Marvel's Inumans Premiere React: Inhumanly Bad

Marvel's Inhumans, Episodes 1/2: "Behold... The Inhumans; "Those Who Would Destroy Us"

Before we jump into what happened tonight on the two hour premier of "Marvel's Inhumans," let's flashback a moment to the halcyon days of 2014. In October of that year, Marvel held a press conference to announce their planned Phase Three films. We heard about Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok and the Infinity War Films. They also announced Inhumans. That's right. In case you had forgotten, Inhumans was supposed to be a part of Phase Three. It made sense at the time. The Inhumans are very similar to mutants and it was understandable that Marvel would want to find mutant adjacent characters that they could work into their cinematic universe since 20th Century Fox would not be releasing their hold on the mighty mutants anytime soon.

During the second season of ABC's "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD," which premiered about a month prior to this press conference, the Inhumans made their debut. I remember it struck me as a tad odd that Marvel would debut the Inhumans on this show that was pretty far from a ratings smash and then transition it to the big screen. It wasn't long before the film was pulled from Marvel's release schedule and then last year it was announced that Inumans would be a television show with the double sized premiere being shown in IMAX theaters a month before it's network debut. 

Early buzz has not been great. People were not impressed by the on set photos, Medusa's wig, the trailer, Medusa's wig, reactions from an early Comic-Con showing were abysmal, Medusa's wig, poor special effects and did I mention Medusa's wig? Throughout all this, I hoped that maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I thought it was going to be. Well, it premiered tonight, I just finished watching and spoiler alert....

Star Trek for Dummies: The premiere of Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery, Episode 1: "The Vulcan Hello"

As nerds, geeks, dorks, whatever term you choose, I feel like when it comes to certain fandoms we all have our blind spots. I'll admit that I have two big ones. The first being "Doctor Who." I promise Doctor loving friends who may read this, I will get through Christopher Eccleston's season sometime before I die. Maybe. Actually, scratch that. No promises. 

The other was "Star Trek." When I was younger, I definitely gravitated towards the other sci-fi franchise with "Star" in the name. There was just something about a farm boy with a destiny, James Earl Jones, a scoundrel and a princess that really appealed to me. I didn't have anything against "Star Trek" but I just never got into it and when I have tried to step into it, the amount of material just feels really overwhelming. 

I'm not totally ignorant to the world of the Trek. It has become so immersed in our popular culture that even people who haven't followed it are familiar. I know about Vulcans and Tribbles and the Federation. I can name most of the cast of TNG and the OG. I know about Spock. I've seen all of the rebooted movies and enjoyed them for the most part. The less said about "Into Darkness" the better. I've even seen a few of the original movies and the ones featuring the TNG cast. Although, "Star Trek: Insurrection" is the first movie I remember walking out during the middle of, so maybe the less said about those the better.

When I heard that CBS was bringing the Star Trek franchise back to television with involvement from Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, American Gods) one of my favorite writer/producers, I thought that this was the perfect time to jump in. Fuller ended up leaving the project after clashing with CBS, but his broad story outline remained. After hearing more about the diverse cast, I decided that I was still going to give it a go and now the time has come. I thought it would be fun to write about the show from the perspective of someone new to the series, so here we go. The first episode of "Star Trek: Discovery."

The Truth Is Out There X-Files Rewatch: Season One

The X-Files: The First Season

On September 10, 1993, audiences first met FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Played by relative unknowns, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, there was no way of knowing that they were about to embark on a fascinating, funny, tedious and frustrating journey that would span 9 season and two movies. Fox revived it's seminal sci-fi series last year for a 6 episode run and it proved successful enough to warrant a second go round that is expected to premiere early next year.

There was no way of knowing at the time that the show would become the worldwide phenomenon it is today. That it's catchphrases would be spewed by everyone from hardcore fans to people who have maybe never watched an episode before. So much of the show's DNA has been ingrained into our popular culture. The believer and the skeptic. The will they/won't they back and forth. Little gray men. "The truth is out there." The show has inspired almost every sci-fi show that has come after it and it's rabid fan base is still as passionate about the show as it was when the show first premiered 24 years ago.

As we prepare to re-open the X-Files once again, let's take a look at the show season by season, starting with the one that started it all. These look backs will be structured in a way to help people who maybe want to binge the show but aren't sure they can make it through 208 episodes and 2 feature length films before the show returns early next year. So, we will take a look at each season's mythology episodes, the very best standalone episodes, better known as "Monster of the Week episodes, the season has to offer, the episodes you can skip and end with an overall grade.

Now, without further adieu, let's go back to where it all began.

Stop! Collaborate and Listen: Native Invader by Tori Amos

Tori Amos, Native Invader

This was not the record that Tori Amos initially planned on making. Last summer, she took a trip with her family through the old Smoky Mountains and songs began to take shape. Then, two things happened that caused her to make some changes. The first: Donald Trump winning the 2016 presidential election. The second: Her beloved mother, Mary Ellen Amos, suffered a stroke in January, leaving her without the ability to speak. So, the album Tori had planned on making was pushed to the side and the muses brought her to her 15th studio album, "Native Invader," which, song-for-song, is one of the strongest in her impressive catalogue.