Category Archives: TV

‘Spartacus’ Losing a Cast Member?!?

February 13, 2012 Stephen Sanchez 2 Comments

Who wants a massive spoiler, possibly for this season of Spartacus? It was just too tempting for me not to read who from the show was just announced by Deadline to be signed on for the newest season of True Blood. I actually didn’t know whether or not to make this a Spartacus article or a True Blood article, but I figured I hate the hell out of True Blood, so BAM! After you read about the actor leaving, it’s not really all that big a spoiler considering that escaped slave-gladiators are not really long for this world. And if you read up on your history you’ll definitely know that the slave rebellion was ultimately put down. Here’s a little slice of IGN’s report regarding the news from Deadline:

Now Deadline is reporting news of a prominent Spartacus: Vengeance star being cast in the new upcoming season of HBO’s True Blood. Which probably means, since one show is filmed in LA and the other is filmed in New Zealand, that this person’s character is probably going to be killed off on Spartacus. Probably. Nothing’s certain, but it doesn’t look good.

Now if you dare to be spoiled you can read after the jump. I’ll let you know its one of the people pictured above who is leaving the show….

And the winner is: OENOMAUS!

Played by Peter Mensah, who according to Deadline will play a Vampire Authority character on the fifth season of True Blood. Ah it’s a sad day that we lose a Spartacus cast member to the fang-bangers. (Yes you Megan) But that being said I’m sure he’ll have a glorious death that he always deserved, possibly in the arena. I can see Gannicus being the one giving him this death given all of the craziness destined to go down between them. Them having to fight one another was always something Gannicus laughed off in ‘Gods of the Arena’. Seems like this time the only way out will be to kill his greatest friend. I’ll be sad to see Oenomaus go, because we’ve seen much of him revealed slowly over the three seasons of Spartacus. He’s had some of the best character development in the show if you ask me. God speed Peter Mensah!

The Walking Dead Review: 2.08 – “Nebraska”

February 13, 2012 Michelle L. Mattock 2 Comments

After the three-month hiatus, Nebraska was a much-anticipated episode, and it began where the last episode left off – Rick had just shot zombie Sophia. As we know, Shane let all of the walkers out from the barn. He and Andrea began shooting them one by one. This further pissed Dale off, although Dale hated Shane already, this simply adds fuel to the discontent between them. What I liked about this though, is that everyone else – including Carl – agreed with what Shane did. It really was the right thing to do, even if it wasn’t the best way to do it.

Aside from Sophia, Hershel’s wife was also in the barn. When the Greene family saw her zombie body lying in the heap amongst the others, it caused a lot of heartbreak. Beth (one of Hershel’s daughters) was crying when her not quite dead Zombie-Mommy began reaching for her. Beth escaped only to watch her mother’s skull be penetrated by a farming tool. This sent Beth sent into a state of shock – and where was Hershel?

After making it very clear that everyone but his own family was to immediately leave the farm, Hershel discovered an old flask in his dresser drawer. From there he then went to town to his favorite bar from the old days, and promptly Rick and Glenn go out after him. During this bar adventure, two more characters were introduced: Dave and Tony – a couple of guys who are clearly bad news. Their inquisitive about where Rick and the others are staying, and this is the first time that we really see that the dangers to the group are far more vast than just dodging walkers. With Rick’s refusal to pony up any info, the strangers get increasingly hostile, until one of them draws his gun on Rick. Rick very quickly shoots both of the men.

Nebraska — R.I.P. Tony – ‘The Scrawny Douchebag’

Best scene ever!

Back at the farm, Dale tells Lori that he is pretty sure Shane sacrificed Otis to escape the walkers when they went to the school a few episodes back. Dale explains that although he has no proof, Shane all but admitted it to him. This is a telling factor, as Shane at one point asks Dale ‘What it is you actually do around here?’, it would appear Dale’s most recent job is to see through the bullshit that everyone else appears blind to.

When Beth’s condition seems to get worse, Lori tries to send Daryl to get the guys. Daryl is still very upset about the Sophia situation, and refuses to go. Lori then grabs a gun that I am not entirely convinced she knows how to use at all, and gets in a car to go get the guys from town. She is pregnant and has a son at the farm, but… who cares? The 90 pound woman is going to bring back the three grown men. Only she gets spooked by a zombie …and flips her car. Women drivers… pshh.

