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Sunday 25 February 2018

Strike 3.1 "Career of Evil" Review

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Another series which had it all going on.  Problems, did anyone say problems.  Robin (Holliday Grainger) finds out Matthew (Kerr Logan) was unfaithful to her with Sarah (Antonia Kinlay) of all people.  After she receives a severed leg which is addressed to her, but obviously meant for Strike (Tom Burke).  As she just stands there staring at it and bumping into furniture.  It's a leg, at least not an ear or any other body part.  Ears are more gruesome!  The game's foot, er should I say that cos I really wanted to.  They call the police but miss the note underneath which Strike recognizes the lyrics to Blue Oyster Cult's ??  Mistress of the Salmon Salt.  After Robin says he turned white as he recalled the lyrics from when his mother was murdered by Jeff Whittaker (Matt King).  They were tattooed on her.

As we opened with Strike heading to meet a potential client and Robin having dinner with Matthew and his friends, including the dreaded Sarah.  A girl also ventures out and ends up in the same building as Strike after he already enters it.  He makes a call as no client shows up.  Strike recalls Niall Brockbank (Andrew Brook) whom he arrested after claims of sexual assault were made by his daughter, Brittany (Megan Parkinson) but she withdrew them as being falsely made up.  Strike arrested him and he was about to hit him with a bottle so he punched him.  Apparently he was suffering from a rugby injury to his head and suffered epileptic fits afterwards.  But he knew he was guilty of assault, the army had no evidence to convict him.

Robin whimpers in her bed after suffering from nightmares and as she leaves Matthew she goes on a  boozy binge, ain't it always the way.  She doesn't turn up for work and is followed, as she follows a student for a case.  Strike leaves messges for her and shows up at the pub just as she's about to be menaced by a stranger who doesn't take no for an answer.  She tells Strike of how she was attacked after leaving a friend and her testimony put him away.  That's when Matthew slept with Sarah, the "most annoying woman;" so if he cheated with someone else it would've been okay?!

They go looking for Brockbank and Strike wants to meet his sister Holly (Jessica Gunning) but Robins says she'll drive him to Barrow In Furness and then buys clothes to disguise herself as a personal injury lawyer, telling Holly she can get them money from the army for his injuries.  She tells them he's in London.  Before leaving for Barrow, Strike is taken in for questioning as the police find the missing girl, Kelsey (Fern Deacon) was seen at the same building on the CCTV where Strike was meant to meet the client.

Before heading back Strike finds out Douglas Laing is also here, another nasty piece of work he put away and may bare a grudge against him and he meets with his former girlfriend.  He suffered from a condition and isn't here anymore.  Though he beat up an old lady for pocket change and claimed to have raised money for charity, a measly £40 which they laugh over.  Strike tells the detective about Laing too.  When Strike spoke of Laing chaining his wife and she dislocated her shoulder attempting to free herself, reminded me of that scene from Gerald's Game that many people found so gory.  You know that handcuff scene, if you've seen this Stephen King Netflix adaptation.

They meet with Strike again as they show him the dead Kelsey's photo and the newspaper photos showing them together, but he's never met her.  Another frame up job a la Sherlock.  And speak of the devil, Whittaker calls Strike "Sherlock f*8king Holmes" too.  As Strike beats him up as he brags about his mother and how she would "do" him.  Sorry if that sounds crude.

Robin finds out that Brockbank is in London and wants to meet him but he doesn't give her a home address and is very menacing and threatening towards her on the phone.  Appears we're getting a lot of cases aimed at Strike and his other life during his stint in the army.  As he's now targeted for the past and his past actions.  But who's after Robin, is it the rapist she put away?  As Strike loses clients from the negative press reports.  In contrast to Sherlock whose popularity soared from press articles!

How could some reviews claim you struggled to keep up, heaven save us from such absurdity, cos yeah it was really difficult to follow, I say sarcastically of course!!  The key appears to be Whitechapel, but is that just a red herring to throw us off the scent?  Since it's an old haunt for Strike.  Whitechapel obviously relating to Jack the Riper too and no coincidence that the main suspects in this are all women haters and physical abusers.

Saturday 10 February 2018

The X Files 11.6 "Kitten" Review

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War Is Never Over

This ep focusing on Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) begins with his time in Vietnam during the war and how green poisonous gas was released when they come under attack in a village.  Leading to the survivors seeing a 'monster.'  However Skinner didn't get the major brunt of it.  He now goes AWOL from the FBI and Kersh (James Pickens Jr) calls in Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) practically accusing them of being instrumental in Skinner not getting a promotion in over 35 years of service.  Of course he blames them now as well for his disappearing since their return.  They go in search of Skinner and Mulder breaks into his apartment where they find the interiors sparse and no mementos around either! 

