The Survivors 1.4 - Reality Check

The Survivors : Reality Check
Genre : Sci-Fi / Mystery / Drama
Showrunner: Tomas Alfredson
Writer : Mo Buck

Based on the French Canadian series

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Cara Buono, M. Emmet Walsh, Logan Lerman, Odeya Rush, Owen Vaccaro, Michael Mando, Clancy Brown, Krysten Ritter, Jodelle Ferland, Donald Sutherland, Moises Arias and Benito Martinez

Plot : Mary (Cara Buono) is still shaken up from meeting their neighbours and she stresses even more when she realises Charles isn’t in the trailer. She asks Horace (M. Emmet Walsh) if he saw him and he says he thought he was with them all along. Gerald (Brendan Fraser) tries to calm her down by saying Charles is an adult now and he must know what he’s doing, but Mary says he’s still her baby. Gerald grabs her by the shoulders and he says she needs to let things go a bit. She can’t be the same Mary, just like he can’t be the same Gerald. They all saw what happened with Jack’s family and he doesn’t want that to happen every single time they meet someone else. Society has changed, and they need to change too if they want to get out of here. They need to adapt. Mary says he’s probably right, but he needs to admit that their neighbours were sent straight from hell. Who names their kids Judas? They were an interracial couple and did you see how old he was compared to her. They weren’t even married for Christ’s sake. Gerald says that’s how it is now and they need to understand that.

As their parents continue to argue in the back, Sarah and Marco both realise that 2019 is more exciting than 1964. Of course they miss their friends, but from what they’ve seen so far, they like it here. Marco asks Sarah if she’s worried about Charles and she says she is, but she’s more worried about her mother. Charles has always been her favorite and Gerald didn’t look like someone who would go out and look for his adult son. Marco notices Charles coming back and he says he won’t have to go far to find him, as Charles (Logan Lerman) enters the trailer. Mary tears up and runs in her son’s arms, but he pushes her away. She asks him what this is all about and he says he knows her little secret. Mary tears up and she says it’s not the time to do this. Charles says he’ll do it anyway because there weill never be a good time to do this. He reveals to the whole family that he knows Gerald isn’t his true father and that Mary cheated on Gerald while he was at the police academy. Mary is weeping and Gerald struggles to contain his anger. Charles asks Mary if this is true and she says that he won’t understand. Gerald asks her again, and she cries even more. He grabs his coat and leave, leaving his family in disbelief. Charles tries to run after him and Gerald says he’ll come back, but he has to do something first. Charles asks Gerald if he knew and he says that he always had his doubts. Mary had changed when he came back from the academy. It crossed his mind, but he chose to never believe it. Gerald wants Charles to know that he always loved him as his own son and will always do. Charles tells Gerald to stay safe and Gerald takes out his gun and hides it in his pocket. Charles laughs and goes back inside. 

Gina McRae (Krysten Ritter) is with her father, Ben (Donald Sutherland), again and she asks him about his former detective Gerald. Ben doesn’t wish to talk about that at the moment. Gina notices his mood changed when he started to talk about Gerald and she gets closer to him and she asks him if Gerard did something to him. Ben severely reminds that he doesn’t wish to talk about him and begins to cough uncontrollably and Gina helps him and she agrees to keep not talk about it, for now. 

Chartwell (Clancy Brown) kneels in front of Judy (Jodelle Ferland) and makes a cross sign on her forehead. She tries to scream, but she’s gagged. Victor (Michael Mando) comes in from behind and he asks Chartwell if it will go down tonight. Chartwell simply nods and Victor leaves the church-like building with a can of gas and matches. Chartwell kisses Judy on the forehead and tells her to calm down, it will be all over soon. 

Gerard is in a shady neighborhood around town and let’s say that he doesn’t leave anyone indifferent. He approaches a tattooed young man (Moises Arias), starring at him from head-to-toe. Diego asks him what does he want and Gerald says he’s looking for fake identity cards. Diego welcomes him with open arms and he says he came to the right place. Gerald follows him to a shady-looking building. Diego introduces Gerald to his boss, Mr. Perez (Benito Martinez). Gerald asks him for fake identifications for his family and Perez says they have a cop in the building. Diego jumps on Gerald and they ask how did he learned about their business. Gerald swears he isn’t a cop and Diego grabs Gerald’s gun. They search him and find out that he isn’t wearing a wire, or anything like that. Gerald just wants fake identifications for his family. They take him to a computer, where he needs to create avatars for his family. He doesn’t understand how a computer works, so Diego does it for him. They print him the cards and before he leaves Mr. Perez whispers in his ear that if he ever comes back again, he’ll kill him. He should consider this his official warning. Diego takes out Gerald’s gun and shoots him the stomach. Gerald, in pain, runs away with the cards and drives off in his car, losing blood. 

