Extant Season 2 premiere - Changes for the better?

I remembered nothing from last season. Well I had a vague idea of what the series was about but I couldn't tell you what happened in the last episode of the first season. I remember Molly has a cute alien kid and a creepy machine that looks like a kid. How long before the latter develops super human strength and goes on a rampage? I don't know. Maybe they will pit one against the other, see what's worse for humanity: alien invasion OR cyberpunk reality? Thank god for "previously on", it put me right back on track. It reminded me how much I love this show. I mean, back in the 90's, we had X-files, we had Roswell. We had The Next Generation. Aliens and space were all the rage. Nowadays, vampires and super heroes have taken center stage. They have tried to revive the genre with survival sci-fi like Falling Skies or Defiance.  They also tried Star Crossed, basically an alien version of Twilight. That didn't go so well. None were actually going back to that golden age of the unknown. They took sci-fi, aliens and the future for granted. Extant has been different. The production value of this show is just off the charts, for starter. Obviously, it stars one of the best actress out there and she makes every episode looks like a multi million dollar movie. Extant is set in the future but it is very recognizable and it could easily be our future. The technology is believable, people are still relatable and you discover the science fiction of it all along with the characters. There is mystery and intrigue. I am hoping the these qualities will remain even though the show seems to be heading in a different direction.

Anyway, I completely forgot that Ethan sacrificed himself to stop the alien kid's "friends and family" to come to Earth. But I think I recall Ethan actually uploading himself everywhere or something Skynety like that. Maybe I shouldn't have watched Terminator before Extant, it totally distorted my view of robots. We start this second season of one of last year's television standout by jumping back to a time when Molly was a star, a hero, and when Ethan was brought back as easily as  he was gone. When you see Molly using virtual reality and saying to Ethan that she misses him, you logically believe that Ethan is ancient history. But he's not. Talking about this "resting" place Molly is in, I have to say, I love the sim she uses where you basically are in a porn next to 10 other people who are probably in a porn too. That's cool.

Before they jump us in the crux of things and explain to us why Molly is in a "home", they reacquaint us with the alien kid. I seriously thought he was going to eat the baby (which would have been fair as he was well annoying) but instead, he makes some magical twinkly animals and we all go "awwwww". He's a sweet alien with awesome babysitting skills. I did find it weird to be looking at Molly in the present time, then jump 6 months back only to jump forward 4 weeks about 2 minutes later. However, I now understand the concept after seeing the whole episode.

There are a lot of things happening in this episode and the first bomb to drop is that John is a cheater. It's interesting that she suspects him of having an affair with Julie only now. She could have sensed something right after coming home but I suppose she was too involved in her own storyline to realize he was acting weird as well. Right when you feel like the conversation is going somewhere, another bomb drops. The government breaks down the door and for some reason, seizes Ethan. This has something to do with security and the army, as usual. There is a common theme exploited here, one that reminds us that a robot can be more compassionate and more humane than human beings. This is very typical of sci-fi, and in all fairness, typical of every story. Should it be robots, aliens, minorities, superheroes, animals, monsters. We love to remind ourselves that evil people will sideline anything or anyone different, even though that difference doesn't affect the subject's capacity for emotion. This is a recurring theme in every story but I thought it was hammered in pretty hard in the first half of this episode. But the latter really doesn't matter, because the third bomb drops: Julie is a bitchass traitor. I was in the middle of processing this information and the fact that her stare was really becoming psychotic when the most Game of Throne scene happened. John gets killed! by his car! It is clearly a murder plot and a cover up, but who gave the order? Has Julie's phone call anything to do with it? When John gets hit by the train and the "6 months later" appears on screen, that's when I understood the relevance of the time jumps in the beginning of the episode.

Just before John dies, he had a conversation with Julie that went like this: "Is this how they convinced you? protecting the country?". I wanted to say: "No, she's just a crazy vindictive bitch!". There was an interesting conspiracy in the 1st season but what they served us in the very first episode of this season is on a whole new level! Finally, we are caught up with the events leading to Molly's state. We find her in a mental institute, which is totally understandable. When her husband died, she got drunk, burnt down her house and, wait for it, attacked Julie with a shovel. That made me laugh a lot, I would have done the exact same thing. This episode reminded me how much I love Halle's character. She has conviction and she's smart. I also feel for her, so bad, I hate it when the viewer knows something along with the character and everybody else thinks the character is crazy, so by association, you feel crazy too. That's really frustrating. That's one of the things I hate in crime dramas or mysteries. It always makes me feel so uncomfortable. Does anybody have that feeling too?

