TV Show Review: WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 8)

WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 8)
Jan 15, 2021
Executive Producers: Jac Schaeffer, Kevin Feige
Starring: Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Teyonah Parris
Episodes: 8
Genre: Action & Adventure
Based on: Scarlet Witch; by Stan Lee; Jack Kirby;
TV Network: Disney+
 “Previously On...” is the eighth episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. 

Wanda embarks on a troubling journey revisiting her past for insight into her present and future.

Break out the tissues, folks, because Wandavision is gonna break your heart.

This week's episode is finally showing us what happened to Wanda after the events of Endgame, and the answers aren’t pretty. Wanda is forced to face reality via a therapy-like session conducted by big bad Agatha Harkness. While Wanda is forced to revisit the painful events in her past, Agatha is fishing for information on how Wanda could manipulate such a large area with the people in it. By the end of the episode, we have some answers and more questions. 

This is also the first episode that doesn’t feature Vision in the present. He only appears through flashbacks. In fact, the episode is primarily carried by Elizabeth Olsen and Kathryn Hahn, both of whom I enjoyed watching on screen. Hahn does a fantastic job with her character, and this episode showcases her talent and ability to play off of Olsen's Wanda. Agatha feels powerful and confident in her ability to "control" Wanda, all while dragging her through the worst moments of her life. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen just breaks my heart in this episode. Even before the first flashback begins, you just know it's not going to be pretty. From the day her parents were killed, to the days after her brother was killed, to right after Wanda was brought back (after Endgame) only to remember that Vision was dead, Wanda's been through so much heartache. Olsen brought that fragility and brokenness to the character. I defy anyone not to shed a tear or two while watching this episode.

Curiously though, in the flashbacks of Wanda's life, you only ever see Pietro as a child. There are no pictures of him, no scenes where you see maybe a newspaper clipping with his picture in the background. Nothing. 

The episode also showed Hayward's true colors. He's a liar; he set Wanda up to suit his own agenda, and the consequences of that could end up being disastrous. For Wanda mostly. 

It's taken 8 episodes for this one, and in my opinion, it's the best in the series. So far. The final episode is coming up, and I'm curious to see if it will tie everything together or just leave everything open for the next MCU movie.

Rating: 4.5 

Adria Reyes

TV Show Review: WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 7)

WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 7)
Jan 15, 2021
Executive Producers: Jac Schaeffer, Kevin Feige
Starring: Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Teyonah Parris
Episodes: 8
Genre: Action & Adventure
Based on: Scarlet Witch; by Stan Lee; Jack Kirby;
TV Network: Disney+
 “Breaking the Fourth Wall” is the seventh episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. 

Monica plots her return, Wanda navigates unsettling complications, and Vision forms a new alliance.

Well, hello, episode 7! Wandavision is almost done telling its off the rails-but-totally-makes-sense story and the latest episode. Breaking the Fourth Wall had so many juicy tidbits in it that made for good tv. Honestly, this should have been the energy from the first episode.

And it was great to see the nod to Modern Family. Elizabeth Olsen’s take on Julie Bowen’s frustrated mom persona was familiar yet unique, if that makes sense.

Breaking the Fourth Wall paid more attention to the conflict at hand rather than just the goings-on of Wanda’s world, and that is what I am here for. I want to know what is going on, not just what Wanda has going on inside that reality of hers. Wanda’s psyche is being stretched to its limits following the previous episode. She is using more and more power to keep her world intact, and the current episode showed the strain of that.

Or did it? Wanda herself is doubting her reality, whether she is truly okay with what she is doing with Vision and the people of Westview. Huge glitches are happening in her world that even the twins, Billy and Tommy, pick up on. This is the first time in the series that Wanda has shown doubt over her actions. From the start, it seemed that the show was setting her up to become a villain, and I was not happy about that. I love Wanda, and I empathize with her immensely. To see her doubting herself and questioning whether she is doing the right thing or the selfish thing was refreshing. I want to see Wanda become something more than a traumatized victim, or worse, a villain.

