Rachel Skarsten returns to the world of costumed superheroes with a starring role in The CW’s new comic book-inspired series, Batwoman. Skarsten stars as Alice, leader of the Wonderland Gang and Batwoman’s nemesis. The series opener also revealed a major plot twist involving the two women, a relationship Skarsten talked about during our roundtable interview at the 2019 New York Comic Con.
Batwoman, starring Ruby Rose in the title role, joined The CW’s primetime lineup on October 6, 2019. New episodes air on Sundays at 8pm ET/PT immediately preceding season five of Supergirl.
How does it feel coming back to DC Comics?
Rachel Skarsten: “It’s actually a beautiful homecoming for me because obviously I was on The WB which was sort of the predecessor to The CW. And it was with Warner Bros when I was 16. (Laughing) I’ve more than doubled my age now! It’s funny because in my test for this show I went and there’s all the studio executives. They’re sitting there and it’s a bit of a nerve-wracking situation. I’m standing there and I see Peter (Roth) who’s the most lovely man. He’s sitting there and he’s looking at me, and then he’s like, ‘I know you.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, Peter, because I was here when I was 16 years old doing this exact same thing for Birds of Prey.’
So, it actually felt like coming home.”
Jumping off of that, the world’s changed so much and so has the industry. What’s it like having all these wonderful women on this series?
Rachel Skarsten: “It’s funny because Birds of Prey really tried to do that. It was a female-led cast with three very strong women. The three of us joke to this day that had that show premiered now, it would probably be on the air for seven years. But, it’s really wonderful to see.
I don’t think that having strong women in the industry means excluding men. I think it’s really wonderful to have a place for everyone. I think that we can all play into each other’s strengths. But it’s nice to see that there are more strong women doing their thing. I hope – I hope – that women will be a large part in ushering in a new era.”
How do you find the right level of craziness for Alice?
Rachel Skarsten: (Laughing) “That’s such a difficult thing. And in fact, I was really worried about that, just to be totally candid, because you can go too far with crazy. It has to be nuanced. I thought a lot about it even in my audition process, like what is crazy to me? What is it? And more than crazy what is unnerving and unhinging for us as human beings?
I think for me it’s when someone sort of seems very normal and then on a dime can switch. I try to do that with Alice. I think it also presents for me as an actor a really interesting challenge because within one character you’re bouncing back and forth between being lovely and then I murder you and then we’re going for dinner. So, yeah.
Truthfully you never really know until you see it on screen. Hopefully, people like it. I did my best.”
Rachel Skarsten: “She has a very big part of not only Kate’s present but Kate’s past because they’re twins. I think that that’s been such an interesting relationship for us – Ruby and I – to develop. What does that mean? You’re taking two females who are evenly matched in every way in their physicality and their intelligence and all these things and now they’re foes to one another. But they can’t really destroy one another because they’re family and they love each other. They have this incredible bond that they had from pre-birth till the age of 13.
It’s been very fun. Although it’s funny because sometimes we’ll look at one another and I’m like, ‘We could never be twins!’ I’m a lot taller than Ruby. But on camera it actually plays really well. We have the same eye color, so I think that plays in our favor.”
What can you tell us about season one’s action sequences?
Rachel Skarsten: “It was really fun for me because Alice has butterfly knives that she uses and so when I first went in to learn them, I had to take a slo-mo video of the stunt girl doing it. I must have spent 48 hours straight just doing the butterfly knives.
I remember I was actually on Facetime with Nicole Kang who plays Mary in the show…don’t ask me why we were in the same hotel and on Facetime together…and I guess I was doing the butterfly knives and after about 15 minutes she’s like, ‘What are you doing with your hands?’ I’m like, ‘Just butterfly knives,’ and you realize what an odd job we have.
But now I feel like a badass so it’s great.”
The show has a dark tone. What’s the atmosphere like on set?
Rachel Skarsten: “We have a lot of fun. It’s funny. There’s so many things that you can create that atmosphere with, being it lighting and post-production. It doesn’t feel dark or heavy at all when we’re actually on the set. I mean, obviously, when you’re in the scene you’re in that moment and on scene. But we also have genuinely such an amazing crew. I know everybody says that about their crews, but we actually have the best crew. It’s just really nice to go to work with people that you like every day.”
Charlize Theron voices Morticia Addams and Oscar Isaac voices Gomez Addams in ‘The Addams Family’ (Photo by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)
“It’s hideous,” says Morticia (voiced by Charlize Theron). “It’s horrible,” agrees Gomez (voiced by Oscar Isaac). “It’s home,” they say in unison, hugging each other while admiring the broken down, abandoned asylum where they’re going to raise a family in the animated feature film, The Addams Family.
The film opens with a brief origin story featuring the wedding of Morticia and Gomez. Their nuptials are cut short because the local townspeople come after them like an angry mob for being…well…spooky and different. While being driven by the bodiless hand named Thing, Mortician and Gomez accidentally hit someone in the road in the dead of night. That person turns out to be Lurch who, once they determine is all right, immediately becomes part of the family as their butler.
Jump ahead 13 years and the Addams family is loving life in their mansion. Well, most of the family loves it. Wednesday, their daughter (voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz), doesn’t. She wants to explore the world beyond the mansion and its grounds.
Meanwhile, their son Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard) is especially talented with explosives and loves blowing things up. However, he needs to put explosives on hold as it’s time to prepare for his coming of age event in which he’ll be performing with a sword, an Addams family tradition that all the Addams relatives are expected to attend.
