Bruno Mars collected the most 2017 American Music Awards nominations with eight, including Artist of the Year and Video of the Year. The Chainsmokers, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, and The Weeknd followed with five nominations each. Justin Bieber, Daddy Yankee, and Luis Fonsi earned four nominations each while Keith Urban picked up three nominations. Winners will be announced during the American Music Awards on Sunday, November 19 on ABC at 8pm ET. This year’s show will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
The AMAs are the only music awards show voted on entirely by fans. Voting is now open at theamas.com/vote.
2017 American Music Awards Nominees:
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
• Bruno Mars
• The Chainsmokers
• Drake
• Kendrick Lamar
• Ed Sheeran
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
• James Arthur
• Niall Horan
• Julia Michaels
• Post Malone
• Rae Sremmurd
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
• The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey “Closer”
• DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne “I’m the One”
• Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber “Despacito”
• Maroon 5 featuring Kendrick Lamar “Don’t Wanna Know”
• The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk “Starboy”
TOUR OF THE YEAR
• Garth Brooks
• Coldplay
• U2
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
• Bruno Mars “That’s What I Like”
• Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee “Despacito”
• Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
• Bruno Mars
• Drake
• Ed Sheeran
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
• Alessia Cara
• Lady Gaga
• Rihanna
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
• The Chainsmokers
• Coldplay
• Imagine Dragons
FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
• Bruno Mars “24K Magic”
• Drake “More Life”
• The Weeknd “Starboy”
FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
• The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey “Closer”
• Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber “Despacito”
• Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
• Sam Hunt
• Thomas Rhett
• Keith Urban
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
• Miranda Lambert
• Maren Morris
• Carrie Underwood
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – COUNTRY
• Florida Georgia Line
• Little Big Town
• Old Dominion
FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
• Jason Aldean “They Don’t Know”
• Chris Stapleton “From A Room: Volume 1”
• Keith Urban “Ripcord”
FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY
• Sam Hunt “Body Like A Back Road”
• Jon Pardi “Dirt On My Boots”
• Keith Urban “Blue Ain’t Your Color”
FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
• DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne “I’m the One”
• Kendrick Lamar “HUMBLE.”
• Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane “Black Beatles”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
• Bruno Mars
• Childish Gambino
• The Weeknd
Kiefer Sutherland, Italia Ricci, Alicia Coppola, and Adan Canto in ‘Designated Survivor’ season 2 episode (ABC/Ben Mark Holzberg)
“I took an oath to protect the American people and I will not let you get in the way,” says President Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) to Mackey, a drug maker who’s been holding back vital information during a deadly national epidemic in season two episode three of ABC’s political thriller, Designated Survivor.
The episode opens in South Carroll Parish, Louisiana where there’s been an outbreak of Influenza A. Word quickly gets back to D.C. (much too quickly, even by television standards) and it’s minutes later that the President is being briefed about the crisis by the CDC. Dr. Bruner (Alicia Coppola) from the CDC is in charge and reveals with this particular strain of the flu they’ll only have 36 hours before it spreads out of control. The other big problem is trying to find a drug that will give those who are already infected a fighting chance to survive.
Meanwhile, in another part of the White House the newly hired attorney Kendra Danes (Zoe McLellan) is mediating a legal issue over the removal of a Confederate statue. It’s not going well, with the words “racist” and “irrational” being thrown back and forth. The respected African American Reverend Dale (Ron Canada) believes they shouldn’t whitewash the country’s past and let it stand to remind people of a darker time in the nation’s history.
Over at the FBI, Agents Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) and Damian Rennett (Ben Lawson) are going through the damage done at the First Lady’s mother’s house which was broken into and trashed by Patrick Lloyd. They’re attempting to determine if there was another reason why Lloyd would do something like this. Wells reminds Rennett, who is ready to sign off on the case now that Lloyd is dead, that the man was meticulous and always had backup plans. The two agents come across a file that shows a heart transplant for Andrew Booker, and Wells is convinced Lloyd left this behind on purpose for them to find.
Down in Louisiana, Influenza A is spreading quicker than they had anticipated. Dr. Bruner, with assistance from Aaron (Adan Canto) and a few others, determines that a new untested, and not yet FDA-approved drug that was being developed to fight cancer just might be the perfect drug against this superflu. Kirkman instructs Emily (Italia Ricci) to have the CEO of the company making the drug, Mackey, come to the White House to talk. When they meet, Mackey tells Kirkman he only has 10,000 doses and that may not be enough. He also tells the President he wants to help and will send it.