Scully finds an envelope addressed to Lance Corporal Skinner and inside it are clippings and Mulder unwraps a human ear!  With an 'eww' as he drops it back down.  Kinda reminded me of him in The Simpsons ep with his naked pic on his ID, well don't ask me why I thought of that!! ha.  This leads them to the town of 'Mud Lick' with Scully giving Mulder a look and especially when the note inside the envelope mentioned 'monster'.  Now this is his kind of investigation.

Arriving there the local sheriff Stenzler (Brendan Patrick Connor) shows them the man with the severed ear and says it was a hunting accident.  All the Vietnam vets have nicknames like the one called Trigger outside the police station.  They're taken to the woods and here they find the pit of spikes the man fell into, an intentional trap.  As well as a deer cam, now you don't see that everyday.  Th sheriff also talks of people getting missing teeth unexpectedly.  On the footage they see Skinner standing over the pit and assure the policeman he's not responsible and he's not a murderer.  With Scully adding he wouldn't have been so sloppy if he had killed someone.

Skinner shows up at Kitten's (Haley Joe Osment) cabin and flips through the photo album.  He then has a flashback to the war and how he saved his men from a suicide bomber in the village by shooting him.  Also meets his son, Davy (Haley Joel Osment) who said his father called Skinner a 'baby killer' and they kept him at the mental asylum.  With the government doing secret experiments on him and others.  Skinner says he tried to look for him after his court martial  but he didn't find him and he wants to put this right.  He couldn't speak up for him since he had rules and orders to follow.

Mulder and Scully also turn up there as Skinner falls into the trap set by Davy and is speared by a spike in the chest.  Davy then throws in his father's DB on top of him.  There's no service in the hole so he can't call for help.  Davy takes them inside saying he hasn't heard of Skinner and he puts on a loud record.  Mulder snoops around and comes across the album which contains photos of Skinner.  He then leaves abruptly with Scully in tow, as he gets out of the car and searches for Skinner, she leaves him to get phone reception.  He goes inside and the music finally stops allowing him to hear Skinner's cries for help.  Narrowly missing Davy in the closet disguised as the 'monster.'  Yeah strange things always taking up residence it the closet!

He throws Mulder into the pit with Skinner and then attempts to set the alight, but Scully shoots him before Skinner can fire of a shot.  Why leave Skinner with the gun which means he could've shot Davy at any time.  Scully asks Skinner about what Kersh said to them but it's not the case, he would've done the same for them and no one but them would be here right now for him.  As he leaves he pulls out a loose tooth from his mouth.  As men bring in more gas to be tested and crop spray with a plane.  With Davy's narration talking of how the government is conducting experiments on its own people. 

As for nicknames, Mulder figures out "Eagle" must refer to Skinner as in 'Bald' Eagle!  Also Scully's line to Mulder about Mulder getting "his juices flowing" when he hears monsters maybe involved.  Sheesh that couldn't have been a double innuendo meaning could it?  Skinner mentioned his shooting a 10 year old boy and how this affected him ever since in 2.8 One Breath.  Also how he enlisted in the Marines but Kitten was drafted and he had to watch out for him cos he was always scared. 
His quote to Mulder from this ep:  "when I was eighteen, I went to Vietnam, I wasn’t drafted, Mulder, I enlisted in the Marine Corps the day of my eighteenth birthday. I did it on a blind faith." 
Adding he enlisted as it was the right thing to do and he still had his faith, at least back then.  That perhaps he still had his faith back then and he's not cynical.  Kinda changes in this episode though with wanting to go further and find the truth.  He mention an experience where he felt he was out of his body when he had a near death experience during the War.  How he felt at peace and not frightened.  How "I'm afraid to look any further beyond that experience" he tells Mulder but that Mulder isn't.  He's not afraid to look into the unexplained.  A great moment between the two of them and explaining why he's such a staunch supporter of them both. 

