The Blacks are facing a big problem on House of the Dragon. Their ancestral seat of Dragonstone is teeming with dragons and yet they’re running low on Targaryens to actually ride them to war.

Thankfully, in season 2 episode 5 “Regent,” Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Prince Jacaerys (Harry Collett) dream up an ingenious solution: dragonseeds. Due to the Targaryen family’s prolific sexual appetites, there are plenty folks in the Seven Kingdoms who have a little bit of the “blood of the dragon” in them even if they don’t have a Targaryen surname. Perhaps Rhaenyra’s supporters can track down some of these folks and see how they take to the skies.

It’s a solid plan, but will it work? Who are these dragonrider candidates and what is a dragonseed anyway? Allow us to explain.

What Is a Dragonseed?

A dragonseed is someone who was fathered or mothered by a member of a Valyrian dragon riding family like House Targaryen, and therefore has the “blood of the dragon” within them.

Being a dragonseed is politically dangerous. As we’ve seen time and time again in Game of Thrones, the nobility of the Seven Kingdoms doesn’t have much patience for royal bastards born outside the bonds of wedlock. At best, bastards are an annoying reminder of infidelity and at worst, they are a threat to a House’s stability.

Being a dragonseed, however, does come with a major benefit: the potential ability to ride a dragon. The truth of the matter is that no one really knows what makes a dragonrider, but they do know that having a Valyrian bloodline can help. While not all Targaryens are automatically compatible with a dragon (Rhaena, for instance, has not yet claimed a dragon of her own), someone who has Valyrian ancestry will have a better chance of bonding with a dragon than someone who does not.

Who Are the Dragonseeds in House of the Dragon?

In their initial conversation about dragonseeds, Rhaenyra and Jacaerys bring up members of some other noble families as candidates.

“Are you suggesting we put a Mallister on a dragon? A Tarly?” Rhaenyra asks. 
“It’s better than death and defeat,” Jace responds.

Based on the events of season 2 episode 6, Rhaenyra and Jacaerys may have been aiming a little too high. Their first attempt to find a dragonrider goes terribly as poor Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan) is burned to a crisp by Seasmoke. Perhaps his Targaryen blood was too thin. Thankfully there are plenty of Targaryen bastards out there who are only a generation or two removed from Valyrian parentage.

As depicted by George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, The majority of the dragonseeds introduced in this story will come from some rather unexpected places. And we’ve met at least four of these potential dragonriders already: Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty), Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew), and Ulf White (Tom Bennett).

Hugh was introduced in House of the Dragon season 2 episode 1 as a lowly blacksmith who petitions the crown for payment for making weapons. He has since recurred throughout the season, revealing that he will eventually have a bigger role to play going forward. Ulf turned up in episode 3 as a blowhard at a bar who claimed to have been the bastard son of Baelon the Brave, making him King Jaehaerys I’s grandson and Prince Daemon’s half-brother. It’s impossible to say whether he really is but it will soon become clear he must have some dragon blood in him.

Alyn and Addam, of course, were just revealed to be the bastard offspring of Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). While the Velaryons hail from Old Valyria, they weren’t historically considered to be dragonriders. Still, having a drop or two of Valyrian blood can’t hurt when it comes time to claim a dragon.

Who Will Claim Vermithor, Silverwing, and Seasmoke?

When talking about their riderless dragons, Jace is sure to shout out both Vermithor and Silverwing as two of the largest dragons in the known world (behind Vhagar, of course). They are joined by other lonely dragons on Dragonstone like Seasmoke (formerly Laenor Velaryon’s mount), Grey Ghost, and Cannibal.

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A Guide to Every Dragon in House of the Dragon

Vermithor and Silverwing were the mounts of royal married couple, King Jaehaerys I and Queen Alysanne. Both beasts have remained unclaimed since their favorite humans died. Surely, it would take great and powerful Targaryens to win them, right? In reality, it’s the two assholes from King’s Landing – Hugh Hammer and Ulf White – who claim Vermithor and Silverwing, respectively.

Meanwhile, Alyn and Addam make attempts at claiming dragons as well. None of the dragons end up liking Alyn that much and he goes riderless (but still finds a way to historical greatness anyway). Addam, on the other hand, forms a bond with Seasmoke. The dragons preferring one brother while rejecting another proves just how finicky the science of this is in the first place. We see this begin to play out already in season 2 episode 6 “Smallfolk.”

Hugh on Vermithor, Ulf on Silverwing, and Addam on Seasmoke play enormous roles in the battles to come. But will it all be to Team Black’s benefit? Let’s just hope Queen Rhaenyra’s people run rigorous background checks on the people they’re handing nuclear bombs to.

New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

The post The Dragonseeds of House of the Dragon: Who Rides Seasmoke? appeared first on Den of Geek.

Like most episodes of House of the Dragon this season, episode 6 has a lot going on. While it can be easy to get bogged down by the ever-revolving door of new and recurring characters, this installment at least keeps things moving fairly quickly, reminding us who these people are and why we should even care about them in the first place.

The Lannisters make another brief appearance being as prickish and entitled as always, insisting that Prince Regent Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Vhagar escort their forces to Harrenhal. Obviously this infuriates Aemond, who is relishing his newfound power and refuses to be treated like “a dog to be called to heel.” Thus, he reveals his plan to try and form an alliance with the Triarchy, the very same powers that gave Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and King Viserys I hell in the Stepstones for years, in an effort to circumvent the blockades preventing goods from entering King’s Landing by sea.

Mitchell has been bringing his A-game to Aemond all season, but he particularly shines in this episode as Aemond steps into this new role, especially in the conversation he has with Olivia Cooke’s Alicent. She has clearly lost any form of influence she had on him as his mother as he treats her with the same cold indignity he does everyone else. He doesn’t seem to have any compassion left for her to appeal to, and just as she did last episode she must contend with the consequences of her own actions as Aemond relieves her of her spot on the Council, taking away any lingering influence she may have had.

On Team Black, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is also feeling the pressure to prove herself a stalwart and capable leader as she continues to face pushback from her own Council. In a show of strength, she moves forward with Operation: Dragonrider, encouraging Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan) to try his luck with Seasmoke.

We’ve always known that dragons are fickle creatures, but this episode of House of the Dragon does good to remind us of that fact. At first, it looks like the tiny bit of Targaryen blood that Rhaenyra found in Ser Steffon’s bloodline was enough to convince Seasmoke to be a good little dragon, but alas, it was all a ruse. As soon as he gets close enough, Seasmoke flambes the poor guy and dashes away as though the mere proposition of Ser Steffon being a dragonrider was enough to offend the dragon’s very core.

We also find out that Seasmoke isn’t the only runaway dragon threatening the good people of Westeros, it turns out that Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) has a dragon problem of her own as Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) comes to learn. It would appear this is why Lady Jeyne has been so adamant about getting some dragons.

But despite the setback with Seasmoke, Rhaenyra is determined not to let this or anyone undermine her power. Emma D’Arcy is also incredible in this episode (as always), the way they both subtly and overtly portray Rhaenyra’s restlessness bubbling toward the surface. Rhaenyra has always been a force to be reckoned with, but with Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) at her side, Rhaenyra further proves in this episode why she should be the rightful ruler of the realm.

Sure, their plan to send food to the smallfolk in King’s Landing may have incited a deadly riot, but it was still a smart show of strength and compassion for the everyday people. The smallfolk have been suffering more and more under the Greens, making them easier to sway. It’s easier to forgive one perceived atrocity when it was done by the same hand that’s actually feeding them.

Fans who have been dying for Rhaenyra and Mysaria to combine to maximize their joint slay into a more romantic relationship are also in for a treat this episode (it’s me, I’m fans) as they finally give into the tension that’s been brewing between them with a kiss. That’s right, Queer Queen Rhaenyra is officially canon, even if it’s for the briefest of moments. Should the guard that interrupted them get demoted? Maybe! But unfortunately, that’s not my call.

