SOA Premiere: Out

Last night's season premiere pretty much kicked ass.  Obviously it was no where near the level of the premiere of season two, but still very good.  It started out 14 months after last season with some of the members getting out of jail.  They are free and there are plenty of changes happening in Charming. 

There is a new sheriff in town, as Mayor Hale has gotten rid of the Charming Police and put them under the jurisdiction of the county police.  The new guy is a bit of a dick and he will not be bought off by Clay.  Hale is trying to develop Charming into a place for rich, white people.

It appears that SAMCRO made a deal with the Russians while they were in jail.  Apparently, Jax got shanked and they needed to stop the violence or else they would all end up dead.  Now that they are out, the Russian's basically have the guns that SAMCRO is supposed to be getting from the IRA.  Clay negotiates a deal with the Russians that should make everyone happy.

There is an assistant US attorney in Charming, who is trying to bring down all the gangs together.  He has a man inside the Russian gang and he believes he can take down SAMCRO, the Russians, and the IRA all with the same law used by Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight.  This new AUSA is a weird individual.

Everyone goes to Opie and Lyla's wedding and this was actually an excuse for some of the guys to leave for a booze run and actually visit the Russians and pick up the guns.  SAMCRO kills the Russians and take the guns.  Clay, Jax, and Opie go out in the woods to try out the new pistol that the Russian boss gave to Opie.  Clay turns and shoots the two goons and Opie grabs the boss.  Jax then sticks a knife in him.  We see the guys dumping the bodies out in the future site of Hale's luxury homes.

Here are some of the other cool things happening:

-I loved when Clay rolled off of Gemma and he made the comment about that being too quick and Gemma says that he must gotten used to those quickies with Juice in a dark corner and Clay responds with something like "Do not turn what Juice and I had into something dirty and torrid!"  That cracked me up.

-Awe, Jax proposes to Tara.  Actually he just puts a ring on her finger and says that he loves her.  He never really asks anything.  He also informs her that his father was weak, and could not leave the club, but Jax is not weak.  He will leave the club once he has enough bank that they can live comfortably since he has no real skills.

-This is Jax biggest mistake:  he underestimates Gemma.  I do not know how far she is willing to go to keep her family together. 

-Jax and Opie should open their own porn studio.  Get Lyla and her friends, boom!  Instant money again.

-Judging from the previews for upcoming episodes, Clay will not go down without a fight and he will take the club into some very dangerous territory.

-Otto killing the Russian by stabbing him in the ear was pretty awesome/gruesome.  Not the way I want to be killed while in prison.

Fright Night

I do not know why I wanted to see this movie, but the preview intrigued me and I wanted to see it.  We went last night, and I have to admit that I was not disappointed.  It was not a great film, but it was enjoyable, which was all I was looking for last night.

The movie decided to do a few things that I liked.  First, it did not try to fake you out with the whole, is Jerry a vampire or not.  Nope, they jump right into it.  Second, they did not draw the suspense out and try to avoid the enemies face off early.  Instead, Jerry tries to come in, when Charley says no, he does the most rational thing ever:  he digs a hole in the ground and pulls out the natural gas-line and lights it on fire.  He then makes a comment about if there is not a house, he does not need an invitation. 

That has always been something I have wanted to see some vampires do in Buffy or something.  Just burn down the house and be done with it.  Then kill everyone inside.  That is what I would do if I were a vampire.

The only thing I really hated was the whole high school clique thing.  I guess I just do not get it.  My school was not like that, I guess these things happen in other places, but it just seems so ridiculous to me.  Also, why the hell would anyone go into the house of a suspected vampire in the middle of the night, even if you just saw him leave. 

The question I asked Lindsey after the movie, was whether or not she would take the offer that Charley's girlfriend made him when she became a vampire:  he could join them and be with her forever.  Personally, if a vampire offered me a chance at immortality, I would take it in a heartbeat.  Seriously, I would not even think about it.  What could be the downside?  No more sunlight?  Eh, night is more fun.  Have to kill people?  So, that is what homeless people are for.  I really cannot see a downside.

I was going to write something about True Blood today and how it could be better, but I guess I will save that for another time.

Walt Jr and his Bitchy Mom

One of my favorite things about Breaking Bad is Walt Jr. and his horrible speech impediment.  I know, this makes me a terrible person, but I seriously love imitating him and the best thing to say is "mom, you're being such a bitch."  Or something like that.  Here is a clip of him saying it to his mom.



On last night's episode they continued this great running joke with Skylar even acknowledging it.  She makes a comment about taking back the car and she then says that she will still be the bitch.  She is now the protector of the family from Walt. 

It was a pretty sweet episode.  Walt is seriously losing his grip.  Also, he is losing his father-figure status with Jesse, which is now being replaced by Mike.  Mike was actually impressed with how Jesse handled the meth-heads.  And then Gus came along and completely crushed the bond between Jesse and Walt by saying the one thing Jesse needed to hear:  I saw something in YOU.   Walt believes that everything Gus does is about him (and he could be right, but he never thinks about Jesse).  Honestly, how far can Jesse be from being able to cook the same recipe as Walt? 

Will there come a point when Gus decides that he no longer needs Walt and could just use Jesse as the cook?  At what point will Jesse just decide that he would be better off without Walt being a complete jerk to him all the time. 

Breaking Bad: Bullet Points

Sunday night's episode of Breaking Bad was pretty damn awesome.  Allow me to run down some of the great things:

-Skylar and Walt going over the story about Walt's gambling was hilarious.  Walt was being such a dick (rightly so) to her because she made him seem like such a degenerate.  I loved when he apologizes and she starts to get excited until she realizes that it is part of the script that he is improving. 

-Walt shows Hank up with the mineral (obviously not a rock) collection.  Explaining the chemistry behind the pink.

-The greatest video ever:


-I wonder if the seed has been planted in Hank's head that maybe Walt is more than he seems.  I think so, he seems to buy the gambling story, but at the same time, his instincts have to tell him that something is off.

-Jesse just shrugging off Mike was pretty great.  He seriously has no care that his money was stolen.  The worst part is the way Walt does not seem to notice how messed up killing Gale has made Jesse.  He probably thinks this is all because Jesse is just a screw up.

-The ending was pretty fantastic.  When Walt goes to Jesse's house and cannot find him, my heart sank.  Especially when we see him with Mike, who asks Jesse if he is going to ask where they are going and Jesse says "nope."  Jesse really does not care if he lives or dies.

