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[Creeper]

The final episode of War of the Worlds aired last night on Epix. That would be Season 2 Episode 8. The show moved at a snails pace for 13 episodes but hit light speed last night, and not in a good way. S1E1 had a lot going on. It was the beginning of the war so a lot had to be done to catch the viewers interest. S2E1 also made a big leap quickly because it was the open of season 2 which began 5 months after the end of season 1. Again, there was a lot to catch up on. Then the finale basically ended the story in a sudden burst of information and everything else necessary to end the show. In between there was tension by not much else going on.

Spoiler

As expected the story is about people from the future coming back in time to carry out a grudge against the people of the 21st century. I am still not sure why they killed 4 billion people when it seems they had a bone to pick with one scientist who they say created a virus to kill them all, even though it's obvious he created the virus to kill them after they almost wiped out humans on earth. Big paradox here and it makes no sense. Then there is the "Adam and Eve" storyline. This is where 2 young humans are supposed to be the parents of the future generation of "aliens" who come back to wipe out earthlings. I don't know exactly how this works since the inbreeding would result in the end of mankind but maybe that's why the leader of the "aliens" is such a psychopath herself.

Back to the story. The humans concoct a new strategy, in one of the biggest leaps in all 16 episodes, to work with one of the aliens to go back in time to fix it so the future humans don't exist. Say what? Yup, they have the coordinates of place and time to go back they just don't know exactly what to do when they get there. The sympathetic aliens helps them and the main character played by Gabriel Byrne is the one who will go back in time to fix it so the future invasion never occurs. And of course, when he gets there he realizes the answer is to kill "Eve", or Emily which is the character's name. The simple minded thinking is if he kills Eve, then she cannot be the mother of the future humans determined to kill past humans. There is some suspense created when the aliens follow him back in time and chase him or try to find him at least. But he winds up pushing Eve/Emily off the roof of a building and she dies. At that point the aliens chasing him could not be born but somehow they are still there looking at Emily's body lying on the ground dead. How can that be? Why didn't they fade away like in back to the future? But then show continues showing us all the main characters or survivors of the attack oblivious to what was supposed to happen in the future they would never see because the future had been changed. There would be no invasion. Unless of course Epix does renew the series, for another season then I suppose we would see some contrived storyline about how changing the future did not work.

There are too many time paradoxes in this ending. I won't list them all. But it looked to me like the creators/writers had to rush this ending maybe knowing it would not be renewed for a 3rd season. And why call it "War of the Worlds", after the HG Wells story? It was an "alien" invasion story but bore little resemblance to the original.

The show really lost its way in season 2. Then imploded in the final episode. I was happy that earth was saved at the end and everything went back to normal, but how we go to that point in 1 episode after 15 other episodes trudged along seemed forced and contrived.

Any why didn't the aliens use the weapon they used to killed 4 billion people in the first episode again and again until all humans on earth were dead if killing all of them was their goal?

I am pretty sure I would not watch this show again, although I may watch episode 1 again because there are some things I forgot about the initial invasion that I think will make this story even more confusing.

I give the series a 3 out of 10. The weekly tension was worth a couple of points.

 

[EGTuna]

HBOMax now has S3 and S4 of the Italian crime series Gomorrah. S1 and 2 were on Prime, but then S3 never showed up. Thankfully it finally came to a US streamer, and S3 is terrific so far after 5 episodes.

 

[Creeper]

I finished "Black Summer" today. I did not realize this was a prequel to another series, "Z Nation" or something like that. I really liked Black Summer and I hope it is renewed for a 3rd season, although based on recent viewership I have my doubt. Netflix has turned down other shows with better numbers.

Black Summer is a zombie thriller and in many ways it resembles some of the better zombie stories. The zombies are more traditional that the World War Z zombies that were super human, and the zombies are not intelligent as some zombies shows make them. They are dead and hungry and searching for live humans to devour. That is all they know and do. Even the simplest tasks like opening doors or breaking windows are too complex for them most of the time. I think this makes the shows a little easier to write without getting too corny or completely stupid. We already accept the zombie premise for the most part.

While I am certain we will never face a zombie apocalypse, we certainly could face other natural disasters that could push the limits of a civil society. But I hope mankind never has to face the kind of societal breakdown depicted in Black Summer.

I recommend it to anyone who is into shows like this.

Spoiler

Some thoughts. Killing off the Spears character was a disappointment to me. I liked him and the conflict within him. He added some complexity to the show. The other main character, Rose, became something of a zombie herself and made her less interesting to watch.

The Ski Lodge Rose and Anna arrived at in season 2, at least that is how it is referred to, I think it is more of a hunting lodge or maybe a ski and hunting lodge. I didn't see and ski slopes around and in the main stairwell from the lobby there were two rifles or shotguns hanging on the wall. I did not see any skis. If it is a hunting lodge or combo, then there would be a pro shop with guns and ammo as well as hunting clothes, gloves, boots etc. I would also expect a medical facility to treat busted legs, cuts, bruises, etc. There would be medical supplies. Then there would be maintenance facilities with tools for building barricades. Useful stuff if the plan is to hide out for a while.

The only problem I had with the show is the live people were doing more killing than the dead zombies. Maybe this was a message from the writers or something, but it was really bizarre to me. Do people really expect us to behave this way in a catastrophe, every m an for himself? Because in every disaster we have experience around the world, the human response has been quite different. Of course nothing compares to a total collapse of society so who knows.

 

[Khartun]

I finished "Black Summer" today. I did not realize this was a prequel to another series, "Z Nation" or something like that. I really liked Black Summer and I hope it is renewed for a 3rd season, although based on recent viewership I have my doubt. Netflix has turned down other shows with better numbers.

