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Christmas is dead, Santa is dead, mistletoe is basically poisonous, and everything sucks. That’s what I got from the mid-season finale of Riverdale. Did you get anything different?  Other than Tales from the Darkside, Season 2 of Riverdale has been one depressingly shallow, angst-ridden story after another, all centered around the manipulative, violent, and evil murderer: The Black Hood. This storyline, essentially, draws to a close in the mid season finale but it does so with a cheap “oh it’s him” and none of the intelligent writing that we were treated to in season one with the murder of Jason Blossom. Am I being too harsh on a show I genuinely enjoy (enjoyed)? Maybe . . . let’s look at the facts. After last week’s double break up, the actual fallout is minimal. Betty seems to be the only one really taking it hard, and even then, she seems more angry about the whole thing. In Jughead’s world, while the pair exchange gifts it’s awkward and uncomfortable with Betty telling Jug that he’s not the boss of her. But Jughead has bigger problems in that he’s doing his very best to fix the snake charmer problem he created for his father. On a side note, the Serpents are an interesting gang. Violent? Sure. Occasionally involved in drug dealing? Yeah, a bit. Wraps gifts and give them to children in need at Christmas while delivering food to elderly people? Yeah, they do that.  Jughead rallies the younger members of the Serpents to drag Penny out of town, warning her to stay out of Riverdale and then, as far as we can tell, Jughead cuts the tattoo off her arm. Cuts. It. Off. And then he celebrates with take out. The Lodges are evil, we’ve established that, and this week Veronica finds the deed to Pop’s and confronts her parents about it. This is after they refuse to let her spend $86k on Fred Andrews’ medical bills and she goes ahead and charges it to her mother’s credit card anyway. The Lodges decide to let her in on the family secrets, off camera, and she agrees to work with them as long as she doesn’t have to do anything illegal and the payment to Fred’s health remains in place. All in all, not much development there. Over at the Blossom household, Mama Blossom declares they can’t afford Christmas so Cheryl embraces the seasonal spirit and celebrates it anyway. It’s unclear as to whether Cheryl believes in Santa Claus, or if in Riverdale Santa is real and Cheryl’s mother was trying to slide down his chimney there at the end, but I honestly don’t know what all this was about.  The main story was of course the wrap up of the Black Hood and it’s here I have a problem. This is episode 9, the Black Hood has been in play since episode 1, we met Mr. Svenson only three episodes ago. There were no hints previous to that episode as to even the existence of Mr. Svenson. Which means at no point in episodes 1-6 did we have any chance of figuring out who the Black Hood was. That’s just lazy writing. Betty and Archie seek out Mr. Svenson who is absent from work and discover he’s been kidnapped. The Black Hood offers a finger to point (pun intended) them in the right direction. They consult the nuns (as you do), speak with Nana Rose Blossom (love her), kiss (for no apparent reason), find some old pictures, leading them to an empty grave where Archie is almost buried. The Black Hood runs away and is shot by Sheriff Keller, who reveals the man to be, dun dun dun, Mr. Svenson. What a let down! That’s it!? That’s who this has all been working toward? How do they explain the green eyes? Or the fact that he’s nowhere near as big as he was in previous episodes? They don’t. The Black Hood was Mr. Svenson who was trying to balance the sins of the past, avenging his dead family, by punishing the sinners of the present. Case closed, all wrapped up in a neat little bow. A very boring bow. The Jason Blossom murder had intrigue, it had suspects, it had twists . . . the Black Hood turned out to be nothing more than a creepy janitor with a grudge.  Veronica and Archie get back together, with Ronnie professing her love, though even this, which should have been a nice scene was tainted by someone snapping pictures of them from behind a bush. Betty burns the artifacts of the Black Hood investigation and we’re shown a glimpse of Dark Betty as she refuses to let the hood burn in the flames with everything else. And here we find the inherent problem when you try to take a 13 episode show and extend it to 23 episodes. The stories just don’t support it, particularly when you’re trying to stretch said stories out. It weakens and dilutes the show as a whole. The Black Hood is now wrapped up. This is murder investigation number 2. After Christmas we’ll find out as to whether the show is just going to be a series of murders or if Riverdale can course correct and make the show more about its characters again. I truly thought Jughead would find his way back to the north side but he appears to be remaining a serpent and staying at a different school. I know this is the dark and gritty version of Archie and the gang and I’m fine with that, but the show will need to develop some more depth and some smart writing if they want to keep audiences engaged. Until next time . . . 
