Doctor Who 10.6 "Extremis" Review

                                      
A fitting picture as Peter gave an interview not too long ago about how the Doctor could defeat the current President!!

This ep opens again with a narration, this time about death.  Timely obviously since the blindness and the regeneration foreshadowing, mentioned here again.  As the man, Rafando (Ivanno Jerimiah) who was also kind of priest-like (okay more from an ep of Stargate SG-1) on another planet asks the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) to kill another Time Lord, as only a Time Lord can do this.  At first glance it appears the Doctor is the one being sentenced to be executed.  This being Missy (Michelle Gomez) as we know.  Before proceedings begin, the Doctor returns back to the present day where he gets a visit from the Cardinal (Joseph Long) telling him about the Veritas book, which when read, leads the reader to commit suicide.  As well as a visit from the Pope.  With Nardole (Matt Lucas) having to act as his eyes.  The Cardinal reminds the Doctor about Pope Benedict IX in 1045 and the Doctor adding he couldn't help it, he was lured by her castanets!  [Ohh Doctor Who and an innuendo.]

Bill (Pearl Mackie) goes on a date with Penny (Ronke Adekoluejo) and brings her round to her flat, saying she moved out but it didn't work out.  Her mother thinks she's got a man in the bathroom but is fine when she finds out it's a woman.  Penny is nervous and Bill reassures her this isn't really anything yet.  Until she hears the TARDIS in her bedroom, saying it's the pipes.  However the Pope pops out and there are other priests in her room.  Bill tells the Doctor he can't do this and Penny runs away.  Nardole programmes the TARDIS to the Vatican library and the Pope wants him to help with the Veritas and to read it.  However that's a problem cos he's blind.

The Cardinal telling them to follow him since they'll get lost in the vastness of it all.  Then they see a blue light and the Cardinal says there's no door there, just a wall.  The Doctor having to 'see' through his shades but can only see rudimentary read outs of what's ahead and also the read outs of the people.  With Nardole having to guide him and tell him what's happening since the Doctor doesn't want anyone to know and especially not Bill, since she'll worry about him and he doesn't want anyone to worry about him, only about themselves.  Nardole adding, if she finds out then it'll make his blindness real.  Funny he should refer to real as they're in a world of games which aren't real, as we'll find out.

The Cardinal vanishes into the wall removed by some shadowy creature.  As the others find a priest in the cage.  One of the lost translators who has a gun and has shot the lock off.  He says he 'sent it' and runs away with the gun.  Inside is a laptop and it has wifi, of course it does, the Doctor adds this is a library.  The chair also ash restraints and the Doctor tells them to check on the priest as a gunshot is heard.  Nardole saying he's dead anyway, as the Doctor's glasses read he's terminated.  He reassures them he won't read the book without them here.  The Doctor plugs a device onto his head which he hopes will help him see for a little while and the strange creature approaches him.  As the Doctor tries to readjust his sight and gather his bearings.  He asks the creature, thinking it's the Cardinal to strap him into the chair.  But the creature is revealed as being some sort of mummified zombie-ish alien and takes the book.  However the Doctor has his trusty Sonic and runs away with the laptop, which has a copy of the Veritas.  He opens it and the text reads ;"The Shadow Test."

Nardole and Bill find themselves in the Pentagon and leave when asked if they have clearance. They're in a place with light portals and Nardole sticks his head into another one, walking through it. This leads them to 'CERN' where the scientists who received the email are in the canteen, having their last booze up before they explode.  Nardole tells Bill to look under the table and finds explosives under all of them.  The scientist asks them to think of  a number and they both end up thinking of the same random numbers.  Finally running away before the explosion.  Nardole says the portals are projections and they're in some sort of a computer game and aren't real.  Like Grand Theft Auto.  He puts his hand behind the projector and vanishes.  Mentioning he's some sort of a hologram as in Star Trek.  (That reference gain.)

The Doctor is meant to kill Missy and at the last minute is approached by a hooded figure who tells him about hope and being a witness.  It's Nardole who has River's journal and has been instructed to kick his arse if need be.  Missy begs for her life as she's his friend and she will change.  She will give up all hope and not bear witness.  The Doctor electrocutes her.  However she's revealed not to be dead, merely sleeping.  The Doctor asks Rafando to look up how many fatalities he's had and the computer keeps searching.  They all run away and the Doctor tells them he didn't kill her as she's his friend.  In the present day, the Doctor tells Missy he needs her now.

Bill finds the Doctor in the oval office with the President dead after taking pills.  Now that was a deft allusion if ever there was one to the current one, okay tongue-in-cheek.  But gosh darn it, if it's all a game, then that President wasn't real!  He tells her this isn't real and explains how the numbers are generated on the computer with everyone coming up with the same numbers, only a computer can't do that.  She says this is real and she's real, she's really here and she can feel it.  The Doctor explaining by reference to SuperMario just giving up playing the game by deleting himself.  Bill disappears in the same way Nardole did.  The Doctor being approached by the alien.  The Doctor being told he's not real, but he says he is.  Recalling Missy's words of 'no hope and no witness...'  The Doctor tells the alien they're all shadows and practising their end game which is to take over the world (isn't it always.) But he has everything on his glasses including the book, which he sends via e-mail to his glasses and his future self so he can warn himself of what's happening.  He finds himself back at the vault and needing Missy.

The Doctor borrowing his eyesight from the future even if he doesn't know the consequences of doing so, like dying within the next 20 minutes, being blind still or anything, was to move us and as said especially since the episode was mentioning death quite a bit, including that of Missy.  As well as the Doctor urging Bill to call Penny now and she says he's out of her league.  However he replies she's not and to do it.  Knowing what will occur.  It was almost like the end of time.  The Doctor also not having to read the book as he could listen to the audio on the computer.  Does this mean it doesn't and won't have the same effect of the Doctor wanting, needing, well having to kill himself as he hasn't actually 'read' it.  Also as he tells Bill those people didn't kill themselves but needed to escape.