Black Summer is a zombie thriller and in many ways it resembles some of the better zombie stories. The zombies are more traditional that the World War Z zombies that were super human, and the zombies are not intelligent as some zombies shows make them. They are dead and hungry and searching for live humans to devour. That is all they know and do. Even the simplest tasks like opening doors or breaking windows are too complex for them most of the time. I think this makes the shows a little easier to write without getting too corny or completely stupid. We already accept the zombie premise for the most part.

While I am certain we will never face a zombie apocalypse, we certainly could face other natural disasters that could push the limits of a civil society. But I hope mankind never has to face the kind of societal breakdown depicted in Black Summer.

I recommend it to anyone who is into shows like this.

Spoiler

Some thoughts. Killing off the Spears character was a disappointment to me. I liked him and the conflict within him. He added some complexity to the show. The other main character, Rose, became something of a zombie herself and made her less interesting to watch.

The Ski Lodge Rose and Anna arrived at in season 2, at least that is how it is referred to, I think it is more of a hunting lodge or maybe a ski and hunting lodge. I didn't see and ski slopes around and in the main stairwell from the lobby there were two rifles or shotguns hanging on the wall. I did not see any skis. If it is a hunting lodge or combo, then there would be a pro shop with guns and ammo as well as hunting clothes, gloves, boots etc. I would also expect a medical facility to treat busted legs, cuts, bruises, etc. There would be medical supplies. Then there would be maintenance facilities with tools for building barricades. Useful stuff if the plan is to hide out for a while.

The only problem I had with the show is the live people were doing more killing than the dead zombies. Maybe this was a message from the writers or something, but it was really bizarre to me. Do people really expect us to behave this way in a catastrophe, every m an for himself? Because in every disaster we have experience around the world, the human response has been quite different. Of course nothing compares to a total collapse of society so who knows.

I like Black Summer. I didn't know it was a prequel to Z Nation. They are nothing alike.

 

[viman96]

The Suicide Squad just got released on HBO Max and planning to watch it after the Cowboys game.

 

[Stash]

The Suicide Squad just got released on HBO Max and planning to watch it after the Cowboys game.

I’ll be awaiting your review!

 

[The Ominous]

The Suicide Squad just got released on HBO Max and planning to watch it after the Cowboys game.

Lol exactly the same. Though I might blast it on now in the second half. You know what I'm starting it up with the family with the Game on my laptop. I've been so freaking excited for this movie, and it seems critics and fans both love it! KING SHARK FTW

 

[DasTex]

The Suicide Squad just got released on HBO Max and planning to watch it after the Cowboys game.

Watched it last night. It's a fun movie. Sure, there are some very over the top parts - but overall really enjoyed it. The cast of characters is great and keeps the action and humor going. Absolutely an improvement over the first one. FYI - not kid friendly. Lots of language and gore in this one.

 

[KalEl]

Watched it last night. It's a fun movie. Sure, there are some very over the top parts - but overall really enjoyed it. The cast of characters is great and keeps the action and humor going. Absolutely an improvement over the first one. FYI - not kid friendly. Lots of language and gore in this one.

Hence the reason it's rated R

 

[DasTex]

Hence the reason it's rated R

Haha...just letting us parents know. It definitely earns the R.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Watched it last night. It's a fun movie. Sure, there are some very over the top parts - but overall really enjoyed it. The cast of characters is great and keeps the action and humor going. Absolutely an improvement over the first one. FYI - not kid friendly. Lots of language and gore in this one.

I thought it was so so.
Not terrible but far from great.
Few funny parts
I don't know what it is but for the most part DC movies are just completely inferior to the marvel movies.

 

[Runwildboys]

I thought it was so so.
Not terrible but far from great.
Few funny parts
I don't know what it is but for the most part DC movies are just completely inferior to the marvel movies.

You just don't get as emotionally attached to the characters...At least I don't.

 

[The Ominous]

I was a little underwhelmed with The Suicide Squad, but as a hard R super hero flick, I was actually pretty impressed. Never thougt a villain like Starro would be in a movie. Yep I heard about him way back in my DC comic days.

 

[DallasEast]

Basically flashbacks from previous seasons but hey! It's Stranger Things.

 

[Runwildboys]

Basically flashbacks from previous seasons but hey! It's Stranger Things.

That show is so dark, yet so fun.

 

[CouchCoach]

I was a little underwhelmed with The Suicide Squad, but as a hard R super hero flick, I was actually pretty impressed. Never thougt a villain like Starro would be in a movie. Yep I heard about him way back in my DC comic days.

I thought it was stupid and stopped watching it. I am not a comic book movie guy but far prefer Marvel over anything DC can do.

It's like Double Bubble was always trying to be Palooka and never quite getting there.

 

[SlammedZero]

Wow, The Suicide Squad was terrible. Was nothing like I expected. The comedy felt forced, seemed like they tried too hard to be Deadpool-ish, and it felt almost more like a superhero parody movie to me. Was not a fan.

 

[viman96]

 

[SlammedZero]

Cannot wait!! Love this show!!

 

[DasTex]

I thought it was stupid and stopped watching it. I am not a comic book movie guy but far prefer Marvel over anything DC can do.

It's like Double Bubble was always trying to be Palooka and never quite getting there.

I guess I'm gonna have to go watch it again. I thought it was much better than the first go round and laughed out loud a number of times.

Now, I was watching the 4th quarter of the Cowboys when I switched over...so the bar was set pretty low for entertainment.