Friday, May 26, 2023
Thursday, May 25, 2023
The Repeated Failures of Silverhawks
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
NCIS: Hawai'i - Past Due / Dies Irae
For the two-part season finale the show taps into a case from Tennant's (Vanessa Lachey) days in the CIA. Opening with Tennant being found at a murder scene, the leader of the team spends little time with them over the two-part episode as she heads halfway around the world for answers in search of a ghost she believed was killed years ago. The episode gets Whistler (Tori Anderson) into the field helping Tennant, although getting left behind at times, while leaving Lucy (Yasmine Al-Bustami) to worry at after both her boss and her girlfriend (who doesn't exactly blend in to her surroundings).
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 launches a new anthology series showcasing Batman and other DC Heroes. However, rather than getting new short stories every week, the concept instead looks to provide separate stories spanning multiple issues, that shouldn't get confusing. The notable story here is the first part of "Batman: The Winning Card" which attempts to provide the first Batman/Joker story in a Year One adventure of the Batman. Although it eventually provides a memorable creepy moment when the Joker shows up, the story has a few too many parts for its limited page count and is completely disjointed with threads that don't initially feel connected.
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Dave - Met Gala
We don't get nearly enough of Chloe Bennett in "Met Gala," who is limited only to the opening scenes spending time with Dave (Dave Burd). Notable for a number of celebrities playing themselves, the episode instead focuses on Dave's desire to make a splash at his first Met Gala where nothing really goes to plan. The only silver lining for Dave in an evening of suprises and a failed spectacle stunt, is unexpectedly hitting it off with Rachel McAdams which sadly feels like early death bells for Dave and Robyn's (Bennett) relationship despite how well its going between the pair. There are some other subplots involved, but I'll admit my interest peaked with Bennett on-screen and lagged through much of the rest of the episode including the marginally-zany gala shenanigans.
Silk #1
Relaunched for the third time in three years, new volume of Silk begins with our heroine the protagonist of a film noir detective story in mid-20th Century Los Angeles looking for a missing kid. It's a stylish way to kick off the new series, which delays what is really happening until the last few pages where we see her psychiatrist and Saya Ishii working together and being responsible for the fake world Cindy is only just beginning to question as the comic comes to a close. Sadly, this means the noir world is likely coming to an end.
Monday, May 22, 2023
The Muppets Mayhem - True Colors
The best thing about the second episode of The Muppets Mayhem is that by the end the show closes the book on the most awkward aspect of its concept as Nora's (Lilly Singh) constant lying eventually forces her to come clean with the group about her true position in the company. The contrived conceit takes up most of the episode, but thankfully Nora is eventually honest with her new friends and can now honestly help the group working on their album. Other items of note are Animal's (Eric Jacobson) running gag of presents for Nora, Janice's (David Rudman) unlikely allergic reaction to lying, and foreshadowing of Moog (Tahj Mowry) possibly being a talented musician in his own right.
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #5
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #5 wraps up the three issue arc involving the Joker creating slaves by misusing cutting-edge technology for his own ends. As Harley and the Suicide Squad go looking for the Joker, who uses the helmet to turn all but Harley into members of his army, Batman and Robin focus on stopping the out-of-control super-soldier Carl Finley who Joker has turned into his henchman Straightman.
Young Jedi Adventures - Nash's Race Day
In an episode about good sportsmanship and not cheating, Kai Brightstar (Jamaal Avery Jr.), Lys Solay (Juliet Donenfeld), and Nubs (Dee Bradley Baker) join Nash Durango (Emma Berman) onboard her skiff the Crimson Bolt in an attempt to win the Kublop Classic race. Nash's rival, the rich and super-competitive Raena Zess (Danielle Guilbot), is the group's only real competition. Presented as a mean girl, who cheats to win, the episode softens on her when she learns the Jedi weren't using the Force to help Nash leading to a final stretch of honest racing and good sportsmanship all around. While the shift in Raena might give you whiplash, there's a nice message here for kids.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Fast X
Having nowhere new to go with the series, the Fast & Furious franchise looks backwards by photoshopping Jason Momoa into the events of Fast Five (the best movie of the hit, and mostly miss, franchise) and quickly elevating him to one of its most dangerous villains. At least more enjoyable than the last entry, Fast X is mostly harmless with some extravagant special effects sequences including our heroes chasing a giant bomb crashing through the streets of Rome. Its also mindbogglingly twenty minutes too long while making no effort to wrap up events before the credits roll. How can a movie this long never end?