As if there wasn't enough information and twists thrown at us during this first episode, they had to go and add bloody John Winchester to the mix. It made me forget all about the conspiracy and the murder plot and the frustration. I was in heaven, and yes I am objectifying him but damn is that man sexy. I really hope Molly gets to have sex with him, it will make things better. While we're in that dark room with Winchester, for a minute, the atmosphere made me think of Blade Runner. I liked that grittier, less polished side of Extant. I am glad Molly finally found a new ally that seems trustworthy and loyal. The enemy is definitely not clear yet but two things are for sue: Julie is out of her mind and has taken over project crazy pants let's-make-terminators, and the alien kid is now an alien man who has it easy with the ladies. In the end, the premiere of Extant was mind blowing, dropping bombs at every turn and setting the scene for what can only be a thrilling season. Hopefully, the pace will slow down a bit so we can appreciate the storyline and the mystery, and not get used to sensationalism. When a show sticks to the latter, normal episodes seem boring and I do not want that to happen to this great sci-fi piece. I read that the showrunners are dropping entire subplots and are going for a more action-driven vibe. Let's hope they do not over do it.

Terminator Genisys - At least it was better than Jurassic World

I went into Terminator Genisys with no expectations. I have never seen a Terminator movie, I kind of shied away from them as I was a bit too young to appreciate these older movies. I never can stand the pace.

After seeing Jurassic World, I believe even Jupiter Ascending would have looked good to me. First off, the acting was definitely better than in Jurassic World and I did care for the characters I saw on screen. I might have even shed a tiny tear when Sarah had to see Pops blow up near the end.

I knew nothing of the Sarah Connor's story myself so it was a bit confusing at first. I felt like I was watching Inception all over again. I tried to make sense of it all every time they were explaining the different time travels but I gave up half way and just enjoyed the movie for what it was. I was completely missing parts of dialogue and scenes because I was in my own head trying to figure this thing out. I am not sure it completely makes sense, but I was able to put that aside to stay in the moment and take in the action. I am still a little bit frustrated about this aspect of the movie though since I love a good storyline and chronology is one of the thing I look for in a story. I am a sucker for history and I am fascinated by dates. I sometimes pause shows or movies that use flashbacks so that I can think about it, make sense of the timeline and then move forward. The fact that I couldn't make sense of the timeline in Terminator was a little bit annoying but I am now going to search the web for answers and better understand what I just saw.

Sarah Connor's story might have been confusing, but her personality was pretty straight forward. Emilia Clarke is a fabulous actress and I think she did a great job here. She was never off mark but I found that she didn't totally embody the Sarah Connor I was hoping to see. I wanted to see badass. Even though she was somewhat believable, I wanted a more kick ass Sarah Connor. Arnold was great and nailed it though, which I believe he did back in the day too. I thought the younger version of him was phenomenal. Kyle Rees was your typical testosterone jacked army wise ass but he embodied it perfectly and I don't see anything wrong with having characters that stick to a successful recipe. John Connor was not likeable in the slightest, which I am assuming, was the goal. I think I remember watching something, it must have been the trailer, and seeing that John was a machine. I thought that was a bit disappointing to know this piece of information beforehand and I would have loved to have been surprised along with the characters. In this case, they showed a little too much in their promotional material and it ruined the best twist of the movie.

At the end of the day, Terminator is an action flick and at that it completely succeeded. The chasing scenes, the robots shootings, the hiding and pouncing. Everything was well executed and I was entertained by it all. Were they moments I rolled my eyes because it was cheesy or predictable? Of course. But it wasn't as obvious or annoying as it was in Jurassic World. It was well written for an action fare and the one liners hit most of the time. Obviously, it wasn't Avengers quality but I am pretty sure fans of the first movies were pleased with what they saw. Some people in the theater did definitely enjoy it more than I did. They were older, laughing at everything and throwing "oh!" "ah!" every time someone said something on screen. It was hilarious. I guess they were the right audience for it. I found Terminator adequate for an action movie and good entertainment.

Close to the end, something made me jump off my seat though. The hologram. The blue hologram. The blue child hologram. Mass Effect anyone??? I felt like they used the same voice too.

Falling Skies Final Season premiere - Summer is truly here

Sci-fi and fantasy are my favorite genres so I have always had a soft spot for Falling Skies. It is a little bit on the low budget side, the effects are kept to a minimum but the story is compelling and the characters are as relatable as they are extraordinary. For the past 4 years I have been looking forward to the summer TV because of Falling Skies, and in another style, So You Think You Can Dance. So far, the latter has done nothing but disappoint me so the summer TV rests on Falling Skies' shoulders (and Extant).


