Watchmen Episode Nine, See How They Fly Review. Satisfying, Yet Disappointing.

And that’s a wrap.
HBO’s Watchmen has concluded with its final episode, “See How They Fly” directed by Frederick E.O Toye, and, honestly, I’m a little disappointed.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy the finale because I did.
However, compared to the incredible episodes that came before “See How They Fly” is more on par with the first few episodes of the series.
Not only this, but there are multiple things that are set up throughout the season but many of them do not pay off here.
A prime example of this is Laurie Blake, who has such a minor role in this finale, despite being hyped up in the third episode.
In that episode, Laurie’s relationship with Dr Manhattan is shown to be very important to her character, and we are reminded of this in the seventh episode when Cal is revealed to be Manhattan.
So, how do these two characters interact in the finale?
Well, they don’t.
Laurie and Manhattan were shown to be intrinsically tied together in this story and yet there is no moment where they talk.
Laurie barely even reacts when she learns of his death.
And then there is Looking Glass, who is also pushed to the side.
The only role he and Laurie have is arresting Ozymandias at the end but they do nothing to progress the overall plot.

laurie and looking glass.jpg — Despite both characters having an entire episode focused around them, Laurie and Looking Glass serve almost no role in the finale.

And what the hell was the point of Lube Man anyway?
I know the Peteypedia hints at Petey being Lube Man but you don’t just put a scene into an episode that looks to be important only for it to be relegated to internet content.
Speaking of setup things not having importance, remember when that guy showed up on Angela’s doorstep wanting to see her and Cal’s kids?
He is never seen again so who was he and what was his point?
I know I am hating on this finale a lot but I do want to say that, even though I was disappointed, there are still a lot of great things about it.
My favourite part of “See How They Fly” has to be the Ozymandias scenes.
I loved his opening escape from Europa with Trieu being revealed as his daughter, like many had predicted.
By far the best scene, though, is the callback to the Watchmen graphic novel where Ozymandias catches a bullet fired by the Game Warden.
As he kills the Game Warden, we learn that Ozymandias made him wear a mask to make him cruel as his entire conflict with him was created by Ozymandias to have a worthy adversary to keep him sane, even if he does not consider the Game Warden worthy.
This is certainly not the last mask metaphor in the episode either.

Ozymandias leaves.jpg — Fabricating an entire mortal enemy storyline to keep himself entertained is classic Ozymandias.

Upon returning to earth, Ozymandias is dragged along by Trieu, who plans to transfer Dr Manhattan’s powers to her like the Seventh Kalvary do, but she hopes to use his powers to create world peace.
However, being Ozymandias’ daughter, she is, of course, a narcissistic megalomaniac, so cannot be trusted with such power.
Hong Chau does an amazing job portraying Trieu’s crazy side as she reveals that Joe Keene Jr. has deservedly been reduced to a puddle of gore.
I also really enjoyed her nonchalant reply to Jane Crawford saying she’s going to kill them of, “Oh, yeah. Of course I am.”
But then, Dr Manhattan transports Ozymandias, Laurie and Looking Glass to Ozymandias’ Antarctic base to “save the day.”
There, they turn the squids Ozymandias had been using to simulate an alien invasion into deadly projectiles to stop Trieu from achieving her goal.
Before this, though, we get the death of Dr Manhattan as Trieu transfers his power.
This was a genuinely sad moment but it was a little tacky, considering how off Dr Manhattan still looks.
After his death, Trieu is stopped by Ozymandias’ plan as the squids rain down and, just before Trieu is killed, a Jesus on the Cross stand falls just as Trieu’s illusions of godhood fall.
She is crushed by her Millennium Clock or, more appropriately, her own hubris.
Taking refuge in the same theater where Will Reeves sat as a child as the Tulsa Massacre took place, Angela finds her grandfather caring over her children.
Will reveals how this was all part of Manhattan’s plan and, in my second favourite moment of the episode, he explains to Angela that what he felt when he became Hooded Justice was fear and hurt, not anger, and that “you can’t heal under a mask, Angela. Wounds need air.”

Will’s line about masks during this scene is instantly iconic.