Then there was Bill's reference to Harry Potter when she sees the size of the library and the Doctor mentioning religion. As well as getting to see that he made his promise to guard the vault for a thousand years.  Though who exactly wanted Missy dead isn't revealed at this stage.

With Nardole also telling him River had him followed from Mendorax Dellora, where the 2015 Christmas Special was set, The Husbands of River Song.

Most importantly perhaps was how the Doctor explains he may have also messed up his future regenerations, leaving us thinking...since "something is coming, something big and very bad."  Said creatures known as 'Monks'.  What else really considering we've had the Pope and the Vatican.  Well speaking of shadows, had pangs of Silence In the Library here and with River's journal floating around, which the Doctor now kept with him.  So if he wasn't real that journal wouldn't have been real either.  Silly Monks!  Didn't realize that.  More to come as this is meant to be a three-part story, taking us up to episode 8.

Doctor Who 10.5 "Oxygen" Review

                                       
Another ep about being stranded in space and poignant opening words from the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) about "Space: the final frontier, final because it wants to kill us, sometimes we forget that, start taking it all for granted, the suits, the ships, the little bubbles of safety as they protect us from the void but the void is always waiting..."  Not at all like Star Trek, I say sarcastically, ha, but he lectures on the dos and don'ts of what you should do in space, as he draws a nice neat-ish skull on the blackboard!  As if anyone but him is ever going to find themselves in space.  But also cos he misses travelling.  Perhaps one distress call he shouldn't have answered but of course as he said it's the distress call that shows how you react to it that shows your humanity.  Well I paraphrased it quite a bit.  This time Nardole (Matt Lucas) tags along cos he hasn't been doing much of anything lately, but also to remind the Doctor that he has to look after the vault since no one else can do it and he promised.  Telling him he took out the fluid link from the TARDIS, however he's got the real one, so they can still travel. Reminding us too that the Doctor lies.  Just incase you'd forgotten.

Another episode of course where they have to do a lot of running around on the space station outpost after everyone has been killed due to lack of oxygen in their suits and become walking zombies. Known as Chasm Forge, a copper mining community and as is explained by ?? they have a helluva lot of mining to do before they make any profit.  Which should've sent warning bells sounding since they wouldn't be making much money and having 40 people there too.  Thus a new commodity, oxygen.  The life force of most every living creature on the planet and most definitely in space.  Out of 40 people only 4 survived and he must find them since Bill (Pearl Mackie) and Nardole wanted to leave.  Don't know why they feared being there, Bill and Nardole that is, not like they haven't been through anything worse than this.  Though as a consequence of saving Bill, the Doctor suffers again. This time going blind, which he says is temporary.  As her suit malfunctions quite a lot.  Funny it should be hers and no one else's.

Some more references to discrimination and racism since the blue person, Dahh-Ren (Peter Caulfield) calls Bill a racist.  Her replying she's the one who goes through it.  Nardole adding "some of my best friends are blue-ish" in that typical 'I'm not a racist fashion, but I am really' people do!  As well as Abby (Mimi Ndiwini) being rather uppity and not letting the Doctor do what he has to without questioning him. He was there to rescue them after all.  Finding that the station is based on capitalism and money. Having to pay for the oxygen they use up.  Then having their suits depleted of oxygen.  As they run about from section to section, the Doctor demands to know what happened and needs a map of the station.  Obviously they would be chased by the suits, again for money.  Nardole saying he recognizes the voice of the Bill's suit as Emma, who is now Velma.

As the zombie chase ensues with the zombies after them to kill them, the Doctor realizes it wasn't about a hack or malfunction, the suits deliberately deprived the wearer of oxygen and the depleted oxygen was put back so that it could be sold off again.  And as each section they escape to is by the zombies, they enter the air hatch but they need proper helmets to withstand the pressure outside, as they'll be exposed to the vaccuum of space. Obviously Bill's helmet can't be placed on her head (why was Bill a target?  Just cos she got pot luck with that suit, the luck of the draw.  But she also flashes back to her mother's photo from last ep.)  As she can't move her arms.  The Doctor and Nardole tell her not to breathe deep as she'll explode her lungs and as she begins to pass out, she comes too and is okay.  Nardole telling her that the Doctor gave her his helmet, as he would and has suffered blindness as a consequence.

He has to struggle on as he always does and finally gets an idea, he plugs all five of them into the station supply, thus he explains they will die but it is better to die like this.  As he tells Bill he has to leave her stranded with the zombies since her suit won't let her move and cos of the gravity she can't be carried.  He tells them there's no rescue ship and the ship was dispatched before their distress call, which Ivan (Kieran Bew) confirms.  Thus effectively it's their replacements that are being sent out now.  More commodities for payment.  Actually they were seen as organic and their suits telling them to "please remain calm whilst your central nervous system is disabled."

The Doctor tells the zombies they can't kill them otherwise the whole station will explode and it will cost them more to lose the station than it will to keep them alive.  So the zombies give them their own oxygen and Bill didn't die really.  He soldiered on with "no TARDIS, Sonic screwdriver, ten minutes of oxygen left and now I'm blind."  The Sonic being bent out of shape when the zombie got hold of it and it clung to him.  And the TARDIS being on the other side of the airlock, as it would be.  He drops Abby and Ivan off at head office since they're going to complain.

He tells Nardole he can't see and the TARDIS couldn't fix his eyesight.  But what of his guarding the vault now.  (Yes sneak peak of Missy at the end!!)  As Nardole is worried whatever's in there will pick up on his disability.  Probably seeing (sorry) he's not strong enough to control it.  Does this signal the start of his regeneration since his eyes are damaged.  Or is it more a reflection on his inability to regenerate with his eyes not being restored.