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
The Blacklist - Dr. Michael Abani
While foreshadowing the next big trouble for the task force, the final season of The Blacklist offers up a Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) episode as the love of his life reaches out for help after her fiancé gets into trouble overseas. In yet another episode of the season without a new Blacklister, something even the task force themselves begin to discuss internally, "Dr. Michael Abani" does provide several flashbacks to Dembe's time with Aissa (played by both Zainab Jah and Sibongile Mlambo) and reminds us what Dembe gave up to serve Reddington (James Spader) all those years ago.
Green Lantern #1
Relaunching the title with Hal Jordan as the only Green Lantern of Earth, the new volume of Green Lantern starts off in the aftermath of recent events with the Guardians of the Universe still missing and Earth declared unsafe and no longer under the Green Lantern Corps protection by the United Planets. Thumbing his nose at authority, not for the first time, Hal Jordan has come home to a world where fighter pilots have been phased out where Carol Ferris has moved on and his fellow Earth Lanterns have been assigned lightyears away. Except for John Stewart who appears to also be on Earth?
Monday, May 15, 2023
NCIS: Hawai'i - Nightwatch Two
In an episode that also clues us in on how Ernie (Jason Antoon) spends his free time, and less successfully introduces a , the story focuses on Lucy (Yasmine Al-Bustami) investigating a trouble soldier who calls in one night confessing to a murder. While I'm not against the show using Kai (Alex Tarrant) to explore issues soldiers return home with, the sudden injection of unresolved issues for the character seems shoehorned in simply to give his character something to do without the show laying groundwork for the reveal.
Darth Vader #34
With Darth Vader's powers out of control, Sabé attempts to reach Anakin from within as a share vision shows them both and . Doubling down on the Dark Side, however, Vader embraces hate which has consequences for both the former handmaiden and for the small band who attempt to kill the Dark Lord of the Sith mistakenly believing he's vulnerable. Even with his power malfunctioning, and with Sabé seeing a glimpse of hope within him, he is still Darth Vader.
Dave - Rebirthday
Chloe Bennett reprises her role as Robyn in "Rebirthday" when she comes out to visit Dave (Dave Burd) and gets roped in by his friends in getting him to a surprise party for his birthday. The episode continues the cute awkwardness of the pair together, and even if it almost gets lost in a rather basic romcom setup of Robin needing to lie to Dave for a good reason, which leads to new problems, coming clean with the truth early saves the episode and brings the pair even closer together as Dave can bare his own truth about recent events.
Friday, May 12, 2023
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen #2
The second issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen picks up immediately from where the first issue ended in the classic hero misunderstanding with the friends mistakenly taking the newly arrived Turtles for the Kappa who have been terrorizing the area. This provides the only real action of the issue which ends with the arrival of Miyamoto Usagi, introducing Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael to his friends.
The Muppets Mayhem - Can You Picture That?
The opening episode of The Muppets Mayhem introduces us to Nora (Lilly Singh), an aspiring low-level music executive for a dying record company, who discovers the label owns the rights to a never-recorded album by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Still rocking after all these years, the band has the popularity Nora needs to make a mark in the music industry. Although the wandering band agrees to make the album, wrangling the travelling insanity of the Electric Mayhem turns out to be a bigger challenge than Nora expected.
Moon Knight #23
Moon Knight #23 offers the unexpected pairing of Moon Knight and Venom as the pair help each other out when Dylan Brock arrives at the Midnight Mission looking for help with the mercenary enforcers sent after him. The first-half of the comic is the mercenaries being just stupid enough to follow the new Venom into the Midnight Mission despite Moon Knight's warnings and the pair working well together taking them all down one by one.
