The Survivors 1.6 - Unlikely Reunion

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

Based on the French Canadian series

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Cara Buono, Logan Lerman, Odeya Rush, Krysten Ritter, Michael Mando, Donald Sutherland and Graham Phillips

Plot: Gina McRae (Krysten Ritter) is taken aback when she learned that another fire occurred with a similar modus operandi than the last fire she investigated. She still hasn’t found a lead and her mind keeps thinking about Gerald and her father. Nobody has signaled their car yet and she has yet to encounter them again. She takes a look at the crime scene and notices that “Gerald” has been written on the wall. She asks a technician to analyse that and in her head, it doesn’t make sense for Gerald to be setting those fire, which criminal would write his own name on the wall ?

Right when she wakes up, Sarah (Odeya Rush) runs to the bathroom and throws up. Her mother, Mary (Cara Buono), prays for her daughter to get better as she swears that she’s going to get back at Jack and Rita for making her beloved daughter sick. During this time, Charles (Logan Lerman) is sitting at the table with Gerald (Brendan Fraser). Charles asks him if things are going to be weird between them now that he knows that Gerald isn’t really his father and Gerald promises to not make it weird if he doesn’t. Charles opens up the book he stole from Chartwell and they find out that it’s impossible for them to read it. They try to decipher it, to no avail. Mary comes over and asks Charles where he’s been and she starts to freak out when she learns that her precious son was kidnapped. Gerald points out that she has a certain talent with the word games in the newspaper and he asks her if he can make something out of this gibberish. She says she’ll take a look at it, but can’t come to any other conclusion than it’s all satanic symbols and that this mysterious white-haired man is evil. Charles asks his mother where Marco is and she starts to freak out, they forgot Marco at the hospital! 

The whole family heads downtown to the hospital to see old Horace and Marco at the hospital. Gerald struggles to park the car with all the parking regulations. He finally finds a space near the hospital and before they head there, Gerald remembers that he has tasks for every family member. He will go to the bank with his bonds and newly acquired fake identifications to open up a bank account so they can actually have money. They all go to the bank together and Gerald opens up a bank account. The clerk gives them a weird look, but once it’s all said and done, Gerald is happy to have that out of the way. He tasks Mary and Charles to buy clothes for the whole family. He’s tired of being looked at like he’s an alien or something. Sarah and him will go buy food at the grocery store.

At the grocery store, Sarah confides to her father that she doesn’t think she got sick because of food poisoning, but  probably for something else. She tells her not to worry about it, everything’s going to be alright. She leaves her father for a while and goes to the pharmacy section. She buys a pregnancy test and hides it in her purse. Charles takes his mother aside in the store and he asks her why she didn’t tell him that Gerald wasn’t his father. She says she didn’t want to mess up their relationship and Charles says he feels like he doesn’t belong with the rest of them. She reassures him that it’s not true and that she’s sure Gerald loves him very much. 

Gina McRae is driving downtown when she sees an old car that rings a bell in her mind. She realises it’s Gerald’s car and she pulls over. She waits for them to arrive and she sees the family coming back to the car with their purchases. She runs towards them and she wants to speak to Gerald. She asks him who he is and Gerald sees her nametag. She asks her if she’s Ben McRae’s daughter and she says she is. He held her in his arms when he was a baby. Gina is flabbergasted. She asks them what are they doing here and Gerald says he doesn’t know. He asks her if her father is still alive and she says she is. Gerald wants to talk to him and Gina says they can follow her, they have lots of catching up to do.

When they get to Gina’s place, Gerald and Mary explain everything to Gina and she chooses to believe them. She shows her father’s box to Gerald while she wakes him up and Mary and the kids take the opportunity to change into their new, modern clothes. Gerald looks at the newspaper articles and everything Ben has about him. Gina rolls Ben (Donald Sutherland) out and his jaw drops to the floor. Gerald is standing in front of him, all those years later… and he hasn’t changed a bit. 

The night has come and Steven (Graham Phillips) an up-and-coming scientist stands on top of Mount Royal with all sorts of measuring instruments. A couple walks in front of him and he asks them to step aside, he’s doing important work over here. A man stands in the shadows and he asks him what he’s trying to achieve and Steven says that, according to his work, a there’s supposed to be a breach in time happening tonight and he wants to be the first one to witness it and discover it, but he won’t understand. The man steps forward, revealing himself to be Victor (Michael Mando) says he understands him more than he can imagine and he tries to knock Steven out. Steven dodges the strike and runs away. Victor screams at him to tell Gerald they’ll find him soon enough.