The Addams family soon has more on their plate to deal with when a shady TV personality Margaux Needler (voiced by Allison Janney) sets her sights on remodeling their eerie mansion or, if that’s not possible, drive them out so she can sell all the houses in the nearby neighborhood.
With ghoulish, deadpan humor and some fun and crazy antics brought to life by a talented voice cast, the 2019 animated film version of the classic television series stays true to the spirit and fun of the original show as well as the 1991 film it spawned. The Addams Family‘s a solid and entertaining animated take on the classic kooky family.
Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron do a wonderful job of voicing Gomez and Morticia. In fact, they sound just like Raul Julia and Angelica Huston from the 1991 film. Isaac brings out Gomez’s energy and spirit while Theron captures Morticia’s dry, deadpan, and almost monotone delivery. Both bring to life these classic characters and keep them true to their origins.
The script’s terrific, giving each main family member their own storyline. It also sneaks in solid messages for children including that it’s good to be different and not to try to be like everyone else just to fit in. Screenwriter Matt Lieberman’s script is full of one-liners, jokes, and slapstick humor.
The animation’s extremely effective, changing up the color pallete to bright and colorful when the Addams visit the nearby town and dark, gloomy and gray when back at the Addams’ mansion. The design of the characters stays true to how they have been presented in early incarnations.
The only misstep with the film is casting Chloe Grace Moretz to voice Wednesday. Although Grace Moretz does a solid job of voicing the character and creating her disengaged delivery, she’s just too old at age 22 to voice a character who’s supposed to be 12. Wednesday sounds like a 19 or 20-year-old trying to act like a 12 or 13-year-old. It’s painfully obvious and detracts from almost all of Wednesday’s scenes.
Still, with laugh-out-loud humor and great voice work by Isaac and Theron, this animated version of The Addams Family is a “kooky” delight that’ll entertain the entire family – and especially The Addams Family fans.
GRAGE: B
MPAA Rating: PG for macabre and suggestive humor, and some action
Holly Hunter to star as Sally Yates (Photo Courtesy of CBS Studios)
Oscar winner Holly Hunter (The Piano), currently killing it in a guest-starring role in HBO’s Succession, has joined CBS Studios’ untitled event miniseries based on the bestselling memoir by James Comey, A Higher Loyalty. Hunter has signed on to play Acting Attorney General Sally Yates in the political drama, which will begin shooting this November.
The four-hour miniseries is set to star Emmy Award winner Jeff Daniels as James Comey and Emmy winner Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump. Jennifer Ehle will play James Comey’s wife, Patrice, and Michael Kelly will star as Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
Oscar nominee Billy Ray is adapting Comey’s book and will direct. Alex Kurtzman, Shane Salerno, and Heather Kadin are involved as executive producers. The CBS Television Studios project is produced by Secret Hideout, The Story Factory, and Home Run Productions.
CBS hasn’t set a premiere date for the much-anticipated event miniseries.
Commenting on the casting of Holly Hunter, writer/director Billy Ray said, “Though I’d never met Holly before, this part was written for her. There was no one else who could play it. In my first phone call with her, I spent 10 minutes just telling her how much I loved her in Broadcast News. She’s the kind of actor who makes a movie better instantly. Plus, now that I know Elasti-Girl, my kids think I’m cooler than I actually am.”
More on Billy Ray and A Higher Loyalty, Courtesy of CBS:
“Ray researched the project for over a year in order to make the drama a fair, responsible and comprehensively documented account of real-life events. He traveled to Washington, D.C. and several other cities to meet with Comey, his family, and many other key players, including prominent journalists, FBI agents, government officials from both political parties and others.
A Higher Loyalty debuted on top of the New York Times bestseller list and has already sold over two million copies across all platforms. It was recently released in paperback and again vaulted to #1 around the world.
The story is the reminiscence of Director Comey, who served as the seventh director of the FBI from 2013 to 2017. From helping change the Bush administration’s policies on torture and electronic surveillance to overseeing the Hillary Clinton email investigation, as well as possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, Comey has been involved in some of the most consequential cases and policies of recent history.”
Both YouTube’s Impulse and the 2008 movie Jumper have two things in common. Both are based on the science-fiction novels written by Steven Gould. And both involve filmmaker Doug Liman, who’s best known for directing 2002’s The Bourne Identity and 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Yet Liman doesn’t have fond memories of Jumper (which grossed approximately $222 million). Working on Impulse, however, has allowed him to put those old ghosts to rest.
“Of all my movies, Jumper’s the one I felt I never got right. I had some more growing to do as a filmmaker that actually happened in making Impulse. It’s amazing… The reason I didn’t get (Jumper) right is because I didn’t have a writing partner in Lauren (LeFranc, Impulse’s showrunner),” explained Liman. “I’m a disruptor. My ambition for disrupting the superhero genre wasn’t big enough, and it got way bigger when I met Lauren. And it got way bigger when I cast Maddie (Hasson).”
On Oct. 5, 2019, Liman and LeFranc (a former writer/producer on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), along with cast members Hasson (The Finder), Missi Pyle (Galaxy Quest), and Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica) participated in roundtable interviews at the New York Comic Con, speaking about the second season of Impulse, which debuts Wednesday, Oct. 16th on YouTube Premium.
On Impulse, Henrietta “Henry” Coles (Hasson) is a rebellious 16-year-old outcast who discovers she possesses the powers of telekinesis and teleportation, although she has no control over them. The first time she realizes this, Henry is with Clay Boone (Tanner Stine, Teen Wolf), the captain of the basketball team and town royalty.