The second-half of the comic shifts back to the larger story as Venom's keen sense to sound help Moon Knight locate Sidney Sarnak, although the villain finds a way to keep himself out of the clutches of our hero while letting it slip he's not the mastermind of whatever the ultimate plans are involving his work. I wouldn't mind seeing Venom stick around for a little while longer, but a strong single-issue story is something I'll always be happy to receive.
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Star Wars: Visions - Volume Two (Part Two)
Continuing to review the second volume of Star Wars anthology series Visions here's a look at three more animated shorts, each produced by different animation studios. Themes of family and vengeance run through this second set of shorts.
Slave Leia Cosplay by CandyLion
The Company You Keep - The Truth Hurts
With the future of the show still in doubt, The Company You Keep completes its First Season with one more con against the Maguires which Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) and his family also use to tank the deal with Frankie (Tony Shalhoub) after learning his plans for the neightbor should they sell the bar. The series also makes a dramatic shift in the life of Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) which would pull her more into the gray of Charlie's world and suggest a path where the pair could stay together.
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
The Blacklist - The Man in the Hat
"The Man in the Hat" is an unusual episode in that it offers very little of Reddington (James Spader) with the task force searching for their missing consultant they believe might be a hostage in a gas station in Pennsylvania. With Reddington MIA, the focus is on Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) and Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) helping local authorities to handle the situation and life back at the post office for the rest of the team where Harold (Harry Lennix) is given an arbitrary deadline by Senator Panabaker (Deirdre Lovejoy) not helped by the missing Red and Siya (Anya Banerjee) discovers a secret about her mother she wasn't prepared to learn.
Edge of the Spider-Verse #1
Offering tales of various Spider-Man-ish characters from across the multiverse, a new volume of Edge of the Spider-Verse begins here with... dinosaurs? "Enter Kraventooth the Hunter" offers us a tale of Spider-Rex battling Kraventooth the Hunter who is using the hero's family for bait and sees the creation of Venomsaurus Rex who is knocked into a tar pit. It's as crazy and silly as it sounds. Definitely a niche comic for those wanting all the Spidey-related content they can get their hands on, but far from a must-read.
Will Trent - A Bad Temper and a Hard Heart
Will Trent concludes its first season with Will (Ramón Rodríguez) shrugging of the shock of Angie's (Erika Christensen) abduction and the secrets Wagner (Sonja Sohn) has been keeping from him for years to lead the search to find the serial killer responsible for his mother's death and Angie's kidnapping. Leaving plenty left over for the show to dive into in the show's Second Season, including the fallout from the last two episodes of this one, the season ends with answers and justice for our title character as the writers save their best work for last. I'm happy to have found this show and so glad to learn it has been renewed for another season. I look forward to see where things go from here.
Monday, May 8, 2023
SHAZAM! #1
There's quite a lot to enjoy in the first issue of DC's latest relaunch of SHAZAM! First, writer Mark Waid has made the conscious effort to not call the hero by the name of the wizard who gave him his powers (and is the one word he can never speak aloud without revealing his secret identity). While most just refer to him as Captain, we know what is being referenced and the choice is a calm salve for older fans of the Big Red Cheese.
Citadel - Spies Appear in Night Time
Where the show's first episode introduced us to the world of Citadel and Manticore, the second episode fills in some important gaps. First, we learn the reason for Mason Kane (Richard Madden) as both he and his partner Nadia (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) had their memories wiped automatically when Citadel fell. Luckily for them, there are backup memories which can fill them back. After retrieving the case, which has both the memories and other intelligence Manticore is after, Mason goes in search of Nadia. Turns out even without his memories, Mason still makes a pretty good spy. Unfortunately for him, his memories are lost but Nadia is able to activate hers before the pair of them are wiped out by one of the Manticore twins.
Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures #2
Having journeyed through the magical portal, our intrepid adventures find themselves in the city of Waterdeep brought there by Phaelona, a wild mage looking for help in breaking the spell that traps her in a city overrun by Driders and Darkmantles. Her attempts to find magic to break her bonds have led to the portals created around the realm where the creatures have escaped to attack other lands as well.
