Tuesday, 23 February 2016

Supernatural 'Love Hurts' Review


This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt, please do not read further.


'Love Hurts' gives us a fairly standard monster of the week episode, with a little Valentine's Day flavour thrown into the mix for fun.  

Initially believing that they are dealing with a shapeshifter who is transforming into peoples lovers in order to kill them the Winchesters soon discover that they are actually dealing with a Qareen, a type of Jinn that tear people's hearts out.  

In a more family friendly version of the plot of 'It Follows', the Qareen is being used as a cure, being passed on to each new victim with a kiss.  Once it has killed its latest target it works its way back down the chain to the person who started the chain.  Yes, it really is that similar to 'It Follows', but it's also a hell of a lot more entertaining and engaging than the 2014 film, and not only because it's Supernatural ('It Follows' was just dull throughout, despite some interesting things it tried to do).

When Sam and Dean figure out what is going on Dean kisses the Qareen's latest victim, placing him at the end of the chain and it's new target.  


At this point I expected that the Qareen would change to assume the shape of Amara (which it did) and that Sam would see this and the connection between Dean and Amara would be out in the open.  Instead, the writers took a bit more of a mature route for the characters.  Sam never saw the Qareen as Amara, but when he asks Dean what form the Qareen took Dean tells him the truth.

Dean goes on to tell Sam that despite wanting to stop Amara, despite the fact that he wants her dead, whenever he's around her he can't help but feel love towards her.  He tells Sam that when the final showdown comes he's not going to be able to help.  Sam tells Dean that he understands and doesn't blame him in any way.

Thank god!  I thought that this was all being set up to be another secret that blows up between the two of them to add 'drama', instead the characters handle it with a level of maturity that they've rarely shown before.  Dean stops keeping his 'big dark secret' and Sam takes it all in his stride.  Rather than using this moment to push the two of them apart they say 'okay, you can't fight Amara, so let's figure out a new approach'.  It's refreshing and something that was definitely needed 11 seasons in.


It also deflates a little tension from the fact that the Lucifer possessed Castiel knew about this connection.  Yes, he may still try and use this against our heroes at some point in the future, but at least he can't hold this knowledge above Sam's head as some kind of weapon anymore.

A fairly enjoyable stand alone episode that played a small part in the overall series arc and showed some of the growth and maturity of the Winchesters.

Amy.
xx
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Male Rape Charity Given Thousand To Tackle 'Taboo'


Survivors UK, a London based charity that supports the male victims of rape, has been given a £78,000 donation from the Mayor's office to try and tackle the stigma around the issue.

The charity is aiming to reach out to more victims of rape and to try and raise awareness and understanding that male rape is also an issue, as well as trying to provide a 'safe space where they can get help'.

In a report by London Assembly member Kemi Badenoch it was estimated that around 92,000 rapes and sex attacks went unreported to police and authorities between the years of 2010 and 2014.

Ms Badenoch said, 'Male rape is rarely mentioned.  No victim of rape or sexual assault should feel that they have nowhere to turn and be made to suffer in silence.'

Survivors UK chief executive Keith Best added, 'We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.  What we are seeing is that in many institutions, like schools, prisons and care homes, sex abuse is a problem.'

Survivors UK is hoping to use the new funding to continue the work that they already offer.  The charity helps more than 150 through counselling and 2,500 people remotely a year and has over 20 years experience helping the victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault.

Amy.
xx
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Monday, 22 February 2016

Martin Freeman's Role In Captain America: Civil War Revealed


Captain America: Civil War is set to be one of the most eagerly awaited comic book films of the year, in a year full of great comic book films (and some awful looking DC films).  With a massive cast that no only reunited a lot of the MCU's fan favourite characters it also introduces several new characters, one of which will be played by Martin Freeman.

Since the announcement of his inclusion in the film fans have been eager to find out who he will be playing.  Well, now his part has been revealed.  Martin Freeman will be playing Everett Ross.