-I honestly think Jesse could die this season.  Imagine what that would do to Walt.  He treats Jesse like a son (which is why I wish they would kill off Walt Jr.) and I think Jesse's death would be a wake-up call to Walt.  This is not a business he is in.  These people kill you when you make mistakes. 

-That being said, I do not think he will die next week.  I have no clue how he will get out of this mess, maybe he will have a nice conversation with Mike.

-The new identity that Saul mentioned will become an option to Walt (or maybe he will do this for Jesse).

-I wonder if Hank will work more with the APD.  I hate seeing him all depressed and mopey.  I honestly think Marie could be a character to die this season, something that will cause Hank to snap out of his funk and completely become engrossed in catching Heisenberg.

Captain America: The First Avenger

I have not said too much about this film, mainly because I kept forgetting about it.  It is crazy to think that Marvel put out two major films this summer (plus, there was the X-Men film, which is also a Marvel comic, but different production company...)  I keep getting surprised by how good the Marvel films actually turn out.  Maybe DC should just allow Marvel to make their movies as well (minus the Batman films).

The movie starts out with Steve Rogers being rejected yet again from being able to sign up for the Army.  Actually the movie starts with a modern day search team finding something in the Arctic.  Anyways, Steve finally gets into the military because a doctor wants him for a special project.  We learn that Steve has plenty of the intangibles, he is very David Eckstein-esque.  He then gets an injection and becomes taller and stronger.  He becomes a super-soldier, but the good doctor is killed, so they cannot make any other ones.  The Army uses Steve to promote buying war bonds.

Honestly, the beginning was entirely too slow.  I get that they wanted to show that Steve was a great kid, and how hard he would fight and never give up.  Why not cut that back a bit and just show the grenade scene and have someone list all his characteristics?  Or something, they could have cut it down a good fifteen minutes.

After that the action picks up and Captain America rescues some soldiers and leads his own team against Hydra.  He then saves the world by crashing a plane into the Arctic Ocean and defeating the Red Skull.  He gets rescued in the modern world and learns that he has been sleep for seventy years.

The Good
-The fight scenes were pretty cool.  He made using a shield look pretty cool and not hokey.  Also, they did not make him ridiculously strong.  Granted, he is strong, but I was afraid we would see him catching cars out of the air, or flipping over a tank.  Not that strong.

-Haley Atwell is pretty damn hot.  The character of Peggy Carter was also cool.  She is pretty tough, and I am sure they will introduce Sharon Carter at some point.  My guess is that the movie makes her the daughter of Peggy.

-Chris Evans did a great job.  He did not come off as the same character as Johnny Storm.  I have always liked him as an actor, although I realize some people do not. 

-I also loved how they set-up things for the Avengers movie, but not so much that it was irritating.  That was a minor problem in Iron Man 2, all the Thor references, which I guess put some people off.  Instead, the references were pretty plot integral.  Red Skull mentions the Cosmic Cube (he calls it the Tesseract) being one of the greatest treasures from Odin's Treasure Room.  Howard Stark was also more than just a cameo, which I thought at first when he was at the World's Expo.

-The ending was pretty much straight from The Ultimates.  Steve wakes up and they trick him into thinking it is still the 1940s and then he escapes.  I liked that touch.

The Bad
-Why did Cap jump to the conclusion that his only option was bringing the plane down?  Maybe someone can explain this to me.  If he is able to control it so that it will go into a dive, why not turn it around?  Or try to land it somewhere?  Were the bombs flown by Hydra agents?  If so, once he killed all of them, what harm would it be to turn around and try to land somewhere?  They should have went with the old fashioned nuclear rocket option instead.

-Bucky's death scene was good, but when they bring him back (and they will), it will seem pretty crazy that he somehow survived that fall.

-Hugo Weaving's accent

-Chris Evans need to bulk up more, his chest was not big enough...

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B+/A-

A Dance With Dragons

As most of you can imagine, I was pretty excited about the release of A Dance With Dragons.  I went to Wal-Mart after work on Monday around midnight hoping it was out.  I was informed by the girl old lady working that they did not have it.  I woke up the next day with a sense of purpose.  I went back to Wal-Mart because I was told that it might come on the truck in the morning.  Unfortunately, it was not there and there were no other bookstores in Ebensburg.  I asked Lindsey if there was a bookstore in Johnstown and she said yes.  I then checked my account and found that I had no money.  How depressing!

Lindsey came home from work and surprised me with a copy.  What an awesome girlfriend!  Although, it was probably a bad move for her since she barely saw me after that, haha.  Alright, fun story, but now for the thoughts on the book.

I have decided not to bore you with a lengthy recap.  Honestly, only a few of you actually read books and of that small group, only a few of those people read this series.  Instead, I have decided to just look at some of my predictions and see how close I am.

Jon's Parents
My prediction was Rhaegar and Lyanna.  Unfortunately, it really does seem like Jon is Eddard's bastard son.  More than one character has made a comment about Eddard's woman (I cannot remember her name).  I still believe that Rhaegar and Lyanna ran away together and were probably in love. 

Arya's Blindness
I was right about that and an earlier prediction was that she would become a great assassin.  She refused to allow them to give her the antidote to cure her blindness and she goes about continuing her training.  At one point she figures out who keeps hitting her with the stick and gives him the three things she learned as he wanted.  She also succeeds in killing the insurance agent.  It made me laugh as they explain to Arya what the man does for a living and she is completely astounded that people would waste money on gambling whether there ship makes it or not.

Dorne
Quentyn Martell makes his way to Daenerys and shows her the letter that was an agreement to wed Viserys and the princess of Dorne.  Viserys was to return to Dorne with an army and they would join forces to retake the Iron Throne.  Unfortunately for Quentyn, he is a little late, as Daenerys is about to marry a guy from Meereen.  In his desperation to prove that he is not a loser, he breaks into the pyramid holding the two chained dragons and wants to steal one.  He figures he has a little Targaryen blood in him, he will be fine.  HAHAHA, how does being burnt alive feel Quentyn?  Yeah, he died pretty horrifically. 

Daenerys
I predicted that she would raise an army and come to Westeros.  Well Meereen has been a slight detour.  She has an army and a bunch of enemies, but instead of being a conqueror, she has become a true ruler.  She worries about how to feed her people and keeping them from slavery.  After her wedding, she is almost assassinated by her own husband.

Fortunately, she is saved when Drogon comes to the fighting pit and starts killing people.  She is able to control her dragon and hops on his back and flies away.  They are out hunting together when they come on the khalasar of Khal Jhaqo.  Ser Barristan Selmy has led a coup against Meereen's new king (Daenerys husband, who Barristan believes tried to kill her), but unfortunately, the armies assembled outside have decided on war.

