Comic Con 2014: Penny Dreadful

Ahhh, the Penny Dreadful panel. I've been waiting to write about the show for a while but I guess I waited too long as the first season is over, but the panel gives me a reason to finally discuss it. I'd firstly like to congratulate Aisha Tyler, so far her and Stephen Colbert (The Hobbit panel) have been the best moderators I've seen this year. She seemed like a genuine fan and asked all the questions that I probably would've asked, I'm surprised that the audience Q&A actually came up with any questions. Although they were the same question over and over again... Why is sex a foreign concept for them? John Logan (The creator) handled it way better than I would've expected, if it was me answering I probably would've just said that it's Showtime, if theres no sex then theres no commission.

Pretty much the first thing that is discussed on the panel is what Tyler refers to as the "holy shit moment" in the finale, meaning Ethan being a werewolf (had to narrow that down as there were so many). Logan assures fans that it will not be forgotten as we will be delving into his backstory more in the second season. Ethan is sort of unaware of what he is, all he knows is that he blacks out and bad things tend to happen so season two sees him trying to come to terms with who he is and what he's done. Perhaps thats why he seems like such a kind person when he isn't wolfed out (that's a phrase right)? He's trying to make up for the bad things he's done during the black outs.

Comic Con 2014: Hannibal

Anyone who watches Hannibal will tell you that the finale of season 2 was ridiculous, I mean it was an absolute bloodbath. I don't recall ever watching an episode of a television show that left so many main characters lives in the balance, and the show is called Hannibal so nobody but Hannibal actually needs to survive, who the hell knows who made it out of that house? Lucky for us Hannibal went to Comic Con this year, and although Bryan Fuller and the others didn't reveal too much we did manage to get a few things out of him. 

*Spoilers for season 3 ahead*

Season 3 will be set one year after the events of season 2, Fuller saying that they purposefully wanted to be vague about who survived. The first episode of season to will mainly feature Hannibal and Bedelia (played by Gillian Anderson, looks like her role is expanded this season) and won't be FBI heavy. Fuller describes the episode as a new pilot featuring those two characters. I foresee a long wait till we find out who definitively survived the Hannibal bloodbath. An interesting question that an audience member asked was "what type of cuisine will season 3 feature" and Fullers response to her was Italian, hinting perhaps at Hannibal fleeing to Florence? Maybe thats what the first half of season 3 will be about? Perhaps we don't get an answer to the finale till towards the end of the season? My god.

One person we do know that survives is Dr. Chilton, which is weird because we actually got to see him shot in the face. He was one that I figured was most definitely dead, but as Fuller and the gang says, if you haven't been eaten you can always come back. Sure the near death of the whole cast was a shock in the season finale but we pretty much know something back is going to happen during the flashforward in the first episode of season 2. The real shock is the survival of Abigail Hobbs, but I guess we didn't see her get eaten. Completely. Apparently we have more Abigail to look forward to in season 3, with Fuller wanting to do and episode about what she was up to during season 2 and I most certainly hope he gets around to it. Another dead returning character is Abel Gideon, but as he was completely limbless the last time we saw him it'll be in flashback form.

Because the game has changed completely following the last episode of course the relationships have drastically changed. We won't get that closeness between Hannibal and Will and as a replacement Fuller has let the cat out of the bag about new characters that will be introduced including Francis Dolarhyde and Murasaki. One of the reasons the audience keep coming back (and write fan fiction, make fan art) is the relationship between the leads so only time will tell if they accept the distance between the two and embrace the new characters. If I know audiences then I don't think they will but I hope the writers don't chicken out and force Hannibal and Will together again for some convoluted reasons, stick to your guns! I look forward to the new characters introduced. Dolarhyde will be making an appearance in the upcoming season, and the writers plan for his story arc to carry on over to season 5. Of course that means Silence Of The Lambs is  coming along right? Well only if MGM allow it, which I kind of doubt will happen as the panel discussed to studios annoyance with them for making the show in the first place. Hopefully they are successful at begging for the rights or are able to come up with something equally as good.

In my opinion it seems like season 3 will be evolving from what it was before, and some people may not like that as its moving away from what we know and are used to but it could be pretty great. If it all stayed the same it would be a complete bore so I'm glad that the writers and producers have the balls to shake it up a bit. Oh, and I don't actually think anyone is dead, I would put money on it. It'll still be agony waiting for it to come back though and confirm my suspicions, so bring on 2015!

Live Long and Blog!