Written by Jamie Mathieson, who also wrote the excellent eps, Mummy On The Orient Express, Flatline and The Girl Who Died.  But my fave one was the mummy ep and this was similar in many ways as the Mummy on the train.  As for the Star Trek references, there's also another cool part where the Doctor and Nardole speak of how the doors should sound when they open and Nardole refers to the "shuck, shuck" just like Enterprise!  But the Doctor prefers the 'whoosing'.   Nardole also admitting he does have a criminal past as he was on the run with his girlfriend, Emma and he got his 'new face' too.

Impressive speeches by the Doctor about "the end point of capitalism" and how this is it.  "A bottom line where a human life has no value at all.  We're fighting an algorithm, a spreadsheet...we're fighting the suits"  Since that was a not so subtle reference, well metaphor,  to corporations rather than the spacesuits.  He said similar last ep about humanity and seems to be quite a theme this series.

Next ep reminds me Silence In the lIbaray what with River's journal, Missy too and the vast amount of books in the Vatican.  How will the Doctor fare without his sight?

Once Upon A Time 6.20 "The Song In Your Heart" Review

                                                    
OUAT's musical episode and I have to say it was much better than I expected it to be, though some did leave a little to be desired with their singing,  (yes Emma and Reggie was a little 'deep' at times) but did an amiable job!  Infact Regina (Lana Parilla) kinda reminded me of Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd for some reason, but then I heard Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) sing and I thought he was more a Johnny sound alike for some reason, or perhaps it was just me (as always!  ha).  As Colin told TVLine, "just as the show takes those sort of characters that everybody knows and makes them fresh and new, in a sense that's what happened [with the music.]"

This one went back to the curse but also to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) when she was an orphan and her humming the Once tune, Emma's Theme,  into the recorder.  Okay don't want to boast here but knew that music and that tune would have an impact on her years later and as a piece of foreshadowing earlier on it did work, since it was always in her heart, hence the title.  So expected that would happen and the way Henry (Jared S Gilmore) kept looking at the tape recorder, and they kept showing it too.  Strange that Emma should bring it out now.  Also how the book depicted that page where the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) visited Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) and gave her the gift of song so she wouldn't be alone.

The songs going back to the time of the curse and how Snow and Charming just began singing one day after Snow wishing upon the star and finally thinking they had a way to defeat Regina: with a song.  Though she didn't like the singing aspect of it, Reggie as the Evil Queen did get fully into the musical swing of things.  Snow and Charming wanting passage to her castle and looking for Hook to do it.  Clearly he was still focused on getting revenge on the Crocodile (funny they didn't know that the crocodile was the Dark One until he said it.)  Still it was a fitting song of Revenge Is Gonna be Mine, cos that's what he had in his heart.  Then as Hook also confronts Rumples (Robert Carlyle) back in Storybrooke with the dreamshade and yet Rumple's still managed to bounce back and steal the curse remedy that Regina had concocted along with Zelena's (Rebecca Mader) help.  Thinking she can turn back time, it's always about time as the clock tower will strike 6 and the curse will be let loose as the final battle between Emma and the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) will ensue.

Though once again the Black Fairy gets one over on Emma as she freezes all her loved ones and she tells her she's been listening to them on her magic ball.  Emma's powers once again being lost as her hand freezes and trembles again.  It takes Henry to convince her that she can do this, but she decides the Black Fairy wants her heart so she will give it to her and then Henry won't be alone and she will have saved everyone as the Saviour.  But as the Saviour that's not up to her, she has to do everything she can to save the world, (or just Storybrooke) but it doesn't mean easily giving in to self sacrifice. Of course spoilt sport Rumples didn't sing!  As did none of the other cast aside from the main characters.

Zelena had a catchy song as the Wicked Witch, you see "Wicked Always Wins!"  Hey I said wicked too and then she sang it.  Giving a spell to Regina that would make the singing stop. Which Regina uses on the Charming's when they come to confront her.  Expecting to have their way and win with love, which didn't quite go according to plan.

By now everyone knows by now that Rumples didn't deal with his mother cos he wants to keep his family together.  Also the page appearing for Henry out of nowhere really and he finds that Emma isn't alone and she can have her victory over the Black Fairy but she already takes her heart as Henry plays the tune for her and shows her the page.  Emma bursting into song and realizing they never left her and she always had her parents in her heart.  Thereby bringing them out of their frozen state as the Black Fairy vanishes, but not for long.

So it's a wedding in Storybrooke and Hook finally wore a decent tux instead of that old, white ugly thing!  And yet more singing, this part reminded me of Grease and Charming in his leather pants earlier on! ha.  But after the happy new beginning, all hell breaks loose with the curse finally being released and Emma says no matter where they end up they will be together one day.

                                         
See did this not remind you of Grease?!
Not a bad episode after all as I said and Regina even getting to sing "bitch" in her Love Doesn't Stand A Chance song, will have to listen to those again.  So with the season (or series) finale we have to see if the curse will be the end and if the Black Fairy be sent back to oblivion.  But not if Rumples has anything to do with it.  Also Belle didn't get a song and wasn't even in this ep!

Doctor Who 10.4 "Knock Knock" Review

                                            
Ye olde haunted house ep but not in the sense of ghosts, which made a change.  Though we did get the spooky sounds and creaky floorboards just what you'd expect in an old house.  Another one of those Doctor Who eps where you get the mass of potential Vics, like the hotel ep The God Complex, with Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith) and a few other eps too.  Bill (Pearl Mackie) decides she an d her five friends all need to move in somewhere and can't find a suitable house, until they chance upon one owned by a old codger who's willing to give them all a lease, subject to signing of course.  Which means not only signing away your life, well literally it did, but also everything you own, cos you won't be needing it!  Ha.  Of course Bill was right when she queried why it was being rented dirt cheap, always the case with such properties in real life too.  No it's true, you have to know what you're getting into cos there's not much you can do after you've bought it.