The music during this moment is also exceptional.
I have to say that I really liked how this show expanded on Hooded Justice and made him a much more interesting character than the original did.
Will and Ozymandias have the best moments of the series by far.
Speaking of Ozymandias, like I said, he is arrested by Laurie and Looking Glass near the end of the episode.
Looking Glass doing this does bring an end to his arc but it was a small part given what came before.
Hopefully, if we get another season then we can see more of him.
If we do get a continuation, though, I have no idea how they are going to follow up the big cliffhanger, which leaves it up to the audience to decide if Angela inherited Dr Manhattan’s powers when she ate the egg he left her.
The final shot of Angela about to attempt to walk on water but cutting away before it can be revealed if she can reminded me a lot of the open ending to Christopher Nolan’s Inception.
As soon as I saw her foot descending to the water, I knew it was not going to show us.
Still, it is a great shot to finish the finale on, whether this is the last we see of the show or not.
Overall, I found “See How They Fly” to be a satisfying conclusion, although somewhat disappointing with its usage of characters like Laurie and Looking Glass.
However, for characters like Angela, Will, and Ozymandias the end was more than worth the wait.
That is if this is the end because, in the words of Dr Manhattan himself, “nothing ever ends.”

My Hero Academia Season Four Episode Nine, Red Riot Review: A Spear and a Shield vs a Shield and a Shield.

I have been anticipating the ninth episode of My Hero Academia’s fourth season “Red Riot” for a while because it was this moment in the manga that propelled Kirishima to one of my favourite characters.
Thankfully, the episode did not disappoint, adapting both Kirishima’s backstory and his and Fat Gum’s fight with Kendo Rappa and Hekiji Tengai perfectly.
“Red Riot” picks up from Tamaki’s battle with three of the eight bullets of the Hissaikai and sees Mimic send Fat Gum and Kirishima into a dark room where they are meet by Rappa and Tengai for a battle of spear and shield vs shield and shield.
In this case, Rappa and Tengai make for the perfect combination, with Rappa dealing out devastating blows as the spear and Tengai providing an almost impenetrable shield for them.
As for Kirishima and Fat Gum, their status as shields puts them at an instant disadvantage from Rappa’s punches, especially Kirishima who is hit so hard that his hardening starts to come undone.
Que, emotional backstory to inspire him to save the day.
In all seriousness, Kirishima’s backstory is one of the best in the series so far.
Kirishima always tried to help people but he lacked something to dive in head first.
In comparison, fellow student Mina Ashido had all the qualities of a hero in the making, protecting her friends from a gigantic villain (who will be important later) by giving him the wrong directions to a hero agency.
Kirishima witnesses this but is unable to act and this causes a massive blow to his confidence.
It is then that, as if by fate, he happens to see an interview from his favourite hero, Crimson Riot, who tells the story of how someone died because he did not act and now his biggest fear is being unable to act, which drives him forward.
Inspired by this, Kirishima set out to completely remake himself into a chivalrous hero, apologizing to the girls he did not help, (even though they have no idea who he is but that is not important) and even dyes his hair red, prompting playful teasing from Mina.
The scene between the two is very sweet and is what made me start to ship them when I read the manga.
Back to the situation at hand, upon remembering why he set out to become a chivalrous hero in the first place, Kirishima leaps in front of Fat Gum to protect him with a burst of inspirational music.
This allows Fat Gum enough time to transfer his quirk from a shield to a spear as he stores the power of the blows Rappa is unloading on him into pure energy, which he releases, along with all of his fat.
It is here that we get our first look at him without this fat and I am sure a number of Squidward “oh no! He’s hot!” memes will be generated from this.
In any case, it is with this release of energy that Fat Gum defeats Rappa and Tengai with the help of Kirishima.
Kirishima’s growth during this episode is fantastic, with his self doubt transitioning perfectly into his backstory, which then leads to his heroic return to the fight at the end of the episode.
Likewise, Fat Gum also gets his moment with the reveal of his spear attack.
It is not just Kirishima and Fat Gum that shines in “Red Riot”, though, as Rappa instantly stands out as the only member of eight bullets who does not follow Overhaul blindly.
The reasons for this will most likely be unveiled in the next episode and make him the most interesting member of the Hissaikai, with the exception of Overhaul himself.
Overall, “Red Riot” is the best episode of My Hero Academia‘s fourth season so far with Kirishima’s character arc being particularly exceptional.

His Dark Materials Episode Six, The Daemon Cages Review. Dafne Keen is Superb.