As Henry and Clay smoke dope and make out in Clay’s truck, Clay wants to have sex with her. When Henry refuses, Clay forces himself on her, attempting to rape her. This activates Henry’s powers. Once her powers manifest, Henry has a seizure and teleports to safety. However, in the process, she inadvertently crushes the truck, leaving Clay a paraplegic and comatose.
Henry teleports into her bedroom of the house her mother Cleo (Pyle) shares with her boyfriend Thomas Hope (Matt Gordon, Rookie Blue) and his daughter, Jenna (Sarah Desjardins, Riverdale). At first, Jenna, a popular girl at school, is cold towards Henry. Upon learning of her ordeal with Clay and her powers, Jenna becomes Henry’s friend and confidante.
To make things worse, Clay’s father Bill Boone (David James Elliott, JAG), who owns a car dealership, is secretly a drug trafficker. He’s launching his own investigation into who crippled his son with Henry trying to stay a step ahead of him. As if things weren’t hard enough, Bill is also Cleo’s boss.
“It’s been a real gift for me to get to work with Doug,” said LeFranc. “We’ve had a lot of fun together. I’ve gotten to see how he works. I think what he’s established with Impulse in terms of the tone and the scenery and the way Henry’s powers work – they’re very grounded and very violent and very chaotic – it was very inspiring to me to take that and run with it.”
According to LeFranc, Impulse is not a traditional superhero show. She and Liman wanted it to stand out from the numerous other superhero shows dominating the airwaves.
“If you have a power that happened to you, would you love it all of the sudden? Would you want to go save the world? Maybe not, especially if you’re a teenager. We try to make it organic and honest and Doug’s set a really nice visual tone for that in the way he wanted to portray Henry,” explained LeFranc.
In the second season, the enigmatic Nikolai (Rennie), “a teleporting junkie assassin” in Rennie’s words, who belongs to a clandestine organization, teaches Henry how to use her powers. It’s been established that she’s not the only one who can teleport. What hasn’t been established is Nikolai’s agenda and if he can be trusted.
“We get to see a couple of triumphant moments as (Henry) grapples with (controlling her powers) in a rocky way. To gain control of her powers, she has to come to terms with what happened to her – the assault, Bill Boone, her mom – all this trauma that just keeps coming at her. It’s real rocky,” said Hasson.
Pyle spoke about the changes Cleo will undergo this season.
“She’s been shot. She has to get better, obviously,” said Pyle. “She’s really trying so hard to be a better parent. When something like that happens to you, you reevaluate everything and she’s trying just so hard to do a better job with her daughter. And – ultimately – it ends up working against her.”
Best known for her work in comedies, including the aforementioned Galaxy Quest, Bringing Down the House (where she had an epic fight scene with Queen Latifah set to Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible”), and DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, Pyle was ready for a change of pace.
“I’d just become a single mother, so I was excited about playing a single mother. I also loved the script and I loved the idea of working with Doug Liman. But, mostly, I was excited someone was letting me do something that wasn’t a comedy. I was excited to see where this was going,” said Pyle.
Liman spoke about changing the premise of the show to accommodate Hasson.
“What happened was when Maddie came in to audition, she just lit up the room,” he recalled. “Every once in a while, in your career as a filmmaker, somebody just comes into the room and they have it. And she had it. But it was the wrong ‘it.’ I turned to my producing partners and said, ‘She’s amazing, but it’s the wrong energy for the part. But how do we not cast her?’ (Executive producer) David Bartis said, ‘She’s amazing. We have to cast her. She’s lightning in a bottle.’ ‘If we cast her, we have to change the script.’ I described all the ways we had to change the character and Dave’s like, ‘That sounds like a better show.’”
Liman continued: “In fact, Jenna’s and Maddie’s characters flipped… That was how the original draft was: Somebody who loved, loved, loved their town and kept getting sent away. Instead, we had to do it the opposite way: Someone who doesn’t want to be there, but whose power keeps bringing them back. I was like, ‘I love this actress. We need to change everything.’ That’s what I love about filmmaking: It’s this incredible adventure where you can’t know all the answers.”
Hasson shared her insight in what attracted her to Henry.
“I really, really just loved Henry. I just loved the idea of working with Doug. He’s incredible, so that was a big draw,” said Hasson. “I loved who Henry was – how real and raw she was. Lauren and Doug never tried to fit her in the stereotypical young adult female mode. They let her be a person, which is not totally common in Hollywood with female characters, but I think it’s becoming more common – that’s what I liked.”
LeFranc became the showrunner after the pilot episode was filmed. According to Liman, she made him become a better filmmaker.
“Not only did she have a vision for the whole show, but she said, ‘I need you to go back and reshoot some things in the pilot. I love the pilot, but you didn’t really deal with the sexual assault; you shied away from it,’” he said. “She made me grow as a filmmaker because it’s too uncomfortable. I didn’t want to film those details. I wanted to ignore it and she’s like, ‘You can’t ignore it! It’s the foundation of your show! And as a human being, you can’t ignore it either!’”
The creators’ goal is to treat Impulse as a grounded character drama with genre on top of it. Rennie agreed with that direction.
“The pedigree of the how, the writing of the show, the intention of the show was why I took (this role),” he said. “What I liked about the first season, you saw that it was great drama, great writing. I would forget about the teleportation and the sci-fi part of it. You go, ‘Oh, yeah, there’s that element as well’… This is pure drama, great characters, and then the sci-fi element that’s more allegory and metaphor that works so wonderfully in it.”