Mackey lied and it’s not long before Kirkman is told that Mackey is trying to sell the drugs down South to the highest bidder instead of just delivering to the infected part of Louisiana as they agreed. Kirkman has Kendra pulled out of the Confederate monuments fight to go to court and have a judge order Mackey to deliver the drugs because it’s a matter of a national health crisis. Kendra proves her case to the judge rather quickly and Mackey is ordered to do just that.
Back at the White House, Agent Wells goes over her findings with the First Lady (Natascha McElhone), and Alex is surprised to see that her mother kept the insurance form from her dad’s heart transplant. She tells Alex that at first her father was on a list but then they got lucky and he got a heart in time.
Kendra returns to the Confederate statue debate which isn’t getting any better because no one is willing to compromise.
Kirkman checks in with Dr. Bruner on how the drugs are working on the patients and she says it seems to be giving those infected the strength to fight the superflu. However, she doesn’t know if 10,000 doses are going to be enough with how fast it’s spreading. Kirkman thanks her for being there on the front lines dealing with the epidemic, and she tells him she does it because she knows he would do the same thing.
Wells and Rennett check in with Chuck (Jake Epstein) who has done some more digging and found a warehouse (why is it always a warehouse on this show?!) that’s connected to the files they found in the First Lady’s mother’s house. Wells and Rennett head out to the warehouse and have to do a little illegal burglary to get in. Wells notices a light on past a door and is about to check it out when Rennett realizes it’s been booby-trapped. He flings her out of the way just in time as an explosion nearly kills both of them.
Outside the warehouse, local authorities try to question Wells but she just waves her credentials and tells the local cops to go check out her credentials with the White House.
At the White House, Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) is dealing with the press, answering all the questions about the superflu and how they’re trying to contain the situation and cure the infected. He impresses Emily with how he handles the pressure and the hungry-for-answers press.
Kirkman checks in with Dr. Bruner again and finds out the 10,000 doses of meds aren’t going to cut it and they have to have more. Bruner tells Kirkman the drug was extremely expensive to make and the pharmaceutical company that made it has to have more if they ever hoped to make a profit on it. Kirkman realizes Bruenr is right and has Emily send for Mackey.
In Aaron’s office, Wells is being scolded by Aaron for the warehouse explosion and he demands to be brought in the loop since she answers to him. Wells tells Aaron she’s following a lead but she can’t tell him about it. When he asks why she gives him a knowing look and he realizes it has something to do with the President’s family. Wells tells him she can’t expose him to it until she knows for sure she’s right and has to. Aaron agrees but tells her that Rennett was caught on camera cutting through the fence to get inside the warehouse. Since he’s not an American, Aaron can’t shield him from it so he must go back to London. Wells agrees she’ll tell Rennett.
Kendra is finally able to get a compromise between Reverend Dale and the others to move the statue to another part of town that doesn’t have as much foot traffic.
President Kirkman meets with Mackey and says he won’t let him get in the way of saving lives. However, Mackey is afraid of his business going under and puts making a profit over saving lives. (What a scumbag!) He suggests Kirkman can sue him over the remaining 30,000 doses but he’ll be in for a fight because he’s got good lawyers who can tie it up in the courts for a very long time. After Mackey leaves, Emily tells Kirkman she doesn’t see a way for them to beat him. But, Kirkman has an idea.
Kirkman reaches out to the Reverend, and Dale goes on camera calling out Mackey saying he doesn’t care about the lives of black people (the part of Louisiana that’s suffering from the superflu is predominantly black) because he won’t send more of his miracle drug down to save them. Mackey is watching with the President who tells him he’s giving Mackey a chance to redeem himself and he had better take it. A little later Kirkman goes on television with Mackey, praising him for offering up the 30,000 doses to Louisiana and calling him a credit to the nation.
Kirkman checks back in with Dr. Bruner but realizes she doesn’t look well. She tells him it’s not what he thinks. She doesn’t have the superflu but when she was trying to figure out how much of a dose of the drug to give those infected, she used herself as the guinea pig and ended up giving herself too much of the drug which is causing her liver to fail. Kirkman tells her to come back immediately, but she says a “good soldier stays and sees the job done.” With that, she tells the President she’ll check in with him tomorrow.
The next scene is Bruner waking up and complaining to Kirkman about how she was escorted and removed from her field of battle. Seems Kirkman had no intention of losing Dr. Bruner and had her brought back to get treated. Thankfully, because of the President’s actions, she’s on the mend. Kirkman says she can just tell herself that her General – meaning him – gave her an order that she had to follow.
After saying goodbye to Rennett and flirting just a little, Wells meets with Chuck who has done some more digging. They put their heads together and realize the First Lady’s mother’s past and her father receiving a heart transplant is probably more than just luck and something deeper is there, perhaps a bribe. Chuck finds the mention of a man named Eric Little who might know something, so Wells and Chuck head out to talk to him. When they arrive at Little’s address, they find the front door already ajar. When they enter, they discover Eric Little dead on the floor.
