Amazon just announced season one of Catastrophe will debut on June 19, 2015 to Amazon Prime members. The comedy series was written by and stars Rob Delaney (Key & Peele) and Sharon Horgan, with Outlander‘s Tobias Menzies and Star Wars‘ Carrie Fisher guest starring. The series also stars Ashley Jensen, Mark Bonnar, Jonathan Forbes, Daniel Lapaine, Marta Barrio, and Sarah Niles. Delaney, Horgan, Richard Allen-Turner (Workaholics), Kara Baker, and Jon Thoday executive produced the half-hour comedy.
Season one’s six episodes will all be available for binge-watching on June 19th.
“We look forward to bringing this honest and smart series to our customers,” said Roy Price, Vice President, Amazon Studios. “Sharon’s irreverent humor plays into Rob’s fish-out-of-water experience and, together, their chemistry makes for a universally witty comedy.”
The Plot:
In Catastrophe, two different worlds collide as Rob (Delaney) decides to move to London to become the father he never had, while Sharon (Horgan) questions whether this will be her last chance at motherhood. Together, Rob and Sharon must steer through increasingly thorny situations and navigate the choppy waters of their ever-more-complicated lives, while also learning to deal with Sharon’s intense Irish family, her rather unpleasant friend, Fran (Jensen) and Rob’s eccentric Bostonian mother, Mia (Fisher).
Retired New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has been chosen to receive Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Sports 2015 Legend Award. Jeter follows in the footsteps of soccer superstar David Beckham who earned the first Legend Award during the first-ever Kids’ Choice Sports awards show in 2014.
This year’s Kids’ Choice Sports event will take place on July 16th and will air live on Nickelodeon. Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson will be hosting the awards show.
Jeter earned the Legend Award for his “unmatched talent, integrity, and sportsmanship on and off the field. The Legend Award honors athletes who are the ultimate role models to kids across the globe, inspiring generations year after year.”
“I am incredibly honored to receive Nickelodeon’s Legend Award at this year’s Kids’ Choice Sports awards,” said Jeter. “Inspiring kids to follow their dreams and live a healthy lifestyle is so important to me, so I want to take this opportunity to tell all aspiring athletes out there to work hard, love what you do, put your best foot forward and never forget the kid in you.”
Dwayne Johnson and Arielle Kebbel in ‘Ballers’ (Photo: Jeff Daly / HBO)
HBO will be premiering the new half-hour comedy series Ballers starring Dwayne Johnson on June 21, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT, and the network’s just released details on the first two episodes of the 10 episode season one. Created by Stephen Levinson (Entourage, Boardwalk Empire), Ballers has Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Peter Berg, Evan Reilly, Rob Weiss, Julian Farino and Denis Biggs as executive producers.
In addition to Johnson, the cast includes John David Washington, Omar Miller, Donovan Carter, Troy Garity, Rob Corddry, and London Brown.
The Plot:
Spencer is a retired football superstar who is trying to reinvent himself as a financial manager for current players in sunsoaked Miami. His inner circle includes Ricky, a talented but volatile wide receiver who seeks to balance his off-field antics with his passion for the game; Charles, a reluctantly retired lineman who’s finding it hard to adjust to civilian life; and Vernon, a player with a rookie contract, whose promise never to forget “where he came from” brings scores of hangers-on into his life, and lands him in big financial trouble. Though they’re pros when it comes to playing the game, each one has a harder time navigating life off the field.
Ballers June 2015 Episodes
Episode #1: “Pilot”
Debut date: SUNDAY, JUNE 21 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: June 21 (1:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m.), 22 (12:05 a.m.), 23 (11:00 p.m.), 24 (1:00 a.m.), 25 (8:30 p.m.), 26 (1:35 a.m.) and 27 (1:00 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 22 (7:00 p.m.), 23 (1:45 a.m.), 26 (6:30 p.m.) and 27 (8:00 p.m.), and July 11 (7:30 p.m.)
After the unexpected demise of a friend and former teammate, retired football superstar Spencer (Dwayne Johnson) ramps up his efforts to build a post-football career in Miami, and feels pressure from Joe (Rob Corddry), his boss at a financial firm, to “monetize his friendships.” Meanwhile, recently retired player Charles (Omar Miller), copes with the realities of finding a new job. Talented wide receiver Ricky (John David Washington) is forced to put his pride aside to find a new home. Vernon (Donovan Carter), a player on the rise, finds himself in a tight spot and reaches out to Spencer for help.