New Predictions
-I still believe that Daenerys will eventually return to Westeros and conquer it or at least become Queen.  I think with Drogon, she will cause Khal Jhaqo to join his khalasar to hers.  I believe that from the first book, when two khalasars met up, they would battle and then the survivors would form into a new one and the leader would be the new khal.  With her new khalasar, she will return to Meereen and defeat the armies outside her walls.

-The new dragon, and I am guessing the real heir to the Iron Throne, Aegon, will not survive.  He will cause a ton of problems and probably give Westeros a real scare, but in the end, he will be defeated by someone.  OR, he will ride one of the other dragons.  As will Victarion, with his horn, but he will turn against his brother and join Daenerys cause as well.  I doubt that last one though.

-Tyrion will reclaim Casterly Rock and become the other force that everyone worries about.  Actually to piss off his sister, he will lend his support to Aegon and eventually Daenerys. 

-What will happen with Jaime?  He is now in the hands of the resurrected Catelyn Stark (Lady Stoneheart).  I loved how he handled the situation with the Bracken's and Blackwoods.  If you combined all three Lannister children, that would make a great king (or queen).  Anyways, I am guessing that Brianne promised to deliver him to Stoneheart in exchange for her life. 

-Jon Snow will not be dead.  He is wounded and will probably be saved by someone.  I have a feeling he will still lead his wildling friends against Ramsay.  Hopefully Jon will kill Ramsay and become the new Lord of Winterfell.  Although, he is still a bastard and if Stannis is dead, he has no shot of being naturalized.

-In fact, is King Stannis really dead?  I just hate Ramsay.  I never liked Theon, but after reading about his horrible captivity, I really want him to go back to the Iron Islands and either claim his right as the king, or just ask his uncle to kill Ramsay.

-I also still believe that the Others will make their way over the Wall or at least make a very good attempt.  The Night's Watch will regret losing Snow, but they will be saved by an unexpected source:  Bran and his friends, the Children of the Forest.

-Speaking of Ned's children:  Rickon will be the new Lord of Winterfell.  Davos will find the boy and help him regain his position. 

I am sure I will think of other things, but since I will have a few years between now and then, I will definitely write more about this series.

Breaking Bad Premier

The fourth season of Breaking Bad kicked off with a bang...haha, see what I did there?  The season began where last season left off, with Jesse shooting Gail.  The episode actually started with Gail setting up the lab and then convincing Gus that whoever makes the blue meth, makes a perfect formula and it is beyond Gail.  He was the reason Gus changed his mind about Walt.  That is tragic.

Most of the episode sees Walt and Jesse in the lab awaiting their punishment. Gus shows up as Victor proves that he can replicate Walt's recipe.  Walt then pleads for his case and to be allowed getting back to work.  He then challenges Victor with a bunch of variables that could change the recipe.

At no point does Gus speak to anyone, he just takes his shirt off and puts one of the red chem-suits on and then goes around to each of them with a boxcutter and menaces them.  He then stands beside Victor and cuts his throat.  It was pretty much a moment that made everyone scream "HOLY SHIT!"  Well, except for me, I even said to Lindsey that it was going to happen.  Victor made the mistake of being seen by the neighbors at Gail's apartment.  Although, some people will probably think it was because he could not answer Walt's question.

After Gus kills Victor, he goes back to the clothes rack, washes himself off, and puts his suit back on.  He then walks out of the lab, but then tells them to get back to work.  Walt and Jesse struggle to put Victor's body into a plastic barrel, and we then see them grabbing some hydrofluoric acid, which we all knows what that means.  Mike asks if the stuff will work, but Jesse finally speaks by saying "trust us."

It is hard to explain how suspenseful the entire episode was.  I half-expected Gus to cut off Walt or Jesse's finger.  I knew they would not be killed, but you never can be too sure about bodily harm.  Also, you know it is a great show when there is a cripple pooping scene and it barely gets a mention...

Baseball First Half Results

What can I say?  This has been one helluva season so far.  There are all sorts of things happening around the league, but none of which are all that important because the Pirates are one game out of first place with a 47-43 record!  They are above .500 at the All-Star break!  That is absolutely crazy when you think that at the beginning of the year we were wondering if they would win 70 games.

Anyways, you can find my original prediction's here.

In the NL East, I have the division race pretty much on point except that the Marlins and Nationals are flip-flopped.  I was also right about how much Nationals fans are loving Werth.  Haha, suck it Washington!  My insane prediction was that Mike Stanton would hit 40 HRs, which probably will not happen, but he does have 18 and he missed games with a nagging quad injury.  Also, it took him awhile to really get rolling.  This kid is going to crush balls for a long time.

I completely screwed up the NL Central.  Who would have predicted it this way?  Ryan thought the Cubs would win the division, I think we can all agree that one is probably not going to happen.  My insane pick is actually way off:  the Pirates lost to Greinke and Halladay, but beat Lohse.  They have lost twice to Dillon Gee, but none of those were shutouts.  They have not faced the others yet.

My NL West picks are almost exact if you take out the D-Backs.  Apparently they decided to be pretty good as well.  Hey, Mat Latos started the season hurt and is not having a very good year.  He will probably not win 20 games.

My NL MVP was Troy Tulowitzki.  He is having a good season, but not the best player in the league type season.  Statistically speaking, Matt Kemp and Andrew McCutchen are having the best seasons, if the Pirates win the division or even break their losing streak, I think people will mention Cutch as an MVP candidate.  As of now though, the kind of guy that the writers love to vote for is either Jose Reyes (if he stays healthy all season, and stays in the NL) or Ryan Braun.

My prediction for Rockies players has not helped them at all.  It looks like the Cy Young award is a nice race between the Phillies staff and Jair Jurrjens (you could toss a few other names in there as well).  Honestly though, I think Roy Halladay will end up winning it from this point on.

ROY awards are difficult, they should be split into pitcher/hitter.  Espinosa seems to be the leader in the NL, although, Freddie Freeman is heating up and could possibly pass him.

Over in the AL East, I was almost completely right except for the Red Sox being in first place, fortunately they are only one game above the Yankees.  I was right about the Blue Jays not hitting as many HRs as last year, but what I hinted on was that Jose Bautista would not continue to destroy baseballs...I was way wrong.

Who knew?

I hate the AL Central, seriously.  At least I was right about the White Sox not being in first place.  Unfortunately, I did not picture the Indians and Tigers battling for first place.  This is still a long season, who knows what will happen.