The name may be familiar to some comic book readers, who will recognise that Ross is the United States' main representative to Wakanda.  This not only adds more to the inclusion of Black Panther in the film, but allows Freeman to appear in the upcoming Black Panther film (set for release in 2018, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman and Andy Serkis).

Reports are stating that Freeman's version of Everett will be a member of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre in Civil War.  A newly released photo of Freeman has him standing beside Emily Van Camp's Sharon Carter, which has already resulted in fans speculating that she is also a member of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre since the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. after the events of Captain America: Winter Solider.

Captain America: Civil War is set for release on April 29th.

Amy.
xx
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Sunday, 21 February 2016

The Walking Dead 'No Way Out' Review


This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt, please do not read further.


With the events of the mid season finale of The Walking Dead putting every single character with the exception of Enid and Glenn in life threatening danger (it's nice to see Glenn as the relatively safe guy for once), 'No Way Out' was set to be big and have at least one loss, boy did they deliver and then some.

The episode opens with Daryl, Abraham and Sasha confronted by the Saviours, the men who follow Negan (a name every Walking Dead reader knows and has eagerly been waiting for), and held at gunpoint.  With several armed men facing them and no backup it was one of those situations that deep down we knew the trio would get out of, but the question was how.  

Not knowing how our survivors could possibly overpower half a dozen men with assault rifles and pistols and having to listen to Christopher Berry give his chilling yet also friendly monologue ramped up the tension.  

When Daryl gets led to the back of the truck we all kind of knew that he'd over power the man he was with, but how was he going to save the others.  Well, the answer was an explosive one, Rocket Launcher.  The moment when the Saviour exploded in a shower of fire and body parts was both surprising and almost laugh out loud funny.  


Whilst it might have been satisfying to see the Saviours so quickly killed their deaths are surely going to be remembered by Negan, and if he wants revenge for their loss, surely Daryl becomes a target for his anger.  Is this the show setting up a reason for Negan killing off Daryl in the season finale?

Back in Alexandria the tension is even higher as we rejoin Rick, Carl, Michone, Gabriel, Judith and the Anderson family as they try to sneak their way through the hordes of zombies that have over run the town.

Their plan, to cover themselves in blood and guts and blend into the horde, is a good one, and we've seen it work in the past, unfortunately the plan is only as strong as the people involved and Sam was never going to be strong enough to deal with everything that they were facing.

Being surrounded by walkers finally gets too much for the kid and he starts to break down, unable to keep going.  Jessie desperately tries to get him to hold it together but it all proves to be too little too late as the dead tear into him, eating him alive in front of the others.  Jessie screams out and is overrun by walkers too, leaving Rick to try and break Carl free of her death grip before he's taken too.

Rick manages to hack Jessie's hand off in order to save his son, but are confronted by Ron, who brings a gun to bear on them.  It's not surprising that Ron finally snapped like this, he's been blaming Rick for the death of his father all season, and now Rick's plan ended with the rest of the boys family killed in front of him.  


Before he can shoot Rick though Michone impales him on her sword and leaves him for dead.  As she stabs him, however, the gun goes off and he hits Carl in the face, blowing his right eye apart.  Fans of the comics knew that this was coming, we've been waiting for it for a while now and have pretty much been expecting it every time Ron approaches him with a gun.  With two fake out moments already this season Carl's time was up.

The moment was not only a great treat for comic fans, but played out brilliantly as Rick has to watch his potential new family wiped out one after another (he kept saying he had no designs on Jessie, but we all know he wanted to be in a relationship with her) and the effect was brilliant.

After managing to get Carl to safety and medical help Rick loses it completely and walks out into the street on his own in one of the ballsiest and most stupid moments in the shows history.  Amazingly though it pays off, as his lone stand against the entire horde actually manages to rally the citizens of Alexandria to come out and fight alongside him, even Father Gabriel and Eugine take up arms to help.