We kick off the final season with another one of those dream sequences tailored for Tom Mason. I feel like we have been starting the past 3 seasons that way, or at least we have had so many dream/mind game sequences that it's not surprising anymore, or even intriguing. And again, the main character finds himself stranded and separated from his family and allies, trying to find his way back to them. I feel like I have seen this many times before too and I was a little bit disappointed with the first few minutes of this premiere. However, I am very glad we are starting things right after the season 4 finale as I could not handle another time jump crap like 2 years ago. Tom is obviously trying to find his way back to the camp and he hears his dead wife saying "find your warrior". I don't really get this as Tom has always been a warrior and a fighter in the past seasons. It's not like he's been lying around doing nothing. He has been brave and pretty bad ass. Anyway, in all of about 30 seconds, he gets back to the hold, just like that. Planet Earth must have shrank pretty significantly if you can fly a ship to the moon, fall off the sky, land in the water in the middle of nowhere and still be about 2 miles away from your departure point. That's some pretty mad crashing skills right there. Pope is even pointing this shit out and although his main point was that Mason won't die, it still highlighted the whole situation as unbelievable. That's a little bit too easy in my opinion too, but let's move on. A little further in the episode, they try to explain how Tom got back when he is reunited with his family. It seems that this latest vision and how Mason got back home is actually the mystery of the season.

We are reunited with Maggie and Ben, which are my favorite characters, and being a girl, I love a good, "against the odds" love story. Maggie is a great female character that kicks butts and Ben had "powers" from the beginning, plus he's cute. I always wanted these two to be together and I am glad they're continuing the love triangle story line into this fifth season. As usual, this episode features a strategy meeting and a mission, which, unsurprisingly, is a trap. I do not understand Mason's vision just yet and I am kind of pissed he killed the overlord as he perhaps had some insight to share. Obviously, some important questions remained unanswered: Who has led Tom to the high school? Anybody else thinks Lexi is still alive? and more importantly, what kind of ending was that? A bug bite? That's how you are ending an episode? I was half expecting this whole 40 minutes to be a dream when I saw the bug. I am glad that was not the case, I would have been mad.

This first episode definitely was intriguing by the end of it, even though the beginning was a little choppy and overdone. I am glad they are taking the fight to the Espheni and I am glad to see more of the Ben/Maggie/Hal intrigue. All in all, it wasn't a bad start to this finale season.

Jurassic World - A controversial view point?

I haven't read many reviews of Jurassic World but I have watched my "go to" reviewer on Youtube (aka Jeremy Jahns) and he didn't like it very much. I didn't either. I kind of hated it.


I understand that I might not be the target audience for this film but I like myself a good blockbuster with charismatic stars and plenty of action. I do, however, like good writing and good dialogue, too. I did indeed get action, at least in the last half hour. I remember when I first watched Jurassic Park, I was perhaps 6 and had dinosaur nightmares for a week after that. I obviously watched it again many times and it holds a charm that no sequel could ever attempt to match. I am pretty sure everybody agrees on that. Jurassic Park was an original, eye widening and thrilling movie with ok acting and the Blum. The comic relief was pretty exceptional and even though you could stumble upon some grotesque characters and situations, this was definitely seldom.



I found myself laughing at Jurassic World from minute one. The first piece of dialogue between the teenager (I don't even remember his name that's how strongly I didn't give a shit about him) and his girlfriend was laughably cheesy. The airport scene was even worst with very poor acting from the two brothers. I believe these two were what I hated most about this film. Their acting was well below par and their scenes were forced and lacking meaning. Their dialogue was flat and poorly delivered. Exhibit 1: the truck scene where the older brother talks about a time when the younger brother was scared. Exhibit 2: the tram scene when the younger brother talks about his parents splitting out of the blue for no reason. Exhibit 3: anytime the older brother creepily stares at young females. To be fair, the adults didn't fare much better. There was no chemistry between Pratt and Howard. Their lines bounced back and forth between each other without clear intent and even though Chris Pratt had a couple of good funny moments, they were extremely few and far between.

I laughed at these characters more than I laughed with them. I didn't understand the purpose of that French guy throwing French keywords at us either. The action was good however and as a monster movie, it delivers. They didn't give enough good material to Chris Pratt to work with but they definitely gave it their all on the dinosaurs' fights and chases. I cared more about the raptors by the end of the movie than I cared about any of the human characters. Blue was my favorite character in this film. He was a friend, a hero, he was a anti-hero, he was awesome. I believe Blue had more depth than any other characters in this mess. Was it the intent? I will be fair, this movie made me care about the animals and about the dinosaurs, as a Jurassic Park sequel should. I was sad to see some of them die and I was on their side the whole time. They did manage to make me feel something and I am happy to have been emotionally involved somehow in this movie. However, I am an animal lover and I wonder if this might have only happened because of my personality. What if I didn't give a crap about animals (dear Lord.)? Would I have found any redeeming features to this movie? Probably not. Wait. The hamster ball was pretty sick. Overall, the park's attractions were impressive and were looking awesome. But then again, it did make me feel like I was watching a live stream of Sea World and I wanted to punch everybody on screen. I experienced a whole lot of contradictory emotions watching Jurassic World. Just one additional side note, anybody else found the crowd rushing towards to Jeep backing up in a corner SO fake and weird? They could have made such a better film, this looked rushed and lazy. I do not tolerate lazy.