Written by Stephen Levinson; directed by Peter Berg.
Episode #2: “Raise Up”
Debut date: SUNDAY, JUNE 28 (10:00-10:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: June 28 (1:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m.), 29 (2:15 a.m.) and 30 (10:00 p.m.), and July 1 (12:30 a.m.), 2 (8:30 p.m.), 3 (11:30 p.m.) and 4 (12:45 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 29 (7:00 p.m.) and 30 (2:30 a.m.), and July 3 (6:00 p.m.), 4 (8:30 p.m.) and 11 (8:00 p.m.)
A cash-strapped Spencer struggles to close a deal when Vernon’s best friend, Reggie (London Brown), refuses to step aside, while Jason (Troy Garity) works hard to renegotiate for his client. On his first day of workouts, Ricky finds that not all his new teammates are friendly. At his new job, Charles finds it hard to keep his mind off the game. At a brunch to talk business, Spencer counsels Vernon to learn from his mistakes.
Written by Evan Reilly; directed by Julian Farino.
San Andreas director Brad Peyton takes us behind the scenes of the action thriller in this interview from the 2015 WonderCon in Anaheim. Peyton discusses reuniting with his Journey 2: The Mysterious Island star Dwayne Johnson, how this new collaboration allows Johnson to develop a character and not just be involved in action scene after action scene, and what audiences can expect from this PG-13 disaster film.
The Plot:
After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot (Dwayne Johnson) and his estranged wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter. But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning. And when they think the worst may be over…it’s just getting started.
The upcoming two-part film adaptation of Stephen King’s It has just lost director Cary Fukunaga (True Detective, Sin Nombre). Fukunaga has stepped away from the film, with Deadline reporting he’s left the project due to budget issues (the studio reportedly wants to make it for $30 million). The timing’s bad as filming on It, which is set up at New Line Cinema, was scheduled to get underway in just a few weeks.
It has already been made into a TV miniseries with Tim Curry delivering an unforgettable, nightmare-inducing performance as one Stephen King’s scariest characters ever, Pennywise the clown. The 1990s adaptation also starred Richard Thomas, Harry Anderson, Annette O’Toole, Tim Reid, John Ritter, and Dennis Christopher.
Taking to Twitter, author King hinted this may be the end of the film adaptation:
The remake of IT may be dead–or undead–but we'll always have Tim Curry. He's still floating down in the sewers of Derry.
A promise made twenty-eight years ago calls seven adults to reunite in Derry, Maine, where as teenagers they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Unsure that their Losers Club had vanquished the creature all those years ago, the seven had vowed to return to Derry if IT should ever reappear. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that summer return as they prepare to do battle with the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers once more.
Carla Gugino stars in the action thriller ‘San Andreas’ (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)
Warner Bros Pictures’ San Andreas directed by Brad Peyton finds California all but destroyed by a major earthquake. The film focuses on a rescue helicopter pilot (Dwayne Johnson) and his estranged wife (Carla Gugino) as they attempt to save their daughter (Alexandra Daddario) in the midst of all of the destruction. I had the opportunity to talk with Gugino about her role in the action thriller and reuniting with The Rock during this year’s WonderCon. Gugino says she’s proud of her character’s strength and she’s proud of the fact she was able to do many of her own stunts in the film which opens in theaters on May 29, 2015.
San Andreas is your third film with Dwayne Johnson. Do you tease each other, like, “You again?”
Carla Gugino: [Laughing] “Well, no, but I think also both of our lives are so busy and we so enjoy working together and we’ve gotten to go to different places in each one. For sure this one is a totally different relationship and our characters, the relationship between the characters is also deeper and more complex and really interesting. I think that there was something so great. We were so happy that we could trust each other from the day we walked onto the set. That makes such a huge difference, you know?
But, no, because our lives are so busy we actually got to see each other. I got to see my friend which was great and spend some time together. And also he is so good in this movie, like really good. And so that’s also knowing someone well, that always makes you more proud of someone when you know them well and you see them do work that is even [beyond]. He goes to different places than he has really gone with any other characters in this movie.”
Even in Faster? That was a very dark movie.