It's a moment that comes close to feeling cheesy and over dramatic, but manages to hold itself back from going all of the way, instead playing out effectively as a great coming together moment for Ricks group and the Alexandrina's.  It bonds the two groups together like they've not had to before, and goes a long way to proving to Rick that maybe the Alexandrians aren't quite as babied and useless as he first thought.  Though that could also have something to do with having lost those more coddled members of the town to the Wolf attack and the walker horde already.


A lot of characters get a moment to shine this week, with Glenn managing to save Maggie, and barely surviving by the skin of his teeth AGAIN!  Abraham gets to turn up at the last minute and deliver a cheesy one liner.  Daryl gets to shoot a rocket launcher not once but twice.  Even Denise gets to shine as she not only manages to talk the Wolf around to becoming a more noble man (until Carol kills him that is) but she steps up in her role as medic in order to save Carl with a confidence and authority we've not seen in the character before.

The show runners promised us an exciting second half to the season, comparing it to feeling like an action movie.  If the opening episode is anything to go by then hopefully they're right, as The Walking Dead has a habit of feeling slow and stale at times.  Hopefully this episode if setting the tone for things to come.

Amy.
xx
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Saturday, 20 February 2016

Supernatural 'Don't You Forget About Me' Review


This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt, please do not read further.


This is one of those great Supernatural episodes that reminds us just how good the show's recurring cast can be, and brings back fan favourite Jody Mills.  It's well known that Supernatural doesn't keep side characters around for long, with most being killed off in moments that make fans rage and cry, but thankfully it looks like Jody and her girls are here to stay, at least for a while longer.

When Sam and Dean get a phone call from Claire (the daughter of Cas' vessel Jimmy) they head over to visit the family of traumatised monster victims they helped to create.  Whilst Claire is still struggling to try and live something of a normal life it's nice to see that Alex (former vampire pet) is living a fairly normal and happy life, and Jody even seems to be enjoying being a surrogate mother to the two of them, despite the difficulties.

Whilst Sam and Dean aren't a part of raising Alex and Claire the two of them can't help but step into something of a parental/mentor role this week, and we get to see some very mature moments from the brothers.  Sam is kind and understanding, where as Dean is blunt and to the point, giving each of them different opportunities to bond with Alex and Claire.  


We also get some great comic moments through the domestic set up this week, especially as the boys are awkwardly brought into family conflict over Alex's sex life whilst they gorge themselves on mashed potato and chicken-shaped chicken.  It's laugh out loud funny as Jody tries to get them to back her up by pointing out that men don't always have a condom on them, and is met with deafening silence and panicked expressions from our heroes. It's great to see that despite going up against demons, gods and literally death itself something as simple as a sex talk can terrify them.

'As long as everyone wears a condom, we'll be fine.'

Whilst Claire's claims that there's a monster in town initially get chalked off to a mixture of trauma and her desire to be a hunter she's soon proven to be right as a victim from Alex's past returns for revenge.  The family are taken captive by someone that Alex lured to her vampire nest when she was younger and badly beaten, with Jody suffering a broken leg and Claire being bitten in the process.  Luckily the Winchesters arrive in time to save the day, and even Claire gets another monster kill under her belt.


Instead of sparking further chaos within the family unit the event brings Alex and Claire closer together and actually looks like it's made things better for all involved.  Alex is even more determined to live a normal life, Claire becomes set on becoming a hunter and Jody agrees to help both girls be the person they want to be.  The episode turns them from a group of survivors trying to live together into an actual caring family unit that's sure to be fine going forward.

'Don't You Forget About Me' might be a detour from the overall series arc, but when it's this entertaining, funny, heartwarming and bring back beloved characters (I challenge anyone to say Jody Mills isn't beloved by fans) it's well worth it.

Amy.
xx
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Star Wars Rebels 'The Call' Review


This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt, please do not read further.


'The Call' is an entertaining episode, but it's a fairly standard story that has definitely been done before.

The story begins with the crew of the Ghost low on fuel and searching for a fuel refinery that's supplying the Empire.  Not only is the Ghost desperate for a resupply, but the rest of the rebels are running low too, which shows us an even more strung out and desperate version of the rebels then we've seen in any of the films.