The big reveal at the end of the episode answered some big questions (plus it kept up the tv series within a tv series theme), but it also brought out some new ones. I'm hoping that the last episodes keep this energy up and that the finale doesn’t disappoint. But for now, this episode is my favorite.

Rating: 4

Adria Reyes

TV Show Review: WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 6)

WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 6)
Jan 15, 2021
Executive Producers: Jac Schaeffer, Kevin Feige
Starring: Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Teyonah Parris
Episodes: 8
Genre: Action & Adventure
Based on: Scarlet Witch; by Stan Lee; Jack Kirby;
TV Network: Disney+
 “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!” is the sixth episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. Disturbances on Halloween separate Wanda from Vision, who looks into anomalous activity in Westview.

It seems fitting that Wandavision should have a Halloween episode in its repertoire and last week’s episode had a visually fun trip with a nod to the comic book versions of Wanda and Vision. But it wasn’t without its problems.

The sixth episode (out of eight) entitled All-New Halloween Spooktacular didn’t do much to further whatever direction the plot is going in. Wanda is obviously experiencing some severe trauma and denial. With her powers, she’s become a danger to the people around her and to herself, but the episode barely touches on that. In fact, the series as a whole, while fun and kooky, isn’t really going anywhere fast. I mean, six episodes in and only two more to go, and what answers do we really have?

Not much. And if you are hoping to avoid spoilers, now is the time to stop reading because I’m going to mention a few things that have already been revealed on Marvel’s Instagram page via an episode still.

Episode six felt more like fan service without the progress needed to keep people invested. If anything, more questions are being asked than answered.

The biggest one being, who is this Pietro? Is he really her brother? Or is he some outside “interference” come to Westview for his own reasons? When Wanda point blank asks him why he looks “different,” it’s obvious the show is touching on the fact that Pietro is not Aaron Taylor Johnson, but it’s like Wanda just ignores this huge issue of her “brother” not looking like she remembers him. Naturally, Pietro claims he can’t remember what happened to him, and Wanda claims she can’t either. Of course, this particular actor's appearance as Pietro could mean that the MCU is getting ready to integrate some very familiar mutants into their franchise. However, the show could still throw us a bone at this point and still maintain most of its secrecy.

The only “biggie” question that has been answered so far is whether or not Vision can live outside of Wanda’s bubble.

One of my personal questions is this: Wanda claiming not to remember certain things that include Pietro does that mean she may not be in charge of Westview? Could someone else be allowing Wanda to think Westview is her doing? With the way this episode went, there might be an answer in the final episode. But I’m not going to hold my breath.

Rating: 3

Adria Reyes

TV Show Review: WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 5)

WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 5)
Jan 15, 2021
Executive Producers: Jac Schaeffer, Kevin Feige
Starring: Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Teyonah Parris
Episodes: 8
Genre: Action & Adventure
Based on: Scarlet Witch; by Stan Lee; Jack Kirby;
TV Network: Disney+
 “On a Very Special Episode...
” is the fifth episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. Vision becomes increasingly agitated over their neighbors' unusual antics, forcing Wanda to confront her husband.

The pace is picking up on Wandavision, and viewers got quite the surprise and the end of the most recent episode.

After the dust settled in Avengers: Endgame, no one really knew what happened to Wanda. Until now. The episode showed brief glimpses of cracks in Wanda's façade, and in those moments, her grief, anger, and denial are plain to see. In a handful of years, she’s lost her brother, her second family with The Avengers, and the love of her life. She has a tremendous amount of power who wouldn't be tempted to create a world of their own where they can block out the pain? At this point, the Wandavision has begun to show that while Wanda is very powerful, those powers are rooted in her emotions.

The show, for all its quirks, is finding its footing. Hopefully, the last few episodes will serve to establish a true connection to the next set of Marvel films. I know that Wanda and Vision are the main attraction here, but I would love to know more about grown-up Monica Rambeau and why she seems to have a problem with Captain Marvel. I hope they don’t use all of Monica's backstory for a film, as it might slow said film down. Right?

Out of all the puzzle pieces in this episode, though, none was more shocking, satisfying, exciting, or confusing as what happened—or should I say who happened—in the last 2 minutes. Does this mean what I think it does? That we're getting some major additions to the MCU????

