Tag Archives: Mockingbird

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Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 71 – So Much TV News! Flash! Arrow! Agents of SHIELD!

There is so much comic book related TV news in the new episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast! Find out which shows are returning next fall, and which aren’t (Constantine, RIP)! Plus, Billy and Dave give you their picks on what comic books should be picking up this Wednesday, and review Avengers: Age of Ultron, iZombie Vol 3 and Secret Wars #1! This episode is jam packed with content! Give it a listen!

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Note: This episode contains spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

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Game of Thrones – S4E7 – Mockingbird – Recap

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The episode begins with Tyrion being visited by his brother and best friend Jaime. Jaime gives Tyrion the “I’m sorry, but your princess champion is in another castle” runaround, saying that he couldn’t beat any man left handed. Tyrion tries to sway Jaime with the prospect of seeing their father’s face when Jaime loses and his bloodline dies out in one fight. Jaime’s tempted, but not that tempted.

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Cersei has enlisted The Hulk The Mountain to be her champion against Tyrion’s champion. You might remember The Mountain from such things as being The Hound’s brother, and that vicious joust from a few seasons ago when so many more characters were still alive. Yeah, I wouldn’t bet on Jaime beating this guy left handed either.

Remember in Anchorman 2, how Ron’s son emulated his dad and started acting like him? That’s kind of what’s going on with Arya and The Hound right now. After The Hound stabs a brigand through the heart and wipes his blade clean on the freshly dead body, Arya does the same thing with Brigand #2. Arya’s new nickname: Lil’ Hound.

Up at Castle Black, Jon Snow recommends blocking the tunnel that leads north of the wall. Jon’s asshole boss mocks both Jon and the idea in front of everyone. I’m no writing coach, but I have a feeling this is going to come back to bite the men of the Night’s Watch in the ass big time. You don’t write this scene in and then have the tunnel’s gates stand, right?

Tyrion checks behind door #2 for a champion and comes up empty. Best Line Bronn has been bought off by Cersei and won’t be going for the back to back title as Tyrion’s champion. Tyrion always offered Bronn double of what his enemies would, but Tyrion has trouble coming up with two castles. Tyrion pleads with Bronn’s sense of friendship, but Bronn points out that despite their being friends, Tyrion never risked his life for Bronn. Point: Bronn. Recognizing that Bronn is just being the same Bronn that made Tyrion like him in the first place, they depart with a handshake, still friends.

But all is not lost for Tyrion. Later in the episode, sexy Wil Wheaton, who after this episode I will now be referring to as Inigo Montoya agrees to be Tyrion’s champion. Inigo has a personal beef with the Lannisters in general and The Mountain in specific, as The Mountain’s men raped and murdered Inigo’s sister and her children. Prepare to die, Mountain.

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McDreamy arrives at Dany’s chambers bearing wildflowers that he swam a mile for. Dany’s not impressed. I am, but I’m not really a strong swimmer. Dany then gets all Don Draper circa season 6 of Mad Men and tells McDreamy to get undressed. She then totally elevator eyes him and gets stuck in the lobby. Um, Dany, his eyes are up here.

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Over in Stannis-land, The Red Witch and her nipples are visited by Stannis’s wife. Hey, what’s up with Stannis’s wife looking like Elrond from Lord of the Rings? She realizes that isn’t a good look, right?

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Stannis’s wife.

Every time The Red Witch is speaks, I want someone to punch her in the face. Say hello to the most annoying character in all of Westeros. I was really hoping for Stannis’s wife to push The Red Witch’s head a little bit lower in the tub and just drown her. Is that too much to ask?

The next morning, Friend Zone intercepts McDreamy doing the walk of shame from Dany’s chambers. Awkwaaaard. Friend Zone doesn’t trust McDreamy, and lets Dany know that when he visits her. I’m thinking it’s half doesn’t trust McDreamy, half doesn’t like the competition. Friend Zone is happy to find out that Dany is sending McDreamy far away. It looks like she just wanted to have a fun night first. Hey, don’t hate the player, hate the game.

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Hommina, hommina, hommina…

Back on the road to Aunt Crazy’s castle in the clouds, The Hound tells Arya his origin, which really is just verifying everything we’ve known about him. He hates fire about as much as he hates his brother, which makes sense since his brother burned half of The Hound’s face off when they were kids. Hearing the story from The Hound’s lips definitely made me more sympathetic to The Hound. I’m guessing this will wash away soon though, when he kills the next poor farmer who feeds and houses him for the night.

