L.A. Noire 1.2 - Armed and Dangerous

L.A. Noire - Armed and Dangerous

Genre: Crime

Director: Gavin O'Connor

Writer: John Malone

Cast: Joe Alwyn, Brent Sexton, Michael Mosley, Christopher Abbott, Daniel Webber, Frederick Weller, Reed Diamond, Gabriel Basso and Jordan Gelber

Plot:1942 - Cole Phelps (Joe Alwyn) is assigned to the Marine Corps Installation Camp Elliott for Officer Candidate School. Upon his arrival, Phelps meets some of the other officer candidates, Hank Merrill (Gabriel Basso) and Jack Kelso (Christopher Abbott). Phelps almost immediately gets on Kelso's nerves with his arrogant demeanor, leading to a fist fight breaking out. Merrill gets between Phelps and Kelso to break up the fight. Alerted by the commotion, the drill instructor Sgt. Chisholm (Reed Diamond) orders the soldiers to stop fighting. Sgt. Chisholm begins berating Phelps, Kelso and Merrill. He tells them that he hopes the Japanese kill all three of them quickly to do the world a favor.

1947 - Cole Phelps and his partner Ralph Dunn (Michael Mosley) are driving in their squad car when they get a call over the radio of a robbery in progress at Westlake Savings & Loans. They answer the call since they're just a few blocks away. With their siren blaring, the pair skid to a stop in front of the bank. Phelps fetches a shotgun from the trunk of the squad car as one of the robbers opens fire on the two officers. Phelps kills the robber with a blast from his shotgun. Dunn suggests they hold down the front until backup arrives. Phelps says he doesn't like to wait and runs to the bank's entrance. The remaining robbers inside open fire at the front entrance, and Phelps ducks behind a pillar. Phelps calls out to Dunn, telling him to get his back. Dunn then begrudgingly joins Phelps at the bank entrance. Phelps exits his cover and charges toward the robbers, killing them both with shotgun blasts. Phelps calls out, informing Dunn that the bank is now clear.

1942 - In the barracks at Camp Elliott, Phelps is talking to Merrill, telling him that if he can make a name for himself in this war he can practically write his own future. Kelso scoffs at Phelps' words. Phelps tells Kelso that he wasn't talking to him. Kelso doesn't care and goes on to say that his instructors in basic training said there's a term for officers who think like Phelps: Custer Syndrome. Guys who go around dreaming of fame and glory and end up getting all of their men killed in the process. Phelps tries to remind Kelso that the job of an officer is to be a leader of men. Kelso says that doesn't mean his job is to lead men to their deaths for his own glory. Kelso then walks out of the barracks.

1947 - Detective Rusty Galloway (Brent Sexton) arrives at the scene of the Westlake Savings & Loans robbery and greets Phelps and Dunn. He comments that Phelps is making quite the name for himself in his short time on the force. Phelps thanks Galloway for the kind words, but Galloway says being well-known in the department can be a double-edged sword and to be careful.

County Coroner Malcolm Carruthers (Jordan Gelber) arrives on the scene to take away the bodies of the robbers Phelps killed. Carruthers is surprised to hear that Phelps took out all three robbers. Phelps finishes up giving the narrative of the robbery to Galloway and prepares to head back to the precinct. As he walks away from the crime scene, Carruthers asks Phelps to do him a favor. Phelps asks what, and Carruthers asks him to not kill so many crooks in the future. Phelps tells Carruthers he can't promise that and gets into the squad car with Dunn. Dunn asks Phelps if he has any plans after work. Phelps simply says he plans on going home to see the mother of his children.

After teaching a psychology lecture at the University of Southern California, Dr. Harlan Fontaine (Frederick Weller) is approached by Courtney Sheldon (Daniel Webber). Sheldon thanks Fontaine for the lecture. Fontaine asks if Sheldon is thinking of focusing of psychiatry, but Sheldon tells him he is just a second year med student, although the school fast tracked him a year based on his experience as a field medic during the war. Sheldon gets to the point of why he approached Dr. Fontaine, and asks if there is a treatment for battle fatigue and trauma. Fontaine perks up from the topic, saying that the mind is the last great scientific mystery. He goes on to say that trauma forces the mind to close down and retreat in on itself, but that he is looking to find ways to unlock the mind again through a combination of therapy and drug treatment. He says that hypnosis and therapy can be powerful tools in the right hands. Sheldon tells Fontaine that he recently visited a friend of his from the war at the V.A. hospital, but he seems like a ghost of his former self. Fontaine tells Sheldon that if he gives him the details of his friend he will make a prognosis. Sheldon is happy that Fontaine would be willing to help his friend and asks how he can repay him. Fontaine tells Sheldon that he can come and work at one of his clinics in his spare time to repay the debt. Sheldon excitedly agrees to the deal.