* * * * * * * * *
Season two of the YouTube Premium original series premieres on October 16, 2019.
“So what’s new in Central City?” asks Ralph (Hartley Sawyer). “We are trying to track a black hole,” replies Barry (Grant Gustin). “Of course you are,” says Ralph in the premiere episode of season 6 of The CW’s The Flash.
As season six episode one begins, Barry and Iris (Candice Patton) are in S.T.A.R Labs when suddenly there’s some sort of extreme power surge from the Time Vault. They run back into it after having just watched Nora’s goodbye message and see it destroyed by the surge.
Jump ahead four months and Team Flash is after a fake Godspeed from the future. The Flash quickly takes him down but when he tries to get any answers out of him about why he’s in Central City, the fake Godspeed can’t speak. He can only make sounds, just like the three before him.
A little later Team Flash and friends meet up at Joe and Cecille’s for a barbecue. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) asks Barry and Iris how they’re coping with Nora’s disappearance from the timeline and Barry says that knowing they will see her in the future is helping. He quickly changes the subject and suggests to Cisco (Carlos Valdes) about putting in some extra hours tonight at S.T.A.R. Labs to get the “MAC,” a speed-thinking device, ready to use.
Cisco, who’s enjoying life without his Vibe powers after taking the metahuman cure and with his girlfriend, reminds Barry of the importance of balancing work with living life. Cisco decides what he really wants to do is just enjoy his beer.
Barry receives an alert about a crime scene and has to leave the gathering. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) also excuses herself, thanking Joe and Cecile for the barbecue but saying she needs to be somewhere.
Caitlin attends a funeral for Dr. Ramsey Rosso’s mother. Rosso (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is an old med school acquaintance of Caitlin’s and as she offers her condolences, her Killer Frost powers start to come to the surface. She’s able to quickly get them under control. He thanks her and asks if they can get coffee sometime to catch up, admitting he could really use a friend to talk to. She agrees and tells Rosso to call her.
Meanwhile, Iris is on a mission to find Nora’s speedster outfit which Joe accidentally threw out. She heads to the junkyard and while searching a mini black hole appears and almost sucks her – and a junkyard worker – into it.
Iris tells Barry about the black hole and he meets up with Cisco and Caitlin at S.T.A.R. Labs to figure out a way to track it. Cisco and Caitlin try to explain to Barry the enormous amount of data they have to go through and that no one has ever tracked a black hole before. Barry’s overly chipper and says, “C’mon, we’re Team Flash.”
Ralph rejoins Team Flash, showing up clad in a tux. He’s been working a missing person’s case all summer. Caitlin tries to decode the data stream on the black hole and has another random “Frost out,” freezing the keyboard. Ralph asks how long she’s been having them and she answers all summer. Ralph suggests she take a break from working and Barry thinks she should give her friend Ramsey a call to catch up.
Ramsey meets Caitlin at Jitters but it turns out he isn’t interested in catching up with her at all. Ramsey wants her to help get dark matter. He needs it to use on human subjects for trials for fighting HLH cancer, the disease that killed his mother.
Caitlin, a little hurt that he had an alternative motive, tells him that using dark matter on humans could turn them into metahumans against their will. She won’t take part in that. Upset with her answer, Ramsey leaves.
Caitlin waits a few moments and then as she starts to leave, Jitters begins shaking. Another black hole opens just in front of Jitters. Everyone hangs on to whatever they can to stop being sucked into it. Caitlin, who is holding onto a pole, starts to slip. She asks out loud, “Frost, where are you?!” Just as her hold gives way and she’s about to be sucked into the black hole a flash of lightning appears and The Flash saves her.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin’s upset feeling like she should be dead. Barry assures her he would never let that happen and that’s what Team Flash does – they protect each other. (Barry has been overly optimistic and positive through most of the episode, but it’s very refreshing to have this side of his personality back).
Ralph and Cisco are concerned about Frost not coming out to protect both Caitlin and herself. Ralph theorizes that maybe Frost has become afraid of dying.
Iris shows up and tells Team Flash she’s done some research on the black hole and it led her to Chester P. Runk (Brandon McKnight), a scientist and blogger who accidentally opened a black hole with an experiment he did in his garage. To make matters worse, he touched it and is currently in a catatonic state.
Cisco’s solution to the black hole is a Stellar Grenade which should be able to implode the black hole when The Flash tosses it in. Iris and Caitlin disagree with that solution because Chester’s consciousness is in the black hole. Destroy it and he stays catatonic.
Cisco’s not sure they have a choice and Barry finally loses it, yelling that he’s not losing anyone else. Barry walks off and Iris goes after him to talk. They both realize they’re still hurting and grieving the loss of Nora. Iris admits she went to the junkyard to find Nora’s speedster outfit which went into the black hole. Barry and Iris agree to not try to race through their grief but instead work through it together.
Ralph tricks Frost into coming out and talks to her about not showing up at Jitters. She tries to blow it off by saying The Flash had it covered and tells him she isn’t afraid of dying. Ralph says he knows that, but what she is afraid of is living. Ralph has figured out that since Caitlin’s attended a few funerals, Frost is struggling with just being used to fighting the bad guys and not getting to make her own memories. Ralph tells Frost to talk to Caitlin about letting her have a life, too.