Carla Gugino: “I know. That was a very dark movie. This is less of a dark character and more of an emotionally vulnerable [character]. Our family has had a tragedy that’s pretty much as bad as it gets and his character had a really hard time dealing with it, and he has to come to terms with that. And we have to come to terms with that if our relationship is going to work. So in the midst of this huge, exhilarating action spectacle, you actually have this beautiful family story.”
Did Dwayne help you with the action scenes?
Carla Gugino: “Yes, for sure, he is amazing at stunts which on everything like Race to Witch Mountain too he did some amazing stunts. But on this movie, absolutely, and I did more stunts than I’ve ever done on any movie. I think I might actually do as many stunts as he does in this movie, so I feel a badge of honor about that. The stunt department said to me, they were like at the end of the movie, ‘You know, Carla, I don’t think we’ve ever worked with any actress who has done this many of her own stunts.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. Is that compliment or maybe I wasn’t wise?'”
You’ve done films with big action scenes, including Spy Kids. Was this on a different level than those?
Carla Gugino: “For sure. I mean this was, in terms of Spy Kids and Sin City, both of those we did a lot of green screen work. Certainly on this we did. But in terms of the action and the magnitude of the movie, how huge this movie feels, this is definitely another level.”
What’s the most intense it got for you? Can you talk about one particular big stunt that another actress might have balked at, but you stepped up and did?
Carla Gugino: “There was a stunt that I in the middle of doing it was balking at. There’s a sequence in the film where my character is in a building that’s going down and [director] Brad [Peyton] wanted to do this one shot that’s three minutes long. It involves me taking my own falls, there’s a fireball, there’s a ton of stunt people. Floors drop down; I’m dropping each of these floors. They put you, in that particular case, this was a separate part of this section where they put you on wires and you still have to hit the floor, you just don’t hit it hard enough that you break something. They’ll soften your blow a little bit. You just have to trust them implicitly; you just have to fall.
And in this particular case, it was like a rag doll situation. It was a debate as to whether I was going to do it or the stunt woman was going to do it, and I said, ‘I really want to try. If we can make it with me, I really want to do it.’ And about seven takes in I was like, ‘Whoa, I wonder if we made the right decision.’ But I think we got a really awesome, awesome piece of footage. And I think it feels for the audience you’ll see that it’s me and it’s much scarier because of that.”
How many times did you do that three-minute take?
Carla Gugino: “We did three takes because it was a five-hour reset. Yeah, it was pretty amazing. We shot it over a two day period and when you see it, it’s a spectacular action sequence that he’s designed. Really, really cool.”
Who is your character and what’s her relationship to Dwayne Johnson and Alexandra Daddario’s?
Carla Gugino: “Dwayne and my character are married but they’re going through a separation because we lost our other daughter in a rafting accident. He was there and he wasn’t able to save her, and he never was able to recover from it. And so I didn’t have a husband anymore, really, so I moved on and at the beginning of this movie my new boyfriend takes Alex’s character up to San Francisco where she had to go to college because Dwayne’s character is a rescue worker and he has to go deal with the earthquake – and he was going up there and I can’t take her at that moment.
So basically he and I unite in a way that’s cool and you’ll find out, but we go up to save our daughter. And as you know, nothing can stop a mother bear. She’s going to do everything she can to get her daughter and needless to say Dwayne’s character is too.
So to answer your question, she’s a smart, resourceful woman who’s not an earthquake expert, who’s not specially skilled, who’s just a real woman in a situation and she’s incredibly resourceful and tenacious. I love this character so much and I love their relationship so much, and as the movie goes along you start to see their relationship come together in a really powerful way that doesn’t feel cliche or sentimental. They don’t know if they’re going to have another day.”
Joe Jonas, Ciara, and Marlon Wayans in ‘I Can Do That’ (Photo by Tyler Golden / NBC)
NBC’s debuting the new one-hour variety show I Can Do That on May 26, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT with Marlon Wayans as host and Joe Jonas, Ciara, Alan Ritchson, Cheryl Burke, Nicole Scherzinger, and Jeff Dye competing for the title of ultimate entertainer. The show challenges the six entertainers to attempt to master new skills – including song and dance numbers and even magic acts – over the course of a week and then perform them in front of a live audience.
Days before the series’ premiere, Joe Jonas, Ciara, and executive producer Audrey Morrissey took part in a conference call to discuss I Can Do That and provide a little insight into the challenges they faced while taking part in the comedy/variety show.