Bill waits for the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) to arrive in his TARDIS so she can move her things, well he can move them and also get a chance to suss something's not quite right with the tower or the house.  The tower being off limits.  Then the trees are moving but there's no winds so he's staying, as she has to introduce him as her grandfather, the Doctor.  But surely they all know him from the uni anyway.  Paul (Ben Presley) has got a bit of a thang for her and asks hr out to the freshers party in     the park, as well as helping her with the boxes.  Pavel's (Bart Suavek) locked himself away with his music, but he's already missing, the first Vic.

Everyone heard noises and some tiny footstep like sounds from the floor above Harry's (Colin Ryan) room.  That sound to me was like someone's false teeth chattering, seriously not insects at all or lice as the Doctor referred to them.  Of course they were wood lice of the alien variety, what else would you find in wood and the walls.  The Doctor's staying for Chinese too as he tries to eat a prawn cracker without too much noise. As the old codger landlord (David Suchet) turns up again with his tuning fork.  There's plenty of things need fixing and the  Doctor is right, so he says he'll get onto that as a landlord cos he can't have them moving out. They haven't noticed Pavel missing since they say he spends ages in his room trying to get used to it.

The house tries to shut them in as the others go to bed, Bill tells Paul that she's into girls and he's not really disappointed cos yeah he wasn't rejected for a fellow bloke!  Though Shireen's (Mandeep Dhillon) into him.  He makes sounds and then he vanished too when they knock on his door and there are knocks back (ha that could've been a pun, sorry!)  Then knocks are heard from all around them and as the doors close they try to find the way into the tower, which had to be behind a bookcase naturally.  Here they find abed and a musical box which Shireen opens, as well as the man's daughter, Eliza (Mariah Gale).

The Doctor and Harry try to stop Felicity (Alice Hewkin) from leaving but she manages to get out through the window only to be swallowed by the tree outside.  The Doctor then discovers the lice, which he thinks could be wood nymphs or triads as he calls them cos it's better than lice.  As the kitchen's infested with them, the Doctor and Harry escape through the lift or rather the dumb butler kinda lift, surprised that worked and is met with the Landlord again.  The Doctor talks about his daughter and how she couldn't be saved but he's a Doctor so he can help.  As Harry runs and is swallowed up in the stairs by the lice, okay alien triads!  Bill and Shireen meet Eliza and she's all wood, anyone think Pinocchio here?  They end up in the tower and the Doctor tells them the story of how he found the insects in the garden and bought them in to show his daughter, which helped her. Asking why a father would bring in insects to her when she was ill.  And what would he be doing pottering around in the garden, maybe some gardening.

The Doctor realizes she's not his daughter but he's her son, since he's older than her but is still younger.  Only a boy would bring in insects from outside to show his mother.  They made her wooden and also the vibrations from the music brings them out, as the Landlord does so now using his tuning fork.  The Doctor tells her she's the parent and she needs to control this now and she makes the insects disappear.  He tells her she needs to see the world outside, after all what's the use of surviving if hes' stuck inside.  Eliza tells him she has to make this right and this is their time to end this.  She brings the others back as they run out of the house and it destroys itself.

The Doctor gets back with takeout as Nardole (Matt Lucas) tells him he doesn't need to go off world since terr are plenty of threats and enemies here.  He tells him to have a break cos he's hungry and he wants to look after the vault now.  Which plays Beethoven's Fur Elise on the piano.  Nardole commenting he put a piano in there.  He tells whatever's inside the vault the story with plenty of death and it begins to play again, this time, Pop Goes the Weasel.  Still can't help but say it just looks like it's all be done before.  As for the 'knock, knock' jokes well, there was one funny bit when the Doctor says what?  Doctor What??  Ha.  Okay maybe it was just me then!

Clearly the Doctor will always be around to solve whatever mystery or event needs to be unfolded even if he drops massive hints for grandfather to leave, he thinks he's too old to be a grandfather, but of course we know that in his 'real' life he is one.  Also how  he needs to be here cos he helps earth as we know.  He also tells Bill about the Time Lords, that's his species and they have big collars.  Bill: "sounds posh, do you wear robes and big hats?"  Although Bill wasn't too curious to know more about them and what happened to them, if anything.  She'd rather just have this time to spend with her flat mates and herself.  Bill does mention the puddle again and the robots, as well as the big fish.

David Suchet was menacing and not a hint of Poirot anywhere (though the little grey cells must've been working overtime!  ha.  Bill is knocked for having Little Mix on her phone and the house was the same one from the ep Blink.  Let's not forget Bill muttering "Indiana Jones" when she was at the bookcase.  Also we got the Doctor's allusion to regenerating here, so that was a bit too timely a mention, saying, "sleep is for tortoises, unless we've regenerated or had a big lunch."  Which would've been a little cryptic for Bill.  But we knew what it meant and means for the future!  Funnily enough or not, the Doctor brings Mexican food back and not Chinese, so who has a penchant for Mexico, though we know the last series had a trip to New Mexico with UNIT and the Zygon
invasion, though Mexico isn't the same thing I know.  Also Rose (Billie Pipe) had a friend named Shireen too.

As for the Landlord saying who wouldn't try to save their mother, a reference to Bill and her own mother.  Sure there's some foreshadowing going on here and scope for an episode with her mother. The Landlord could've been a great spin-off series here with David Suchet in the title role, continuing his dastardly removal of humans! In a little Psycho-esque mode!

Once Upon A Time 6.19 "The Black Fairy" Review

                                     
At least this ep had quite a bit going on.  With Rumples  (Robert Carlyle) using dragon breath to awaken the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) since she's the one who knows where the rest of the wand is and the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) getting agitated cos she knows her dark secret. Obviously we were going to find that out too since it wasn't conducive to have that drag out for weeks, especially nearing the end of the season.  So we get flashbacks to his mother, Fiona/Black Fairy, giving birth to Rumples and always singing a song to him, but not even naming him.  As the Blue Fairy and Tiger Lily (Sara Tomko) arrive, Tiger Lily being his fairy godmother and his protector since Rumples is the Saviour and destined to be a great hero! Of course Fiona wasn't too happy with this since she didn't want to lose him and they shouldn't have told her, with hindsight, cos she really lost the plot when she found this out and not in a good.  She reads all the magic and spells and wants to find the child with the crescent tat who will kill her son.