After the intense cliffhanger of “The Lost Boy,” His Dark Materials delivers the best episode so far with its sixth one, “The Daemon Cages.”
Directed by Euros Lyn, the story picks up with Lyra and Pan trapped in Bolvanger, where the Gobblers are experimenting on children by separating them from their daemons.
And, before I get into how well done this episode is, I would like to address an issue I have heard people voice about the daemons, or rather the lack of them, in the episode.
The budget of His Dark Materials has forced the animators to limit the amount of daemons on screen, which means the close bond between them and their human is not as well captured as in the novel.
I have heard many say that this makes for a much less impactful storyline because the threat of the children losing their daemons is diminished because we do not see much of them.
Now, while I can see why this would be a problem for many, personally, this did not really affect me because I still felt fearful for these kids losing their daemons.
This comes down to two things.
One, the death of Billy Costa in the last episode raises the stakes.
And two, even though there are not many daemons on screen, I still felt the connection because of how the bonds between the daemons and the children are portrayed whether they have been separated or not.
There is the nurse who is revealed to have been separated from her Daemon Nicholas and has been brainwashed into working with the Gobblers in a hard hitting scene.

The extent that the nurse and the children are affected after having been separated from their daemons is chilling and shows just how important a daemon is to its partner in this world.

Then there is Lyra and Pan whose bond is best shown when Pan is grabbed by one of the Gobblers as Lyra tries to escape, causing her to fall to the floor in pain.
Speaking of Lyra, Dafne Keen is fantastic in this episode.
I could feel the fear of her being captured by Mrs Coulter when she came to inspect the children’s room, her desperation to not to be separated from Pan, and her encounter with Mrs Coulter, which is the best part of “The Daemon Cages.”
She does an amazing job acting alongside Ruth Wilson, especially with her vicious comeback to Coulter of “Billy Costa is dead.”

keen done it again.png — Dafne Keen gives her best performance of the series so far in this episode.

As for Wilson, she is just as great with her performance again being representative of her monkey, both in her posture and manipulative nature.
But Lyra is more like her mother than Coulter realizes because she is successfully able to manipulate her into opening the case with the spy fly, giving her an opportunity to escape.
From here the episode divulges into absolute chaos as the Gyptians finally arrive to save the children with Lee, Iorek and Seraphina in tow.
Honestly, though, Seraphina did most of the work because she is basically a one woman army, killing multiple Gobblers before anyone else can react.
As for the Gobblers, I liked how the episode focused some of its time on their motivations, even though they all died by the end of the episode, with the exception of Mrs Coulter.
They may still be terrible people but I am glad they did not come across as evil for the sake of evil, like some members of the Magisterium have in previous episodes.
With the Gobblers now dead and the children rescued, Lyra, Roger, Iorek, and Lee set out in the airship with the hopes of rescuing Lord Asriel.
Seraphina then shows up briefly to tell Lee he has to protect Lyra… only for him to immediately lose her when they are attacked by monsters known as cliff-ghasts.

Talk about failing to live up to expectations, eh Lee? Only kidding. I still really enjoy his character.

In any case, this moment felt like a horror movie with the suspense and tension in the scene leaving me shaking slightly, especially with the cliffhanger of Lyra falling out of the airship.
I have no idea how she will survive the fall but next episode we are getting the fight between Iorek and Iofur, which is the moment I remember most from the movie.
It will definitely be interesting to see how that is adapted.

Watchmen Episode Eight Review: A God Walks Into Abar… Oh, I Get It!

After Watchmen‘s biggest twist yet in Episode Seven, Episode Eight “A God Walks Into Abar” sets about explaining that twist, starting off with the great pun of a title.
This pun comes from the beginning of the episode when Dr Manhattan both walks into a bar and walks into Abar with the intention of starting a relationship with her, which he already knows will happen because of his ability to see the past, present and future simultaneously.
Nicole Kassel returns to direct “A God Walks Into Abar”, which is almost entirely from Dr Manhattan’s point of view across time.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II does a fantastic job as the character, portraying a perfect mixture of uncaring and caring that creates that enigma that is Dr Manhattan.
Although, I will say the effects and makeup do make him look a little cheesy, which did draw me out of the scene on a few occasions.
These moments are relatively minor, though, and the scenes with Dr Manhattan’ first meeting with Angela are amazingly shot through how it avoids showing his face.
Mateen II and Regina King have great chemistry throughout the episode and it was very investing to watch Angela go from skeptical but interested in Dr Manhattan to in love with him as time passed.

a and dm.jpg — Angela and Dr Manhattan’s relationship is done very well with both actors doing a fantastic job.