I pretty much nailed it with the Rangers, but Ryan was close with his Angels pick as they are only one game back.  I was completely wrong with the A's though.  Minus the hitting part.

Naturally my picks in the AL awards races are way off.  Jose Bautista is the favorite for MVP and Weaver/Verlander are probably the main Cy Young candidates.  It looks like Mark Trumbo could probably win the ROY.

Anyways, there is still a good amount of baseball left and anything can happen.  Hopefully more of my predictions are right and if they are going to end up wrong, let us just make sure it is the Buccos that completely wreck my division picks.  I would love to have to buy playoff tickets...

All Sorts of Television Stuff

Where should I start?  Well just sit through the first one and then some of the better ones will come.  How does that work for you? 

True Blood
Witches, werepanthers, Bill's the King, blah blah blah.  Seriously, if this episode would have cut all that crap out and just focused on Eric not having a memory, it would have been a great 23 minutes.  Eric was cracking me up with the entire change in personality.

Also, when Tara pulled the gun on Pam, I really wanted Pam to use her super-speed and just take the gun from Tara and maybe rip her in half.  That would have been cool.  I really wish someone would kill Tara.  That would make my day.

The Glades
I enjoy this show most of the time, for a simple police procedural, it is pretty good.  The main character is pretty funny.  Unfortunately, this weeks episode was a little weak.  They used the partner is the killer trick during the pilot and it worked well.  This time though, I saw it coming a mile away and it was pretty lame.  Do better next week, or else!

Suits

I am digging this show.  It is not really the typical lawyer show.  It focuses mainly on corporate law, instead of criminal law like every other show.  Also, there are almost no court scenes, instead it is all about the research, which from what I have heard from a lawyer friend, is basically what most law ends up being.  Plus Meghan Markle is pretty hot.

Eureka
I cannot believe how much I missed this show.  And luckily, the season premier was pretty good.  Zane and Fargo accidentally launch a rocket into space with themselves stuck inside.  The best part about it though was Fargo ended up being the one to be cool and get them out of the mess.  Usually he gets himself into jams, but everyone else has to get him out.  It was nice to see him as the hero.

And it is about time that Jo and Zane got back together.  Not that I root for things like that because I am so uber-manly.  Speaking of manly, I loved when Andy was on the back of Carter's horse and yelled "I'm on a horse."  Great reference to the commercial, without being ridiculous.

Warehouse 13
Alright, I am glad they did not have Myka out for too long.  She is just too hot and she is a great foil for Pete.  Although, I did enjoy the new guy, I think his name is Steve.  I hope he sticks around, that way we can see more mult-case episodes with one of them going out with Claudia.

The Fires of Heaven

Last night I finished reading the fifth book in the Wheel of Time series, The Fires of Heaven.  It was pretty damn good.  There were plenty of really great moments, such as Mat giving away his secret knowledge of war, or Rand losing his virginity. 

The big splash came at the end of the book.  It starts with Moraine dying while I also taking Lanfear with her.  Then, Rand's friends are killed, but he uses balefire to kill Rahvin and thus erase what he did to Rand's friends.  What an awesome weapon, something that can erase someone from existence.  The more powerful the blast, the further back in time it can erase.  I wonder what the consequences were for Rand's actions?  Did someone that Rahvin kill maybe end up living?  Is that who Asmodean was confronted by at the end?  That would be interesting...

Predictions
-Moraine and Lanfear are not dead.  I have a feeling they will come back after meeting with Mat's snake/fox people.  I think it was Lanfear that showed up and killed Asmodean, hence the reason for his surprise.  I also think that when Moraine does come back, she will be more powerful than ever.

-Speaking of snake/fox people, Mat will eventually meet up with Perrin.  Mat's army and Perrin's army will be a major force that will defeat the Whitecloaks and help Rand win the world.

-Elayne and Nynaeve will end up being full Aes Sedai, especially after Nynaeve shows that she has captured one of the Foresaken.  Or they will leave Salidar and head out on their own.  Probably head back to Andor, since Elayne will be needed since people think Morgase is dead.

-I really want to know what is in the letter for Thom from Moraine.  Could it be something about Thom being Elayne's dad?  Yeah, I predicted that last time, and I will stick with it.  Or maybe I am completely wrong.

Aside from predictions, I want to make an observation about the similarities between The Wheel of Time and the Dark Tower.  Both series have technological societies that have been broken and are now much less advanced.  There is an overarching fate/destiny that drives the story:  the wheel and ka.  In fact, there is a saying in the Dark Tower:  "ka is like a wheel."  Hmm, just something I found interesting.

True Blood Episode 402

There is really nothing to say about this episode, other than it pretty much sucked balls.  As I said last week, this season seems to have nothing going for it.  The only storyline worth anything was Jason, but that one became a letdown right away.

-Bill is the king because the AVL basically gave him the title after he gave them Queen Sophie.  Apparently he was working with the AVL since the days of British punk rock and Margaret Thatcher.

-The witch-gang wants to raise a human from the dead, but Eric comes to stop them.  They band together to fight him and he somehow loses his memory.  And his shirt. 

-Tara is reminded why she is lame.  She tries to visit Sookie, but gets blown off after a few minutes.  Then goes with her cousin to see some witch action and almost gets eaten by Eric.  Probably not the best way to impress Sookie...

-Luna, Sam's new girlfriend, once changed into a human.  I wonder if all shifters can do that, or did her stupid story have some weight to it.

-Hoyt and Jessica are like a lame, old married couple.  She goes and gets dirty with that weird dude from Fangtasia.  Still not at all interesting.  And if she is going to the club, she needs to wear less clothing.

-Jason is being held by Crystal and Felton.  She is high and he wants Jason to impregnate her.  He is impotent.  However, they must first make him a werepanther.  Yep, this will be dumb.

The Return of True Blood

Tonight was the premiere of True Blood, but before I get into that, I want to point out how I am an idiot.  Last week I wrote about the season finale of Treme.  Well it was not really the finale...I am shocked that no one pointed that out to me (probably because only two people I know watch it).  Anyways...

The new season of True Blood started out with Sookie in the land of fairy.  Turns out her grandfather was there for the last twenty years.  Also, the fairies are not good guys.  They are harvesting humans and all that pretty stuff was just an illusion.  Everyone should know that if they ever read Sandman.  Yeah, the story was pretty lame, as were the special effects. 

