‘We Interrupt This Program’ is a bad episode of television.
As part of an ongoing narrative, it barely hangs togethers and fails to advance
the story. However, it is excellent at finally realizing a near-decade old
promise that everything in Marvel Cinematic Universe is connected. And that
opens up the MCU beyond WandaVision in a brand-new way, no matter what
the next five episodes of this show hold.
Full Spoilers for ‘We Interrupt This Program’ follow. You have been warned.
Hey y’all. We’ve got some interesting news to check out this
week. One thing I didn’t have a lot to write about was the whole Xbox Live
price fiasco. I just think it’s funny they tried to double the price of a
service that should be free and got bullied by the internet so hard they
reverse the decision and decided to make it so free-to-play games no
longer required paid XBL—something I was unaware of because no other console or
service would do that. I laughed. A lot.
Anyway, onto the news!
Hey y’all. Welcome to the penultimate 2020 Year In Review installment.
I have already tackled the best
movies and best
comics of 2020 so you should check those out if they interest you. Like with
this list, you are not going to find the consensus picks (although the comics
one gets close at times). That is mostly because I did not watch much TV in
2020. It just was not where my focus was. Said focus will be explored in Sunday’s
finale about the best video games of 2020.
I want to give a special shout out to Black Lightning,
a fantastic series that would likely be on this list if I was able to finish
the third season before publishing this post. While it is not my favorite of
the Arrowverse shows, it is likely the best and has been for some time. The
upcoming fourth season will be it’s last and y’all only watch one of Arrowverse
shows, it should be that one.
Anyway, Let’s get to the list!
Honorable Mentions: Arrow, Riverdale, His Dark Materials, Euphoria, BNA, Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist
In it’s first two episodes, WandaVision was a charming
homage to the comedies of days gone by with hints
of a sinister secret lurking just beneath the surface. That is an extremely
difficult balance to keep so it should not be surprising this episode fails to
keep the balance. The exact way that happens, and the events that occur keep
this episode firmly planted in the realm of good television, but it is not as
strong as its predecessors.
Full Spoilers for ‘Now In Color’ follow. You have been warned.
Hey y’all. We have such exciting news today! Nothing out of
the ordinary, but it hit me midway through writing this post how excited I am
about the goings-on at DC Comics. I haven’t been this interested in what they
are doing since 2016, maybe longer. That’s not to say I haven’t been excited
about individual comics, but the overall direction of the line has been
middling at best. As a DC GuyTM, this has me basically vibrating
with joy. 2021 seems like it will be a good year there. Maybe even as good
Marvel seems like they will have.
Anyway, let’s take a look at the news!
Hey y’all. Welcome back to the 2020 Year in Review. Today we’re taking a look at movies. It was a somewhat strange list to compile as I realized most movies, I watched last year were not from 2020. There are some that I want to watch but have not been in the right headspace for. Mank is not exactly a movie I can just sit down and watch whenever. That does mean that my list is likely going to be unlike any other you read. Plus, it turned into an accidental Top 5, which is convenient.
Without further ado, let’s take a look!
Honorable Mentions: Sonic The Hedgehog, Wonder Woman 1984
WandaVision is such a delightful show thus far. I did
not mention it in the first episode, but both episodes released thus far begin
with a delightful opening number and credits. In my
review of ‘Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience’, I likened it to an episode of Bewitched, but
this episode has an even more Bewitched-esque plot and it’s opening is a
pitch perfect homage to that show. There is a much greater focus on Wanda’s witchy
powers here, culminating a moment that subtly lays out the themes and general
plot of the coming installments.
Full Spoilers for ‘Don't Touch That Dial’ follow. You have been warned.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not released a new entry since 2019’s disappointing Spider-Man: Far From Home. Honestly, that break is exactly what was needed. Following up Spider-Man with what appears to be a paint-by-numbers, rote sendoff for Scarlet Johansson and Black Widow would have been the worst possible step into the “future” of the MCU. Instead, Disney is kicking off 2021 with WandaVision, finally giving a spotlight to two of the worst used characters in the franchise. If the premiere is anything to go by, this is the perfect next step for the biggest movie franchise ever.