Designated Survivor Season 2 Episode 3 Review:
Cluttered, convoluted, and at times contrived, episode three titled “Outbreak” makes the political thriller series more of a political drama with little suspense and too much time spent on the Confederate statue controversy. The series has always had two major storylines in every episode and usually a subplot involving Kirkman’s family. In this episode, however, there are two major storylines – the superflu and the paper trail to the First Lady’s mother – as well as the Confederate statue issue and a ridiculous story about a frog being named after the President by a guy in Delaware which was pointless and not funny. (That’s why it wasn’t mentioned in the body of this recap!)
As episodes go, this is definitely the most forgettable since the show premiered back in 2016. Here’s hoping they quickly get back to the formula that made the first season such a suspenseful and riveting show and get away from the headline politics that are frustrating in real life.
The CW’s Riverdale kicked off season two with Archie torn up over the possibility his dad wouldn’t survive being shot. Veronica did her best to try and comfort him, in her own Veronica-ish way, while Jughead agreed to do some investigating into the identity of the masked shooter. Season two episode two will find the gang still piecing together clues as to who’s after people close to Archie. Directed by Allison Anders from a script by Michael Grassi, episode two titled “Nighthawks” will air on October 18, 2017.
The season two cast includes KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, Marisol Nichols as Hermione Lodge, Mӓdchen Amick as Alice Cooper, Luke Perry as Fred Andrews, Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy, and Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge.
The “Chapter Fifteen: Nighthawks” Plot: SAVING POP’S — With the gunman still at large and the residents of Riverdale on edge, Betty (Reinhart) leads the charge to save Pop’s after learning that the diner may be forced to close its doors forever. Meanwhile, the gang becomes increasingly concerned for Archie’s (Apa) well being after noticing a string of unusual behavior from him. Elsewhere, Betty and Veronica (Mendes) approach Cheryl (Petsch) and Josie (Murray) for their help saving Pop’s, while Jughead’s (Sprouse) attempt to find FP (Skeet Ulrich) a new lawyer may have some serious repercussions. Finally, when a past betrayal unexpectedly comes to light, Veronica finds herself at a crossroads with Hiram (Consuelos) and Hermoine (Nichols.)
A scene from BBC America’s ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.’
BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency season two promises to be just as bizarre, quirky, and irresistible as the critically acclaimed series’ first season. Series creator/writer Max Landis and executive producer Robert Cooper teamed up at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con to discuss what they have planned for season two, Max’s creative process, and how they were first introduced to the strange world of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently.
Season two of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency will premiere on October 14, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT.
How are you going to top season one?
Max Landis: “Easily. We are going so much stranger in the subject matter, sillier, and weirder and wilder in the plot, bigger in the action, and the character arcs this season just pick up right where you left off and take you in a completely different direction than you see these people going. I mean like, it’s a whole new show but it almost feels like a sequel more than a second season, right?”
Robert Cooper: “Right. And producing it was like that too. We had to start from scratch.”
Tell us about your working relationship. What is the biggest creative disagreement you’ve had on this show?
Robert Cooper: (Laughing) “Do you watch MMA? Have you seen Thunderdome?”
Max Landis: “Actually, I don’t know that Rob and I have ever had a creative disagreement that lasted. We have had a lot of intense creative disagreements in the moment, usually having to deal with the two places Rob and I butt up against each other are actually really weird and they’re not creative. Which is Rob’s worked in television a lot longer and he’s usually right about this, but I have a to b to c things where I’ll go like, ‘No, this can’t happen because this can’t happen because this affects this and this affects that.’ And Rob will go, ‘No, let’s just change it and then change all that, too.’ Or he’ll go, ‘No, no. Just change it and keep that and no one will notice.’
I would say on record, 7 out of 10 times he’s right. But the nice thing is the remaining three times, he lets me have my way. So, the times when I’m right, I get vindicated.”
How would you score that out of 10, Robert?
Robert Cooper: “I don’t know that it can be scored out of 10.”
Max Landis: (Laughing) “Flatly, I couldn’t do the show without Rob. I’m a speedball of ideas and I just have this giant thing, like here’s a million things and then Rob comes in with all his stuff… It’s a matter of the fact that Rob is like, I’m not going to say an adult because he’s not. He looks less colorful than I am but he is equally eccentric and bizarre. It’s just that he’s done this for so long and is so smart about it, and so smart about handling people and talking to people.”