Sookie then comes back to our world, her grandpa dies and she heads home only to find workers there remodeling.  Turns out she has been gone for more than a year and everyone thought she was dead.  Jason sold her home.  Oops.  Here are the things that have happened:

-Jason is a cop now and he seems to be good at it.  Andy is a V addict.  Jason ends up being locked in a deep freezer by someone in that meth town.  Turns out Crystal left.

-Sam has anger problems.  His brother is a Jesus freak and lives with Hoyt's mom.  Sam gets drunk with some shape-shifters now and probably has orgies.  Weird.

-Bill is now the King of Louisianna.  Are they ever going to explain how that shit works?  If he is the king, why doesn't Eric just kill him and take over?  Does being the king give you super powers?

-Eric is the one who bought Sookie's house and he gives it back to her and then says he owns her.  It was pretty obvious that he was the one who bought it, but I have no clue where this thing is going.

-The fight between Jessica and Hoyt was so lame.  Probably the worst acting I have seen on this show and that is saying something.  At least Pam was funny when they were at Fangtasia.

-So, Tara is a lesbian named Toni now?  She and her girlfriend are cage-fighters?  This was probably the first time there was a girl-on-girl scene on TV that I had absolutely no interest in.

-Lafayette and Jesus...um whatever, this storyline already sucks a major cock.

-Am I forgetting anything?  Probably not, the show was pretty dumb.  I will keep watching though.  At least there will be plenty of boobs.

Season Finales

Last night was the season finale for a few of the better shows on television.  Two were great, one was not so great.  I will start with the one that was not so great.  There are spoilers throughout.

The Killing

Who knew Detective Linden was a hottie?

The first season of the show was pretty good, there were a few things that bothered me, especially how convenient the character twists would happen.  Oh, all the evidence points to Bennett, oh wait, no it does not.  Aside from that, the buildup and story were very good.

The last five minutes of the episode ruined the season.  Linden and Holder realize that Richmond is the killer.  They put together the pieces and finally obtain the last piece of evidence:  a photo from a toll booth showing Richmond in the car at the hour when he was supposed to be with Gwen (she then admits to Linden that Richmond left that night and came back soaking wet).

The show ends with Linden on a plane with her son and she gets a call from the toll booth company saying that their cameras have been down all summer.  We then see Holder get into a car and say that everyone bought the photo.

Belko approaches Richmond as they are taking him away and pulls a gun to kill him.  The show could have easily ended with Richmond being the killer, but no, they had to throw a wrench into it.  Now we see that Holder may be a bad guy, Linden knows something is wrong, so she will want to go back.  Now there is reasonable doubt about whether Richmond killed Rosie and there will be a whole second season of this crap?  Ugh.

Treme
Another very sad ending to this show.  All sorts of stuff happened in the episode, but I want to focus on the last five minutes.  Harley and Annie (Harley is played by the cool Steve Earle) are walking to Davis' gig (Harley being a gentleman turns down his Irish friend's offer of a pint to instead escort Annie across town).

Two guys come up to them and rob them of their instruments and Harley makes the comment that "you are making a big mistake son."  They one guy gets pissed and says he is not Harley's son and shoots him in the face.

It is a horrible moment because Harley has been Annie's mentor all season.  He is the one who informed her that her first song was actually a Bob Dylan song, he forces her to play her original song out in public.

His death also shows the major theme of this season:  random violence of the city and how it is affecting New Orleans.  This season characters dealt with rape, multiple shootings, drugs, and corruption.  We learn that the police are just as bad as the criminals in some cases.  These things are such normal occurrences that when one of Baptiste's friends dies in a shooting, he does not even get emotional, just a little upset.

Game of Thrones

BABY DRAGONS!  So, cute.  I definitely want a baby dragon for a pet.  Sorry for that moment of girlishness.  Aside from the ending scene where we see the dragons, what else happened:

-KING OF THE NORTH!  The Greatjon declares Robb as his king and the rest of the northmen agree.  Oh, Theon bows as well.  He is a dickbag though.

-Jon's friends chase him down and force him to come back by repeating their oath.  Lord Mormont informs Jon that they are going outside the wall.  He wants to face these problems head on instead of waiting meekly behind the Wall. 

-Arya becomes a boy and meets up with Robert's bastard son.  She also glimpses the man that will help set her course towards a new land.

-Tyrion is to go to King's Landing and bring Joffrey and Cersei under control.  Which will be tough, since we are starting to see that Joffrey is a monster.  He forces a singer to repeat a dirty song he made.  He then has the man's tongue cut out.  Oh and then he forces Sansa to look at the heads on spikes, one is her father and another her Septa.  She makes a comment that he does not like after he says that he will give her a gift of Robb's head, she says: "maybe he will give me yours."  Joffrey has Ser Meryn Trant slap her.  She then thinks about pushing Joffrey, but the Hound steps in and gives her a towel to wipe the blood.  This is the beginning of him being nice to her.

-Bran has Osha take him into his family crypt because of a dream.  There they are scared by Shaggy Dog and Rickon, who is down there because he too had a dream of their father in the crypt. 

-The preview for the second season was pretty cool as we see the dangerous green wildfire that Tyrion will use to defend King's Landing.



-Who will play Stannis?  I love that Renly looks like a soft version of Robert.  Also, who will play the Onion Knight?  Will the second season start with a red comet streaking through the sky?  I thought this season would end with the dragons being born and us being able to see the comet start.  I guess I was wrong.

Seriously, season two cannot get here fast enough.

Baelor (Spoilers for the Episode)

The thing I worried about most with Game of Thrones was the changes they might possibly make from the book.  When I heard they signed Sean Bean to play Eddard Stark, this compounded my fear.  I mean, there was no way they would kill off their big star during the first season of a show, right? 

Well I was wrong.  So far they have been very faithful and they decided to prove that by having Joffrey announce that Ned should die for being a traitor.  As the sword cut his head off, I felt my heart jump because I realized this was the beginning of some very bad things for the Starks.

Another great moment was the capturing of Jaime Lannister and his challenge to Robb that they should end the war now and fight a duel.  I loved that Rob admits Jaime would beat him, so no, they will not do that.  I also enjoyed how Robb realized the horrors and stupidity of war after sacrificing 2000 of his own men.

As usual, Tyrion stole the show.  He tells the story of his first wife and how his father allowed his guards to have sex with her after he informed Tyrion that she was a whore.  Bronn then says he would have killed the man who did that to him.  Hmmm, foreshadowing.    Then he leads his new tribe into battle, well he starts, but he gets knocked out and then trampled.  He wakes up to find out that the attack was a ruse. 

