In Argo, the consequences of failure are clearly defined. It’s 1979, and in the wake of a violent uprising in Iran, the US Embassy is stormed by insurgents. During the ensuing chaos, six American diplomats escape from the occupied building, leaving 52 of their colleagues behind. The six escapees find refuge at the home of a Canadian ambassador, but it’s only a matter of time before they’re discovered. Enter Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), who specialises in spiriting people out of critical situations....

1.7 Behold a Pale Rider On reflection, even knowing the little we do about him, it would have been foolish to assume that Mr. Rabbit would want to wait a second longer to get his hands on Hood for what he sees as the stealing away of his daughter. As he looks out through the rain-battered windows of the plush suite he shares only with his concubine, Rabbit looks like the tyrannical emperor, finally preparing to claim his prize during this week’s opening scene....

2.2 Shadow Of A Doubt Still, community theatre? I’ll say this for the latest maternal plan to keep Norman on the straight and narrow: it was very Norma. Plucking an idea out of thin air and insisting through sheer force of personality that Norman takes part is entirely consistent with her personality and their joint singing session with her at the piano was one of the more benign examples of their strange relationship....

3.3. Persuasion The great tragedy of Bates Motel has always been watching flawed people with the best intentions make a nightmare situation worse with every action, and this week we saw yet another nail driven into the eventual coffin of the Bates family. Norman is overcome with rage at the judgement that surrounds him and it seems only a matter of time before that rage destroys another life. He may not have killed Annika Johnson, but the next girl probably won’t be as lucky....

This is much more involved than previous additions, and can be used to rewind time to find out what happened in various situations, such as discovering why a police chopper crashed, and who attacked it. It’s much more impressive than before, and should allow for some interesting encounters. Dynamic crimes will offer easy to very difficult challenges at any time, with some situations you may need to avoid until you level up, with some greatly challenging your combat prowess....

The books in the series are penned by some of young adult literature’s most exciting authors. Batman: Nightwalker comes to us from Marie Lu, the bestselling author of the Legend series and recent YA release Warcross. Den of Geek: I’d like to talk about your knowledge of Batman before coming to this book. I saw in your afterword that you, like me, grew up on the animated series. What impact did this have on you as a fan and a writer?...

4.6 Cheater Of The Pack We open the morning after the change: Josh wakes up to a familiar head of blonde hair and for just a second thinks that maybe this changing with the pack thing wasn’t such a horrible idea as he’d thought. Silly Josh, he’s forgotten what show he’s on again. The blonde rolls over and it’s not Nora, it’s Mark’s wife Wendy, and she’s pretty darn sure their wolves had sex the night before....

If last week’s babysitting episode was little more than a slight comic treatment of her lack of purpose in life, this week’s shoehorning in of a fraudulent psychic and the random appearance of her mother were steps too far, in my view. The chances of Annie’s mum just happening to turn up to a psychic show were as slight as the chances of a psychic turning up in Bristol in the first place and this was the clearest evidence yet that episode four represented the culmination of her character’s story arc....

3.6 Daddy Ghoul A brief glimpse of 1933 Paris reminded us of Herrick and Mitchell’s long-term pairing and reinforced the notion of being brought back from true death, adding it’s a legacy passed down to a protégé, a secret for an heir that was never shared with Mitchell in all the years he and his creator killed together. Then the sunshine drenched scene of Nina and George’s cosy bedroom conversation made it apparent that, besides a throwaway line by Nina, the couple had all but forgotten the horrific and relentlessly tense events of the prior episode and the tone was set to be much more light-hearted in this hour....

1.6 Five-O Wow. Having had major problems with Better Call Saul’s fifth episode – although it’s been very interesting seeing how varied other people’s reactions to Alpine Shepherd Boy have been – I feel that I can say, unequivocally, that Five-O is an absolutely superb piece of television. Anyway. Enough sort-of equivocating. On with my thoughts. The episode obviously belongs to the mighty Jonathan Banks, who finds so many different sides to Mike here and plays them all to perfection....

Based on a true story, the drama unfolds in Point Barrow, Alaska, a small town on the edge of the northernmost point of the United States. In 1988, the most unlikely of tales unfolded when a family of grey whales became trapped in pack ice. After a news story broke about the whales’ plight, as all eyes watched to see whether the little whale family could be saved from what was almost certain death....

Black Lightning Episode 1 There are many elements of Black Lightning that will set it apart fom the rest of The CW’s superhero line-up when it premieres this Tuesday: Rather than an origin story, it is about a middle-aged man returning to a life of crime-fighting after a nine-year break. It is a superhero story that confronts not simply crime, but the institutions and systemic oppressions that create and support it....

1.4 Black Jesus It’s just the latest of the seemingly neverending battles that are piling up on Jefferson Pierce’s plate, and he’s tired. Tired of fighting in quicksand, and tired of the collateral damage that keeps piling up as a result. As Anissa is starting to realise with her burgeoning vigilantism, violence always comes at a cost. Beating someone up doesn’t just traumatise the victim; it has an affect on the perpertrator, too....

Blood Drive Episode 4 Blood Drive episode 4, “In the Crimson Halls of Kane Hill” is a crazy episode that brings a different flavor to the series. It opens with the sweet sounds of sixties bubblegum music, The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar,” as filtered through the lens of Ivan Bartos, who shot the music video for Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” It’s all summer fun until someone loses a tooth, and we’re not talking from decay....

4.8 The Old Ship of Zion In that world it’s also the age of Daughter Maitland, whose exquisite, sensual performances have become standard features of this current run of episodes. Part of Boardwalk Empire’s success as a period piece has been achieved through an evocation of mood that has been powered by the use of music. It’s been an essential element of the show since the beginning, from when the Onyx Club was still Babette’s, and when we were treated to repeat visits by Eddie Cantor, whose speaking voice carried the rhythm and cadence of song....

4.10 Salud If that wasn’t enough, the episode culminated with Mike and Gus, both mortally wounded (Mike by gunshot, Gus by whatever hideous potion he used to dispatch the cartel), with their lives in the hands of Jesse, someone who’s spent the last few episodes trying and failing to kill Gus.Phew, eh? But Breaking Bad’s ability to pull off big set pieces has never been in question, really. What makes it so good is how it uses them to pay off its story strands in unpredictable yet satisfying ways, and the way it weaves the violence and action in amongst the brilliantly observed, quietly brilliant character moments....

This review contains spoilers. And God, Broadchurch has a heart. Yes, it has the worst things happen, but it’s about the people who survive them. It’s about Beth and Chloe and Ellie and Trish and Leah. It’s about Cath, Daisy, Laura Benson, DC Harford and—may she get out of that garage alive—Lindsay Lucas (I’ve already used up all my TV wishes keeping Mark alive. Don’t make me regret not leaving one in reserve for her)....

It’s a legitimate question that comes from a rather curious source. Billy Beane is famous for, if nothing else, trying to remove all the romance from baseball. His system of complex analytics called sabermetrics (adopted from forerunners like Bill James) attempted to remove the human element as much as possible from baseball decision-making. Baseball is romantic because it’s American culture’s grandest blank slate. It’s a tightly-regulated game where players don’t deviate from the baselines and rarely deviate from their prescribed positions on the field....