January 29? I have to wait until January 29 to find out who took Olivia friggin’ Pope? Recently, I have found myself disappointed with Olivia: stringing Jake along, trusting her despicable father constantly, continuously going back to Fitz after he treats her terribly. Not to say she doesn’t have her kick ass, “I’m Olivia Pope moments,” but they are overpowered by how overcome she is by Fitz’s presence or how she’s agreed again to a Sunday night dinner with her dad....

Shameless Season 8 Episode 6 Poor Icarus might have fallen in the jaws of Rusty tonight—at least according to the title—but pacing likewise fell back into its familiar, old rhythm this week too, as the wildly intense sudden drama of the last episode’s cliffhanger mostly was put on the backburner. Indeed, Fiona and Ian have a reckoning that remains due, but all we got was a poignant, if only sample sized, hint of things to come: Fi is no longer South Side....

4.4 Una Venta The episode starts with a very long montage to some mariachi music – the tune reminded me of The Times Are A-Changin’ by Bob Dylan, and also the traditional Irish song, The Wild Rover. I only mention this because it was all I could really think about during this scene. The scenes show the Sons gearing up and riding to Arizona, there’s a great scene where we see Jax injecting something into Clay’s hands, which is most likely for his arthritis, something that has become apparent this series....

A science fair project results in many hilarious scenes of gene splicing in this, the fifth episode of South Park series one. When Mr Garrison pits Kyle and the gang against the school bullies, only one thing can happen: the bullies bet that they’ll be able to clone an entire human being before Kyle can splice the genes of his new pet elephant with those of Cartman’s pot-bellied pig. He’s managed to splice rabbits with fish (actually, just bunny ears tied onto fish with string) and a beard with a piece of chalk and some cheese (simply these three items lying side by side in a glass case)....

Space Dandy is a show that has never walked away from the chance to throw convention out the window. Their structure is malleable, and there are no rules, as the show loves to take a concept and really, really indulge itself in it. This is a show that basks in the opportunity to find a kernel of an idea and tug and tug at it until… In an episode rife with alternate universes, mirror versions, and a Möbius strip’s worth of realities, let’s talk about the huge bombshell that everyone’s going to be talking about: Space Dandy used to be a space truck driver....

“As the obsession grows, so does the stalker’s courage.” Here we are, back in the out of its mind world of Stalker, and it’s nice to see that every cold open so far could effectively still be a scene out of Scream, which I’m more than fine with being the qualifier for the show’s intros so far. We see a frightened teenager yelling into a phone, stressing over the condition of the front door, and running back upstairs when she should probably be heading for the exit....

Mark Pickavance will be our guide, as we cross the final frontier one story at a time. This is a very curious start for Star Trek, because this first story isn’t the original pilot, or even the second pilot. It was actually the sixth episode shot, and as such, many of the early tweaks made after those have already been added. However, it does establish the purpose of the Enterprise and her crew, and the relationships between Kirk, Spock and Bones....

The stardate on The Corbomite Maneuver (or even Manoeuvre) would actually make this one of the Enterprise’s earliest adventures, and this was the first regular series production after the second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before. Quite why they held this back until later in the season, I’ve no idea, because it’s an absolute cracker that attempts to explain the dangers that face deep space explorers, while offering political comment on the stalemate that America and the USSR had perpetuated since the end of the second world war....

Let’s get this out of the way first: that title is goofy. Inferno Squad they are indeed, but most of the novel takes place while the four Imperial agents are undercover, trying to blend in with what remains of Saw Gerrera’s partisans after the Rebel extremist’s death on Jedha. As a tie-in to both both Star Wars Battlefront II and the Star Wars universe as a whole, the book has a lot of ground to cover, and it does it pretty neatly....

Clovis treats himself like a tragic figure while playing into Dooku’s hands. One of the better scenes in “The Rise of Clovis” shows Anakin’s room, filled with toy models and posters of the Boonta Eve podrace. The activities he chooses to de-stress – and the fact that a Jedi has a hobby that emphasizes the acquisition of possessions – feel true to his character. Other details in the animation really sell the characters too – Clovis shakes when Dooku suggests the banks might fall, Anakin’s expression twists just before he attacks, Clovis shifts his cheeks around when he drinks....

