host rejecting a fairy godmother undoes all the spells a fairy godmother cast while bonded to that host.

Sara programs Gideon with a "narc mode" that tracks the rest of the crew.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Ray has just finished explaining what an aswang is to the rest of the Legends assembled.)

Ray: I've been doing some research, just in case.
Zari: I thought that was why we had Constantine.
Sara: Yeaaaaah. About that. Constantine is-
(Cut to John, who is behind them, dragging a large steamer trunk onto The Waverider.)
John: Tired, hungover and in need of a stiff one!
(John stops pulling the trunk, which thwunks loudly as he releases the end he was dragging.)
John: Dealer's choice as to what that's a euphemism for.
(John drops his backpack onto the chest as he sits down.)
Sara: He's... here!
John: Yeah. You know, I meant what I said about joining you lot, but then I pictured that same lot squaring off against some of the manky buggers that I've come up against. And I thought, "Yeah, you know what? You're right. You're all bloody doomed without me." One aswang would take you all down without breaking a sweat.
Ray: (beaming in triumph) Ah-ha!

Sara: Well, I hope you're feeling morally superior, because we are getting our Puritan  pure-it-on!
(Sara smiles and poses making gun fingers at everyone. They just stare at her.)
Sara: That was too much right?
(John Constantine blinks, stunned silent for once. Even Ray looks embarrassed.)

(A flock of crows begin flying down upon the town as Jane Hawthorn is taken away.)
Sara:
Crows. That's ominous.
Ray: Despite the Gothic association, the American Crow is actually a very-
(One of the crows flies down and attacks the face of one of the townsfolk, pecking at his eyes.) Ray: ... never mind.

(John is working as spell to reveal the demon he thinks is bound to Prudence.)
John: Agent of the Damned, show yourself, you fetid creature! Show yourself, you cursed beast! Reveal your hideous form!
(The fog rolls in and a shape forms from it. Suddenly a kindly looking old woman in a blue dress with a wand is standing before them.)
Fairy Godmother: (cheerfully) Hello!
Sara: What in the Disney hell is this?!

(Nate has just realized his dad is the D.O.D. official he has to schmooze.)
Nate: I can't go in there, Ava. I will make this worse.
Ava: Nate, you're family. How bad could it be?
Nate: Oh...the last time I saw him I insulted his life's work and literally said "I don't need your money."
Ava: Oh. Okay. That's bad.

(Jane Hawthorne refuses to escape from prison when Zari tries to help her.)
Jane Hawthorne: They are afraid. And fear brings out the worst in all of us. Therefore I must forgive them. For they know not what they do.
Zari: Well, at least one of you Puritans gets the point of that book.

Fairy Godmother: Before Prudence, all the girls I helped would just take, take, take! (mocking voice) "I want a new dress, Godmother." "I want to go to the ball, Godmother." (back to her normal voice) So I gave and I gave! No matter how absurd the request! I mean, who would ever choose to wear glass slippers?! Imagine the blisters! And what did I get in return? A thousand years locked away in a dank and miserable dimension!

(Hank Heywood asks for proof that magic is real.)
Gary: (opening his shirt) Here's proof! A unicorn ate my nipple!

(Sara is trying to find Zari.)
Sara:
Gideon?
Gideon: Miss Tomaz gave me explicit instructions not to tell you that she was leaving the ship.

Gary: You sure I can't interest you in a coffee? Tea? Fizzy water?
Hank: Just the validation.
(Gary leans in close to Hank.)
Gary: I think you're doing a great job.

Fairy Godmother: (To Zari) You come from the future. Can you honestly tell this child that the hearts of men change in all that time?
Prudence: Do they?
Zari: (sighs) No. They don't. People always fear what they don't understand. And that fear turns them into monsters. But we can't let it turn us into monsters too. We have to be better than them.


Continuity

Ray uses the enchanted knuckle bones John left in Ava's apartment in 401 to program the time seismograph to detect magical creatures.

Ray has been reading up on evil magical beasts since John refused to join The Legends.

John insists that he is not joining The Legends and is only acting as a consultant. He insists on full benefits, no costumes and two weeks paid vacation.

John is informed that The Legends do not get paid and there is no formal vacation time structure.

The Legends decide to call the magical creatures they're hunting "fugitives." instead of Ray's idea - "mythteries."

Sara makes reference to how she once visited Puritan New England. This happened back in 201, when she was sent to Salem in the year 1693 by Rip Hunter's emergency ejection from The Waverider. Sara was almost hung as a witch due to her seduction of several young women.

Nate has a credit card that expired in 1953. This may be one of the first Diner's Club Cards, which was established in 1950. He also carries Athenian tetradrachm in his pocket from a previous adventure as well as a notgeld note.

Jane Hawthorne is a widow in Salen with a daughter named prudence. She is accused of witchcraft by a man whose advances she spurred.

Gideon is capable of using the food replicator to create organic items John needs for his spells, such as a pinch of possum tail and three ounces of frogs testes.

John has a spellbook bound in human skin. It becomes quite rank if he doesn't regularly wash it in water - a task he works on in the bathroom, much to Mick's annoyance.

John enjoys Marmite crumpets as a snack when he watches football.

According to Gideon, Jane Hawthorne died on October 29, 1692. Her execution by hanging kicked off what became known as The Burning Of Salem - an incident where the entire population of Salem spontaneously combusted, burning the town to the ground. This incident also confirmed the existence of witches to the world at large.

Nate takes refuge in The Time Bureau, having no place else to live with The Waverider gone and no money or credit good in 2018.

Nate uses coconut oil on his hair, claiming it makes it more buoyant.

Ava is working on a budget presentation to the Department of Defense. She needs to ask for more money to fund an imitative to hunt magical creatures across time.

Ava says she is no good as schmoozing. Nate says he is great at it.

John has never encountered in a fairy godmother before.

Beebo gets a cameo in the form of a Candy-Crush style game called Beebo Blow.

Sara says that Jane Hawthorne died in the original timeline before the fairy godmother showed up.

John discovers that it was humans who locked away The Fairy Godmother.

Ava refers to the dinosaurs that appeared in Los Angeles (217) and a telepathic gorilla trying to kill a young Barack Obama (317). Gary also sums up the events of Season 3 (i.e. the battle with Mallus) and the set-up for Season 4.

Gary refers to how a unicorn bit off his nipple in 401.

Hank does not believe in Ava and Gary's presentation and decides to shut down the whole Time Bureau.

Zari can use her Totem to draw the air from a person's lungs. She relents, however, after she sees how she is horrifying the women of Salem by attacking their men.

Zari and Jane Hawthorne are sentenced to burn at the stake.

The fairy godmother turns Ray and Mick into pigs and takes away John's mouth.

The Time Bureau's operating budget is $4.2 a year.

The gold of Zari''s amulet is melted by the fire of the pyre, leaving behind only the ruby. She is still able to use that to control wind.

Jane and Prudence Hawthorne and leave Salem to start a new life elsewhere.

John offers to become the new host of the fairy godmother. She declines, knowing who John is, why he wants her help and preferring Hell to pissing off the person who is coming for John by siding with him.

John sends the fairy godmother to Hell.

Sara offers to talk to Zari about her family issues and the urge to change history to save a loved one if she needs to vent.

Nate tells his father about all his adventures as a legend, concluding with the creation of "Voltron-Beebo" in 318. Hank finally admits that Nate has not wasted his life and found a use for his history degree.