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Comic Con 2014: 24

As you already know we have come to the end of 24 but that doesn't stop 24 from going to Comic Con 2014 with Kiefer Sutherland and Jon Cassar to help Fox sell some Blu-Rays. Even though there isn't another season of the show to gather spoilers for from the panel *dies a little inside* I decided it's still worth a watch. I mean it is 24, it's been around for more than half my life. I say that stuff to make me feel young again.

After watching the panel I reiterate, I don't want the show to leave, and from watching the panel I don't think that Kiefer, Jon and Howard are ready to say goodbye yet, as they did essentially jump at the chance when the limited run of the series was proposed. They mentioned numerous times during the panel that they still get together and consider what would happen with the show and dream cast members they would have (in Kiefers case that would be Gene Hackman, good choice), and Jon saying that they were again discussing the possibility of a movie. To be fair we've heard that before, but when it didn't happen before we did end up getting Live Another Day so I like to think it was a win.

The Fall: Teaser Trailer

So, my favourite serial killer show is back. At some point. The trailer doesn't give a specific date. Darn the BBC.

The trailer doesn't give too much away, I assume that the footage was filmed specifically for the teaser and we'll get some actual scenes from the show closer to the premiere date. I'm hoping that there is a time lapse between the end of series 1 and the beginning of series 2, with Paul Spector attempting to be a family man and taking a break from his activities (that's what I like to call murdering people) until he snaps when he finds himself another Sarah Kay. Of course, the super Stella will be waiting for him to slip up and a riveting game of cat and mouse ensues. This is pure speculation on my part, I could be completely wrong and the show may turn into a sitcom. My god I hope not.

The CW Is On To A Winner With The Flash

Anyone who has the internet knows that the pilot of The Flash leaked a few weeks ago but I was putting off watching it purely because I didn't want to fall in love with it and have to wait till October to see the next episode. Last night the Devil on my shoulder won me over and now I really wish I hadn't watched it. It was bloody brilliant.

I'm a huge fan of Arrow so my anticipation for The Flash spin off was at a high, Arrow started off a little weak and frankly I, as well as many other viewers, was a little underwhelmed with it. I don't think anyone will be saying that The Flash was underwhelming at all, I'll even go as far as saying that I (currently) rank it higher than Arrow (I apologise for the continuous comparing but of course that is going to happen with a spin off). I feel the cast of The Flash is superior to Arrow, don't flame me but as much as I adore Stephen Amell he can be a bit wooden at times. Him and certain sisters and love interests in the show. Grant Gustin (Barry Allen) and the rest of the cast seem to have made their characters multi-faceted and the ones that interacted within the pilot have great chemistry with each other. Again, I still love Arrow and most of the characters.

24, Please Don't Leave Me!

*Spoilers ahead*

So, it's been almost a week since I watched the last episode of 24. Well, the second last episode of 24. I still haven't been able to digest it. I cried like a little girl during the last 15 minutes, I mean, oh my God, is no one allowed to have a happy ending in this show? Sure, the world was saved and everything, but who the frick cares? How comes every woman Jack Bauer loves gets shot in the stomach? It must be some sick joke on the producers part. Speaking of sick joke what's up with that last scene? You can't just leave it like that! I know what the implication is, Jack's going to be tortured/killed by the Russians but please, say it ain't so! I refuse to believe that, and how dare the producers say that they aren't planning any more of the show. You can not leave me like that, I beg of you. I'd rather have not had Live Another Day. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Is The Best Marvel Film

A friend of mine watched X-Men: Days of Future Past and was sooooo 2010 about it that he updated his status saying that it was the best Marvel film that had been released. I liked the status because I thought he was being sarcastic as the X-Men movie rights are owned by Fox, not Marvel. I figured that this was general knowledge, not geeky knowledge. As I scrolled through the comments I realised I was wrong. He genuinely meant that Days of Future Past was the best Marvel film. I did enjoy watching the film but recently I re watched Captain America: The Winder Soldier and I completely disagree with him. The Winter Soldier is hands down the best Marvel film.

I probably wouldn't have felt this way 10 years ago, but in 2014 I certainly do, the major reason being comic book movie fatigue. Yes it is a real thing, not some sort of made up disorder. Think about it, we have multiple comic book movies coming out every single year and it does get a bit much. I'm not saying that I don't watch them because I really really do, but I used to go opening weekend and be pretty psyched about it and discuss for weeks on end afterwards. I can't currently remember the last time I went and saw a comic book movie opening weekend, I just don't get excited enough to do that anymore. I watch them out of habit and to be honest I don't think I'd care too much if I waited for the DVD's rather than shell out £12 to watch it in the cinema. I mean we all know whats going to happen in the movie right? Every film has the same structure and nothing really changes.