Gina McRae (Krysten Ritter) receives a call from dispatch to go somewhere and quick. She accepts the call and sees smoke coming out of a building from a distance. When she reaches her destination, she talks with the fire marshal who gives her the details. It’s indicating an arson and while he discusses what he knows about the fire, she starts to remember the details in the article about the fires and Gerald when her father was a cop. She leaves the scene in a hurry, not believing that it’s just a coincidence. She saw Gerald the other day and there’s an arson with the same modus operandi shortly after. It’s just too much of a coincidence. She can’t explain it though. 

Charles is waiting at the top of Mount Royal. He anxiously waits the arrival of the mysterious man who told him he could help them. He looks at the city skyline. He can’t help but notice the burning building not far away from here. Victor arrives in his van. He asks Charles why he came alone when he asked him to bring his family and he says they had something else to do. Victor asks him if he saw the burning building. He did this for them. Charles doesn’t understand what he means and how is this supposed to help them. He has so many questions right now. Victor says it’s a shame he came alone, he won’t understand. Since he wants answers to his question, there’s only one thing he can do for him. Victor knocks Charles down and ties him up. He throws him in his van and drives away.

Nez Perce 2.4 - Chaos

Nez Perce : Chaos
Genre : Historical
Showrunner: Scott Cooper
Writer : Dwight Gallo

Cast: Adam Beach, Martin Sensmeier, Gil Birmingham, Forrest Goodluck, Julia Jones, Amber Midthunder, Tatanka Means, Zahn McClarnon, Grace Dove, William Belleau and Luke Wilson

Plot:1877. Everyone looks up in the Nez Perce camp, not sure what has just happened. All is quiet for one brief moment, and then, from the distant trees, Col. John Gibbon's (Luke Wilson) men come screaming "For Custer!" Smoke fills the valley as hundreds of rifles explode. The Americans charge, taking the Nez Perce by surprise. The American Howitzer rains death from the hills above as soldiers swarm the tipis. Bayonets slice and stab. The air is filled with smoke and savage screams. The ground is covered with dead and dying women and children. The tipis are set on fire. Joseph (Adam Beach) grabs Springtime (Julia Jones) and their daughter Running Feet and heads for the river. Toohoolhoolzote (Gil Birmingham) knocks a soldier down and cuts his throat. Red Grizzly (Tatanka Means) fights with fury, killing one soldier after another. He's unstoppable. Lookin Glass (Zahn McClarnon) and the rest of the warriors fight as best they can, but are quickly driven back by overwhelming numbers.

The battle is absolute chaos. Figures dart in and out of the thick gun smoke. Bullets fly in every direction. Every few seconds, a Howitzer canon shell explodes, tearing bodies apart and showering the earth with blood and dirt. A solider sees one of his friends being dragged into a tipi. He rushes in, kills the squaw who was about to kill his friend, then runs his bayonet through a screaming baby. He is then immediately shot himself by a barrage of gunfire ripping the tipi apart.

Little Bird (Amber Midthunder) is thrown to the ground by a soldier. She struggles against her attacker, when Wahlitits (Forrest Goodluck) suddenly throws the soldier off of her and bashes his skull in with a rock. Breathing heavy, Wahlitits turns to face Little Bird. His eyes grow wide when he sees that she has been shot in the chest. She collapses into his arms. He lowers her gently to the ground as the battle continues all around them. He tells her he is sorry. Little Bird reaches out and gently touches his face. Tears stream from his eyes. Suddenly an explosion consumes them both. Toohoolhoolzote sees the Howitzer on the hillside and starts running towards it.