Gerald and his family eat dinner with Gina and Ben. Gina tells them all about the recent fires and that his name was written in ash on the building. Gerald has so many unanswered questions. Why was he sent in 2019 ? Who’s running after him ? Why is that all possible ? Ben breaks his silence. He tells Gerald that he was approached by a man in the 1960’s to throw him off a case. He wasn’t getting anywhere with the case and his behavior was shaky at best, so he sent him on a vacation. Then, his family and him disappear. Ben starts to cry. He looked all  over the city for them. People believed he was the one who set those fires, but Ben believed in him. He looked everywhere and found him. It broke his heart. Gerald asks what did the man looked like. He says he had long white hair and a long beard. Charles realises it was Chartwell and Mary realises something else! They forgot Marco and Horace at the hospital!

Nez Perce 2.6 - Atlas

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

Cast: Adam Beach, Matthew Rhys, Julia Jones, Tatanka Means, Zahn McClarnon, Ben Schnetzer, Lily Gladstone, Jim Beaver and Damon Herriman

Plot:1877. The tribe comes to a stop for the evening after a long day of marching. An old woman suddenly collapses from exhaustion. A few people surround her, but it is too late. She is already dead. The tribe performs a funeral dance. Joseph (Adam Beach), arms wrapped around Springtime (Julia Jones), watches. Oyema (Lily Gladstone) sits nearby, gently rocking her new baby to sleep. Red Grizzly (Tatanka Means) lurks in the shadows. He sees Ollokot (Martin Sensmeier) standing a few feet away. The two men stare at each other for a moment, then Red Grizzly turns and disappears into the darkness.

In the morning, General Oliver O. Howard (Matthew Rhys) rides next to Captain David Perry (Ben Schnetzer), leading his army through Yellowstone. The soldiers and their horses seem tired. The wind blows. Perry looks up at the grey skies and comments on how cold the wind is getting. Howard remains quiet and the American keep moving forward.

Joseph rides up beside Springtime as the Nez Perce continue their journey. She looks at him and tells him she is cold. Joseph tries to rub her shoulders for warmth. Their daughter, Running Feet, says she is cold too. Joseph looks down at his daughter with aching eyes. It's breaking his heart that there is nothing he can do to help them. Suddenly gunshots are heard up ahead. Joseph kicks his horse and gallops towards the front of the line.

Two white men, carrying maps and surveying equipment, are forced to their knees as Nez Perce warriors surround them. Joseph climbs off his horse and slowly approaches. Ollokot tells Joseph the men were sleeping when we came upon them. The two men then had quickly fired their guns. Joseph looks at the two men, who are now trembling in fear, begging not to be killed. Joseph asks the men why they are there. They say they are making maps. One of the men, Harold (Jim Beaver), opens his case and pulls out several hand-drawn maps. Joseph studies them carefully. Harold suddenly realizes he's talking to Chief Joseph. Joseph doesn't respond. He hands the maps to Ollokot and Looking Glass (Zahn McClarnon). Harold tells his buddy that Chief Joseph is the one from all the newspapers. He then comments that the minute they saw soldiers they should've known there was trouble. Joseph asks Harold what he means. Harold spreads out one of his maps on the ground. Joseph kneels down. Looking Glass and Ollokot stand nearby. Harold shows Joseph on the map where he saw soldiers heading west three days prior. Joseph asks how many, and Harold tells him five hundred, maybe more. Ollokot says that if Harold is telling the truth they will run right into the soldiers. Looking Glass they can't turn around since Howard's men are coming from behind. Ollokot comments that they are not strong enough to face off against another army. Frustrated, Ollokot storms off. Looking Glass watches him go, then turns back to face Joseph, and asks Joseph what they should do with the surveyors. Joseph hesitates, unsure what they should do. Red Grizzly suddenly steps forward and says they should kill the white men since they'll just tell the soldiers where they all are. Ollokot, filled with rage, forces the two men to their knees. He then starts to load his rifle. Joseph is alarmed and asks his brother what he's doing. Ollokot agrees with Red Grizzly on the matter. Harold tries to stand, but Ollokot kicks him to the ground. Joseph reminds Ollokot that they do not kill women and innocent men, that has never been their way. He tells Ollokot that these are not the men who killed Fairland. Ollokot hesitates, then raises his gun to fire, but Joseph grabs the barrel and places it against his own chest. He tells Ollokot that if he wants to kill innocent men that he must kill him first. Harold asks for Joseph's attention. He tells Joseph there's a gulch nearby that nobody knows about. It's a thousand feet down and real narrow. If they can get there, it'll take them out of the park and the soldiers would never even see them. Ollokot lowers his gun. Harold and his buddy run off. Harold and his buddy run for their lives through the thick forest when they are stopped by a group of twenty American soldiers.