Whether House of the Dragon can be trusted to do right by this potential relationship is still yet to be determined as queer characters don’t have a great history in Westeros. But I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt if it means we get to see Rhaenyra and Mysaria continue to prove why women should be running Westeros.

As for Harrenhal, hopefully Daemon figures out what the hell is going on sooner rather than later, because that haunted house is about to get a lot more crowded whether he likes it or not. With forces on both sides starting to converge, it’ll take a lot more than the ghosts of Targaryens past (which now include King Viserys himself!) to hold the line for Team Black, even with Rhaenyra taking to the skies once again.

New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Learn more about Den of Geek’s review process and why you can trust our recommendations here.

The post House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 6 Review: How to Claim Your Dragon appeared first on Den of Geek.

In House of the Dragon season 1, the death of King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) came as something of a mercy. The poor Targaryen monarch really went through it, suffering from a mysterious illness that sapped away his vitality and turned him into little more than a walking skeleton.

While Viserys’ passing was expected, it wasn’t celebrated. That’s because many House of the Dragon fans consider Considine’s performance Emmy-worthy and among the best acting jobs in all of Game of Thrones. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin even hailed Considine’s Viserys as being superior to his depiction on the page in Fire & Blood. With all this praise, it seemed only a matter of time before House of the Dragon found a way to bring the beloved Targaryen back via flashback or hallucination. That opportunity finally arrises in House of the Dragon season 2 episode 6.

Ever since Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) arrived to the ruined Harrenhal in episode 3, he has been plagued by dreams and visions of loved ones past. Daemon’s hallucinations, likely assisted by the witchy Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), have included a young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), his dead second wife Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell), and even his mother Alyssa (Emeline Lambert). It’s clear now that all of these specters have merely been opening acts for the corpse Daemon really wanted to meet again: his brother Viserys.

Interestingly enough, Viserys’ first appearance in the episode isn’t so much a cameo as it is a rerun. While fitfully sleeping, Daemon revisits what must surely be one of the worst moments of his life – the time Viserys angrily removed him from heir status for joking about the death of Viserys’ wife and infant son. Aside from some omissions and Daemon’s occasional self-aware commentary (“You can’t possibly still be angry about this”) the meeting plays out exactly as it does in the season 1 premiere.

“Did you say it? The heir for a day. Did you say it?” Viserys furiously questions Daemon before continuing on-script. “My family has just been destroyed. You should have been at my side. But instead you chose to celebrate your own rise. Laughing at me. Laughing with the whores and lickspittles. You have no allies at court but me. I have only ever defended you. Everything I’ve given you you’ve thrown back in my face. I’ve decided to name a new heir. You are to return to Runestone and your lady wife at once. And you are to do so without quarrel by order of your king.”

A rewatch of season 1 episode 1 confirms that this hallucination proceeds as the actual moment did, word-for-word. That fact alone makes this Daemon’s most torturous and powerful vision yet. Daemon’s previous dreams included hyperbolic moments that never really happened like his killing of a young Rhaenyra or the bedding of his own mother. The fact that this one arrives in perfect fidelity hammers home just how important it was in Daemon’s life.

Daemon and Viserys’ conversation is presented so faithfully that one might wonder whether Considine actually reprised his role as Viserys or if production just re-used the original footage. There’s a second Viserys vision in this episode, however, and it contains no known previous footage. Additionally, HBO confirmed to Den of Geek that Considine did indeed return to film on season 2.

In that second scene, the dreaming Daemon arrives to the sept where Viserys is weeping over Aemma’s body. Daemon pulls his brother close into a tender embrace and says what he always wanted to: “I’m sorry. You needed me. I’m here now. I’m here now.” Daemon is then woken up by Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale) who informs him of happy tidings in The Riverlands. Lord Grover Tully has died and the more amenable Lord Oscar Tully has succeeded him. As Alys promised, Daemon has received the good news he waited for. When Ser Simon leaves, Daemon starts to softly weep … but certainly not over the loss of Grover Tully.

The Game of Thrones franchise has endured many character exits throughout its lengthy run. By tying Viserys to Daemon’s spooky catharsis, House of the Dragon found an emotionally and logically satisfying way to bring one great character back. Now let’s finally get Considine that Emmy.

New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

The post House of the Dragon Just Brought Back Its Most Beloved Character appeared first on Den of Geek.

The earliest days of esports in the United States were a magical, untested period for the industry and Nintendo played a huge role in shaping it. The Wizard distills the innocent magic and cynicism-free spirit of the scene that modern esports unfortunately lacks and it explores this open gaming frontier. And, with this new release on the Switch, the legacy of the original Nintendo World Championships continues to live on today.

The Early Days of Esports

Public competitive scenes around video games have existed almost as long as the medium itself, with gamers in the ‘70s and early ‘80s in North America and Japan competing individually to earn the highest score on games like Space Invaders and Donkey Kong. By 1982, video game competitions spread into television programming, with competitive shows like Starcade and First Class. One of the first esports teams formed was the U.S. National Video Game Team, created in Iowa in July 1983 to offer a sense of community and organized competition to this fledgling scene.

Other than Donkey Kong, one of Nintendo’s earliest forays in gaming competitions was VS. Super Mario Bros., an arcade remix of Super Mario Bros. that significantly increased the difficulty and had players compete for the highest score. By 1989, Nintendo of America played a direct role in organizing the competitive scene around its company’s games, starting with the Nintendo Challenge Championship in Canada. After this, Nintendo of America looked to escalate this competition to an even grander scope as it assumed full control of the events’ organization with the following year’s Nintendo World Championships.

The Nintendo World Championships

The very first Nintendo World Championships were held from March 8-11, 1990, in Dallas before embarking on a tour of the United States that consisted of 29 cities. Contestants were divided into three age groups, with the two players with the highest scores squaring off at the end of the week for the title of City Champion, a $250 prize, and a trip for two to Universal Studios Hollywood. The World Finals were held at Universal Studios Hollywood in December 1990, with the champions of each age group awarded a $10,000 savings bond, big-screen television, a Geo Metro convertible, and a golden trophy of Mario.

For the competition, Nintendo utilized a special NES cartridge that contained remixed versions of the three games used to record high scores. These games were Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris, timed to give players six minutes and 21 seconds to record cumulative high scores for all three games within the competition window. Each of the contestants that reached the World Finals were given a copy of the cartridge, titled Nintendo World Championships, which allowed them to adjust how much time they were allowed outside of the formal competition.

The cartridges themselves became something of a gaming legend, with only a limited number of them ever produced as they weren’t intended for mass market sales. Both gray and gold variations of the cartridge were manufactured, with resellers pricing copies of Nintendo World Championships for over $100,000 as the rarest and most expensive game in the entire NES library. Another cinematic cult classic that helped popularize the legacy and mystique behind the Nintendo World Championships came with the release of the movie The Wizard.

The Magic of the Wizard

Though 1989’s The Wizard came out the year before the Nintendo World Championships, the climactic tournament in the movie certainly contained clear parallels to the competition, particularly the tournament’s setting at Universal Studios Hollywood. One of the key changes was rather than using a Nintendo World Championships cartridge for the competition, the movie’s tournament culminated in the contestants competing for the high score in Super Mario Bros. 3, which was two months away from its North American release at the time of the film premiere. This only further hyped the movie, which contained plenty of major Nintendo product placement, including the NES Power Glove peripheral and the original Ninja Gaiden.