Joseph hurries to get his family to safety. He glances back at the raging battle, deeply conflicted. Springtime looks at him. She understands, and tells him to go and fight. Joseph hesitates, then nods. He tells Springtime to get their daughter to the river. Joseph then heads back into the fray. Springtime and her daughter, Running Feet, run for their lives as bullets whiz past their heads. Suddenly, Springtime is hit with two bullets. She falls to the ground and does not get back up. Her daughter tries to wake her up, but Springtime is not responsive. She begs her mother to get up, but Springtime does not answer. She senses she must flee and forces herself to leave her mother and run away on her own. Fairland (Grace Dove) is cut down by gunfire. She falls to ground and rolls to the bottom of a hill, lifeless. Running Feet comes up over a hill, and starts heading back towards the camp. People are dying all around her as she runs through the camp. She keeps moving, miraculously unharmed. She reaches the charred remains of a tipi and stops. She picks up a doll. She turns and takes in the slaughter going on all around her. Tears stream down her face. She starts looking for her father. A Howitzer shell explodes nearby, engulfing her in smoke, but not harming her. She starts running back towards the river. Soldiers shoot at her, narrowly missing her. She reaches the river, which is full of floating bodies, both American and Indian. She crawls into the water. She floats with the bodies down river, clutching onto her doll.

Toohoolhoolzote charges through the chaos. He hops on a horse and gallops towards the Howitzer. The horse rears up and falls down. Toohoolhoolzote hits the ground hard, his leg pinned by the fallen horse. He reaches for his rifle, but it's just out of reach. Soldiers fire all around him. He pulls out a knife. He apologizes to the horse, and then digs the knife into the horse's back, The horse kicks up. Toohoolhoolzote grabs his rife and charges for the Howitzer. Two soldiers man the canon. One takes a bullet to the head. The other looks up just in time to see Toohoolhoolzote bury a knife into his chest. Toohoolhoolzote turns to the howitzer and finds that the fuse has already been lit. He throws all his weight against the canon and manages to move its aim just in time to send the the canon toward the American soldiers.

Joseph and Looking Glass summon their men and charge back into the village, overwhelming the Americans. Toohoolhoolzote sees Gibbon retreating on his horse. He aims his rifle and fires. Gibbon's shoulder explodes from the bullet. He falls off his horse and hits the ground. Toohoolhoolzote drops his gun, draws his knife and charges towards Gibbon. An American soldier comes out of nowhere and buries his bayonet in Toohoolhoolzote's side. Toohoolhoolzote knocks the soldier down and kills him. He removes the bayonet from his body with great pain. The wound slows him down, and half a dozen soldiers carry Gibbon away as they retreat.

Joseph, Ollokot (Martin Sensmeier) and Looking Glass drive the remaining Americans out of their camp, screaming after them. Toohoolhoolzote watches the Americans retreat, slumped against the Howitzer, struggling to catch his breath. More than a hundred Nez Perce, mostly women and children, have been slaughtered. An equal number of American soldiers litter the ground beside them. Joseph begins frantically looking for his family. He passes death with each step. He reluctantly looks at each body fearing one might be his wife or daughter. Joseph comes down a hill and finds Ollotkot clutching Fairland's dead body, crying. Joseph watches with heartache. Looking Glass calls out for Joseph, telling him he's found Springtime.

Burnt Prairie 1.3 - Cal

Burnt Prairie - Cal

Genre: Drama

Director: James Ponsoldt

Writer: Chad Taylor

Cast: Josh Lucas, Olivia Holt, Kristin Chenoweth, Ed Oxenbould, Jeremy Allen White, Jacob Elordi, Robert Forster and Joel Murray

Plot: After the press conference on Von’s death, Cal Montgomery (Josh Lucas) goes to the police station, immensely stressed. As you can imagine, Burnt Prairie police officers do not encounter this type of investigation, often. But on top of that, he knows that the details of this investigation could reflect poorly on him.

While everything points to an accidental cocaine overdose, Cal is feeling the pressure that the public want concrete answers. And he has a sinking feeling in his stomach. He is achingly worried at how this story is going to reflect on him once the details emerge.

He comes home to find his wife Rose (Kristin Chenoweth) comforting their daughter Cameron (Olivia Holt). She tells her dad that she is still reeling from Von’s death but he tells her he needs the truth and he knows he can trust her. She tells him that her and Von didn’t talk much at the party, which is really weighing on her. She saw him hanging out with Keith Whitney, a notorious drug dealer in high school circles.