Joseph leads the tribe into the gulch of Clark's Fork Canyon. It's so narrow that two horses can barely walk beside one another. Looking Glass rides beside Joseph. Looking Glass asks Joseph if he's sure about this. Joseph doesn't answer. He just keeps pressing forward.

Howard and his men come across the body of the old woman. Howard stares at her dead body for a long, sad moment, before telling his men to keep moving. Harold is brought into a tent where he is confronted by Col. Nelson A. Miles (Damon Herriman), who demands to know where the Nez Perce went. Miles pulls out a map and tells Harold to point it out for him. Harold points to a spot on the map. Miles asks him if he's sure, and Harold nods his head.

The Nez Perce come out of the gulch at Clark's Fork Canyon. The weather is growing colder, darker, threatening to bring snow any moment.

Burnt Prairie 1.5 - Thomas

Burnt Prairie - Cal

Genre: Drama

Director: James Ponsoldt

Writer: Chad Taylor

Cast: John Gallagher Jr, Jacob Elordi, Josh Lucas, Diana Silvers, Robert Forster, Aden Young, Molly Ephraim and Timothy Busfield

Plot:At school, the news of Dick Carpenter’s resignation spreads like wildfire. Principle Daldry (Timothy Busfield) meets with local boosters and influential sports figures, including Cal (Josh Lucas). Cal acts shocked at this news, even though he is the one who instigated it. With only three games remaining in the season, they find themselves in a real conundrum. No coach is going to leave their team this late in the year, especially no good ones.

They approach all three of Dick’s assistant coaches but they refuse the job out of solidarity with Coach. They all think he was unreasonably forced out of the position, despite Daldry’s insistance that he resigned on his own accord. This leaves Daldry and the school’s athletic director in a sticky situation.

To cut costs, they decide it is best to hire from within. They look through their roster and decide that the only logical option is Thomas Hilliard, a former player for Coach Carpenter and someone who obviously knows all of the players well since he has them as students. They do not inform Cal or any of the other boosters about this and approach Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) directly. He is admittedly hesitant but they tell him that this is only temporary, for the rest of the season. He’s never coached before but is bright and remember Coach’s offense. After some deliberation, he accepts.

After school, Thomas holds his first practice. While the students respect him - at times - as their teacher, he finds it to be a much different ballgame when they are athletes. There is a sense that he is underqualified for the position and that this hinders their shot at making it to the state championship. Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi), team captain since Von’s death, is the one leading the charge. Thomas is not dumb and senses this discontent, making him nervous for his first game tomorrow night.

After practice, we get a glimpse of the life of a young professional in a small town. He goes home and tidies up, before going out on his second date with Wendy (Molly Ephraim), a nurse at Burnt Prairie Hospital he met through a personal ad. They get to talking about their upbringings. Wendy isn’t from around here and just took the job out of nursing school. Thomas is from here but his path is untraditional. He actually did leave town and went to college (on a Division 3 basketball scholarship) and ended up gravitating towards education. It just so happens that the job market as a teacher in Indiana led him back here after a few years at other schools. So no, he hasn’t been here his whole life. They get along great and plan to meet for a third date.

The next day in the hours leading up to the game, he is surprised to be interviewed for the local paper by Erin (Diane Silvers), a former student of his. After the interview, she tells him that she decided to stick around a little longer to cover the fallout of the Von story. He tells her he has high hopes for her and thinks she should get back to school soon. She is not so sure. She feels like this is her calling here, to find truth in reality in Burnt Prairie. He says she should think long and hard about what she wants in life. There are times that he regrets coming back, especially when rumors are flying and the town is on edge. But at the same time, he sees her point, and feels like there is something salvageable in this town. It doesn’t have to be a self-isolated community that is resistant to change. And maybe he can play his part in moving it forward.

Thomas’s first game as head coach is against Muirville, a team well below Burnt Prairie’s talent level. Things go well at first, despite some disjointed playcalls. This mainly due to the performance of Chris Ford, who has a chip on his shoulder. However, after halftime, Chris hits a cold streak and he isn’t able to mask the team’s lack of cohesiveness anymore. Muirville takes the lead and never looks back, winning 68-52.

The home crowd is audibly upset, worried that this a sign of things to come and that their championship dreams are over. Thomas can obviously sense this and feels like he has let them, his team, and himself down. He is approached by Alan Carpenter (Aden Young). Alan makes it clear that he is not pleased with how his father’s resignation went down, he is confident that Thomas can right the ship. He was always one of his dad’s favorite players for how much he listened and learned from the directions given to him.

In his post-game speech to the team, he takes off his nice-guy persona and shows a fiercer side. We get a brief flashback of Dick giving Thomas’s team a similar talk 15 years ago. He emphasizes that this will be a one-time occurence. They will get it together to finish the last 2 games strong and live up to expectations in the playoffs.