So that’s the contract: no spoilers. With that in mind, what can possibly be said about a pop culture event like Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Rather than talk about plot specifics, let’s look instead at one tiny little scene – a snippet, really, from the film’s beginning. We’re on the planet Jakku, a lonely backwater where the sand is coarse and gets everywhere. Strewn with the wreckage of a fallen Empire, the bones of old Star Destroyers provide slim pickings for penniless scavengers like the young Rey, played by Daisy Ridley....

Nyong’o could play an elegant senator or an equally elegant Sith. She could make a convincing Asajj Ventress, although it would be a pity to cover such an expressive actress up with too much makeup and effects. Christie could play a Jedi, perhaps one as conflicted about her role and her serenity as she is in Game of Thrones. On the other hand, it would be nice to see her in a completely different kind of role, one where her character never had to feel out of place....

Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Episode 16 This season’s second Sabine-centric episode reveals a wealth of backstory for the young Mandalorian. We know who Sabine’s family members are now (or at least several of them), and a little more about the political situation in the places controlled by the Mandalorians. The plot, covering Sabine’s attempt to regain her family’s political power using the darksaber, is complex on the surface, with family members who thrive on honor duels and sparring matches while remaining fiercely loyal to one another....

3.8 Iron Squadron Sent to evacuate the remaining civilians on the besieged planet Mykapo, the Rebels find Mart Mattin leading a group of three teenagers into the fray on what Zeb calls “a ship full of Ezras.” He isn’t wrong. Presumably driven by the death of his father, Mart flies head-on into a battle for which he is woefully under-equipped. It was good to see Ezra explain to essentially a younger version of himself why what he was doing wasn’t quite right....

The show jokes about and references the Original Trilogy with energy and reverence, and explores what it means to live as a citizen of the Empire. Imperials don’t have to be blowing up planets – or stealing fruit from doe-eyed merchants – in order to show that the Empire’s oppression is manipulative and economically draining. A run-down “Tarkintown,” reminiscent of “Hoovervilles,” is a great, realistic setting. The plot is pretty clear-cut so far: resourceful orphan Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) joins a Rebel crew led by Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr....

Pain In another part of the ship, Dale Volker (Patrick Gilmore) gets trapped in his room when his door doesn’t function, and it’s only when Sgt Riley (Haig Sutherland) opens his door from the outside that he can get out. However, it doesn’t take long for us to realize that these are illusions, as we see Lt Scott alive and well, and being entirely bewildered by his son appearing on board....

2.12 Twin Destinies In the last episode, we were left with Destiny nearly broken, as it was travelling through hyperspace. We pick up with a chat between the crew on just how messed up the ship really is. They’re down to the last of everything and the ship is in dire straits. To put it bluntly, they’re buggered. Eli brings up a lovely point that may have been forgotten. He and Gin had determined a way for the crew to dial home while travelling through a star....

I greatly enjoyed your book How I Escaped My Certain Fate, and I was really struck by the brutal honesty of it… There are also a huge number of footnotes in the book, which reminded me of David Foster Wallace’s writing. Was he an influence or am I reading too much into it? I haven’t read David Foster Wallace, but I did think that it would be a good way of getting across my stand-up style, where I go into too much detail about particular things....

The teenager behind the desk at your local DVD store looks blankly back at you. ‘Do you mean Studio 60 or do you mean 30 Rock, dude?’ he asks. You ask him what the difference is between the two and he just shrugs his shoulders. Typical. He can give you a complete breakdown of every Chucky movie ever made and name every single Anthrax song ever recorded, but ask him something crucial and you get nothing....

This week’s installment of Teen Wolf was frustrating and hard to watch. Each episode tends to try and accomplish a lot, story-wise. They succeed in this without harm to the central narrative I’d say at this point, 45% of the time. A lot happened this week: the mysterious Buddhist pack of werewolves were found murdered, Violet was found murdered, Meredith took her own life, Liam nearly died, Scott’s dad nearly died, Kate’s Bezerkers nearly killed Hot-Dad Argent — and those are just a few highlights....