TW Reviews The Boys S04E03 We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Amazon Prime

Time to get going as Sage and Firecracker’s individual agendas to spread the word of how evil the Starlighters are from child abuse to trying to replace everyone with non binary is gaining momentum. They claim the Starlighters have even created autism and not the cool type as seen in Rain Man. Sad thing is people in the real world believe shit like that; just look around you.

When Frenchie is forced to to take down a Homelander supporter who arrives at the Starlight headquarters to rescue the children they have locked in the cellar. Propaganda makes people lose their self reason and self thought especially when the headquarters has no cellar. But that is the power of the net and influencers especially in a pressure cooker environment stirred with a big wooden spoon in the shapes of Sage and Firecracker. I have to say I agree with the sentiment that Happy Holidays should revert back to Happy Christmas though in some sad excuse to twist it into an inclusive thing. Christmas is for everyone already; has been for years so leave it alone! It can’t get any more inclusive.

Homelander uses a choir and patriotism to shine his halo with an annoyed Sister Sage and Firecracker join the Seven. I think Sage has something else planned though as she is not happy her face is now public; she wanted to work from the shadows but once again Homelander has enforced his will on someone.

I am so glad that we are not hanging about as Joe Kesslar and Butcher team up to save Ryan and Starlight decides to go public again. Mother’s Milk wants to recruit A Train as a double agent much to the other’s dismay. But their proposd alliance is not as impossible as they think. The world is on a countdown to hell and they need to act fast to stop the superheroes. It is literally grab any straw time.

This episode is really about looking at yourself in the mirror and being real about who you are and what you see. Homelander is one step closer to a complete breakdown when he discovers Ryan has been with Butcher. He flips out at his son and ends up speaking to his conscience in the shattered mirror echoing the state of his mind now.

He and Sage try to get Victoria on their side at a Vought ice show celebrating and calling for people to put Christ back in Christmas. They want her to come out of the closet once she is President. But Hughie and Mother’s Milk are bugging the secret meeting. Shocking scene of the week is the bloodbath on ice. As Homelander unleashes the lasers from his eyes in pursuit of Hughie, a light right in the face makes him look away slicing several skaters in half in the process. Others flee and end up slicing hands off and slitting throats in the chaos. It is covered up of course.

They want Victoria to be who she is as well as Zoe in front of the world. Starlight’s good girl image is revealed by Firecracker to be a sham. In a sharp twist of events, Firecracker is fully justified in her vendetta against Starlight. And her crime is severely frowned upon in this day and age. It could derail her campaign totally. A Train saves Huggie from certain death but can’t fully bring himself to say he will work with the Boys to take down Vought. Frenchie is doing drugs again because of his secret and it is impacting on Kimiko. He cannot bring himself to look at himself because when he does the love of his life will look at him in a completely different way which will end their relationship. Hughie has to face his mother and discovers why she left him and it isn’t the reason he thought. Ashley is made a figurehead only at Vought and vows to leave but when she witnesses Homelander lasered a girl’s brains out for speaking to Starlight, she destroys her resignation letter and keeps her counsel.

Putting this human issues against the bigger canvas of Homelander’s machinations it is literally a visual symphony. But the most human and powerful moments are between Butcher and Ryan. Butcher cannot bring himself to drug the youngster to give him to Kesslar. Instead Butcher opens up to Ryan, the last vestige of his late wife Becca. He has always seen him as his son and their scenes playing table top football as they bond are heartwarming. Butcher will die to save this boy while Homelander sees Ryan as a trophy to be paraded and shaped to be his father’s son. Karl Urban is outstanding in this episode as the Butcher not shredded by grief and tragedy who loves his son unconditionally.

With all the mad sex and violence it is easy to forget just how much this series relies on the hearts of its characters to be broken. In a world of superheroes the only thing that keeps us human is the bonds between us and the ones we love.

TW Reviews The Boys S04E02 Life Among Septics or God Showed His Dick Today

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Amazon Prime

So in this episode The Boys infiltrate a conference slammed with propoganda about the evil of the Starlighters for reconnaissance only. Kicked out of the gang, Butcher arrives and Mother’s Milk keeps him in close proximity. Despite the fact they all now know Butcher is dying, Mother’s Milk sees him as a liability and expels him from the team. Butcher is desperate to show they need him and he needs them but he has an agenda; Ryan. Propaganda is the name of the game here as Homelander’s campaign gains momentum.

I’m loving Sister Sage and her complete disregard of everything anyone has to say to her including Homelander. At the same time she tells Deep he has to be better than any human and not to let Ashley speak down to him. When Deep takes Sage’s advice to slap Ashley down betrays his need to sort his image too. He is still a threat to animals for banging his octopus and threatening Ashley gives him a false sense of power.

To further Homelander#s image, Ryan gets to play a superhero in his very own family friendly movie. However Dad and the Deep find their noses out of joint because they aren’t in the movie. So Sage arranges it for them. Noir hasn’t a clue what he’s doing in the suit looking stage directions from his fellow heroes and directors. I’m wondering how long before Homelander will stand his son’s doubts about what he is and what they are doing. Using the kid as propaganda to maintain Homelander’s good guy image shows how much Homelander is losing it. He needs to control everything even what should be his son’s solo movie debut. Ryan is to be shaped in his image.

Kimiko has flashbacks and is triggered by signs at the conference of kids in peril. Getting drunk lets her tell Frenchie that he has to go all the way with Colin and not use her as an ecuse to not take hold of that happy life. However sound that advice, it is not as simple as that. Frenchie has a secret.