I thought that this was a pretty great episode. There were parts of this episode that I thought were slow, but as I was reminded, they are trying to show how desensitized everyone is becoming to the world around them.

I would give Nebraska a 4/5. The scene in the saloon really made this episode.

The Walking Dead — Oh, I forgot to mention that Carol cried a lot. Huge shocker.

[Editor’s Note: The scene where Tony and Dave arrive at the bar, which lasted roughly 8 minutes, was for me, the most intensely enjoyable scene in the history of the show. That is largely thanks to a mostly still unknown, and surely under-appreciated actor named Michael Raymond James, who many people will recognize as ‘Rene Lenier’ from the first season of True Blood, but who will forever be known to me as ‘Britt Pollack’ from Terriers. There was something about him and his interactions with Rick, as if he is the ‘Rick’ of the other group, and he wasn’t always a bad guy, he was just handling things much differently. He seemed to channel almost a ‘John McClane’ type of edgy-swagger about him and the way he talked. I was sad to see him killed off so quick, but I suppose it just makes Rick that much cooler in the way he handled it. Kudos to the casting department on that one.]

Spartacus Season 2: Vengeance – Episode 3 “The Greater Good”

February 13, 2012 Stephen Sanchez Leave a comment

This was by far the best episode of the season yet, and that is pretty good for only the third episode. It would seem that Lucretia unleashing that little bit of information about Gannicus and Oenomaus’ wife Melitta happened a lot sooner than I thought, as she and Ashur worked towards gaining the location and intent of Spartacus and the other escaped slaves. I thought that Oenomaus was one of the more intriguing characters of the series, but he really doesn’t compare to the likes of Ashur.

Ashur personifies the concept of scheming and treachery. Having said that, his loyalty is somewhat steadfast as long as the person employing him treats him well. It has already been shown that he is still loyal to Lucretia, though whether that is pure or simply a means to get revenge against Spartacus and the others remains to be seen. I don’t see him ever actually being true to the likes of Glaber. You have to wonder what Ashur’s driving force is, because it’s not likely he could rise much higher than someone’s lackey being a freed Syrian slave in Rome. Either way, he is a brilliant villain for the series and has made plenty of enemies of people who could really beat the living crap out of him. (Oenomaus and Crixus in particular.)

Oenomaus seems to be a broken man at this point after learning of Melitta doing the nasty with Gannicus, and bringing the poisoned wine to drink with him just before it. I would think even though he may want to see Gannicus dead, he may care a little less for long dead Quintus, and still alive Lucretia as well, especially if he finds out that Lucretia is responsible for Titus dying.

There have been some interesting developments indeed going down for the renegade slaves as well. After freeing another group of slaves being transported, Agron and Nasir interrogate one of the surviving Romans and gaining some information about Naevia, which isn’t good. After Crixus finds out that she is supposedly dead he goes into flip out mode and then mopes around quite a bit. It was actually pretty sad to see Crixus react to Naevia’s death, but as the episode wore on you could tell by the way Nasir was acting that something was amiss and when it was revealed you know things wouldn’t be good for anyone who pissed off Crixus.

Crixus2 — Crixus LOVES Sinéad O’Connor’s *“Nothing Compares 2 U”*

Finally the truth comes out when Nasir admits that Agron lied about Naevia’s death because he didn’t think it was right that they were risking everyone to save one person. And so Spartacus, Crixus and Nasir strike off with a small group for the mines where Naevia is being held and Agron leads the others to Mount Vesuviusto make camp. I always liked Agron, but I was kind of disappointed to see him screw up the harmony of the group with his lies. It was good to see Nasir as such a valuable member of the group, offering to assist them at the mines, and a bit weird to think of him and Agron as…*gulp*… a couple. Of anything by the end of this episode, the comradarie seen between Crixus and Spartacus was a welcome sight, though by the looks of the ending it may have been cut short.

