Reviews

Hmmm...in this episode, The Arrow prevents justice to a mass murder who killed his father. But he takes a critical shot on a revenge seeking man who was tortured by the police into a false confession????

This show is getting worse as it continues.

This was a jaw dropper episode. It was pretty much up there with the Elevator episode from LA Law as a well held surprise. And it wasn't shocking that UPN couldn't get casual viewers to the tube to watch it.

UPN was that bad of a network.

It wasn't the reveal of the Bus terrorist that garnered my high rating. It was that and the sub stories: Veronika's "What If" Dream. Jackie Cook's conversion to a great character, and her determination to not give that up. Vinnie Van Lowe's and Keith Mars' partnership. Principal Clemmon's final conversation with Veronica. And Weevil's "march" to graduation. All these scenes were something to remember.

The culprit's reveal, however, was well underplayed - straight out of an Agatha Christie pulp novel. As they watch the reveal, the viewer will only wonder why they didn't catch on sooner.

When I watched the original broadcasts of MacGyver, I had a lot of conflicting opinions: I loved the Science aspects of it. The fact that a house contained many over the counter items that were dangerous to a mind that knows science was something that had never been seriously explored in any type of series before this show premiered. And if nothing else, I always err on giving original ideas a try. But this wasn't a science fiction show. If they had tried to be, I doubt they would have gotten on the air.

Science Fiction was all the rage in the movie theaters with the original trilogy of Star Wars just finishing up, Terminator and Aliens having great receptions, and the Star Trek adaptations being a monster hit. But even though Star Trek had three hundred-million dollar films in a row, the spin-off, Star Trek: Generations- which came out at the same time as MacGyver - couldn't get a network to broadcast it.

MacGyver mostly concentrated on the spy-fi aspects of the show, which was a grave mistake. Whereas the creative team made a great decision to keep the science somewhat real, Producers Henry Winkler & John Rich; and the Creator of the show, Lee David Zlotoff (plus, whoever was the show runner – if they had a show runner) simply had no reasonable knowledge of the spy community, and the show suffered. Add to that the fact that the show got life due to the break-out success of writer Tom Clancy - a technical wizard of how the spy/military community worked, and the show was instantly behind the eight-ball.

There were several episodes that had plot holes that one could drive an RV through. MacGyver had no concept of keeping his ID a secret - which led to bad guys coming after his family for revenge plots. A concept that got praise from the political community - MacGyver refused to use guns to shoot his assailants, even to just shoot them in the leg - led to many twisted adventures in which MacGyver would place the villains and innocent bystanders in more physical jeopardy by blowing something up to stop their attack. And the Phoenix Foundation, which employed MacGyver, seemed to lack the knowledge of how the laws of the United States worked much less the inner working of the minds of America's threats.

As far as plots were concerned, there were three types of shows the first season:

A Handy Man at the Right Place, and Right Time

These were by far the best of the shows. It had MacGyver be an adventurer more like Indiana Jones, and Science took center stage. They covered everything from Wildcatting to Nuclear Power Plants

MacGyver, established operative

With the exception of the breakout sections most of these shows were the poorest written of the stories. It involved MacGyver going on assignment, but without having any clear idea of what a spy does or a spy agency for that fact. It's not like I know, but there were more than a few times that MacGyver would give out his agency's address and phone number, and ask some stranger to just make contact. At the end of every show, every character would know that character was a spy and working for a top-secret organization that was always named. Some secret ID.

Propaganda

Basically, there was a Soviet plot everywhere. Not to dismiss the Russians, but it was incredible that so many Russian spies were operating unimpeded in the United States. That was the opinion back then. Now? Living in the age of Trump? With everyone knowing who the Russian spies are, with the possible exception of the Donald, and all of those spies under surveillance, these stories seem even more impossible.

What Rich/Winkler/Zlotoff did do right was mix a seventies action show philosophy with low budget special effects. Their unit teams were top notch, and never once did anyone watch their shows and accuse them of cheesy special effects or production values. This made the science seem more urgent, and gave a tension to science never before shown. Would the Science work? Would it be effective? There were several stories in which MacGyver faced intimidating technology only to bend it to his knowledge of the science behind it. This fueled a hunger of Science in the show's audience. (Which backfired on adult watchers: As the show became popular, the creative team devolved the character into a role model and went for kid friendly plots.)