Rating: 4 1/2 “You didn’t see that coming?” sheep

Adria Reyes

TV Show Review: WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 4)

WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 4)
Jan 15, 2021
Executive Producers: Jac Schaeffer, Kevin Feige
Starring: Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Teyonah Parris
Episodes: 8
Genre: Action & Adventure
Based on: Scarlet Witch; by Stan Lee; Jack Kirby;
TV Network: Disney+
 “We Interrupt This Program.” is the fourth episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It follows the couple as they try to conceal their powers while living an idyllic 1970s suburban life in the town of Westview.

Finally! Things are starting to get interesting on Wandavision! I mean, it’s been great so far as kooky television shows go, but this is supposed to tie in the next wave of the MCU movies and it took four episodes for things to start picking up and making sense. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem but with the series only being 8 episodes long I feel that they waited too long to get this episode out. The events of episode 4 should have been something that should have happened at least one episode ago. Normally, that wouldn't bother me but with the series only being 8 episodes long, I feel that it took too long to get to this point.

Again, without revealing too much I will say that the episode “We Interrupt This Program” rewinds all the way back to the beginning of this series but it is told from a different point of view. Viewers now get to see what was going on outside of Wanda’s world. We get to see who “Geraldine” is and how the events of the final Avengers film affected her life. I found this episode much more interesting than the previous 3 because it made sense and for the first time the show felt connected to the films. And I don’t think I’m giving anything away by showing my enthusiastic approval over the return of fan-favorite Darcy Lewis. I think the MCU needs more Darcy.

This episode does a great job of bringing the storyline together, without giving away too much for future episodes. It felt more like an ensemble cast with Darcy providing her trademark snarky humor.

I’m still not happy over the fact that Disney plus is only dropping one new episode per week because most people like to binge-watch and it’s only 8 episodes I don’t know why they’re drawing it out over 8 weeks. In my opinion, this is where Netflix will always come out on top because they don’t make their customers wait for new episodes. They understand the joy of binge-watching.

I'm glad the show has picked up the pace and brought in two familiar faces. I'm also glad that Wandavision is starting to make sense and bring that familiar feeling I would get while watching the MCU films. I feel connected to Wanda as a viewer now whereas before I didn’t. I'm excited about Monica Rambeau's presence. And I'm wondering if we can get more Darcy in the future.

Rating: 4 sheep

Adria Reyes

TV Show Review: WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 3)

WandaVision (Season 1: Episode 3)

Jan 15, 2021

Executive Producers: Jac Schaeffer, Kevin Feige

Starring: Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Teyonah Parris

Episodes: 9

Genre: Action & Adventure

Based on: Scarlet Witch; by Stan Lee; Jack Kirby;

TV Network: Disney+

"Now in Color" is the third episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It follows the couple as they try to conceal their powers while living an idyllic 1970s suburban life in the town of Westview. 

Air date: January 22, 2021

The third episode of Wandavision dropped on Disney+ this week and it’s even trippier than the first two episodes!

The episode titled “Now in Color” pushes Wanda and Vision forward to the era of “in color” television shows, but that’s about the only straightforward aspect of the episode! Olsen and Bettany’s chemistry continues in this episode and frankly, they’re what is holding this show together as it twists and turns its way into something that I’m hoping will make sense soon. The stability of Wanda and Vision’s wacky life is starting to crumble, giving glimpses of another reality that will probably have some harsh truths with it since by this point Marvel fans know exactly what happened to Vision.

Anyway, 3 episodes in, and things are speeding up quite quickly. Episode 3 shows Wanda and Vision's life progressing like a 60s tv show until suddenly it's not. Without giving too much away, I will say that an event in Wanda and Vision's dream life triggers a memory in Wanda that connects this series with the MCU. Wanda's trip down memory lane happens in front of her new friend Geraldine who mentions someone in Wanda's past, something Geraldine shouldn't know.