Glauber — “Swear to God, it was THIS big”

It would seem Claudius Glaber is finally being useful without having to rely on Verinius and Seppius as he heeds Ashur and Lucretia’s advice to seek out Spartacus and the others at the mines. The scene where it alternated between the fights at the Capua arena and the slaves escaping the mine with Naevia was very well done, both musically and visually. My biggest question at this point is what in the hell will become of Crixus? I really am starting to like the big oaf. And can I just add that I absolutely cannot stand Seppius’ sister Seppia? If actress Hanna Mangan Lawrence was going for ditzy and annoying noble Roman girl then she nailed that right on the head, and is a great actress for making me despise the character after only briefly seeing her in three episodes. I give the episode 5 out of 5 grizzlies, because it was perfect. It kept me on the edge of my seat with the interrogation of Oenomaus and the rescue of Naevia the entire time and left us with an excellent cliffhanger ending. Not to mention there was plenty of action to sustain us barbaric male viewers.

drunk — *“Yup, hand in the air, I was totally paying attention.”*

‘Legion’ Heading to the Small Screen on the SyFy Channel?

February 11, 2012 Stephen Sanchez Leave a comment

[pullquote_right]“I said your f–king baby is gonna burn.” And “You’re all gonna f–king die!”[/pullquote_right] Does anyone remember the movie Legion? You know, the one starring Paul Bettany as an angel protecting a pregnant white-trash girl from other angels seeking to kill her and her baby? If you don’t remember that, then you’ll at least remember the little old lady who walked into a diner spouting off such classy one liners…

So yeah, simple premise of God being so angry with mankind that he/she sends legions of creepy looking angels to exterminate them and their last hope. The only problem with the whole thing is that, they never go into why this baby is their last hope. It’s hinted that it might be the second coming of Jesus, but they never really fully get into it. Then there was a whole storyline involving some prophets that just fell by the wayside because they used the rest of their budget on the fight scene between Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The movie could have benefited from some sort of sequel, because the end was just too abrupt. Similar to what Dr. Kronner refers to as a ‘Shaft Ending’, in reference to the horrific Shaft movie starring Samuel L. Jackson. The trailer made this movie look great, especially crazy grandma Gladys biting people’s necks and climbing the ceilings, but it wasn’t enough to save a poorly executed second half and loose ends story wise.

I had mentioned a sequel above, and it looks like those who feel the same may get something sort of like that. According to a report from IGN, via Deadline we may be getting some small screen killer angel treatment:

Deadline is reporting that Syfy is currently developing an TV adaptation of the 2010 supernatural thriller Legion, which starred Paul Bettany.

The movie’s director/co-writer, Scott Stewart, is overseeing the adaptation as an executive producer, and will direct the pilot. The film was about the human race trying to survive an onslaught of angels sent down from above to bring about the apocalypse.

Hmmm… sounds like a sure fire way to tell a story of that potential magnitude the right way. And come to think of it there was nothing groundbreaking in Legion special effects wise that can’t be done on TV. Hell, I’ve seen better effects on Smallville’s last four seasons. If SyFy does in fact pull the trigger on this one, I’m definitely willing to take a shot. Just as long as they don’t name the protagonist ‘Jeep’ like in the movie. Jeep? Seriously? Now that is shameless advertising. And I promise there will be no Jeep links.

Good Ole’ Galdys….She’ll rip your f–king throat out.

CBS Greenlights Pilot From Louis CK and One of the ‘Seinfeld’ Writers…

February 10, 2012 Dan Woizinski Leave a comment

I’m going to level with you, I haven’t turned my television on in over a year. This means I’m a little out of touch with the state of television these days, but from what I can gather on their website, CBS is now entirely made up of identical cop dramas and formulaic sitcoms. Also whatever the hell this is.

A Pitbull song in the trailer is TV Short-hand for “This is our Jersey Shore”

It’s not the most refined place for quality programming is what I’m saying. So it may come as a surprise to you to know that CBS just approved a pilot from Louis C.K. and Spike Feresten, two writers from critically acclaimed shows (‘Louie’ and ‘Seinfeld’, respectively). Deadline‘s report included a general idea of what the show will be:

“CBS’s [sic] has greenlighted to pilot an untitled multi-camera comedy written by Louis CK and Spike Feresten, about an ensemble of young people trying to achieve their creative dreams in these tough financial times.“

The show was actually pitched 13 years ago by the two comedy writers under the name Boomtown. At the time, it would have starred Louis C.K. and centred around him and his friends. However C.K. and Feresten have rewritten the script, likely with Louis C.K. out of the lead role, and the new show will finally get a chance.