But more than just the constant callouts to Nintendo products, The Wizard really captures the magic of those early esports days better than preceding movies that featured competitive gaming, like Tron or The Last Starfighter. There is an innocence about the competition, that any prospective player can just walk up and, after wowing the judges from a few minutes of playing Ninja Gaiden, they have a shot at the title. This story is part childhood wish fulfillment and the types of underdog competitive movies like Rocky and The Karate Kid that got young audiences hyped, just swapping out crane kicks with Warp Whistles.

And in this era of corporately backed esports teams and leagues, divisive gaming personalities, and overarching drama in the current scene, The Wizard and Nintendo World Championships exude a vision of esports untainted by modern cynicism. Yes, there were plenty of corporate sponsors in both the movie and early Nintendo esports scene itself, but it didn’t seem to bleed directly into the player pool just yet. The idea of being a professional gamer wasn’t as viable then, in a pre-Twitch/Evo world, as it is now. To be able to go cross-country and make money playing video games felt like a dream come true, especially with Nintendo’s dominance in the industry at that time and The Wizard effectively leans into that idealistic possibility.

Nintendo and the Forgotten Esports Dream

Unfortunately, the dream of the Nintendo World Championships was a short-lived one, with Nintendo changing its esports strategy the following year. In 1991 and 1992, Nintendo turned its attention to college-age competitions instead of the multiple age-group system used in the Nintendo World Championships, instead sponsoring the Nintendo Campus Challenge. Nintendo PowerFest ‘94, colloquially known as Nintendo World Championships ‘94 or Nintendo World Championships II, closed out the major Nintendo-sponsored competitions for decades.

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The competition returned to a similar format as contestants in qualifying matches nationwide played for the best timed cumulative high score in Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Kart, and Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball on a special Super Nintendo cartridge. The finalists convened for the final tournament in San Diego, playing for the highest score on a modified Donkey Kong Country cartridge. After this, Nintendo wouldn’t play a significantly active role in public competitions involving their games until a revival of the Nintendo World Championships in 2015.

As Nintendo quietly withdrew from sponsoring major esports competitions, the void was filled by the nascent fighting game scene, with Street Fighter II leading the charge, and early online and local area network competitions spearheaded by Doom. The ‘90s saw the esports scenes steadily grow beyond the shadow of Nintendo and its high score format into something much more directly competitive that has endured today. With its growth came more corporate attention, both in the form of sponsors and the game developers and publishers themselves playing a more active role in competitions involving their respective games.

The Evolution Nintendo Esports

All this isn’t to say that the esports scene long after the original Nintendo World Championships is worse by any conventional measure nor that the ‘80s and ‘90s proto-esports movement was practically perfect in every way. The esports community has grown and diffused to virtually every major form of the medium, spurred by major events like DreamHack and the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), and individual personalities on Twitch and YouTube. Just as Nintendo’s ubiquitous hold over the video game industry was never going to last, neither was the company being the sole overseer of the competitive community around the industry, which has only grown exponentially since the original Nintendo World Championships.

But there is something about the Nintendo World Championships and the excitement around them captured by The Wizard that the subsequent esports scene hasn’t quite replicated since. The ultimate childhood dream of any young, impressionable gamer was to compete with the most popular titles on the biggest possible stage and be recognized and rewarded for their natural aptitude for gaming. The Wizard understood the assignment and delivered that cinematically, with Nintendo itself picking up the baton and making that dream a reality for the next several years. With Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition coming to the Switch, gamers can relive those halcyon glory days, fueled by 8-bit nostalgia and challenging twists on the games of the era they love.

The post Nintendo World Championships Takes Us Back to the Magical Early Era of Esports appeared first on Den of Geek.

In 2019, The Mandalorian kicked off a new era of Star Wars storytelling on the small screen and the saga hasn’t slowed down since. From Mandalorian spinoffs The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka to jumps back in time for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and The Acolyte, the franchise has expanded beyond the movies to explore new characters, eras, and settings in the serialized format that first inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars.

This all means that Star Wars fans are absolutely spoiled for choice on Disney+, but which TV series is best? We’ve ranked the good, the bad, and the scruffy-looking nerf herders of the lot.

6. The Book of Boba Fett

Boba Fett made his triumphant return to live action in 2020 on The Mandalorian before jumping into his own series about taking over Jabba the Hutt’s former territory. On paper, the galaxy’s deadliest bounty hunter becoming its most dangerous crime lord might seem like a dream come true, but in execution, The Book of Boba Fett amounts to little more than a series of side quests on cheap-looking sets. And that’s when Boba Fett is actually allowed to star in his own show.

Stripped of any real grit or bite, and largely relegated to board meetings, taking naps in a bacta tank, and running errands around Tatooine, Boba doesn’t get all that much to do as the new daimyo of Mos Espa, and the flashbacks that tell us how the bounty hunter survived the ordeals that followed his demise in Return of the Jedi never really surprise but instead overexplain. Despite one or two memorable action sequences, including one featuring a baby rancor, the show just never really gets going—except when its protagonist is unceremoniously ushered off the stage completely so that the series can follow up on a largely unrelated story about different characters, a choice that remains one of the biggest head-scratchers of the Disney era. Boba Fett and star Temuera Morrison, who is as charismatic as ever in spite of the questionable material, deserved much better than this book.

5. Obi-Wan Kenobi

This continuation of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker’s stories was a highly-anticipated event for a generation of Star Wars fans who grew up with the Prequels. Seeing Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen back in their respective roles certainly pulls at the heart strings, but Obi-Wan Kenobi falls short of the epic scale one would expect from such a big reunion. The show plods along for its first couple of episodes, with the action and Obi-Wan sulking taking place on surprisingly artificial-looking sets that never live up to the standard of the other Disney+ shows. The cave sets on Jabiim have a particularly distracting styrofoam quality, while the final showdown on a fog-covered wasteland makes it painfully obvious this is all unfolding on a Lucasfilm soundstage.

All that said, Obi-Wan Kenobi has some top-notch performances from McGregor, Christensen, and especially newcomer Moses Ingram. She plays an Inquisitor named Reva, who you may or may not end up rooting for by the end. Bringing in Vivien Lyra Blair as a younger, energetic Princess Leia to pal around with a battered and depressed Old Ben came off as cheap sentimentality and nostalgia to some (seriously, your mileage may vary with this Star Wars series in particular), but we’d actually call it a stroke of genius. It’s Obi-Wan’s relationship with little Leia that ends up being the emotional hook of the show. And you get some scary moments with Darth Vader as a bonus.

4. The Acolyte

The first Star Wars series set before the Prequel Trilogy is at its very best when exploring the mysteries of the Sith and laying the groundwork for the eventual fall of the Jedi Order. The Acolyte also introduces an absolutely captivating new villain in The Stranger, whose enigmatic past is as tied to the Jedi as it is to another Sith of legend: Darth Plagueis, who makes his official onscreen debut in the finale. All the while, the show raises intriguing questions about the Sith, their history, and how they see themselves and their place in the galaxy. The Acolyte finally delivers the fresh and nuanced perspective the galaxy’s greatest villains have needed for far too long.

Unfortunately, the good aspects of the first season are bogged down by the uneven tone and pacing of the storytelling as well as underwhelming revelations. So much of the show’s central mystery, about the true origin of two powerful twins played admirably by Amandla Stenberg, rests on events from the past in flashback episodes that don’t quite stick the landing, while the darker mystery-thriller story the show sets out to tell never quite gels with Star Wars‘ trademark light-hearted approach. Even strong performances from Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, and Dafne Keen can’t quite make up for the tonal dissonance that runs through this series.

All that said, this series shows a lot of promise, especially where it leaves The Stranger, Osha, and Mae at the end of the season. The Acolyte is also responsible for the very best lightsaber duels we’ve seen on Disney+, including in an episode-long fight sequence that goes down as one of the best hours of Star Wars TV ever. Combat between the Jedi and Sith has never looked as brutal as when The Stranger schooled a whole squad of trained Jedi in the power of the dark side. More of this, please!