Joe Jonas, Ciara, and Audrey Morrissey I Can Do That Interview:
What was the skill you had to perform that turned out to be your favorite?
Joe Jonas: “This show threw me into situations I really never thought I would do. I was able to learn quite a bit of stuff. And for me personally, I’ve worked on some aerial stuff that was kind of blowing and painful. That was probably one of my favorites.”
Audrey Morrissey: “Well, I didn’t learn any skills because I was the producer, but I learned vicariously. What was my favorite? I guess, to be honest, the truth is all of them are great because what I really enjoyed most about the show was seeing all the talent – the players – really extend themselves and really work hard beyond my expectations and I think theirs.
I think they were really surprised with how challenging all the performances were to learn and how much they got into it, and were excited about it and took on the challenge and basically conquered it every single time, even when they were really fish out of water, when they really thought, ‘There is no way I can do this.’ And they did. That was really just a rewarding and exhilarating part, like everybody bonded deeply because of it.”
Joe, why did you decide to do this show?
Joe Jonas: “The reason I decided to do this show… I think it was probably the fact that when I sat with Audrey and we kind of talked the concepts, it was something that I never heard anyone has really done. It was bringing all of my favorite shows together. You have little pieces of The Voice; you have America’s Got Talent.
And the cast is really fun and new friends of mine. It’s being thrown into situations that you wouldn’t do unless there was a camera in the audience and saying, ‘All right, I have a week to learn this stuff and conquer them.’ I really enjoyed the challenge.”
Are any of the new skills you’ve learned during the process of filming I Can Do That things you can use for future performances or in your career?
Joe Jonas: “Yes, it’s funny. A lot of the musicians on the show, we’ve been talking about how we’re going to incorporate things we’ve learned into live concerts or award shows, things like that. Some, I would say, magic stuff that I learned on the show I think visually would be really exciting to put into a performance.”
Audrey, was there any time you were worried you were asking the talent to do too much that was out of their comfort zone?
Audrey Morrissey: “Yes. I think Joe will remember something he and Nicole [Scherzinger] did which was very physical. They were roller skating on roller skates and doing crazy positions and moves. And, yes, there was a time where I thought, ‘Well, we’ve really reached the edge here and this is either going to be incredible or I’m being irresponsible, I don’t know.’ [Laughing] But I guess I shouldn’t be saying that.
But yes, to answer your question, yes. I think what’s exciting about this show is we took it right up to a line, and then made sure we were inside the line. It was really inspiring to see what they were able to achieve. I think some of the aerial stuff…I mean, these guys got beaten up – I mean bruised and battered. And what was crazy is they wanted to go beyond. They’re all so competitive and they’re all pros and they all want to excel. You would sort of lay out the routine: ‘Here’s what you have to do.’ And then they would come to you and say, ‘Well how do we better this? How can we make it even more spectacular?’
We even surprised some of the trainers. Like, ‘Really? You want to take that on? That takes years to learn.’ And they’re like, ‘Try me, let’s try, let’s swing for the fences.’ So it was great.”
Ciara, did you find yourself outside of your comfort zone very often?
Ciara: “There were definitely quite a few moments that pretty much I think in a sense every moment was kind of outside of my comfort. You know, there was some things that were like, of course, the idea of doing them were familiar because it’s a part of performing. But my thing is with this show what I really wanted to do was I wanted to do things that I felt would be challenging.
They all are challenging as they come on the stage but there are some things where it’s like it’s really way more closer to what I do as a performer. I want to challenge myself. I think that’s what made it so much more exciting in the process because I really did walk away from this experience feeling like I grew. I walked away like, I don’t want to say a whole new person, but there was definitely a whole new layer added to me to how I kind of look at things now and how I approach things because it really is a mental thing when you think about it.
In my world as a performer, we don’t really have to express beyond our music. We do interviews here and there and our songs kind of speak for us. But in this case, we’re very vulnerable. You get to see us mess up and try to kind of figure something out, and you get to see how we really are just like everyone else because we do get challenged. You see our flaws in the process. And so for me, I really took away a very cool feeling, personally. It was kind of like I really felt I grew from everything that we did.”
Will you incorporate any of your new skills in your performances?
Ciara: “Yes, I definitely can say that I was very super inspired. Leaving this show, I have to say first we’re very blessed. I have to say a big thanks to the whole NBC Team because we’re all so very spoiled in the sense with all the production and stuff that was happening. I’ve always been a big dreamer, but my dreams were even bigger after leaving this show.
