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Moon Knight Episode 5 (Disney+): Moon Knight
spends its fifth of six episodes doing an interesting look at Marc’s backstory and the birth of Steven Grant as his alternate personality. It is an interesting development, however the show is rapidly headed towards its finale and needs to finish the story in a cohesive way before it gets to that point. While Marc/Steven’s backstory is interesting and worth diving into, maybe devoting an entire episode to it this late in the game is not the best idea. The finale is this week and there is still substantial ground to cover between Layla freeing Khonshu so Marc can heal and come back to life and then the inevitable confrontation between Khonshu and his avatar against Amit and his avatar. Unlike The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or Loki, this show does not have a clear runway to reach the end of its journey.
The Girl From Plainville Episode 7 (Hulu): The penultimate episode (something not made clear in the app) does a lot to showcase the mental decline of Michelle, namely her delusions and breaks from reality. The issue with the episode, and the episode earlier to be honest, is that the transition that Michelle goes through from trying to help Conrad to actively campaigning and pushing for him to kill himself is not shown. The show also does not do enough to correlate Michelle’s burgeoning popularity to Conrad’s death because before the show even shows her changing social status, she is pushing him towards death. The show does hit the viewer over the head with that connection, however the goal should be to show the connection without needing the district attorney to exposit it for the audience.
Under the Banner of Heaven Episodes 1 and 2 (Hulu): Based on two episodes, this show feels like a standard, run of the mill true crime docudrama with an outstanding lead performance by Andrew Garfield. Garfield continues to prove himself to be a fantastic actor who was saddled with the two worst Spider-Man movies which harmed his image for a while. The show is an interesting look at Mormonism for those who don’t know the religion (or know what little they know from either South Park or Big Love) and the impact of religion on families when extremism sets in.
You May Have Missed:
Batwoman Seasons 1-3 (HBOMax): Following this weekend’s cancellation at the CW, it may be worth a watch for viewers who are interested in seeing what the show was. Season 1 spins out of the Arrow/Flash/Supergirl
crossover “Elseworlds” and follows Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane as she attempts to protect Gotham City from Alice and the Wonderland Gang. Following Ruby Rose’s departure between seasons, Javicia Leslie steps in as Ryan Wilder to take up the mantle of Batwoman when Kate Kane goes missing. Batwoman was an Arrowverse show that missed out on some of the crossover pull that the other shows like Superman and Lois, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow had, which was definitely a contributing factor towards its cancellation.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Seasons 1-7 (Netflix): When Legends of Tomorrow spun out of the Arrow/Flash crossover special in 2015, the thought that the show would last eight seasons was not common. The show boasted an ensemble cast of characters from across the Arrowverse including White Canary, The Atom, Captain Cold, Heatwave, Hawkgirl, and the time-traveler Rip Hunter who united the team to try and take down the immortal dictator Vandal Savage. It seemed like a one-and-done until the finale introduced the Justice Society of America and the show became a love letter to some of the weirdest aspects of the DC Universe. Over time, characters like Kid Flash, John Constantine, and Vixen would have stints on the Waverider making the show fun to watch and constantly rejuvenated. To get a sense of what kind of show this was, check out season 1 episode 6 “Star City 2046” which is a loose retelling of the iconic comic The Dark Knight Returns but with the Green Arrow instead of Batman.