Manson 1.2 - Freedom, Albeit Brief

Manson - Freedom, Albeit Breif

Genre: Biography / Crime

Director: Antonio Campos

Writer: Lon Charles

Cast: Jim Sturgess, Ryan O'Neal, Elise Eberle, Daniel Roebuck and Chris Mulkey

Plot: 1957. Charles Manson (Jim Sturgess) opens up a letter from his wife Rosalie. The letter tells him that she has left the state with a new lover, a long-haul trucker, and taken their son with her. She doesn't want him around her or her child and wishes him all the best. Manson furiously trashes his prison cell. The next day, a prison guard informs Warden Robert Moseley (Daniel Roebuck) that Manson isn't in his cell like he should be. Warden Moseley orders the guards to do a sweep of the facility. Outside, one of the guards notices that the chain link fence separating the yard from the north parking lot has been cut. Moseley heads out to the parking lot with a group of guards where he finds Manson sitting in a car attempting to hot wire it. When Manson sees the Warden, he exits the car with his hands above his head. Later, Manson meets with McVeigh (Ryan O'Neal) and announces that upon his release he plans to utilize what McVeigh has taught him about running women.

1958. Manson, wearing a suit and tie, knocks on a door. A woman answers the door. Manson asks her if she would be interested in buying a freezer. Once again, Manson has been relegated to menial employment to try to make ends meet. The woman quickly shuts the door in Manson's face. While walking down the street with his sales kit when he comes across a young woman named Leona Stevens (Elise Eberle). Manson throws his sale kit into a garbage can and introduces himself to Leona, who he quickly begins calling "Candy".

Manson has Candy out on to street late at night. He watches from a nearby car as she attempts to solicit herself as a prostitute to business men walking by. Eventually one man takes her up on her offer and they go into a nearby motel room together. When Candy returns to the car following the trick, she hands the money over to Manson who quietly counts it. Manson pulls out a knife and tells Candy to do to him exactly what she did to the guy in the motel.

On another night while Candy is turning a trick, Manson walks down the street. He stops at each mailbox and looks through mail inside. He starts opening up the envelopes. Eventually, after several mailboxes and a trail of ripped up mail, he comes across a U.S. Treasury check for $37.50. When he goes to the bank to cash the check, he is arrested. When he is brought before the judge, he finds Candy is already in the court room. She is tearfully pleading with the judge to let Manson go free. She insists that she is deeply in love with Manson and will marry him if he is freed. The judge tells Manson that this is his last chance to turn his life around and grants Manson mercy. The judge tells Manson that any further criminal activity will put him in jail for 10 years.

Given one last chance at an honest life, Manson quickly steals a car. He tells Candy that he has a plan to make more money in the prostitution business. He tells her that he believes they can make good money off of lonely men at business conventions in New Mexico. They hit the road in their stolen car, heading east toward New Mexico.

Candy is busted during their first attempt at a job in New Mexico. Seeing her arrested from his seat in the car, Manson quickly speeds away from the scene toward Mexico. Across the border in Mexico, Manson's stolen car breaks down. He starts walking toward a small village, but he passes out from dehydration just as he reaches the small patch of civilization. When he wakes up, he finds that the villagers have taken him into a small shack. They give him some mushrooms to eat. Manson begins to hallucinate that he is a matador. When he comes to, he finds himself laying on a bench just down the road from the border crossing at Laredo. He is arrested for vagrancy by Federales, who deliver Manson to American authorities in Laredo. Manson is taken into custody and sentenced to 10 years for his attempt to cash the Treasury check. When a judge asks Manson what he was doing in Mexico, he tells the judge that he really doesn't remember much of it.

At his latest prison stop, Manson hears the sounds of a guitar down the cell block. He walks down the hall as if in a trance and finds a fellow inmate playing in their cell. The man introduces himself as Alvin Karpis (Chris Mulkey) and asks Manson if he's ever heard of him before. Manson shakes his head, and Karpis asks if he's heard of Capone and Dillinger. Manson says of course he has, and Karpis tells him that he used to run with them. Manson is less interested in Karpis' criminal resume, and more interested in Karpis' guitar playing. Karpis asks if Manson knows how to play, and Manson says he does not. Karpis asks if Manson would like to learn.

Have Gun - Will Travel 1.2 - Outlaw

Have Gun - Will Travel : Outlaw

Genre: Western

Director: Frank Darabont

Writer: Dwight Gallo

Based on the television series

Cast: Walton Goggins, Benedict Wong, Adrianne Palicki, Ben Cross, Luke Kirby, David Caruso, Wilson Bethel and Jake McDornan

Plot: 1865. Paladin (Walton Goggins) is sitting at his usual table downstairs at the Hotel Charlemagne when the bellhop Chan (Benedict Wong) brings him his usual cop of coffee as well as the daily newspaper. Paladin thanks Chan for his always fine service and gets to reading the paper. Helena Pervis (Adrianne Palicki) comes downstairs as well for some breakfast. Helena is then surprised to find her husband Frank Pervis (Luke Kirby) already sitting down there. She is happy to see him as he has been away for over a week. He kisses her and tells her that he didn't go up to their room as he did not want to wake her. Frank tells Helena to go ahead and head back upstairs and he'll be there momentarily. They have some catching up to do in the bedroom after all.