3. Ahsoka

Ahsoka is certainly not lacking in big ideas—evil Force witches, zombie stormtroopers, new galaxies, and even time travel from a certain point of view—or nostalgia for the Star Wars stories that came before. But, while it’s an entertaining watch overall, especially if you’ve tuned into the Rebels animated series and read the old Legends novels starring Grand Admiral Thrawn, and does eventually push the story of the Mandoverse forward, it makes many of the same mistakes as some of its predecessors.

For one thing, Ahsoka never actually feels like it centers its main character or interrogates her feelings about anything—a common issue across most of the recent Disney+ shows. The series also suffers from “eight-part movie syndrome,” with several episodes ending abruptly (or really not at all) or slowing down to a crawl because they’re in no real hurry to get to the interesting bits. And when the show does reach its big turning point on Peridia, the reunions and rematches do feel a tad underwhelming after six episodes of build-up.

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Still, there’s a lot to like in what showrunner Dave Filoni has cooked up, including plenty of references to The Lord of the Rings, mystical planes, and even a few Force gods. Star Wars has also found an absolute star in Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who’s all but stolen the show by the third act. You may at first tune into this show for Ahsoka, Thrawn, and Ezra, but there’s no doubt you’ll stay for Bordizzo’s Sabine, as it’s her story that turns out to be the heart of this series.

Credit must also be given to the visuals and cinematic look of Ahsoka. A combination of Lucasfilm’s trademark video wall and CGI help bring scenes on exotic planets to life as well as the multiple dogfights in space. Not many Star Wars series look anywhere near this good. It’s just a shame the show doesn’t have the pacing or central character to match.

2. The Mandalorian

Three seasons in, and with a feature film now on the way, few would question The Mandalorian‘s impact on the franchise. Not only did Din Djarin’s bounty hunting adventures unlock a whole new era of storytelling for the galaxy far, far away but it also introduced fans to arguably the most popular Star Wars character of the Disney era: the incredibly cute Grogu. Stuffed and animatronic Baby Yodas couldn’t fly off shelves fast enough following the first season, the kind of merchandising frenzy that would make George Lucas crack the rare smile. And Grogu’s a pretty captivating character to boot, a former Jedi padawan lost in space ever since Order 66 and in search of a home. He finds one in the unlikeliest of places: with the bounty hunter who was sent to capture him but is secretly hiding a heart of gold.

Across 24 episodes, including an admittedly weaker third season, we get to watch what is essentially the beginning, middle, and happily ever after (for the moment) of a father and son journey that just so happens to tie in many of the galaxy’s biggest events, such as the liberation of Mandalore and the return of Luke Skywalker. The Mandalorian is not just a heartwarming tale though, it’s also innovative, which should always be one of the key ingredients of a major new Star Wars property.

This was the first TV series to use ILM’s StageCraft tech, better known as the Volume, which allows the show to visit faraway planets like Tatooine and Trask without filming in Tunisia or Croatia or having to use green screen. As a demo for what the tech could do in 2020, it was damn impressive, unlocking new possibilities for TV visuals on a budget. Most of the other live-action Star Wars series on Disney+ have embraced this tech since, but there’s no question that The Mandalorian still does it best.

1. Andor

Tony Gilroy’s vision of an anti-Star Wars Disney+ show feels like it came the hell out of nowhere in 2022. Set years before the events of Rogue One, and starring a lesser known Star Wars character from that film, this underdog of a TV series turned out to be a lesson in what happens when the franchise takes itself seriously. Unapologetically adult and timely, the show’s 12-episode first season throws nostalgia and cheap cameos out of an airlock. Instead, it’s the brilliantly written characters, deft storytelling, and a central message about the sacrifices we must make when staring down the barrel of fascism that drive this stellar series.

At the start of the show, Cassian Andor is not the fully formed Rebel secret agent/hitman we met in Rogue One. A powerful performance from Diego Luna gives us Cassian at his most desperate, a criminal who doesn’t care about the Rebel cause until he lands himself and his impoverished mining town in big trouble with the Empire. While the opening episodes might play a bit slowly for some, it’s all in service of Cassian’s development as a worthy leading man. His journey from crook to radicalized freedom fighter is nothing less than exhilarating, especially in the show’s back half when he witnesses firsthand the true horror of Imperial tyranny inside a secret underwater prison.

To say, Gilroy and his team get the best out of all the actors would be an understatement. Stellan Skarsgard puts in a career-best (one of many!) performance as undercover Rebel Luthen Rael, who is easily one of the best Star Wars characters ever created, full stop. In fact, so many of Andor‘s heroes, villains, and those in between are written with such depth and purpose that it would take a much longer entry to celebrate them all. But we must shout out Faye Marsay as morally gray super-spy Vel Sartha, Denise Gough as the cruel Dedra Meero, Kyle Soller as the absolute slimeball Syril Karn, and Alex Lawther as Karis Nemik, whose story and writings will undoubtedly go on to inspire thousands of future Rebels. Then there’s the big surprise of the season: Andy Serkis as Kino Loy, a character you won’t soon forget and will be left clamoring to see again in season 2. This is simply the best cast ever assembled for a Star Wars TV project. Perhaps the saga as a whole.

Andor breaks from many Star Wars traditions like Brasso throwing bricks at oppressors. It doesn’t rely on Jedi or the Force, it doesn’t lean on easter eggs or winks at the audience, and doesn’t really care about being four-quadrant entertainment. This is a mature spy thriller that dissects the saga’s central conflict and explores all the gray area you don’t see in the movies. This is a heavy but rewarding watch from the Star Wars galaxy, with expert worldbuilding on practical sets that never disappoint. It’s the franchise at its bravest and most sincere.

Check out what’s next for Star Wars movies and TV series here.

The post Star Wars Live-Action TV Shows Ranked From Worst to Best appeared first on Den of Geek.

With only a few episodes left this season, House of the Dragon has certainly been gaining momentum as the tense war between the Greens and the Blacks continues to rage on. Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is somehow still alive, though badly burned, Daemon (Matt Smith) continues to have a terrible time at Harrenhal, and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) struggles to compete with the might of Vhagar. 

With chaos at King’s Landing and potential new dragon riders on the horizon, the next episode of House of the Dragon looks like it’ll be a hot one. Here’s what you need to know before diving into episode 6, including when and where you can watch the episode.

When Does House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 6 Come Out?

The sixth episode of House of the Dragon’s second season will air on HBO on Sunday, July 21 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and be available to stream on Max at the same time in the US.

In the UK, episode 6 will stream on NOW starting at 2 a.m. BST on Monday, July 22, and will air on Sky Atlantic at 9 p.m. BST the same day.

In the meantime, check out the trailer for the episode below:

House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 5 Recap

In the aftermath of the battle of Rook’s Rest, Team Green’s heavy hitters make their way back to King’s Landing, some a lot more worse for wear than others. They parade the severed head of Meleys through the square, partially to try and show their might to the common people, but also to distract from the box they are also carting through town that contains a severely wounded King Aegon. The distraction seems to work, but the already starving and destitute commoners see the severed head as a bad omen. It’s hard to show faith in the might of their leader when dragons on either side aren’t as indestructible as they once thought.

Alicent (Olivia Cooke) petitions to be named Regent in Aegon’s place while he recovers, but somehow forgets that she’s on the team that very adamantly did not want a woman to rule. The Council names Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) as Prince Regent, arguing that it’s because they need a dragon rider in power, but I think we all know the real reason. Aemond’s first order of business is closing the gates to keep people from fleeing out of fear and hunger, which I’m sure will go over really well with the common people.