Hey y’all! Welcome to 2nd Anniversary Celebration
of Defender of the Multiverse! I cannot believe it’s been that long since I
started this blog. It’s come so far in that time and I’ve been able to do so
many fun things in that time. Before talking about those, I want to thank
everyone that reads this blog, whether its regular or not. It means a lot that
y’all are even vaguely interested in what I think about the various topics I
cover. It really does make it all worth my while.
Now, let’s take a quick look back at some of the best pieces
published here this year:
I cannot tell y’all enough to read
my Power
Rangers: Ranger Slayer #1 review.
I think it was the best thing I wrote all year and am extremely proud of it.
If Ranger Slayer was not my
best piece of writing, it was the Batman:
Three Jokers #1 review. That comic
made me feel some type of way. Writing that review also helped me solidify what
I find lacking the Joker as a character (outside some very specific stories).
One of the coolest things I did
this year was cover The Mandalorian weekly. While I did not like most
the episodes, I had fun writing about the parts I did like and explaining why
didn’t like certain aspects. The second
season premiere review, in particular, provided a great place to explore
that.
Earlier in 2020, I wrote about the
end of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It was mostly about the series as whole
but had a focus on the finale and the ways that affected various thematic
threads of the series.
Finally, we have the best title I wrote
all year: ‘Final
Fantasy VII Remake Is Incredibly Horny’. It really says all you need to
know, but if you’d like more details, give it a read. It was a great joy to
write and it has some of my thoughts of a games that may or may not appear on
my Best Games of 2020 list.
But that’s enough about last year, let’s talk about the
exciting plans for this year. First up, I
promised a Summer of Shinkai last year but was unable to do it for a
variety of reasons. That changes in 2021. It will be happening, and I could not
be more excited to do a deep dive into one of my favorite director’s catalogue.
Next, I’m launching a Kingdom Hearts 20th
Anniversary celebration. Kind of. The anniversary isn’t until 2022, but that’s
beside the point. In 2021, I am going to return to my KH Retrospective series.
First, I am redoing the retrospectives I did do because I don’t like them. They’re
bad. I will finish them this time, going all the way through Kingdom Hearts:
Melody of Memory. I also intend to write a number pieces spotlighting and
examining various aspects of the series. These will continue into 2022 and
right up to the release of (unofficially) announced game coming that year. This
is the most ambitious thing I have attempted on this site and I hope y’all enjoy
it.
Finally, I want to branch out a bit. I write a lot about
comics and video games, with the occasional movie review. This year I want to
expand into more video game coverage. That could range from reviews to something
more like ‘Final Fantasy VII Remake Is Incredibly Horny’ where I look at an
interesting aspect of a game. I also want to look at more movies in a similar
way. Sometimes it will be reviews, but sometimes I will be drilling deeper into
specific aspects of said movies.
That’s all the announcements I have. Again, I want to thank everyone so much for the support you have given, whether by commenting, reading, or sharing what I have written. It means so much to me that I struggle to conjure words to express it. I hope this next year is even better!
Thank you everyone,
Alex
Hey y’all. We have a lot of interesting news this week. From
Tv to movies to comics to video games, this one really runs the gamut.
I haven’t been as consistent as I wanted to be with posting
this week, but some
wild stuff has been going on. Next week should be back on schedule. There
will be two (maybe three) more posts this week though, so look forward to that.
And WandaVision is this week, so Saturday will see the beginning of
coverage for that. Its gonna be big time.
Without further ado, let’s jump in!
Hey y’all. Welcome the first installment of the 2020 Year In Review series. This is a weekly(ish) series going through the end of this month, each installment covering a different topic. Today, we’re doing the best comics of the year. These are organized in a loose order from 10-1 but that’s mostly for organizational purposes as most are too close to call.
An interesting thing I realized when assembling this list is
that most the indie comics I read this year were from the early 2010s when I
wasn’t really reading indies. So only two made the Honorable Mentions. I also
want shout out Far Sector. I read the first four or so issues in 2019
and they were excellent. I really struggled to read it month to month though as
I just wanted more so I decided to let it build up and I’ll plow through it all
at some point. If I had read it, it would likely have made this list though.
Honorable Mentions: Ghosted in L.A., Go Go Power Rangers, Seven Secrets, The Flash
‘Last Holiday’ follows a classic Supernatural template. There is something that has been hanging around as a normal part of the show and we learn about its secret use/history. That thing is, unexpectedly, the bunker this time. Plus, it is a comedic episode. Unfortunately, I did not much care for this episode.
