Luke Cage - Episodes 5-13: The previous recap looks way outdated now as I finish watching this series. The first episodes had a slow start, setting up Luke (Mike Colter) and his world. Then the plot really gets going with some twists, and it's a wild ride from there, celebrating and commenting on the African American experience in America, a very smart update of the character from the comics, and the best use of Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple (a recurring character in the Marvel Netflix shows) so far, and an engaging Misty Knight played by Simone Missick.
Supergirl - "The Adventures of Supergirl": After crossing over to a new network, Supergirl begins restructuring itself with a job change for Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan), a sweet farewell to Cat Grant (Calista Flockheart), a new job for Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), a new character in Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath), a mysterious arrival in a Kryptonian space pod, a menacing new villain, and a special guest star role by Kara's cousin, Clark Kent/Superman (Tyler Hoechlin). A very enjoyable Season 2 opener!
Lucifer - "Sin-Eater": Lucifer (Tom Ellis) and Detective Decker (Lauren German) investigate a couple grisly murders as Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) and Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) deal with Lucifer's mother (Tricia Helfer) now living on Earth.
Gotham - "Mad City: New Day Rising": The Mad Hatter plot seems to reach a tragic climax. Eddie discovers that Oswald is trying to buy the election and sabotages this dishonesty, but Oswald wins anyway. After having an "adventure" with Selina "Five" (Bruce's doppleganger) is taken in by "The Court."
The Flash - "Paradox": Barry discovers that the effects of "Flashpoint" are reaching further than he thought. Iris is upset with Barry, Cisco's brother Dante died, Barry has a new coworker (Tom Felton) who distrusts him, and several other little changes. Jay Garrick appears and tells Barry he can't fix everything. The Rival from the Flashpoint world reappears as Barry faces him.
Agents of SHIELD - "Uprising": Agent May nearly dies after her mysterious illness. Daisy becomes acquainted with Robbie Reyes' wheelchair-bound brother Gabe as it appears a group of Inhumans shuts down power to major cities, allowing criminal action to go by undetected. SHIELD is revealed to the public to be active again.
Arrow - "The Recruits": Oliver's (Stephen Amell) attempts at training a new team leaves a lot to be desired as he focuses more on breaking them down than building them up, so he has to refine his method. Meanwhile, John Diggle's army service is less than ideal. Also, a new villain with a link to Oliver's past reveals himself to the Green Arrow.
Legends of Tomorrow - "Out of Time": The Legends (a group of former supporting characters from Arrow and The Flash) are out to fix time, going back to stop the machinations of Damian Darhk in World War II, meeting Albert Einstein along the way. To stop a nuke, Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) scatters the team throughout history and seemingly sacrifices himself, leaving Heatwave (Dominic Purcell) in stasis on board the Waverider, where a future Oliver Queen and time traveler Nate Heywood (Nick Zano) revives him and set out to find the team.
Bonus entry: Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four. A year ago, I wrote about my love for Marvel's Fantastic Four franchise, and here's a new documentary about a mysterious part of it: the 1994 Fantastic Four movie. The movie was filmed on a tight schedule, edited, scored, special effects (such as they were) finished, and the cast had extensively promoted it. And then, the plug was pulled. The film was commissioned to be made on a shoestring budget to maintain the film rights for Constantin Film. A VHS of the film leaked and floated around the bootleg circuit and now is widely available online for free viewing.
The movie—when its limitations are taken into consideration—is actually not that bad. There's a clear love for the source material and a drive to make a good movie certainly present. Its limitations are certainly in the forefront, with no time to refine the script, not a lot of time for reshoots, no access to the best digital effects, and audio issues that included a lack of re-recording. But still, it's a surprisingly enjoyable movie, even if it's largely laughable.
This documentary interviews the cast and crew of the film who tell us all about the creation of the film up through its promotion, its surprise cancelled release and then successful afterlife as a bootleg. It contains clips of the film, a little bit of behind the scenes footage and photos, views of magazines and articles covering the film, all putting together as complete a story as they can.
Certainly worth a watch, there will be a physical home media release in December.
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