Arrow Season 4, Episode 16 You may have heard otherwise, but love actually doesn’t mean never having to say you’re sorry. In fact, it generally means the opposite; it means constantly having to say you’re sorry… and meaning it. It means honest communication, being vulnerable, and admitting you were wrong — unfortunately for our favorite green protagonist, those are three things Oliver Queen has never been particularly good at. There were points during this episode when I thought Arrow was going to go another way with its central theme and hold up a version of true love that asks us so little of its participants....

Lyla Michaels (of ARGUS fame…and whose codename of Harbinger gives DC fans goosebumps) has landed herself in a Russian gulag while chasing down Deadshot, who John Diggle still has a score to settle with. So, it’s off to Moscow for the Arrow team (plus Isabele Rochev for…some reason) to get Diggle on the inside so he can rescue Lyla, and take out Deadshot once and for all. Meanwhile, Mrs. Queen’s lawyer tries to convince Thea not to see Roy anymore in order to make it not look like her mom raised someone who sleeps with sketchy people....

And this is how Laurel decides to become a crimefighter. We knew it was coming. As much as we came to love Caity Lotz as Sara as the Canary, it always felt like a diversion. When Arrow first started, it seemed obvious that Laurel was eventually supposed to wear the mask. Once Sara came along, well, I was just fine with it, and she’ll be missed. But when Laurel finally puts that mask on, we can point to “Sara” as the episode that really started her journey....

1.21 The Undertaking Oliver’s mission in 2013 was the hunt for Walter, who we learn has now been missing for six months. It amused me when Thea mentioned how long it’s been since anyone talked about her missing step-father, as it’s been a worry for viewers, too. Eventually, with Felicity helping Oliver in the field work while he and Diggle work out their issues, Oliver finds Walter and sends him back to his family....

1.22 Darkness on the Edge of Town Malcolm Merlyn/The Dark Archer returns to the A-plot this week, with the episode opening to a grisly mass murder Malcolm has staged so as to distract from his role in The Undertaking. There’s no doubt this is evildoing, and that Merlyn isn’t just planning a mass murder – he’s willing to kill just so he can pre-emptively cover his tracks. Poor Tommy has no idea what he’s gotten himself involved in and I have no doubt that, if it came to it, Malcolm would throw his own son under the bus to save his own skin....

2.9 Three Ghosts Oliver’s near-death experience at the end of last week served as an excuse for some informative hallucinations which, according to Diggle, happens to everyone who’s been through some trauma. Attributed to survivor’s guilt, through these apparitions we’re led to believe that Shado and Slade have already met their makers back on the island and, about five minutes later, we see that Shado was indeed killed. Oliver blames himself for her death simply because he didn’t choose between her and Sara fast enough and, judging by the size of Slade’s grudge at the end, he blames Oliver too....

4.2 The Candidate There are still little niggles that could become huge problems with time, such as Laurel’s regression back to stupid decisions and keeping things from Oliver, or Diggle still feeing side-lined even though he’s out in the field with the heroes now but, by and large, this season is showing off a lot of Arrow’s better qualities. This biggest change is in Oliver’s face, which now smiles and everything!...

Arrow Season 6 Episode 13 Much of this episode felt like a puzzle with one question and many answers: who are you, really? We saw William express an interest in his father’s night gig for the first time, finally learned who Cayden James really was before his son’s death set him on a dark path, and Laurel and Dinah will have to keep facing down the question of what, exactly, they’re capable of....

On paper, Ash vs Evil Dead never should have worked. A belated continuation of a series of four cult horror films, three of which told roughly the same story and none of which followed any consistent continuity or clear rules, it didn’t exactly have the sturdiest foundation. How this franchise would operate as a weekly series was unclear. But from start to finish, Ash vs Evil Dead knew exactly what it was aiming for and hit that mark again and again....

At its heart, this latest episode of Ashes To Ashes was a solid hour of mid-story, with the crime of the week story surrounding a stand-up comedian. It wasn’t a bad crime story, to be fair, but not for the first time this series, it was these elements that made for the least interesting part of the episode. That said, with planted goods, falsified evidence and a flawed, quite tense set-up that hinged on a radio being stolen, it was still fine stuff....