Dr Manhattan’s love for Angela is also brilliantly portrayed through how he experiences time.
The moment he falls in love with her is when she tries to save him from the Seventh Kalvary many years after the get together.
However, because Dr Manhattan experiences time simultaneously, he was already in love with Angela when he met her because he knew of this moment.
Sadly, Dr Manhattan also seems to know of his imminent capture, which he allows to happen, either because he is a victim to time or because he has some other plan.
I guess we will just have to wait and see which one it is.
He did say that Angela had to remember he could walk on water so that has to be important.

dr m.jpg — There are numerous theories about other characters obtaining Dr Manhattan’s powers like Angela and Will.

“A God Walks Into Abar” also goes about explaining many of the mysteries surrounding both Dr Manhattan and Ozymandias and Will.
We see how Angela chose Cal’s body for Dr Manhattan to impersonate, hence why he appears as he does, and Will learns of Crawford’s involvement with Cyclops and the Klan robe in his closet because of Dr Manhattan conveying a question to him from Angela in the present.
This creates a time loop that raises the interesting question of if Crawford was as bad as he seemed?
Will’s information about Crawford was not gained first hand and Crawford did later tell him he was trying to help.
Although, again, this did come with some racist undertones when he said it so maybe I am looking too deep into it.
As for Ozymandias, we finally got an answer to why he is on Europa and who created the clones that served and arrested him.
They were made by Dr Manhattan, who he based off a couple he met as a child that asked him to build something beautiful when he grew up.
And, when Dr Manhattan obtained a Tachyon device from Ozymandias that allowed him to live as Cal by losing his memories, he rewarded Ozymandias by sending him to Europa to be served by the clones.

Veidt schemes.jpg — Ozymandias thinks he is entering his own personal heaven when he gets sent to Europa when, in reality, it is his hell

The reason the clones served Ozymandias to the point of death is because they were created to always put others before themselves, which is why Manhattan left and why Ozymandias now wants to.
Initially happy in this paradise, he grew bored of it all and now wants to return to his millions of children on earth like the delusional maniac he is.
However, because the clones’ one rule is that no one is allowed to leave, he is imprisoned.
This is when Ozymandias is confronted in a post credits scene by the Game Warden who reveals he was the first to be created by Dr Manhattan, essentially making him the Adam of Europa.
But this raises the question that if he is Adam then what happened to Eve?
Perhaps we will find out next episode?
In any case, the episode then ends with Ozymandias discovering a clone has mistakenly put a horse shoe in his cake, which allows him to initiate a plan to begin his escape back to earth.
Considering that next episode is the last one, I am not sure how this will happen.
In fact, I would say that I am slightly concerned about how all the different plot points like Ozymandias, Dr Manhattan’s capture, Trieu and Will’s plan, Laurie, Looking Glass, and of course Lube Man, are going to come together for the final episode.
Still, Watchmen has been fantastic so far so I have to put faith in that they can pull it off.
“A God Walks Into Abar” is another fantastic episode of the series and it will be interesting to see how it all ends in the finale.

My Hero Academia Season Four Episode Eight, Suneater of the Big Three Review: The Parallel of Hero and Villains.