Ava offers Nate a paying job at the Time Bureau office.  Nate decides to take it, but tells Ray he's still a Legend and will join them for the next mission.


Location

Washington D.C. - 2018
Salem, Massachusetts - October 29, 1692


Untelevised Adventures

Nate apparently had some adventure in Ancient Greece, requiring him to have a large amount of Athenian tetradrachm. He may also have been in WWI Germany, as he asks if he can pay his bill at a restaurant with notgeld.


The Crisis Factor

Nate is dumbed-down in order to increase the humor of the Time Bureau sub-plot.


The Bottom Line

There's a really great, funny episode here about a fairy godmother running amok and John Constantine having to cope with something truly out of his league. Then there's a bunch of nonsense where Nate is made into the world's biggest idiot to drag out a subplot involving The Time Bureau that tries way too hard to be interesting. One can see the strings to write Nate out of the show already or at least severely curtail his Citizen Steel time.  It's not a bad episode overall, but the comedy is forced. As John Constantine might say, "It's more fun when you don't try as hard, love."

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 3 - Crossing Lines

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here




Plot

Still in prison, Oliver faces his greatest challenge yet as he forms an alliance with his former enemy, Brick, to get the information he needs on Diaz. Felicity is in similarly dire straits, as she tries to win the support of the woman who put Oliver behind bars. Meanwhile, Diggle and Lyla go overseas with Curtis to do a special mission for ARGUS in Zurich, with a surprising revelation at its heart.


Influences

The Jeff Lemire run on Green Arrow (concept of The Longbow Hunters) Supermax (David Goyer's unproduced "Green Arrow in prison" movie) and the novel The Count of Monte Cristo (parallels to Oliver's life, as it centers around a man who adopts a new identity to avenge himself on those responsible for ruining his former life before going on to take a series of actions that hurt innocent people as well as the guilty.)


Goofs

Locking a bunch of terrorists inside a lab full of infectious disease samples seems like an incredibly stupid plan, even by the standards of The FBI in The Arrowverse.

On that note, Agent Watson seems way too quick to switch sides and agree to Felicity's plan.

How did Brick make contact with The Demon is The Demon is confined to Level 2 of The Slab?

Diaz's story here about breaking every bone in his body after being blasted off the roof and into the river in the sixth season finale doesn't match up with the injuries (or lack thereof) he displayed during the final scene of that episode.


Performances

Michael Jai White has been largely wasted in his appearances as Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner. This was largely due to the show-runners plans for developing a Suicide Squad for the Arrowverse being sidelined and them not being able to touch his character for five years. What we see here though, with Turner taking Oliver to task for judging him based only on the main times they fought five years ago, hints at the odd character from the comics and makes me wonder if we might get a more comics accurate Ben Turner this time.

I can't recall Emily Bett Rickards and Rick Gonzales having a lot of interactions in the past, but the have amazingly good chemistry in this episode.


Artistry

The fight scene between Oliver, Bronze Tiger and Brick's other men is a great one, which uses its camera angles to great effect to emphasize the claustrophobia of the setting.

The silent fight scene between Dinah and The Silencer somehow tops the one from last week.


Trivia

The Silencer is revealed to have the first name Honor.  In the comics, The Silencer's name is
Honor Guest.

Brick says that the only way out of Level 2 is through the Morgue. In the comics, Slabside Penitentiary was nicknamed The Slab because the only way an inmate left it was "on a slab" (i.e. dead).


Technobabble

Someone (later revealed to be The Silencer) hacked into the CDC security protocols. Accessing that normally requires a Level 5 Security clearance. Felicity is able to hack into the CDC and says it was easy.

Curtis develops a nanotech-laced paint that allows him to turn a forged painting into a wi-fi point that can be used to hack nearby computers.

The name of the criminal bank Digg tries to infiltrate with Lyla - Schatten & Soehne - translates to "Shadow And Sons" in English.

Felicity determines that when The Silencer hacked the CDC, she only looked at the inventory records for Glutathione Hydrate - a bio compound that helps protect red blood cells against diseases like Ebola and Lassa Fever. The only place that it can be found is The CDC and a shipment was just sent to the CDC in Star City from Central City.

The Silencer has some kind of sonic disrupter that allows her to block Felicity's ability to hack the door locks in the CDC building.


Dialogue Triumphs

Felicity: My husband spent the last six years fighting for the people of this city, risking everything, and now he sits in prison, his life on the line, while this monster gets to walk free! That isn't justice.

Felicity: I back-traced The Silencer's hack.
Rene: Wait. We're calling her "The Silencer" now?
Felicity: It's better than "The Belt Lady"
Rene: Noted.

Stanley: First rule of prison - trust no one.
Bronze Tiger: Ah. The kid's right. Now, how did he manage to figure that out before you did?

Bronze Tiger: You and your team only saw me as one thing - the enemy. But now look at us. Both in prison. So I guess we're not that different after all.

Lyla: (To John) Sometimes you have to cross a line for the greater good. I would expect you to understand that.


Continuity

The opening scene of Oliver stabbing a guard takes place 12 hours after Felicity's meeting with Agent Watson.

Brick doesn't know where Diaz is but says an informant called The Demon does.

John and Lyla's babysitter is a woman named Ella.

John and Lyla's first honeymoon was in Hawaii.

Lyla makes reference to the events of 317 - her trip overseas with John, Deadshot and Cupid.

Felicity bugs the FBI to spy on Agent Watson. She learns that Agent Watson honestly is working to find Diaz, but her bosses keep shooting down her requests to investigate new leads as too circumstantial.

Rene is aware of what Felicity is planning. He's letting Felicity sleep on his couch. He says that he is all for getting Team Arrow back together.

Brick arranges for the cell doors to open that night. It is later revealed that, with the assistance of the guards, he is running a fight club in the mess hall and taking bets on the victors.

Stanley follows Oliver to his meeting with The Demon, saying he doesn't want to be alone with all the other inmates loose and no guards around.

Curtis, Lyla and John are sent on a mission to Zurich to get a copy of the private bank records of a bank that holds the valuables of a number of criminal organizations.

Felicity persuades Agent Watson and Dinah to work with her to set a trap for Diaz in the CDC.

Diaz is looking for a particular bio-compound at the CDC.

The meeting with The Demon turns out to be a trap and Bronze Tiger tries to ambush Oliver.

Lyla secretly made a copy of the data Curtis hacked.

Oliver and Bronze Tiger discuss their past encounters and Bronze Tiger's time in The Suicide Squad.
These include his saving Lyla Michaels' life (216), his theft of an earthquake generator (212) and his working for China White (202)

Lyla reveals that she stumbled onto something big but her superiors wouldn't let her investigate. The copy of the bank information was traded to a criminal for a lead. John is hurt that she didn't tell him, because they agreed to have no more secrets.

Brick is revealed to be running a fight club in the mess hall which some of the guards were aware of. When Oliver enters, he declares the next fight will be Derek Sampson vs. Green Arrow.

Brick says the is no way Oliver can get to the The Demon, because the Demon is confined to Level 2 of The Slab.

 Oliver responds by stabbing several of the guards and surrendering. The episode ends with him being sent to Level 2.

Agent Watson is taken off the Diaz investigation and transferred to a desk job in Washington D.C.

Digg and Lyla agree to keep no more secrets between them.

Rene is revealed to have captured The Silencer, without Dinah or the FBI knowing.

The Silencer's real name is revealed to be Honor.