Meanwhile, Team Black is reeling from the loss of Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her dragon, both of which put them at an even greater disadvantage than they were before. Jacaerys (Harry Collett) makes his way to The Twins, the seat of House Frey, in an effort to secure passage for forces descending from the North. To do so, he promises them Harrenhal.

Speaking of, Daemon continues to have the worst time of his life there dealing with both the endless Bracken/Blackwood feud and some really weird dreams (including sleeping with his mom?). He tries to get the Brackens to swear fealty with violence, which only ends up turning them further against him and the Blacks.

Meanwhile, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) tries to keep the peace with Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin), who isn’t too thrilled that the dragons she received were babies.

When Jace returns from the Twins, he and Rhaenyra have a serious talk about the number of dragons they have without riders. Jace suggests that they look to other noble families that could have Valyrian blood within them, and Rhaenyra doesn’t totally hate that idea.

The post House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 6 Release Time and Recap appeared first on Den of Geek.

The roots of the Satanic panic were found in the late 1960s and ‘70s, thanks to books like The Satan Seller, social changes like the rise of the counterculture in the national zeitgeist, infamous events like the Manson Family murders, the introduction of new religions into American society, and the release of two seminal horror movies: Rosemary’s Baby in 1968 and The Exorcist in 1973.

The Devil, of course, had reared his ugly head onscreen as far back as 1897 and George Méliès’ The Laboratory of Mephistopheles. He also showed up in works like Faust (1926), Häxan (1929), and The Seventh Victim (1943), just to name a few. But Rosemary’s Baby was a turning point, bringing Satan out of the shadows and into New York’s Upper West Side where he plotted to raise his son among wealthy Manhattanites and disciples. The idea of Satan’s son being born into such circumstances rattled middle-American parents who were watching their own kids turn into dope-smoking, free-loving, drug-taking hippies.

The Satanic cinematic wave began there before cresting and powerfully smashing ashore in 1973 with The Exorcist. In the latter case, it was a pre-pubescent girl at the center of the horror, not in Manhattan but in a nice Georgetown home just a few train stops away from the seat of power in Washington D.C. For the next few years, Lucifer had an iron grip on the imaginations of horror fans and regular moviegoers, his influence only beginning to subside as the end of the decade neared and conservative values in the shape of Ronald Reagan took the nation firmly in hand again.

Satanic horror movies have lingered ever since (check out the newly released Longlegs), not quite as popular as that initial run but still making for some of the creepiest films of the ensuing decades. And it all started here, as the turbulent ‘60s turned into the decadent ‘70s, with the monsters of old—the ghosts, the wolfmen, the vampires – replaced by puking, foul-mouthed little girls, seductive, possessed women, abomination-born little boys, malevolent senior citizens, and diabolical law enforcement officials, collectively sending us all into… a panic.

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

While this list is about a film movement in the 1970s, it feels prudent to begin with one 1960s movie that is tangentially connected to it, although by virtue of its studio, The Devil Rides Out feels like it is from a wholly different time period. Based on a 1934 novel by British occult writer Dennis Wheatley, The Devil Rides Out is widely considered one of the best horror movies ever produced by the legendary Hammer Films. Strangely, while released in the same year as the thoroughly modern Rosemary’s Baby, The Devil Rides Out is still very much a period piece. Set in 1929, it follows the efforts of the Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee, fantastic in a rare heroic role) and a band of allies as they struggle to defeat a Satanic cult led by the sinister Mocata (Charles Gray).

While its throwback setting and aesthetic may have seemed outdated by the time it came out, The Devil Rides Out not only remains a chilling chronicle of a battle between good and evil where the stakes keep escalating, but one of the most detailed explorations of the rituals of black magic—and the spells used to defeat it—committed to film up to that time. It adds realism and verisimilitude to a fantastic tale, and Mocata’s cult can be seen as an allegory for violent, depraved clans like the Manson Family.

The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971)

Yes, this is a period piece as well—it’s set in an 18th century rural English village—and it’s generally considered one of the three major films, along with Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man, that paved the way for the folk horror genre. But The Blood on Satan’s Claw is disturbing for reasons that tie it to the more modern Satanic horror films coming out at the time, specifically the idea that the Devil would find children his easiest targets. This film came out the same year as William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist novel was published, which means the film was not so much influenced by the concept as it was tapping into the same growing dread in the cultural zeitgeist.

The story follows the discovery of inhuman remains in a field outside the village, remains that turn out to be that of a demon. The entity begins to exert a malignant influence on the young people of the hamlet too. The children work to restore the demon to physical form, slaughtering anyone who gets in their way (notably, the local judge dismisses the idea at first that the supernatural or unholy is involved in any way). The idea of young people controlled by a malevolent figure was surely all too resonant at the time of the film’s release. The film is still shocking today: teen star Linda Hayden’s fully nude seduction of a priest and scenes in which the kids assault and murder one of their friends pack a disturbing punch.

The Mephisto Waltz (1971)

Following his entry into the sanctuaries of the Upper West Side in Rosemary’s Baby, Satan found his way to the California coast with this adaptation of a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart (the book itself takes place in NYC). A pre-M*A*S*H Alan Alda stars as Myles Clarkson, a music journalist who scores an interview with legendary pianist Duncan Ely (Curt Jurgens, best known as 007 villain Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me). Duncan and his daughter, Roxanne (Barbara Parkins), are Satanists, and Duncan, who is dying of leukemia, plans to enact a black magic rite to transfer his soul into Myles’ young body.

With its sunny setting and world of wealth and culture, The Mephisto Waltz is clearly channeling the same upper-class vibe as Rosemary’s Baby while touching on similar themes of corruption and ambition. It also delves into some pretty dark areas, including incest, child-killing, and more, and ends on a note where just about everyone has been debased or destroyed. Although Alda is miscast, the rest of the ensemble is terrific, the imagery is chilling, and Jerry Goldsmith (The Omen) delivers one of his trademark spooky scores in a film that probably should get a second look today.

The Brotherhood of Satan (1971)

You may have noticed a pattern with several of the films discussed so far in this article (Blood on Satan’s Claw excepted): in each case, an elderly person or a group of elderly people engage with Satan to further his ambitions or their own. That concept reaches its apogee in The Brotherhood of Satan, in which all the older folks in a small New Mexico town are part of a coven, with the aim of transferring their souls into the bodies of all the local children—including the daughter of a poor slob (Charles Bateman) who just happens to be passing through the place.

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Strother Martin (Cool Hand Luke) stars as the head of the coven, who’s also the town doctor, while writer L.Q. Jones (who scripted and also directed the sci-fi cult classic, A Boy and His Dog) plays the town sheriff. The story is kind of full of holes if you think about it. For example, what are the old folks going to do in the kids’ bodies until they grow up? But it also reinforces the idea that isolated communities could be incubators for corruption and evil. The film has a nice, Stephen King-like vibe to it, and director Bernard McEveety brings just enough of a surreal flourish to the proceedings to keep you off-kilter.

Beyond the Door (1974)

The Exorcist landed like an atomic bomb in 1973. While the great tradition of Italian horror had already produced filmmakers like Mario Bava and Dario Argento, the Italians quickly capitalized on the American blockbuster’s success with some knockoffs that, while often lurid fun to watch, played up the physical grossness without the spiritual context and character development that made William Friedkin’s film such a masterpiece. In fact, after Beyond the Door was released, The Exorcist studio Warner Bros. sued producer/director Ovidio G. Assonitis’ production company for copyright infringement and unfair competition.