Also as a aside to Mulder and Scully looking out for them all those years.  How instead of dealing with "faceless puppeteers" he'd deal with Mulder and Scully all the time.  Though as for CSM not sure where his loyalties lie but it's better to be on side with him to see what he's up to than to actually side with him.  What was also amazing about One Breath was that in Mulder and Skinner's interaction he tells Skinner how he puts his life on the line with CSM to help them and Skinner replies, "every life, everyday is in danger.  That's just life."   Giving Skinner a presence on the show which reinforced his humanity.  Another reason why in last ep he kinda berated Mulder for not knowing where he is until he gets reports about him.  One Breath again showed why he puts up with Mulder's subordination. 

Wow another Skinner centric ep and without a glimpse of his tighty whities either!! 

Saturday 3 February 2018

The X-Files 11.4 "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" Review

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An supposed ep of The Twilight Zone plays and the man in the mirror reflection reveals himself to be an alien, or whatever.  Mulder (David Duchovny) returns from wanting to be one with nature and says he's been looking for Sasquatch, what dressed as Big Foot himself!!  Is he really Big Foot, well one could've surmized that considering this ep was all about the truth; what is perceived as real but could be all twisted, manipulated to suit or even all bitter and twisted.  After he leaves his customary 'X' in the window, he's contacted by a Man who tells him later his name is 'Reggie Something' (Brian Huskey) and telling him that episode doesn't exist and 'They' are out to get him.  As men show up he runs away.

Mulder looks for that episode and Scully (Gillian Anderson) shows up for dinner but he can't eat until he finds his video of that episode. As Scully leaves she's contacted by Reggie who gives her a box telling her his prints her on it.  Th box being a pack of Jelly which had to be made into layers.  Scully gets nostalgic as she recalls her mother used to make it and it reminds her of home.  As Mulder places the 'X' in his window again, they wait for Reggie to show up and Scully hardly calls that being romantic.  Well neither was hanging up on Mulder when he was telling her about his 35 year old Sasquatch story!  Which she's heard many times.

Reggie tells them about going back to that nostalgia shop and finding the man dead.  Since he was moving house for his mother and he found some things she kept of his, including his high school year book in which he doesn't exist.  As well as the Dr Wuzzel book he used to read.  He recalled the name was spelled with a double 'S.'  He shows them a letter which shows he was there when they invaded Grenada and the stamp was a UFO one which the president commissioned to raise funds for UFO investigation.  Then going into 'They' are after him again.  Mulder wants him to explain himself and who 'They' are.  As Reggie talks about Dr They and how he examined an alien from a downed UFO, before the government took him away.

Reggie says that it's not the Mandela Effect as Mulder explained to Scully where people believed that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the '80's instead of in 2013, so they made up memes all over the Internet.  Reggie tells him it's the Mingler effect.  Mulder then coming with the theory it's an alternate universe but some of it slipping into their reality, which Scully disagrees with as does Reggie.  He says the Mingler effect is being used more seriously and misquotes George Orwell, as Mulder corrects him, not Welles, "who controls the past, controls the future." 

Reggie finally reveals he was Mulder's partner and original member of the x-Files, as we get clips from other eps interposed with Reggie appearing with them, such as with Eugene Toombs, Josie Chung amongst others and as Scully enters Mulder's office for the first time he tells "sugar boobs" she can't be here cos it's men only!  Oh and I neglected to mention the hilarious scene with Mulder when he recalls his 8 year old self watching that Twilight Zone ep, small body but Mulder's current big head!! ha.  Reggie says the government wants them to think all conspiracy theorist are nuts and Mulder says well he's a nut too. 

Mulder meets Dr They who's not afraid to admit that conspiracy isn't the same anymore, these days anyone can say anything.  That he can post and call the news fake news.  Even Mulder's ready to throw in the towel, "the world has become too crazy for my conspiratorial powers."  All an allusion to the crazy world we are currently living in with the muddied waters of news, conspiracy and lies.  To an extent the point of this episode.  It's all going to pot!  As Reggie is taken away in a strait jacket, Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) turns up and notices it's Reggie!!  As well as Scully finding a whole dossier on who Reggie really was.  Mulder watches the episode on his video tape and tells her it wasn't The Twilight Zone but a whole other show. Even the tape gets stuck in the video and unravels as he ejects it.  Oh and Scully stops from eating the jelly she made in Mulder's Big Foot mould as she wants to remember how it was!  Oh and that birdy drinking the drink in the nostalgia shop, used to have those.  They used to have mercury in them and would bop up and down, they cracked!!  Like this ep in many ways!! Ha.

The X-Files 11.5 "Ghouli" Review

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New tagline: "You see what I want you to see."