Close to empty and running out of time the ship is found by a group of purgill, a type of huge space whale (yes, it would appear that every sci-fi universe has to have some kind of space whale).  Hera immediately recognises the creatures and warns the crew that they're a dangerous nuisance, that they destroy ships and have cost the lives of her friends in the past.  Having the normally kind and caring Hera being the member of the crew to be the negative voice for once is a nice change and shows a side to the character that we've not really seen before.  

Despite Hera's hate towards the purgill Ezra can feel a connection to them through the Force (the same kind of connection we've seen him use before) and gets the crew to follow the whales, who quickly lead them to the refinery.

Kanan, Ezra, Sabine and Chopper launch an assault on the facility in one of the episode's best scenes as the four of them free fall towards the refinery in their brightly decorated helmets.  During the assault on the refinery Ezra is knocked down into the gas filled pit.


Close to dying Ezra manages to reach out with the Force and communicates with the Purgill, using affinity for animal life to get them to not only save him, but to help the rest of the team pnd complete the whole mission.

The episode has some cool moments, the free fall and Ezra riding on the back of the purgill are all visually awesome, but the story feels very stand alone, there wasn't even a hint that fuel supplies were running low in the episodes leading up to this.  It's hard to tell how much this episode adds to the overall story, but from the mid-season trailer warning about Ezra's increasing power, perhaps his growing ability to control animals will be brought up again.

Amy.
xx


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Friday, 19 February 2016

Trans Beauty Queen Stripped of Title For Not Being 'Trans Enough'


Last year 23 year old transgender woman Jai Dara Latto, from Walkerburn in Scotland, was crowned as the winner of the Miss Transgender UK competition.  Now, however, she has been stripped of her title by the woman who runs Mis Transgender UK, Rachael Bailey, after claiming that Jai is not infact transgender.

The accusations come following Miss Bailey claiming to have seen footage of Jai from an upcoming BBC3 documentary, to air next month, in which Jai is filmed at home relaxing in a pair of boxer shorts and being seen working out at the gym in shorts and a t-shirt.

Miss Bailey claims that this is proof that Jai is not living her life full time as a woman, instead branding her as a drag queen.

Speaking to the Scotsman, Miss Bailey said 'When Jai entered the competition, she said that she was full time and she's not - she's a drag queen.  The documentary showed her living as a gay male in her boxer shorts.  Underwear is very important to transgender females - one of the first things people do is change their underwear as it makes us feel like we are finally a woman.'

'When I confronted her, she just said that I didn't have a leg to stand on and it is difficult.  It is basically one transgender person saying to another 'You're not transgender enough to be in our competition'.  It sounds daft when you put it like that.'

In addition to winning the title Jai was given a £3,000 modelling contract, which has also been taken away from her and awarded to another contestant, a £5,000 cash prize, and £10,000 worth of surgery in India.  Jai has already turned down the prize of surgery, wishing to wait for gender confirmation surgery on the NHS.

Jai has said that she was approached by Miss Bailey, who claimed that she had broken the terms and conditions of the competition by not being 'full time'.

She went on to say that, 'I am transgender.  It seems to me that Rachael has based her claims on her subjective information from having viewed the documentary Miss Transgender, which is yet to be aired.  I gave consideration to sharing a letter from my doctor on my gender dysphoria, but decided against it.'

'The documentary clearly shows me living full time  in my community, functioning on a daily basis, interacting with family, friends and others in my desired gender role.  Being transgender is not some exclusive club.  There are many of us in it and we are all different from one another.'


Rachael Bailey's fixation that only a certain way of dressing or presenting is what makes someone 'trans enough' is an incredibly shortsighted and damaging one.  It insists that not only do trans women have to match perfectly to some pre-ordained definition of female, but it's also quite misogynistic when you look at it.

Miss Bailey insists that only by wearing 'women's underwear' are you 'finally a woman', but would she levy these same rules onto a cisgender woman found wearing boxer shorts?  I very much doubt that.