Alarms go off at S.T.A.R. Labs as a massive black hole has appeared above Central City. Barry instructs Ralph and Frost to help evacuate the area and protect the citizens. The new plan is for Barry to speed into the black hole and pull out Chester’s consciousness. The Speed Force should protect him from being destroyed by the hole, and once Chester’s consciousness is removed from the hole it should implode. To do this he’s going to use quantum computing tech from Nora’s gauntlet.
The Flash speeds into the hole as Ralph and Frost save citizens. Frost even saves Joe from being sucked up. All this is going on while Cisco’s back at S.T.A.R Labs playing Queen’s “Flash” theme song, lending the scene a little humor and lightness. Team Flash’s plan works.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs Chester still has glowing eyes but otherwise seems okay. They’re going to keep him in the MAC for a few weeks for observation.
Caitlin talks to Frost and of course says she’s good with her “taking the wheel” for a while and making a life for herself. Caitlin admits for the first time she feels like she’s a part of Frost rather than the other way around. Frost comes out and is greeted by Ralph who offers to be her life coach. First up, changing her first name. Ralph says Killer is a bit off-putting to some people.
Somewhere in Central City Ramsey has created a makeshift lab and worked a deal with a low-life to get dark matter. He experiments on himself because he also has HLH cancer. He injects himself with the dark matter and screams in agony.
Barry shows Iris he was able to retrieve Nora’s suit from the hole and they put it up in S.T.A.R. Labs. The Monitor shows up and tells both Barry and Iris that a crisis is coming. On December 10th, 2019, The Flash will make the ultimate sacrifice. Barry says he won’t leave his family but The Monitor says in order to save billions of lives The Flash must die.
The Flash Season 6 Episode One Review:
Season six of The Flash begins with a strong episode that injects fun and humor back into the series while setting up both the major villain of the season and the epic crossover event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” It’s perhaps one of the show’s best season openers to date.
The episode had a perfect balance of fun action scenes, such as the chase after the fake Godspeed, and suspenseful scenes like when Caitlin almost gets sucked into the black hole and is saved just in time by The Flash. The episode also made time to have the barbecue with everyone on Team Flash just enjoying being together and having a good time. These scenes are crucial in keeping the show from getting too dark and only about fighting the bad guys. The Flash is at its best as a show when it sticks to the three Hs: Humor, heroics, and heart.
With Ramsey about to become Team Flash’s new enemy and the impending Crisis on its way, Team Flash will have a lot to deal with. Perhaps more than they can handle…
Season three episode four of Fox’s The Resident has a Halloween vibe while also addressing important social issues. Episode four titled “Belief System” is set to air on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT.
The cast of season three includes Matt Czuchry as Dr. Conrad Hawkins, Emily VanCamp as Nicolette “Nic” Nevin, Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Randolph Bell, and Manish Dayal as Dr. Devon Pravesh. Shaunette Renee Wilson plays Dr. Mina Okafor, Malcolm-Jamal Warner is Dr. AJ Austin, Jane Leeves is Dr. Kitt Voss, and Glenn Morshower is Marshall Winthrop. Morris Chestnut joins the cast as Dr. Barrett Cain.
The “Belief System” Plot: When Devon’s patient, who was pronounced dead, suddenly revives, Conrad is left doubting Devon’s judgment and wondering what happened. A well-known white supremacist falls under the care of Cain and Nic, causing the two to butt heads on how to move forward. Meanwhile, on their way to a medical convention, The Raptor and Mina get stuck in a strange town, where they uncover new information about Red Rock Medical.
The Season 3 Plot, Courtesy of Fox:
Entering its third season, The Resident continues to rip back the curtain and reveal the truth of what really happens, both good and bad, in hospitals across the country. The provocative medical drama follows a group of doctors at Chastain Memorial Hospital, as they face personal and professional challenges on a daily basis while fighting for their patients.
In season three, Red Rock Mountain Medical has taken over, inserting its own doctors – including new neurosurgeon Dr. Barrett Cain – and nurses into the well-oiled machine that was once Chastain Memorial Hospital, and causing the doctors to fight harder than ever against the corrupting influence of money in healthcare. The hospital is being run like a profit-hungry corporation – reaping huge financial gains, while risking the lives of its patients.
Dr. Randolph Bell is well-aware of the dangerous deal he has made with Red Rock in order to get Chastain out of its financial crisis and, as a result, initially turns a blind eye to the new corporate mantra of profits over patients. It’s not long before Dr. Conrad Hawkins incurs Red Rock’s fury when he confronts the problems head-on, becoming a whistleblower. The good fight he leads could ultimately threaten everything he holds dear, including his ability to practice medicine.
The Justice League of young healthcare providers must unite to fight for and with him, with Nicolette “Nic” Nevins in the lead. Nic attempts to recover from a devastating personal loss by throwing herself into patient care and her work for the uninsured through her clinic.
Dr. Devon Pravesh will find himself rotating out of the ER and gaining experience and power of his own in new positions within the hospital, eventually moving up to a first-year resident. Dr. AJ Austin will continue to bond with his mentee, the exceptionally talented surgeon, Dr. Mina Okafor. She’ll be his support as he navigates a relationship with his complicated biological family, while striving to maintain one with the parents who raised him. Okafor will be faced with a potential new family dynamic of her own, when her best friend, Adaku, who carries the BRCA breast cancer gene, returns pregnant with no father in the picture.