Cal brings Keith (Jeremy Allen White) in for questioning. Keith is coy with his answers, angering Cal. He says that he knows that he sold the cocaine to Von. Keith is adamant that he did not. Cal promises him that he won’t punish him for his drug-dealing, he just wants to know the truth. Keith tells him this is the truth. True, he might have a side business doing this and he might’ve sold cocaine to some but not Von. He only ever supplied Von with weed. Cal is frustrated by this answer. As Keith is leaving, he tells Cal that the last thing he saw that night was his daughter with Von in the room that he died.

At home, Cal questions Cameron again and she confirms Keith’s story. Her and Von had been fighting so she found in Cal’s closet to help mend their problems. She didn’t know it would end so horribly. As she is crying, he hugs her and tells her it will be ok.

At a public press conference, Cal announces the arrest of Keith Whitney for distribution of narcotics as a montage shows the police serving a warrant at his apartment. He says that their evidence indicates that he is the one who supplied and used the cocaine with Von Murphy on the night that he died.

In private, Rose confronts Cal and questions his moral compass. He grows angry and says that he will defend his daughter at all costs. She asks if he is really just defending himself. Their marital issues existed before but now they have worsened. Their son Elliott (Ed Oxenbould) walks in on them arguing and Rose chases after him to explain things. Cal screams into his hand from the stress.

With the partial relief of closure from Von’s death, the whole town comes together to shift their focus to the first basketball game since the tragedy. It feels like a true community gathering, with not an empty seat in the house. There are murmurs about the crowd about they aren’t surprised that someone like Keith, a neerdowell, would negatively influence Von like that. A moment of silence is held before the national anthem and a prayer is read out by Rose. While this forbids the law of separation of church and state (since Burnt Prairie is a public school), no one really cares in this instance.

Still distraught, she confirms the story that Keith gave him. Her and Von had been fighting so she used the drugs that Cal left for her to help mend their problems. She didn’t know it would end so horribly. As she is crying, he hugs her and tells her it will be ok.

Their opponent, Grandview Central, is ranked on a similar level when accounting for Von’s absence so this is expected to be a close affair. However, with their emotions running high, Chris (Jacob Elordi) and the team go on an absolute tear and blow their opponent out. The atmosphere is incredible and the crowd stays throughout the whole game, awarding Dick (Robert Forster) and his team a standing ovation afterwards.

After Coach Carpenter is interviewed by Doug Parker (Joel Murray), Cal congratulates him on the win. Cal then talks to Doug and about how great of a story this will be (especially if they carry this momentum going into the playoffs). Speaking of stories, Doug pulls Cal aside and tells him about Dick’s “urban” comments at the press conference the day before. Cal is surprised to hear this and Doug mentions how that could damage the coach’s reputation if published. Cal agrees. As he is walking away, Doug’s words echo in Cal’s mind and he realizes the type of media attention this would get (and thus away from his public lies). He turns around and tells Doug he thinks he should publish it - Coach said it after all.

Cal wakes up the next day and, on his way to work, reads the newspaper with a big headline “Blazers Win First Game Since Tragedy; Victory Marred by Controversial Comments”. He lets out a big sigh of relief.

Rolling Stone 2.3 - A Song For You

Rolling Stone - A Song For You

Genre: Drama

Director: Oliver Stone

Writer: D.R. Cobb

Based on the Rolling Stone magazine

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Aimee Teegarden, Karl Glusman, Alicia Witt, Ross Butler, Lou Taylor Pucci, James Urbaniak, John C. McGinley and Tom Payne

Plot: October 1970. Celeste (Aimee Teegarden) sits down in a lecture hall waiting for her new Advanced Journalism class to begin. As the other students finish filing into the room, the professor enters. Celeste is shocked see that her new professor is none other than Brady Conroy (Josh Hartnett). She silently debates leaving the class, but instead just slumps down into her seat as Brady introduces himself to the class. Brady tells the students that his class will focus on the specifics of writing for magazines - if you want to simply type out the news for the local paper, this isn't the class for you. As Brady is talking, he notices Celeste in the back of the room slumped down in her seat. He pauses for a second before continuing on with the lecture. The entire class is sitting at the edge of their seats as Brady talks to them about covering the Altamont Free Concert and about recently interviewing The Who's Pete Townshend. At the end of the lecture, the students start to file out of the hall. Celeste tries to slip out, but Brady stops her. He asks her how she's doing. She says she's doing just fine, but can't really talk right now because she has another class to get to. Brady tells her to not be a stranger. Celeste nods and leaves the lecture hall.