After episode seven of My Hero Academia‘s fourth season “GO!” promised a followup, action filled episode with its cliffhanger, that episode “Suneater of the Big Three” delivers on this.
As the title suggests, the main character of this episode is Tamaki Amajiki, AKA Suneater, who goes on an emotional journey in his fight this episode, with plenty of parallels between him and the villains he fights.
These three villains are members of the eight expendable bullets, Toya Setsuno, Yu Hojo, and Soramitsu Tabe.
Thrown out and left for dead by society, these three were eventually taken in and brainwashed by Overhaul to fight for him to the bitter end.
“Even trash has its pride,” Yu states at one point, showing the extent that they have been influenced by their boss.
And, just as these villains are influenced by Overhaul, Tamaki is influenced by Mirio in a clear parallel.
As a child Tamaki had no self confidence until Mirio came along and inspired him to believe in himself, just like the villains were lifted out of their situation by Overhaul’s brainwashing.
This presents a two sides of the same coin parallel, where Tamaki has been correctly influenced and the villains negatively, leading to to conflict.
Tamaki’s battle with the villains is absolutely fantastic with both sides utilizing their quirks with ingenious tactics.
Toya and Yu make a great combination, until Tamaki uses his Chimera Kraken technique, forcing them to call in Tabe to even the odds again, only for Tamaki to outwit them and finally take them down.
The constant back and forth on who was winning this fight made for an intense battle where the viewer would have been unsure of who would win right to the very end.
As for other moments in the episode, they are also very well done, with another great display of Sir Nighteye’s quirk and plenty of heart warming flashbacks to Tamaki’s friendship with Mirio.
All in all, “Suneater of the Big Three” is the best episode of season four so far.
However, it will almost certainly be overtaken next episode, which will see an even more intense fight with Kirishima, along with revealing his backstory, which I am very excited to see animated.

Knives Out Review: Take a Trip Down the Donut Hole.

“A whodunnit like no one has ever done it” is the phrase that has been used so prominently in marketing Rian Johnson’s latest film.
Coming off the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was… let’s say controversial, Johnson returns with the completely different Knives Out, a film that follows the investigation into the death of millionaire, crime writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer).

Thrombey’s death drives the story with an interesting take on the murder mystery.

What follows is a constantly intriguing, suspenseful and humorous murder mystery with a star studded cast including Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield and many more.
The standouts of this cast are, without a doubt, Craig, de Armas, and Evans who all turn in fantastic performances.
Craig is brilliant as the wonderfully over the top detective Benoit Blanc, who has been mysteriously hired to investigate the also mysterious death of Thrombey.
Despite this pivotal role, I think the part of main character actually belongs to de Armas’ Marta Cabrera who has the most screen time, takes the most action out of any character, and plays into the themes of the film.

blanc and marta — De Armas and Craig both lead the film with great performances.

Then there is Evans, who plays the spoiled grandson of Thrombey, Hugh Ransom Drysdale, in a welcome deviation from the roles he usually takes.
Along with these three, the other actors of the film do a great job as well; supported by a witty script with plenty of suspenseful and humorous moments.
These two tonnes blend together so well that it feels like Johnson is taking the murder mystery genre seriously while satirizing it simultaneously, to gleeful results.
There are also so many well placed small details for viewers to notice as well, demanding a second viewing.

birthday death.jpg — Amazing subtle details, like how flashbacks change depending on who is telling their side of the story, appear throughout the film.

Knives Out certainly lives up to its phrase of “A whodunnit like no one has ever done it,” as it left me hoping for another adventure down the donut hole with Benoit Blanc.

His Dark Materials Episode Five The Lost Boy Review: Well, This is Darker Than The Film.

Even though it has been years since I have seen The Golden Compass, I still remember some things about it.
One of those was Billy Costa being separated from his Daemon but surviving.
So, imagine my surprise when this episode of His Dark Materials, “The Lost Boy” adapted this scene, only to kill Billy off because of him being separated from Ratter.
Apparently, this is also different from the books, where it is not Billy but another character who dies.
Such a change makes the show way darker than the film by a wide margin.
Directed again by Otto Bathurst, “The Lost Boy” had many surprises in store for me like the introduction of the young Will Parry (Amir Wilson).
He comes from our world but it is stated in narration that his fate is intertwined with Lyra’s.

Will Parry.png — I was not aware that Will would play such a central role in the story and it will be interesting to see what that role is.

But, given that his father John Parry has been to the Daemon world and Boreal is watching Will and his mother, it is clear how Will will be brought into the world of Daemons.
On top of this, Will is a sympathetic character, with him having to deal with his mother Elaine’s (Nina Sosanya) mental illness on a regular basis.
However, she is clearly not as mentally ill as he thinks she is, because she does seem to know quite a bit about her husband’s life, although she hides this.
Boreal is on her and Will’s trail, though, and he has already inserted himself into their situation so I suspect this will not end well for Elaine.
As for the events in the Daemon world, the buildup to Billy’s discovery is done well, with plenty of character payoff.
I especially liked the character growth of John Faa (Lucian Msmati) who has learned to trust Lyra and her alethiometer since the events of “Armour.”
We also get another emotional scene with Farder Coram as he reunites with his old lover, the witch Serafina Pekkala (Ruta Gedmintas).
Then there is Lyra’s growing bonds with Iorek and Lee who are just as great as they were in the previous episode.
The discovery and death of Billy Costa is sad and well executed, even if it is a deviation from the original novel.

the discovery of billy.jpg — Billy Costa’s fate is very different from the film and novel, making the future of the story uncertain in how it will diverge from the source material.