On his way home, Thomas stops by a house and knocks on the door. Willow (Grace Fulton) answers and Thomas asks if he can see Coach. She retrieves Dick (Robert Forster), who is surprised to see him there. Thomas gives him a long hug before saying he hopes to make him proud. Dick tells him that he knows he has the basketball IQ and is much smarter than Dick ever was - as evidenced by his public interviews. Thomas says that Von was truly a special kid, on and off the court. Dick says he knows that and wishes he wouldn’t have said what he said. As Thomas leaves, Dick tells him that he was listening to the game and to come to him if he ever needs some tips in the coming weeks. Thomas tells him that he will probably be taking him up on that.

Rolling Stone 2.5 - Piece of My Heart

Rolling Stone - Piece of My Heart

Genre: Drama

Director: Oliver Stone

Writer: D.R. Cobb

Based on the Rolling Stone magazine

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Aimee Teegarden, Karl Glusman, James Urbaniak, Ross Butler, Lou Taylor Pucci, Dora Madison Burge and Leighton Meester

Plot: October 1970. Jann Wenner (Karl Glusman) and his wife Jane (Leighton Meester) attend Janis Joplin's wake in San Anselmo, California, at a small music club. The wake mostly consists of members of the Bay Area music scene getting drunk and filling up on hash brownies. Jane comments that it is odd that nobody is talking about Joplin at all. Jann tells his wife that he thinks that's how Joplin would have wanted it. She wanted people to have a good time, and looking around the room that seems to be the case. Jane shrugs and takes a big bite of a hash brownie.

At the Rolling Stone offices, Ralph J. Gleason (James Urbaniak) and Ben Fong-Torres (Ross Butler) sit in Gleason's office discussing how they should cover the impending sheriff's election in Aspen, Colorado, where Hunter S. Thompson is in the thick of the race. Ben suggests sending Brady Conroy to Aspen to be a fly on the wall for the lead-up to Election Day. Gleason is surprised that he would suggest Brady, but isn't opposed to the idea, and says that they could send Brady's brother as well to take pictures.

Brady Conroy (Josh Hartnett) is in his bed having sex with Celeste (Aimee Teegarden). When they are done he tells her that they really need to stop doing this. Now that he's her professor it is entirely unprofessional and unethical. Celeste kisses Brady and tells him to lighten up - nobody is going to find out anyways, and once the class is done they can go back to normal. The phone starts ringing. Brady answers it, and Ben is on the line. He asks Brady to go to Aspen to cover Election Day for Thompson's sheriff campaign. Brady says he's teaching a class the next day, but can head over afterward. Ben adds that they'd like him to bring his brother Jimmy along to take pictures. Brady is surprised after they didn't use his picture for the Pete Townshend cover story, but Ben says they like his candid photography, his work just wasn't right for the cover. Brady says he'll relay the information to his brother. Before he hangs up, Ben tells Brady to pick up the plane tickets from Kylee down at the offices. Celeste kisses Brady one more time before leaving the apartment, saying she should probably wake up in her dorm to get to her classes the next day.

Jimmy Conroy (Lou Taylor Pucci) is at a bar when he sees a woman, Lexi Davenport (Dora Madison Burge), sitting at the bar. Jimmy goes up and introduces himself. He tells her he's a professional photographer and would love to photograph her some time. Lexi laughs and asks Jimmy if that pick-up line has ever worked before. Jimmy admits that he's never tried it before since he's only recently been able to make money from his photography. She asks if she would have seen any of his pictures before, and he says that he recently photographed a Who concert for Rolling Stone magazine. She isn't terribly impressed, by that, but is intrigued when Jimmy tells her that he has some high quality weed back at his place.

When Jimmy and Lexi make it to the outside of Brady's apartment, where Jimmy is still staying, she comments that she knows somebody who lives in the building. Jimmy says it's a small world. They head up to the apartment where they find Brady. Lexi says hi to Brady and comments to Jimmy that Brady would be that somebody. Jimmy comments that it's a really small world and asks how she knows Brady. She says it's complicated, and Jimmy quickly figures out that they have had sex together.

After class, Brady heads into the Rolling Stone offices and heads over to the desk of Kylee Hargrove (Alicia Witt). He asks her how she is doing since it's been a bit since they've seen each other. She says she's good and asks him if he wants to get drinks once he's back from Colorado. He says that it sounds like a plan. Brady collects the plane tickets from Kylee and heads home to pick up Jimmy. Jimmy and Lexi are naked on the couch, having just had sex. Brady chastises Jimmy for not being ready to head to the airport. Jimmy looks at a clock and is surprised by the time. He quickly gets dressed and tells Brady he's ready to go. Lexi leaves the apartment telling them both she is sure she'll be seeing them around.