Robert Cooper: “Sometimes it feels like Max is down right on the chess board, running around, fighting with all the various pieces. And I’m able to take a little more top down view and say, ‘Look, here’s the strategy of how we need to go about achieving this the best way we can.’ You know, at the end of the day television is really, unfortunately, dominated by the restrictions of time and money. And so, Max’s imagination has always been somewhat unfettered in the feature world.”
Max Landis: “Has it been unfettered?”
Robert Cooper: “Well, in its original conception. Creatively, then it gets very fettered. But the fact is there’s only so much we can do. That’s not always even just scope or budget, it’s just time and what we’re able to handle in a schedule. You can see it in the show; the show is very vibrant. It has tons of different storylines, tons of different characters, there’s a lot going on. There’s never a scene where it’s just two people talking in a room. There’s always some gag or prop or something important that’s connected.”
Max Landis: “I always have five or six things happening in a scene.”
Robert Cooper: “The show has a bit of ADD, but it works, you know? It’s a matter of being able to contain all that into something that’s really manageable.”
Max Landis: “You say that, but occasionally Rob goes like, ‘Let’s just do it. It’s fine.’”
Robert Cooper: “But you have to. The fact is with television, there’s a weird force that generally pushes everything back towards the middle. If you don’t push it, if you don’t say, ‘Let’s try and do the impossible,’ then you never do anything special. It always ends up kind of mediocre. You have to push the envelope a little bit and you have to take chances. Sometimes you end up failing, but more often than not it’s the only way to get anything good.”
Can you talk a little about your first moments with Dirk Gently? Did you read the book? Did it explode in your head?
Robert Cooper: “Wait, there’s a book? You never told me there was a book!”
Max Landis: “No, I made it up. (Laughing) I was at summer camp and the summer camp had a library. And the library had a book called Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. I was like 14, I think. And I read Long Dark Tea-Time not knowing it was the sequel to Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and I absolutely loved it. It was unlike any book I’d ever read. And, I couldn’t believe how great it was and I stole it from the library at the summer camp. And when I came home, I went to a Barnes & Noble because the internet didn’t really exist yet, and I said, ‘Do you have any other books by this author?’ And they were like, ‘Well, that’s the sequel to Dirk Gently. But do you not know what Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is?’ And I was like, ‘No…’
They didn’t have the book, so I bought an audiotape read by Douglas Adams. I listened to it and then of course I immediately read all of those that were available at the time. And then I read the first Dirk Gently, and in a lot of ways they informed how I read science fiction from that point on. That’s my first encounter with the character. How about you? Was it through me? Was my pilot it?”
Robert Cooper: “Yes.”
Max Landis: “That’s so cool!”
Robert Cooper: “I read his pilot and I was like, ‘Huh!’”
That’s an underwhelming reaction.
Max Landis: (Laughing) “No, that’s huge! For Rob, that’s like screaming. I gasped when he did that.”
Fox has found the young actor who will take on the lead role in the live musical production of A Christmas Story Live!. Following a nationwide digital casting call, 11-year-old Seattle actor Andy Walken landed the role of Ralphie Parker in the upcoming musical event. Walken was chosen from among more than 350 actors who auditioned for the role played by Peter Billingsley in the 1983 holiday film.
Walken joins Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids), previously announced to star as Ralphie’s mother, and Matthew Broderick (Manchester by the Sea) who’ll be narrating the musical. A Christmas Story Live! will air on December 17, 2017 (live on the East Coast at 7pm, taped delayed on the West Coast).
Marc Platt (Grease: Live, La La Land) and Adam Siegel (Grease: Live) are executive producing, and Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins are writing and co-executive producing. Scott Ellis (She Loves Me) is on board as the director overseeing the stage direction while Alex Rudzinski (Grease: Live) is the live television director. Ellis and Rudzinski are also executive producing. A Christmas Story: The Musical‘s composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are composing new songs for Fox’s A Christmas Story Live!.
Blake Lively and Jason Clarke in ‘All I See Is You.’
Open Road Films has released a new trailer for the psychological thriller, All I See Is You. Marc Forster (World War Z) co-wrote the script and directs, with Blake Lively, Jason Clarke, Yvonne Strahovski, Danny Huston, Ahna O’Reilly, and Wes Chatham starring.
All I See Is You opens in theaters on October 27, 2017.
The Plot: Gina (Blake Lively) and husband James (Jason Clarke) have an almost perfect marriage. After being blinded as a child in a nearly fatal car crash that claimed her parent’s lives, Gina depends on James to be her eyes-a dependence that appears to solidify their passionate relationship. She sees her world in her own vivid imagination with help from James’ descriptions. Despite her disability, the two enjoy a colorful existence in Bangkok, Thailand where James works in insurance and Gina explores life in a foreign country. It seems the only real hardship this loving couple faces is difficulty conceiving a child but when Gina is given the opportunity to have a corneal transplant and regains her vision, their life and relationship are upended.
