Category Archives: Kay Gardella Memorial TV Review Blog

television reviews

The Exorcist: Sisters Doing It For Themselves (S1, E4)

exorcist-4-mano-o-manoThis week on The Exorcist: Father Marcus learns a thing or two from some badass nuns who don’t need no stinking bishop’s approval, and begins to assemble his own Scooby Gang, as the show continues to develop it’s own mythology, which is less Catholic than the movie version, and more Buffy. You can read the whole detailed (but snarky) recap/analysis at The Agony Booth, which now holds the entire Happy Nice Time People archives.

The Exorcist, Homeland, The Americans and More…

exorcist-3-burning-manThis is just a reminder for all you fans of snarky recaps, snappy reviews, and other smart writing about television: My television writing has moved from Happy Nice Time People to The Agony Booth. In fact, the entire contents of HNTP have moved to The Agony Booth, so that’s the place to go to catch up on all things television.

I’m currently recapping The Exorcist, which is a little bit Buffy and a little bit X-Files derivative, but why not take from the best?

This television season I expect to return to recapping Homeland, Better Call Saul and The Americans. They’ll also probably be season overviews of binge-worthy shows like The Man in the High Castle.  

For other stuff I’m writing, it’s always worth checking this blog. And of course if you would like to look at my cheap books, just check them out on Amazon.

Homeland Season 6: Peter Quinn is Risen Plus House of Cards Crossover

(Newsflash: My stuff that used to run in Happy Nice Time People, will now be running in The Agony Booth — SOON. But meantime, there’s this.)

When last seen in the Season 5 Homeland finale, Peter Quinn was totally brain dead in pretty bad shape after inhaling all that saran gas, and then being forced to WAKE UP by Carrie – because nobody can say no to her. He then suffered a massive stroke, and wound up in a persistent vegetative state. Carrie was about to put him out of his misery when suddenly the room filled with a bright light, which wasn’t a train coming toward her, a thing that happened earlier in the same episode. (The technical term for this is “foreshadowing with a lead balloon.”) Viewers debated what that light was all about. Did it mean Carrie’s prayers were answered and vegetable-Quinn was about to rise? Would he be a zombie? Would he now have superpowers because that’s what happens in comics when you survive something like that, and Homeland is about as realistic as anything in the Marvelverse?

Too cute to die.
Too cute to die.

We won’t know for sure till January when Season 6 begins, but we do know that Quinn will be a central character and not simply an occasional guest hallucination when Carrie is either off her meds like those other guys she has lead to their doom. However, Rupert Friend, the actor what plays him is not quite as indestructible as the demigod he portrays. Friend suffered an on set injury which delayed filming the first two episodes, which were being directed by veteran Homeland director Keith Gordon. (The premiere is still set for January.)

And here’s something I bet you didn’t know: Keith Gordon’s dad, Mark Gordon, played Chuckles the Clown on The Mary Tyler Moore show before they killed him off in that hilarious and very special classic  episode. Also Keith Gordon was a leading man for five minutes when he starred in Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill featuring Angie Dickinson, as his very sexy mom, and Michael Caine as the world’s creepiest psychiatrist before Hannibal Lector.

Got Milf?
Got Milf?

Even back then what Gordon (the younger) really wanted to do, apparently, was direct – and he did! (Your humble recapper knows this not because she read it in the Wikipedia, but because a hundred years ago she met him and his father at a Directors Guild screening of a re-release of Zardoz. It’s funny because it was Zardoz – an epically terrible movie, that like Peter Quinn just can’t be killed.

And somehow Sean Connery was taken seriously even after this.
And somehow Sean Connery was taken seriously even after this.

But wait! There’s even more news about Season 6: In the Homelandverse, Hillary gets elected President! Well, not Hillary exactly, but a lady, and not Trump, so we know it doesn’t take place in a post-apocalyptic Zardoz like future being run by an enormous rock head. The President will be played by Elizabeth Marvel, who also portrays Heather Dunbar on House of Cards. Heather, as you may remember, was running for president until she got owned by the Clintons Underwoods. Does this mean Homeland will take place in alternate House of Cards future, thus becoming the wackiest (and most awesome) crossover ever? Probably not, but we thought it would make a good headline.

Source: Deadline 

(You can thank Marion for creating this super important content by simply clicking onto her one of her books and raising its profile. Won’t cost you a dime!)

BETTER CALL SAUL: His Brother’s Keeper? (Finale Speculation Special)

BCS logo2Less than twenty-four hours till the season two finale of Better Call Saul! Last week the internet exploded when an astute fan with too much time on her hands, unscrambled the first letter of each season two episode title to discover the Tiffany Easter egg within. As we all now know (unless we’ve been unplugged for a week) the letters spell, “FRINGS BACK.” We’ll forgive the writers for leaving out the apostrophe (just this once).

But whether or not our favorite super-villain is back, there are still plenty of questions that need answers: Has Kim finally had enough? Is Chuck going to live? And when exactly will Jimmy emerge as criminal lawyer and lord of the underworld, Saul Goodman? You’ll get some real answers tonight, but in the mean time, read my purely speculative thoughts over at Happy Nice Time People, and please feel free to comment with your own theories and ideas!

 

THE CATCH: Con Cons Cop, TV Review

the catch logo

Shondaland brings us yet another new series – or in this case a mid-season replacement, meaning the network was maybe a little skittish, which turns out they had a right to be.

Alice Vaughn is a gorgeous private investigator working for corporations and rich folks. She’s engaged to Mr. Perfect, Christopher Hall, a high finance type, whom she meets not-so-cute when he comes to her firm to do some bidness, but then tells her he’s going elsewhere because he claims he’s already too interested in her. They’re engaged within five seconds, which doesn’t set off her spidey-sense, but in real life wouldn’t she have done some serious background checking? Especially given that he appears to have no friends, and all his relatives are conveniently dead? And he has that strange habit of ducking his head whenever anyone tries to snap his photo? And given that’s she’s a pro and all? Wouldn’t she, you know, google him, maybe? Just to see what turn up? (To read the rest of this fascinating review, head over to Happy Nice Time People where you can follow all my snarky television recaps and reviews.)