Paul and Caroline Daley review TV - Handmaid's Tale | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | This Is US | Westworld | Stranger Things

We're going to cheat on the last two episodes, but only a little. If you could through episode 7 and NOT turn on episode 8, you have far greater restraint than anyone I've met. Episode 7 was shorter than the rest and ended on a major cliffhanger (RIP Castle Byers!). It was perfectly built for episode 8 to snuggle right up against, all comfy-like.

Since that's how the shows were made, that's how we made our podcast. In this fine recording, you get our recap and analysis of Stranger Things episode 7: The Bathtub and Stranger Things episode 8: The Upside Down back-to-back, binge style.

Where do start on this one? Everybody's got to come together one last time and they get there in grand anti-ET style. Try to avoid seeing 11 flip that van out of context because seeing her do it the moment is very satisfying. She's not content to just get away. She wants Brenner to be sorry he tried to catch her again. It's great.

Where do end up? The least likely of all worlds given where we start: a happy Byers household.

Dig in and see how get there!

We're going to cheat on the last two episodes, but only a little. If you could through episode 7 and NOT turn on episode 8, you have far greater restraint than anyone I've met. Episode 7 was shorter than the rest and ended on a major cliffhanger (RIP Castle Byers!). It was perfectly built for episode 8 to snuggle right up against, all comfy-like.

Since that's how the shows were made, that's how we made our podcast. In this fine recording, you get our recap and analysis of Stranger Things episode 7: The Bathtub and Stranger Things episode 8: The Upside Down back-to-back, binge style.

Where do start on this one? Everybody's got to come together one last time and they get there in grand anti-ET style. Try to avoid seeing 11 flip that van out of context because seeing her do it the moment is very satisfying. She's not content to just get away. She wants Brenner to be sorry he tried to catch her again. It's great.

Where do end up? The least likely of all worlds given where we start: a happy Byers household.

Dig in and see how get there!

This was an entertaining episode to watch, but it should give you some pause for some brain-thinking. Who cares about BB? Morgan does, but who cares about Morgan? The audience? I think we're indifferent to her/them. So why spend a whole episode on BB choking up his own guts?  There's something we're supposed to learn here. The most accessible part of the lesson is that something having to do with the Hosts is radioactive and harmful to us. We saw a guy in the factory get dragged off last season when he started to cough up blood. Being a worker at the factory, it's safe to assume he was waist-deep Host-iness. Now we have BB, simply fiddling with alien tech also coughing up blood. OG-Morgan (last season's) said something to the effect of, "are the host's suits protecting them from us, or us from them." I think we're getting that answer this episode. It may be too bad for the Bowmans that they burned their one doctor friend on trying to save BB.

Also, the bookend scenes should give you a creepy shudder. German goons storm a refugee-looking camp to find Simon's mom. At the end of the episode, Simon sees her face on a wanted poster (well, several of them) on the other side of the world in the LA bloc. The Authority wants Simon off the board -that- bad. Maybe that put a fresh light on Broussard's command that he should stay put in their bunker (especially considering the posters, found right outside his door, were probably hung by red hats).

Like I said, an entertaining watch, but Team Daley was left with one huge, unanswered question: Who was watching the kids!?! The fired Lindsey and both parents were gone the whole day!

Now we've got all the players back on the board. They may not be as close together as they'd like (we're all looking at you, Bram), but all Bowmans are definitely taking turns at playing games.

Will: Will got a new partner this week in one-time Jennifer investigator, Bob Burke. Bob wasn't putting on an act for Jennifer's benefit apparently. He must always act like that. Although being the "good soldier" is Will's only play right now, the department he returned to only resembles the one he left because they inhabit the same space. Question of the week: Now that Will has to bow down to a new dress code, do you think they'll make him cut his hair?

Kate: So much for being the "good citizen" half of Team Bowman. I guess throwing your state appointed tutor out of the house isn't technically bad citizenship, but it may be bad colonist...ship. The big questions surrounding Katie's erratic behavior revolve around where the heck WAS she? Both awkward Charlie/Lindsey interactions came while Katie was away or busy. I don't want to stick up for a weirdo like Lindsey unnecessarily, but was she -really- out of line for asking a child that was distracting her student to go be busy elsewhere? If we enforced Katie's rule today, teachers would be getting booted left and right.

Broussard: Still hanging out with Team RoboBee (emphasis on the BO). I would so hate these guys if I were him. They must still have some future story importance, because Broussard would be better off without them. Plus, why go through the trouble and expense of hiring a known actress like Thora Birch (Morgan last season), just to replace her? Weird.

Proxy / Bram: Proxy needs to learn a little subtlety when it comes to showing Bram favoritism. It's so obvious Maya noticed it and force Bram to reveal his snitch status. It is interesting to wonder though, is Bram working for Proxy (for real), or is he working for Maya (bad move)?

Now we've got all the players back on the board. They may not be as close together as they'd like (we're all looking at you, Bram), but all Bowmans are definitely taking turns at playing games.

Will: Will got a new partner this week in one-time Jennifer investigator, Bob Burke. Bob wasn't putting on an act for Jennifer's benefit apparently. He must always act like that. Although being the "good soldier" is Will's only play right now, the department he returned to only resembles the one he left because they inhabit the same space. Question of the week: Now that Will has to bow down to a new dress code, do you think they'll make him cut his hair?