Also, the creative team scored big by giving the lead role to Richard Dean Anderson, who created a complete lead character that had never been allowed in either a science fiction show nor a spy-fi adventure before this show's run. He was modest, self-effacing, aloof, and yet still an action hero. He didn't know everything about science, just enough to get him out of jams. MacGyver often used science that seemed to point to some say a prayer plot. (Save me! Please) But as the character would often say: He was open to a better plan. Without this deep mannered portrayal, Mulder of the X-Files could not have existed. (Again, Anderson's good work goes out the window after season one.)

MacGyver was a great idea that needed a stronger creative team(...maybe one that would have tried to keep this a serious show after the first season?) Could you imagine what would have happened had they had someone with the technical knowledge of Tom Clancy as a co-Creator of the show, and Stephen J. Cannell as the Producer? But as it is, the show is just sort of maddening.

An entire group of lumberjacks disappears while on a clear cutting job. The Federal Forest Service asks for the FBI's help because they believe eco-terrorists are responsible. Mulder tags it as an X-file because in 1934 a group of WPA workers disappeared from the same spot.

A "monster of the week" episode, Scully and Mulder along with Federal Forest Service Agent Larry Moore (Jason Beghe, fresh off Thelma and Louise) go deep into the jungle hoping to find evidence they can use against the eco-terrorists. Instead, they discover that the killer is a bug, and they have stepped into its lair.

This is a nice horror show. Scully and Mulder quickly agree on who the killers are. And then figure out that the cabin they are in acts as a table - and the investigators are dinner. The only thing that keeps the bugs at bay is light. And - of course - all they have is an incandescent light bulb; one that looks like it's on it's last filament - which is when people start to panic.

The bug story is a little far fetched, as are most horror conventions. But the great thing about the X-Files is the science they use to give the stories some weight. I also liked that, as usually occurs in horror films, all the characters make questionable decisions, including Scully and Mulder. It makes for great tension.

Not too long after arriving into the Expanse, the crew has become frustrated by the many "Anomalies" - occurrences that have no scientific explanation - that they are experiencing. Of course every space exploration from NASA has run into anomalies, so three years and encountering their first set of anomalies is pretty amazing...Enterprise becomes stranded by a particularly awful round of anomalies, however, and the disabled ship gets attacked by a pirate vessel that steals Enterprise's fuel.

During the attack, one of the pirates is captured, Orgoth the Osarian. Orgoth is a particularly unpleasant capture. Having never met an earthling, he assumes that we don't torture, and he dares Archer to do so, otherwise he won't give him vital information. With this story line originating so soon after the 9/11 attacks, of course Archer obliges.

This is - what? - the fifth pirate episode out of 50 produced? WAY TOO MANY. But this is the problem with this series, the writing wasn't that great. The problem with anomalies and maybe this being the first, or second pirate episode in season one would have made this a stand out episode. This late into it, it just serves as a plot advance technique.

Further, the Producers sold the torture story as realism. Looking back upon it, it just seems lame. Having Orgorth play "torture me, please" isn't realistic, and it just seems that Star Trek was trying to give cover for the Bush Administration's torture policy. If they were reduced to this to try and save the show; pity. If they did this because they agreed with the Bush policy; worse. I didn't know they would use a show to comment on a present political policy situation.

This torture bit mired the show to 2003-2004, and makes it laughable as time goes on.

What a loss!

As a follow-up to episode 28, Minefield, Enterprise is damaged to the point of being ineffective. After initiating a general distress call, Capt. Archer receives a confusing message that leads him to a very mysterious space station.

There are a lot of horror film elements in this piece, including the death of a crew member; sparse uncomfortable sets; and the abandoned location. The addition of this type of genre only helps. It gives the show's regulars a lot more emotional space to act, and brings some believability to the performances. You could see from the whole that this was a professional cast dying for some meaty scripts.