Scully (Gillian Anderson) has a dream which she puts down to sleep paralysis when she explains it to Mulder (David Duchovny) or rather he comes up with that, since she uses more scientific names for it.  Where she's in a big house and a stranger in black watches over her.  She manages to each for her gun and chase after him and he disappears through the door.  Scully finds a snowglobe with a ferry inside it.  Two girls potentially stab each other in an abandoned ferry and claim they saw a monster attacking them.  Recounting their own versions to each of the agents, the two girls,Sarah (Madeleine Arthur) and Briana (Sarah Jeffrey) were both seeing a boy named Jackson Van de Kamp (Miles Robbins).  Referring to the monster as a 'Ghoulie.'  Which Scully looks up in a cafe and where Mulder orders his coffee under the name of 'Bob' cos no one will get 'Fox' in this town and he doesn't want to explain it.  Also he kinda yawns at the thought of investigating a monster given credence by the Internet.

Later they hear gunshots at Jackson's house and his parents too as Scully recalls this is the same house from her dream.  Detective Costa (Louis Ferreira) thinks Jackson killed his parents and then himself.  But Scully notices the back door is open so he didn't necessarily do the shooting or kill himself.  In the hospital, she takes a lock of Jackson's hair and opens her heart to him saying she didn't want to give him up, but it was for his own protection.  She wishes she could have known him and he could've known her.  They are hindered by the DOD in their investigation and were followed the entire time to the town.

Talking with Jackson's doctor, Scully recounts what he used to talk about.  The pandemic where a specific drug needed to be made using alien hybrid DNA and ending with a UFO on the 34th Street bridge, but the doctor isn't able to tell her anything more.  At the hospital, Jackson's DB disappears as he wakes up and leaves through the open window.  Scully has another dream and this time finds a snowglobe with a windmill in the hospital room.  Telling Mulder who asks her if she took it.  As she leaves the hospital she runs into an oriental man, who makes her drop the snowglobe and asks if she likes windmills.  Oh no Scully didn't get the 'William' connection here as he's her son.  That much was obvious.  Getting into her dreams and giving her clues as to where they will meet. They investigate Jackson's room and find a book by a writer with references to Malcolm X.  Mulder also finds a memory stick which has redacted info on it and some DOD files.  He needs another computer to access the stick which Scully finds under the bed.  Plugging into the 'teen girls have secrets too' line.

Here he finds several files on the DOD again and as they hone in on them with a warrant, Mulder accidentally on purpose spills the so ad onto the computer in a, 'oops shouldn't have that near a computer' kind of way.  Jackson is reported at the hospital by Sarah as he says goodbye to Brianna since he needs to go away and kisses her.  She's sorry she did it and as Scully and Mulder arrive, the DOD agents are already there.  As they try to get to Jackson, he causes the agents to shoot each other after shape shifting himself as Scully.  He then hides behind the nurse's station when they say they only want to talk with him.  Seems he's not ready for this and he disguises himself as a nurse who runs out.

Mulder tells Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) to come down who wants Mulder to report in cos he's been getting nothing but complaints about him from the agencies and that's the only way he finds out what he's up to.  There's CSM (William B Davis) sitting in his office lighting up as always.  Skinner meets Mulder at the ferry and Mulder tells him about William.  He's sorry to hear that and gives Mulder a heads up and Mulder mentions Project Crossroads too. 

As they leave Scully sees the windmill and stops for gas.  Here she sees the man again and she asks him if he's a doctor.  He didn't even finish high school, perhaps a reference to Jackson/William himself.  He says he would have liked to have known her, again she didn't get that since she said the same to William at the hospital.  As well as saying that "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."  Mulder tells her that's a Malcolm X quote.  But it's too late, he's already gone and she thinks he was the man who wrote the book. On the station's CCTV they can see Jackson/William on the recording! 

This one brings together the clues, so to speak from My Struggle II which was where William shared his visions about the apocalypse and the pandemic virus.  Still hard to stomach that CSM is William's father for a lot of fans and how hard it is for Scully to carry on without having more contact with William as his mother.  However William is the one who can stop the Spartan virus mentioned earlier on this season. 

Lots of funny lines this ep to steer away from the tension including Mulder saying that William's set up a false reality for himself, especially following hot on the heels of last ep.  With Scully quipping, "it's an alternate reality, Fox Mulder doesn't exist in coffee shops."  Nah he doesn't text either ordinarily!!  Yet it's a whole new world and reality this season!  At the half way point of season 11 now.