Diaz has used the bio-compound to give himself super-strength and durability.


Location

Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Zurich, Switzerland


The Bottom Line

A solidly acted episode, despite a less quippy script than usual. I do wish we had seen Agent Waston established as a more sympathetic character who honestly was trying to catch Diaz sooner. Of course now between her indifferent bosses and the news that Lyla's bosses are also hampering her efforts to investigate in-house corruption, I wonder how soon it will be before we learn that Diaz' connections go even higher than we realized.

Curiously, the episode does a lot of minor things to try and reconcile some of the bigger mistakes at the end of last season, such as Watson's attitude and seemingly indifference to trying to arrest Diaz until Oliver offered himself up as well and Diaz's comments on how he broke every bone in his body after being shot into the river by Black Siren. The problem is that while this is a realistic turn of events, it doesn't match up with the earlier episodes.  Still, it was completely free of Black Siren, so it had that going for it.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Starman Plays Betrayal at Krondor - Part 43

In which we return to Krondor to investigate the rumors of The Upright Man's death and then head back to Sarth to see what wisdom Brother Marc might have for us in this chapter before returning to LaMut so we can complete the quest to learn The Funniest Joke On Kelewan.


Sunday, October 28, 2018

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 3 - Man Of Steel

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Who is Agent Liberty? This flashback-fueled episode details how college professor Ben Lockwood came to hate aliens and started a movement against them.


Influences

Though not a direct influence, the effect of this episode is not unlike the various villain spotlight issues written by Geoff Johns during his run on The Flash that explored the backstories of various villains, inspiring sympathy for them even as we seem them doing some truly indefensible things.


Goofs

If the DEO has an alarm capable of detecting Kryptonite anywhere on Earth, why wasn't it triggered before Mercy Graves seeded the atmosphere? (Presumably the Kryptonite was being contained somehow before it was utilized?)

When the DEO finally detects Kara as she's falling, why don't they call J'onn on his phone instead of just trusting on him being able to find her before she hits the ground?

How is J'onn talking to Alex later when he catches Kara and his hands are full if he does have access to his phone?

The idea of Nth Metal replacing steel is somewhat humorous, given that Nth Metal is supposed to be one of the rarest metals in reality in the modern day DC Comics Universe. Indeed. its origins supposed lie in The Dark Multiverse and the properties of Nth Metal are said to alter based upon the user.

Ben Lockwood misquotes Winston Churchill's famous "Never give in" speech at his father's funeral.


Performances

Xander Berkeley gives a brief but memorable performance as Peter Lockwood, managing to seem like a likable, working-class man... right up until the bigoted dialogue starts.

Sam Witwer turns in a stunning performance as Ben Lockwood. Somehow, even as he becomes more and more bigoted, he remains a sympathetic character, right up until the point he actively decides to kill a helpless alien. Even then, he is still a more complex villain than he originally seemed to be, as he does showcase a stronger moral code than The Graves siblings, refusing to kill a believer in his cause as a "loose end."


Super Trivia

The episode title - Man of Steel - is a play on a common nickname for Superman - and a nod to both Agent Liberty and his father, who operated a steel mill.

The character of Agent Liberty first appeared in the comics in Superman #60 (October 1991). Agent Liberty was a former CIA agent named Benjamin Lockwood, who left the organization after becoming disgusted with what he saw as unethical practices. Lockwood came to distrust the American government and joined a militia group called The Sons of Liberty, who outfitted him with an armored suit that offered him the ability to fly short distances and generate a force-field. He left the group when they plotted to assassinate politician Pete Ross, and Lockwood exposed the group's true beliefs to the public with the help of Clark Kent. He went on to become a reserve Justice League member and helped Superman defend Metropolis on several occasions.

The Arrowverse version of Agent Liberty is similar in that his armor is given to him by Mercy Graves and he comes to lead a militia group after attempting to turn people against aliens as an activist. He has not been revealed to have any super-powers or advanced technology as of yet, but he does seem to be being manipulated by Mercy Graves as the comic book Benjamin Lockwood was manipulated by The Sons of Liberty into becoming their figurehead.

Ben Lockwood's dad complains about how his steel mill is losing business to an Nth metal mill run by aliens. In the DC Comics universe, Nth Metal is a rare metal with strange properties, utilized by Hawkman and the alien Thangarians. Among the many abilities conveyed by Nth metal are the ability to defy gravity. The metal has also been said to increase the strength of anyone who wears an object made of it, enhance their natural healing abilities and protect them from extreme heat or cold. Weapons made of Nth metal can be used to break magical barriers, strike incorporeal creatures such as ghosts and negate the natural healing abilities of metahumans with a healing factor.

In the recent Dark Nights Metal mini-series, the powers of Nth metal were increased exponentially, with it being said that the properties of Nth Metal change based upon the person who possess it. It can enhance magic or negate it. It can activate the metagene in humans. If fueled Hawkman and Hawkwoman's continual reincarnation. It was also used to make The Helm of Fate, the mask of The Psycho Pirate and can be used to violate the laws of physics.

During the Daxamite invasion, faced with a lack of supplies in their home, Ben suggests they try and work around the Daxamite checkpoints to try and reach Coast City. In the DC Comics Universe, Coast City is a city in California and home to Hal Jordan, Earth's first Green Lantern. Depending on the era, Coast City is either an analog of San Francisco or San Diego.


Technobabble

The DEO has a Kryptonite contamination alarm that can detect the presence of Kryptonite anywhere in National City.

The DEO adapted the anti-Kryptonite shield developed by Astra so that it could leech the Kryptonite out of a Kryptonian's system.

Lena develops a radiation-controlled proto-environment housed in a vacuum-sealed mechanical exoskeleton, contained in a spring-loaded two-millimeter disc. This is a temporary measure designed to contain Supergirl safely until the atmosphere can be detoxified.


Dialogue Triumphs

Ben Lockwood: People thought textiles would be the end of modern society, but The Industrial Revolution - it created unprecedented opportunities-
Peter Lockwood: I'm not one of your students, Ben! And I'll remind you, it was called a revolution for a reason.

Ben: Is it... is it bad?
Alex: (cooly) Not half as bad as what you and your friends did to that Bravik.
Ben: What? No! No! I was just... I was trying to help. But our guys are just angry. They are scared. They're-
Alex: Your guys?
Ben: My family. We own the steel factory across the way. The workers.. they are very good people!
Alex: Oh, they're lucky people. Because Supergirl went very, very easy on them.

Ben: Ever since the beginning, our leaders have been obsessed with progress. But can you tell me what's so great about it? (deeper voice) "Well, the discovery of The New World.That's progress, right?" (switching back to his normal voice) For Spain and Columbus. Not so much for the Native Americans. President Marsdin's Alien Amnesty Act. Is that progress? I think it's progress, right? Of course it is! But I know some Americans who don't think so. In fact, I know some Americans who are worse off for it. So what's my point? The next time someone tells you about how great progress is, I want you to stop a moment and I want you to think about who paid the price for it.

Ben: Let me just blow your mind, here, okay? Home Owners' Insurance. Did you know that it doesn't actually cover alien invasions? Who knew?!
James: We did. Because we covered that in our business section.
Ben: Right! And that's all the way in the back. And it turns the common person into numbers and statistics. I am here to tell you that there are people behind these numbers. People who are hurting. And it would be so very helpful if you would just tell their stories.

Student: This isn't nativism. It's xenophobia!
Ben: Well, I can't say I'm surprised to hear that from someone with your completion.