Now you really get to see a whole level of production that you don’t see every day in all of our performances, doing our shows here and there around the world. It’s just such a high level of production too that you do walk away as a performer like, ‘Okay, I want to be swinging from this part of the stage to this and this.’ Like it definitely makes my brain turn a lot for sure.
But, honestly, it was the coolest experience. I’m truly so glad that I pushed myself and I actually got to be a part of it. Because I do believe as an artist, it also allowed me to grow; as an entertainer, it allowed me to grow. And I walked away like, ‘Wow, I do now know I can do.’ I’ve always believed in myself. You do know you can pretty much do almost anything, at least that’s how you feel leaving the show.”
Audrey, can you talk about what Marlon Wayans brings to the table as the host?
Audrey Morrissey: “Oh, we are so happy and lucky to have Marlon as our host. We wanted this show to have a freshness kind of as a humor, a (comedic) sort of late night spontaneous feel to the show and bringing that feel into primetime. We really wanted somebody with a strong comedy muscle and we got it in Marlon.
So much of the show beyond everything we’ve just discussed about how rigorous and challenging all the performances are, there’s also a lot of heart and there’s also a lot of fun. It is really great to see your fellow players cheer you on, support you, also be a little jealous because everybody is trying to win. They often can find themselves in some silly situations because some of the acts are very, very fun. Joe, Ciara, they’ve been in some really funny ones. Jeff Dye, a comedian, did a routine and he was in like a lucre bodysuit which made him slightly uncomfortable on stage. Those moments – or Alan [Ritchson] shirtless all the time – Marlon was great to be quick-witted and bring the humor, so he’s been fantastic.
He also, by the way, would pop up during the training sessions which was also something that was incredible to have from the host.”
Joe and Ciara, what’s it like working with each other and some of your other costars?
Ciara: “Oh, it’s so much fun. I can say for myself I think maybe a few people on the cast actually didn’t work with each other on other stuff, but for me I never work with anyone that I work with during the season and it really was fun. I think when you get to meet people that you know their work but you don’t really get to know them, but then when you get together you have such a great time and you get to see what cool people they are.
You know, like Joe and I, we joke about it but we really are friends beyond the show. I think that’s so amazing about experiences like this is that you get to grow within your own world of what you do but you also get to meet really amazing people that could inspire you, that you also become support for one another in what you do in different fields. And, honestly, it’s like experiences like this, I really took it all the way in and for every aspect of what it was beyond my personal part of just my challenges as an entertainer.
But really, the friendships that I was able to build were really awesome and it also added to the experience and makes it that much cooler as well.”
Was there anything on the show that you thought would be easy that turned out to be harder than it was? Was there something you thought would be harder that turned out to be easier than you thought?
Joe Jonas: “I think there wasn’t really anything that we were approached with that was easy. Even if it was say something that was singing or dancing, it was different than what we’ve known. I don’t want to speak for you Ciara, but I think for us it’s something that we kind of would be able to figure out, or you go, ‘Okay, I can do this in a week.’ And then you’re like by day two your body is falling apart, you’re freaking, and you’re like, ‘Can we actually do this?’ So, it was definitely a learning curve.”
Ciara: “Absolutely. I can agree with Joe. Yes, I agree with him 100%. Every week it really was challenging. […] I got to learn in the process everything really is super – no matter how fun it looks – it still is super challenging because we’re all still stepping into territories that aren’t familiar, that we don’t do every day. For example, I can’t give it all away but there was one of my performances that I did that it looks like so much fun, but my legs really felt like I couldn’t even [move].
I was holding onto the wall to move through my house when I leave from work. Or like when I had to get in my car to drive home, it was like I had to take like baby steps. But the actual things that I was doing was so much fun and so cute, but it’s very painful, you know? It could have looked easy but really everything is really challenging in its own way.”
Of the six celebrity contestants, who do you think has the best chance of becoming the ultimate entertainer?
Ciara: “I can speak from my point of view. I’m sure Joe would concur. I think that everyone is really able to show how there is so many layers to a performer. I think that is a beauty of a show like this. As it is challenging to all of us, it gives you the opportunity to show your range. And even for the guys that, like for example, with Jeff, he’s a comedian, but you get to see the range that he can go in as an entertainer. I think everyone is honestly the ultimate performer. Everyone is an ultimate performer on this show. That’s what I personally think.”
