"Last Son" Re-Watch: "Action Figures" & "Double Dose"

 Superman The Animated Series

If you're a fan of children front and center, Metallo, Parasite or... sigh... Livewire, then these two episodes were made for you. If you don't really care for any of those things, well, just, don't skip this, just read and enjoy me making the best out of it.

"Big Shots" Re-Watch: "Gateway Shuffle" & "Ballad of Fallen Angels"

 Cowboy Bebop

I don't think I noticed before but there is a lot of smoking in "Cowboy Bebop." In the opening, Spike, Jet and Faye are all shown with a cigarette. And like, I don't smoke and think it is gross, but based on these people, maybe smoking is cool? I guess, its no big surprise that they have sort of cut smoking out of a lot of shows, movies, etc. 

"The Truth Is Out There" Re-Watch: "The Blessing Way" & "Paper Clip"

 The X-Files

The third season of "The X-Files" premiered on September 22, 1995. This was really the season that the show started firing on all cylinders and showed audiences what it could do. The ratings were the highest they'd been so far and the show was nominated for and WON Emmys. The series was nominated for 8 Emmy Awards and won 5. I think one of the things that propelled the third season ahead of the previous two is that the show finally found it's sense of humor. Episodes like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "War of the Coprophages," and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" proved that the show could be funny, sometimes even poke fun of itself and still be suspenseful, scary and unsettling. A lot of this is thanks to writer Darin Morgan, who penned the aforementioned episodes and sadly, left the show after this season, not returning until the revived tenth season. Thankfully, the shows other stable of regular writers saw the returns on this episode and weren't afraid to incorporate humor and sometimes even ludicrousness into future scripts.

"SuperDad" Superman & Lois Recap: "Haywire" & "The Best of Smallville"

 Superman & Lois

There was some news that broke about "Superman & Lois" this week. Jordan Elsass, the actor who plays Jonathan Kent, will not be returning for its upcoming third season. He is leaving to focus on his mental health. We support that and hope that everything works out for him. The role will be recast for season three. Let's get into it.

"Hated and Feared" Re-Watch: "The Phoenix Saga" Parts 3, 4 & 5: "Cry of the Banshee," "Starjammers" & "Child of Light"

 X-Men

It feels like it took so long to get here and it's already over. We conclude "The Phoenix Saga" with these last three episodes. It isn't perfect but it's definitely the best adaptation of the Phoenix so far. I know what you're thinking... low bar. And you'd be right. But that doesn't make this any less good, flaws and all. Let's wrap 'er up.

Watching With the Watcher "What If...?" Recaps: "... Thor Were an Only Child?," ... Ultron Won?" & "... the Watcher Broke His Oath?"

 What If...?

We wrap up our trek though the multiverse with the last three episodes of season one. If you guessed that the Watcher was eventually going to intervene, well, give yourself a hearty pat on the back. Who would've thought all it would take was Ultron getting the Infinity Gauntlet? But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's get right into it.

"Killing For Peace" Peacemaker Recaps: "A Whole New Whirled" & "Best Friends For Never"

 Peacemaker

I didn't really talk too much about Peacemaker as a character in my re-watch of "The Suicide Squad" because John Cena's character is getting an eight episode showcase. So, we're going to be talking about him a lot. When I initially heard that James Gunn was going to be spearheading a Peacemaker series, I was confused. But, now, I get it. Believe it or not, there's layers to Peacemaker and Gunn is bound and determined to bring those out without losing the irreverence, comedy and action we got in "The Suicide Squad." Let's check out the first two episodes of "Peacemaker." (All episodes are available to stream on HBO Max.)

A Long Time Ago, During the Clone Wars: "Water War," "Gungan Attack" & "Prisoners"

 Star Wars The Clone Wars

In the last "Clone Wars" post, I mentioned that this post would be the first four episode post. Well, I lied. We have a couple of posts before we get to the first four episode post. We are starting season 4 with a three episode arc completely underwater. So let's go!

"In the Name of the Moon" Re-Watch: "Disconnecting Love: The Raging Makai Tree" & "True Love Awakens: The Makai Tree's Secret"

 Sailor Moon R

We wrap up the Makai Tree with these two episodes and I can't really say that I'm sad it's finally coming to an end. I'm really not sad that we never have to hear the Moonlight Knight say "adieu" ever again. Let's get to it.