Tiger Lily tries to stop her since she's here to protect him, but Fiona tricks her into taking her wand and using her powers on herself to become a fairy too.  Yeah it wa s more important to become a fairy than a mother.  Travelling the land looking for the tattooed child born that winter, but not finding them. Also explaining why she kept stealing all the babies!  The Blue Fairy and Tiger Lily interfering again when she wants powers and has a spell to help him, but Tiger Lily finds it's a spell to cast a dark curse.  As they try to stop her, Tiger Lily also gives her the shears to sever her powers and stop this.  As the Blue Fairy arrives to stop her from crushing Tiger Lily's heart.  But Fiona takes the shears and removes Rumples' powers instead.  Knowing that's what she wanted all along.

As the Blue Fairy awakes she tells them wand is at the heart of Storybrooke, which was cryptic so leading the others to look for it.  However, Snow tries to strangle her, was going to say why is Snow's hand on her throat.  Turns out Snow is the Black Fairy and Charming was Gideon (Giles Matthey). So she searches for the wand too but why bother when it's just easier to come out and take the spoils after they've already been found.  Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) the real ones arrive at the clock tower cos it's the heart of town but don't find anything.  'ere Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) was desperate in getting answers from the Blue Fairy as to where the wand was, barely giving her time to  recover let alone open her eyes.  See the Black Fairy got that trick from Reggie about pretending to be someone else!

Regina (Lana Parilla) has Zelena (Rebecca Mader) staying with her now as she tries to assemble a flat pack cot for Robin.  She regrets not having any power and Regina tells he it'll take time to get used to it.  She didn't have any powers for 28 years during the time of the curse.  However she has an idea how she can help during the final battle.  Regina buys her a car so she can leave here when things go wrong and take Henry (Jared S Gilmore) with her.  So he can look after her!  Does Henry still need looking after though, he's old enough isn't he.

They realize the centre of the heart means something different for fairies and that it's at Granny's (Beverley Elliott) who isn't too happy with Regina messing up the lunchtime orders!  Hook and Charming find it under the jukebox and Regina takes it.  However the Black Fairy turns up again and Regina challenges her.  However she can't do much and is about to be taken care of until Zelena arrives and runs her over, making the Black Fairy vanish for now.  Appears it was easier to learn to drive for Zelena when aiming at something.

Rumples finds the way he can see where Gideon's heart is by using Morpheas' sleeping powder.  As he tells Belle (Emilie de Ravin) he must do this and asks if she trusts him.  He takes Gideon and Emma with him.  He tells her he couldn't have her killing the Black Fairy when he wasn't around until he finds his heart.  Ending up in the house where he was born.  Emma telling him she knows what it's like to be an orphan and have no one.  But he tells her it's not the same.  This isn't Gideon's dream but Rumples'.  She wasn't a good mother at all, she didn't even name him.  Seems Rumples doesn't have much of a track record when it comes to women, especially since Milah left him in the lurch too with their son!  He finds Gideon but it's Rumples' basket and Emma says he needs to find out for himself and to do it for Gideon.  Rumples finds out her secret, that he was the Saviour and she took his powers and made him a coward.  Emma tells him he must fight her and not her fight. Obviously it won't turn out that way.  He's not going to kill his mother no matter what he thinks of her.  Oh and as for his father, will he wasn't much of a father, makes you wonder why Fiona married him.  Again the same with Milah too cos Rumples wasn't much of a father, even though he tried to do the right thing by Bae.  Rumples' father being the one to name him, Rumpelstiltskin.

Heading back he's given the wand and he meets with the Black fairy but she convinces him otherwise.  He's not happy she took his powers cos she wanted powers for herself, of course it's the same with him, he could never give up his powers either.  So like mother like son.  Though he does get Gideon's heart back, which he did for him for once but then promptly lies to both Belle and Gideon!  Including the others, as he gives them a shrivelled black heart saying it's her's.  Snow now saying the wedding can go ahead.  How could Rumples not see she was still lying and manipulating him!

Oh no just thought the OUAT musical ep, it's not going to be the wedding?!!  Cos you know, the alternate dream reality ep where Emma was wondering around as a princess singing!
Hook wants Henry as the best man cos they've been through quite a lot.  As the Black Fairy prepares for the showdown and now has Rumpels on her side too.  Seems the meddling fairies had a lot to answer for with their interfering and blabbing!  I mean remember Sleeping Beauty, they couldn't save her either.  Although Cinderella go to go to the ball.  Let's not forget we haven't had Tiger Lily's story yet about how she arrived at Neverland!  Oh and it says plenty about why Rumples' father ended up as Peter Pan.  Thus maybe her story has something to do with him, seeing as the Lost Boys were after her too.  So Rumples could take care of his father, but couldn't take his mother's life!  Yet still lied to his family straight to their faces, so much for wanting to give his son a fresh start.

Ghost Adventures 14.6 "Exorcism in Erie" Commentary

A first for Ghost Adventures (GA) as it ventures into showing an exorcism in the show and it was much needed by the family and especially by Chris.  The last one they touched upon was return to Bobby Mackey's Music World, which was with Zak, but it wasn't filmed.  Which is why he said he understands what Chris was going through here.

At 27.33 the voice says, "who's they?"  Followed by:"three."  
Also there were three of them there at the time: Zak, Billy and Aaron.  Oh boy is my mind working overtime or what??  But could also be a reference to the Holy Trinity! More specifically in context as the next response that comes up is at 28.08 is "ghost".  Again perhaps in reference to the Holy Ghost?? Especially with the, "I'm bleeding" coming through next and the bloody handprint on the wall that wasn't there!  Especially also in reference to Jesus Christ and his bleeding. The stigmata.  Manipulation with the female voice! (Not being flippant but I would've taken a swab for analysis to see what that handprint consisted of.) As well as plenty of mockery!