Kate: So much for being the "good citizen" half of Team Bowman. I guess throwing your state appointed tutor out of the house isn't technically bad citizenship, but it may be bad colonist...ship. The big questions surrounding Katie's erratic behavior revolve around where the heck WAS she? Both awkward Charlie/Lindsey interactions came while Katie was away or busy. I don't want to stick up for a weirdo like Lindsey unnecessarily, but was she -really- out of line for asking a child that was distracting her student to go be busy elsewhere? If we enforced Katie's rule today, teachers would be getting booted left and right.

Broussard: Still hanging out with Team RoboBee (emphasis on the BO). I would so hate these guys if I were him. They must still have some future story importance, because Broussard would be better off without them. Plus, why go through the trouble and expense of hiring a known actress like Thora Birch (Morgan last season), just to replace her? Weird.

Proxy / Bram: Proxy needs to learn a little subtlety when it comes to showing Bram favoritism. It's so obvious Maya noticed it and force Bram to reveal his snitch status. It is interesting to wonder though, is Bram working for Proxy (for real), or is he working for Maya (bad move)?

In this episode, entitled "The Monster":

Nancy and Jon get the crap scared out of them in the woods, have a slumber party, and then decide go shopping for some items that would probably put them on a watch-list had they done so today.

Chief Hopper and Joyce are out of town questioning a comatose Terry Ives when Jonathan cleans Steve Harrington's clock. Luckily, Terry's sister is chatty and well informed.

11 gets hungry after being a little hard on herself after the fight at the scrapyard. She uses illegally obtained Eggo waffles to ease the pain.

Lucas goes on a solo recon mission to Hawkins Labs and sees a small mobilization of guys that look like trouble for his friends.

Dustin and Mike learn the true meaning of friendship when 11 saves their butts from getting tossed into the quarry or carved up with a pocketknife. As Dustin says, "She's our friend and she's crazy!"

The bullies learn the true meaning of telekinesis as 11 uses it to break their arms and push them around.

In this episode, entitled "The Monster":

Nancy and Jon get the crap scared out of them in the woods, have a slumber party, and then decide go shopping for some items that would probably put them on a watch-list had they done so today.

Chief Hopper and Joyce are out of town questioning a comatose Terry Ives when Jonathan cleans Steve Harrington's clock. Luckily, Terry's sister is chatty and well informed.

11 gets hungry after being a little hard on herself after the fight at the scrapyard. She uses illegally obtained Eggo waffles to ease the pain.

Lucas goes on a solo recon mission to Hawkins Labs and sees a small mobilization of guys that look like trouble for his friends.

Dustin and Mike learn the true meaning of friendship when 11 saves their butts from getting tossed into the quarry or carved up with a pocketknife. As Dustin says, "She's our friend and she's crazy!"

The bullies learn the true meaning of telekinesis as 11 uses it to break their arms and push them around.

Not this season's best episode, but a serviceable one for a necessary situation.

The Bowmans had to have a reunion. They had to lay their respective cards on the proverbial table (although we're not at all sure that Katie has come completely clean). We endured a lot of soap opera-style recapping of events from both recent episodes and last season. As faithful viewers, we kind of hate having to sit through too much of that. What made it endurable was: Will did let give in to Katie and her loser ways -and- the cold open plus Jennifer's story.

The cold open gave us a brief glimpse at what else is going on in the world. In a way, Jennifer's eternal reluctance to turn in Will and his family is sending ripples through the bureaucracy that are being felt and voted on at the highest levels. She just knows her jerk boss has it in for her, not that she might get them all "rendered". But it sure is fun for us to know it.

Not this season's best episode, but a serviceable one for a necessary situation.

The Bowmans had to have a reunion. They had to lay their respective cards on the proverbial table (although we're not at all sure that Katie has come completely clean). We endured a lot of soap opera-style recapping of events from both recent episodes and last season. As faithful viewers, we kind of hate having to sit through too much of that. What made it endurable was: Will did let give in to Katie and her loser ways -and- the cold open plus Jennifer's story.

The cold open gave us a brief glimpse at what else is going on in the world. In a way, Jennifer's eternal reluctance to turn in Will and his family is sending ripples through the bureaucracy that are being felt and voted on at the highest levels. She just knows her jerk boss has it in for her, not that she might get them all "rendered". But it sure is fun for us to know it.

How do you like your Devon? Pulp? Or no pulp?

Episodes like this one are fun to watch. A little heartbreaking, sure, but still fun. Alas, poor Devon. We hardly knew her. She never Landoed Will, like I was suspecting she would. She helped him out, kept on eye on his flight-risk kid, and taught him how to survive in Santa Monica. Now, she's just one bloody smear among many on the Santa Monica side of the wall. You can't get too attached to mentor-ish characters in Colony. They don't last.

Although Colony's propensity for dispensing with mentors remained consistent, we also experienced a pleasant change this past week in the form of Katie taking some responsibility for her actions. Well, kind of. She really passes the buck to Jennifer on whether or not she's actually held accountable. That is, if Jennifer can bring herself to turn in a grieving mother and maybe widow. Nice way to back into responsibility. "If you say I am, then I will be."

I for one loved to see former Proxy Snyder in action and with a little of his old swagger back. The office desk on the far side of a concrete room is classic Snyder. One way or another, he is not staying in the prison any longer than he has to.

Next week it looks like Katie and Will have a much needed come to Jesus moment - under the watchful eye of Jennifer and Homeland Security. Can't wait to see how that turns out!