Gina now sees the world with a new sense of wonder and independence which James finds threatening. It is only when Gina suddenly begins to lose her sight again that she finally realizes the disturbing reality of their marriage and their lives.
Starz announced Outlander has added Maria Doyle Kennedy (Orphan Black) and Ed Speleers (Downton Abbey) in key season four roles. Maria Doyle Kennedy will play Jocasta Cameron, Jamie’s strong-willed aunt, and Ed Speleers has joined Outlander as Irish pirate and smuggler, Stephen Bonnet. Filming on the 13 episode fourth season is now underway in Scotland.
Season four starring Caitriona Balfe as Claire and Sam Heughan as Jamie will be based on Diana Gabaldon’s fourth book of the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn. Season three is currently airing on Sundays on Starz, with the much-anticipated reunion episode (episode 6) set to premiere on October 22nd. The reunion episode has an extended 74 minute running time.
The series is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore, Maril Davis, Matthew B. Roberts, Toni Graphia, and Andy Harries. In addition to Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, the season three cast includes Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, and Tobias Menzies.
The Season 3 Plot: The third season of Outlander picks up right after Claire (Balfe) travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948. Now pregnant with Jamie’s (Heughan) child, she struggles with the fallout of her sudden reappearance and its effect on her marriage to her first husband, Frank (Menzies). Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Jamie suffers from the aftermath of his doomed last stand at the historic battle of Culloden, as well as the loss of Claire.
As the years pass, Jamie and Claire attempt to make a life apart from one another, each haunted by the memory of their lost love. The budding possibility that Claire can return to Jamie in the past breathes new hope into Claire’s heart… as well as new doubt. Separated by continents and centuries, Claire and Jamie must find their way back to each other. As always, adversity, mystery, and adventure await them on the path to reunion. And the question remains: When they find each other, will they be the same people who parted at the standing stones, all those years ago?
Focus Features just released a one-minute teaser trailer and a new poster for the dramatic thriller, Thoroughbreds. Written and directed by Cory Finley, the 2018 release stars Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel), Anya Taylor-Joy (Split), Anton Yelchin (in one of his last film roles), and Paul Sparks (House of Cards). Focus is targeting a March 9, 2018 theatrical release.
The Plot: Childhood friends Lily and Amanda reconnect in suburban Connecticut after years of growing apart. Lily has turned into a polished, upper-class teenager with a fancy boarding school on her transcript and a coveted internship on her resume; Amanda has developed a sharp wit and her own particular attitude, but all in the process of becoming a social outcast.
Though they initially seem completely at odds, the pair bond over Lily’s contempt for her oppressive stepfather, Mark, and as their friendship grows, they begin to bring out one another’s most destructive tendencies. Their ambitions lead them to hire a local hustler, Tim, and take matters into their own hands to set their lives straight.
“You have one day. If The Flash doesn’t face me, your city dies,” says an armored samurai who has just faced off against Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale), Vibe (Carlos Valdes), Joe (Jesse L. Martin), and a small army of cops, leaving them sprawled on the ground after causing a mini-quake in the season four premiere of The CW’s fantasy/action series, The Flash.
Season four episode one begins with a voiceover by Iris (Candice Patton) saying how she was supposed to marry the fastest man alive but that he sacrificed himself to save the city he loved from destruction. She’s fulfilling her promise to “keep running.” Iris has taken charge of Team Flash since Wally and Cisco are out on the street trying to take down the bad guys while Joe and Iris man the controls back at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Iris directs Vibe and Kid Flash while they chase Peek-a-Boo, a metahuman who has escaped and is on the run. Iris is able to figure out the teleporter’s pattern for using her powers and helps the team finally catch her – but just barely.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco and Wally are congratulating each other but Iris is not happy with how they handled themselves out in the field. She berates them for not taking the threats they face seriously enough and reminds them of their bad track record over the past six months. They’ve only captured two out of three metas they’ve come up against. She orders Wally to four hours of training and goes off to have dinner with Joe and Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) who’s moving in with Joe.
After dinner, Joe tries to talk to Iris about Barry and about how, since Julian went back to London, the CCPD is looking for a new CSI. Iris tells him to go ahead and let them hire one since Barry is gone. Joe tries to discuss the fact she’s not really handling Barry’s absence but instead is just throwing herself into running Team Flash. Iris refuses to listen, telling her father she’s doing what Barry asked her – keep running and living.
