The James Morgan Show 2.11

Another week in the books for Last Resort Television means another edition of the James Morgan Show!

2. Rolling Stone 8.02
3. Manson 7.08
4. L.A. Noire 7.00
5. Hitman 6.78
6. Burnt Prairie 6.47
7. Nez Perce 6.20
8. Showtime 5.79
9. Miami Vice 5.76
10. Gauntlet 5.62
11. The Survivors 5.18
12. She-Hulk 4.94
13. Have Gun - Will Travel 4.68
14. Call My Agent 4.62
15. Survivor: Last Resort 4.51
16. Hype 4.00
17. Rubber City Rockers 3.87
18. Human 3.67

Now, it's time for… 

1. NEZ PERCE
(Last Week: 1)
Writer: Dwight Gallo / Executive Producer: Scott Cooper
This show just keeps getting more and more intense. The cliffhanger at the end of the third episode has me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happens next.

2. ROLLING STONE
(Last Week: 2)
Writer: D.R. Cobb / Executive Producer: Oliver Stone
Writer D.R. Cobb clearly took the criticism of under-developed supporting characters seriously when tackling this season. This show doesn't even need the rock stars anymore, the primary cast is so interesting at this point.

3. MANSON
(Last Week: 3)
Writer: Lon Charles / Executive Producer: Antonio Campos
It is very interesting how writer Lon Charles is slowly introducing us to the familiar characters known as part of the Manson Family even with the primary narrative still set nearly a decade before the infamous crimes they committed.

4. L.A. NOIRE
(Last Week: 4)
Writer: John Malone / Executive Producer: Gavin O'Connor
LA Noire is just doing a great job of balancing the characters so far. Even though it's based on a video game where one of the characters is controlled by the player, everyone in this series feels like a full character - and not a blank avatar for the player, something few video game adaptations manage to pull off.

5. GAUNTLET
(Last Week: 6)
Writer: Matt Parker / Executive Producer: Antoine Fuqua
We haven't even managed to get onto the football field this season so far, and you know what? I don't mind. Matt Parker has clearly put in a lot of work on the character front for this season.

6. BURNT PRAIRIE
(Last Week: 7)
Writer: Chad Taylor / Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Just when it seemed like the series was going to go the "Friday Night Lights" route, writer Chad Taylor throws us a curveball, giving us a series that is beginning to feel more like a basketball themed "Bloodline" - and I like it.

7. SHOWTIME
(Last Week: 8)
Writers: Mo Buck & Chad Taylor / Executive Producer: Steven Soderbergh
It's taken a while, but the show is finally starting to delve into what makes the characters tick. The first couple episodes spent a bit too much time setting up the characters, but now that's out of the way and it's getting real interesting.

8. RUBBER CITY ROCKERS
(Last Week: 5)
Writer: D.R. Cobb / Executive Producer: David Wain
I actually really liked the latest episode, but it did fall a few spots due to improvements from other shows. It's been pretty fun to find out which character Justin Long is going to play each week. Even if it is a gimmick, it's a fun one.

9. HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL
(Last Week: 10)
Writer: Dwight Gallo / Executive Producer: Frank Darabont
Walton Goggins is absolutely owning the character of Paladin. On the surface he's a gentleman gunfighter, but there's a definite anger under the surface of the character that is peeking out here and there.

10. CALL MY AGENT
(Last Week: 14)
Writer: Dominic Wilkins / Executive Producer: Jason Reitman
Now that was more like the series I loved last season. Call My Agent is best when the characters are reeking of desperation and fumbling their way through comedic celebrity interactions.

11. HITMAN
(Last Week: 9)
Writer: Dwight Gallo / Executive Producer: Francis Lawrence
This latest episode wasn't as strong as the previous two, but the character growth of Agent 47 has been interesting. Last season he was a mostly silent killing machine, but this time around there is a lot more depth going on with him.

12. THE SURVIVORS
(Last Week: 11)
Writer: Mo Buck / Executive Producer: Tomas Alfredson
Another strong episode of The Survivors following the shaky pilot. The way the characters react to their modern surroundings has been interesting, although Cara Buono's character was a bit grating this week.

13. SHE-HULK
(Last Week: 13)
Writer: Chad Taylor / Executive Producer: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
It's nice to see some of the superhero side of things this week in She-Hulk, even if the title character is still mostly a non-factor.

14. HYPE
(Pre-Season: 15)
Writer: Dominic Wilkins / Executive Producer: Stephen Merchant
The series finally premiered and hit a fun, dark humor to it along with a talented (and game) cast.

15. SURVIVOR: LAST RESORT
(Last Week: 15)
Writer: Chad Taylor
I feel like the season is finally starting to kick into gear as some of the less interesting contestants have started to be eliminated.

16. MIAMI VICE
(Last Week: 12)
Writer: Roy Horne / Executive Producer: Peter Berg
Prior to this episode, the show had done a good job of showing character growth, but this one just felt weaker in that department (and the case at the center of the plot wasn't particularly interesting).

17. HUMAN
(Last Week: 16)
Writer: Ann Morrow / Executive Producer: Michelle MacLaren
The is definitely getting more interesting by the week. Unfortunately for Morrow and MacLaren, somebody has to be at the bottom of the Power Rankings. If the quality continues to improve, it could definitely move out of the bottom spot soon though.

See you next week!

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.