Game of Thrones Awesomeness

The last three episodes have been pretty damn good.  Let me see what highlights I can give:

-Viserys finally got his crown.  It was awesome in the book, but it was better looking on the screen.  Khal Drogo pours the molten gold over Viserys head, which kills him almost instantly.  The best part was Daenerys reaction:  that he was not a true dragon, since fire cannot harm a dragon.

-Ned realizes that Joffrey is not Robert's child.  All from something Sansa says.  She is a pretty unlikeable character, but the path her life goes makes you feel so bad for her.  So for those watching, do not fret, things do not go well for her.

-The moment that Ned confronts Cersei about her children, is the moment that my heart started racing.  By the end of that episode, I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.  I knew what was going to happen, yet I just could not bear it.  I mean, the way Littlefinger betrays Ned and Joffrey becomes the new king.  Such a great few moments. 

-Khal Drogo's anger over the attempted assassination of Daenerys was just awesome.  Him screaming what he will do to the Seven Kingdoms was sweet.  He was pretty damn scary.

-When Cersei tears up the letter from Robert, in front of Barristan Selmy, it was gut wrenching.  That was the moment you know that things are going to suck for Ned.

-Speaking of Barristan, how great was the scene of him being relieved of his duty?  I loved how angry he was and how you could see the other members of the Kingsguard almost shit themselves when he draws his sword. 

-I completely forgot about Shagga and his great threat "I will cut off the halfman's manhood and feed it to a goat."  I love that guy.

-Robb Stark leading his men into battle and watching the Greatjon lose some fingers to the direwolf.  I loved his strategy of allowing the Lannister scout to return to Tywin (Charles Dance is amazing as the Lannister lord) and tell him that "winter is coming."  If I remember correctly, Robb then goes to Riverrun to attack Jaime, completely fooling Tywin.  Bold move.

-The best part of the episode comes when Syrio protects Arya with a wooden sword against the Lannister men coming to capture her.  He beats down those soldiers pretty easily and we never see the outcome of him versus Ser Meryn Trant.  I am guessing Trant one, it sounds that way, yet I always got the suspicion that we would meet Syrio later at some point.  I could be wrong though.  Also, I loved how Arya kept saying "not today", from Syrio's speech about there is only one god, and that god is death, and you only say one thing to death:  not today.

-Littlefinger's lesson of sex to his two whores was about as close as you can get to porn without actually being porn.  Not that I am complaining.  Was there some anal involved there?

X-Men: First Class

Lindsey and I went to see X-Men:  First Class on Friday, and it was pretty good.  Before I get into the movie, allow me to say about the theater.  Remember when I went to see Thor?  That place in Indiana was a real dump, but the new place in State College was just the opposite.  They had huge leather seats, the screens were very large, and the sound system was fantastic.  You suck Indiana!

Anyways, back to the movie.  It is set in the 1960s, Erik Lensherr is trying to find the man who killed his mother (Sebastian Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon).  He is like James Bond or Eric Bana in Munich.  He travels to Argentina and kills some former Nazis (he mixes his magnetic control with some pretty tough fighting skills).

Meanwhile, Charles Xavier and his good friend Raven are celebrating Charles receiving his doctorate.  He is pretty much a jerk trying to get into the ladies pants.  Moira MacTaggert enlists his help in tracking down the Hellfire Club.  She works for the CIA and has seen mutants in action.  He then informs the CIA of his abilities.

He then meets Erik and they become friends.  They enlist the help of a bunch of young mutants and set out to stop Shaw and the Hellfire Club.  One of my favorite scenes was the way they trained together.  Especially Charles and Erik together.  How funny is it that Charles is the one who helped Erik unlock his full potential.

There were a few little inconsistencies from the first movie.  Professor X tells Wolverine that Magneto has his helmet because he and Erik built Cerebro together, but in this one, Beast is the one who built Cerebro, and the Russians designed the helmet for Shaw.  How come Magneto never had more of those helmets made so that his followers could defend themselves against Professor X?

Also, we see the development of Mystique.  She starts out as Charles friend, but he does not think she should reveal her real appearance to people (Beast feels the same about how they should look normal).  Magneto constantly tells her that she is beautiful.  It was also cool seeing her shift into Rebecca Romijn.

Speaking of cool cameos, when Erik and Charles go on their mutant finding quest, they walk into a bar and start their proposition to Logan (Hugh Jackman), who tells them to "go fuck yourselves."  I was pretty shocked they allowed that kind of language.

Also, how does Moira go from a CIA agent, to someone who runs a hospital or something.  Remember in the post-credit scene after the third one?  Professor X takes that guys body over that Moira is taking care of, that hardly seems like CIA work to me.

I also loved how Shaw was someone who could challenge Magneto's power.  Although, how would a coin through his head kill him?  Or did Xavier have his powers shut off while he was in his head?  Seemed a bit weird to me.

I thought January Jones was extremely hot as Emma Frost, but umm, does this movie fit with the Wolverine movie?  Emma Frost was a young girl in that film and still being held by Stryker, at the end of this film, Magneto frees her from Stryker's grasp...

I want to say that Michael Fassbender was amazing as Magneto.  I can see why so many mutants would want to follow his cause.  He came off as determined and unwavering in his belief.  Charles (I thought James McAvoy was really good too) came off as arrogant and a little bit afraid of the mutants who look different.  He does not embrace mutantism (I am making that word up) 100% yet.  I am sure with him being paralyzed he will lose some of that ego.

The movie was really good and I am excited about the idea of a sequel.

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B+/A-

The Shadow Rising

The book I read while on the beach was The Shadow Rising, the fourth book of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  The book started off pretty slow, mostly with Rand handing out in Tear, making some kingly decisions and every once in awhile fighting with evil things sent to attack him.

Then the group splits up and things start to get crazy.  Rand and Mat head to the Aiel Waste (Egwene and Moraine come along as well).  Perrin heads back to the Two Rivers and becomes a leader against Trolloc raids.  Elayne and Nynaeve head to Tarabon and seek out the Black Ajah.  Once all the characters split, it was hard to put the book down.  I am just going to mention some of my favorite parts with each character.

Mat
-I love that he wants to go back to the fox people (or the snake people) and teach them a lesson.  I also enjoy that he must be descended from maybe the Manatheran king or something.  He might be my new favorite character.

Rand
-I love how he no longer seems unsure of himself.  He knew all along that one of the Foresaken would be in the Waste.  He does not fear Moraine any longer, plus he just likes to infuriate her with his vague answers (like she did with he and the others in the beginning).