Was there ever a point where after taking on a challenge you thought to yourself, “What have I gotten myself into?” And if there was, can you elaborate a little bit on the task?
Joe Jonas: “Yes, I think that happens every week. […]There were some that were actually like dangerous and scary, some that were kind of like, ‘Okay, if I do something wrong this could be embarrassing.’ But that was part of the fun of the show was just being thrown into it and doing it.”
Ciara: “Absolutely. I actually agree with Joe. I could definitely say that there were moments too because, again, where you may have had to do something that you were like, ‘Oh, why didn’t I run up the stairs a little earlier?’ And then when you’re doing good, you’re like you also get to say not only like, ‘Okay, well what am I getting myself into?’ but then you also discover like, ‘Hey, this actually turned out really cool.’ You know, there’s moments like that as well.”
Keith Urban and John Mellencamp perform at NBC’s “Red Nose Day” (Photo by: David Giesbrecht / NBC)
The first-ever U.S. Red Nose Day aired on NBC on May 21, 2015 and raised more than $21 million for pre-selected charities. David Duchovny, Seth Meyers, and Jane Krakowski hosted the three hour telethon and celebrities including Jennifer Aniston, the Game of Thrones cast, Julia Roberts, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Michelle Rodriguez, Blake Shelton, Nick Offerman, and Nick Cannon took part in the special fundraising event which originated in the U.K.
The night’s musical guests included Kermit the Frog and Ed Sheeran duetting on “Rainbow Connection” and John Mellencamp joining Keith Urban on “Pink Houses.” The new winner of The Voice, Sawyer Fredericks, also took to the stage to perform “Imagine,” although his full performance was cut off by a commercial break. And the best of the night’s musical performances was a pre-recorded collaboration between Coldplay and the cast of Game of Thrones.
Since its first telecast in 1985, the U.K. Red Nose Day has brought in more than $1 billion to help children and young people in need around the world. The first U.S. Red Nose Day raised funds for 12 charities including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Children’s Health Fund, Feeding America, National Urban League, Oxfam America, Save the Children and United Way.
Carice van Houten and Stephen Dillane in ‘Game of Thrones’ (Photo Courtesy of HBO)
Gift? Gift of what? And to whom? HBO synopsizes the Game of Thrones season five episode seven thusly: Jon prepares for conflict. Sansa tries to talk to Theon. Brienne waits for a sign. Stannis remains stubborn. Jaime attempts to reconnect with family.
Stannis remains stubborn?! Color me shocked!
In any case, a lot of that makes it sounds like “The Gift” will be an episode designed to set the stage for the final three episodes of the season (What? Already?!) since there will be a lot of preparations and then waiting. Let’s find out, shall we?
We open at Castle Black as Jon Snow (Kit Harington) prepares to leave with the big, red, craggy Wildling, Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) while Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) gives them the stink eye. He tells Jon he’s an idiot for leaving and reckless for putting the rest of them in danger just to save some ungrateful Wildlings. Sam (John Bradley), at least, wishes Jon well. He gives Jon his Dragon Glass dagger to protect him. Hopefully, Sam won’t be needing it while he’s gone.
Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) is in bed, giggling with Gilly’s baby. He says “Get him South, ‘Gilly Flower’ (apparently a pet name for Gilly), before it’s too late.”
Cut to Winterfell where Theon (Alfie Allen) is bringing Sansa (Sophie Turner) her dinner. Sansa, who is covered with bruises, begs Theon (who insists she call him Reek) for help. She tells him that Ramsey keeps her locked in her room and then rapes her every night. Theon is still absolutely terrified of Ramsey. He tells her it can always be worse (which I don’t doubt for a minute). It falls to Sansa to get through to him and remind him of who he really is. Did it take? He seems to promise her he’ll help, but will he? The next thing we see is Reek and Ramsey… and Brienne (Gwendolyn Christie) watching Winterfell from too far away.
Back at the Wall, Maester Aemon is dying, apparently of natural causes. How novel.
Samwell speaks for him at his funeral bier before the torch is lit. His body is burned because he’s a Targaryen, but also…White Walkers. “He was the blood of the dragon, but now his fire has gone out. And now his watch is ended.” Of course, Ser Happy Thorne chooses that moment to say to Sam the line we heard in the preview, “You’re losing all your friends, Tarley.” I have no doubt that that was a threat.