NCIS: Mars - Cabin Fever
Reminding me of Castle's 2015 episode "The Wrong Stuff," NCIS comes in on an investigation involving the death inside a top-secret Mars simulation. The nature of the simulation, and red tape involved, keep NCIS outside the habitat where the other astronauts are training allowing only Ernie (Jason Antoon) access which becomes an issue when they realize everyone inside, including Ernie, is being exposed to dangerous gases that led to the death of one astronaut and odd behavior of others as well.
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Star Wars: Visions - Volume Two (Part One)
The Star Wars anthology series Visions returns with a new series of animated shorts, each produced by different animation studios. Reviewing the first third of Volume Two, the first two of these episodes each have ties to the Sith, and a character choosing a path between the light and dark, while the third in the series focuses on a pair of survivors becoming something more.
Young Jedi Adventures - The Young Jedi / Yoda's Mission
As much Disney as Star Wars, with a focus on programming for a younger audience, the opening episode of Young Jedi Adventures introduces us to the three most rambunctious students of the Jedi Temple 200 years before The Phantom Menace through a pair of loosely connected adventures. Almost too cute, the show certainly fits into the preschool demographic with lessons for the kids to learn at every turn and no real danger to the various action sequences involving the trio's training or battling the young pirate Taborr Val Dorn (Trey Murphy).
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Darth Vader: Black, White & Red #1
Darth Vader is added to the list of comic characters getting his own anthology series in black and white (often with a bit of red thrown in). Darth Vader: Black, White & Red #1 offers three separate tales, one of which apparently will continue through four issues (diverging from the usual format of this kind of comic series). It's not the strongest group of stories, but there is something here for big Vader fans.
The Blacklist - The Postman
Things get back to normal on The Blacklist with a case of the week as Reddington (James Spader) sends the team off a man who is known to be able to smuggle anything into prisons. In a twist, the man the FBI is working for spent 25 years in prison for a crime that Harold (Harry Lennix) helped send to prison as one of the man's jurors. "The Postman" has the feel of a script that had been kicking around the writer's room for awhile and, despite still not being quite ready, got greenlit in the show's final season.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Green Arrow #1
It's all about family..., wait, are we sure Vin Diesel didn't write the comic? With Oliver Queen missing, Roy Harper, Connor Hawke, and Black Canary go looking for another member of their family which leads to reuniting Roy with his no longer dead daughter Lian now doing her own vigilante thing in Alleytown under the name Cheshire Cat.
The Company You Keep - The Truth Shall Set You Free
The penultimate episode of the season makes some big shifts heading into next week's finale. Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) and his family pull off a double con to give Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) the evidence she needs on the Maguires and keep the Daphne's (Felisha Terrell) arms dealer (Michael Gladis) from Patrick (Timothy V. Murphy) and Connor (Barry Sloane) and provide evidence back to Daphne of his father's decision to cut her out of the operation. The risky gambit prove sucessful, with even Ollie (Shaylee Mansfield) getting involved in the family business, and allows Charlie the opportunity to walk away from the entire situation... or so he thinks.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Will Trent - Nothing Changed Except for Everything
The penultimate episode of the season follows up from events from the previous week involving the death of Lenny Broussard (French Stewart) while also paving the way to next week's finale. Despite being on forced leave pending an investigation, and having reason to try and distance herself from Will (Ramón Rodríguez) who knows she isn't telling the complete truth about what happened, Angie (Erika Christensen) helps out on the latest case which includes victims from the same group home she and Will stayed in. The case also has a connection to a case from Wagner's (Sonja Sohn) past which ties into a secret she's been keeping from Will her entire life.
Batman • Superman - World’s Finest #14
There's an awful lot going on in Batman • Superman - World’s Finest #14. Superman and Batman have a bit of a tiff with Bruce being upset that The Daily Planet covered his arrest for the murder of Simon Stagg. With Batman benched, Superman teams with Robin (seeing more of this pairing would have been fun) to search for Metamorpho, who Batman believes might be the real killer, several wealthy men including old friend Oliver Queen begin acting out of the ordinary, and Superman discovers a troubling truth about Simon Stagg's "death."
