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At this point why even review this season of Agents of SHIELD? There's just no point because it's so good and so fun. This episode is full of 80's cliches and winks to the audience and we love it. Which is good because the episode starts off pretty rough and sad following Mack dealing with the reality that his parents are dead and that his younger self and brother are having to be raised by their uncle. 

On top of that, it's really starting to look like the agents are becoming fully ingrained in the history of SHIELD. Mack and Deke being left 1982 seems more like part of the plan (Like Enoch being left in episode 2) than a mistake. Also we're starting to get close to the team having to interact with their own history from the show and we can't wait.

 

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Kriss and Ro are back to review TNT's Snowpiercer. This time we're reviewing episodes 5 - 7 or  as we like to  call it: Melanie you fucking up.

With these three episodes we start to see glimmers of how Snowpiercer devolves into the truly dystopian world we see from the movie. The show is doing a good job of showing us "behind the curtain" and what Melanie is trying to do to maintain not just order but the survival of the human race.  On the surface it may look as if  they're trying to condone her actions but its really showing the audience how good intentions aren't an excuse for evil behavior. We see Melanie spiraling more and more out of control (which is making her more brutal). Melani is making a lot of short term decisions that  give her an immediate benefit but are harming her (and the train) more in the long run. Her decision to override the tribunal's verdict did nothing to put her in the good graces of the Folgers and made her look weaker in front of 2nd & 3rd class.

Bess offers a good contrast to Melanie. Whereas Melanie thinks the ends justify the means to keep her secrets, with Bess we see someone who is starting to make decisions that put her at great risk while benefiting others.

Listen as we review these episodes as well as give some theories on where we think this show can go in relation to the movie. We also discuss how these episodes tie very well into what we're seeing in the world today. 

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Shame what happened to Mack's parents...

We think the Chromicons undersold it when they said they were going to "Play Dirty" going forward. This is just downright evil. It also opens up a lot of questions. Why would the Chromicons replace and kill Mack's parents instead of just killing and replace Mack? What is keeping the Chromicons from attacking the Agents directly?

The answer might come down to Sybil aka, the Predictor. She's clearly got a larger plan in place and not only sees all the threads but all the possibilities happening in the timeline. It also seems like she's basing the changes to the time line on percentages of predictability and maybe killing the agents directly is just too high of a risk. 

This week we got a  bit more information on what's going on with Simmons and some hints as to where Fitz is. Also, there's more and more evidence that at some point we're going to end up back at where we started with all the Agents. Once again proving that the show's tagline of "It's All Connected" is really true.

 

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Documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter joins MTR critics Ro and Joi for a video interview about her latest project John Lewis: Good Trouble that premiering July 3, 2020.

Who is Dawn Porter?

Dawn Porter has a documentary style uniquely suited to walking Representative Lewis to walk through his own legacy.

This isn't the first time she's turned her focus on the work for equal rights. She's turned her lens on the work Black public defenders do fighting for justice in a discriminatory southern legal system in Gideon's Army. Her 2016 film, Trapped, follows the trench war over reproductive rights in states like Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

Porter's skillfully leads her subjects to the heart of the matter in ways that enlighten, humanize and challenge.

Settle in as Dawn Porter fields questions, shares her motivation and the direction for this look at Elder Statesmen John Lewis, and her process for deciding how to approach his legacy. 

Good Trouble is Always Relevant, but Definitely Timely

This interview took place on June 2nd just as people took to the streets and Black people declared they had had enough. In the midst of the swirling upheaval and calls for redress, Good Trouble feels right on time. 

Be sure to check out Ro's review and chat with Joi about the documentary.  

"Good Trouble" will be available on VOD and in virtual cinemas beginning Friday, July 3. Find the Film: https://www.johnlewisgoodtrouble.com/ 

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Giving John Lewis His Due

John Lewis: Good Trouble, like The Pieces I Am did with Toni Morrison, explores the richness of the Elder Statesman's public life through archive footage and present day interviews. This is a look through his eyes at his days in the civil rights movement and beyond. It couldn't come at a better time. 

"we are in a much better place. when I hear people say nothing has changed. I just want to say, come and walk in my shoes..." 

In 2014, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights opened an exhibit focused on the life of John Lewis. It was the chronology of his life as a timeline of change in the United States. In the same vein, this documentary directed by Dawn Porter is about giving Lewis his flowers while he's still walking among us.

But don't expect Porter to cross the line into his personal life.  In terms of a documentary storytelling, leaving the personal costs out unexplored makes for a bit of unevenness. There's plenty of humor, a few glimpses behind the veil, and definitely a broader contextual understanding for his continued optimism to be hand. However, very little - even in this non-linear narrative- that delves into the unknown or unexpected.

This documentary raises as many questions as it answered when it comes to John Lewis. Focus on any less favorable events or periods in his life is few, far between and given very little screen time. Lewis has always carefully protected his home and family. So, it's unsurprising that Good Trouble's lens remains  focused squarely on his public life and persona.  It also silently demonstrates that when John Lewis doesn't wish to be moved, he won't be.  Which in a way, tells its own story. 

A Legacy Still In The Making

 In 2016, Lewis explained his decision to get involvement in the civil rights movement with, “I was inspired [by doctor King and Rosa Parks] to get in trouble. I was inspired to get in the way.” 

So this film stands as a sharp highlight of what it means to get in "good trouble" and why John Lewis continues to answer the call...and why we as a community need to be ready to collectively get in the way as well. 

Shortly before his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. said:

"Now our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know that it's not enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't have enough money to buy a hamburger?" 