Although the story - which seems to have borrowed heavily from another source - is stronger than many in the first two years; other elements lagged. The soundtrack is tame, not highlighting many of the creepy scenes. And the director, Roxanne Dawson, also needed to stretch some of the scenes out to bring some tension - which seemed unreasonably low throughout the episode.

As a whole there seems to be a factory quality to many of the stories coming from these first fifty episodes. It was probably why very few of these shows connected. There needed to be better sci-fi, and more risk in each episode.

Just something to remember for the next series...

Welcome back to Bond the Tool! Episode IV. First off, be thankful. This is not the joke-y Irreverent Bond. Nor the serious Reformed Bond. No this is the Bond that's trying to get the character of Bond to fit in with everything modern. It's where the production staff tries to explain Bond to an audience that doesn't know the lore, but likes a good action film.

This isn't a good action film. But it is an okay reboot.

James Bond (Daniel Craig) causes a mess in Mexico City - a really big mess - in an unauthorized attempt to assassinate a terrorist thug that doesn't register on any MI6 lists. This comes at a time when MI6 is being consolidated with MI5, and British Intelligence is undergoing a change to British Surveillance. The mess is diplomatic as well as politically embarrassing. During the mission, however, James stumbles upon an organization called SPECTRE that seems very well connected; headed by a previously unknown villain, that makes this battle personal.

As they have in all of the reboots, the writers (there were a lot of them), producers (even more) and director (Sam Mendes) get rid of some of the more silly compromises made some fifty odd years ago. In this film, James is labeled an "Assassin". As strange as it may seem considering that was part of the character's job, the producers in the past would not let James Bond be called that, for, idk, maybe to be considered more likable. They also give Blofeld a history, which was always a mistake that needed to be resolved. And they modernize SPECTRE, giving it a purpose and a function that seems believable.

But what the production staff failed to do was give the story an excitement or an urgency that many of the great Bond films in the past had. Although the SPECTRE storyline is topical, and the Blofeld re-telling becomes personal, neither has the necessary appeal to bring tension to this film. Not once was I on the edge of my seat, as I was sometimes with Skyfall. The filmmakers have the settings correct, but not the payoffs.

This is especially disappointing because they had Christoph Waltz, a good actor at the top of his game, playing the villain, Blofeld. The writers never supplied him with any good lines like past memorable villains - nor did they give him interesting interactions with any of the other characters. He sneers well, but even with the correction of Blofeld's history, this was the weakest Blofeld characterization for the Bond series.

Further, although SPECTRE has a nice introduction, they seem pretty weak next to the nuclear acquiring SPECTRE that existed during the first three incarnations of James Bond. Part of that has to do with Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista), who makes a very uninteresting operative/henchman. (Not due to poor acting...he has very few lines to act upon...another bad concept from the writers.) In past films, the scripts always highlighted how ingenious the henchmen were at slipping through the cracks, even though they eventually got caught. Here, Mr. Hinx seems like a strong thug who hasn't yet met a bullet. I had very little respect or fear of Mr. Hinx...and the character was too much of a take-off of Oddjob - always a fav of Bond Henchman.

(I keep getting the feel that this is another View To A Kill. Capable supporting actors, blah film.)

Maybe the payoff comes in the next film. Maybe SPECTRE continues to morph, but this time into a more effective villainous group. Maybe the excitement will return.

I hope so.

P.S. I loved the fact that Blofeld's cat returned. Is it possible it survived?

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) & Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are assigned to help the U.S. Marshall Service recapture two escaped convicts from a high security prison…an unusual assignment for FBI agents. After bumping heads with Marshall Tapia (Derrick Norris), the head of the US Marshall's team, the X-File's duo discover a quarantined section of the prison filled with men in hazmat suits. Scully breaks off from Mulder; and, through some investigation and some talks with a guilt ridden scientist (Charles Martin Smith), she discovers that the prison is the beginning point of an outbreak of an infectious disease – probably a war germ – caused by the fictitious Pink Pharmaceuticals. Worse she believes that the two escapees might be contagious, and will probably spread the disease if not captured soon.