-It seems that I was wrong so far about Elayne.  Rand seems to be leaning pretty heavily that way (although, the Aiel girl seems to be catching his eye as well).

Perrin
-I am totally going to sound like a girl right now, but it was such a sweet moment when he and Faile got married.  I love that they fought so much, but then when she heard his family was murdered, none of that mattered.

-I wonder what Elayne's mom (under the influence of a Foresaken) will do when she finds out that Perrin is being called a lord and they are flying the old Manatheran banner down in the Two Rivers?  I bet she will not be happy.

Interesting Revelations
-It seems that pretty much everyone has some women that can channel.  The Sea People, Seanchan, Aiel, and who knows who else.

-I love the idea that the Tinkers are actually the original Aiel.  The Aiel used to serve the Aes Sedai (back before the Breaking and the world was much more advanced, sounds like they had flying cars) and the Aiel were extremely non-violent.  When Rand was reliving his past, it was interesting to see how they continued to split at times.

-Will it turn out that Thom is Elayne's father?  That would be interesting, although a bit too convenient.

-I wonder if Mat and Perrin will meet up together at this weird tower that was mentioned.  It was mentioned that they are connected and the way to defeat them might be in the old Snake and Foxes game.  Mat and Perrin together could probably outsmart them since they are such opposites.

-I love that the Aes Sedai ended up stilling Siuan and Leane and that they are now working with Min and Logaine.  That is probably why Min saw a halo (or crown) around his head.

-I think that when this series ends, Rand will still be alive and he will usher in a golden age.  He will find a way to get rid of the Dark One and remove the taint that drives men who can channel mad.  Or he will die a hero.  I know, a bold prediction.

Game of Thrones: The Wolf and the Lion

Holy shit what an awesome episode!  If someone turned this on and decided to start at just this episode, they would have probably had a heart attack.  Anyways, let me tell you about some of the crazy shit that happened:

-I wondered last week if they would show the end of the joust.  They did, and HBO did not disappoint.  After the Mountain is unseated by Ser Loras (he used a mare that was in heat, which sent the Mountain's stallion into a horny fit), he grabs his broadsword and hacks his horses head off.  He then proceeds to go after Ser Loras (so aptly nicknamed "The Knight of Flowers"), which causes the Hound to step in.  They have a pretty good fight until King Robert screams enough.

-Ned resigns as the Hand because Robert wants to kill Daenerys before she can give birth.  Ned wants no part of it.  As Ned prepares to leave King's Landing, Littlefinger offers to take him to the last person Jon Arryn met with.  They go to a whore house and we find another of Robert's bastards.  As they leave, Jaime shows up with a bunch of Lannister guards and demands they take Ned since his wife took his brother.  An awesome battle ensues.  Jory takes a dagger to the eye from Jaime and then the battle we have been waiting for finally comes:  Ned versus Jaime!  It is a pretty good fight, until one of the guards jabs a spear through Ned's leg.  Jaime knocks the dude out.

-Elsewhere, Tyrion's captors come under attack from the hill tribes.  Cat frees him and he thinks about leaving until he sees one of the crazy guys about to attack Lady Stark.  He ends up killing the man with a shield.  We also get to see Bronn in action, dude is pretty badass with a sword.

-The Eyrie was pretty amazing looking.  Also, the chick that plays Catelyn's sister Lysa, does a great job of being batshit crazy.  She is breastfeeding her son, who looks about eight years old.  They put Tyrion in his cell, which if I remember correctly from the book, is sloped and this scares Tyrion because he is afraid of rolling out in his sleep.  You can tell it is sloped slightly in the show because there is water running through the grooves.

-There was also a pretty good scene that was not in the book.  Renly and Loras are shirtless together, with Loras shaving Renly's chest.  Later Renly receives a blowjob from Loras.  In the book, it is hinted that they were together, but that is about it.  They also discuss in the scene the idea of Renly becoming the king with Loras' family's money backing him.  This serves as a great setup for things that will happen later down the road. Spoiler ahead I suppose.  It was always a shock when Renly announced he was one of the kings after Robert's death.

One of the things I loved about the books was all the cool false-foreshadowing.  If you thought something was going to happen, then usually something else would happen and it would be completely unexpected.

For example, I really thought there would be a moment where the Mountain would meet Hodor.  When describing Hodor's size, people would mention how the only person who was bigger was the Mountain.  I always figured the Lannister's would attack Winterfell and the Mountain would attack Bran, leading to a showdown between giants.  Sadly, this never happened, but what does happen is equally awesome.

The Week That Was In Television

Justified
This was the season finale and allow me to say that it did not disappoint.  Raylan finds out that he is going to be a father, but then he finds out that Loretta left the foster home and he thinks she is going after Mags Bennett.  Raylan goes after her, much to the protests of Winona.

Unfortunately, Raylan walks into a trap and gets knocked out by Dickie.  Dickie hangs him upside down from a tree and starts hitting him with a baseball bat.  Fortunately, Boyd is also looking for Dickie since he shot Ava (oh, did I fail to mention that?  Boyd meets with Mags, but she was planning on killing some of his men while they were meeting, Boyd was a step ahead of her, although Ava took a bullet from Dickie).

Boyd cuts Raylan down and is about to shoot Dickie, who does his typical cry like a girl and beg for mercy.  He asks Raylan if he is going to let Boyd shoot him, and Raylan says something about he may not be able to kill Dickie, but he will not lose any sleep over Boyd killing him.  Then Dickie says that he can take Raylan to Loretta.  Raylan convinces Boyd to let Dickie go and there is a moment where it seems that Raylan will have to shoot Boyd.

Dickie and Raylan head to the Bennett house, where Loretta is inside holding Mags at gunpoint.  Loretta shoots Mags in the leg and this causes the Bennett forces to start shooting.  Raylan takes a bullet to the side and while he is lying on the ground Doyle stands over him and is about to shoot him when a bullet hits Doyle in the head.  The U.S. Marshall service shows up just in the nick of time (yeah, it was a pretty convenient save, but it worked).  They were involved because Winona begged Art to help Raylan.

Raylan goes inside and convinces Loretta to give him the gun, but not before Mags admits to killing her father.  Raylan and Mags sit down and she offers him a glass of moonshine.  I am pretty sure that everyone watching screamed at Raylan not to drink from the glass!  They have a toast and she says that this feud will end the way it should have and all of a sudden she tenses up and says that the poison was in the glass (a throw-back to the way Loretta's dad died).