Now Supernatural creator Eric Kripke adds yet another Supernatural icon to the Boys as Rob Benedict appears as Splinter. Rob played God in supernatural until the Winchesters kicked the crap out of him. Splinter is able to create himself new bodies in the Michael Keaton Multiplicity style. The Boys also meet Firecracker who can only spit sparks from her hand; a crap power. However her gift of the gab allows her to spew blatant lies about the Starlighters as an uber social media influencer. Again The Boys shows that the wilder the propaganda the more the ordinary Joe on the street will believe it. Homelander is right to a degree about humans; they are easily led. Is our self worth so low that we will latch on to any rubbish to the point we will riot?

The war of the superheroes continues as Starlight is out to kill A Train for his part in murdering the three fans last episode at the courthouse. However the divide between the heroes is deepening when A Train’s brother shows his sons that the stories their uncle is telling them is fake. Feeling isolted, he is desperate for some validation from his own family. You actually feel sorry for A Train who has not been happy in the superhero ranks for a long time so how long before he picks a side in this fight? The first foot on that path may have started as he gives Hughie and Starlight footage that will prove the Starlighters are innocent. Theey were nowhere near when the murders occurred. It is a clear reminder that family is all even to the bad guys as Hughie has also found since his mother turned up at his dad’s bedside and revealed she now is his power of attorney. Everyone is suffering even Mother’s Milk who, taunted by Butcher, beats him and wishes they could be brothers again.

Now every season, indeed sometimes every episode the Boys shock the audiences and this week is no exception. Ryan accidentally slams the stuntman into a building splattering him all over it. Homelander sees the boy has regrets and is constantly trying to worm his way into his mind to rid him of conscience. His kingdom must rise and if every human needs to be splattered then so be it.

Second of all Frenchie and Kimiko see Splinter doing the human centipede on himself before all hell breaks lose. Gros is an understatement but Sage has set a trap and full frontal Splinters mass to kill them. Butcher arrives to save them so when he is rejected it looks like Kesslar’s offer may be too tempting to resist.

You could ay this episode should have been called God Showed His Dick as Splinter keeps dividing more of his naked self to take the Boys out. We have naked and clothed Splinters left, right and centre attacking. Motherr’s Milk risks all to save Butcher and who knew the only way to stop such a foe was to kill the original body? Dean and Sam would have been proud. This is just a brilliant scene with so much to enjoy. With Firecracker surviving will she be back?

This episode’s social commentary is so on the nose with the world around us right now, you cannot fail to enjoy the references to the real world. It’s also how complicated personal issues can be amisdt the chaos. Frenchie is trapped by his secret about his connection to Colin’s family, Starlight is trapped by her refusal to become Starlight again even though it is badly needed. Hughie has it out with his mother while Butcher now stands alone; a dying man with no idea how to keep his promise before he dies. Even Homelander is held back by his son’s humanity. Ashley is now firmly on a leash after Deep’s threat to murder her; what power she thought she had ended in that second. She is now a toy to be used by the superheroes just as Homelander said. Butcher’s speech to Mother’s Milk after the battle is poignant and made even more so by being rejected outright by him.

We walk the line between what is good for the world against what is good for us as an individual. Sage is shaping out to be a more enjoyable version of the Flash’s Thinker. But has she an agenda of her own?

Another enjoyable slice of action but we are aware there are multiple bombs ticking. Which one will be blow first and who will be caught in the crossfire?

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Doctor? Erm…Nobody

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photo copyright BBC

As the advert once said, it’s good to talk. And it’s also good to have a different perspective on things. Sometimes it takes a different set of eyes to show you something that you knew was niggling at the back of your head but couldn’t quite put your finger on. And that’s exactly what happened today.

I’ve been watching the new series of Doctor Who and it’s been a mixed experience which, if Jodie Whittaker’s run had never happened, would be seen as a distinct drop in story quality but because of the low quality of Whittaker’s and Chibnall’s run, feels better than it actually is.

Think about it; if Peter Capaldi’s Doctor had regenerated into Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor it would have been a jarring change in quality. You go from the brilliance of the war speech in the Zygon Conversion to snot monsters. Things have been lacking somewhat, but there is something else missing; something that was pointed out to me. When it was, it was like a veil had been lifted from my eyes.

And it’s all thanks to Rogue.

The fifteenth Doctor is just loving life and in the trailer for the new season we saw a clip from Boom where he warned what would happen if he was blown up by the mine and turn the battlefield into dust. Oh, I thought, we’ll get to see this Doctor flex his muscles in the tradition of his previous incarnations. Like when the tenth Doctor brought down the Family of Blood, like the ninth when he taunted the lone Dalek in Utah, the eleventh in A good Man Goes To War and the twelfth in The Zygon Conversion. These are all powerful moments were the rage of the Doctor is unleashed on people that deserve it and even the thirteenth Doctor had a rare ‘rage’ moment in The Haunting of Villa Diodati when she refused to let Shelley be sacrificed to the lone Cyberman.

So when the fifteenth Doctor had his moment it Boom, it fell so flat. Listen, Gatwa was awesome in that episode as we saw the Doctor terrified and helpless to save Ruby from dying right in front of him. But the gravitas was missing and we haven’t really seen this yet in any of his televised adventures. Then again the stories haven’t merited that kind of performance. Only Boom so far has tapped on it but his kick in the balls moment of “I am the Doctor!” was lacking. Again, don’t get me wrong; Gatwa is superb in Boom, absolutely brilliant but his Doctor isn’t one to fear. He gives another great performance in The Devil’s Chord but it’s a man in fear, running and hiding in a cellar, after running and hiding from a snot monster in Space Babies. Not the actions of the mountain that is the Doctor.

Add to that the biggest problem we never caught on to so far.