These kind of views make it incredibly hard for trans women in society, as if you are seen to act in any way that is deemed 'masculine' it is suddenly used as an argument that it must be proof that your entire gender identity, presentation or even life is a construct based on a lie.  Miss Bailey is here saying that if you do not fit her very narrow view of what should be considered female it must automatically make you a man.

Well, I'm calling bullshit on that.  Wanting to wear boxer shorts to feel comfortable does not suddenly mean that you are lying about being a trans woman, if it did the same would have to apply to any woman who has ever worn boxer shorts, even for a moment.  Surely these other women are lying about who they are too.

It also begs the question of where else Rachael Bailey draws this line of rigid womanhood?  'You like the colour blue?  Sorry, you're not trans enough'.  'You prefer action films to romantic comedies?  Nope, you're a dude'.  'You have male friends and prefer beer over wine?  Well then you're just living a lie'.

This isn't as much about what makes a person trans enough (the answer to which is, if you're trans you're fucking trans enough!) but the way people view oppressive gender stereotypes.  You would hope that as a fellow trans woman Rachael Bailey would know better than to make those kind of judgements on other trans women, sadly it would appear that she does not.

Wanting to wear the clothes that make you feel comfortable doesn't change your gender identity.  Liking certain things does not change your gender identity.  Having a body that does match your gender identity does not change your gender identity.

I've been in this kind of situation myself, where another trans woman questioned my validity as a trans woman, where I was accused of being a closet cross-dresser or gay man because my Facebook didn't have enough picture of me out in public. It was crazy, it was frustrating and it was upsetting.  But it made me realise that for some people, no matter what the situation, sometimes nothing is ever enough.

So I'd say to Rachel Bailey what I said to this other person, 'who the fuck are you to judge other people's lives?'

You don't need anyone else's approval, you don't need to meet anyone's standards to be yourself.  You're all 'trans enough', whether you've finished your transition or if you've only just come out to yourself.  You're all 'trans enough'.  Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

Amy.
xx

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Male Student Told To Remove Elsa Fancy Dress Costume For 'Violating Gender Norms'


A 13 year old boy was forced to remove his fancy dress costume when his school principal deemed that it violated gender norms.

Last week at Ethan Chase Middle School in Menifee, California, students were permitted to attend classes in fancy dress costumes.  Students were encouraged to come dressed as characters from Disney movies.

Austin Lacey chose to attend dressed as Queen Elsa from Frozen, complete in sparkling blue dress and long blonde wig.  The costume was reported to be a hit with students, with many posing for pictures with him.

Unfortunately school principal Chris Hernandez was less than pleased with the costume and ordered Austin to remove it before he then confiscated it.

In a statement made by Romoland School District, superintendent Julie Vitale said, 'This action was taken in accordance with district policies.  At no time was there an indication that the student was expressing any particular message.  The principal's action was based upon the need to stop a general disruption to the school environment.'

The superintendent went on to state that the school district 'prides itself on having policies and practices that support all students regardless of gender identity or gender expression.'

Despite this reassurance Austin's mother, Brooke Francev, told local television stations that Austin 'was later informed that the principal does not believe that boys should be dressed like girls.  I can't believe that there are still people out there who hold those beliefs, especially on a day when it was intended in good fun.  It really shouldn't have been an issue.'

Austin is not transgender, by has said that since his treatment he's taking a stand on the rights that people have, and Austin's mother has said that other students were upset by the incident and wish to promote a week of cross-dressing in solidarity with the LGBT+ community.

The decision by principal Hernandez to force Austin to remove his costume is a questionable one at best, especially when the reasoning he gave was that it was 'causing a disruption'.  Unless Austin was the one and only student to take part in the school's fancy dress that day it is highly unlikely that he was the only person having pictures taken with him.

If the school did not want to 'cause a disruption' perhaps they should not have chosen to host a fancy dress day, an idea that was guaranteed to disrupt the normal school day.  Instead, it would appear that a school official used that as an excuse to hide their own prejudice at gender variance.