The episode ends on a great cliffhanger, with Lyra being kidnapped by the Gobblers and taken to Bolvanger, where they plan to separate her from Pan permanently.
And it is because of Billy’s death that this cliffhanger works so well because his demise sets up a significant threat level for Lyra, causing many viewers, who do not know how things will turn out, to fear for her safety.
Overall, “The Lost Boy” is a solid episode of His Dark Materials.
While not as good as the previous episode “Armour” it sets up a number of plot points that should led to some great scenes in the future.

Watchmen Episode Seven An Almost Religious Awe Review: Another Fan Theory Confirmed.

I really need to start paying more attention to the Watchmen fan theories.
First, I rejected the Will is Hooded Justice theory because it did not make sense for everyone to think he was white but then it turned out to be true.
And then, I rejected the theory that Angela’s husband Cal is Dr Manhattan in disguise because he was supposed to be on Mars.
Well, David Semel’s episode seven of Watchmen, “An Almost Religious Awe” proved me wrong again because, you guessed it, Cal is secretly Dr Manhattan.
Although, I guess it is not so much of a secret now because the Seventh Kalvary know and are planning on capturing him and giving his powers to Senator Joe Keene Jr.
This actually explains how Angela survived the White Night.
Dr Manhattan saved her from the Seventh Kalvary but someone probably saw this and reported back, leading to the plan to turn Keene into the new racist Dr Manhattan.
Speaking of Keene, after episode five, I speculated that he might just be using the Seventh Kalvary and may not actually be a full on racist.
Well, I was wrong again because Keene is definitely that, complaining that it is difficult to be a white man in America… while he is a senator.
Hypocrisy at its finest.

Keene the racist.jpg — Sure, some of the white citizens of Nixonville are not well off, but Keene is a senator, Crawford was the chief of police and the president of the United States is Robert Redford, a white man. Is it really so hard to be one in the Watchmen universe?

In any case, Keene explains his plan to Laurie Blake who is captured by Chief Crawford’s wife in a scene that felt kind of stupid with how easily she was trapped.
Didn’t she used to be a superhero?
And I know in Watchmen the superheroes don’t have powers, except Dr Manhattan, but I would have thought Laurie would at least be skilled enough as an FBI agent and former hero.
On another note, it will be interesting to see how Laurie reacts to learning Cal is her ex Dr Manhattan.
It should create drama between her and Angela but they will probably be too occupied dealing with the Seventh Kalvary to worry about it.
It just remains to be seen who will rescue Laurie.
Will it be Looking Glass or the greatest hero of them all Lube Man?
Jokes aside, we get more hints to future reveals, mostly through Lady Trieu who reveals that Bian is a clone of her mother, as expected, and that her father will be joining them soon.
This has caused many to speculate that Ozymandias is her father and the message he sent was “SAVE ME DAUGHTER.”
I dismissed the Hooded Justice and Dr Manhattan theories and I was wrong about those so I am not dismissing this one.
As for Ozymandias, he appears is a farcical and flatulent scene where he is put on trial by the clones, headed by the Game Warden.
His only defense is a massive fart he lets out before he is judged as guilty through a jury of peers, a pen of pigs.

The Ozymandias scenes only continue to get weirder and weirder as the series progresses.

Ozymandias will probably not be executed, though, because he has to link up with the main storyline somehow.
I have heard a theory that the meteorite strike in the fourth episode was actually him landing on earth and he is now trapped in the statue of himself and this seems pretty likely to me.
After all, I certainly have to start paying more attention to fan theories after I dismissed two of them, only for both of them to be right.
I remember the exact moment Lady Trieu started talking about how Dr Manhattan was disguised as a human on earth and I knew instantly it was Cal.
Honestly, I should have realised it was true earlier with how many hints there were.
Will said that Dr Manhattan could appear as any race, subtly telling Angela that he knew her secret.
And then there was the moment I mentioned when Cal told his kids that there is no heaven, and that when you die there is nothing, which was very apathetic and classic Dr Manhattan.
After realizing that the theory was right, I sat back and watched as Angela hit Cal in the head with a hammer to release Dr Manhattan.
I remember praying that she had not just lost her mind and murdered her husband in a fit of insanity but, thankfully, he really was Dr Manhattan, leading to a great cliffhanger for the next episode.