Nobody knows who the Doctor is. Well, no one except Kate and the staff of UNIT. How can this be? The Doctor is a legend ‘woven throughout history’ Clive tells Rose and River Song says ‘I’ve seen whole armies turn and run away. And he’d just swagger off back to his Tardis and open the doors with a snap of his fingers..’. His name is known to gods and devils; to Guardians of Time and a little girl called Lorna Bucket who joined the army to find the man called the Doctor. And if nobody knows who the Doctor is then by default, nobody is in awe of the Doctor and nobody fears the Doctor.

Yes there are those who don’t know him but they have heard of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. Only the Sontarans and the Daleks have dared to try to conquer Time Lord society and failed. Even the Daleks chose to destroy the planet because they could not win the war. It is important the companions learn of the Doctor’s origins from his own lips like Martha did in Gridlock and Ruby did in Space Babies. Now it could be argued that the Flux has destroyed so much of the original universe that it claimed those who may know who the Doctor and his people are. But that doesn’t feel right.

The Doctor should enter a room like they’re already in charge; see the fourth Doctor in the Panopticon in the Deadly Assassin. Note the tenth Doctor, when the Titanic is about to crash surrounded by flames, give his ‘I am the Doctor’ speech or what about when the eleventh frightened away all the aliens they ever fought in The Pandorica Opens or behind the President’s desk in the Oval Office.

The fifteenth hasn’t done that yet and for me the gravitas has been partly lost by his constant costume changes which give him no constant identity. The beauty about the Doctor was that he could wear a velvet jacket, giant scarf, a stick of celery (or the most hideous outfit in his sixth incarnation) and he blended in and also commanded attention no matter where he was. Even Sylvester McCoy wore his question mark jumper around town and nobody flinched. They are the Doctor upon entering a room and his outfit is part of that identity, but this Doctor has costumed up for the 1960s in the Devil’s Chord, wore a pretty bland and non-descript outfit in Boom, was absent for most of 73 Yards and in Rogue he was just one of the crowd, another face, outfitted like everyone else, blending in; a curiosity for the snobs of 1813. Speaking of Rogue, for all his travels, I find it hard to believe that this master bounty hunter, who has travelled the galaxy, has never heard of either the Doctor or the Time Lords. It is clear he has been around for a long time given the state of his ship and travelled far and wide and, as a successful bounty hunter, we’re supposed to believe that he moves in networks that have never mentioned the Doctor?

And it was at that point my good buddy pointed out that the fear/reverence factor of the Doctor and his reputation is totally missing from this series. Now we have had the Doctor remove all mention of his name from the internet and the Dalek systems but all that was reversed later. And it maybe the stories are to blame but those stories came from people who know the show and its history as well as I do.

Now to be fair and cover all aspects, I have to point out that maybe the renaming of the show as ‘Season One’ is a fresh beginning. I mean, no-one knew the Doctor when Hartnell piloted the Tardis bar the Time Meddler and if that is the direction they want to move in then fair enough.

However to achieve this do not use the Anglican Army.

First seen in the Time of the Angels and Flesh and Stone as well as The Time of the Doctor and A Good Man Goes to War, this army knows the Doctor as a legend and are very well versed in him and his Gallifreyan origins. It provoked Madam Kavarian to launch a plan to turn Amy Pond’s daughter into a weapon to kill the Time Lord. His very name inspire people and her plan hurt the Doctor badly when he learned the truth. Yet when they meet Mundy she has no idea who he is even thought she learns he is a Time Lord and his name. Even when she discovers that the energy trapped in his body will take out half the planet if the mine goes off. He even tells her that he is a higher dimension lifeform and a complex complicated space time event but none of this rings a bell when it really should. After everything that had happened before the Doctor is as well known in their ranks as Jesus himself.

Now we have none of that. As I said UNIT Headquarters seem to be the only organisation that knows the Doctor and what he can do. We are approaching the Legend of Ruby Rose and Empire of Death so maybe we will see the Doctor that sent the Boneless back to hell as the man that kills the monsters. The man that monsters have nightmares about. The man whose memories would shatter all the glass avatars in Twice Upon A Time. Add to that the man whom, while exiled on Earth, had no problem raiding the wine and cheese of a high ranking diplomat simply because he could. The Doctor defies the ranks and fears no politician because he is the Doctor; simple as.

This Doctor cannot continue to simply run into a story, smile broadly, do a little dance, change outfits every story and shout ‘honey!’. He needs a gravitas that we almost saw at the end of Dot and Bubble when he experienced racism for the first time, but instead of gravitas we got gurning and shouting. Each Doctor can be identified from silhouette but without a definitive costume then that also leaves this Doctor adrift. The one he wore in Dot and Bubble accidentally became his signature because that end scene was the first Gatwa filmed. Subsequently his promo photos and behind the scenes video heralded the coat, checked trousers and orange T-shirt as his Doctor.

Don’t let the Daleks or any of the classic monsters be the first to fear this new Doctor’s arrival. Give us an unseen species that will tremble at the very mention of his name as has been established.

The universe without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about but a universe where the Doctor is no longer remembered is a nail in the deflating tyre that is Doctor Who.

TW Reviews The Boys S4E01 Department of Dirty Tricks

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Amazon Prime

After the Soldier Boy saga last year we get more Supernatural stars as Jim Beaver (Bobby Singer) returns and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (John WInchester and the Walking Dead’s Negan) joins the cast as an old friend of Butcher’s (Karl Urban), Jim Kesslar.

So as Thin Lizzy famously sang, the Boys Are Back in Town and dark times are ahead. It amazes me how this episode reflects certain aspects of world events as we sit watching it. Homelander is put on trial for the murder of the citizen that hit his son Ryan with a plastic bottle at the end of the last series and unlike current events is found not guilty. Citizens are turning on each other over who they idolise and see as good for their country. They ignore the flaws to their cost unaware of the backstabbing and political knives that are being into their backs without their even knowing.