Back at her apartment, Iris has refused to sleep in the bed she shares with Barry since his departure. She’s looking out the window when she feels what seems like an earthquake or explosion rock the city. Iris calls the team to tell them they’re on. Vibe and Kid Flash quickly show up to find an armored samurai standing in the street. He tells the young duo he wants to go one-on-one with The Flash. When Kid Flash steps up to the challenge, the samurai insults him by telling him he’s not interested in him but wants to fight the original and best Flash. He gives them 24 hours to produce him.
“Why do I sense an ‘or else’ coming,” says Vibe and that’s when the samurai threatens to destroy the city after hitting the ground with his sword. The impact causes an explosion and the ground to shake, throwing Vibe, Kid Flash, Joe, police officers, cars, and civilians up in the air.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Team Flash tries to figure out how they’re going to stop the samurai when Cisco suggests they free Barry from the Speed Force. “In one day?” asks an incredulous Wally, and Cisco reveals he’s been working on how to get Barry out. An angry Iris asks how long and Cisco says since the night Barry went into the Speed Force. Iris wonders why he didn’t mention it before and Cisco admits he didn’t want to say anything until he was sure he could do it. He explains he’s been talking with Harry (Tom Cavanagh), Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and a few others, and only needs one other thing to make it work. A furious Iris says Barry is gone; that is certain and Team Flash will have to come up with a plan on how to stop the samurai on their own. Cisco reluctantly agrees but says he’ll need some coffee and leaves.
Cisco goes to a dive bar looking for his old colleague and best friend, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker). She’s now a bartender and looks her old self once again. (There’s no sign of her alter ego, Killer Frost.) He asks how she solved the problem and Caitlin avoids answering by asking what he wants. Cisco asks if she saw the news about the samurai and she acknowledges she did, asking if Barry is still trapped in the Speed Force. Cisco is surprised she knows about that and she just gives him a knowing look.
Cisco reveals he’s found a way to get Barry out of the Speed Force but is going to need her help to do it. Just as he’s about to ask her again, a mean-looking guy with milky eyes named Norvok (Mark Sweatman) asks Caitlin if everything is okay. She assures him it is and Cisco tells the guy he’s talking to the lady and to get lost, prompting a concerned look from Caitlin. Norvok walks away and Cisco asks again if she’ll help him. Caitlin gives Cisco a warm smile and tells him her shift is over in an hour. Smiling, Cisco sits at the bar, saying, “I’ve got time,” and waits.
The next day, Joe and Wally meet Cisco at the test track where Barry did his first speed test in season one. Cisco tells the two men he plans on bringing back Barry today and that this test track has always been lucky for them. Joe starts to remind Cisco that Iris is against this, but Cisco reminds him Barry told him everyone would look to him. Cisco needs Joe and Wally to trust him now.
Cisco shows them the Speed Force Bazooka, confessing “we” were up all night making modifications on it. Joe and Wally both ask who “we” refers to and they hear Caitlin’s voice behind them saying in a friendly but uneasy tone, “Hi Joe.” Cisco tells them it’s all right, that she’s Caitlin again. Caitlin walks up to Joe and sincerely apologizes for everything she, as Killer Frost, put him and Cecile through. She hopes one day he’ll be able to forgive her. Joe looks at Caitlin for a second and then tells her to give him a hug, which she happily does. “Let’s bring everybody home today,” says Joe. “You got it,” says Caitlin.
Cisco fires up the modified bazooka with Caitlin asking Wally to place the ball she created and encoded with Barry’s DNA on the last cone. When they get Barry out from the Speed Force prison, the ball can take his place and will keep the Speed Force stable. Cisco waits until Caitlin tells him to fire the bazooka according to the monitors of energy and, boom! it fails. Iris arrives to find the group gathered and the rescue attempt is a failure.
Across town, a surge of energy hits and the Speed Force opens releasing a speeding bolt of energy from it. The bolt races out of town and finally stops 300 miles away after coming head-to-head with a pickup truck. A naked, bearded Barry stands for a minute and collapses.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Iris is upset with Cisco for trying to get Barry out of the Speed Force, believing he could have killed them all. Caitlin says she thinks they were close to getting Barry back. “I’m sorry. We? Where have you been the last six months again?” snaps back an angry Iris. Joe defends Caitlin, telling Iris she was only trying to help. Iris tries to take charge telling them they need to come up with a plan to stop the samurai and stop focusing on Barry. Cisco finally snaps. “DUDE, what is your deal?! It’s like you don’t even want him back!” Iris is taken aback by the accusation and Joe breaks it up as he answers his phone. It’s Cecile telling Joe Barry was found by state troopers and brought to the CCPD because they recognized him.
