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The Last of Us Episode 6 (HBOMax): With three episodes remaining, this type of episode is needed to bring Joel and Ellie through the final phases of their emotional arc as the show heads towards its finale. The emotional breakthrough of Joel realizing he is not strong enough to complete the mission (more emotionally than physically but also physically) and Ellie expressing that she has never had someone stay with her this long is a great moment to deliver emotional catharsis, especially with the role Ellie will have to take on in the next episode based on the cliffhanger.
The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 9 (Disney+): Following Echo’s departure last week, it is time for the team (specifically Omega) to deal with the emotional impact of that seismic shift. What better way to do that than to have them stranded on an empty planet and forced to confront each other? The strongest episodes of the Star Wars animated content are the ones that allow for character development so allowing Omega to express emotions and deal with the paradigm shift since she always thought they would be together forever just doing missions on a freelance basis. Allowing her to figure out this change and process loss is important for her character who has not had a ton of that up until this point.
The Flash Season 9 Episode 2 (CW/CW App): Continuing off last week’s cliffhanger (and where last season left off with Caitlin’s story), this episode introduces a new entity in Caitlin’s body and the episode is basically just a philosophical debate among the team over what to do with the strange situation. Should they put Caitlin back in the body, put Killer Frost back in the body, or let this new inhabitant live? Bringing back Pied Piper is always fun, although it is strange that they continually reference his criminal past when he hasn’t been that person since season one (and due to time travel shenanigans, he probably never even was that person but just don’t think too hard about time travel) but any time Andy Mientus gets to come back it’s always a welcome addition. That said, Fiddler was a weird villain choice in season four and is still a weird choice in season nine.
You Season 4 Part I (Netflix): Here’s the problem with this show just in general: Joe is too likable as a character and portrayed too positively compared to where he comes from in the book. Considering we have a character who is obsessive and a stalker, it is one thing to make him the protagonist but to make him the good guy is a stretch. There is a difference between the protagonist and the hero and the show goes out of its way to make him both in a warped way. The other problem with this season is that the show loses its believability as it continues, leading to issues where Joe’s actions go from plausible within his deranged way of thinking to outlandish which is where this show has ended up.
This Week In Theaters:
Cocaine Bear: This year’s first ridiculous premise movie that could turn out pretty entertaining is Cocaine Bear, which tells the story of a bear that does a ton of cocaine and starts hunting humans. Keri Russell (The Americans), Margot Martindale (The Americans), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) star.
Emily: Emma Mackey (Death on the Nile) stars as acclaimed writer Emily Brontë in a partially fictional account of her life as she tells the story of what inspired Wuthering Heights. Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk) also stars.
Last Week At The Box Office:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: $104 Million
Avatar: The Way of Water: $6.1 Million
Magic Mike’s Last Dance: $5.4 Million
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: $5.3 Million
Knock at the Cabin: $3.9 Million
Programming Notes:
The only real programming note this week is that the release calendar for the back half of the year has shifted. The Marvels, previously set for release on July 28th, 2023, has been delayed until November 10th, 2023. This puts The Marvels sandwiched between Dune Part II on November 3rd, 2023, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes on November 17th. It is unclear if either movie will shift dates to accommodate The Marvels
or if November will just be way more packed than it needs to be, especially with Wish from Disney Animation coming out Thanksgiving weekend.
Also of note, next Wednesday (March 1st) will be the return of The Mandalorian on Disney+