Everyone bad seems to have something to hide while the good guys are a mix of happy times and the stark reminder that life still goes on but it is only when tragedy strikes that you realise the world is not just all about superheroes.

Victoria Neuman’s campaign for political power is under attack by the Boys who are wanting Butcher out for good. He is suffering from the effects of Compound V with only a few months to live. He is haunted by his dead wife Becca who tells him to save Ryan but Butcher is on a downward spiral. This show is effectively a countdown to the inevitable clash between Homelander and Butcher. It is a dance of intellects as the show beautifully mirrors their mutual spiral into madness.

Homelander is tortured by bad dreams. He is surrounded by Yes Men which he hates yet if anyone dares contradict or challenge him he kills them. He is a walking contradiction. He has trouble with his prostate and humans disgust him. They cheer him when he saves someone then cheer him when he kills someone. He needs a way out and recruits Sister Sage, the smartest woman in the world. Together they formulate a new plan of pitting human against human to the point Homelander will swoop in and rule everyone. It’s also a sign that Homelander is mentally unstable and unable to think for himself.

With the appearance of Negan we get a brutal scene where three of Homelanders biggest fans are coldly beaten to death with baseball bats at Homelander’s command. Then their corpses are planted at a riot scene outside the courthouse as Homelander is found innocent triggered by Sage and made martyrs of. Dressed as one of Starlight’s people it makes it look like the Starlighters have gone against their message of peace and brutally slain three people for being Homelander supporters.

One of the fans murdered is the lover of Mother’s Milk’s ex wife leaving them to tell his daughter about the tragedy. In the midst of this Hughie is refusing to get rid of Butcher even going against Starlight’s advice. She in the meantime is refusing to don the Starlight mantle as her foundation struggles to get funds. However when Hughie’s father suffers a stroke and lies unconscious in a hospital bed, she must fly into the mayhem just in time to stop her friend being kicked to death. It also makes Hughie see just how much his obsession with killing the superheroes has robbed him of precious family moments. No doubt that this will play into the battle given season five is to be the last. At the same riot Frenchie saves lover, Colin, being beaten to death making this fight even more personal for them. This fight has now encroached the Boys personal lives reminding them what they are fighting for and what needs protected. The only thing the heroes are protecting is their dark secrets and lust for power.

Deep is hiding his octopus lover in his closet as he denies having sexual relations with her to the world. Black Noir and A Train are afraid for their lives under Homelander’s rule while Butcher is given an offer by Kesslar he may just take. Time is running out for them all so Butcher may well do anything to save Ryan and destroy Homelander.

Sister Sage is a great addition and a villain that works from the shadows manipulating the situation without people even knowing it. However now Mother’s Milk has seen her it won’t be long before he goes after her. Add to that A Train doesn’t like her from a past association then she will have to sleep with both eyes open.

It is a great opening that gives us the Yin and Yan of Butcher and Homelander with everyone else caught in their drama.

Perhaps the most terrifying moment comes when it is revealed that headpopping Victoria has pumped her daughter, Zoe, with Compound V tuning her into a vampiric monster. Think of the Reaper vampires from Blade 2 and you get the idea. Frenchie and Kimiko barely escape with their lives by leaping out an eighth floor building. Could Compound V now mutating people especially kids into creatures that superheroes would battle? And is there a hidden meaning when Homelander tells his son that they should be so close that they could merge? Is Ryan about to become a means to a very sick end? Why is Kesslar so keen on recruiting Butcher and is there a secret agenda to get rid of the superheroes once and for all the Boys don’t know about?

The Boys have not lost any of their edge and the quality has not dipped. This is going to be an interesting season.

Them Witches Be Bitches! TW Reviews Star Wars The Acolyte S01E03

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Disney

So I was all excited to finally get to see a wookie Jedi Master explored in detail this week but instead got a flashback to the incident that has triggered this whole story.

Again we get a couple of revelations with biblical themes to it and see what happened that day; or do we?

First off seeing Kelcanna in ful Jedi robe mode was interesting and screamed buy the figure now (which I am going to but he’s the only one because there has never been one like him before) but it all fell rather flat. He can fix machines bringing in the ghost of Chewbacca but he contributed little else. Again this is such a waste of a character and demonstrates just how the writers do not know how to build tension or structure a story to shock and surprise. And for some reason, Kelcanna puts in mind of Billy Connoly the way his hair is done. I can’t help hearing the Big Yin in his heyday in concert with the hair flying.

And that’s how I feel about this episode. It’s flat and cliched while confusing the entire story told so far. The horror elements with the witches reveal are not scary; indeed I couldn’t help but laugh when they did their chant during the Ascension ceremony. Add to that whoever the lone witch who was cackling in the background was cringeworthy to say the least. I could so picture a lone extra seeing this as her big chance to stand out from the others and giving it a cackle large lol These are space witches so make them different just like Ahsoka did with hers. Maybe these are their ancestors; who knows? That solo cackle will stay with me forever for all the wrong reasons. To be honest all I could think of was the Hansel and Gretel movie with Jeremy Rinner. But this is Disney being lazy and not thinking how to make these witches different and innovative.

They use the Force or the Thread as they call it and while it does show us the divide between Mae and Osha, Mae just comes across as unhinged even as a child but given she ascended and gained some sort of witch force in her head then it might explain it. Osha wants to be a Jedi so when the four targeted Jedi arrive their presence especially Sol’s (still loving Lee Jung – Jae) causes Osha to want to leave against the witches intentions including her heartbroken mother. They talk of almost being extinct but it is clear the birth of the twin girls gave them a new hope. It looks like a hope that needs both of the girls to ascend but Oaha’s decision leaves them freaking out. It is touching to see her mother put Osha’s wishes first eve before the survival of the coven itself.

