The Avengers 2.22 "Man in the Mirror"

This episode is creepy, because it involves a fun fair. It's another one I actually remember watching from my childhood. Because creepy fun fair.

A spy is dead of apparent suicide. So why does Venus have a picture of him hiding in the mirror maze? Obviously, he's not actually dead.

(Note, they need to prove it was not suicide or that he's still alive to change all the codes he knows. Even Steed doesn't buy this one).

The dog plays a bit of a role here, in between, no doubt, seducing the entire crew.

Lots of radiophonic special effects and they do a very good job of making the fun fair creepy with the technology of the time.

Mmm...funhouse mirrors. I haven't dealt with funhouse mirrors in many years.

(I'm also stealing the dog...)

The Handmaid's Tale 6.5 "Janine"

Rita and Serena come up with a plan for a better retirement for worn out Handmaids...helping run a fertility center in New Bethlehem.

Which is doomed, but we already knew that.

June and Moira infiltrate the Boston Jezebel's and meet up with Janine, but their exfiltration goes badly, badly wrong. It's Lawrence that helps them.

Lawrence, who doesn't know he's being set up for a fall. The one with a sudden stop at the end. In many ways, he's hopelessly naive for a Nazi.

He's still a Nazi.

And Serena thinks she can get away without being a Wife...but I think she knows the truth.

She knows it's going to fail, but can't help fighting for it anyway.

Cinema Disaster: The Killings at Outpost Zeta

Also called Killing at Outpost Zeta. One of these is, presumably, an error. Made in 1980. Includes Starfleet. Nobody sued them for it, although these people are both more militaristic than Starfleet and way, way less competent.

This is a yell at the screen movie because we have elite space explorers failing to notice the obvious. Constantly.

Also a few no's for the science, including the basic fact that if there is no plant life on a planet, there's no oxygen. And also...no...none of their science makes sense.

The plot is actually not bad and hey, the Black guy doesn't die first, for once. Unfortunately, its ruined by dialog, with which the poor actors do their best, but lines like "All the stars in the sky - Mars, Venus" (She does at least go on to list some actual stars, but come on...)

Oh, and because it was made in 1980 everyone has bad hair and the soundtrack is synthesized. I'll forgive them those and even give them something on the special effects...

...except the motorcycle helmets. Come on. Their space helmets were literally off the rack motorcycle helmets. That's not even trying, people.

The Handmaid's Tale 6.6 "Surprise"

June seeks Nick's help to get out...and now Nick knows the plan. He hides her in New Bethlehem, at Serena's.

Lawrence has already told her the plan to destroy New Bethlehem after using it to entrap the refugees.

But now their plan to kill the Commanders has been ruined because Nick was too afraid not to tell his father-in-law. He tries to get June out to Europe...but its too late.

Gilead is going to be even worse after this, but perhaps that's not the point here.

I honestly feel sorry for Rose.

Also, Serena? Listen to June. She's not wrong...

Only a mildly yell at the screen episode.

The Handmaid's Tale 6.7 "Shattered"

Oh, we're really dark again. June and Luke are fighting, Serena is planning her spectacular wedding...and Janine is "posted" to Commander Bell's house, to be beaten. He's got some serious kink going on, but he's not satisfied with voluntary submission.

But now there's another plan to kill all the commanders...at Serena's wedding. Which has the petty side effect of ruining Serena's wedding. The groom's probably on the list.

I would very much like to see that. Noah deserves a better father than that, too.

They also have to rescue Janine...her new master left too many bruises on her to bring her to the wedding.

And all of the Jezebels are dead, murdered for no good reason, because Warden is even more strict.

His Gilead would crack in seconds...

Cinema Disaster: Invasion Roswell

This is a low budget Independence Day ripoff that nonetheless actually makes more sense than Independence Day. Instead of being defeated because they didn't secure their Windows, the aliens are defeated because the spy implant they put in somebody ends up working both ways.

(There's no way the Grays are a subservient caste, though. You don't invade an entire planet to avenge servants).

There is some iffy science...it's highly unlikely that Alpha Draconis has a habitable planet, especially not one habitable by people who can drop ground troops onto Earth. And its tropey. And the special effects are terrible.

But at least the plot makes something resembling sense and it has older protagonists that are treated as older, in fact its a plot point.

So it's only a partial disaster and if you're up to a slightly corny alien invasion flick, consider watching this one. It's also called The Last Invasion.

And it's just fun.