‘Destiny’s Child’ has one of the strangest mcguffin quests I have ever seen. From the outset, our protagonists are not told what they are looking for. Nor even if it is a thing or a place. All they have is a name: Occultum; which is just Latin for “having hidden”. Luckily for viewers, this episode is more of a showcase for the supernatural women of Supernatural than a focus on the mcguffin.
Hey y’all. It’s been a while since there’s been an official
Blog Update as I’ve been doing updates at the beginning of News Roundup pieces.
Well, there wasn’t enough news this week to do one of those so we’re doing a more
traditional update. It’s just a couple quick but important things.
The first is that, as announced in Monday’s
Comic Reviews, Featured Reviews were planned to go on hiatus. Unfortunately,
the weekly Comic Reviews are going on hiatus as well. I had a huge expense come
up and that is drained a lot of spare funds I had. Those reviews are not
typically my most popular posts (although sometimes they are), but I enjoy
writing them a lot. I may write a few reviews based on the older comics that I
have, but this is an extremely busy month for me, and I have some other plans
for those holes in the schedule.
Before getting to that, I would like to remind everyone
about the Patreon
and Ko-fi. If you like what I do
here, I urge you to support those ways. Those links are always at the top of
the page. Of course, if you are not financially able to support, don’t. But if
everyone that reads this supported with $1 per month, it would revolutionize
the site by allowing me to cover a more diverse set of topics and improve the website
itself. Those are the goals on the Patreon right now and I would love to be
able to do more for y’all, but I need some help with it.
First is that I’m moving up my 2020 Year In Review series.
Like last year, I am going to list the best of a number of subjects (movies,
comics, video games, and TV series). They will be happening weekly now instead
of crammed into the short span of time I had planned. That starts Friday.
While that series is the biggest change, it still leaves a
few openings. As of now, I plan a Tenet review for one of those but that
may wait for some time later this year. Speaking of this year, next Thursday is
the third anniversary of Defender of the Multiverse! I’m going to put out a
celebratory post that day that will also include some of the plans I have for
the next year. So, look forward to that.
Those are the important updates for today. As always, feel
free to contact here or on Twitter.
I do really appreciate everyone that takes time to read this and any other post
I do. It means a lot to me. I’ll catch y’all tomorrow for the next Supernatural
review>
Much Love,
Alex
Hey y’all. We’ve got a small set of comics here, but they’re
both really interesting. Interesting in very different ways, but interesting
nonetheless. I do want to announce that the Featured Review posts are
officially going on hiatus. I haven’t posted any for a couple weeks because I
have been insanely busy and that is only going to intensify the next few weeks,
so I decided to designate a relaxation day, or I won’t stop moving. Plus, I’m
not sure how many comics the next few weeks will be something I want to write
about. The plan is still to have five or six posts a week though, so look
forward to that.
Anyway, we’re all here to talk about comics. I read a couple other comics this week. The best one is The Wicked + The Divine, which I might write about sometime. I recommend everyone at least give it a try. The other notable ones are covered below so we might as well jump in!
If you like what you read here, consider donating to my Patreon or Ko-fi to
help cover costs and improve the site.
‘The Gamblers’ finally, finally answers one of my longest-held questions: If God exists, why are there gods and what purpose do they serve? That is not, at all, the point of this episode but it is what I latched onto most. That and the Winchesters got their plot armor back—functionally, not literally. Now they can get back finding a way to defeat Chuck.
If you like what you read here, consider donating to my Patreon or Ko-fi to
help cover costs and improve the site.
‘Galaxy Brain’ opens with Chuck monologuing to a small electronics store employee and we are once again thrown into the Meta Dimension. He talks about how he caught the creation bug and started making other universes after the main one—confirmed here as the OG—with different versions of the same characters in different scenarios. Unfortunately, playing in those sandboxes with those toys does not make him happy. Only our regular cast does. They are the “real” versions. So, he decides it is time to start tying up loose threads, failed spinoffs, etc. He is referring to the other Earths, but, as always, he is also acting as the writers’ mouthpiece because this episode resolves the plots setup in the backdoor pilot for Wayward Sisters two seasons ago.