Peter Lockwood: I came here on purpose, Ben. This is my home. And this steel - it's my life. Always has been. Now it's time is over and so is mine.

Lena: I understand that you're angry, okay? But you can't go down this path, blaming other people for your problems. You will just end up like my brother.
Ben: They're not people.


Continuity

Brainy retrieves the anti-Kryptonite shield the DEO adapted from Astra's technology to save Kara.

The first flashback shows Ben Lockwood at the time of Kara's speech to Earth in 120. It is said this occurred two years before the events of this episode.

Ben Lockwood lives with his wife Lydia, son George and father, Peter.

Ben Lockwood is a professor of history at National City University.

The Lockwoods own Lockwood Family Steel - a steel factory.

The slang term for calling aliens roaches came from the belief that they survived their worlds being destroyed only to emerge someplace else where they weren't wanted.

Lockwood Family Steel just lost a contract with Luthor Corporation.

Peter refuses to upgrade Lockwood Family Steel to make Nth-Metal/Steel composite metals.

There are two dozen publicly known alien worlds capable of supporting life that have made contact with Earth.

Nth metal is the strongest material brought to Earth by alien immigrants.

Ben Lockwood is accidentally shot by an alien spike while trying to stop a riot between his father's steel workers and the alien employees of an Nth Metal foundry.

Alex is the medic who treats Ben Lockwood.

Braviks are an alien species who grow spokes out of their forearms. The spikes can be shot defensively when they are threatened.

Ben Lockwood approaches Lena Luthor about his family's contract as Lena is in the middle of changing the name of the Luthor Corporation. to L-Corp. Lena says his father can upgrade his factory or fall behind.

The next time-jump in the story takes place following the events of 218, where we hear a story about Supergirl fighting Biomax. It was at this point that Lockwood Family Steel was shut down, just as the Daxamite invasion began.

At this point, Ben hates Supergirl and is dismissive of her truly wanting to help people but he does correct his son when he refers to aliens as roaches.

The Lockwood family home is destroyed in a fire, which is started by a battle between Martian Manhunter and a Daxamite soldier.

Cat Grant is seen in a press conference as President Marsdin's new Press Secretary, which is said to have occurred 12 months ago. It is at this time that Ben Lockwood meets with James Olsen, placing the meeting as occurring during the events of 301.

CatCo Media won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of The Daxamite Invasion.

The Lockwoods lost their home as their home owner's insurance did not protect against alien invasions.

Ben overhears that Lena Luthor now owns CatCo Worldwide Media after James cuts his meeting short to take a call from Lena.

Ben Lockwood is fired from his professorship after a rash of student complaints about his anti-alien rhetoric in his lectures.

Reference is made in the alien bar to "that freaky Goth chick" (i.e. Reign) attacking Albatross Bay, setting this episode after the events of 310.

Ben Lockwood follows one of his alien students to the alien bar. It is here that he runs into Kara, who shows him the door after he gets aggressive.

Ben Lockwood is reduced to handing out flyers with his theory that Supergirl and the FBI are working together round up political dissidents. One of his flyers is picked up by Otis Graves, just before the attack of The Daughters of Juru during 323.

Peter Lockwood dies after being crushed in the rubble of his collapsing steel mill.

Peter Lockwood's favorite quote (and the only one he knew) was Winston Churchill - "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

Ben alters this quote somewhat, saying "Never give in. Never give in. Never --in nothing, great or small, large or petty--except in consideations of honour and good sense. Never yield to force or the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy that confronts you. Never. Never ever give in."

Lena Luthor shows up to Peter Lockwood's funeral to offer to set up a fund in Peter Lockwood's name to help out his workers. Ben tells her off.

Ben hires some of his dad's old workers to patch up the steel mill.

Ben leads a group of workers to burn down the Nth Metal plant while drunk.

Ben winds up beating a floor manager at the Nth Metal plant to death, after he flees the fire. It's the same alien who accidentally shot him with a spike two years earlier.

The Dean who fired Ben loses her own home following the Daughters of Juru attempting to terraform Earth. She and her wife are reduced to living in student housing. When Ben runs into her later, she is much more sympathetic to his views and takes one of the flyers for the "support group" he is forming.

Mercy Graves covered up Ben Lockwood's beating the Bravik to death and killing a pair of Maaldorian twins. She provides him with the Agent Liberty armor. She also gives him the information needed to track down and kill Fiona Byme.

The mask for Ben Lockwood's Agent Liberty costume comes from the face of a statue from his father's foundry.

Lena is brought in to help save Supergirl, since she is too weak to move outside the atmosphere.She devises a containment suit that will protect Supergirl from the atmosphere until it can be cleaned.

Mercy wants to kill Agent Jensen but Agent Liberty, after protesting that they should not kill their own, convinces her that he can be used to get them back into the DEO.


Location

National City, at varying points over the past two years.


The Bottom Line

A surprisingly deep and topical episode that does more to develop Agent Liberty than any villain in the show's history. Touching upon real world issues such as the closing of steel mills in America and increasing xenophobia, a dark undercurrent is cast upon it given that Ben Lockwood's speech about the word Nativist unintentionally seemed to mirror a speech by given by Donald Trump earlier in the week on how he was proud to call himself a Nationalist.

There's several levels of irony here, with Ben Lockwood coincidentally encountering nearly every member of Team Supergirl at some point in the past two years at a point where a moment of compassion might have changed the course of his path to becoming Agent Liberty had he not chosen the worst possible tactic for approaching each respective character, such as when he tries to get Lena to bail out his family's steel mill by pleading to her sense of family loyalty or tries to win James Olsen's sympathy by attacking the free press.

In this, the episode seems to condemn its heroes for letting their hearts lapse in a key moment when one minute to let a man vent or listen might have changed him. This seems to be preaching the message of mutual respect and civility which is a fine thing when you aren't dealing with someone who is beating people to death with a pipe because of who they are. On the other hand, the episode makes it clear that Ben's problems are a result of his own obsession with the past and his and his father's refusal to change. We are shown why Ben feels the way he does and allowed to feel sympathy with him up until the point that he kills the alien who accidentally injured him.

One thing is for sure - this episode will get people talking, one way or the other.

Friday, October 26, 2018

Starman Plays Betrayal at Krondor - Part 42

In which we explore the mysteries of Abuk's Magic Box after I show you precisely how to break the bank using Nia's shop, our silver spider and the weapon store in Romney. After that, we fight our way to The Oracle Of Aal for a clue about the murders and attend another university lecture.


Thursday, October 25, 2018

Black Lightning Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 3 - The Book of Consequences: Chapter Three: Master Lowry

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Anissa's efforts at playing Robin Hood send her after another criminal enterprise, with Gambi in tow. Meanwhile, Jennifer continues to struggle with her energy powers and begins seeing a most unusual therapist as Jefferson watches the new principal of Garfield High institute sweeping changes that threaten to undo everything Jefferson ever accomplished. Lynn must deal with a difficult colleague in her efforts to study The Green Light Babies as Tobias puts Painkiller to work, replacing Syonide as his right-hand.


Influences

The Black Lightning comics of Tony Isabella. The Batman and the Outsiders comics of Mike Barr.


Performances

Cress Williams does some fantastic non-verbal acting as Jefferson cleans out his office.


Artistry

The opening sequence in which Black Lightning steps in to deal with a young woman who is high on Green Light is a perfect balance of acting, cinematography, sound editing, music use and direction. If you want to show someone what Black Lightning is like, show them this scene.