The fact that Austin is not a trans or gender variant teen should not be an issue here, it's the schools reaction that should be.  On a day where students are encouraged to dress up and have fun a student is singles out and punished because of the beliefs of one person that boys shouldn't be dressed as girls.  I truly hope that there are not trans or gender variant students at Ethan Chase Middle School, as it has become quite clear that they would not be made to feel welcome there.

Amy.
xx

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Arrow 'Sins Of The Father' Review


This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt, please do not read further.


It would finally look like Arrow has decided to deal with it's Malcolm Merlyn problem.  After a shaky third season a lot of fans were looking forward to Arrow addressing a lot of the left over story lines from last year and putting some of them to bed, 'Sins of the Father' finally did just that.

The Arrow team aren't the focus of this weeks episode, despite it being about trying to save Thea's life, instead time is given over to finally resolving the Nyssa/Merlyn story, and the series definitely benefits from doing this.

One of my biggest issues with the last year and a half of stories from Arrow has been Merlyn, and his almost honorary membership to team Arrow.  In the comics Merlyn is Oliver's arch rival, his general Zod, Sabretooth or Sinestro.  He's supposed to be the evil version of what our hero is, so having him playing nice with Oliver and the team this last season has not only felt wasteful of the character, but kind of goes against what he's supposed to be about.


So when Merlyn agrees to give up being Ra's in order to save Thea I thought the new status quo would be carrying on, imagine how delighted I was when he turned around and betrayed everyone by not wanting to give up power, even to save his daughter.  Now this is the Malcolm Merlyn the show has been missing.

What ensues is an all out ninja assassin war on the streets of Star City, which is always cool to watch.  It's nice to see that despite trying to play peacemaker when push comes to shove Oliver and the team side with Nyssa.  Even if you forget that Malcolm killed Tommy, brainwashed Thea into killing Sarah and engineered all of the events of season three he wasn't going to get Team Arrow on his side.  During her time on the show Nyssa has shown that despite being an assassin and the daughter of Ra's she's a much better person, that she has love, compassion and forgiveness inside of her, and that's the much better candidate to be leading the league.

The episode is also good at showing how much Oliver has grown over the course of the series, when instead of killing Merlyn in single combat he simply cuts his hand off.  The Oliver of season one would have killed him without a single thought, even before you take into consideration all that Merlyn's done to our team.  It's clearly a move that the writers took because they don't want to lose Barrowman from the series, but it's also a good character moment for Oliver, though one I'm 100% certain he will regret before season four is finished.


Elsewhere in the episode Felicity deals with her own father issues as she comes face to face with the man who abandoned her and her mother years before.  Whilst some might find this second story a lot less interesting than the ninja assassin war it actually works very well in an episode all about fathers, and never goes and steps on the toes of the main plot.

Wanting desperately to believe that her father could be the good man he claims Felicity is heartbroken to learn that everything her mother ever said about the man is true and that he can't be trusted.  Discovering that he's only using Felicity to try and steal from Palmer Tech she does the only thing she feels is right and turns him over to the police to be arrested.

'Sins of the Father' is a cleanup episode where some of the outstanding plot threads are finally (hopefully) put to bed.  The only way that the main season arc is effected is by Merlyn becoming a clear villain again for the first time since season one (yes, it's been that long!) and joining up with Damian Darhk.  Merlyn gives Darhk information about Oliver's son, William, which just adds to the who's in the grave/who does Felicity want Oliver to kill questions that have been driving fans mad for months. 

Wherever the show goes from here things are sure to get worse for our heroes as Merlyn joins forces with Darhk and Hive.

Amy.
xx
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Legends of Tomorrow 'Fail-Safe' Review


This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt, please do not read further.


When it comes to the CW's television DC Universe The Flash is the lighthearted and funny show, Arrow is the darker and broodier show, and after this weeks episode that Legend of Tomorrow is the show that is able to effectively combine both of these tones to the best effect.