Meanwhile, the power and ruthlessness of new neurosurgeon Dr. Cain takes the hospital by storm. He embodies all the evil that can result when doctors care more for the bottom line than for their patients. Dr. Kitt Voss is the first to realize that his charm hides a medical demon, but standing against him could have serious consequences for her future. Cain’s ability to generate millions for Chastain leaves him free to exact swift revenge on those who oppose him – and no one is off limits.
The new trailer for Disney and Pixar’s Onward reveals the reason behind a sibling road trip. Brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot take to the road in order to find a way to complete a magic spell that will bring their dead dad back for a day.
In addition to unveiling the new trailer, Pixar’s released a teaser poster and two new photos from the upcoming family-friendly animated film.
Onward features the voices of Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Barley Lightfoot, Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Far From Home) as Ian Lightfoot, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) as Laurel Lightfoot, and Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water) as Manticore. Dan Scanlon (Monsters University) wrote and directed, with Kori Rai producing.
Pixar’s targeting a March 6, 2020 theatrical release.
The Plot:
“Set in a suburban fantasy world, Onward introduces two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot (voices of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt), who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there.”
Universal Pictures just unveiled the full official trailer for The Turning inspired by Henry James’ novel, The Turn of the Screw. The Conjuring‘s Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes wrote the screenplay for the 2020 horror film directed by Floria Sigismondi (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Runaways).
The cast includes Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate, The Martian), Finn Wolfhard (It, Stranger Things), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project), and Joely Richardson (Red Sparrow, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
Scott Bernstein (Straight Outta Compton, Ride Along 2) and Roy Lee (It, The Lego Movie) produced, with Seth William Meier and John Powers Middleton executive producing.
Universal’s set a January 24, 2020 theatrical release date.
The Plot:
For more than 100 years, a deeply haunting tale has been passed down to terrify audiences. Next January, DreamWorks Pictures’ The Turning takes us to a mysterious estate in the Maine countryside, where newly appointed nanny Kate is charged with the care of two disturbed orphans, Flora and Miles. Quickly though, she discovers that both the children and the house are harboring dark secrets and things may not be as they appear.
Poster for the 2020 horror film, ‘The Turning.’ (Photo Credit: Universal Pictures)
Kumail Nanjiani and Thomas Middleditch star in HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’
The sixth and final season of HBO’s critically acclaimed comedy series, Silicon Valley, kicks off on Sunday, October 27, 2019. With the final season premiere just weeks away, HBO’s released details on the first three episodes of the seven episode sixth season.
Season six of the comedy created by Mike Judge, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky will air on Sundays at 10pm ET/PT. Judge and Alec Berg wrote, directed and executive produced the final season. Clay Tarver, Lew Morton, Michael Rotenberg, Tom Lassally and Jim Kleverweis also served as executive producers.
The cast is led by Thomas Middleditch as Richard, Zach Woods as Jared, Kumail Nanjiani as Dinesh, and Martin Starr as Gilfoyle. Amanda Crew plays Monica, Jimmy O. Yang is Jian-Yang, Suzanne Cryer is Laurie Bream, Matt Ross is Gavin Belson, and Josh Brener is Big Head.
The Season 6 Plot:
The Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated series takes a comedic look at the modern-day epicenter of the high-tech gold rush, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success. This season finds Richard and the Pied Piper guys finally seeing the fruits of their labor but realizing that a bigger company means much bigger problems.
Silicon Valley Season 6 Episodes:
Season 6, episode 1: “Artificial Lack of Intelligence”
Debut date: SUNDAY, OCT. 27 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Richard (Thomas Middleditch) discovers his promise that Pied Piper won’t collect user data is under threat; Jared (Zach Woods) longs for the past; Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) gets creative in dealing with Dinesh.
Written by Ron Weiner; directed by Mike Judge.
Season 6, episode 2: “Blood Money”
Debut date: SUNDAY, NOV. 3 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Richard (Thomas Middleditch) meets a potential investor; Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) butts heads with HR; Gavin (Matt Ross) explores a leaner Hooli’s future.
Written by Carson Mell; directed by Mike Judge.
Season 6, episode 3: “Title TBA”
Debut date: SUNDAY, NOV. 10 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT)
The Pied Piper team races to close a major deal; Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) considers being a better person; an angry Jared (Zach Woods) reluctantly helps Richard (Thomas Middleditch).
Written by Sarah Walker; directed by Liza Johnson.
Clayton Cardenas as Angel Reyes and JD Pardo as EZ Reyes in ‘Mayans M.C.’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo by Prashant Gupta/FX)
FX’s Mayans M.C. season two episode six opens with EZ (JD Pardo) having spent the night watching over his older brother following the rescue attempt that ended with Adelita choosing to remain in custody. Angel (Clayton Cardenas) wakes to crows cawing outside his window and grabs what looks like a gun. He pulls the trigger and, fortunately for bird lovers, it’s a water gun that leaves the birds unharmed while effectively chasing them away. In Angel’s state of mind, it wouldn’t have been shocking to find some crows had cawed their last caw after choosing to land outside his window this particular morning.
Speaking of the aftermath of Adelita’s choice, Potter’s informed she’s now in custody at a military base in San Diego. That’s the good news. The bad news is there are two dead agents inside a burned-out car. No one’s quite sure who attacked the car, but it’s believed if the rebels or the cartel did, Adelita wouldn’t have been left behind.
Elsewhere, Miguel Alvarez’s vehicle dies and he calls on Nestor for an assist. Before Nestor arrives, the mercs appear on the scene. They immediately shoot one of the men in the leg and then grab Marcus (Emilio Rivera), forcing him into their vehicle.