Also on the road are Brienne and Pod. They’ve stopped at an inn are served by…hey, I know that guy! It’s Arya’s chubby friend from when they were captured by Robin Hood and his Merry Men! Arya’s friend, who won’t shut up, shuts up fast when he hears they’re looking for Sansa Stark. But something about Brienne and Pod makes Chunk trust them, so he lets them know that Arya is still alive, last seen with The Hound. Brienne and Pod come to a fork in the road and choose to head right. I’m guessing this is the way to Aunt Crazy’s?

Speaking of Aunt Crazy, Sansa is enjoying a little snowfall and builds the best snow castle I’ve ever seen, a scale model of Winterfell.

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Side note: Those are some cool ass doors in Aunt Crazy’s courtyard. They have this whole 3D optical illusion thing going on with them.

Robin shows up and is impressed with the snow castle, but doesn’t understand why Winterfell doesn’t have a moon door. Robin is also the poster boy for why you shouldn’t coddle your kids too much. He looks like he be knocked over by a stiff breeze or the common cold. Parents, let your children play in the dirt with other kids….or they’ll end up like Robin. Oh, and don’t breast feed them forever. Sansa manages to get along with her cousin/future husband for a little bit when Robin offers to throw anyone who irks her through the moon door, but the good times don’t last long. After Robin ruins snow castle Winterfell trying to add a moon door to it, Sansa slaps him. Nice. Sansa is doing what I’m thinking. Now Sansa, I want you to go find The Red Witch and stab her…

After Robin runs away crying, Sansa realizes she’s probably in deep doo doo. Aunt Crazy already thinks Sansa slept with Littlefinger, and now she beat her over-coddled son. As if Sansa’s one way ticket through the moon door hadn’t already been confirmed, Littlefinger comes by and kisses her, just in time for Aunt Crazy to stroll by and witness it.

Sansa is called to the throne room by Aunt Crazy. Sansa immediately apologizes for kissing Robin, which is not why Aunt Crazy summoned her. You really need to learn to keep your mouth shut, Sansa. Aunt Crazy is already boiling with rage from seeing her niece kiss her husband and tries throwing Sansa through the moon door.

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It looks like the end for Sansa, until Littlefinger shows up at the last second, dressed like Neo from a Matrix sequel  and demands that Aunt Crazy stop. Littlefinger gets very close to Aunt Crazy and tells her not to be jealous of Sansa, as he has only ever loved one woman. Unfortunately for Aunt Crazy, that woman is Sansa’s mother, Crazy’s sister, the late Lady Catelyn Stark. Littlefinger then throws Aunt Crazy through the moon door like he’s Darth Vader and she’s the Emperor at the end of Return of the Jedi. Sadly, the Yub Nub Ewok song doesn’t play during the end credits.

I had one lingering thought after this episode ended, and that’s did Littlefinger kiss Sansa knowing that Aunt Crazy would be walking by at that time? If it were any other character, I’d say it was coincidence. But when Littlefinger’s involved, I feel like coincidence isn’t. Everyone is a pawn to Littlefinger. Well, everyone except Catelyn Stark, and she’s no longer among the living.

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Arrow S2E6: “Keep Your Enemies Closer” Recap

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In this episode we see more of Oliver having a hard time balancing his “Arrow” life and his business life. It starts when Diggle gets grabbed by A.R.G.U.S. agents and Amanda Waller shows up to let him know that Lyla Michaels has been captured in Russia tracking down Deadshot. She was tracking Deadshot for Diggle. Waller also lets him know that she knows what Diggle and Ollie are up to at night and basically blackmails Digg into rescuing her. I don’t know how much blackmailing Diggle really needed. This sets Team Arrow on the go to Russia. And worlds start colliding when Isabel Rochev decides she needs to accompany them on this suspicious trip.

John and Ollie ditch Isabel with Smoak to go meet up with Olie’s former Amazo boat cellmate, Antoli Knyazev, who sets up a break into Gulag to rescue Lyla. John and Ollie argue who will go in for her. The decision is made that John will go in. The thought of Arrow going in the prison reminded me of a film by David Goyer that never was made, Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max. The premise is that Green Arrow gets framed for murder and he is stuck in a jail with a bunch of super villains he put there. He needs to escape. Anyway, they set up John to get arrested so he can get in the prison. In the prison, he is chained in a tortuously cold room with Flyod Lawton a.k.a. Deadshot. Digg and Flyod both break free separately and Flyod tells him he knows where Lyla is and he will tell Diggle if Diggle gets him out.