Bounce back to Winterfell. In the snow, Ramsey (Iwan Rheon) is complementing his bride, telling her that before he met her he was sure she’d be hideous and how happy he was to be wrong. But of course, he has an ulterior motive. He babbles about Stannis’ impending arrival. Sansa decides the wisest course of action is to bait him about being a bastard. Ramsey lets slip that Sansa’s “brother” Jon Snow has risen to the position of Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Sansa says nothing to this news, but she’s clearly taken aback. Did she think he was dead? Is she hopeful because she has a relative (or at least a friend) not only in a position of some power but also relatively close?
Ramsey’s main objective, however, was to show her the body of the old woman who’d told Sansa that she wasn’t alone, whom he’s had flayed and crucified, effectively quashing any flicker of hope his bride might have been harboring. Reek stands by looking pitiful. He should, since it took him about a nanosecond to rat her out. Poor Sansa. I’ll bet the honeymoon suite will be rocking extra hard on this night.
Under the big tent with Stannis (Stephen Dillane). He and Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham) are having a difference of opinion about whether or not to go forward. Ser Davos is talking about low supplies and dead horses. He also wants to go back to Castle Black because of the weather. Stannis the Obstinate wants to keep moving so he doesn’t become “the King who ran”.
One new development, he is beginning to distrust the Red Witch’s visions. But Melisandre (Carice van Houten) is nothing if not supremely confident. She starts talking about sacrificing sweet little Shireen. She may have overstepped. This is one sacrifice that will not be easy for Stannis to make, if in fact he can bring himself to make it at all.
Now that Jon is gone, the other men of the Night’s Watch are pawing at Gilly (Hannah Murray). Sam, who is now a man and has grown a set, pulls a sword on them and tries to stand up for her. They beat the crap out of him and start to carry Gilly off. Sam actually gets to his feet and threatens to kill them all. The timely appearance of Jon’s direwolf, Ghost, helps to scare them away. As soon as the thugs are gone, Sam collapses.
Nursing Sam, Gilly wants him to promise he won’t do that again. They share their first kiss and then Sam gets his first…well, let’s just say a few vows were broken.
Giving them some privacy, we move to Volantis, or wherever it is. I know it’s across the Narrow Sea, where the slave traders have Jorah (Iain Glen) and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) in chains. Jorah’s on the auction block. The auctioneer, Malko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), sells the crowd on Jorah’s accomplishments (with a little embellishment). He’s sold separately, but as he’s marched away, Tyrion yells out that they’re a matched set and he must be sold with him. When his claims that he’s a great fighter, too, are met with laughter, Tyrion manages to make sure the laugher chokes on his chortles and Jorah’s buyer coughs up the coins for him, too.
In Meereen, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is in bed with Daario (Michiel Huisman), discussing her upcoming marriage to Hizdahr zo Loraq (Joel Fry). Even in the middle of sex they’re talking politics. Daario wants her to marry him instead. She says she can’t, which puts a damper on the festivities. He’s still advising her to kill all the masters of Meereen as well as anyone else who gets in her way.
In King’s Landing, Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) has found a new verbal sparring partner in the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce). She tries to bribe him, but he’s got her number and he’s not biting.
As she leaves, a messenger hands Olenna a sealed message.
Dean-Charles Chapman and Lena Headey in ‘Game of Thrones’ (Photo: Helen Sloan / Courtesy of HBO)
Boy-King Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) is very upset that his Queen is in prison and he can’t do anything about it. Cersei (Lena Headey) is pretending to care. Tommen threatens to go to war and kill all of the Faith Militant. When he pledges his love for Margaery, Cersei almost looks sympathetic. Then she tells Tommen how much she loves him and what lengths she’d go to protect him. Her love for her children does seem genuine. It might be her only redeeming quality.
In Dorne, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), under some sort of house arrest is having trouble with his petulant teenaged daught…I mean niece, Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free). He tells her he’s there to rescue her, she says whatever, she’s staying and stomps out of the room because the grown-ups just don’t understand her love for Trystane! As if!
At least Jaime’s accommodations are better than the prison Bronn (Jerome Flynn) is occupying. His cell is adjacent to that currently holding Ellaria (Indira Varma) and the three Sand Snakes. One of them, Tyene (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers), I think, makes Bronn think she’s trying to seduce him by flashing him through the bars. What the hell?