1.8 We Shall Live Forever Most weeks on Banshee, we’re treated to an opening scene before the titles roll, often as an indication of what to expect. We Shall Live Forever goes straight into the mixture of ever-changing snapshots and end-of-the-world guitar riffs, which seems a little odd. Once this hour is up though, you realise that it would have been very difficult to choose an appropriate opening to indicate the emotional draining that was about to occur....

4.8 Requiem It’s fair to say Banshee was not what I expected. There’s something special about discovering a show in its infancy, realising you’re watching something special, and then following it through as it develops and grows and becomes spectacular. I always looked on Banshee with a sort of weird pride, and as it came into its third season and critics everywhere started to acknowledge it as one of television’s best and most exciting shows....

Bates Motel Season 4 Episode 8 “There’s room in the human heart for more than one person.” Well I must say I’m pretty disappointed. We didn’t see the newly reunited Bates family watching any of The Third Man this week! Right off the top of things, tonight’s episode is impressively penned by the crew’s own Freddie Highmore (after the show’s very own Sheriff Romero, Nestor Carbonell, directed last week’s installment), a feat that’s quite elusive for a TV series, let alone a drama....

3.1 It’s a Shame About Ray I don’t read spoilers for this show, so I was immediately surprised by the fact that rather than pick up in the woods where we last left our favourite werewolves, we’ve jumped forward a year and a half — and one of our werewolves…well, isn’t. In a twist, Josh killed Ray to save Nora, and ended up saving himself. He’s no longer a wolf, but apparently the rumours were wrong: it didn’t cure anyone he’d sired as promised, and Nora is still a wolf....

1.8 Boasts And Rails On that front, it’s beyond time to give Billions some credit. In its 8th episode, Billions is what it is: an average to above average pay cable show. It must be acknowledged, however, that it is pursuing at least two plot lines that A. I have never seen before and just as importantly B. Are pretty interesting. The first aspect is something I’ve highlighted several times but escalates into an even better level in Boast And Rails: the relationships among Axe, Chuck and Wendy....

So said writer and series creator Charlie Brooker in a recent BAFTA Q&A, which took place after a private screening of series two’s opening episode, Be Right Back. Of all the Black Mirror episodes we’ve seen so far, White Bear fulfilled that remit outlined above; its horror-infused drama leaves us unsure whom we can trust or what will happen next, and its last act is truly gut-wrenching. Like protagonist Victoria (Lenora Crichlow), we’re left bewildered by the episode’s assaultive opening....

I enjoyed the film. And I have to admit I haven’t seen many Bollywood films before. Brett Ratner: See, that’s what I like. Was that the intention, to reach people who wouldn’t otherwise see it? And the film, the second half especially, feels very much like a couple-on-the-run chase movie. It’s like Thelma & Louise … BR: Bonnie and Clyde … Yeah, and a bit of Rush Hour too, that odd couple aspect....

Just a stroll down the poster-lined halls, once you get past the display case full of Oscars in the lobby, reveals the extent to which Digital Domain has shaped modern filmmaking over the past quarter century. Founded by James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross in 1993, the company’s illustrious history includes projects like True Lies, Titanic, Apollo 13, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, Thor, several X-Men and Transformers movies, Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Spider-Man: Homecoming and many more....

Adam Jones is the protagonist of Burnt, the new movie starring Bradley Cooper. Burnt has been a long time in the works, having been around at least as long as Chef, the Jon Favreau movie about a chef who loses everything and starts over again, which usurped the title of this project. Burnt has a very similar premise, though unlike Favreau’s film, it is unfortunately centred around a character as inherently unlikeable as Adam Jones....

On the whole, this was a pretty good episode. Not a scene was wasted, and every character was utilized properly, and for a big episode like this IT MADE SENSE to have all the characters present. As Avatar: The Last Airbender taught us years ago, watching a lead character trip balls is fucking priceless, and Chozen’s trip did not disappoint. From the pop culture references to the appearance of Biggie and Tupac (and Bruce Lee?...