Team Flash arrive at the CCPD and reunite with Barry, but their joy is soon gone when they see the shape he’s in. Barry’s speaking nonsensical sentences and drawing symbols on the walls of the room he’s held in. Joe turns to Caitlin and asks if this is shock, but she says it looks to her as neurological and that they have to get him back to S.T.A.R. Labs.
Once at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin suggests waking Barry up slowly and bringing him out of the drug-induced sleep she put him in back at the CCPD.
Recreating when he first woke from his coma four years ago, Cisco plays the same song although Caitlin’s not sure if it’s really appropriate. It doesn’t work and Barry is still talking nonsense. Iris asks to have a moment with him alone and begins to tell Barry how she kept her word to him and kept “moving forward” but that she also couldn’t look back because he wasn’t there behind her anymore. Barry’s eyes light up and energize with electricity and, bam, he’s off racing around the building so fast Wally can’t catch him and Cisco can’t hit him with an energy vibe. Just then a blast of cold hits Barry, knocking him out. Everyone turns to see Caitlin holding a cold gun and she asks, “Expecting someone else?”
The team puts Barry in the pipeline to keep everyone, himself included, safe.
Team Flash doesn’t get a break because just then they get an alert the samurai is back. Wally disguises himself as Barry to face him. Brave as it is and with only the best intentions, it turns out to be a bad move because Kid Flash is no match for the samurai who plays with Wally much as a cat plays with its prey and then stabs him in the leg. He tells Kid Flash to let the others know if the real Flash doesn’t face him by sundown, the city will be destroyed.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin is patching Wally up. He won’t be ready to take on the samurai in time to save the city. Caitlin checks in with Cisco who believes the drawings Barry’s making might be a message he’s trying to give them. Just as Cisco thinks he has finally broken the code, the computer translates Barry’s sentence as “This House is Bitchin.” “That doesn’t sound like Barry,” says Caitlin and Cisco walks off feeling as though he’s failed. Caitlin finds him in his lab and Cisco admits to Caitlin the real reason he brought Barry back wasn’t to save the city but because he wanted him back. “I did it because I miss my friend,” confesses Cisco.
Joe spends some time shaving and cleaning up Barry in the pipeline, but although he looks like the old Barry, he’s not. Iris arrives and she and her dad have a brief talk about how he started going to church again and has rediscovered faith. “Strength means nothing without faith,” says Joe, encouraging his daughter to find a little faith herself.
The flying samurai arrives again and Joe and the CCPD hit the streets to take him on. Iris marches through the police line and right up to the samurai, telling him if he wants The Flash to take her because he’ll come to save her. The samurai does exactly that.
Joe races back to S.T.A.R. Labs and tells the team what Iris did. Joe runs to Barry who’s still drawing the symbols in his pipeline cell and yells at him that Iris is going to die. Again Barry’s eyes surge with electrical energy and, BOOM!, he crashes out of the pipeline prison, racing out of S.T.A.R. Labs while grabbing his new suit that Cisco made.
Team Flash tracks him just like old times and sees him headed out of town chasing the samurai who has Iris. They speed through a field of giant windmills the samurai uses as obstacles to slow The Flash down. It’s ineffective as The Flash grabs Iris and sends the samurai crashing to the ground. Barry walks over to the samurai and discovers he’s really an android or as Cisco calls him, a samuroid. The samuroid’s last words are, “Flash, welcome home.”
Caitlin examines Barry and reports he’s faster and healthier than ever. Barry smiles and tells her “good to have you back,” to which Caitlin responds, “Right back at you.” Barry tells the team the last thing he remembers is walking into the Speed Force with his mother and then saving Iris. They all agree they have a new mystery to solve, needing to figure out who created the samuroid and why. Barry thanks Cisco for bringing him home and Iris finally thanks Cisco for believing when she couldn’t. As the gang heads out, Cisco asks Caitlin if he’s going to see her tomorrow and she says yes, adding, “We back, baby,” as she walks out.
Caitlin returns to the dive bar and tells Norvok to tell Amunet she’s out. When he tries to strong-arm her and warns her that’s not how things work, Caitlin’s eyes turn crystal blue. She says, “Don’t make me frosty. You wouldn’t like me when I’m frosty.” Killer Frost comes out and slams Norvok into the bar, uses her cold powers to freeze him a little bit on the head. She walks out of the bar and says out loud, “Time to have some fun,” but then bends over in pain. She stumbles and grabs a gate as she says “no..no..no” and her eyes go back to being their original brown. A distressed Caitlin says, “Not again.”
At Barry and Iris’ apartment, Barry is happy to be home and how proud of how she kept the team together. He admits he feels as though his pain and his mistakes have all been washed away and now all he can see is their life together.
