With “Inside the Bubble,” Scandal is just about back to the breakneck pace that we know and love. What’s less certain is whether all of the very many things transpiring here are as interesting as the show believes them to be. I’m thinking specifically of the revelation that Rowan arranged for the murder of Fitz’s…
Deborah Harkness’ All Souls trilogy began with A Discovery of Witches in 2011 (which is wickedly funny since the title-drop in that novel is, “It began with a discovery of witches”). The magical trilogy follows the romance between Diana Bishop and 1500-year-old vampire Matthew Clairmont, but hold your horses—Diana is not a love-struck teenager, but…
When I was writing about Parenthood last season, I came rather quickly to the realization that it’s a very difficult show to write about weekly. Owing to its realistic, slice-of-life approach to family drama, there are often episodes where very little happens, at least externally. Many of the stories contain such subtle moments, and are…
Riot Games is the group behind the online multiplayer battle arena game League of Legends, which has more than 2 million players. Filled with colorful, playable characters that have their own unique personalities within this universe, there are five characters that have formed the virtual band Pentakill. Riot decided to release actual music from these characters…
Scandal’s fourth season may have gotten off to a bumpy start, but this week’s episode is proof positive that delaying certain story developments can have rewards down the line. Fitz and Olivia’s almost-reunion is by far the strongest scene of the episode, and of the season to date, owing almost entirely to the amount of…
After five episodes of slow, careful build-up, Boardwalk Empire explodes into a violent burst of chaos. By the end of “Devil You Know,” we are careening full throttle into an all-out gang war, and all bets are off. This is one of those episodes that will be judged primarily for one or two significant…
This week’s Parenthood gets off to a pretty sluggish start. Everything before the title sequence feels like an unnecessary recap of last week’s episode. That redundancy is especially egregious in the scene where Amber shows Zeek her ultrasound, which is the exact same emotional beat as their conversation at Zeek’s party. Fortunately, the episode quickly…
There isn’t much to say about “Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em” that hasn’t already been said about the past several episodes this season. No appreciable progress is made in any of the season’s arcs, save that of Juice. The episode concludes on a series of manufactured climaxes, which serve only to delay a conclusion…
New Jersey-based quartet The Blithedale Romance, all furious guitars and shredded vocal cords, want you to know they’re trying. The young band took a mysterious, cultish online presence and rebranded their sound “new noise” leading up to the release of this, their second EP. Despite the half-makeover, the band comes out sounding more like themselves…
Craig Johnson takes the directorial reigns of his second film with the dark family dramedy, The Skeleton Twins. Having debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, this film offers a gorgeous commentary on the strength of blood and revival of hope. Former SNL costars, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig,…