I honestly thought that Raylan would have called the Dixie Mafia (his buddy Wyn Duffy) and they would have showed up (instead of the Marshalls).  I am sure they would be interested in taking over the Bennett's territory before Boyd could take it over.  I would guess that season three will see the Dixie boys becoming a major player.  I also figure that Raylan will stay in Lexington and not head to the shooting range.

Game of Thrones
"Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things", that was the name of the episode.  It was a line that Tyrion says to Robb at Winterfell when asked why he brought Bran a design for a saddle that Bran could ride.  Tyrion responds that he has a soft spot for cripples, bastards, and broken things.  I loved Tyrion in the books, but Peter Kinklage is so great that he makes the character even better.

It was also great to see Bran smile, poor kid has been so depressed.  He also had a very strange dream, about a three-eyed crow.  I like that the show is making it more ominous than how the book just jumped in with the crow talking.

Ned's investigation is starting to get somewhere, he found the book that Jon Arryn was reading and he found the boy that Jon was visiting.  Turns out the boy is the bastard son of Robert.  I wish they would have either had a flashback or did the sound over of a battle so Ned's reaction to seeing the boy would be a little more effective.

I also loved the exchange between Jaime and Jory about how they had met during the rebellion of the Greyjoys and also Jaime being upset about the king having an orgy while he stands outside.  I love how after their bonding moment, Jaime gets annoyed when Jory asks if he could leave a message with Jaime to give to the king.

Up on the Wall, we finally meet Samwell Tarly.  He is a fat kid who is also a coward.  In the books, I always figured he would become a good fighter or something.  That is not the case and I highly doubt things will be different from this coward.  I loved the line when they are by the fire and he says that he will not get any better having to fight and Jon responds that he cannot get any worse.  Best part was of Jon and his friends holding down the bully and letting Ghost jump on his chest and growl at him.

Across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys finally realizes her brother is a loser.  She asks Jorah if Viserys could conquer Westeros and she says that he would not be a very good king.  Viserys takes a bath with Daenerys slave girl and he tells her about dragons, they are having a good time, but then she says something about it being sad they are all gone and Viserys gets angry.  He says that it is her job to please him, not make him sad.

Daenerys finally has enough when she invites Viserys to dinner and he snaps because he does not take orders from her.  He hits her and she fights back, hitting him with a belt, cutting his face.  She tells him if he ever touches her again, she will have his hands cut off.  Very badass.

During the jousting tournament, Ser Hugh (who may have important information for Ned, since he was Jon's squire) is killed by Ser Gregor Clegane (The Mountain Who Rides).  He is the Hounds brother and we learn that he was the reason that the Hound has a burnt face.  The Mountain is such a scary character, and I only hope that they make him big enough.  Also, I wonder if they will do the joust match between him and Ser Loras and the final results?  That might be too graphic, even for HBO.

The best part of the episode came at the end though, Lady Stark is at an inn when Tyrion shows up.  He recognizes her and she then stands up and starts calling out different men at the bar, asking if they are still loyal to her father.  You can see the fear in Tyrion's eyes as he realizes that something very bad is about to happen.  She then demands they arrest him in the name of the king.

Things are about to get crazy. 

A Few TV Shows

I am not going to talk about all the shows from last week that I watched, just two:  Game of Thrones and Justified.  Mainly because they were the most intense.  I will make one comment about The Killing:  will there be a season two?  I mean, it should wrap up pretty quickly, right?  Anyways, onto the shows.

Game of Thrones
-So many little things happened during the episode.  The bulk of it featured Jon Snow and how his friendship with Tyrion grows.  By the time Tyrion leaves, they are friends.  Tyrion gives him advice about the other boys and we later see Jon giving them sword lessons.

-We finally get to meet Syrio Forel, Arya's "dance instructor".  The guy who plays him is pretty much just how you picture from the book.  I also loved the way Ned watches and you hear the wooden sword sounds turn to metal and you can hear the faint sound of a battle.  Very cool.

-Robert getting drunk and discussing his first kill with Barristan Selmy.  This is a tiny spoiler, so you may want to not read this blue sentence:  how will the disguise Selmy so it can be a surprise when he reveals himself (that sounds so dirty) to Daenarys?

-Another great episode for Jamie.  Such a jerk, yet so cool.  He talks about how Ned Stark's father and brother screamed while they burned, then mentions how Aerys kept saying "burn them all" when he stabbed him.

-Then there was the creepy Cersei/Joffrey moment.  She says that when he is the king, he can change the story of his wounded arm to anything he wants.  He says he does not want to marry Sansa, nor does he want to be nice to her.  Cersei makes some comment about how he can fuck any girls he wants, but it will not hurt to be nice to his future wife.  I think this was a nice addition, since it was not in the book.  It definitely seems like she was referring to herself...

-Then Joffrey goes on about how he wants a royal army and he would crush the North and install his uncle as the Warden at Winterfell.  Good luck with that one idiot boy.

-Over on the other side of the sea, Daenerys is pregnant.  She thinks it is a boy and she is learning how to speak Dothraki.  She also orders the group to stop and she heads off into the woods.  Her brother confronts her and grabs her by the throat (he was upset that she is giving orders).  He draws his sword on her and her bodyguard uses his whip to pull him off her.  He wants to kill him, but Daenerys says no (nor will she let him cut off Viserys ear).  Viserys tries to order Jorah to kill the bodyguard, but he ignores that order.

-I loved the discussion between Jorah and the bodyguard about each other's fighting styles and weapons.  I also wonder why Jorah had to leave when he heard that Danys was pregnant...

Justified
Raylan forces Mags to give up Dickie.  Dickie's partner is going to testify against him, but changes his story at the last minute (after a visit from an old lady, I am guessing his mom/grandma).  My favorite part of the episode is when Raylan and Doyle arrest Dickie.  Raylan knocks Doyle out and takes Dickie deep into the woods and tells him how about his Aunt Helen (this is the first time we see Raylan break down and give any emotion about her death).

I really thought he was going to shoot Dickie (and in typical Dickie fashion, he cried and begged the entire time).  When he gets out of jail, Mags says to him that she will help him deal with all this stuff.  I am guessing there will be some major shit happening in Harlan County.  I also loved that Boyd offered to take care of Dickie for Raylan.

Raylan is not stupid, he knows that the Bennett's will come for him.  I have a feeling that he will play Boyd off them and also somehow get the Frankfurt mafia boys involved.  Maybe he will let them know that it was Dickie who hijacked their bus (or maybe he will let them know that it was Doyle who made sure they never found out).

I honestly think someone major will die by the end of the finale.  My guess it will be Winona, which would be a shame since she is so damn hot.