Does anyone remember an early ‘70s family sitcom called Nanny and the Professor in which British actress Juliet Mills played the wholesome title governess? Well, be prepared for something completely different. Mills plays Jessica, a wife and mother whose unexpected pregnancy leads to all kinds of violent supernatural manifestations, with Jessica herself taking morning sickness to a whole new level. It turns out that she is carrying the Antichrist thanks to a former lover’s deal with the Devil. Yep, there’s some Rosemary’s Baby stealing in there too. Trashy, weird, yet still fascinating, Beyond the Door was the vanguard for Italy’s mid-‘70s wave of Satanic horror.

The Antichrist (1974)

Known in its native language as L’Antichristo, Alberto de Martino’s film sort of combines both The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, filtered through that decidedly Italian sensibility and suffused with the heavy religiosity of that country (while also suggesting that it’s pretty much the world capital of Satanism). An all-in Carla Gravina plays Ippolita, a young woman confined to a wheelchair since she was 12, who discovers that her injuries are all psychosomatic and caused by repressed memories of past lives—most notably that of an ancestor who sold her soul to Satan.

The unlocking of those memories allows the ancestor’s spirit to possess Ippolita, restoring her ability to walk and sending her on a rampage of murder and sex, including a bout of the latter with her brother, which is unholy enough to make her pregnant with the Antichrist. It all ends, of course, with an extended exorcism, vomiting, some over-the-top (and often shoddy) visual effects, and a climactic showdown at the Roman Colosseum. Like Beyond the Door, The Antichrist is best enjoyed as trash.

Race with the Devil (1975)

Two couples (Peter Fonda and Lara Parker, Warren Oates and Loretta Swit) hit the road in their RV to drive to Aspen, Colorado for some skiing. But when the quartet accidentally stumble upon a Satanic cult sacrificing a woman in a Texas field while camping, they soon find themselves pursued across the Lone Star state by a relentless network of devil worshipers that seems to include law enforcement officials, truckers, and the inhabitants of almost every town they barrel through.

We could make all kinds of jokes here about Texas being possessed by the Devil, but the fact is that director Jack Starrett’s action/horror hybrid is actually quite effective, although probably more so as a chase thriller than an occult movie. Fonda and Oates acquit themselves nicely as action heroes, and there is something quite eerie about the idea of an entire conspiracy of evildoers having the ability to track and pursue innocent people across a vast area of the country—a modern-day touch that certainly would have preyed on the public’s growing fears of an insidious Satanic presence in America.

The Devil’s Rain (1975)

Generally derided as one of the worst films of all time, The Devil’s Rain all but ended the career of director Robert Fuest, who had scored earlier with the excellent Vincent Price vehicles The Abominable Dr. Phibes and its sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again. No such luck this time, despite a cast that included Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, a young Tom Skerritt and John Travolta (in his film debut), and William Shatner (in the wilderness years between Star Trek’s TV and movie incarnations). The Devil’s Rain just barely rises to the level of camp classic, and that’s mainly thanks to the literally face-melting finale.

One way it did one-up all the other Satanic movies of the time, however, was in its choice of technical advisor: Fuest and the producers recruited Anton La Vey, author of The Satanic Bible and founder of the Church of Satan, to consult on the film (he also has a cameo as a Satanic priest). Whether this was a genuine attempt to inject some realism into the proceedings, or a cheap publicity stunt (probably the latter), it didn’t help matters. And at least one member of the cast joined a real cult during production: John Travolta was introduced to Scientology by fellow actor Joan Prather.

The Omen (1976)

If Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist respectively kickstarted and broke open the Satanic horror wave circa 1968-1978, then The Omen kept the torch lit in the latter years of that cycle. Richard Donner’s film (from a screenplay by David Seltzer) took the fear of children already established in those previous two films and sprinkled it liberally with Biblical prophecy and end-of-the-world paranoia—bolstered by the success of pseudo-religious best-sellers like Christian snake oil salesman Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth, which postulated that the Bible’s Book of Revelation predicted the end times.

Most horror fans are familiar with the plot: an American politician (Gregory Peck) on the rise secretly adopts what he believes to be an orphan, only to later find out via mysterious deaths and warnings that he has been baited and switched into adopting the Antichrist. The film played into fears that the Western world was in danger of destruction while advancing the Devil or his progeny further up the societal ladder. The image of a small child being the harbinger of doom has been ingrained in pop culture ever since: what parent has not thought of their own child as “Damien,” even in jest?

To The Devil… A Daughter (1976)

Hammer returned to the work of Dennis Wheatley with this adaptation of his novel. It would also mark the final film produced by Hammer in its original run. The film is directed by Peter Sykes and starring Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Nastassja Kinski, and Honor Blackman. Widmark plays John Verney, a writer and expert on the occult who attempts to save a young woman (Kinski) from a Satanic cult headed by an excommunicated priest named Rayner (Lee). The latter wants to use the young woman in a ritual to channel the demon Astaroth and access unlimited power.

No one was happy about the movie at the time: Wheatley hated it, Widmark threatened to walk, and Kinski regretted appearing nude (she was just 14 at the time). It was also hampered by a terribly staged ending that the studio could not find the funds to reshoot. Hammer itself had lost its relevance in the horror field, and this was a last attempt to re-establish itself in a field now dominated by the likes of The Exorcist and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In that sense, the film works. It’s a very dark, effective, modern look at black magic and the danger it can wield, and while it’s often quite lurid, it holds its own quite well. Had Hammer survived, this might have pointed the studio in an interesting new direction.

The Sentinel (1977)

Based on the bestselling novel by Jeffrey Konvitz (who also co-wrote the screenplay and produced the film), director Michael Winner’s The Sentinel stars Cristina Raines as Alison Parker, a model who moves into a Brooklyn Heights apartment building which is owned by the Catholic Church… and is secretly a gateway to Hell. Due to her troubled past, Parker is a prime candidate to become the next sentinel—a guardian who sits atop the gateway and prevents Hell’s denizens from entering our world.

Konvitz’s book was an enormous success, arguably the third biggest novel of its type after The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, and while the movie was not well-received upon its release, we find stretches of it often genuinely chilling. Winner controversially used people with real physical deformities to play the demons who manifest in the building at the film’s climax, and the effect is either exploitative or unsettling depending on your point-of -iew. If nothing else, The Sentinel acts as an allegory for finding a place to live in New York City… and we can tell you that we’ve had neighbors there who were worse.

Holocaust 2000 (1977)

Screen legend Kirk Douglas started a brief run in sci-fi/horror movies (including Saturn 3, The Fury, and The Final Countdown) with this apocalyptic yarn, a British-Italian co-production helmed by L’Antichristo director Alberto de Martino. Douglas plays Robert Caine, a wealthy industrialist who begins building a nuclear power plant in the Middle East, only to discover that his son is actually the Antichrist and plans to use the project to trigger the end of the world. The Omen-like vibes are compounded by the “accidental” deaths that members of the cast keep meeting as Caine gets closer to the truth.

By 1978, the biggest Satanic horror movies of the previous 10 years were receiving sequels that were either disastrous (Exorcist II: The Heretic), pedestrian (Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby), or kind of underrated (Damien: Omen II), while films like Holocaust 2000 and the Italian possession flicks were just recycling ideas from the originals. For general moviegoing audiences the terror subsided. Yet for a more impressionable subsection of the population, the damage (so to speak) had been done. After 10 years of seeing Satan possess unborn babies, young children, adult men and women, entire apartment buildings, and even a state, is it any wonder that Satanic panic followed off-screen?

The post Rosemary’s Babies: Exploring the Satanic Horror Movies of the 1970s appeared first on Den of Geek.

On the other hand, in a recent interview with CinemaBlend, Star Trek’s current head honcho Alex Kurtzman argued, “it’s funny you can talk to old writers of old Trek series, and they’re like, ‘Man, there’s a bunch of filler episodes in there. We are just trying to get to 22 a season,’ you know, and, and we all know which of those episodes were [filler], we know the ones that were truly stellar from the ones that felt like they were kind of spinning their wheels.”