Nestor (Gino Vento) and another of Miguel’s men actually pass the mercs on the road as they roll up to the scene. They’re quickly filled in on what went down. Nestor heads back down the road on his own, chasing after the mercs.
The mercs quickly realize they’re being followed and their two vehicles split up. Nestor follows the correct vehicle, after the second vehicle (a tow truck) breaks off. Unfortunately, it’s a trap. The tow truck reappears from the side and T-bones Nestor’s car. The impact sends Nestor’s vehicle off the side of the road and tumbling down an incline.
Nestor’s able to get out of the vehicle and watches as the Clearwater Towing truck pulls away. He uses his finger to write 243 on the sand covering his destroyed car. 243 is part of a phone number that became visible when the magnetic sign on the tow truck slipped as a result of the impact.
EZ and Angel arrive at the garage and Angel’s no longer on the outs with the club. After Angel walks away, EZ tells Bishop (Michael Irby) his brother’s messed up but hasn’t been broken. “Something’s shifted,” explains EZ. Bishop instructs EZ to keep Angel close. (Even without the warning EZ doesn’t appear to be drifting far from his brother’s side.)
Meawhile, Emily (Sarah Bolger) visits Ileana’s hotel room after receiving a phone call from her friend. Ileana breaks the news that another bidder – China – has placed the best bid for the project. China’s offer was submitted at the very last minute and is a substantially better deal for Santo Padre. Ileana has no idea how this happened, but Emily surmises someone fed them info on the bids. Emily believes it’s Ileana’s assistant Marlon who provided the top bidder with information, but Ileana doesn’t think that’s possible.
Emily reminds Ileana she accepted the bribe and now she needs to know everything about Marlon. If she can prove Marlon helped China, then their bid would be disqualified. Whatever plan Emily cooks up must be implemented quickly before the bids are voted on.
In a show of control, Emily leaves another packet of money with Ileana – just to rub it in her face.
Happy (David Labrava) shows up at the Mayans’ garage for a face-to-face with EZ and Angel. They meet in EZ’s trailer and Happy reveals he lied to Packer and was able to get more info on who ordered the hit on their mom. According to the copies of the paperwork Happy was able to obtain, the payment was sent via Western Union from the Hermosillo branch in Sonora, Mexico. That narrows it down to two possibilities, one of which is the Galindos. Because Miguel Galindo’s father would have already been cooperating with the DOJ at that time, making five smaller payments through Western Union would have been the best option to move a large sum of money without getting it flagged.
The meeting breaks up when Tranq (Frankie Loyal) comes to collect EZ and Angel to help with the Alvarez situation. Bishop looks concerned when Happy exits the trailer with the Reyes brothers, but they cover their meeting with a workable lie.
Bishop asks Happy for an assist on rescuing Alvarez and he’s happy to oblige. They can’t fill him in on the real details but Happy’s fine with minimal knowledge of what went down. Referencing SAMCRO’s Jax Teller and his relationship with Alvarez, Happy says, “Jax would want me to help. I’m in.” (We’re all in on any and all references to Jax and Sons of Anarchy.)
The mercs attempt to torture information out of Alvarez, demanding to know who attacked the station wagon carrying Adelita. Alvarez is busted and bloody, but not ready to talk. They continue punching him in the face, but he remains loyal to Miguel Galindo, the cartel, and the Mayans.
The torture ramps up and the mercs become convinced Alvarez is close to breaking. They begin ripping off his fingernails, promising it’s the little fingernails that hurt the most. Alvarez begs them to stop and says it was the brothers. He offers to provide the mercs with numbers to text, assuring them the brothers will call back.
Miguel and a few of his men meet up with Bishop to figure out who could have taken Alvarez. They don’t believe it’s a rival cartel and Miguel finally lands on Potter and the mercs as the likely candidates. Angel thinks it’s possible it’s the mercs acting on their own to get revenge on whoever killed their men.
Emily arrives unexpectedly at the meeting and demands to speak with Miguel. He’s pissed she showed up at the dress warehouse and yells at her to go home. Nestor’s in bad shape as he enters the building, and Emily’s immediately upset to see him injured. Miguel instructs his men to remove Emily from the building since she’s not leaving on her own.
It turns out Clearwater Towing doesn’t exist, but the 243 Nestor saw proves useful. Coco (Richard Cabral) and Riz (Antonio Jaramillo) are tasked with figuring out the phone number and who it belongs to.
Miguel heads off to confront Potter’s right-hand woman and she can’t believe he actually thinks Potter would have kidnapped Alvarez. Miguel thinks Potter’s testing his security, but he’s not around to confront him directly.
Coco and Taz come up with 28 possible phone numbers, some of which belong to farms and others to businesses.
Miguel returns and he and Bishop receive identical text messages addressed to the Molino twins. The messages instruct them to call a burner and meet Miguel about a very important job. Angel figures out that since Molino means windmill in Spanish, Miguel wants them to meet somewhere with turbines. (Angel’s quite the detective in this episode.)
The 243 number matches a few farmlands. Now they just have to narrow that list to ones that have turbines.
After being kicked out of the meeting, Emily shows up at Felipe’s butcher shop again. He closes it down and she promises no one knows they talked. She’s not going to share the info she learned about his true identity.