Crazy energy and evil there in that moment! The hooves sound later on and the horns on the bedposts and they were hot as in hell burning hot!  The hooves though, making its presence known!  Followed by the black mass!

Wow remember Loftus Hall and how the devil came a-calling to that place with his hooves and everything else. Well this GA just brought it right home for real.

At 29.02 the voice says, "I am spirit" Not 'soul'!  It was a "strange voice" as Zak says and it sounds like it has an accent. 

Wasn't intending to write about this ep for various reasons, such as 'oh look am writing at Devil's Hour!'  No, seriously that was a strange one, in actually witnessing the exorcism and how it affected the family who finally got the help they needed for their son.  But more so I was fine watching it, then got chills for some reason and the room felt so cold and legs felt like jelly.  

That dark mist hovering which was only seen by Bill Chappell's Mag Cam or the naked eye, but the photo was validation that it was around.  As well as the Puck with "HourBishopUs."

Wonder why Jay got slapped like that, surely hope it wasn't his tattoos again, but it was manipulating as well as showing its presence towards all of them.  Billy felt anxiety with his increase in heart rate just as Jay did.  (Billy going through similar at King's Tavern.  Luckily this one wasn't as scary for him or as intense.)  Then Aaron falling to the floor like that as well, in the basement, whilst that dark mist was hovering above the stairs.

Seems the only one not affected was Zak, that we know of.  Though he did stand at the top of the stairs where Billy picked up that fluctuation on the EMF detector.  Now how many times did I warn Zak about standing at the top of the stairs!

The horse shoe ending up in the garage, almost like a slap in the face, no pun or insensitivity intended towards Jay and his slap, but it was like those Ouija board's people try to destroy or throw out and they always end up fully intact and back in the house. Connotations towards horseshoe, bad luck but also in reference to hooves! Even the horse shoe was shaped like horns!

The part by the arrow above even looks like it has a goat-y type face on it!

As for the figure on the SLS camera in the bathroom, was that too trying to 'attack' Billy like it did with Jay when it slapped him.  Another figure that appears near, or on, Billy like the Silent Movie Theater ep.   Glad the family got the help they needed and were able to overcome this dark oppression.

Doctor Who 10.3 "Thin Ice" Review

                                                 
London 1814 with the Thames frozen over and leading to the Frost Fair, where the crowds gather and skate plus other stuff, before mysteriously vanishing beneath the ice.  Once again the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) explains to Bill (Pearl Mackie) that the TARDIS involves delicate navigation in terms of negotiation, cos come on how difficult is that to understand first time round!  Too many chips on the brain me thinks.!  She doesn't think they can go out exploring cos of "melanin".  A new way of saying too much colour and she won't fit in. Though they changed outfits and no one gave her a second look. Especially considering they came upon Kitty (Asiatu Koroma) and the other urchins.  This London not being like the movies.

But before that more time to explore and try out the wares.  Pie wares and other such stuff, with the Doctor telling Bill to take a flier and she cautiously steps on the frozen river.  Really anyone would think she's never seen ice before!  Pretty sure it did snow in ep 1!!  Ha.  Once on the ice, the Doctor has the Sonic stolen by Spider (Austin Taylor) and as they give chase, they lose them.  But then they reappear and end up alone on the ice.  Also the Doctor has noticed the green lights under the ice, of course he would so I don't know why she was so surprised.  It is after all what he does! Spider ends up encircled with the green lights which is some sort of bioluminesence and he falls through the hole, with the Doctor just grabbing the Sonic in the nick of time.

Cue Bill's outburst and anger at not being able to save the boy.  Once again we get the question that was unanswered last time (or should that be the question that should never be asked?!)  As she wants to know why he's not angry and didn't try to save him.  The Doctor doesn't have the luxury of outburst he tells her.  He's two thousand years old and doesn't, isn't able to contemplate such emotions.  She then asks if he's ever killed anyone before, cos she's never seen anyone die, the people in the garden last ep, were already dead.  He says he has and it's not about being able to make choices.   Obviously he can't do that since he has to save people whatever that takes.  He tells her more will die unless they find the urchin's hideout.  He kits them out in diving gear a la Jules Verne variety and finds the ice opens up when people are alone.  So Bill is taken under and he jumps in before it closes up.  Here he sees the fish with the green eyes and also the sea creature held in chains. Bill finds Spider's hat.  The sea creature with Smaug's eye!

Kitty takes them to their hideout and he gives pies to the others stolen from the pie maker (Peter Singh). They tell him about a man with a 'drawing on his hand' and he's probably by the docks. They get paid to give out the fliers.  He reads them a story.  They ask the Pieman about the man with the tattoo and he tells them about some men.  Easy way to get out when he was fishing for those bug eyed fish.  Looked so very rubbery and if they had one eye would've been something out of The Simpson's.  The Doctor saying, "laters" to the children in typical Sherlock fashion!! Here the Doctor uses his ID to get in saying he's from Lord Sutcliffe.  Asking the man about the mud, which is fuel he tells them and is made from the human bodies waste after they're fed to the creature.

The meet with Sutcliffe (Nicholas Burns) who comments on Bill being here cos of her colour and the Doctor pops him, after giving her a talk on being diplomatic so they can get answers from him, not two seconds before.  Sutcliffe's all about the money and doesn't really care about humans and humanity, so the Doctor's speech is wasted on him.  "Human progress isn’t measured by industry. It’s measured by the value you place on one life."  They're tied up so they can be blown up when the crowd comes to see the elephant again and he'll have all the fuel he needs.  The Doctor tells Bill to reach for the sonic and he undoes the ropes whilst the tattooed man is wallowed up by the green lights, cos they  respond to sound.  He asks Bill what to do cos he needs an order, as it's her world and her people.  Should he save the creature.  She wants him to.  As she tries to get the people off the ice, the Doctor had time to get into his diving gear and make sure Sutcliffe detonates the charges beneath the ice.  Falling into the cracked ice too.  The creature leaves and the Doctor forges the will so that Perry becomes Sutcliffe's heir, allowing the urchins to live there.