Meanwhile, Ollie and Isabel hook up. Felicity comes calling to help Diggle get free. She realizes that Isabel and Ollie slept together and is visibly upset. On the other hand we also see that Isabel is not phased one bit by their hook-up. We also find out that she, like her comic book counterpart, is Russian. The theme of everlasting life/rebirth and the presence of Russian characters are two things that are very prominent this season. I don’t think it’s too far of a jump to find that Isabel is mixed up with the League of Assassins. She was really giving me a Talia al Ghul vibe this episode. Maybe it was the one night stand.

Keep Your Enemies Closer

Nevertheless Ollie, Smoak, and Antoli rescue Diggle who has rescued both Floyd and Lyla. On the way out they release Floyd. Diggle lets him go because of Floyd helped him escape. In return Floyd tells Diggle that it was not a mistake that he killed his brother but the contract was for his brother by a group named H.I.V.E.

Flashback time. Ollie is meeting with Sara and Ivo on the Amazo. Ivo starts explaining the Japanese sub and how during World War II the Japanese created a serum called Mirakulu that enhanced strength, rapid cell regeneration to create an army of super-soldiers. And we wend with Sara tricking Ollie into giving up Slade and Shado.

NOTES:

Task Force X: This is a government task force also know as the Suicide Squad. This version of the squad first appeared in Legends #3 in 1987. The Squad is a team of incarcerated supervillains who act as deniable assets for the United States government, undertaking high-risk black ops missions in exchange for shortened prison sentences. The squad is lead by Amanda Waller and at times the Bronze Tiger. Both Deadshot and Count Vertigo are members of this team in the comic books. The current Suicide Squad book is s decent read but the book by John Ostrander in the late ’80s is what defined what the team is.

Amanda Waller: She first appeared in Legends #1 in 1986, and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein and John Byrne. Nick named “The Wall,” she is a cunning strategist and is the Director of A.R.G.U.S. and the Suicide Squad.

Mockingbird: This is the code name for whoever is in charge of the Secret Six. Many people have been in charge of the Secret Six over many years, one of them being Amanda Waller. The team that she secretly ran consisted mainly of villains who undertook missions of dubious moral quality and often resulting in a high body count. This version of the Secret Six was thematically similar to John Ostrander’s run on the Suicide Squad. It’s definitely a good read by Gail Simone.

Deadshot: Floyd Lawton first appeared way back in Batman #59 in 1950 and was created by  by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz. Deadshot is a hired assassin who is a member of both the Secret Six and the Suicide Squad. It was recently revealed in Suicide Squad that Waller has found a way to bring him back to life no matter how many times he dies. It makes his death wish pretty hard to accomplish. He had a great miniseries back in 2005 by Christos Gage and Steven Cummings that featured Green Arrow. Deadshot: Beginnings collects the miniseries John Ostrander wrote in the 1980s as well as some Batman stories.

Flashwatch: The TV showed a “No S.T.A.R. Labs” sign and the voice over said. “…any scientific gain that might come from it. The people need to understand how dangerous technology like this is and the very real possibility of a cataclysmic event.”

Mirakulu: The description and the sound of this drug sound very much like Miraclo. Miraclo is a drug that scientist Rex Tyler, created that gave him superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability for an hour before returning to human levels. He became the superhero known as

Hourman. The CW currently have a Hourman show in development. I wonder if there will be a link to Arrow. Some good Hourman reading I would point to Sandman Mystery Theatre: the Hourman and Starman #11.

H.I.V.E.: The original H.I.V.E. which stands for Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination was a mysterious organization that specialized in high-level contract assassinations and mercenary acts of terrorism. They first appeared in Superman Family #203 in 1980 and were created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Slade Wilson: He is also known as Deathstroke the Terminator but is mostly called Deathstroke in order not to be confused with the Arnold Schwarzenegger killing machine. He first appeared in New Teen Titans vol. 1 #2 in 1980 as a bounty hunter. DC Comics recently gave him his own series. I’d suggest reading issues #1-8 by Kyle Higgins.

Shado: She first appeared in Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters in 1987. She is the daughter of a Yakuza agent sent to America with a large cache of gold, prior to World War II, in order to establish Yakuza operations in America. Shado tends to be both an antagonist of Green Arrow and a love interest.