This would only qualify as TV news, because some of the actors who were included in the announcement for The Avengers: Doomsday started in shows, but the broad cast announcement had a really odd amalgamation of characters, with some notable omissions. I suppose there still could be a surprise or two they are hiding, but it does feel like some obvious choices aren’t present. for me, when you choose to bring back Robert Downey jr as a different character, there are a handful of characters who need to have that emotionally devastating gut punch of seeing someone they held dear. Based on the lineup, that appears to be left to either Thor, Sam Wilson, or Bucky, as the people who go furthest back.We’re lacking a cast announcement for Don Cheadle, Jon Faverau, or even Gwyneht Paltrow. Also, the choices made out of the Thunderbolts cast really just make you wonder how that movie ends, since not all Thunderbolts characters are present. Also, shouldn’t Ironheart be here?
TV Shows Watched: Daredevil: Born Again: S1E5 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Mythic Quest: S4E7 (Apple Plus) with audio description, The Walking Dead: Dead City: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Grosse Pointe Garden Society: S1E5 (Peacock) with audio description,The Righteous Gemstones: S4E3 (MAX) with audio description, The Wheel Of Time: S1E3 (Amazon) with audio description, Love You To Death: S1E7 (Apple Plus) with audio description, The Daily Show: Tuesday (Paramount Plus) no audio description, Real Time with Bill Maher: Most recent (MAX) no audio description.
Best Episode:Daredevil Born Again and Love You To Death- I think both of these hit their high notes. daredevil dropped two episodes, so I’m only referring to Episode 5. The bank episode was the most compelling and interesting episode this series has had, where it focused on Matt diffusing a situation basically in the open, without his costume. No other series regulars appeared, but an interesting crossover with another Disney Plus show did happen. Meanwhile, love You to Death is one episode away from wrapping up, and brought us to this emotional braking point we knew was coming in some form all along. I’ve got to hand it to the actors who did the dubbing, as they had some emotional weight in this episode, and really tried to pull as much out as they could.
Runner Ups: Mythic Quest and Righteous Gemstones- Two reliably great shows were reliably great. Neither produced their best episode ever, or even of the season, but they operate at such a consistent high quality that it becomes impossible to ignore.
Best Audio Description: Daredevil Born Again- Some really solid fight sequences, and an interesting exploration of Matt’s powers of supersonic hearing represented in audio description form.
Runner Up: The wheel Of Time- It was really close, but these two shows both are ahead of their competition by at least a notable difference.
Best Performance: Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones)- A consistent performer, her schtick got ratcheted up as BJ suffered a stripping injury, which she played up at every opportunity like he was near death, or going to need substantial care for the remainder of his life. There was no middle. She couldn’t just be a little upset, nor could BJ be just injured but on the mend, she was all in with really big emotions, and reactions, to everything.
runners Up: Charlie Cox (Daredevil Born Again), Charlie day (Mythic Quest), Adam Devine (The Righteous Gemstones), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead: Dead City)- All four of these actors gave strong performances. Cox has been carrying daredevil on his shoulders all season, Charlie Day made a guest appearance as Pootie’s agent with both hilarious and dramatically effective moments, Devine went from having night terrors and protecting his childhood treehouse to celebrating his nomination for a religious award, and Morgan has always been excellent as Negan but seems truly haunted in a monolog about the Croad that explains why he was the worst lieutenant of them all.
Best Moment Of Audio Description: It’s Your Wedding Day (The Wheel of Time)- Not only is there a great description of this place, and the people of the village partaking in various things, but when we go into the actual wedding, shit gets real, magic is used, and it was all really terrific stuff.
Runner Up: A Silent Fight (Daredevil: Born Again)- As Matt works to fight evil, there’s one particular fight he has with a foe where he really can’t make any noise and alert anyone. Because who he’s fighting isn’t easily dispatched, the sequence goes on for a while, showing him to have a more formidable foe than initially assumed. The teetering shotgun was a nice touch.
worst Of….- The two shows didn’t have audio description. I feel like real Time tapes with enough time to make audio description happen, but I could be wrong.