Returning home in time for tea, Nardole (Matt Lucas)  realizes he's gone off world, but the Doctor says he's wearing clothes for here to drink his tea.  As Bill searches for the creature but he directs her to news of Sutcliffe's heir, who was accepted as such.  Nardole hears knocking from the vault.  Let's not hope that the Master's knocking!

Yes it was all seen before.  Remember the creature in space which was the ship Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith) and Amy (Karen Gillan) found themselves on in 5.2 The Beast Below in the Britain of the future.  This time we get the creature in the sea.  Also the Doctor and River (also visited a Frost Fair before as he tells Bill he's been here "a few times."  This was mentioned in A Good Man Goes to War, River (Alex Kingston) tells Rory (Arthur Darvill) how the Doctor took her ice skating and even got Stevie Wonder to sing for her under London Bridge.  Lots of mentions of River, or should I say allusions to River.  Some form of foreshadowing perhaps to seeing her again in the future?   There was a Frost Fair in 1814 and an elephant did walk across the ice pulling in punters.  The Doctor also engaging in some offal eating!  As well as some alcoholic beverages no doubt.    The Doctor read the children the story of The Little Suck-A-Thumb  - Heinrich Hoffman's Strewwelpeter from 1845.
Next week's ep looks more inviting with the mysterious house and none other than Hercule Poirot himself, okay David Suchet!!

Once Upon A Time 6.18 "Where Bluebirds Fly" Review

                                             
An episode that concentrates on Zelena (Rebecca Mader) just to drag the final battle out a little bit longer.  Once again showing she's made mistakes in her past but she'll make them again cos there's a kind of arrogance that comes with being wicked and possessing so much powerful magic.  Beginning with being better than Regina (Lana Parilla) and more powerful and that their mother should've kept her for this reason.  Obviously she was going to come down to earth with a thud.  Anyway as a little girl she's seen as an outcast by the rest of Oz and is considered a freak for her magic.  One day she's helped by Stanum (Alex Desert) who found a nest with an egg in it.  She puts it back finding it was the local bullies who did that.  She makes a friend.

However years later when he needs help cos he accidentally knocked down the Wicked Witch of the North's tree and she turned him in tin.  He needs the crimson heart which will help him become human again.  She doesn't want to help him and as he walks away she agrees, but only to show that she should be feared and her magic is stronger and she fears no one.  When they gets there they meet a lion along the way and frightens him thus becoming the cowardly lion.  Yeah just as I said where's the lion, out he pops!  Ha.  Stanum tells her she needs friends and not to be alone but she doesn't listen.  When they get to the heart, she finds it's worthless and it's draining her magic away so she lets Stanum become tin and suffer as a tin statue.  Taking the heart with her.

In Storybrooke the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) wants Zelena to help her, but she refuses, again thinking she could destroy her withe her magic but she disappeared.  Obviously she's forgotten that the final battle will be with Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and only her.  Regina needs eye of newt, she still hasn't stocked up on that, though last time she told Henry (Jared S Gilmore) to get if from Emma's shed.  This time she goes to the Pawn shop where she finds Zelena has left Robin and has entered the Dwarf mine on her own.  Belle (Emilie de Ravin)  being left to look after Robin. Rumples (Robert Carlyle) still hasn't found away to get the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) her magic back as she's older than him and will know things about his mother.

Henry finds his author powers have made him powerless, he can't write anything, the words vanish. He's been working on what he drew in Regina's crypt.  Charming (Josh Dallas) tells him he should take a break and come back to it, he can't write anything even if he tries he couldn't change anything. Charming thinks he recognizes part of the symbols for a moment.  Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) is busy making wedding plans and interrupts Emma and Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) in their romantic interlude in between making pancakes.  She wants her to have the perfect wedding which wouldn't exactly be at Granny's or the Town Hall cos that's so romantic a setting.  Charming wants Emma to have one in a palace at least cos she's a princess.  Oh enough with the class defined roles already! Ha. They decide, well Emma decides they will have a wedding after the battle cos even if the wedding is about hope, it's best left until then and even if it's not, it will only be shortlived anyway.

Regina finds Zelena and they notice the fairy crystals which are what the Black Fairy has been mining.  Being interrupted by her and Gideon (Giles Matthey) she tricks Zelena into using her powers and turning all of the crystals black and thereby becoming part of dark magic.  She knew Zelena's powers were unstable and that's why she tricked her.  Regina's angry and tells her to go back to Oz cos she has to fix her mess now and tell the Charming's what she's done.  Zelena magics a tornado but she doesn't return.  She tells then to take her power and make it better with the use of the heart.  As the crystals turns back into light they have an idea to wake the Blue Fairy.  Said that minutes ago!!  Belle tells Rumples that they've lost time with their son but she won't let the Black Fairy make them lose anymore time with him.  As Emma uses the crystal on Blue.

As said, a bit of a stretch in getting Zelena to relinquish her powers as it's the right thing to do and to reverse the Black Fairy's magic in feeding off the crystals.  Of course she would be listening in on their plan and Gideon just came across as so weak as usual.  Even if she does have his heart.  He's not so determined anymore as he once was when he first arrived here.  Zelena getting to learn that magic isn't everything and to act before thinking has consequences, as does arrogance.  Can't believe Gideon could keep Regina down like that and she couldn't use her magic on him.  Only know she thought to cover the Blue Fairy with a blanket!  As Zelena and Regina landed on those sacks instead of the ground when they were expelled out of the mine.  No snow and then suddenly the land's covered with snow!  It's magic.  Wish we could get some magic snow here!  Ha.

The title of course being a line from the song Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz.  Suppose the bluebird's nest was shown at Oz, the egg that was rescued.  Did like Zelena's line about the last one who crossed her is peeling bananas with their feet!