But the witches have a secret. The girls have no father; they were born from some dark magic and carried to term by one of the other witches. Now I assume it was dark magic and we get the cliched good twin, bad twin scenario. I get the Jedi ensuring children are not being taught the dark ways of the witches but the fact they take any kid that shows an inkling in the Force is disturbing. You don’t just take kids so they can be padawans. Even Sol didn’t want to go when he was four years old. Given how they treated Anakin in the Phantom Menace, the Jedi are fundamentally rotten to the core with the likes of Sol having any hint of conscience slapped down by Jedi law.

But it was Mae that started the fire that killed everyone. It wasn’t the Jedi so that begs the question as to why Torbin willingly took his own life last week because of what she did. You didn’t so anything son, catch a grip. It could be that Mae forced to him to take it with her Witch mind trick. Unless the dark force that Mae serves now caused the deaths of all the witches, making it look like it was because of Mae’s firestarter tendencies. I don’t know. I’m confused. I’m beginning to not care.

I’ll be honest and say “Was that it?” The writing structure here fails to deliver twists and turns is more like a bowl of spaghetti. It’s all over the place with underused characters that should be awesome but a shop window dummies. Let’s hope that this gears up in the remaining episodes or this will once again show how little Disney know about what makes great Star Wars.

Forgotten Villains: Lost in Space’s The Keeper

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriros and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright CBS

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

Now you should really know who the Robinsons are in Lost in Space. As Earth is dying they are sent to Alpha Centauri in order to begin colonisation efforts for the rest of the planet. However they have a saboteur on board, one Doctor Smith, who intends for the mission to fail and the entire family to die. If you’ve watched the recent television series and the Matt Le Blanc movie from several years ago then you will be familiar with this but the original series that began it all featured many aliens and villains. It was a huge hit and quickly the focus moved from the Robinsons to the villainous Doctor Smith. Trapped with the Robinsons he was always seeking a way home forming a close bond with young Will Smith. Smith became something of a naughty child as he took every opportunity to get home. He invariably fell foul of his own machinations and alien of the week but in the only two parter of the three year run, the Keeper proved to be the most dangerous of all.

Lost in Space also had many famous actors take part in the show so for the role of the Keeper they cast Michael Rennie from the classic movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. The classic 1951 movie is given a small homage when the Keeper is questioned as to how he can speak perfect English. He replies that he learned it from broadcasts that came from Earth just as Klaatu did.

His presence is discovered when Doctor Smith is caught in one of his cages thanks to a hypnotic signal. The Keeper travels the universe collecting two of every species and keeping them on his ship. Upon meeting the Robinsons he decides he wants two of them for his collection.

The Keeper is as arrogant as he is charming as seen in a conversation with Don West upon seeing him with Judy Robinson. He comments on what a handosme pair they are. Don retorts they are not animals but intelligent beings. Smirking the Keeper simply says, “You’re entitled to your opinion of course.”

This is an intersting insight to the Keeper’s character as he does not see either of them as humans with a potential future but mere animals that can be caged and admired by him. He decides the younger ones would be a better fit and lures Will and Penny to his ship dazzling them with the alien animals and almost gets them into a cage. They try to escape but he uses his staff to control them. He almost succeeds but Dr Smith is also mesmerised and knocks the staff out of his hand. Despite numerous attempts to steal the children, the Keeper finds them too much of a nuisance to bother with and intends to leave. But Dr Smith takes his chance to steal the Keeper’s ship and accidentally lets loose all the animals inside.

The resulting stampede results in some animals being killed. Furious the Keeper tells the Robinsons unless they deliver Will and Penny to him, he will leave all the animals loose. With so many savage beasts now in the area, the Robinsons, John and Maureen and Don and Judy offer themselves.While the Keeper’s morals recognise it as a noble gesture, he refuses their offer. He takes the opportunity for self gain and fully intends to take full advantage of it. However he is injured by one of his animals and it is only Will and Penny’s compassion that makes him realise these humans are not mere animals to be caged. They are beings of compassion and self sacrifice. These qualities break through the Keeper’s mindset allowing them to stay free. He learns that not all beings are specimens for his zoo.

In the closing moments, he displays a sharp sense of humour when he tells the Robinsons he has rounded up all his animals but has left one to punish them. In the clearing they find a cage and in that cage is Doctor Smith.

Michael Rennie’s performance is flawless and of a standard that only he could bring. He made the Keeper a multilayered character that can engage and repulse you at the same time. it certainly raises the show’s respectability level.

This episode is deep for the show but highlights again that the Robinsons and Doctor Smith’s greatest weapon is their love for each other. It is this quality shown even for a rascal like Smith that breaks through the Keeper’s alien views to leave them in peace. Many villains on Lost in Space were pantomime and one dimensional but the Keeper stands head and shoulders above the rest to shine bright all these years later in a simple tale of what separates us from the animals.

TW Reviews Doctor Who Rogue S01E06

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

In a stately home in Bath in 1813, a ball is taking place; a ball where not everyone is what they seem and plans are afoot to cosplay the world to death.

Deadly cosplayers were done brilliantly in Supernatural and here we have an alien race called the Chuldur who literally take other forms to experience everything there is. Birdlike in appearance they are indeed a worthy foe much in the same vein as the Family of Blood. By stealing the appearances of others, they intend to go all the way to the top and start world wars just for the fun of it.

This episode is very much fun with the Bridgerton references and interpersonal dramas of love and status and a future of destitution because they don’t marry for love but status. The Doctor and Ruby are loving it and the introduction of psychic earrings are fun additions that become vital to the plot. Also the return of the psychic paper is very welcome.