How directly Louis C.K. will be involved in this new show remains to be seen, which is the main point of interest for me. He is currently enjoying the success of his latest stand-up special, Live at the Beacon Theatre, though he won’t be taking time to rest; Louis has been breaking the comedy mold in the past few years by throwing away all his material each year and starting again from scratch. On top of that he also serves as star, producer, director, editor and sole writer of the hit FX show Louie. I imagine this leaves little time to nurture a brand new show, but there’s nothing I’d rather see on TV than more Louis C.K.

Spartacus: Vengeance – Episode 2 “A Place in This World”

February 9, 2012 Stephen Sanchez Leave a comment

I’ve officially slipped right back into Spartacus mode. Any reluctance or slight misgivings I may have had about Liam McIntyre as Spartacus are now moot. The series is really picking up again and it’s as good as it once was. I thought it was a nice touch in the episode when they tied all three of the seasons together with the inclusion of a certain flashback scene.

Though the entire episode was very good, the character that stood out to me was definitely Oenomaus. We know the history of the former gladiator trainer in the House of Batiatus, that he owed much allegiance to Titus who was the father of Quintus and that he grew up in the same house as young Quintus. In this episode, as Oenomaus searches for meaning and to punish himself, we are treated to a flash back of the youth being purchased by Titus and given a purpose in life. At this point we can begin to understand why Oenomaus is so distraught over the events that occurred with the mass slaughter in the House of Batiatus. He fought for a man who gave him self worth and had to bear witness as Titus’s son tore it all down with his treachery and scheming.

The only good thing about getting to see a character I liked so much was the method of how he did so; by entering into the gladiator fights in “The Pit” which was shown to us in Season One of Spartacus as the now rebel Thracian fought from the bottom of the barrel and into the arena to become champion. The scenes make for some of the most brutal fight scenes in Spartacus yet and we are presented with a cloaked character from past seasons that many may have forgotten about.

Major Episode Spoilers Below!

The smaller parts of the story involve Lucretia snowing over Illythia and Glaber with how crazy she is, while still showing that she is capable of playing the games of deception and treachery as her husband did. The knowing smirk that Lucretia gave in the marketplace and at the end to the now revealed cloaked man I mentioned above show us that she is a little more aware than her “guests” think. As for Glaber, he is busy trying to gain the allegiance of Seppius who is still a little sour over the death of his cousin Sextus. The two do not come to an agreement in the scene they share in the episode but something will have to come to a head soon. I’m thinking once Glaber has command of Seppius’ men he will quickly eliminate the potential threat he poses.

Crixus and Spartacus continue their search for Naevia, much to the chagrin of yet another Dominus that Crixus deals with personally. They are getting closer to finding Crixus’s wayward beauty, but also drawing more attention to themselves by attacking another villa and engaging in an unavoidable attack with Seppius’ mercenaries. I sure hope they are able to train enough newly freed slaves before they become too obvious a target for Glaber and Seppius should the two pompous asses ever ally with one another.

So I’m going to spoil you majorly with this next part to close the review, so don’t read anymore if you haven’t seen the episode. The cloaked man in the “The Pit” who slipped Lucretia a note in the marketplace and took a weakened Oenomaus captive was none other than Ashur. He is definitely one of my favorite characters from Blood and Sand, the way he was able to manipulate so many people and rise to the top so quickly. Now that Oenomaus is captured and under the heel of Glaber, Illythia and Lucretia it will be interesting to see when Gannicus gets into the fray. It looked like he will show up some time in the season according to the trailers. Will Lucretia share the secret of his wife’s death with Oenomaus and blame it solely on Gannicus? Will she somehow manipulate him into hunting down Spartacus for her? Time will tell. I give the episode 4 out of 5 grizzlies. Rock on Spartacus!

Grizzly Bomb