This is a Conspiracy Theory of the Week episode. It probably is based upon how the government handled the outbreak of the Ebola virus, and the sexual diseases that later became known as AIDS, HIV, and Hepatitus-C. The story, as written by Chris Carter & Howard Gordan, has two main competing plots, and two main subplots: Catch the killers vs. figure out the disease; and uncover the conspiracy and find out who is infected.

This is not an episode for a novice watcher of the X-Files. This recurring character of the Cigarette Man in this episode would be considered more of a distraction, and confusing to someone who hasn't followed the show. (Heck he doesn't appear till the second half hour!) And Mulder's conspiracy leanings as well as Scully's faith in governmental procedures would be considered too over the top if not backed up with some background stories that previous viewers would have. In other words, this story can't stand on it's own.

For followers of the show, however, there were a lot of rich nuggets to mine. One was Scully's embrace of the government's keep it quiet scheme even though she agreed with Mulder that they were nothing but slimeballs. And another was convincing Mulder to at least temper his actions till the time was right. What a great double agent Scully was!

The two subplots are carried out very personally for the two mains. This really helps bring out the acting chops in both. It was stunning that Scully never reveled who all might be infected, but it added weight to why she had some faith in the governmental procedures.

An examination of the New York rap scene in the late nineties uncovers a lot of characters who don't know anything about themselves, and don't care about much about anything else.

I just watched this film sixteen years after it was made, and give the film credit for attempting to catch the language of the generation that it portrays. It doesn't succeed. It doesn't even try to catch the trouble of the times, nor the immediacy of the subject matter. The topics of racism, poverty and discrimination - which powered most of the New York scene in the nineties - weren't covered. Instead, much of the focus was on confused European Americans who worshiped hip-hop as a form of rebellion. Those scenes weren't even done right.

James Toback wrote and directed the film in a vignette format. He jumps around from character to character giving them very little to do other than show no respect for whoever might be the authority figure.

Who are the authority figures? Well, one is a banker, and another is the D.A. of NY. Ironically, the banker was probably involved with trading dirivatives which would go on to wreck the worldwide economy seven years later. And the real D.A. of NY at the time of this film's making would later be thrown out of elected office for funneling money to a prostitute and her escort services business - an escort that he was seeing at the time of the film's release.

That's the problem with Toback's film - not that it lacks foresight. (It truly has no vision.) The principal problem is that it doesn't take the grievances or problems or wants of the character's it tries to portray as serious. Part of it was because he didn't do sufficient research into the characters or the genre of Hip Hop.

The black rappers in the film are gangsta rappers - which if Toback would have done any type of investigation into the field, he would have found that the group he was writing about were West Coast rappers - not East Coast. There is no Puff Daddy or 50 Cent in this group. The basketball player that he portrays wouldn't have been asking his girlfriend if he should take $50,000 from a gambler. He would have asked his super rich drug dealing friend if he should have taken $50,000 from a gambler. Not to show any disrespect to his girlfriend, but his friend had probably more experience with that type of money, and problems caused by taking that type of money.

Was Toback trying to create a film that showed his dislike of Rap? It seems that way. That's not where the fault lies. It lies in the fact that his dislike of the subject matter blinded him from doing the necessary crafting that goes into making a good film.

When you watch a lot of action films, you get to the point where you can write the plot. If you're a really good writer, you can write interesting genre pieces. If you are a hack, tired tales come out:

* Bob, the ex-plumber's chance at reforming his life is challenged when a crazed IRS section chief kidnaps Bob's wife and kids.

* Officer Walker gets his shot at the case to end all cases when Kermit the Alien invades the small town of Wyoming, MI to impregnate all the prostitutes.

This is the curse of the story of John Wick.

Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick, an ex-super hit-man, who pursues a vendetta against his former boss' son for killing Wick's dog.

The dog line is a running joke that falls flat each time it's spoken. People can't believe that Wick would do all the killing he does in the movie over a dog. I'm not certain if the filmmakers want us to laugh over it, too. It's not a well constructed statement like "Snake Plisken? I thought you were dead." Nor is it ironic enough. But they keep putting it out there.