As the progressive veneer many state's boast about shreds to nothingness, the severe lack of equity and continued socio-economic vulnerability of Black people in the United States is abundantly clear. John Lewis: Good Trouble is a reminder (or lesson for the unaware) that the steps that lead to change are always deliberate and and methodical. And the next steps to retaining and expanding our rights and protections must be as well. 

John Lewis was more than a man who "marched with King" and Good Trouble does a more than fair job of bringing that fact into focus. It's also clear by the end that this man is far from done putting in work. 

The Evolution of an Activist

By examining Lewis' life and his choices, Porter brings new perspective to not only the path of a movement but the thoughts driving the man. Good Trouble humanizes Lewis in ways that'll send you in search of more information (this well is deep and there is mess), thoughtful about crafting further ways forward, and hopeful about recapturing the mindset that this is a battle for liberation. 

This isn't the usual direction of a documentary nor is it the expected focus on a life lived.  Given the positive focus of the present day interviews,

Kriss is back with another episode of the Insanity Check to cover this this month's dose of insanity in the world. This episde he's joined by Joi.

Topics:

* Covid & Hollywood

* Tenet Delayed Again

* Mulan Delayed Again

* Will we ever see billion dollar box offices again?

* When it comes to Defunding the Police, let's focus on what we agree on not the semantics

* This Season of Earth Jumped the Shark with NASCAR

* Old story but this is why we can't have nice things: Dumpster Parties

* Great Moments in White Privilege

* Snapchat asks to "smile" to break the chains on Juneteeth....

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Nothing like squeezing in one more Character Corner episode at the 11th hour. 

Anyway, Kriss and Dpalm are back with Part 2 of their Captain America Character Corner. In the first episode we covered Steve Rogers and in this episode we cover all the other men that have held the Shield (Minus Sam since we covered Sam a few years ago).

While Steve Rogers was a Golden Age Character that eventually made his way to the Silver Age in Avengers #4, Marvel had published some comics with Captain America appearing in the 50's. Never to let mess continuity get in the way, Marvel decided to give us some interesting characters to fill in those gaps. Some where noble (William Nasland and Jeff Mace). Others...not so much. There's a recurring theme with the replacements of Cap. We go through the good and the bad.

Issues:

* After WWII - What If Vol 1 Issue #4

* William Nasland & Fred davis

* Jeff Mace (Also check out Captain America: Patriot)

* Cap of the 50's

* Captain America #153  - William Burnside & Jack Monroe - First Appearance 

* Captain America #232 - William Burnside returns as Grand Director

* John Walker

* Captain America #323 - First appearance as Super Patriot

* Captain America #333 - Takes over as new Captain America

* Bucky Barnes

* Brubaker Run 

* Captain America: The Death of Captain America Vol 2 (Issues 31 - 36)

* Captain America: The Death of Captain America Vol 3 (Issues 37 - 42)

* Captain America: The Man with No Face (Issues 43 - 48)

* Captain America: Road to Reborn (Issues 49 - 50, 600 - 601)

* Captain America: Two Americas (Issues 602 - 605)

* Captain America: No Escape (Issues 606 - 610)

* Captain America: Trial of Captain America (Issues 611 - 615)

* Captain America: Prisoner of War (Issues 616 - 619)

* Isiah Bradley

* Truth: Red, White and Black

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The Chronicoms told Coulson they were done playing nice and they weren't playing. Having Project Insight start 40 years before it was supposed to brings up a lot of questions. It's one of the reasons why this show is so good and why it's going to be missed. They love to establish rules to get you thinking one way then change them to take us in a whole other direction. We start the season talking about "ripples not waves" when making changes to the timeline but its clear that some waves are definitely happening. From Project Insight to Freddie and his son Nathan still being alive, its now become a question of what how much can change but still result in the Chronicom world being destroyed.

We also have three big questions:

* What's going on with that device in Simmons neck and why was she starting to forget things the longer she was away from Enoch?

* Can Enoch still be trusted?

* Where. Is. Fitz??????

Also we love the throwback SHIELD uniforms. We didn't know we wanted this but we're glad we got it. Now if only a certain show could put a certain scarlet speedster in gold boots....

 

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Join the Best Friends Squad AKA Shanna, The Doctor, and special guests Lance and Bacon, as we discuss the final season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix. We talk about the themes of forgiveness, getting past trauma, and Black Boy Joy. We also address the rumors of a She-Ra movie and talk about what we'd like to see if Noelle Stevenson and her amazing crew decide to continue Adora's story. 

Check out the audio podcast here and for all the hilarious outtakes watch the full video of our conversation on Facebook.

You can catch our special guest Bacon on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/thebaconzilla

and on the Unreasonable Fridays podcast and for more Black Boy Joy follow Lance at @RealLanceLowe on Twitter. 

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Well apparently Dpalm writes for Agents of SHIELD now because he was absolutely right about this show was going to do with Daniel Sousa. What's so great about Agents of SHIELD is that they always drop hints as to what they're going to do. They told us a couple episodes ago that removing someone from the timeline could effectively be like killing them and not messing up the timeline and now we have 1955 Daniel Sousa time hopping with the other Agents of SHIELD. How can you not love this show?

Also, we're really coming full circle here with SHIELD vs Hydra. It's really exciting to see where this ends up. There's two big questions: 1. where in the present do the Agents end up and 2. Where is Fitz!?!?

It will also be interesting to see how what's happening with YoYo and May ends up tying everything from last season together. This show is so good.

 

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