Trivia

The free clinic run by the  is named in honor of Rebecca Lee Crumpler - the first African American woman to become a medical doctor in the United States in 1864.

Dr. Helga Jace is based on a character from Batman and The Outsiders. She was the royal scientist of the Markovian royal family and conducted the experiments that transformed Brion Markov into the geokinetic superhero Geo-Force by awakening his metagene. She was an ally of The Outsiders until being exposed as an agent of The Manhunters during the Millennium storyline.

The Arrowverse version of Dr. Jace is a convicted killer whose experiments lead to the deaths of one subject and the crippling of ten people.


Technobabble

Gambi has been trying to develop an antidote based on Painkiller's toxin. He asks Jefferson to see about getting a hold of one of his darts, as the sample of the toxin he took from Jefferson's blood isn't pure after interacting with Jefferson's wonky body chemistry.

Dr. Helga Jace is the leading computational chemist in the USA and no one has her experience in protein synthesis simulations.

Dr. Jace had a theory on infrared spectroscopy and its use in the treatment of neuropathy.

The same anesthesia is used on all the Green Light Babies.

Dr. Jace has an implant that disables her if she attempts to leave certain areas of the Green Light Babies facility.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Jefferson and Gambi are discussing how they have nothing to get the cops involved in searching for Tobias.)
Jefferson: So it's still all on us?  Nothing's changed.
Gambi: Well, not nothing. Tobias has got Painkiller. And he's got that ASA briefcase of Proctor's which, according to your Ms. Fowdy, contains hell.
Jefferson: You know, your pep talks need work.

(Jennifer sees a picture of Anissa and Zoe B on Instagram.)
Anissa: I can't believe you're following my dating life on social media.
Jennifer: Okay, first of all, ain't nobody following your dating life. Okay? It just popped up. And second, what else do you expect me to do when the only freedom I have is to walk around the block for exercise?

(Agent Odell refuses to put pressure on the doctors Lynn wants to recruit but suggests recruiting a convicted killer to work for her instead)
Lynn: It's hard not to see this as you trying to sabotage my efforts.
Agent Odell: If I was trying to do that, you'd have failed by now.

Jefferson: The metal detectors - is that really necessary?
Lowry: Obviously. Or you'd still have this job.

(Henderson tells Jefferson about his problems with going after a man he thinks is involved in cleaning up a cop killing.)
Jefferson: So, in my ah - role as former principal of Garfield, you want me to convince him to come clean?
Henderson: I think Black Lightning might be more persuasive. I've texted you his info and mug shot.
Jefferson: Wait... so... you're cool with the whole vigilante thing?
(There is a long pause as Henderson walks around the porch a bit before facing Jefferson again.)
Henderson: Former principal?
Jefferson: I lost my job. Black Lightning saved the school. Jefferson Pierce abandoned the school and the students, so...
(Henderson nods. There is another long pause.)
Henderson: Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Good night.
(Henderson starts to walk off. He stops as Jefferson speaks but does not turn around.)
Jefferson: Bill... at some point we need to talk this out, man.
Henderson; Yep. At some point.
(Henderson keeps walking.)


Continuity

A Green Light Baby with super-strength.

Gambi determines that all the security camera footage from Garfield High showing Tobias Whale has been destroyed.

Tobias puts Painkiller to work collecting protection money.

Rev. Holt's church runs the Rebecca Lee Crumpler Free Clinic

Vladislav Zlovac is a land developer who is trying to buy the free clinic, having bought all the land around it.

Anissa is still seeing singer Zoe B.  Jennifer thinks she's all wrong for her sister.

Jennifer says that while she did tell Anissa to get back out on the dating market in 202, she meant she should find a real partner instead of just having sex.

Lynn is having trouble finding doctors to work with her on the Green Light Babies project.

Agent Odell suggests Dr. Helga Jace - a doctor who is serving time for manslaughter - as a recruit for Lynn's work on the Green Light Baby project

The new principal of Garfield High is an officious man named Lowry who insists as being addressed as Principal Lowry and refuses Jefferson's invitation to tour the school.

Principal Lowry installs metal detectors in Garfield High.

Perenna is a psychic counselor, whom Gambi knew of. Lynn and Jefferson hire her to help console Jennifer.

Deputy Chief Henderson discovers Officer Summers from 202. Tobias apparently arranged to have his car torched after shooting him.

Dr. Jace's experiments caused ten patients to lose their feet and one patient lost their life. Despite this, Lynn is authorized to offer her a chance at seeing her son again in exchange for her help on the Green Light Baby project.

Reverend Holt needs over $300,000 to save the free clinic.

Painkller tells Tobias about a man named Rion who he had to track down to get him to pay his protection. Tobias tells Painkiller to make an example of him.

Anissa goes to Grace's bar and asks her out after apologizing for not calling her for a while.

There are three people in Freeland capable of doing a torch job according to Henderson. Two of them are in jail and the third won't talk to the cops.

Deputy Chief Henderson asks Jefferson to go after the man who he thinks torched the car as Black Lightning.

Painkiller kills Rion by accident after Rion falls over a rail and cracks his skull after taking one of Painkiller's darts.

Perenna creates a psychic safe space for Jennifer to work through her powers. It looks like a beauty salon. She also helps Jennifer make a box of gold to hide her feelings in.

Gambi figures that Zlovac's real-estate deal is probably a money laundering scam.

Black Lightning discovers that Painkiller hired the man who fire-bombed Detective Summers car.

Black Lightning goes to Ms. Payne and tells her to call him and ask her son to meet with Black Lightning.

Black Lightning is able to catch one of Painkiller's darts.

Tobias Whale is arrested for the murder of Alvin Pierce at his family's mausoleum.

Gambi helps Anissa with the robbery to get the money to save the Free Clinic.

Gambi finds Kara Fowdy's body outside his apartment

Henderson tells Jefferson that Tobias Whale has been captured..


The Bottom Line

A solid episode and easily the high point of the season to date, with a number of surprises and mysteries pushing the plot forward. Strangely enough the title has almost nothing to do with the meat of the episode, with Jefferson's issues with the man who took his job being perhaps the smallest subplot of the whole episode.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 3 - The Death Of Vibe

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

The good news is that Team Flash has given a name to their new enemy. The bad news is that name belongs to the one villain that XS says The Flash never managed to beat and everything she knows about that villain's history seems to have been changed by her trip to the past. Worse yet, Cicada is now stalking Cisco and intends to put an end to Vibe for all time!


Influences

The Flash
comics of Geoff Johns (character of Cicada) and the BBC series Sherlock (character of Sherloque Wells, general humor of the episode and twists of the plot.)


Goofs

Caitlin says that there are 14 million people in Central City. This would give it a population larger than New York City and on-par with Istanbul, which seems unlikely even accounting for the suburbs.

How did Caitlin know that all of the people who shared the meme of Ralph stuck in his eggplant shape were from Central City?

Iris is surprisingly blase about the fact that her daughter wants to frame an innocent man for a crime he didn't commit and imprison him illegally just so that it isn't her fault that a serial killer is on the loose - a fact that rightly bothers the law-and-order minded Barry, particularly since Nora is allegedly a CSI in the future!

Why didn't Cecile push the panic button before going downstairs to see what was happening to Joe? For that matter, why did she go downstairs at all if she was telepathically feeling his pain.