True Lies - Bitter Sweethearts
"Bitter Sweethearts" is another episode of True Lies where every facet of the show hammers away the exact same point with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. This episode is notable for returning one of the actors from the movie which inspired the series, albeit in a different role, when a retired agents of Omega are targeted. All the stories play off the struggles of working with someone you have a relationship asking the question about whether or not love can survive Omega.
Friday, April 28, 2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The unlikeliest hit of any Marvel Studios movie was 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. After a so-so sequel, and appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the gang reunites one last time for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Jumping between stories involving a nightmarish version of Halfworld and exploration of Rocket's (Bradley Cooper) past, the return of the most unlikable version of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) we've seen on film, the bug-eyed machinations of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), and the (completely unnecessary) addition of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Guardians 3 is a mess. Don't get me wrong, at times it's an entertaining mess, but it's a mess nonetheless.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
The award-winning, and often banned for its frank discussion of puberty and religion, Judy Blume 1970 young adult novel Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. is adapted for film by writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig. Smartly choosing to keep the film in the 70s, and avoid having to deal with modern day technology that would certainly alter the story, we are introduced to sixth-grade student Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) facing a number of challenges as she and her parents move from New York City to New Jersey and she navigates a new grade, new friends, the arrival of puberty, and struggles with the ideas of her family's two different religions.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. is what you want in a coming-of-age story with its frank acceptance and discussion of the subject matter that adults may have trouble dealing with but kids need to hear. Far from toothless, as films of this genre can often be, it has something to say about a specific time in a young girl's life.
The title from the story comes from the lead character's questions to God about life, family, friends, and her yearning not to be left behind when her classmates begin physcially developing and getting their period. Over the course of the film Margaret will offer several prayers to God in increasingly desperate pleas while the story takes care not to offer any judgement on Margaret or her choices, allowing the character to navigate the uncertainty of burgeoning adolescence as we root for her to come out unscathed (or as unscathed as any preteen in her situation could).
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Citadel - The Human Enigma
This show is going to make conspiracy theorists so fucking horny. Citadel opens with the fall of the greatest spy organization the world never knew existed. Believed only a myth by the few who had ever heard of it, Citadel was a collective of spies from different nations creating their own organization in attempt to save the world from the evils of everyone, including the likes of governmental agencies and their choices to play god across the globe. Starting aboard a bullet train in the Italian Alps, we see a mission go horribly wrong for Citadel's top to agents whan a trap is sprung by an equally secret organization of evildoers calling themselves Manticore coordinating the deaths of other agents of Citadel across the globe.
The Belle Starr Story
Over the years several films and TV series have made use of female American outlaw Belle Starr, most highly fictionalized. The 1968 spaghetti western The Belle Starr Story with Elsa Martinelli is problematic for multiple reasons not the least of which is Belle's response to fall in love with attempted rapists not once but twice in the film.
The oddly structured film has Belle being beaten at poker by fellow outlaw, and all-around scumbag, Larry Blackie (George Eastman). It follows the contentious relationship that develops until it is interrupted for a large stretch of the film to showcase Belle's backstory, showcasing another attempted rapist (Robert Woods) she refers to as the only man she ever loved, before retuning to the ongoing feud between the outlaws attempting to one-up each other rather than working together on a score which would set them both up for life.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Darkwing Duck #4
The opening arc of Dynamite Entertainment's new Darkwing Duck series comes to a close with Bushroot threatening the city and a Drake Mallard pinning for the good old days of crime-fighting being lured out of retirement. It's the return of Darkwing Duck! Well, you didn't think Dynamite would launch a new series just to keep he retired, did you?
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur - Check Yourself
"Check Yourself" centers around Lunella (Diamond White) obsession with needing to when which turns a potential friend in a supercomputer against her as LOS-307 (Asia Kate Dillon) overheats from constant use in the pair's chess game that will not end eventually turning it evil sending all kinds of electric gadgets and appliances after her in the school. While I think pointing out this facet of Lunella's personality earlier in the show, before centering an entire episode on it, would have gone a long way to better sell the premise, there's much to enjoy here including the computer easily deducing her as Moon Girl and a conclusion that not only offers Lunella growth, and a new friend who knows her secret, but also cleverly finds a way to keep the computer around as a supporting character.