Jaws of Hakkon Review - Thank God for DAI

When it comes to DLC, Bioware has very rarely disappointed me. Obviously, since the extraordinarily brilliant Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3, I have been pretty biased and have had faith in anything they are releasing. I don't think I have ever played such an emotional, well written, bad ass story. The one liners were witty, the inside jokes were flying and the clone storyline was very cool. However, I like that for DAI, this DLC was taking place after the win, since the Inquisitor had a very happy ending. I was looking forward to Jaws of Hakkon since I have beat DAI 8 times and wanted something new to play with. To be fair, there were a few releases that grabbed my attention (Bloodborne, The Witcher III, ESO) but it's been pretty boring and dry in terms of video game releases. I was sad when they announced Jaws for Xbox One only but I knew it wouldn't be too long until we get it for PS4. I tried to stay away from any sort of spoiler, playthrough videos or reviews so I could go in unbiased. I have been pacing myself and still haven't cleared the whole map just yet. I don't want to run out of DAI goodness too early.

I am impressed by this DLC release. This is my verdict. It is no Citadel DLC as there is unfortunately no big party members reunion or new dialogue with your LI but there is definitely some fun to be had. I am grateful for this new, gigantic map. It is intricate and interesting, completely different from any other map that we encountered in the main game. The landscapes are very pretty with sunsets that are actually breathtaking. The feel of this new land is specific, with indigenous species and sounds. The camps high up in the trees are original and the architecture is, as always, detailed. When you have played through every main game's maps 8 times, it is very refreshing to discover a brand new world, with new enemies and new sights.

That is one of the achievement of this DLC. However, it is fairly easy to release a new map that would be empty of meaning and just stand on its own, not blending with the rest of the main story. This, I found, was not the case in Jaws of Hakkon. I very much liked the quest and its meaning. I thought including scout Harding tied everything together nicely. I was impatient to know the end and discover all the mysteries surrounding the 1st inquisitor, and this is a sign of good storytelling right there. If I had only a few complaints about this DLC, it is that your romance choice doesn't seem to matter so much. There is obviously new banter between your characters, which is welcomed, but not once is the relationship with your LI mentioned. I wish there could have been an additional scene in Skyhold, perhaps another Wicked Grace scene or another love scene thrown in there for good measure. On the other hand, I liked the new available high stats gear and the additional Inquisitor ability which made leveling up much more relevant. All in all, Jaws of Hakkon is a delightful new addition to one of my favorite game and I definitely long for more. DAI is such a vast world, there is material for a fourth game, but in the meantime, I will happily spend more time with Iron Bull, Varric and my kick ass Inquisitor in any DLC story the Bioware team crafts masterfully. Also, thank god for this DLC, I almost killed myself after 10 minutes of The Order...

Game of Thrones is back - and it is the same

Game of Thrones is obviously one of the most popular piece of television today. I do not like it. I tend to have a controversial opinion about many things, but I love The Walking Dead and I am pretty sure millions of other people do too. I am not hating on Game of Thrones just to spark a good debate. I have reasons.

The Fifth season kicked off last night and it seems like some people loved it, others were disappointed. Compared to other episodes of this cluttered show, I found this one pretty bearable. Thinking about it now, I don't even remember where the episode started, strengthening my belief that Game of Thrones is just too overwhelming to be considered quality television. It is appealing, for sure. Who doesn't love fantasy, dragons, political intrigue, sword fights and beautiful kings and queens. It seems like it was written for me. I love this stuff. However, when a puzzle doesn't fit together to make a magnificent picture fast enough, no matter the appeal of the individual pieces, I just lose interest and clear the table Cullen style.

So the first episode of Season 5 started with who knows who and who knows where but there are several things I remember clearly: Daenerys is surprised that after leaving her sweet dragons in chain they're not grateful to see her. Jon Snow is totally going to have fire sex with the weird witch person. Some noble's kid can't fight for shit. Cersei has always been a selfish narcissistic psychopath and she is mad at both Tyrion and Jaime. Speaking of Tyrion, he's on some sort of balcony speaking with the big bold guy I never bothered to learn the name. I mean, some of it was entertaining enough but as always, these 2 minutes story lines just make me dizzy.

I do not want to spend 45 seconds with Littlefinger and Sensa when the only piece of information I get out of it is boring and irrelevant. To me, Game of Thrones still feels like there is going to be 100 seasons and the writers can take all the time in the world to "develop" 30 different characters boning in 30 different locations and going in totally opposite directions. Show me what matters. Show me who matters. A viewer's time is precious and I still do not understand how people choose to watch this chaotic and ever changing piece of content which doesn't allow for neither character nor story development.