An Almost Religious Awe.jpg — Imagine if Angela had actually gone nuts and killed her husband because she believed he was Dr Manhattan. That would have been traumatizing.

It will be interesting to see how his relationship with Angela began and what led them to this point, especially with Angela’s tragic backstory that was revealed this episode, with her parents being killed by a suicide bomber and then her grandmother dying of a heart attack before she could be adopted.
Overall, “An Almost Religious Awe” is another great episode of Watchmen that has me excited for how the final two episodes are going to play out.
I have no idea how the Seventh Kalvary plan to take down Dr Manhattan since he is a literal god but it will be interesting to see.

My Hero Academia Season Four Episode Seven, GO! Review: It Gets Noisy.

The fight to rescue Eri officially began in the seventh episode of season four, the appropriately titled “GO!”
On par with the previous episode, “GO!” serves as good buildup for the fights that we will be seeing in subsequent episodes.
Picking up in the aftermath of Nighteye revealing the dark truth of what is happening to Eri, Deku and the other students are on standby while the pro-heroes try to find her locations.
It is during this time that we get both a lot of funny and emotional moments as the characters prepare themselves.
Deku and Mirio remain constantly intense and focused due to their desire to rescue Eri as seen by a touching scene where Iida and Todoroki attempt to share Deku up.
As for the other characters, they are a lot more comedic.
There is the funny moment when Bakugo demands to know what they have learned only for Kirishima to shout out that they can’t tell.
The funniest, and probably most adorable moment, though, comes after a text is sent out confirming Eri’s location has been found.
As Mirio meets outside with Nejire and Tamaki, Nejire has her implausibly long hair tied around her like a scarf in a humorously adorable moment.
However, “GO!” is not all fun and games as proven from the moment Nighteye discovers where Eri is.
This scene provides a flashback that perfectly shows Nighteye’s quirk in usage, much like a film projector, before the pro-heroes and students go to rescue the girl.
Unfortunately, Overhaul knows they are coming and goes to see the comatose boss of the Yakuza, apologizing to him because, “things are about to get noisy.”
And noisy they get because as soon as the police ring the doorbell one of the eight expendable bullets of the Shie Hissaikai bursts through the door, ready to fight.
This leads to a great display of many characters’ quirks, especially Ryukyu who turns into a dragon.
Another instance of a new quirk usage comes with Rock Lock who can freeze moving objects in place, which he uses to cross buildings.
Back to the action at hand, the characters rush towards the building to find Eri as the episode ends with Deku and Mirio thinking for the hundredth time that they will definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitively save her.
That’s a lot of definitelys.
In any case, while the amount of time the two characters say this over the course of the episode does get repetitive, you can still clearly see their dedication to making up for not rescuing the girl earlier.
I would say that “GO!” is probably as good as the previous episode of My Hero Academia.
All of its buildup will finally payoff next episode with the eight expendable bullets coming into play, leading to standout moments from both Tamaki and Kirishima in future episodes.

Attack on Titan Chapter 124, Melting Away Review: FINALLY!