The proprietor of the Hotel Charlemagne, Charlemagne himself (Ben Cross), enters the dining room and welcomes Frank back to the hotel. He reminds him of the rules: no conducting business in the hotel and to keep the law away. Paladin eavesdrops on their conversation from across the room. Frank asks Charlemagne if he has any information on the whereabouts of Manfred Holt. Charlemagne tells Frank he hasn't seen Holt since he banned him from the hotel after the police started showing up to the place looking for him. Charlemagne tells Frank that last time he heard, Holt had escaped custody before they could hang him and went into hiding in the Blackfoot Mountains. Frank tells Charlemagne that a sizable bounty has been placed on Holt's head and it would make for quite the payday. Frank thanks Charlemagne for his assistance and heads upstairs towards his room. Charlemagne then turns toward Paladin and asks if he heard all of that. Paladin confirms that he happened to overhear the broad strokes of the conversation unintentionally. Charlemagne scoffs and asks Paladin what he's waiting for.

Upstairs in their room, Helena and Frank have sex. Afterwards they lay in bed while Frank rolls himself a cigarette. Helena asks if they are ever going to buy their own house. Frank tells her that it is safer for Helena at the Hotel Charlemagne when he is away for business. Helena proposes that they buy a house nearby, and when Frank goes out of town for work she can come to the hotel. Frank insists that their current situation is the most ideal given the current circumstances. Helena rolls her eyes and gets out of the bed. Frank playfully pulls her back onto the bed and says that he's ready to go again.

In the foothills of the Blackfoot Mountains, Paladin is riding his horse when he hears gunfire. He rides toward the sounds and comes across the local Sheriff Jake Ludlow (Jake McDornan) and his deputies. Ludlow yells for his deputies to chase after Holt into the forest. Ludlow turns and demands to know what Paladin is doing there. Paladin explains that he's here to do what Ludlow and his men have failed to do thus far, stop Manfred Holt, and collect the sizable bounty while he's at it. Ludlow tells Paladin to go ahead and try. Ludlow also recommends simply killing Holt as it will surely be safer than trying to take him alive. Paladin begs to differ - beside, the bounty is almost double the value if Holt is brought in alive. Ludlow calls for his men to come back. He tells them that Paladin is going to go into the forest after Holt instead - this way no more deputies are taken out by the lone outlaw, Holt.

Paladin ties up his horse and begins walking into the forest. He observes a freshly broken branch on the ground and knows he's heading the right way. He finally comes across a saddled up horse near a tree. Paladin sits down on a nearby log and waits. Manfred Holt (Wilson Bethel) suddenly drops out of a tree and approaches his horse, only to find Paladin is waiting nearby, gun drawn. Holt is furious that he has been found and tells Paladin to go ahead and shoot him already since he'd rather take a bullet than be hung up in front of a crowd. Paladin however refuses to oblige Holt's wishes, saying that he doubts Holt granted any wishes to the nine people he killed. Paladin takes Holt's gun off of him and orders him onto his horse. As they ride off, Holt warns Paladin that he plans on killing him the first chance he gets. Paladin says he doesn't plan on giving Holt any chances to do so.

Paul Pilate (David Caruso) arrives at the Hotel Charlemagne, and asks Charlemagne if Paladin is around. Charlemagne reminds Pilate that he doesn't know where Paladin is, but even if he did he would never tell Pilate of all people. Pilate tells Charlemagne he means no ill will, but Charlemagne doesn't believe him and orders him to leave the property. Pilate laughs and asks how Charlemagne would go about making him leave. Chan emerges behind Pilate with a large rifle that he sticks into Pilate's back. Charlemagne says that's how. Chan escorts Pilate out of the building and warns Pilate that if he comes back around again that he'll be forced to pull the trigger.

As they ride along an embankment, Paladin's horse is spooked and knocks him off. Holt quickly breaks free from his rope ties and grabs the rifle from Paladin's horse and points it at the fallen Paladin - but it's too late. Paladin already had his pistol ready and fires, hitting Holt in the stomach. Paladin rides with Holt's body to the sheriff's office and goes about collecting the bounty for Holt. Sheriff Ludlow asks what happened to bringing Holt in alive. Paladin says that Holt made it clear that he was never going to come in alive. Paladin collects the bounty and starts riding south, back toward San Francisco.