"Last Son" Re-Watch: "Target" & "Mxyzpixilated"

 Superman The Animated Series

A pair of interesting episodes this time. We meet an imp from the fifth dimension and a famous writer from "Batman: The Animated Series" writes one of the episodes we are looking at in this post. It's a good time so let's get started.

"Big Shots" Re-Watch: "Asteroid Blues," "Stray Dog Strut" & "Honkey Tonk Women"

 Cowboy Bebop

I've really wanted to incorporate anime into my blog and I figured why not bring in one of my all-time favorite anime and one of the best animated series of the past 25 years. I remember watching "Cowboy Bebop" for the first time on Toonami in late 2001. It was shortly after the September 11 attacks and it comforted me in a weird way for someone who wasn't into anime really at the time. It was cool to immerse myself in the future world of these misfits that was different but very familiar at the same time.

"Cowboy Bebop" was created by the production team of director Shinichiro Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane and composer Yoko Kanno, collectively known as Hajime Yatate. The series pulls heavily from noir, futurism and jazz. Each episode is referred to as a session and it maybe has the best theme song of all time. In the next few months, we'll check out each session, the movie and cap it off with the Netflix's live-action, one season adaptation. Give Tank's impeccable them a listen to get yourself pumped and then dive in to the first three sessions.

"The Truth Is Out There" Re-Watch: "Our Town" & "Anasazi"

 The X-Files

We have reached the end of season 2. Truly a fantastic season of "The X-Files" and a fantastic season of television. And season 3 is even better. So let's get right into these final two episodes.

"SuperDad" Superman & Lois Recap: "Heritage" & "The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower"

 Superman & Lois

One thing I forgot to mention in my recap of the pilot was the amazing performances by Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch. I was a fan of Hoechlin from the moment he appeared on "Supergirl" and he continues to be great on this show, giving different shades of Superman. Tulloch is the perfect Lois Lane, headstrong and bullheaded, but loving and maternal. Neither really has made a misstep yet portraying these classic characters and that is saying something.

"Hated and Feared" Re-Watch: "The Phoenix Saga" Parts 1 & 2: "Sacrifice" & "The Dark Shroud"

 X-Men

It's finally here. The moment I've been waiting on since I began these recaps. We are finally to "The Phoenix Saga," a five-parter that finally gives Jean Grey her animated due. The animated series offers a brief take on Jean Grey's initial transformation into the Phoenix. In the comics, Jean became the Phoenix in Uncanny X-Men #101. She remains Phoenix until she transforms into Dark Phoenix and sacrifices herself to save the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #137. Er... 50 plus year spoiler alert. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let's take a look at the first two parts of "The Phoenix Saga."

Watching With the Watcher "What If...?" Recaps: "...Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?," "...Zombies?!" & "...Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?"

 What If...?

A couple of weekends ago, Marvel had their big Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con and made a lot of announcements. There had been a lot of hemming and hawing from some fans about how Phase 4 had somehow seemed directionless when compared to the Infinity Saga. I don't agree, but MCU mastermind announced that Phases 4-6 will be cumulatively referred to as the Multiverse Saga, to which I said, Duh. But let's head back into the multiverse to find out what if...?

Into the DC Murderverse: "The Suicide Squad"

 "The Suicide Squad" (2021)

"Suicide Squad" was a pretty terrible movie. It was not good. Have I mentioned it was real bad? Quality doesn't stop movies from getting sequels though and a second "Suicide Squad" movie was greenlit soon after the first movies opening weekend. The first movie came out in 2016 and a five. year wait between sequels is not super common in out pump em out fast movie climate. In this case though, the time taken was worth it. They jettisoned first director, David Ayer, and scooped up "Guardians of the Galaxy" auteur, James Gunn, when he was briefly on the outs with Disney/Marvel, to write and direct. "Suicide Squad" fans breathed a sigh of relief with this news. If anyone understands how the Suicide Squad works, its James Gunn.

Principal photography on "The Suicide Squad" began in September 2019 and ended in February 2020. The film stars Margot Robbie as Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, Idris Elba as Robert Dubois/Bloodsport, John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker, Joel Kinnaman as Col. Rick Flag, Sylvester Stallone as the voice of Nanaue/King Shark, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2, Michael Rooker as Brian Durlin/Savant, Jai Courtney as Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang, Peter Capaldi as Gaius Grieves/The Thinker, Alice Braga as Sol Soria and Pete Davidson as Richard "Dick" Hertz/Blackguard. The film was written and directed by James Gunn. "The Suicide Squad" was released on August 5, 2021.