Performances

The chemistry between Danielle Panabaker and Hartley Sawyer makes the episode. I know they show's writers have already said they aren't giving Caitlin anymore romantic subplots and Ralph is meant to wind up with Sue Dearborn sooner or later... but watching the sweet moments between these two is sure to inspire a lot of shipping, even though we know it isn't going to happen.


Flash Facts

This episode offers us our first look at the interior of The Arrowverse version of The Flash Museum, which first appeared in the comics in The Flash #154 (August 1965). Financed entirely by donations from the people of Central City in honor of their hometown hero, The Flash Museum has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the years, as villains have attacked it as a symbol of disrespect for The Flash or to reclaim their weapons, which became displays in the museum.

The Hall of Villains contains several items and costumes from earlier episodes. These include the costumes of The Reverse Flash, Savitar, Dr. Light, Amunet Black, Zoom, the Axl Walker version of The Trickster and The Thinker. We also see the sonic gloves of Pied Piper, Captain Cold's cold gun, Heatwave's flamethrower, the wand Cisco created to block Weather Wizard's powers, one of Captain Boomerangs boomerangs, the swords of the Samuraoid, the helmet Jay Garrick was forced to wear as Zoom's prisoner, the mask General Eiling wore while being controlled by Gorilla Grodd and the gauntlets Barry used to safely handle Vandal Savage's staff.

Nora says that in her time, the first victim of Cicada was a metahuman named Floyd Belkin. In the comics, Floyd Belkin is the real name of Arm-Fall-Off-Boy - a prospective member of The Legion of Super Heroes who had the unlikely power of being able to detach his arms from his body. He is a perennial favorite on lists of the most useless superheroes ever and was the first person to be officially rejected from The Legion in the post-Crisis Legion comics.

Nora says that nobody, not even"the League" was able to stop Cicada. This is almost certainly a reference to the Justice League.

Tom Cavanagh plays another new version of Harrison Wells - Harrison Sherloque Wells. Clearly based on the character of Sherlock Holmes, he is repotedly the greatest detective in the Multiverse. He is French or at least speaks with a French accent.

Cisco calls Sherloque Wells "Cumberbatch" at one point. This is a nod to actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the role of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock.

When seeing Sherloque Wells' fee, XS shouts out the word "Shrap". According to Urban Dictionary, shrap is a new slang term used by teenagers which combines the words "shit" and "crap" to create an exclamation that they can use safely without getting into trouble with adults.

Sherloque Wells determines that Cicada is a man named David Hersch. In the original comics, this was the name of the man who became Cicada. It appears that this is not the case in The Arrowverse, however.

When Ciacada demands that Joe West summon Vibe, Joe says it isn't like he has some kind of Vibe Phone to call him. In the 1966 Batman TV series, Commissioner Gordon used a special phone line to summon Batman.

Cicada talks to Joe West about the importance of cherishing family. In the original comics, Cicada went insane after murdering his wife and became obsessed with resurrecting her through the ritualistic murder of people saved by The Flash.

Kolins Woods - the woods Cisco accidentally teleported into - is a nod to Scott Kolins, an artist famous for his work on The Flash and co-creator of Cicada.


Technobabble

The robber uses a high-tech gun that is solar-powered with a zero-carbon footprint.

Sherloque claims to build a psychological profile of Cicada and determines who he is based on census data cross-referenced with the location of the attacks so far.

Forensic evidence later links Hersch to several anti-government bombings.

Nora says that Sherloque was vaporized into ash after a fusion cell in The Pipeline went critical after being improperly placed in its cradle.

Cisco determines that Sherloque faked his own death in The Pipeline based on the fact that the cells run in a redundant cascade circle - if one blew, the whole Pipeline would have exploded. He also tastes the "ashes" and determines that they are ground up tea leaves - darjeeling and oolong.

Sherloque determines that Cisco accidentally teleported to the Kolins woods based on his description of it having pine trees and ash tees along with the sound of field crickets.


Dialogue Triumphs


Cisco: This is a waste of time. Thank you very much for coming, Cumberbatch-
Sherloque: I'm sure you would like it if I took my leave, right? Could have more time to recover from your recent heartbreak.
Cisco: What are you talking about?
Sherloque: Subcutaneous under-eye bruising, which indicates you've been crying. Flaky skin, which indicates dehydration, probably from alcohol consumption. Alcohol plus crying can only mean one thing - you have been dumped.
Cisco: Wrong, detective! I haven't been dumped!
Sherloque: Oh no?
Cisco: It was a mutual decision, okay? Cynthia and I, we reached a decision together as a team!
Sherloque: (shrugging) Of course.
Cisco: Okay, and I haven't been sobbing. In fact, I can't remember the last time I cried about it. Excuse me.
(Cisco hurriedly leaves the room as Sherloque raises his hand as if to say "See?")

(Cicada is asking Joe to bring Vibe to him.)
Joe West: He's just a masked do-gooder who shows up at crime scenes.
Cicada: (drawing his dagger) This could be a crime scene.

(Ralph and Caitlin are in Ralph's car.)
Ralph: Listen, Caitlin, I'm sorry.
Caitlin: For what?
Ralph: For... all of this. Just I - I felt like a complete joke after that hostage thing and then... Sherloque shows up and everyone swoons over his so-called "master detective-ness." You were nice enough to invite me along and... I pushed you into that, and...I'm really sorry.
Caitlin: Ralph, this thing you pushed me into gave me something I never had before.
Ralph: Your first felony?
Caitlin: (smiles) No. Closure. It may not be pretty, but I finally know the truth. And that means everything. So for my buck? You're the best detective a girl could ask for.


Continuity

It is revealed that STAR Labs is the site of The Flash Museum in 2032.

XS says that Cicada never got defeated in her timeline and that nobody knew who he was, how he got his powers or where he came from. 

XS says that Supergirl, Green Arrow, The Legends and even "The League" (presumably The Justice League) all tried fighting Cicada but none of them could manage to defeat him.

XS says Floyd Belkin was Cicada's first victim in the history of her future and that never killed Gridlock or Block.

This confirms that Block did wind up dying after being taken to the hospital in 502.

Ralph single-handedly stops a robber with a high tech gun by disguising himself as a giant eggplant.

Herr Harrison Wolfgang Wells (The Harrison Wells of Earth 12) was last seen in 421.

Herr Wells, who is usually rude to Ciscio, actually likes The Flash, XS and Iris.

Harrison Sherloque Wells is reportedly the greatest detective in the Multiverse. He is French or at least speaks with a French accent. We are not told what Earth he is from originally.

Cicada uses the Internet at the public library to research Vibe and sees him in several pictures with Joe West.

Sherloque Wells determines that Cisco suffered a heart-break based on evidence that he had been crying recently and was dehydrated from drinking too much.

Sherloque also determines that Barry is a speedster based on the wear and tear on his shoes. He notes that Barry favors his right heel when he stops and that Nora does the same thing. He also says that Nora mimics her mother's body language more and determines that Iris had a tattoo on her shoulder that she had removed - presumably the name of a former lover.

Sherloque's fee is expensive enough that it requires Barry sell some of his STAR Labs stock to pay him. It is also high enough that Nora says it is a lot of money in her time.

Sherloque hears Ralph's footstep pattern and says that he is either a tall, sensitive man or a frightened baby giraffe. He calls Ralph "little baby giraffe" for the rest of the episode.

Ralph's most recent case involved tracking down a stolen Chevy Impala.