That's the film in a nutshell. It's a weak story highlighted with sub-par craftsmanship.

For action, the film takes the AK-47 route. A lot of people get shot...in the head, which makes for great blood origami murals. (By the way, if all these people die in these types of films, how do we have massive overcrowding on the planet?) There are six mass killing scenes; one at Wick's residence, one in a dance club, one in a church, two in abandoned buildings, and the final.

There is not much to distinguish one from the other. Most of that has to do with the script from Derek Kolstad, but Chad Stahelski's direction wasn't any better. In the scene at the church, there is a secret stash. It's a scene that begs for suspense, tension and thrills. There are none. There is some shooting, some primping and some f-bombs. In a scene that many writers and directors would do their best to show off their talents, they do the minimum to advance the plot.

Keanu Reeves is a mystery. Before the Matrix he displayed an ease with slipping into the parts that came his way. Now he can't seem to flesh them out fully for the big screen. There was no empathy established for John Wick's character. And there is no moment where Reeves connects with the audience as he once could do with the drop of a "Whoa!" Maybe he has to go through the bottom barrels to re-discover his talent. I hope he gets it back soon.

John Steed's charge of being a body guard to a rocket scientist, Peter Neville (Alban Blacklock), goes awry when the scientist collapses in a catatonic state while holding a raven's (?) feather. John has a physician (Brian Vaughan) examine him only to discover that there is nothing physically wrong with Neville. One-Ten (Douglas Muir) speculates that this illness and the deaths of three other scientists might be connected to some foreign intrigue; and John is reassigned to discover who might be the deadly source. With only the feather and some occult reading material, Steed goes to Catherine Gale for help.

This is not "Dr." or "Mrs." or "Cathy". We assume the woman that is introduced in the ninth minute – very late for a televised show – is a major character from the set that we meet her on. The scene is given an exterior shot – a massive building with a sign that says "Natural History Museum". Elaborate props are used: a nice sized dinosaur. Plus John uses playful banter when he enters the scene…language that seems more attuned to an acquaintance that one hasn't been seen for awhile.

Was this the first story written for Dr. Cathy Gale? Possibly. The writer of this episode, Doreen Montgomery, would go on to create the character of Mrs. Emma Peel for the series; therefore it is more than possible that Sydney Newton – the creator of both John Steed and Cathy Gale – let Montgomery develop Gale's character into a teleplay.

Many of the signs are there: Catherine's boundaries and interests are set. Through their repartee, Catherine lets it be known why she would help John, and what she finds important about the mission. And the scenarios that are created showcase that Catherine Gale will not be a wilting flower.

Montgomery's fame as a writer arose with her screenplays for English Boardroom drama films. She exhibits an easy dialogue with this script coming up with some of the best exchanges for all her characters – especially John and Cathy. Her characters are fully formed including small supporting characters such as Neville's housekeeper, Mrs. Dunning (Olive Milbourne), and the antagonists, Markel (John Hollis), and the Aleister Crowley-like Cosmo Gaillion (Peter Arne).

From the scenarios she creates, the director Peter Hammond is able to make this into more of a horror show, than a spy adventure. In truth, this would haunt the Gale series throughout. There would always be a small sense of dark, Gothic horror to her shows – in stark contrast to light touch of Venus Smith's tales, or the fantasies associated with Mrs. Emma Peel.

It's easy to see why this was not chosen as the first broadcast Gale adventure. Cosmo, the traitorous Warlock, takes money from the highest bidder, and throws rituals with wild costumes. But as a villain, he pales to Mr. Teddy Bear. Further, although the subject of witchcraft is handled well, it invites a lot of camp and unintentional giggles.

Finally, although the background of John & Cathy's history is unexplored in Montgomery's script, the producers' decision to have Steed & Gale's first partnership happen during the Mau-Mau - an adventure that would never be televised, but always hinted at - seems a lot more exotic than invading a coven.

P.S. Although it was obvious that Montgomery wanted to make Gale an anthropologist, I don't think she did any investigation into the career background. The skill set that Dr. Cathy Gale exhibits in other shows from the first season, aren't those that are on display here. And as someone who has worked in a museum, Dr. Gale would never – ever – be in the bone lab. Mr. Teddy Bear did a better job of introducing her anthropology credentials.