With half the team captured by Savage and thrown into one of the worst gulags in Russia things take on a much darker tone this week than usual.  That's not to say that there haven't been moments of darkness in the show so far, Savage's ritualistic butchery of Carters body was pretty grim, but this is the first episode where the show feel more like Arrow than the Flash.  Our heroes are in a bad place, literally and figuratively, and the oppressive and grim tone throughout help to reinforce that idea.

When Heatwave, Ray Palmer and Professor Stein are captured by Vandal Savage are locked away in a gulag whilst they try and force Stein to give them the secret of the Firestorm matrix it's up to Rip, Sarah and Captain Cold  to come up with a plan to break them out.

Surprisingly it's Heatwave who stands out as one of the best characters this week, with Ray and Cold in close second.  When the line-up for the team was first announced I was surprised to see both Cold and Heatwave on the list, I questioned the reasoning for two villains on this group of heroes, but after this week I totally get it.


Where Rip and Sarah made plans to kill Stein if needed in order to save the future it was Cold and Heatwave who saved the most lives.  Cold refused to let Sarah kill Stein, talking her down and telling her that she doesn't have to keep being the killer she once was, whilst Heatwave refused to leave Ray behind during their escape, literally carrying his teammate to safety.

One of the best things about the Rogues in the comics is that they had a code.  Yes, they were villains, but they had rules and lines they refused to cross, and it's great to not only see that reinforced in the television universe, but to see that in some ways the 'bad guys' on the team may just have a better moral centre than some of the 'good guys'.  Without Cold's intervention Sarah would have completed the mission that Rip gave her, Stein would be dead and Firestorm would be gone.  Captain Cold is quickly turning into the best character on the show.

Ray also had some character development this week as he bumbled his way through prison life, completely unaware of just how ill suited and stupid he is to survive in such a place.  By the halfway point in the episode I was definitely feeling Micks frustrations of being stuck with Ray, for a man who's supposed to be a genius Ray is possibly one of the dumbest people on the team, blinded by his constantly optimistic attitude.  


That being said, when Ray and Mick are being tortured and Ray steps up to take a brutal hammer beating that was meant for Mick I began to see just how good a character Ray can be.  He's constantly wanting to do the right thing, even if sometimes it makes things worse for himself, and he took beating after beating in this episode because of that, yet still refused to stop.  Like Captain Cold said, he'd take a beating for a complete stranger, and in a lot of ways that makes Ray one of the most noble members of the team, even if he's not the brightest.

It was good to see what could be the start of a more positive relationship between Ray and Mick, and if not a friendship at least mutual respect.  It also led to one of the episode's funnier moments as Mick carried a half conscious Ray out of the gulag, 'Hey Mick, this is a strange kind of hug'.

Victor Garber also got a lot of time to shine this week as he became the focus of Savage's plot to create a new Firestorm, and no scene showed off his acting ability more than when he had to watch Ray and Mick be tortured.  Selling the inner struggle Stein was facing during that scene was crucial, and Garber did it with ease, making it easy to see the guilt and despair he felt over their misery whilst also fighting not to give in for the greater cause.  


Thankfully this week also seemed to put an end to the Stein/Jax bickering as the young man tells Stein he understands why he was being so hard on him and saves him from the clutches of the evil Russian Firestorm, firmly cementing their partnership and friendship.

Despite being the concluding part of a two part story the episode manages to end on a great cliffhanger moment that brilliantly sets up for next weeks episode.  

When Kronos attacks the Waverider as it travels through the time stream the ship is damaged and crashes in Star City in the year 2046.  The city looks like it's seen better days as the team heads out to investigate, at which point Rip reveals the city was attacked in 2016 (does this mean that the bad guys plan succeeds in season 4 of Arrow?).  The team are barely out of the ship when they come face to face with Green Arrow, but this isn't Oliver Queen, but Connor Hawke.


Hopefully next week will be Savage light to give us a break from the main arc of the series, and will instead focus on the future Star City, the new Green Arrow, the older Oliver Queen and the return of fan favourite Deathstroke.

Amy.
xx
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