According to Caitlin, there's 14 million people in Central City. Apparently 500,000 of them have reposted the meme of Ralph getting stuck in his giant eggplant shape.

Caitlin's mother is seen for the first time since 305.

Ralph says that Caitlin's mom is a really good liar after she denies having anything to do with the forged birth certificate and demands Caitlin drop the matter and stop looking into the past, saying that obsessing over the past nearly ruined her father.

Sherloque Wells determines that Cicada is a man named David Hersch, who is living in a rural home with a booby-trapped workshop.

Cicada shows up at Joe West's house looking for Vibe.

Caitlin's father's name is revealed as Thomas Snow.

Caitlin used to play a game with her father where he taught her The Periodic Table but let her make up her own elements and compounds. This included an element called Nerdonium which made people smart.

Caitlin and her father used to catch bugs in the backyard and look at the constellations with a telescope they built together. She credits him with teaching her so much about science and life.

Caitlin and Ralph find a suicide note from her father among her mother's files about Thomas Snow.

David Hersch's boot size is three sizes smaller than that of Cicada. He also doesn't have a Dark Matter aura indicating he's a metahuman.

Sherloque Wells has accused 37 men named David Hersch on 37 different Earths of being Cicada. He did come up with a psychological profile for the first one but just "skipped to the end" when it came to the other 36 cases.

Sherloque has been married seven times. He has five ex-wives. His fourth and sixth wives are the same woman. He pays a lot of alimony and already spent Barry's fee on paying it.

Sherlocque blames Hersch not being Cicada on Nora's altering the timeline.

Cicada has the power to inflict extreme pain on a person through red lightning channeled through his dagger.

Cisco says that Sherloque smells vaguely of poutine.

Sherloque tries to escape by stealing one of Cisco's dimension-traveling devices, like the ones he built for Supergirl and Citizen Cold.

Sherloque says that escaping to another world was how he escaped his fourth/sixth ex-wife.

The security code on Caitlin's mother's file room is Caitlin's birthday.

Cecile's telepathy allows her to feel Joe's pain while she is asleep.

There's 14 million acres of forestland in the state Central City is in.

The closest forests to Central City are Black Forest and Roanoke Forest.

XS uses her powers to speed up her thought processes so she can think of a way to fight Cicada and save Barry. She winds up throwing lightning at Cicada and using a fusion cell from STAR Labs to create an explosion that makes it look like Vibe blew himself up. Cisco is able to escape the explosion by using his breach-making device.

Cicada also has the power to jump very far or fly.

As far as Cicada and the world are concerned, Vibe is dead.

Sherloque agrees to stay until he pays back the money he charged Barry and Iris and help to find Cicada. Mostly because Cisco's teleporters are all safely hidden away.

Barry and Iris move Nora into their loft.

Sherloque moves into STAR Labs.

Caitlin determines that her father's suicide note and work notes are a cipher to be used with her periodic table. The resulting message reads CAITLIN COME FIND ME.

Someone is watching Caitlin through STAR Labs security cameras.

Joe says he thinks Cicada is a father, based on the way he talked about cherishing family and not wanting to hurt a family man.

Cicada's real name is Orlin. He has a daughter in the hospital who is in a coma.

The doctor monitoring Cicada's daughter knows that he has a wound on his shoulder that is not healing. She tells him that he can't keep doing this and has to stop. He says he can't until he is finished.

Sherloque asks XS if it was her idea to act when Barry was punching the STAR Labs satellite or if someone asked her to do that. She seems confused by the question until he says that of course she did. She looks nervous and he does not look convinced. 


Location

Flash Museum, Central City - 2032.


The Bottom Line

Not bad, overall, but not outstanding either. There are outstanding moments, however, which more than offset Barry giving another, younger speedster a hypocritical lecture about thinking things through and not jacking with the timeline.

Your enjoyment may be limited to how amused you are by watching Tom Cavanagh riff on his Harrison Wells character with yet another wacky-accented variation. The Barry/Nora/Iris triangle is getting increasingly tired but the introduction of Sherloque throws an interesting wrinkle into the proceedings. Strangely enough, there doesn't seem to be much of Cisco in this episode despite the main plot largely being devoted to him. Yet somehow, Caitlin and Ralph researching her drama proves to be the most compelling part of the episode, though that may largely be due to the performances.  

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Starman Plays Betrayal at Krondor - Part 41

In which I demonstrate how you can use the sudden rise in prices around Romney and your new spider artifact to make yourself a fair bit richer before indulging in a bit of honest thievery as Squire James becomes Jimmy The Hand once again.


Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4, Episode 1 - The Virgin Gary

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here



Plot

The Time Demon Mallus is defeated but he wasn't the only thing unleashed when his prison in time was broken. Now all manner of magical beasts are running wild around the time-stream. John Constantine thinks he knows how to defeat the new threat, but he will need the help of The Legends and their special brand of chaos and kleptomania to help him set things straight.

The problem is that with The Time Bureau finally off their backs about The Anachronisms they caused when they broke time over a year ago, The Legends aren't convinced that anything is really wrong five months after John's doom-saying in Aruba. Still, circumstances will see various members of The Legends traveling to Woodstock to investigate a disturbance in the time-stream on the down-low to make sure things really are okay. Meanwhile, Nate and Rory go on an adventure of their own, leaving Nate facing someone from his past he's been avoiding since joining The Legends.


Influences

The NBC Constantine series (music, general tone of the John and Sara scenes, John's technobable regarding his spells and the artifacts he has.) and Woodstock: The Movie (split-screen sequence, music used)


Performances

Dominic Purcell's comic timing cannot be praised enough. There are many great lines here that are great precisely because of how he says them.

The interplay between Caity Lotz and Matt Ryan is amazing. Honestly, I could just watch a Canary & Constantine series forever.


Artistry

The effects for the unicorn are nice. Not at all realistic, but perfect for what they are meant to convey.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The Legends of Tomorrow title card for this episode includes a magical seal similar to the one from the title card of the Constantine series.

When John first appears in the shadows, his musical sting from the Constantine series plays.

When John first approaches Sara in this episode, he says something about how The Darkness is Rising. The great evil that John was fighting in his short-lived solo series was The Rising Darkness.

Tom Wilson, who plays the role of Hank Haywood, is most famous for his affiliation with another famous time-travel comedy franchise. He played the various members of The Tannen Family in the Back To The Future films.

The split-screen editing used when Sara, Zari, Nate and Ray are talking to each other is a visual reference to Woodstock: The Movie.

There's a bit of a nod to John's famous battle during The Newcastle Incident here, with John attempting to save an innocent from being dragged into Hell. This time, however, he is successful.


Technobabble/Arcana

The knuckle bones of a martyred saint can act as a divining rod and be used to detect the presence of beings not of the material world.

Unicorns are vicious predators whose beautiful appearance enraptures the unwary. They impale people on their horns and eat their hearts. They are immune to fire.They also spray a glittery musk that has psychotropic effects.

John Constantine has King Solomon's original grimoire - the oldest magical textbook in existence.

The spell to banish a magical creature from the mortal realm requires a number of rare ingredients - the saliva of a nine-fingered man, the protection stone of a powerful shaman and a lock of hair from a doomed woman. In the case of a unicorn, it also requires a virgin as bait.