Survivor: Last Resort 2.2 - New Zealand Episode 2

Survivor: Last Resort 2.2 - New Zealand Episode 2
Writer: Chad Taylor

The mood in Maori is tense after going through the first tribal council. The main issue is that they weren’t settled on a single person: the tribe had been split in two and sides were taken. Now Sage and Kenny are the two remaining outsiders, with Mickey as a complete wildcard (especially after his idol play).

Meanwhile, Tasman is much more jovial - if only because their cracks have yet to be revealed. The main topic among camp is Karin and her blasè attitude towards the game and their understanding of decency. She can often be found roaming nude on the beach, taking in the beautiful New Zealand environment while pushing the buttons of the show’s editors as they try to adhere to LRTV’s standards. This has caused a debate among the contestants about what is socially decent and if they should establish a set of rules, so that no one feels uncomfortable. Bradley, in particular, is angered by this as he is a married man and he feels like Karin is making his wife feel uncomfortable at home. Karin defends herself and says it is not up to her whether or not her choice of clothing causes his attraction to her. This gets him heated and he storms off.

In confessional, Jill says that she sees both sides but points out that Survivor nudity was a big talking point in the show’s first season and that that “nudist” ended up winning the game.

It is time for the immunity challenge. Using a giant slingshot, three tribe members will be the launchers, while the other four will stand on a balance beam over the water. One tribe member will launch a ball to the other four, who must catch it before it hits the water. The first tribe to catch five balls wins immunity and a fishing kit. Karin sits out for the Tasman tribe. Rick excels as the launcher for the Maori tribe while Tasman is dragged down by the performance of their launcher, Suzanne. Maori proves victorious and wins immunity.

The simmering tensions from before the challenge are starting to re-emerge after the loss. Jill turns to her alliance mates of Alexandra, Albert, and Bradley. Still fuming from before, Rick Bradley suggest they take out Karin as she is dragging down the tribe. Albert agrees with his point but Jill and Alexandra are hesitant. They were leaning towards bringing her in as a fifth member so this would throw a wrench into their plans. Meanwhile, Suzanne would be an easy target because she sucked in the challenge and them targeting her wouldn’t necessarily expose the alliance. Bradley vehemently disagrees and storms off.

Elsewhere, Earl consoles Suzanne about the tribe blaming her for the competition loss. Everyone has their off days. They pull in Gregory and they talk about who they should vote out. Gregory is suspicious of Jill and suggest maybe they take her out. Earl and Suzanne both like this plan.

Meanwhile, Gregory talks to Alexandra, who professes that he has watched her YouTube videos in the past and is a big fan. There is some awkward flirtation in the way he communicates and Alexandra seems used to this kind of interaction. As he talks, he accidentally spills the beans about his distrust of Jill. Alexandra does not reveal how close she is with her and instead nods along to what he says.

Alexandra immediately takes this info to Jill, who is worried by it. However, Alexandra says they shouldn’t target him as he will be a way they can get info from the other side. While initially worried, Jill agrees. Jill and Alexandra fret about the loose cannon that Rick Bradley is. They even debate whether or not they should cut him loose but they agree that he is too important for the athletic side of the tribe. They know for a fact that he is voting out Karin so should they keep on his good side or stick with voting out Suzanne? Which move has the least collateral damage? Is there another option? They look to a censored Karin roaming on the beach.


At Tribal Council, all 8 Tasman tribe members light their torches. The conversation oscillates between discussion of the challenge and the Karin-Bradley feud. Jeff prompts them to discuss the importance of creating moral boundaries within that tribe, if they need any at all. Suzanne, unafraid of consequences, says she is more worried about Bradley’s hot temper than Karin’s choice of clothing (or lack thereof). Ironically, Bradley grows heated at this but cools down and says he is a fitness instructor, it’s in his nature. As is often the case early on the season, a discussion is had about what matters most in choosing who to vote out in the first tribal councils: strategy-based or challenge-ability? They are unable to come to a clear answer.

Jeff says that is time to vote. After each person votes, Jeff says that if anyone has a Hidden Immunity Idol, now would be the time to play it. No one does.

First vote…..Jill

…….Jill

…..Jill

…...Karin

Three votes Jill, One vote Karin

…...Suzanne

…..Suzanne

…..Suzanne

Three votes Jill, Three votes Suzanne, One vote Karin, One vote left

The second person voted off of Survivor: Last Resort - New Zealand….Suzanne. The tribe has spoken. Bradley stares into the fire as Jill mouths “thank you” to Karin.

In her post-show confessional, Suzanne doesn’t have much to say, other than that she was glad to have played the game. Obviously she wishes she could’ve had more time but things just didn’t work out this time.

Votes for Karin: Bradley
Votes for Jill: Gregory, Earl, Suzanne
Votes for Suzanne: Jill, Alexandra, Albert, Karin