Alas just when things are truly getting interesting, the episode ends with a pretty big cliffhanger. Honestly though? Disney+ might be a bigger deal than say Netflix but at least Netflix doesn’t make its viewers wait every week for a new episode like if it was the 1960s and there was no such thing as binge-watching.

Rating: 4 frustrated sheep

Adria Reyes

TV Show Review: WandaVision (Season 1 episodes 1-2)

WandaVision (Season 1 episodes 1-2)

Jan 15, 2021

Executive Producers: Jac Schaeffer, Kevin Feige

Starring: Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Teyonah Parris

Episodes: 9

Genre: Action & Adventure

Based on: Scarlet Witch; by Stan Lee; Jack Kirby;

TV Network: Disney+

WandaVision premiered with its first two episodes on January 15, 2021, and will run for nine episodes until March 5.

Marvel Studios presents "WandaVision," a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) -- two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives -- begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

After what seems like an eternity, the first of Marvel’s planned television series has finally premiered. Well, the first 2 episodes, that is.

For the first time, I have purposely avoided any clips, trailers, or articles discussing this series. I wanted to be completely surprised by it. I had no idea what to expect; all I knew was that it could possibly set the scene for the next phase of Marvel movies and that there were very strong rumors that this TV series was inspired by a comic book story in which Wanda, AKA the Scarlet Witch altered reality.

Well, two episodes in, and I still don’t know what to expect, but I know it's something big and exciting. The first two episodes are in black and white and mimic the styles of classic television shows such as Bewitched and The Dick Van Dyke Show. I honestly found the episodes entertaining and fresh, a big risk in today’s entertainment industry. The episodes don’t give away the direction of the plot and feel like standalone, but if you blink, you might miss those glimpses of reality seeping into Wanda and Vision's fairytale life together.

Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany have real chemistry together, it was obvious in the Marvel films, and I'm happy to see it continues in this series. They play off one another like they’ve been working together all their lives, which only improves the viewing experience. There isn’t much happening in the first two episodes, but that doesn’t make them any less fun to watch. I'm excited to see what this series will set up for future films in the MCU and which fan theories, if any, will pan out.

Sheep Rating: 4

Adria Reyes

Priest, Black Hat can suck me dry!

Priest, directed by Scott Charles Stewart, stars Paul Bettany (my lemon -flavored love cake), Karl Urban (good lordy you are too fine for words) , Cam Gigandet, Lilly Collins, Maggie Q, Christopher Plummer and Stephen Moyer (yes, that's Bill from TB). Priest started out as a manhwa, a type of Korean comic series, created by artist Hyung Min-woo. While I have not read the series I think that no previous experience would be a good thing as the movie overall lacked a lot of substance....

Storyline:

PRIEST, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War, despite being a famous veteran he now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on a quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-happy young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

The movie starts out really well, you get to see all the Priests going to hunt down a hive of vamps but it's a set up and my dream man Karl is dragged away by the vamps. A very nice animated bit of storytelling takes place providing exposition on the Priests and how the world has changed. I had no issues so far with anything in the movie, but once Priest sets out to find his kidnapped niece the story starts to fall apart. There are story concepts but are not really explained, for example the audience is introduced to "familiars" but not really told who they are or how they came to be. The vamps don't kill them or do they? Are they slaves? *scratches head* How exactly are these Priests different? What powers do they have? SOMEONE TELL ME! I hope the comic goes far more in-depth about these story elements, but I feel like a lot of stuff got lost in the film adaptation.

Karl and Paul did a fine acting job, these guys are excellent at what they do and I hav

e no

complaints in their ability. Maggie Q and Paul's characters have a major back story that you don't even get to enjoy, I felt the film lost a lot of potential. The best action you see from Maggie is in the trailers, so don't watch those if you want to be surprised. Cam who plays the town sheriff just looked like a lost boy floundering around trying to keep up with everyone, sure he looked good on screen but his character was a little ho-hum. The action was so weak at times that it became hard to invest yourself in the overall film. CGI wasn't bad but I have seen a lot better than this. But the good part is if you like Vamps (like me) you will get to w

atch another new take on them, and you might jump in your seats a few times when the action picks up. :)

Over-all the movie missed its mark for me; while the acting was beautiful and the editing was excellent, a huge plot-hole leaves me scratching my head on this film. I hope Mr. Min-woo is not totally disappointed in this film, and I recommend you either go into it knowing up front that it's missing a lot of meat or just stick to the comics. Proceed with caution.