91 Chapters.
That is how long Annie had been in her crystal prison; even longer than it took to reveal the basement.
Well, after reading Chapter 124 of Attack on Titan, “Melting Away,” the first thought I had was FINALLY!
This is because Annie at long last emerged from her crystal at the end of the chapter, due to Eren using his Founding Titan abilities to remove all of the Titans’ ability to harden, including Reiner’s.
The build up to Annie’s return, with the chapter starting with her father hearing Eren’s speech about his plan, and then ending with Armin realizing she is free before cutting to her, is masterfully done.
I was spoiled about this reveal about an hour before I read “Melting Away” but her return is so well written that I still cheered.
I just hope that Isayama can make me care about her more before the story ends.
Whether he does so or not depends on the role Annie has to play.
However, considering her role also brings in the question of how long the manga has?
I have been predicting for a while that Attack on Titan will end at Chapter 130 but, after Chapter 124, I am having serious doubts about this.
I am now thinking a more suitable number is 134 chapters, which would mean there are 10 chapters left.
The reason I am starting to think this is because of how Annie and other subplots that appear in this chapter seem to be hinting at a longer finale.
A prime example of this is the Connie subplot that was just put into motion.
After Falco ate Porco and inherited the Jaw Titan, Connie and Jean kidnap him, with Jean planning to feed him to one of the Titans Zeke transformed, seriously considering Pyxis.
However, Connie wants to take Falco to Ragako to feed him to his mother so she can become human again.
Armin is against this because that would cause further conflict between Reiner and the Warriors when the world is destroyed; however, before anything can be done, Titans interrupt and Connie runs off with Falco.
So, now Connie is on his way to Ragako to save his mother by feeding her Falco, creating a brand new subplot.
With new storylines like this being brought in, it seems unlikely that the manga will be able to successfully wrap up at Chapter 130, which is why I am thinking Chapter 134 is more likely now.
Back to the actual story, I am glad Connie is getting some development now because I have always thought it was a little strange that he rarely brought up his family when they started working with Zeke, since he’s the one who turned them all into Titans.
I am also interested to see where this subplot could go.
Along with Connie, another standout character is Gabi, who goes through more development by saving Kaya from a Titanized Nile in an epic scene that left me cheering.
The following panel where Kaya hallucinates Gabi as Sasha is also perfectly touching.
I have seen a lot of people complaining that Gabi is stealing the spotlight from more beloved characters, like Mikasa, but I honestly don’t see this.
Mikasa got a lot of development last chapter, and even in this one where Gabi was a key character she shared the spotlight with multiple characters who also developed well.
Probably my favourite of these character developments is Keith Shadis, when he saves the recruits who beat him up and then leads them in the fight against the Titans.
Keith Shadis?
More like Keith, No Longer A Bystander, Shadis.
Sadly, this battle does result in the loss of Dot Pyxis, whose Titan is mercy killed by Armin after being thanked for guiding them all these years.
Both his and Nile’s Titans are killed this chapter, bringing a sad end to these great side characters.
Along with Pyxis’ emotional death, another reason I enjoyed the scene where Keith, Mikasa, Armin, Jean and the other soldiers fight off the Titans is because it is eerily reminiscent of the battle at headquarters during the Trost Arc.
Hajime Isayama has been putting in a lot of parallels to prior arcs in this final one, with Chapter 117 being another prime example by paralleling the Return to Shiganshina Arc.
Such parallels can also be seen in character growths like Niccolo saying they have to leave the forest, referencing Mr Braus’ speech in Chapter 111, and Gabi putting her hair up while looking in a mirror, just like Eren does in Chapter 106.
That last parallel has me wondering if this moment is just a callback or foreshadowing for something more?
Whatever it is, I will say that “Melting Away” is a far calmer chapter than I expected it to be.
Before the Annie reveal, the final moments of the chapter sees the characters resting at headquarters while they all try to deal with the impact Eren’s Rumbling will have.
This leads to Floch turning up, to many a fan’s dismay, and arresting Yelena and the the rest of the Volunteers.
Such an act has me scared that Floch may try to execute them to make Eldians the last remaining race after the Rumbling is completed.
I certainly would not put it past him.
But the real question is definitely if Attack on Titan has been in The Breaking Bad universe this whole time as the Saul Goodman Titan seems to suggest?
Jokes aside, there are also a lot of great visuals in the chapter, like when Mikasa cuts down a Titan right outside the window that Yelena and Onyankopon are looking out of. Another example of this is the individual shots of the 104th Cadets as they take in the fact that Eren is planning to destroy the world to protect them.
As for criticisms, the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Jean apparently wanting to feed Falco to Pyxis.
I understand why he would want to save Pyxis, but it was shown that Jean did not want to kill Falco in Chapter 104 so this feels slightly out of character for him.
But the prior moment where he talks about how the Rumbling may be the best thing, as if he is trying to convince himself that it is but not succeeding, makes up for it slightly.
Overall, I would consider “Melting Away” to be on the same level as the previous chapter, “Island Devils.”
It has great character growth with a lot of amazing action, accompanied by epic visuals.
It will be interesting to see how the manga ends, whether that ending comes at Chapter 130, 134, or perhaps slightly longer than that.