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 I watched the latest DC cimematic effort in its opening weekend, and have delayed writing a bite-sized review. Not because I disliked it, more so I could digest it a bit more. You can find our full review on the Trilogy Spoilers Podcast on iTunes and here on this very website. Having now seen it a 2nd time, here are my thoughts . . . I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, and overall I enjoyed it. I see this movie as a sort of course correction for DC/WB in finding their footing with their movies. The visuals are beautiful (easy to see Snyder's influence) and the lighter comedic moments went a long way to reducing the dark and gritty tone we've seen in previous movies (clearly thanks to Whedon). Character development was just okay because they didn't have multiple movies to build origins for these guys. Flash was reduced to comic relief, Wonder Woman wasn't depicted as strongly as she was in her own movie, Batman was still grouchy. Aquaman was a great version of the character and I think I just really want to hang out with Jason Momoa cause he seems damned cool. Cyborg could have used more development but he was well used for the story. Superman smiled and laughed and this is a much better version of the character, though that top lip was a weird sight to behold. Plot holes were all over the place but it's still a step in the right direction as far as development is concerned. I'd like to see these guys again on the big screen . . .  BONUS MATERIAL!
A Bite-sized Follow Up - Justice League/Batfleck - It's been bothering me since BvS as to why I just don't like the current version of Batman. And it's not because of the actor. We've seen Affleck do some great work. I truly think it's the script. In the past we've had West's campy Batman, Keaton's slightly unhinged badass Batman, Kilmer's unflappable Batman, uhhh Clooney . . . . moving on, Bale's ninja Batman, and now Batfleck. I liked all previous versions (except Clooney, for obvious reasons). Ever since I was a kid, Batman was the superhero I wanted to be. He was smart, rich, and motivated. But now I'd rather be any superhero except Batman. This Batman kills people and is forever using guns. Batman was against guns. It was a defining characteristic, likely because his parents were gunned down in front of him. But this Batman is trigger happy. Even in Justice League, aside from the artillery mounted on every single one of his vehicles, he even steals a gun from a parademon during the big fight and just stands there and shoots stuff. Bale's Batman would have decimated those parademons in hand to hand combat. Batfleck is clunky when he moves around, barely able to leap on a 2 foot ledge at the beginning of the movie. He threw a batarang once! One time! At Flash!? As a true fan of Batman, I just can't get onboard with this one. Here's hoping they fix it with Flashpoint . . . What are your opinions on Batfleck?  Easily one of the most anticipated second seasons around, did ST2 meet the fan expectations and continue the dark story of Hawkins and its Hellmouth (#Buffy4ever) in an original and compelling way. The answer is yes, yes it did!
Will is a mess, the poor kid, and he didn't really fair much better this season either. The other kids all received solid development arcs for their characters, Mike in particular, and the 80's film nostalgia shone through in a very real way. Dustin remains my fave kid because he's just so freaking adorable and nerdy and the way he handles his mother's 'missing' cat is just awesome. New additions Max (redhead) and Billy (discount Zac Efron) add some great emotional layers to the story, particularly for Lucas and Dustin. Though I still can’t decide if I’m supposed to hate Billy or feel sorry for him, or both? The relationship between Hopper and Eleven almost steals the whole show, or rather it would have if Eleven hadn’t taken off on her own adventure for most of the season. The one episode that was ‘Eleven’s Episode’ that dragged us away from the main event was interesting but ultimately jarring. However, it did allow for her to make a badass entrance at just the right moment. Other highlights include Dustin’s pet Demadog, the kids dressing as Ghostbusters and no one wanting to be Winston, and of course Bob (new Barb). Sean Astin, an actual real life Goonie, hitting up Stranger Things is awesome in itself, but he was just such a likeable character! In my humble opinion, the Duffers crushed it. Bring on season 3!  Mass murder, strippers, and teenage sex. No it’s not a violent R-Rated action movie, it’s Riverdale on the CW! The Black Hood mystery doesn’t progress all that much this week, but we do get sent on a fun red herring goose chase after the Riverdale Reaper and the whole thing ends in tears. So without further ado . . . cue the theme music from Ghost during that weird pottery scene . . .  