A similar discussion has arisen as Lost has appeared on Netflix, with people arguing about which episodes you can safely skip. But these discussions ignore a key and important fact: The filler episodes are the best ones.

Forget your lore and your arcs and your show mythology, forget your season finales and your two-parters. The peak of the televisual arts is the episode where a room full of writers were starring in exhaustion at a list of 19 episode titles with three slots left to fill and no budget, and then decided to fall back on one of tried and true formats for the screenwriter who’s out of ideas.

This is what was taken from us.

Trapped in an Elevator

Classic Examples: Star Trek: The Next Generation “Disaster”, Community “Cooperative Calligraphy”, Parks and Recreation “Leslie and Ron”, Breaking Bad “The Fly” The X-Files “Ice”

Let’s start with the classic. Beloved by sitcoms (because it’s a situation you can get comedy out of) but a favorite for any writers room that is low on ideas and budget. Why not just get two or more characters – ideally ones who don’t get on  – and then trap them somewhere for the full duration of an episode? Ideally somewhere that is one of your already standing sets!

These are often called “Bottle Episodes” (as in “Ship in a…”) but while bottle episodes use only the production’s standing sets, “Trapped in an Elevator” goes a step further and just locks the characters on that set and has nothing else happen.

The “Trapped in an Elevator” episode (it doesn’t have to be a lift) is not just a way to kill time and save money, however. If you’ve got an arc heavy storyline dropping lots of big events, these episodes are a good chance to slow the pace and just give your characters a chance to bounce off of each other for a bit.

What Happened Last Night?

Classic Examples: Star Trek: The Next Generation “Clues”, Red Dwarf “Thanks for the Memory”, Psych “Last Night Gus”, Elementary “For All You Know”, How I Met Your Mother “The Pineapple Incident”

You wake up. Your head is clanging. You don’t know where you are and you have a bunch of mysterious bruises and no memory of what happened the night before. We’ve all been there. But plenty of TV writers in a tight spot have used this as the inspiration for an entire episode (either that or they watched Dude! Where’s My Car? again), sending the characters on a mission to investigate themselves and find out just what they got up to the night before.

Lower Decks

Classic Examples: Star Trek: The Next Generation “Lower Decks”, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation “Lab Rats”, Lost “Expose”, Buffy the Vampire Slayer “The Zeppo”, Scrubs “Their Story”

This sub-genre of filler episode is not only a child of the 22-episode long TV season, but is also a relic of when series ran for far longer before getting a whack with the Cancel Hammer. You know the deal – you hire someone to play a lab assistant in season one. They do a good job so you bring them back again. Over time you feed them a few more lines, maybe even the occasional joke. Then suddenly, without warning, you have a fan favorite on your hands.

TNG’s “Lower Decks” is perhaps the most famous example of this, on account of inspiring a whole spinoff series, but CSI’s “Lab Rats” might be the peak of the format. It not only gives our favorite background lab coats center stage, but also acts as a handy clipshow/the story so far for people who’ve been losing track of the series’ ongoing dollhouse serial killer plotline.

Of course, the Lower Decks episode doesn’t have to feature a fan favorite. Lost’s “Expose” existed entirely to kill off two new characters the fans hated. But whatever the reason for the episode, it’s always good to see our lead cast from a perspective that doesn’t put them at the center of the universe.

Rashomon

Classic Examples: Farscape “The Ugly Truth”, Supernatural “Tall Tales”, Star Trek: The Next Generation “A Matter of Perspective”, The X-Files “Bad Blood”

That’s not how I remember it! Rashomon takes its name from the film Rashomon, in which three characters recount wildly different versions of the same sequence of events. As a filler episode tactic it’s dead clever because it allows you tell a story that fills only a fraction of an episode and then repeat it to fill the hour.

But it is also, like most of the filler episodes here, a great lens for character, allowing each person’s personality to color not only their telling of the story, but to show us how the rest of the cast looks from each person’s perspective.

The Documentary

Classic Examples: Battlestar Galactica “Final Cut”, The X-Files “X-Cops”, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation “I Like to Watch”, Community “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking”

Another chance to get a different perspective on your characters as they’re going about their day to day business. It also gives you access to plot devices the TV episodes can’t normally use, as Abed points out in “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking” – you can just have characters turn to the camera and say their feelings rather than having to demonstrate them through their actions!

Do a Die Hard

Classic Examples: Star Trek: The Next Generation “Starship Mine”, Star Trek: Voyager “Macrocosm” “Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy”, Stargate Atlantis “The Storm” and “The Eye”, The Middleman “The Clotharian Contamination Protocol”, Buffy the Vampire Slayer “School Hard”, Alias “The Box”, CSI: NY “Snow Day”

If you’ve already done Trapped in an Elevator this season, there’s still a way to squeeze a few more drops of television from those standing sets. Why not have the baddies invade, take over and disable all but one or two of your cast? Then the one survivor character can crawl through the air ducts to take out the baddies one by one! It’s a fun way to showcase your character’s (perhaps unexpected) resourcefulness – especially if you cross it over with the “Lower Decks” format.

Amnesia? I Hardly Know Her!

Classic Examples: Buffy the Vampire Slayer “Tabula Rosa”, Angel “Spin the Bottle”, Star Trek: The Next Generation “Conundrum”

Memory loss is a serious medical condition that can take a number of complex forms, and can take years or possibly even forever to recover from. But also it’s a funny plot device that you can usually resolve within an hour (45 minutes if you don’t count the ad breaks).

And what can be more fun than giving what character amnesia? Why not give everyone amnesia? There’s only a small handful of examples of this episode format, two of them by the same writers, but it’s a great way to force the characters to take a fresh look at their own lives, and show the characters interacting with each other in new ways (by which we mean sex).

Time Loop Again

Classic Examples: The X-Files “Monday”, Star Trek: The Next Generation “Cause and Effect”, Supernatural “Mystery Spot”, Stargate SG-1 “Window of Opportunity”, Legends of Tomorrow “Here I Go Again”, Star Trek: Discovery “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”

A Groundhog Day episode! As with the Rashomon Episode, this is a great excuse to reuse a lot of sets and costumes, and also allows the writers to get away with things they otherwise wouldn’t be able to – like killing off their main characters over and over and over again. 

If your characters are actually aware of the time loop they are stuck in, it is also a chance to let them get away with things they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Like playing minigolf through the stargate.

TV Show: The Movie!

Star Trek: Voyager “Living Witness” “Muse” “Author, Author”, Stargate SG-1 “Wormhole X-Treme!” “200”, The X-Files “Hollywood A.D.”, Supernatural “The Monster at the End of this Book” “The Real Ghostbusters”

The characters run into someone who creates a narrative of their adventures, but they’ve got the details all wrong! Have they got no respect for canon? If there is one thing a bored or mildly disgruntled writer’s room likes to do, it is break the fourth wall and get real meta with it. Sometimes it’s a book, a play, a TV series or a historical reenactment, but what it is mainly is a chance to crack jokes about the characters, the tropes the show itself uses, and of course the writers’ worst enemy – the audience.

Everyone Goes to Las Vegas For Some Reason

Classic Examples: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang”, Angel “The House Always Wins”, Stargate Atlantis “Vegas”, The X-Files “Three of a Kind”, Friends “The One in Vegas”, Modern Family “Las Vegas”, Alias “The Coup”, Lexx “Viva Lexx Vegas”

This is possibly the peak of reusable episode formats. When all options have been tried, when all the ideas have been used up and the pizza in the writers’ room is well and truly cold, someone, at some point will finally say, “Screw it. Let’s do a Vegas episode.”