Doctor Who 10.2 "Smile" Review

                                             
Getting topical with the ep this week as we find emojis are the future of the world, or the world in our future.  Couldn't help but notice some aspects had been covered before like the bones ground into bread...fe fi fo fum!"  Or a take on Soylent Green.  Turns out there's always a spaceship involved and the destruction of the human race.  Clearly the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) is getting bored of guarding the vault, whilst we still ponder the age old question of 'what's in the vault?'  A bit of a Pandorica mystery me thinks.  As he takes Bill (Pearl Mackie) on a journey to the future (so only fitting at the end they end up not back in their own time, but the past - yeah so how'd that happen?)

Lots of other questions pondered yet again as to why the Doctor does this and is able to do this, interfere in other planets and people etc!  Since he tells Bill he's not a galactic policeman or anything of the nature, as she thinks she's sussed out what the words on the Policebox mean: "assistance immediately given."  She also thinks the seats should be nearer the control panel in the TARDIS which he says is a negotiation with the TARDIS when it comes to flying.  Nah then it'll be too Star Trek-y, we don't need to get comfortable in seats, he's not exactly in there long enough to need them.

Nardole (Matt Lucas) offers to make him a cuppa, but not for her, he's not going to be a slave to humans, but slave to an alien is fine!  Ha.  So the Doctor sees it as his chance to escape the monotony and go exploring and being back in time for tea, as in English tradition.  Ending up on the planet where the workers who live there have been erased since they didn't smile and the emoji badge gave them two tears.  Cos mother died and they needed to grieve but instead had to try and smile.  Well that didn't work.  As the swarm of nanabots, which comes out of the sky and after them.  Knew the storm was actually what the city was made from even before it broke away and chased them.

Then we get the whole exposition about the badges and smiling and the expressions changing, not so much wearing your heart on your sleeve, but wearing your expressions/feelings on a badge on your back.  As the emoji changes with your mood.  Two tears and you're out, it seems, or more likely taken out.  Also having a conversation about the magic haddock and the food, as to why Bill gets one piece of blue jelly on her plate and he gets too.  No it wasn't a sexist food thingy for the future but the Doctor tells her he's got two hearts.  And why not, why one heart he asks?  Algae being the future food source or so she thinks.  Er, did she just eat a piece of human?  And the Doctor saying he's not into fish when she says it smells fishy, but he was into custard and fish fingers, Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith)!

As they set about exploring and the emojis change, finally being chased by the robot with their 'revenge' face, the Doctor takes her back to the TARDIS and returns to blow up the city, cos the colony ship can't be (probably need some Colony Gin now! after this ep! Re The Apprentice!) left to arrive here and suffer this fate.  Of course we get the obligatory bit first, about discovering the garden and how the robots were sent on ahead and had to cultivate and prepare for them.  The twist being the ship was already here and the humans were in cryogenic status.  Then he finds out what happens to the 'skeleton' crew who were meant to get sent here ahead to control the robots.  Which he finds in the cupboard.  So why not burn their remains?  Peter looked good with that skull in his hand, hey I'm sensing a future Hamlet??!!  Of course she's not going to stay behind in the TARDIS.

He shows her the wall and how the swarm is part of the walls, chancing upon the ship as it has nuts and bolts which is what he likes.  That city reminded me of a ship.  (Which is actually the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.)  The ship is reawakened as it senses the presence of humans and he leaves Bill there to read the map and guide him, naturally he doesn't need guidance, but he sees the humans bought everything with them, their little nick knacks.  Even the letterbox!  Bill figures out she can take a photo instead of standing around.  Then she meets the boy that the Doctor saw in the locket he found in the ground.  He wants his mother.  Bill also finding the room with the old woman and the history of what happened to the humans.  Doctor: "Grief! Grief as plague...the Vardies’ job was to maintain happiness, so they identified grief as the enemy of happiness and everyone who was experiencing grief as a problem… A grief tsunami."  They all carked it!
The Doctor realizing that he can't blow the ship up cos the humans are already in there and they all come back to life now.  Taking matters into their own hands with guns, what else, after he "lectures" them about what happened to their families.  The swarm surfaces since they shoot a robot and attacks them, where the Doctor gets the idea of resetting the robots.  Then negotiating on behalf of the humans with the Vardies and the humans.  Asking how much rent they want, cue pound signs!  Yeah that was so human greed induced!!

Oh and the magic haddock: apparently it was akin to Aladdin and the genie in the lamp. With the fisherman getting three wishes and wanting his son back from the war and a hundred pieces of gold. He got his son back, dead and the gold thanking him for his service.  The magic haddock not being able to reverse wishes.  Again the age old story of be careful what you wish for, even if you can't reverse them.  Obviously.  But the Doctor shows at the end how he could reverse them but turning the button on and off on the robot and making them forget their memories of everyone they killed.  That they have feelings, well he killed one then when he three it over the bridge!  So much for Bill asking if he's ever killed anyone, to which we didn't get a reply for obvious reasons!  The magic haddock reminded me of the WW Jacobs story/movie of The Monkey's Paw.  You can't undo a wish, it just gets worse.

Sharp viewers would've caught the David Bowie tribute from Ashes To Ashes as the Doctor tells the Emojibot; "I'm happy, hope you're happy too."  As well as references to Aberdeen and if there's a Scotland in space, well clearly there's everything in space! As well as letting us in on guarding the vault cos " a long time ago a thing happened.  As a result of the thing I made a promise.  As a result of the promise I have to stay on Earth guarding the vault."  But 'I have my moments of escape,' probably one reason why he took on Bill as a student.  The Doctor also warning her to stay away from his browser history, what's he been browsing some more Beethoven tracks?  ha.  (Clara's in the vault!  Well I can speculate!)

This one was just a typical story in a return to the 'older' style eps in some ways even though was typically topical with computers/Internet speak.