Weekly Entertainment Recap: Week of March 6th, 2023

The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 11 (Disney+): It is still baffling that The Bad Batch is marred by as much filler as it is, considering it is a streaming show not designed to be aired in reruns on a major network like Cartoon Network for The Clone Wars or Disney XD for Rebels. This week’s episode does blend a bit of the filler with some larger narrative threads, but the filler does take up the majority of the screen time. At the same time, the bookends of the episode are interesting, however, the Kaminoan Prime Minister’s turn is not exactly well laid out, especially considering the actions the Empire has taken towards Kamino for as long as this show has been going on.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 1 (Disney+): In case someone missed The Book of Boba Fett, there is a small arc that is designed to continue the story of Din Djarin and shows him being excommunicated from his order of Mandalorians, his travel to Tatooine to get a new N-1 Naboo Starfighter to serve as his ship, his travel to visit Grogu who was training with Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka, and the reunion of Grogu and Din before they set off on a new mission. Here, a lot of that has to be rethread because the producers realize that not everyone watched The Book of Boba Fett so there is a lot of re-explaining the plot. That said, once all that is done, the adventures with the pirates make for a lot of interesting and fun action sequences.

The Last of Us Episode 8 (HBO/HBOMax): Without getting too into The Last of Us Part II (which is now available on PS4 and PS5 via an upgrade), the exploration of Ellie at this moment is arguably more important than the previous episode because Ellie’s brutality and rage are going to play into season two when it comes out. Ellie getting the chance to expand her character and develop into her own person is done very well and turns her into a character rather than the parcel that Joel needs to get from point A to point B. Considering what has been shown so far, it will be interesting to see how the finale plays out next week compared to how the climax of the game plays out, however, that is a discussion for next week.

The Flash Season 9 Episode 4 (CW/CWApp): Javicia Leslie and Grant Gustin continue to bring their A-game to this show, even if the material does not always meet the quality of the acting they are bringing. Again, the issue comes in where the viewer has to do a lot of the groundwork when it comes to understanding the relationship between Ryan Wilder and the rest of the team (specifically Iris West-Allen), but it still somewhat works. Two subplots do not amount to anything and are honestly baffling as to why they are there to begin with are the idea of Joe and Cecile leaving Central City and the will they/won’t they relationship between Chester and Allegra, which feels like a complete failure of Allegra’s character to relegate her to “love interest.”

This Week In Theaters:

Scream 6: Following last year’s success with Scream 5, the latest entry picks up with Melissa Barrera’s Sam and Jenna Ortega’s Tara as they deal with a new Ghostface, this time in New York City. Courtney Cox, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy-Brown reprise from the previous entry and, while Neve Campbell will not be back for this entry, Hayden Panettiere will be reprising as Kirby.

65: 65 comes from the producers of A Quiet Place and follows Adam Driver as he is sent back in time 65 million years and has to save the last surviving member of his crew, a young girl played by Ariana Greenblatt, from being killed by dinosaurs so if someone hasn’t gotten enough of that dynamic from The Last of Us, or wants to trade out zombies for dinosaurs, here is the movie for them.

Last Week At The Box Office:

Creed III: $58.7 Million

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: $12.5 Million

Cocaine Bear: $11.0 Million

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba- To the Swordsmith Village: $10.1 Million

Jesus Revolution: $8.7 Million

Programming Notes:

No major notes this week other than the fact that the Academy Awards will be airing this Sunday at 8 PM on ABC.

This Sunday is also Selection Sunday for the NCAA Basketball tournaments as the regional tournaments come to a close. The Men’s Tournament bracket will be revealed on CBS at 6 PM and the Women’s Tournament bracket will be revealed on ESPN at 8 PM. After moving to the CAA from the America East, Stony Brook Men’s Basketball finished 11-22 and was eliminated in the quarterfinal after losing to Charleston 74-52. The Women’s team however is still in contention and will be playing Elon at a neutral site on March 9th at 7:30. ESPN does not currently list a streaming home, however, ESPN3/ESPN+ tends to be the place where these games can be watched for those interested.