A Fallen Angel/Demon, Asmodeus (Billy Drago), wants to fornicate with pretty girls and impregnate them with his..."devil spawn". He hangs out in LA and goes after all the wannabe models. A victim calls the Catholic Church's Bad Dating Hotline, and asks for help. They send over GQ coverboy Jacob Greyman (Sean Patrick Flanery), Demon Hunter; and Sister Sarah Ryan (Colleen Porch), the shapely nun who must have found God off the fashion runways of New York. They set out to save LA by taking off their clothes (love the lacy underwear worn by nuns), and getting into the line of...Demon Fire.

Somehow, this isn't a porno film. Maybe it was because they had serious actors. Or maybe it was because they had bad actors emoting to what the film makers believed were serious situations. Take for example the head of the Demon Hunting outfit, Cardinal White. William Bassett plays Cardinal White as if he had just stepped off the Kandahar front in Afghanistan. He lets the audience know that he has been saving Sister Sarah for just such a mission…as if she were the new Demon Fighter, Jason-a Bourne - complete with designer dresses, pumps and layered haircuts.

In the meantime, Jacob is hanging around with Asmodeus' demon hitwoman (Tania Deighton) who wants Greyman's..."dark soul" as a trophy. Or maybe she just wants something else. Anyway, she spends half the movie making out with him...and exchanging horns, or something.

There is a lot of primping and posing and demon faces in this movie. But you would have to expect it with this type of film. It is by no means a good film. But it is unintentionally funny.

John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel provide security at a conference intended to "unify" Europe. The discussion is delayed, however, when the British chair panics, and runs away before he even enters the door. His phobia is that he will die at the meeting…this resulting from a premonition he had the night before.

The minister is replaced with a good friend of Steed's. He starts having similar supernatural forebodings. This sets off John and Emma into performing dream analysis, with dangerous diagnosis resulting.

By far this is the best of the Color Avengers: all of the Peel's, The King's and the New Avengers. The Producers dropped the formula, including the irksome "Mrs. Peel, we're needed"; kept the wit, and returned to the suspense of the Dr. Cathy Gale era. (Why they did it, is a speculation that I'm not going to delve into at this moment. I'm just glad that they did.)

It's strange watching this episode 50 years after it was produced. This fictitious conference is reminiscent of the real one that set up the EU, the European Union – which as we know didn't occur till the seventies. (No one ran from the door out of fear at the real meeting.) With the struggles over the last five years of Greece, Spain and Italy trying to pull out – and the British public recently voting to dump it – it's clear that the alliance is as fragile today as Phillip Levine wrote it would be in the late sixties. This is clearly one of those science fiction pieces that is so dead on that it is predictive – eerie since its science subject IS premonition.

The production design is sort of hokey, with the obligatory surrealistic images inside the dream world. None of Salvador Dali's films were this iconic, which reveals how over the top the design was. (Was it Christian Metz inspired? Who knows!) It is the only dated part of this story. This lame imagery would become commonplace during the King era.

Unlike the earlier Dr. Gale adventure, "The White Dwarf", Levine balances this procedural so that both Steed and Mrs. Peel uncover important information that could be considered "scientific". Steed is more than just muscle here as he was in the earlier Gale adventure. This is not to say that this makes "Death's Door" better. It just shows how far Steed has come from the out of his league denier of "The White Dwarf" to this embracer of odds. How? Maybe he denies the parapsychology as much as he did the solar big bang theories of the earlier episode. (Steed doesn't strike me as a big statician.) In truth, the development and progression of John Steed from the cad, user and science doubter to Steed the common sense man & loyal friend is probably the underlying appeal of The Avengers' storyline.

This is my first time seeing this episode in thirty years. It really holds up well. I give it a 9.0 even. It has bested time for nearly fifty years. No, it is not as inventive as "The White Dwarf", nor as satisfyingly surreal as "Too Many Christmas Trees", but very thought provoking.