My good friend Mike who is also our Sheep photographer came with me to see this one and in his words "the movie was weak, the action sucked and I was let down". He gave the film 2 and 1/2 sheep.

I am giving Priest 3 Black Hat Sheep.

KD

WonderCon 2011-Priest

If someone asks me, "Hey, Paul Bettany is going to be at this panel at WonderCon, you wanna go check it out?", what other response would there be than HECK YEAH! Paul is my lemon flavored love cake for life, but we will get to that in a moment. ;) All the Sheep peeps made sure to park our butts front row to check out all the yummy goodness that is Priest.

Priest directed by Scott Charles Stewart, stars Paul Bettany (I love you for life), Karl Urban (good lord you are too fine for words), Cam Gigandet, Lilly Collins, Maggie Q, Christopher Plummer and Stephen Moyer (yes, that's Bill from TB).

Storyline:

PRIEST, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on a quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-happy young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

From Wikipedia:

Priest (Hangul: 프리스트) was a manhwa (Korean comic) series created by Hyung Min-woo. It fuses the Western genre with supernatural horror, Gun fu, and dark fantasy themes and is notable for its unusual, angular art style. An interview with Hyung in Priest: Volume 3 states that the comic was inspired by the computer game Blood, which featured a similar horror-Western aesthetic and an undead protagonist.

During the panel we got to learn quiet a bit about how Director Stewart was able to translate the comic to the big screen. He shared with us his views on where he wanted to take the film and how he was able to put all the pieces together and hopefully create something that fans will love. As action plays a large role in the film, Stewart shared that he wanted to blend many different styles of action and Sci Fi to make it a whole new recipe. We shall have to wait and see, but from what I could gather it's going to be one fun ride. ;)

We viewed some unseen footage of the different action sequences in the film, the whole cast had to undergo months of vigorous training to be able to do all these stunts. Of course stunt men were used, but the actors all wanted to do as much as they could. Here is a little bit of Cam and Paul talking about that training program.

Cam: "I don't think I had quiet the rigorous schedule as Paul. I think one of my hardest things was holding up that 70 lb gun. So my muscles right here [points to trap muscle] are quiet large. Aside from that as you guys saw I don't have the skill so I get my butt kicked in that scene. So yeah, Paul can probably answer that better. But he was born with that talent..."

Paul: "Yeah, that was like my Sunday. I don't know what you lot do on the weekend but this is just what I do. No, I am British and therefore I am starting from a butch deficit. I uh, yeah you don't have to clap so loudly. Play nice. I had 8 months of training to make me look like a normal human being. And then a bunch of combat training and a bunch of wire work, which I really loved doing. Then you got a bunch of people who's job it is to make you look REALLY cool. So you're getting a lot of help. And by the end of the movie Cam does get the skills. Not quiet as skillful as me but ya know maybe by Priest 2."

"I think I can speak for the whole cast and crew so I will, cause I am that confident. If you found any of the cast and crew on the street, they will say it was one of the greatest experiences of my professional career. We just, every day was a blast even the days that I got injured. Thanks to Vicodin actually...yeah, yeah so see both things were fairly great. But it was a fantastic shoot."

Lilly Collins talked a bit about her character in Priest, being the exact opposite from her previous role in The Blind Side. Her character Lucy starts outas kinda the damsel in distress, she says. But Lucy has Priest blood in her family, so though she never had to use those skills before she manages to become a fighter fairly quickly. Lilly loved the wire work and doing stunts and action she would like to continue playing these types of roles. She also announced at the panel that just the day before had accepted to play a role in Snow White alongside Julia Roberts.

With all these fine males in one film it's enough to make this girl swoon. No joke. Throw in a slamming good story, action, Sci Fi AND Vamps? This is a movie to die and reanimate for! May 13th you know where I will be. :)

KD