Emily’s actually there to secretly meet with EZ. She admits Miguel was right to kick her out of the meeting, and then confesses she needs EZ’s help. She explains about the Chinese bribing a clerk and edging them out of the project. She can’t quite ask the question and then admits this project is all she has right now. She can’t tell Miguel because he’ll bring his other world into the business.
Emily lies about her own illegal activity, saying she only found out about the Chinese bidder because a friend told her. She asks EZ to talk to Marlon and get him to tell the truth about how he helped the Chinese. She doesn’t want him hurt and doesn’t think the guy would risk going to jail.
EZ steps away from the meeting when Angel calls with the news they know Alvarez’s location. Before heading out, EZ agrees to help Emily.
The leader of the mercs tells Alvarez they sent the text and still haven’t heard back. Alvarez asks if Potter ordered his kidnapping. Alvarez reveals he knows who these guys are, calling the leader by his name. The leader puts a spike through Alvarez’s hand and threatens to put one through the other hand if the brothers don’t call soon. After that, he’ll chop both hands off.
Richard Cabral as Johnny “Coco” Cruz in ‘Mayans M.C.’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo by Prashant Gupta/FX)
The club and cartel members arrive at the hills immediately above the farmhouse. Coco takes up a position and uses his sharpshooting skills to put a bullet through the forehead of a merc on guard duty. Miguel’s also with the group, and Nestor warns he shouldn’t be there. Miguel’s not worried because he knows Nestor would take a bullet for him.
Coco’s unable to spot the location of other mercs from this distance. Angel volunteers to get closer, however Coco and EZ follow in his footsteps. “The three of us moving together kind of defeats the whole stealth things,” says Angel. “I’m not suicidal you f**king morons! Just let me do something right.”
He continues moving forward, now without his two compadres. Angel makes it to the brick wall not far from the recently deceased merc. He hunkers down behind a tow truck before making his move closer to the building. He steps on something metal which causes a clatter, however no one emerges from the building.
Peering through a window, Angel spots the group with Alvarez. Just as Angel turns from the window, another merc on outside guard duty spots him. Coco takes care of that guy with a bullet to the head before he can even raise his gun.
Angel moves away from his perch by the window.
Time’s run out inside the building as the mercs now call bullsh*t on the phone numbers Alvarez provided. They are, however, impressed with how tough Alvarez is and how long he’s held out.
Before they can finish off Alvarez a glass shatters nearby. The mercs head toward the noise as suddenly a tow truck drives through the closed garage door, hitting a few of the men. The Mayans and Miguel’s people follow it in, and a gunfight breaks out. Happy’s a brave ally as he takes one merc down and the club and cartel handle the rest.
Miguel and Nestor pull up the rear and enter the building after the action’s quieted down. Alvarez is freed. He’s in poor shape but still alive.
The leader of the mercs is still alive but Alvarez waves away a gun they try and hand him to finish the job. EZ understands what’s needed and gives Alvarez one of the tools they used to torture him. Alvarez is helped over to the merc’s injured body where he tells the man he should have learned a little Spanish. He then proceeds to bash his head in.
The Mayans regroup at their clubhouse and EZ and Angel take a minute to say goodbye to Angel. They assure him it’ll all be over once they find out the identity of the person who ordered their mother’s murder.
After getting a hug from his little brother, Angel heads out to see their dad.
As Alvarez is getting fixed up by the club’s doctor, Bishop warns him to never scare them that way again. Nestor arrives and Alvarez says what he did “gives loyalty a whole new meaning.”
“I’m proud of you and I thank you, my brother,” says Alvarez.
Miguel arrives home for a much-needed conversation with Emily. She admits she messed up and shouldn’t have shown up at his meeting. She also confesses she’s enjoyed getting closer to him since Potter and Adelita entered the picture, but the boundaries between Miguel’s worlds have become less defined. He offers an apology and she accepts. She also assures him she made one call and handled the problem she wanted to discuss with him earlier that day.
Potter calls the mercs and the phone just rings. The camera pans and shows six dead mercs lined up on the floor, backed by the sound of a ringing phone.
Potter asks an agent to get the NSA and ICE to hand over everything they have on Ignacio Cortina and Felipe Reyes.
EZ shows up at Marlon’s house, announcing himself at the door (using his real name). And in a late in the episode plot twist, Marlon recognizes EZ from high school. Marlon’s a few years younger but they both played ball.
Marlon’s currently living with his mom but just put down a deposit on a new condo. Marlon suddenly decides to ask why EZ’s there, and EZ confesses he’s there about the agriculture park project. Marlon tries to kick him out, but EZ reveals the cops are going to pull his email and phone records. The only way to stay out of jail is to tell his boss the truth.
EZ slips up and uses the word “we” during their talk and Marlon realizes who EZ’s representing.
Marlon makes a critical mistake and calls Emily a cartel whore. EZ punches him in the face in response and then says, “The only person I’m doing this for is you, Marlon. It’s your ass on the line.”
EZ demands Marlon’s phone and laptop but Marlon won’t turn them over. EZ warns him that even a guy living in his mom’s basement should be smart enough to know this won’t go his way.
EZ asks one more time for the phone and laptop. Marlon acts as if he’s agreeing and instead retrieves a gun from a desk drawer. EZ acts quickly and punches Marlon again in the face. They struggle over getting control of the gun which has fallen to the floor. Marlon has it in his hands when EZ hits him again, causing Marlon to shoot himself under the chin. The bullet explodes out of the top of his head as he falls back on the couch. From the position of his dead body and the bullet’s entry wound, anyone investigating could easily assume this was a suicide.