The last scene shows a mysterious woman saying the samurai served his purpose and that The Flash is back. She asks a man sitting in a futuristic hovering chair with wires and plugs attached to his head what their next step is and he replies, “I’m thinking.” Welcome to The Flash season four’s new big bad, The Thinker.
The Flash Season 4 Episode 1 Review:
Action-packed with great special effects and some superb acting, season four episode one titled “The Flash Reborn” brings the superhero series back in a lighter and fresher tone than the past two seasons. The show is fun once again.
There are a few stand-out performances in this episode starting with Carlos Valdes as Cisco who has become the heart and soul of Team Flash since losing Caitlin and Barry at the end of last season. It’s clear that all Cisco wants is to bring his two best friends back into his life and back to Team Flash where they belong. The scene where he confesses to Caitlin he used the hope of saving the city as an excuse to bring Barry back because he missed him is touching and emotional.
Next is Jesse L. Martin as Joe West who many times is the mediator between his daughter and Cisco, as well as Caitlin, but has also become a man of faith and hope. This is real growth for his character who, for the most part, has always focused on the negative and worst-case scenarios. The scene in which he quickly forgives Caitlin for all the harm she did as Killer Frost and hugs her is sweet, as is the tender scene where he shaves Barry in the hope of reconnecting with his mind.
The special effects are once again amazing. Especially impressive is the chase through Central City with Vibe and Kid Flash after Peek-a-Boo.
With Barry out of the Speed Force better and happier than ever and Caitlin still keeping secrets from the team – she’s still struggling with her Killer Frost powers and what was she doing for this mysterious Amunet person (clearly nothing good) – it will be exciting and interesting to see what’s in store for Team Flash this season.
The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow season three began with the Legends in big trouble after breaking time. In order to prove to the Time Bureau they were capable of fixing the problems they created, the Legends reunited to capture Julius Caesar and return him to his own time. Unfortunately, they screwed up again and Caesar changed the future because Nate and Sara accidentally left him with a history book when they dropped him off.
The Time Bureau intervened but failed to recognize Caesar had set a trap. The Legends saved the day, rescuing the Time Bureau agent Caesar took prisoner and retrieving the history book. Caesar’s memory was wiped again and order was restored. And, the Legends gave themselves a new motto: “Sometimes we screw things up for the better.”
In season three episode two, the Legends will encounter P.T. Barnum – the Greatest Showman on Earth. Directed by Keith Tancharoen from a script by Keto Shimizu & Grainne Godfree, “Freakshow” will air on October 17, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT.
The season three cast includes Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/Atom, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heat Wave, Franz Drameh as Jefferson “Jax” Jackson/Half of Firestorm, Victor Garber as Professor Stein/Half of Firestorm, Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary, Nick Zano as Dr. Nate Heywood/Steel, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe/Vixen, and Tala Ashe as Zari Adrianna Tomaz.
The “Freakshow” Plot: IT’S ALWAYS A CIRCUS — The Legends find themselves in 1870 to fix the anachronism which happens to be at P.T. Barnum’s fledgling circus. However, Nate (Zano) and Ray (Routh) accidentally free a saber toothed tiger, creating a bigger problem. Meanwhile, P.T. Barnum (guest star Billy Zane) is on the hunt to capture Nate and Ray to make his show even more exciting for the crowd.
The Season 3 Plot: After the defeat of Eobard Thawne and his equally nefarious Legion of Doom, the Legends face a new existential threat created by their actions at the end of last season. In revisiting a moment in time that they had already participated in, they have essentially fractured the timeline and created anachronisms – a scattering of people, animals, and objects all across time! Our team must find a way to return all the anachronisms to their original timelines before the time stream falls apart. But before our Legends can jump back into action, Rip Hunter and his newly established Time Bureau call their methods into question.
With the Time Bureau effectively the new sheriffs in town, the Legends disband – until Mick Rory discovers one of them in the middle of his well-deserved vacation in Aruba. Seeing this as an opportunity to continue their time-traveling heroics, Sara wastes no time in getting the Legends back together. She reunites with billionaire inventor Ray Palmer, the unconventional historian-turned-superhero Nate Heywood (Zano), former member of the JSA Amaya Jiwe (Richardson-Sellers), and Professor Martin Stein (Garber) and Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (Drameh), who together form the meta-human Firestorm.
Once reunited, the Legends will challenge the Time Bureau’s authority, and, in true Legends style, eventually run afoul of the Bureau when they recruit a hacker from the future, Zari Tomaz (Ashe). Against the wishes of the bureau, they welcome Zari to the team and continue their time-traveling shenanigans, while insisting that however messy their methods may be, some problems are beyond the Bureau’s capabilities. Some problems can only be fixed by Legends.