Moon Knight #22
Moon Knight #22 offers a Tigra-centric issue (which I'm totally onboard for, even if she answers an important question incorrectly), with a supporting appearance by her son (whose true paternity is revealed), as she works through a new version of one of Moon Knight's old enemies hitting rich gangsters around town. Although we get plenty of Tigra as mother, hunter, and detective, it's her role as friend and her relationship to Marc Spector that is central to the issue.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
007: For King and Country #1
Kicking off 70 years of James Bond, the first issue of 007: For King and Country picks up from the events of the last series and begins with a firefight on the freeway as Bond and the former 003 who he believed dead narrowly make it out alive. Things don't get any easier for Bond when he awakes to discover Myrmidon has succeeded in not only their coup but framing the pair of them as being part of their organization as well leading the pair into hiding where an unlikely source will attempt to pull them back into the fight.
The Blacklist - The Troll Farmer: Part 3
The Wujing (Chin Han) storyline concludes with Reddington (James Spader) outthinking both Wujing and the FBI and forces events to a head enabling him to lure his enemy into the post office and kill him while the task force were waiting at the alternate location they were sure the Troll Farmer (Aaron Yoo) would lead Wujing to. Although the episode tipped its hand a little early in the deception, Reddington's twist on the game (rather than another small win for Wujing) works well enough and ratchets up the animosity between Red and the task force and returning to the show's old standby of how much the two sides can trust each other moving forward over the remainder of the show's final season.
Guardians of the Galaxy #1
Putting off some heavy western vibes (maybe for this issue we should refer to them as the Guardians with No Name?), the Guardians of the Galaxy's new comic begins here with the team attempting to save the lives of those in a small town on a crappy little world on the far side of the galaxy. And what they are saving it from, it turns out, is their former friend... or whatever he has become.
Rogue Agent
Based on true events, James Norton stars as charming conman Robert Hendy-Freegard who ruined several lives over the years while pretending to be an agent of MI5. While alluding to several of his victims, the film focuses on a lawyer (Gemma Arterton) he seduced and stole from who worked to find and bring him to justice. Not only did the conman steal from several of his victims, to many he applied psychological stress while introducing them to the spy life or inspiring fear that others were after them.
While Arterton and Norton are both fine in the roles, the biggest problem with Rogue Agent is the condensed account of Freegard's crimes shown isn't nearly as fascinating as a simple look over his Wikipedia page. As an introduction to the subject manner, it's of interest but barely scratches the surface of the damage the conman left in his wake. While Freegard is real, Arterton's character (who gets the most screentime) appears to be fictional to humanize the victimization and provide a hero to root for in a quest for justice.
Monday, April 24, 2023
The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #7
With Daphne winning her way into a Gotham City talent show, where Bruce Wayne just happens to be one of the celebrity judges, our gang of young detectives is around to investigate when contestants begin disappearing. There's some fun to be had here with the comic continuing to show off Daphne's skills, in a call-back to earlier issues. While I don't understand either Velma's act or that of Shaggy and Scooby, it does get them into the proceedings for an issue that doesn't find Mystery, Inc. running from a ghost or attempting to set up a trap.
Will Trent - Bill Black
As "Bill Black" opens, Will (Ramón Rodríguez) is on his fifth week undercover attempting to work his way up to a mysterious drug kingpin known only as CK. While initially he seems an odd choice for an undercover agent, the episode showcases how well Will works out as as Bill, weaving much of his own backstory into the character, eventually uncovering the head of the drug gang, even if it isn't the person he hoped it would be. The twist of CK's identity is handled well, with the choices being limited either to the missing cop or the woman who has caught Will's eye. Will's storyline ends in some fast and furious action as he has to fight his way out of the apartment building and get the drug dealer's hostage to safety.