He’s singing one moment, then suddenly Bronn’s dying from a poison that this poisonous Snake used to coat the blade with which she sliced him during that truncated brawl in the town square. She watches him suffer for a minute, makes him tell her she’s the most beautiful woman in the world, then tosses him the antidote. I suppose we’ll learn the point of all that in a later episode (or season. You know how these things go).
Back in King’s Landing, Olenna is meeting with Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) in his brothel, which is still a mess from the raid by the Faith Militant. Olenna casually drops that Littlefinger was in on Joffrey’s murder! To solidify their mutual blackmail pact, he tells Olenna he has a gift for her. (Gift #1 from the title.) He says it’s the same one he gave Cersei: “a handsome young man.” Does he mean weird cousin Lancel (Eugene Simon)? Will the news that Lancel shared Cersei’s bed be enough to free Loras and Margaery?
Ser Jorah’s being fitted for his armor, the fighting pits are about to open. Jorah’s “owner” bows to Dany in the royal box. Jorah knows she’s out there and begins to hope. Surely she’ll see him and remember how much they meant to each other, forgive him and then save him, right? Dany is clearly not enjoying the “games”. Her betrothed, however, looks well pleased. She wants to leave, Jorah makes his move.
He starts to kill all of the combatants single-handedly. Dany is intrigued by this mystery warrior. Meanwhile, Tyrion is still chained in the locker room and missing the festivities until some huge guy does him a solid and breaks his chain.
Jorah kills everyone and takes off his helmet. His Khaleesi is not only not moved, she tells them to get Jorah out of her sight. I thought Jorah was going to cry until he says he has a gift for her. Tyrion comes forward, meeting the Great White Hope at last, and says he’s the gift and tells her who he is. (Gift #2 – as usual, the meaning of the title doesn’t become clear until the last ten minutes of the episode.)
In the King’s Landing state prison, Cersei visits Margaery (Natalie Dormer), bearing food and speaking in that soft Cersei way that means whatever she’s saying is lies. Margaery hasn’t been in jail long enough to believe anything Cersei says. She calls Cersei a hateful bitch and Cersei smiles that Cersei smile that looks like the cat that’s eaten a thousand canaries.
Another acolyte with a head carving brings Cersei back to the High Sparrow. Cersei is gloating, the High Sparrow is prattling on about history and boring her until he starts talking about stripping away HER finery and telling her a tale of a young man…
Oh yes, I’m ready for the comeuppance to begin. Cersei looks like she still doesn’t get it, until, oh snap, weird cousin Lancel enters the chamber. Suddenly it’s Cersei who’s in custody and screaming that she’s the Queen. It’s déjà vu all over again. Of course, even as she’s thrown into a dungeon, she’s threatening her jailers with death.
And we’re out. Ahhhh, now that’s how to end an episode! With Cersei on her knees in a prison cell. I think THAT’S the real “gift” to us! I can’t wait for next week!
Join me here again next week, same bat time, same bat channel for episode 8: “Hardhome.” Here’s a preview:
Oh yes, things are definitely heating up – despite the fact that Winter is Coming.
Some memorable lines from season 5, episode 7:
“I’m a queen not a butcher.” – Daenerys Targaryen
“All rulers are butchers.” – Daario Naharis
“I serve the Gods. The Gods demand justice.” – High Sparrow
“You live among murders, thieves, and rapists and you punish Loras for shagging some perfumed ponce and Margaery for defending her brother.” – Olenna Tyrell
“A lifetime of wealth and power has left you blind in one eye. You are the few, we are the many.” – High Sparrow
“We march to victory or we march to defeat, but we go forward, only forward.” – Stannis Baratheon
“My family still has friends in the North.” – Sansa Stark Lannister Bolton
After a string of questionable choices, it appears Johnny Depp has found a role he can really sink his teeth into with Black Mass. The latest trailer for the Warner Bros Pictures film finds Depp as notorious gangster Whitey Bulger giving advice to his young son. Following that quiet scene around the dinner table, the Black Mass trailer shows the more dangerous side of Bulger.
In addition to Depp, the cast includes Joel Edgerton, Kevin Bacon, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Dakota Johnson.
Black Mass opens in theaters on September 18, 2015.
The Plot:
In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster James “Whitey” Bulger (Depp) to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the true story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement, consolidate power, and become one of the most ruthless and powerful gangsters in Boston history.