But the Chuldur are very much a sideshow because this episode is much more focused on the Doctor and his relationship with intergalactic hunter known only as Rogue. I do wish they could have added in a Boba Fett reference though; Disney is involved after all.

Initially the psychic earrings tip them off to something not of this time and the sonic screwdriver leads the Doctor to Rogue. It’s a nice touch to see the Doctor’s observation skills in full flow as he remarks that the balcony is the perfect place to see all the exits and the room. So begins a playful cat and mouse between the two as Rogue believes the Doctor is the Chuldur he is after. Rogue brings the Doctor to his ship while he dismisses the Tardis as a shed. Of course his reaction when entering the Tardis is typical which the Doctor revels in. Both the Chuldur and the Doctor are shapeshifters so Rogue traps him to send him to an incinerator. Rogue is a Kylie Minogue fan which the Doctor loves to embarass him with as well as calling out Rogue named himself after a Dungeons and Dragons species.

The psychic paper says they are hot which flusters the Doctor but a bond develops between them. It isn’t until all of the Doctor’s past faces appear that Rogue is suitably impressed and more so than when he boards the Tardis. But the Doctor changes the trap to send the Chuldur to an empty dimension rather than kill them. The Doctor sees himself in Rogue as they have both lost people. Companions come, companion fall.

I don’t think the Doctor’s life has ever been put in such a beautiful way before as Rogue describes his own. “We travelled together, we had fun, you know. Then a day came along and at the end of that day I lost them.”

“I lost everyone.”

This loss prompts the Doctor to offer Rogue a place aboard the Tardis. We even get a shade of the first Doctor when he turns his nose up at the use of the word Doc.

But the talking point is of course when the Doctor and Rogue kiss. The dance and marriage proposal is there to fool the Chuldur into chasing them into the trap so i’m not really going to explore that. I am reminded of the Star Trek the Next Generation episode the Host where Beverly Crusher tells Odan the symbiote, that perhaps human love has not evolved to let us see beyond the body. Immediately people are going to cry out the Doctor is not gay and is destroying the character due to more woke business. Yes the modern era has seen him more sexual emotionally yet still keeping the line drawn to not being sexual physically. There was a huge opportunity wasted in not exploring the Doctor when he became the 13th Doctor. What does that mean when he beomes a woman? Given the Yaz in love with the Doctor storyline, you could interpret it as no matter what form the Doctor takes he is still attracted to females yet never acts on it. That’s sloppy but typical of he Chibnall era.

So here if you look at the scene it is actually Rogue that instigates the kiss with the Doctor rather than the other way about. I know there will be woke outcry over it but look at it in perspective. As a species will we evolve to be omnisexual just like Jack Harkness? With Ruby about to die, the Doctor’s early conversation about loss hits home. Just like the ninth Doctor fighting the Slitheen in Downing Street. he could save the world and lose Rose. Here, to save the Earth he has to jettison Ruby and the Chuldur to an empty dimension. There is no way he can let his friend die and would find another way that could end up with the Chuldur being triumphant.

He promised to keep her safe and cannot do it until Rogue steps in. The theme here could be simply viewed as every other person that gave their lives after meeting the Doctor just like Harriet Jones as Davros revealed in Journey’s End. The Doctor inspires people even bounty hunters to follow a better way and when in an impossible position Rogue does what the Doctor cannot do. He saves Ruby and the day while sending himself to literal Hell. Yes it could also be seen as one love sacrificing itself to save another but it is a multilayered thing.

So is our perception of this behind the times? If we do evolve to an omnisexual place then this would seem very normal and not a big deal at all. But with the Bridgerton background, it fits right in with the scandal to end all scandals of two men dancing and proposing marriage stirs things up.

As Sarah Jane Smith once said, “Pain and loss they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it’s a world or a relationship, everything has its time and everything ends.” Pain and loss is part and parcel of travelling with the Doctor bu there is also hope. There is a chance Rogue can be found one day but for now the Doctor must dwell on what could have been and slips the ring Rogue offered him in the fake proposal on to his finger lest he forget.

Not that Ruby is forgotten in all this as she hold her own against the social expectations of the upper class which always sounds like Up Their Ass with their regal morals and view of the world. Her almost death and subsequent pretence to be a Chuldur are not down to whatever power lies within her but her own wits and cunning especially when you have a pair of earrings that can turn you into a kick ass hero. Part of me though is aware of the short run of episodes and keeping the Doctor and Ruby apart does not let them get to the intimate levels as seen with Sarah Jane, Martha, Tegan or Jo Grant. They can hug all they want but those moments are missing.

Why we have such a short run is beyond me because next week is the penultimate episode of the season when we learn what is going on with Ruby and what lies within the vaults of UNIT hidden from even the Doctor.

So Rogue was a nice character development episode that put cosplayers in a whole new light.

TW Reviews Star Wars The Acolyte S01E02

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Disney

So Mae goes after her second victim Jedi Master Torbin in his meditation centre and she fails spectacularly. This fight was entertaining as Torbin didn’t move a muscle. His Force bubble saved him. Again we get more questions raised here. What unfinished business does she have with him? Is there a reason Mae demands her opponents to attack her with everything they have? Is she proving something to herself or her mysterious master?

It isn’t long before the story gets more complicated and gives us even more questions. Mae has a friend Qimir who gives her a poison which this time she offers to Torbin. Torbin has been in this state for ten years and Mae’s words about admitting what he did by taking his own life throws the audience. So the stuffy righteous Jedi did something so bad the night Mae and Osha’s family died on Brendok that Torbin retreated into a coma state then came out of it so he could end his life.

Last time I thought Mae wanted to kill all Jedi but in fact she has only four in her sights. Indara and Torbin are dead. That only leaves Sol and a wookie Jedi Kelnacca. Kelnacca is on a remote forest world called Khofar while Mae faces off against Sol on Olega, the location of the Jedi temple. This fight is beautifully executed and really showcases Sol’s control over his gifts as well as Lee Jung Jae’s martial arts skills.