At the Rolling Stone offices, Brady stands at the front desk talking to Kylee Hargrove (Alicia Witt). She tells him she had fun getting drinks with him the other night. He tells her he had a good time as well, and asks if she knows why he was called down to the office. She says she doesn't know, but is glad to see him nonetheless. Jann Wenner (Karl Glusman) comes out of his office and greets Brady. Jann tells Brady that he was just doing the final edit on the Townshend piece earlier and it will indeed be the cover story for November's issue. Brady thanks him. Jann then tells Brady to follow him into the conference room.

Brady sits down in the conference room opposite Wenner, Ralph J. Gleason (James Urbaniak) and Ben Fong-Torres (Ross Butler). Gleason tells Brady that despite his Townshend article making the cover, there is a bit of bad news. Brady asks what that could be. Gleason tells Brady that none of his brother's pictures quite fit the look they wanted for the cover. They were good, but were more action packed than they prefer, as they generally go with some more classically staged for the cover. Brady tells them his brother can do that, but Gleason tells him that they have their sights set on an image of Baba Meher for the cover rather than a picture of Townshend. Wenner asks Brady if he wouldn't mind giving his brother the bad news along with a check for the use of a couple images in the article section.

Brady enters his apartment where he finds his brother Jimmy (Lou Taylor Pucci) practicing meditation. Brady hands over the paycheck and tells Jimmy that if he becomes a Hare Krishna next he's going to kick him out of the apartment. Jimmy immediately breaks his meditating to look at the check. Brady tells Jimmy that there was a bit of an issue with the pictures. Jimmy demands to know what. Brady explains that they used his picture for the article, but they went with a different photograph for the cover. Brady is surprised that Jimmy doesn't care. Brady says he thought Jimmy would be upset. Jimmy says that he just got paid to have his pictures in an issue of Rolling Stone magazine, there's no way he could be upset right now, cover or not.

Brady wraps up another journalism lecture. Several of his female students stay after class to ask him questions. Brady is soaking up the attention while Celeste looks on, jealous. As he is leaving the building, Brady runs into Dean Alan Smalling (John C. McGinley), who tells him that he's been hearing rave reviews about the advanced journalism class. Smalling then asks if that strong word of mouth continues, the department may have to offer him a full-time position on the staff. Brady thanks Smalling for the kind words and leaves the building.

Brady heads into the Rolling Stone offices, where he finds it mostly empty aside from Ben Fong-Torres gathering his things. Ben tells Brady that everyone is out to lunch at the moment. Ben then asks Brady if he wants to tag along on an interview he has set up with Leon Russell. Together, they drive to a studio where they find Leon Russell (Tom Payne) fiddling with a piano. He insists it is out of tune, but the technicians assure him it has been tuned to his specifications already. Russell says if it was, he wouldn't think it is out of tune. When Russell sees Ben and Brady enter the studio he stops talking to the technician and greets the journalists.

For the interview, Russell sits at the piano, Ben sits on a stool, while Brady finds the only other available seat, the small stool next to a drumkit. Ben asks him the standard questions, but Russell isn't particularly interested in answering them. He instead tells a recent story about how a waitress at a restaurant in Dallas wouldn't serve him because of his long hair and beard. Russell suddenly asks for a break in the interview. Ben asks why, and Russell says he just remembered something that he wants to write down. Russell then heads into the technicians booth where he continues to berate the technician for the sound of the piano. While they wait, Brady picks up a pair of drum sticks and begins playing around on the drums. Ben is shocked that Brady is really good. Brady plays a few jazz drum fills. Russell stops his conversation with the sound technician and turns on the recorder. Russell then heads into the room and sits down at the piano. Brady stops playing, seeing that Russell is back, but Russell tells him to keep playing. Brady continues playing the drums, and Russell joins in on the piano. Ben watches the two of them in awe.