Taking your characters to an exotic location is a great way to shape things up, but for some reason out of all the places a TV show could visit, Las Vegas, Nevada, is top of the list. Maybe it’s the thrill of high stakes gambling, the story telling potential of all that flashy glamor so close to that seedy criminal underbelly. Maybe it’s that an awful lot of the attractions are indoors in windowless rooms that can be easily reconstructed on a soundstage. Who’s to say?

All we know for certain is that, if the show’s budget can handle the royalties, at some point there is going to be a chase scene across the casino floor to Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas.”

The post The Best Filler TV Episode Tropes That Shorter Seasons Took From Us appeared first on Den of Geek.

As in years past, the Homefield Advantage mechanic is designed to recreate the experience of playing on the road in college football’s loudest and most intimidating stadiums. That digital crowd noise is translated into gameplay disadvantages for the visiting team that include blurred receiver routes and decreased player confidence ratings. It’s an incredible concept that elevates road games and taps into some of the things that make college football (and College Football 25) unique.

The big catch is that not every stadium is created equally. EA Sports College Football 25 includes a ranking system that determines how tough a stadium is to play in relative to every other stadium in the game. Well, since those rankings were released, the reactions to them have been…mixed. “Anger” is too strong of a word, but most analysts who track the real-life version of this subject disagree quite a bit with the in-game stadium rankings. A closer look at those rankings reveals that they’re not necessarily bad, but they are certainly confusing.

EA College Football 25 Toughest Places to Play Rankings

Ahead of the release of EA Sports College Football 25, the developers shared the rankings of the toughest road game stadiums in the game. While these rankings are subject to change in future updates, here is where they stand at launch:

1. Kyle Field – Texas A&M
2. Bryant-Denny Stadium – Alabama
3. Tiger Stadium – LSU
4. Ohio Stadium – Ohio State
5. Sanford Stadium – Georgia
6. Beaver Stadium – Penn State
7. Camp Randall Stadium – Wisconsin
8. Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium – Oklahoma
9. Doak S. Campbell Stadium – Florida State
10. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium – Florida
11. Autzen Stadium – Oregon
12. Memorial Stadium – Clemson
13. Neyland Stadium – Tennessee
14. Jordan-Hare Stadium – Auburn
15. Williams-Brice Stadium – South Carolina
16. Michigan Stadium – Michigan
17. Lane Stadium – Virginia Tech
18. Rice-Eccles Stadium – Utah
19. Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium – Texas
20. Kinnick Stadium – Iowa
21. Notre Dame Stadium – Notre Dame
22. Spartan Stadium – Michigan State
23. Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium – Arkansas
24. Albertsons Stadium – Boise State
25. Davis Wade Stadium – Mississippi State

Just as important as the actual rankings rankings is the criteria used to determine those rankings. According to the EA Sports College Football 25 team, the current Homefield Advantage rankings are primarily based on:

– Home Winning Percentage

– Home Game Attendance

– Active Home Winning Streaks

– Team Prestige

– Additional, Undisclosed Factors

In other words, the more successful a team has been at home for a long period of time, the bigger advantage they typically have. From there, the rankings were determined by things like a program’s historical intimidation factor, the decibel noise in the stadium itself, average attendance, and other, largely undisclosed qualifications that seem to fall under the category of “vibes.”

On paper, it’s a pretty good system. In reality, the final rankings raise a series of unanswered questions that start at the top of the list.

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EA Sports College Football 25: Why Is Kyle Field the Toughest Place to Play?

The biggest reason why Kyle Field is the toughest place to play in EA Sports College Football 25 is the legacy and influence of Texas A&M’s “12th Man.” Essentially, the Kyle Field crowd has historically been considered A&M’s 12th player on the field due to the noise they generate and their ability to influence a game through their presence and actions.

Though the 12th Man idea has been borrowed and modified by other teams over the years, Kyle Field remains a uniquely intimidating venue. The stadium (specifically, the press boxes) has even been known to shake as a result of the crowd’s synchronized movements and ability to generate an almost endless stream of noise throughout every game. Mind you, Kyle Field is also one of the largest venues in college football (102,000+ capacity) which makes the ferociousness of its sometimes coordinated crowd that much more intimidating.

While Kyle Field undoubtedly deserves one of the top spots on this list, its place at the very top of the rankings does call into question the specifics of EA Sports College Football 25‘s home-field advantage ranking system.

For instance, Texas A&M is not even a top-15 team in the game at this time, and their home record in recent years isn’t even as good as some of the other teams in their conference. A&M certainly checks most of the outlined boxes for these rankings, but they don’t find themselves atop those metrics that can objectively be measured. That strongly suggests that these rankings were influenced by those vague vibe categories as much (if not more than) the outlined criteria.

That’s not necessarily a bad decision, but it does lead to some inconsistencies. For instance, the general consensus at the moment is that LSU’s Tiger Stadium is the toughest place to play on the road in all of college football. It also has as much (if not more) of a historical legacy as Kyle Field, and LSU is currently considered to be one of the best teams in the game. So while number three overall is hardly an insult, it’s still a somewhat shocking result given the supposed nature of this ranking system.

Similarly, Michigan, Tennessee, Notre Dame, and Oregon should all be ranked much higher than they currently are based on the known ranking metrics. By comparison, Georgia’s high ranking seems to be more representative of their current powerhouse status and recent home record than the intangibles that seemingly elevated Kyle Field to the top of the list.

Ultimately, these rankings are not bad by any means, but they are inconsistent and seem to be invisibly influenced by game balance decisions and personal preferences more than you might initially think. Regardless, getting a win on the road in any of those top five places (especially at higher difficulty settings) is going to be a nightmare.

The post EA Sports College Football 25’s Toughest Places to Play Rankings Are Confusing NCAA Fans appeared first on Den of Geek.

“The new installment of the series starring Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez has the trio heading to Los Angeles when they learn a Hollywood studio wants to turn their podcast into a movie… In season four, Longoria stars as a version of herself who plays Gomez’s character, Mabel, in the movie about their podcast.”

Read more at The Hollywood Reporter

Natalie Portman takes center stage in Apple TV+’s Lady in the Lake, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.

“Despite intriguing characters and settings, Lady in the Lake never becomes the noir thriller it could have been. Har’el buries the tale in puzzling surrealist moments. Consequently, Ingram’s Cleo is positioned as a bystander in her own story, allowing Portman’s Maddie to emerge as insufferable and obnoxious, achieving her goals at any cost.”

Read more at Variety

Director Luc Besson was inspired by his lead actor Caleb Landry Jones to write Dracula: A Love Tale for him.

“‘It’s not Dracula, my fascination is Caleb,’ says Besson, laughing. ‘We were just chatting about other roles that could work for him. I said, “You’d be great as Dracula.” Then, I thought, “You know what I’m just going to write it.” We got on so well on DogMan and since then I’ve only had one wish and that was to make another film with him. He’s crazily talented.’”

Read more at Deadline

Both the heroes and the villains are fractured in The Boys season 4, but that changes for a brief but glorious moment in the penultimate episode.

“Despite what Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) might want you to think, the Boys have been remarkably fractured as a group, struggling with their internal conflicts for most of the season. Only in the penultimate episode do they finally reunite to face a version of The Seven… For a group that has sidelined some of its own characters, it’s nice to see the gang back together again, even if it doesn’t last long.”

Read more at Collider

Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater from IDW comics will feature the giant lizard taking on Jay Gatsby, Sherlock Holmes, and other literary heroes. 

“The three-issue series is set in 1922, with one of Jay Gatsby’s legendary parties luring the attention of the giant lizard himself. Rather than being able to woo Daisy Buchanan, he has to deal with Godzilla absolutely demolishing his estate. Gatsby follows up on the destruction by teaming with the aforementioned 20th century literary icons to take his revenge.”

Read more at The Wrap

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