Mae fails as Yord and Jecki close in and in a twist Mae discovers Osha is alive and well. Were both girls victims of some plan that went wrong? Sol tries to find out the identity of Mae’s mysterious master but not even she knows who he is. Or at least, we are assuming it is a he. So who is on the right side here?

Mae or Osha? or neither?

Trapped by the Jedi rules, Sol is left frustrated but they head to find Kelnacca before Mae gets there. We end the episode with Kelnacca scaring off two scavengers that attempt to raid his home. The sight of a wookie using the Force is a shocker but it got me thinking.

By the way, he is played by The Force Awakens trilogy’s Chewbacca, Joonas Suotamo. But in a way Disney has missed a trick here. While a wookie Jedi has appeared in other mediums, the first television appearance of one should have been a much bigger deal.

Kelnacca, yes I want the figure, was in the promo material but for me, it would have been smarter to keep that secret. There is no drama or appeal in the reveal. It is said he is a wookie and the third target but wouldn’t it have been better to hide the fact the he is a Jedi ala Marvel style. Yes, we are getting surprises along the way but this character should have been revealed in a much more dramatic and story twist way. We haven’t seen Sol with a lightsabre yet but I can’t wait. His skills are being drip fed to us as here where he simply uses his body to defeat Mae, countering her every move and freezing her so he can talk to her about Osha. Equally Mae using the dirt on the ground to escape was cool and worked perfectly.

I have a feeling that Sol is much closer to both of them than we actually know yet. I’ve got my theory about the identity of Mae’s mysterious master so it will be interesting to see if I am right. But after these two episodes we have questions; questions born from the fact we have already been side swiped by our own assumptions of the storyline’s direction.

While not having the foresight to amp up the drama where the wookie is concerned, Disney have delivered a story populated with interesting characters and dangled enough carrots to bring me back for more.

Let’s see where this goes.

TW Reviews Star Wars The Acolyte S01E01

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

A hundred years before the rise of the Empire, it is a time of peace. The Jedi order and the Galactic Republic have prospered for centuries without a war.

But in the dark corners of the galaxy, a powerful few learn to use the Force in secret. One of them, a lone assassin risks discovery to seek revenge…

The shit is about to hit the fan.

So here we go on what has been advertised as someone bad hunting down and killing Jedi. From the trailers it was a distinct murder mystery vibe, serial killer almost and the first thing I did was see what the word acolyte actually meant. I was fairly certain but just wanted to check anyway in case there was a double meaning given the Jedi and Sith history.

Photos copyright Disney

An acolyte: one who assists a member of the clergy in a liturgical service by performing minor duties. 2 : one who attends or assists a leader : follower.

So we open with an assassination attempt on a Jedi, Master Indara. First thing I cheered was Carrie Anne Moss is a Jedi! The second thing I said was, well, she didn’t last long but she’ll get a action figure out of it probably. Probably could have used Neo there.

The opening fight is well done with the assassin’s face revealed for all to see and for Indara to recognise. I wasn’t expecting her to be killed off immediately so my expectations were immediately pulled from under me. ,

We then meet Osha (Amandla Stenberg), a former Jedi padawan who has given it all up and is a meknek on a ship, literally a maintenance worker with her hand held droid Pip. However her life is thrown into chaos when the Jedi arrive to arrest her for the murder of Indara. Before she knows it Osha is on a droid driven prison ship en route to Coruscant for trial. But a prison break ends up with Osha crash landing on a snow planet Carlac.

Her old Master, Sol (Lee Jung Jae) goes to retrieve her along with the two arresting Jedi, Yord (Manny Jacinto) and Jecki (Dafne Keen). When I learned that Osha had a sister and a family that were killed years previously then I guessed that the assassin was her dead twin sister Mae. Although her powers are rusty Osha speaks with her sister in her dreams where fire is consuming eveyrthing they see. In Sol’s class some of his meditating younglings see all consuming fire that no one can withstand.

Now it is very simple storytelling here and nothing that will exert your brain. Evil twins, shared symbols of fire and an ending that proves Mae is servant to a dark power that intends to kill all Jedi. The closing shots of Mae at the rocky shore as a mysterious figure stands on a cliff abov her is nice. And you know it’s evil by its raspy voice and red lightsaber.

Now given what we have we probabaly think we know how this is going to go; save sister from dark side even though she is justified in her hate for Jedi and the Sith ar rising because in a hundred years Palpatine will stage a coup under the veil of politics and diplomacy. But I sincerely hope we are going to be surprised here.

Osha is likeable and the sceptic in me thinks her droid Pip is going to be hitting Disney online soon because he fits in your pocket. Maybe because there is such a deluge of merchandise from Disney. However I really want a figure of the bar owner. I love that alien design. Yeah I’m a hypocrit but figures have been a part of me all my life and watching Disney turn out trash series and tons of figures as a cash cow makes the fanboy on me stand up and shout “Hoi, Mouse, Nooooo!!”

Now I have to say the character that caught me at once was Master Sol. He is just as I always pictured a Jedi Master to be. Deep, wise and a layered man who fits in yet stands outside Jedi beliefs. He and Osha have a bond which will undoubtedly be explored as we go on. Indeed he keeps a hologram of her. When asked why by nosy hole Jecki who goes by the Jedi belief that emotional attachments only encourage sentimentality and nostalgia, he says memories are lessons to be learned from or we will be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Sol clearly has deep feelings for Osha and Lee Jung Ja plays him with a grace and nobility that we like a lot. He uses Jedi logic to get his own way against Jedi not so sage like going to retrieve Osha. When he rescues her from falling over an ice cliff, he has no doubt that Mae is alive simply based on Osha’s word. He and Osha bounce off each other. Incidentally Stenberg does a great job of making Osha likeable and making Mae a believable kickass threat in just a couple of minutes.