Archie and Veronica are in the throes of passionate lovemaking in various locations when our fave ginger kills the mood by professing his love for Ronnie. Awkwardness ensues and the pair seek to find a distraction from their ‘situation’; something they’re provided by Betty and Jughead who have their own thing going on and ask Varchie to pick up on the Black Hood investigation. Something they jump at and, surprisingly, are quite good at. Archie and Ronnie visit the Devil’s House; the place where the Riverdale Reaper killed a family of four before disappearing. They discover a 3rd missing child’s initials, JC, on the wall of the home and find evidence suggesting that the Conways had 5 kids, not four. Joseph Conway escaped the slaughter, was adopted out and raised by another family in Riverdale. Jughead theorizes that Joseph Conway might even be the Black Hood, but as Veronica and Archie follow the clues and match the picture of young Joseph to Riverdale High’s records, they uncover the truth that Joseph Conway is none other than Mr. Svenson the janitor! He provides the account of what happened that night with the Riverdale Reaper. Apparently he was a con man who was passing through town and, after the murder, was killed by a group of men from the town. Justice was done. Case closed. Svenson isn’t the Black Hood so we’re no further along in discovering who the ski mask loving man is. Great development for Archie and Veronica though, connecting the dots in a Scooby Doo-esque way. Unfortunately solving the mystery poses a new problem in that they must now face the devastating effects of telling someone you love them.  Last week we were introduced to a new stalker/love dynamic in the form of Cheryl and Josie. While Josie seems fairly oblivious, Cheryl is giving off a really creepy vibe and it’s becoming clear that she’s infatuated with Riverdale’s main songstress. How this will play out is anyone’s guess. Badly. I’m guessing badly. In the world of Betty and Jughead there are some pretty awesome things happening. FP is getting out of jail. Sure he kidnapped a kid and covered up a murder, but that’s the sort of thing that’s low on the punishable scale in Riverdale so he’s free to go, much to the delight of Jughead. The young serpent is further elated when he discovers that FP has made the decision to retire from being a Serpent and is instead choosing to walk a straighter narrower path. They even have a touching father son moment while out biking.  When FP takes a job at Pops, Jug feels his Dad deserves more and so Betty suggests throwing a retirement party at the White Worm, the Serpent bar, which in hindsight couldn’t have been a more terrible idea. Alice, a former Serpent, chaperones Betty to the party and seems very at home at the White Worm. You can take the girl out of the Southside, but you can’t take the Southside out of the girl. She’s shooting tequila and hanging out with the locals before you know it.  Nice to see some music returning to Riverdale episodes with a pretty great cover of Mad World, until Ronnie ruins it by letting her feelings, or lacks of feelings for Archie get in the way of things and runs from the bar, followed by Archie. Way to ruin a song guys, but don’t worry . . . Betty picks up the vocals and crushes the ending with a striptease. The whole reason behind the teenager (grade 11 maybe?) hitting the pole is some sort of induction into the Serpents so she can be closer to Jughead. The horror on her mother’s face was well worth the complete inappropriateness of the dance, but the effects are far reaching.  FP flips on his retirement plan, vowing to forever be a serpent. This seems like a dick move until he reveals he’s doing it because he knows about the deal between Jughead and Penny. He essentially sacrifices his freedom so he can take Jughead’s place being in debt with the snake charmer. Not getting into bed with Penny was the one thing FP asked of his son, but it was too late. FP states “you broke my heart, Jughead.” Sad face. The on again off again relationships of #varchie and #bughead ventures back into ‘off’ mode with all of them breaking up at the end of the episode. Veronica and Archie because she can’t return the love he feels for her, and Betty and Jughead because Jug is afraid Betty is getting in too deep and that he won’t be able to protect her from the Serpents. One step forward, two steps back. The episode closes with half naked Archie locking eyes with mostly clothed Betty from their respective bedroom windows. Is this foreshadowing that Bughead and Varchie are dead but Barchie may now be a thing? Until next time . . .  Stray Thoughts of Awesomeness . . . “Is it true what they say about men that get out of jail?” - Was Alice Cooper hitting on FP? If so, bravo! A lot of Riverdale parents seem totally fine with their teenage kids hanging out in a biker bar/strip joint. “We wouldn’t mind seeing more of Archie. He’s brawny and devoted to you.” - Hermione Lodge - Boyfriend, ginger, also a bodyguard. The Lodges never say “I love you.” Theirs is more a relationship of raw passion and dirty underhanded real estate deals.  When I saw the trailer for the latest outing from Jackie Chan I was a little shocked. No humour, no goofy stunts, no Chris Tucker screeching about, ya know, everything. Instead, The Foreigner is a non-stop, smart action movie with brutal violence and an actual plot and mystery that works perfectly for an aging Jackie Chan.
At 63 years old, he's no longer the spry kung fu action star he used to be, but his skills are still just as sharp and him being an aged martial artist was used to excellent effect. The story involving a rebel group of IRA bombers and government cover ups runs parallel to Chan's story of revenge, and in some instances it's difficult to know who to root for, but ultimately we all love a good revenge story and Pierce Brosnan is a bit of an a-hole anyway. If you want to see Jackie Chan in a more gritty light, or you just fancy a somewhat thoughtful action movie, give this one a go. |
Welcome to the blog of Author, Andrew Buckley. Why Blogocity? Why do I need a reason? Here you’ll find updates, musings, vlogs, audio clips, images, events, and all sorts of other silly stuff. Enjoy!
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