Venom

"Life hurts, Eddie. It just does."

SPOILER WARNING: I will keep this review spoiler free for the first half, then discuss the spoilers afterward.

By nature I love brevity: Venom is a film that is uneven on many levels. Its tone is dark and grim, briefly shooting for light humor every once in awhile. The movie is one part superhero action, one part horror/thriller, and one part buddy comedy. If one of these things sounds different from the others, that's because it is. The result is a film with two natures that could mingle beautifully, but instead opts to shoehorn in an out-of-place one that derails it every time.

Supernatural: Gods and Monsters

"We don't usually see this kind of action in Duluth."

What an interesting and unexpectedly emotional episode.

The Good Place: Jeremy Bearimy

“See you in hell!”

Variations on the phrase “what we owe to each other” recur frequently on The Good Place. That line refers not only to the title of T.M. Scanlon’s book, which featured heavily in the first season, but also to his arguments about moral philosophy. In sum: goodness is relational. We have a contractual obligation to others, and to think about others, in what we do.

Manifest: Unclaimed Baggage

Ben: "These callings are pulling you in deeper and deeper.  And what if the voices are bad?  You can't just follow them blindly."
Michaela: "I don't think we have a choice."

The tricky thing about prophecies and oracles and such is that they rarely give you complete, easily understood guidance.  When Saanvi and Michaela both receive a "calling" in the form of a vision of a stone angel with wet feet, it leads to serious trouble for Jared and to an adventure with flight attendant Bethany and the one individual on Flight 828 whose name was not on the manifest.

The Gifted: outMatched

"When the job is done."

"Jace, the job will never be done."

This was a little bit of a weird one. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it was a little weird.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Adversary

Sisko: "Begin Captain's Log, Stardate 48960.9."

By nature I love brevity: Alright. I can feel good about this. It's not a perfect episode, and it leans on cliches a tad bit too much, but 'The Adversary' accomplishes what it needs to accomplish while still managing to be a good offering.

Arrow: Inmate 4587

“I’ve always done what I have to do. Right now, this is what I have to do.”

When last we saw Team Arrow, Oliver had sacrificed himself and his identity to protect his family, keep his friends out of jail, and save his city. Given the givens I’m not sure what other options he had but things certainly have not worked out as he hoped.

The Rookie: Pilot

Let's start out with the obvious: this is not a show I would watch if Nathan Fillion weren't starring in it. And as I suspected, Fillion's considerable acting talent and massive charm are the best thing about it.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Shakaar

"It has been my observation that one of the prices of giving people the freedom of choice is that sometimes, they make the wrong choice."

Now, I know that that sounds like an episode theme, but I'm not sure how much it applies here.

Gotham: The Blind Fortune Teller

Lee: “There are plenty of things in this world that can’t be explained by rational science.”

Oh hey Barbara! I didn’t notice you there! I thought maybe you got lost, or the showrunners may have dropped you down a black hole, never to be seen again.

Doctor Who: The Ghost Monument

"Welcome to what I presume is your first alien planet. Don't touch anything."

Picking up from where we left off in the last episode, the Doctor and her companions have to survive long enough to find a way back home.

Supergirl: American Alien

Kara/Supergirl: “Fear. I get that. No matter how much we believe in ourselves, that never goes away. Not fully.”

The first episode of the new Supergirl season gives us hope versus fear, and hatred versus tolerance.