Dialogue Triumphs

Mick: Never met an Englishman I haven't wanted to punch in the face.
Nate: Relax, Mick. If it wasn't for The British Invasion, there'd be no Rolling Stones. No Led Zep. (pauses) No Black Sabbath.
Mick: (suddenly quiet) Black Sabbath?
Nate: Nope.
Mick: (stammering) Well then, we-we've got to protect these mop-heads from whatever is screwing up history!

Nate: Look, all I know is Constantine promised us new, mysterious monsters. So... where all they are hiding?
Sara: I'm confused. We are all happy that there was only one dragon, right?! We don't want to be fighting werewolves at The Alamo!
Nate: (shrugs) Eh.
Ray: Well, it would be good for our ratings.
(Everyone just stares at Ray.)
Sara: What ratings?
Ray: Oh, you don't know? The Time Bureau rates all of their employees. But don't worry. We have a few dedicated fans.
Zari: Yeah, Gary doesn't count.

(John has just left Ava's apartment.)
Ava: Should I be worried about your ex-lover breaking into my apartment, or...?
Sara: (smiling) Well, I thought that... this was our apartment?
Ava: (sighs) You. Are. Smooth.

(Mick revs the engine on his stolen car.)
Mick: You ready to steal something, Pretty?
Nate: Yeah. I could do some light theft.
Mick: What is this? Spring Break? I'm talking about a felony.

Dorothy: Mr. Rory, do you like, ah- sandwiches?
Mick: You bet your ass I do, ma'am!

The entire sequence of everyone starring at the majesty of the unicorn enraptured as it approaches the hippie woman holding a flower... only to impale her through the chest, throw her to the ground and start eating her heart.

John: You know, for someone with a time-traveling machine, you seem to be in an awful hurry-
Sara: John, the unicorn has already gored two hippies!
John: Oh-ho! A unicorn?
Sara: Yeah.
John: Well, alright, I'm in. But first I need to know - was any of your team get... musked by the beast?
Sara: If that's what you're calling its sparkle sauce, then yeah. Why?
John: (grins) Oh, they're in... for one hell of a ride.

John: I'm just trying to look after you, love. You and I are both similar. We're both survivors but our survival comes at a terrible cost. Look - You can take it from a man whose brought nothing but misery to everyone he's ever loved. Trust me. End it with Ava before its too late.
Sara: You ever think that you cause misery, not because of some romantic "I was born to walk alone" crap but because you're an ass who doesn't know how to trust people?
John: You know, I trust... that people around me get hurt, killed, or far, far worse.
Sara: You think that I'm not scared? That I don't know grief?
(John shrugs.)
Sara:
I'm not willing to turn my back on life. Because that is exactly what you are doing, John! Our friends and family, they don't make us weaker. They make us stronger. (pauses and smiles) You know what you need?  YOU need to be a part of a team.
(John snorts at this and starts to turn around to walk off. He stops and makes a face.)
(Cut to: John's POV as we see Ray kissing a tree, Zari rolling around on the grass and Nate and Mick playing wheelbarrow. Sara turns to look at what John is looking at and sighs.)

John: You were saying?

(John is searching through King Solomon's grimoire looking for a spell to fight a unicorn)
Sara: Well, not to pressure you, but the entire fate of the sexual revolution is in the balance here.
John: That IS my favorite revolution.


Continuity

Five months have passed since John Constantine met The Legends in Aruba in 318.

Paul Revere shows up in the midst of The Beatles arrival at JFK on Februrary 7, 1964.

Returning Paul Revere to his proper place in time is the final anachronism The Legends needed to fix.

Wally West is said to have left The Legends to travel the world and find himself, as per his discussion with Joe West in F501.

Zari, Ray and Nate each told Ava about John Constantine's slaying a dragon and his warning that more monsters were coming.

Sara and Ava are still dating.

Zari has figured out that Ray helped Nora Darhk escape in 318. She says he's a good guy for doing it, however.

Ava asks Sara to move in with her. Sara accepts.

The Legends are given medals for their work. Unfortunately, Gary confiscates them as the existence of The Time Bureau is top-secret.

Nate's parents live in Washington DC.

Henry "Hank" Haywood just took a new job with the Pentagon. He disapproves of his son's career and resents his not joining the military, despite Nate being a hemophiliac.

Sara gets Gary to scan the timeline for anomalies. He finds one in Woodstock in 1969. Sara steals his Time Courier to go there.

Ray has Gideon monitoring the Time Bureau for unusual activity. He detects Sara's noticing the anomaly in Woodstock and takes The Waverider's jump-ship to go there. Zari comes with him. Ray thinks Nora is the cause of the anomaly.

Zari doesn't know what a hippie is.

Ray still carries his Eagle Scout compass.

Zari and Ray discover a dad body in a tree that had its heart ripped out.

Nate has barely called his parents in the last two years.

Nate figures out that history has changed after his father says he has nothing but pity for the Hippies after what happened at The Woodstock Massacre.

The Woodstock Massacre ended the Hippie movement before it started in the new reality. Reports from the survivors are sketchy but it's agreed that there were a series of murders that ultimately led to the stampede of a panicking crowd of 400,000 people trying to escape at once.

Nate and Ray are both Bronies.

John is about to have a threesome with two contortionists when Sara finds him.

Mick's father beat him, burned him and dressed like a clown to scare him when he was a child.

Nate's father was emotionally distant and cold toward him when he was a kid.

Nate sees Mick as his father.

Mick sees Nate as his dead rate, Axl.

Zari begins seeing love as a light around her. While she's high on the unicorn musk, she realizes Ray has fallen in live with Nora Darhk.

Roy hallucinates that a tree is Nora Darhk and starts kissing it.

The spell to banish a magical creature from the mortal realm requires a number of rare ingredients - the saliva of a nine-fingered man, the protection stone of a powerful shaman and a lock of hair from a doomed woman. Nate gets the saliva of a nine-fingered man by stealing a joint from Jerry Garcia, who lost most of one finger in a wood-chopping accident. Mick steals a necklace from Jimi Hendricks. A shrunken Ray steals a lock of hair from Janis Joplin.

Something happened between Gary Green and John Constantine, but John insists that it doesn't count as sex and that Gary is still a virgin. Technically.

The effects of the banishment spell opens a portal to Hell that draws the magical creature into it.

The unicorn bites off Gary's left nipple.

John offers to take Gary to go get a drink and maybe do something about the "virgin" situation.

Nate goes to visit his dad with a six-pack of beer so they can talk.

Ray claims to have felt a spark when he touched Nora Darhk's hand when he gave her the time stone.

Zari and her mother lived in Washington D.C in 2018.

Zari says she knows she can't change her family's past without screwing up the timeline and dooming all the people she saved as a Legend but she still feels guilty.

Ava puts The Legends medals in a frame on the wall of her kitchen.

Gary finally told Ava about the monsters being unleashed into the time stream.

Sara decides to not move in with Ava just yet.

John is attacked in his hotel room by some presence that says it is coming for him, writing a message in blood on his mirror.


Location

JFK Airport, New York City - February 7, 1964.
Time Bureau HQ, Washington DC - 2018
Ava Sharpe's Brownstone, Washington DC - 2018.
The Haywood Home, Washington DC - 2018
Woodstock, New York - 1969
John Constantine's Hotel Room, Washington DC - 2018



Untelevised Adventures

Something happened to John within the past five months that has made him more miserable than usual.


The Bottom Line

Words cannot express how much I missed this show and how much I loved this episode. It's goofy fun and Constantine only makes it better, with the whole episode feeling like some lost Garth Ennis story. Practically perfect in every way.