So we have a mystery on our hands of who the drk power training Mae is and how is she not dead? What reaally happened when Osha’s family were killed because Sol was there when it happened. Is there more to the story and why Osha bailed on him? Nice simple storytelling that I hope is going to spin off and hit us with the unexpected in the coming weeks.

RIP Doctor Who Star William Russell

By Owen Quinn author

A real Doctor Who legend has sadly passed away. Actor William Russell who played the very first male companion, teacher Ian Chesterton has died.

He was part of the original line when Doctor Who began. As Ian , he provided the muscle alongside elderly Doctor William Hartnell. William was the quintessential hero with his good looks and bravery. Alongside fellow teacher Barbara Wright, Ian was the scientific side while Barbara was the historian. In the beginning, Doctor Who was intended as an educational programme for kids. The Tardis was originally supposed to travel throughout earth history at landmark events and viewers would be educated about them through the eyes of Ian and Barbara. There was to be no bug-eyed monsters, just historical people and places. Ironic in the end that the historical adventures proved the least popular, slowly being outed by the science fiction element.

Ian and Barbara were school teachers at Coal Hill, Ian a man of science and Barbara a history teacher and both their attentions were caught by the super brilliant pupil Susan Foreman, in reality the Doctor’s granddaughter. Her behaviour at seemingly brilliant leaps of logic and a knowledge of things she couldn’t possibly know intrigued them.Following her home, they come across an old police box in a junkyard and a crotchety old man whom they believe is keeping Susan against her will.

Forcing their way into the box, they find themselves inside the Tardis and discover Susan and her grandfather are time travellers from another world. Russell T Davies always said Earth companions work best because they act as the door for ordinary viewers to explore the Doctor’s world by asking questions the viewer would and reacting similarly.

Indeed, their first adventure took them to the era of the cavemen seeking the secret of fire. Originally, the Doctor was very much the anti-hero, prepared to murder a man to save themselves and get back to the Tardis. He resented the two newcomers’ invasion of his home and wanted to get rid of them asap but without being able to control where the Tardis travelled, getting them home was all hit and miss. Ian and Barbara that showed the Doctor the value of humanity and, I believe, brought him to realize he was not alone and the importance of family. Indeed, he was devastated by their departure after battling the Daleks in the Chase, the first time we saw how lonely the Doctor truly was.

Photos copyright BBC

Throughout their adventures, Ian and Barbara’s talents were put to the test. Ian was the action hero in the tradition of the Hollywood beacons of goodness. He was fiercely protective of his friends and frequently argued with the Doctor but they had a grudging respect which evolved to the point where the Doctor trusted Ian to get them home on more than one occasion and take the lead, especially in their trek with Marco Polo and Richard the Lionheart. Barbara wasn’t afraid to tackle the Doctor either when he behaved badly, forcing the Time Lord to look at himself and actually think about the consequences of his actions on others. They forced him to be human and the more time they spent together the more the Doctor enjoyed showing them the wonders of the universe without being condescending. Ian and Barbara showed the Doctor what he was to be human and cemented his love for the human species through their travels.

The historical stories were prevalent in their time, cleverly using Barbara and Ian’s talents without diminishing the characters. This Tardis team were all equal and faced death in the French Revolution, the burning of Rome, a journey with Marco Polo, the Crusades, as well as Daleks, Voorrd, Mechanoids, Mire beasts and they even returned to their right time except they had been miniaturised. But they faced it together, becoming the family the Doctor and Susan had lost.

Their return home was celebrated with a montage of shots showing them doing normal things like taking a bus. It was widely believed they married after leaving the Tardis and it was further explored in the BBC novel series. Their team featured in more Missing Adventures, another book series showcasing stories set in between the televised shows. These remain some of the strongest tales and perfectly recapture the team sending us back to the beginning of this incredible 61 year journey.

William Russell, who played Ian, has done several plays for the Big Finish companion chronicles as well as narrating audios of old Target novels. He even voiced William Hartnell o several audio stories. With most of the missing episodes from the Troughton era, the majority of Hartnell shows still exist though there will be a DVD release of the Reign of Terror with missing episodes completed via animation. Once again Ian and Barbara will grace our screen in another adventure just as they did all those years ago.

There is something ageless about this team and in the Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor they are name-checked as still fighting the good fight as seemingly ageless people. It is a touching line that evokes memories and you really can believe they are married, still out there and carrying on everything they learned from the Doctor.

Ian was due to return to the show in the twentieth anniversary story Mawdryn Undead but it never happend so the Brigadier was used instead. However Ian’s story was not over and returned in the Jodie Whittaker finale Power of the Doctor. Graeme (Bradley Walsh) brings together old companions including Ian. He is puzzled when they refer to the Doctor as her. But this set a world record for the biggest gap between appearances for a television character. Seeing Ian again just took our breaths away. If not for his portrayal we would never have secured the show’s popular beginnings.

Unsurprisingly Ian and Barbara returned to meet the eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in the 50th anniversary comic strip Hunters of the Burning Stone in a sequel to the Unearthly Child. It was voted the best comic strip of 2013 as Ian and Barbara get to meet their old friend once again.

I met William Russell in Belfast at a convention in Belfast and he was so lovely. He wandered around between queues showing a genuine interest in fans. We chatted about his time on the show and his autograph remains pride of place in my collection. I am so glad I got the chance to meet him as the character of Ian together with Barbara are the stuff legends are made of.

Rest in peace sir. A legend has died today yet will live forever. William, you truly will never be forgotten.