On The Box Last Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

Last Sunday saw the last episode in the second series of Poldark, finally after weeks of waiting this show picked up in the back half of the season. The last three episodes changed the pace of the show and I really enjoyed it. Elizabeth agreed to marry Poldark's sworn enemy George, Ross can't be having this and confronts his first love and they end up sleeping together.
Demelza found out and gave him such a punch that sent Ross sleeping with the pigs!
In this finale episode we find Demelza struggling with the idea of leaving Ross as even the fact the Ross as struck tin and there money worries are over brings Demelza no joy. Ross is thinking of joining the war and leaving Cornwall. Elizabeth is slowly realising that George is not everything he said he was, he is Lording over Trenwith although they could be living in his much larger estate. He is putting up fences all over the countryside and getting all the locals very annoyed. To the point when Jud rounds up the locals to march on Trenwith with the idea of burning it down. Demelza puts her distaste for them aside and tries to warn both Elizabeth and George who both just sneer at her. I so wanted to punch them both! Ross arrives and saves the day, he asks Demelza to leave with him and Elizabeth knows she has truly lost Ross forever. It's only later when George tells her he is sending her son (who is only four or five year old) away to bording school as he is too attached to her that she begins to realise how evil George can be! She is also facing the hard fact that she is now pregnant with what is looking very likely Ross's child!
We got a teaser of series three which will air in 2017 I am really looking forward more drama in Cornwall.

Unlike the UK version of the show which I think has got slightly stale this Irish version is new and fresh. It's only in the first series so it's still fun and has no big household names...yet! I liked how this version unlike it's UK sister doesn't feature much politics in the show. I think the UK show features too much of this now and its turned into a very satire type show.
This week on the Irish version the Tully twins where very vocal on how much they hated snakes when watching Planet Earth. I love all the families and friends, nothing feels forced we are really enjoying this show

We are on episode three of season seven of The Walking Dead and I am loving it.
Negan has brought fresh air into a show that was starting to feel a bit of a let down. The season opener was stunning and jaw dropping, with Negan not killing one but two of our favourites. It was hard to see Abe and Glen meet Lucille in the way they did, the writers and show producers make the choice to show the deaths in the most gruesome way possible! We saw Negan break Rick and Rick now fully understands who is in charge and its definitely not him!
In the second episode we where introduced to The Kingdom where Carol and Morgan are staying. We met King Ezekiel and his tiger Shiva. I loved how Carol didn't take any of his bull shit and he finally told her his story of how he got Shiva....he was a zookeeper before the dead started walking! While I liked this episode I don't really think the Kingdom or Carol needed a whole episode.
In season three we see how Daryl is doing after Negan took him after an outburst from Daryl in episode one resulted in on of the group getting killed. Negan has his group lock up Daryl in a cell with no clothes and feed him dog food sandwiches. He tries to break him any way he can playing the same song over and over, beating him up and show him pictures of his dead friends. Yet the redneck is strong and will not bend, although he is very close to breaking he will not give up who he is.
All of the acting has been top notch this season, but for me Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been acting the others off the screen. He has somehow made a sadist, bat wielding, psychopath, likable and dare I say it sexy!
I am really looking forward to this weeks episode when Negan pays a visit to Alexandrina  

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

I am not sure why but I have found this season of Poldark lacking. I can't put my finger on it but I haven't found this season as enjoyable as last year. One think I really am disliking is the huge time jumps! Like how Ross and Demelza's son Jeremy was born two episodes ago yet we only found out his name in this episode and now he looks around two years old!
The relationship between Ross and Demelza has been very rocky all season but last week we saw them still passionately in love, in quite a racy scene (which I loved) this week they where back at logger heads. Demelza has been set against Ross having any part in smuggling goods, this week that storyline came to ahead. I don't know how Ross gets away with things but after being ambushed by the law, he tells his friends that he is done with the copper mine and that he will now live a quiet life with his wife and son....that is if he gets away with smuggling! Yet with George Warleggan sniffing around the newly widowed Elizabeth I doubt Ross will be happy with a quiet life as we all know Ross Poldark can be a law onto himself!

This series has been called Downton Abbey in Egypt after one episode by the critics!
I didn't see Tutankhamun like that not alot happened in episode one to be honest! It opens in 1905 when Dr Carter gets struck off for punching a French Duke! A few years later Dr Carter played by Max Irons is still on digs in Egypt but yearning for his own big discovery when very rich Lord Carnarvon played by Sam Neil discovers him and asks him to help on his dig.
Most of the current Americans and English are leaving Egypt due to the unrest in Europe, giving Carter his chance to dig for Tutankhamun lost tomb.
There is also the premise for a good love story with American Maggie an Egyptolist from the Met who is clearly mad about Carter but he is more interested in the dead women around him, although she does get her man before she leaves! There is also Carnarvon's daughter Evelyn while nothing is stated about how she feels about Carter it does feels like something might happen there in later episodes.
Just are Dr Carter and Lord Carnarvon's dig is about to begin World War 1 breaks out and the whole thing is put on hold for four year or next week in our case!

Semi-finals and once again it was Mel and Sue who made this show for me. I just love there quirky and sometimes cheesy but always funny delivery. I loved how Selasi was looking for Mary, Mel and Sue's jobs and he might even get them now!! Selasi sass was on point tonight! Andrew didn't seem like he was enjoying himself this week think the stress got to him! Sue towelling down Selasi was the envy of alot of women watching! Candice felted the pressure and took to calling herself CB! Andrew won Star Baker and Selasi was sent home! We will miss him but he was jut outclassed this week. So it's Andrew, Jane and Candice in the finale!

On The Box Last Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

I thought I better get ahead of my on the box reviews before even more of my favourite shows start back in the next couple of weeks!
I'll start with the finale of  ITV's big budget drama and Downton Abbey replacement Victoria last Sunday night.
I enjoyed this some what over dramatic period drama I found it easy to watch and I liked the Downton feel with the servants stories. While the finale wasn't very exciting to be honest! The writers treated this finale as if it was a cliff hanger and anyone who knows even a little history knows this woman became one of Britain's longest ever monarchs. So I wasn't sure why it felt like there was meant to be tension at an assassination attempt when we knew that she survives and has plenty of children.
I have missed Rufus Sewell as Lord M in the last few episodes I know he needed to move on for Albert and Victoria's relationship to grow but he was still her PM so surely he would still be meeting the Queen regarding the running of the country. I think the last episodes would of been better if we had of seen some of the tension between Lord M and Albert.
Yet I loved this cosy Sunday night drama, it's not without its flaws but then so was Downton Abbey!

I have been really savouring the last few episodes of the Bake Off as we know it!
This week was another first on the show it was Tudor week! Think game pies, huge sugary displays and Paul Hollywood lording it about!! Mel and Sue was on point and Sue actually stood speaking to my favourite Selasi with a bunch of rosemary up her nose for the whole time!
The technical this week was of course a very tough Paul Hollywood challenge something called Jumbles which where like Celtic knot biscuits! This week saw Andrew, Jane and Candice do very well, but my two favourites Selasi and Benjamina didn't fare too well. It wasn't Benjamina's week and she got sent home. I felt so sorry for her as she was one of my favourites.
Next week is the semi finale which means only two more episodes of the bake off to devour!

We are only two episodes in to the new Sky Atlantic drama Westword
but we are LOVING it!
Paul sat me down and made me watch the cult movie from the 70's with Yul Brynner as the man in black. So I do know the premise of the plot. Westworld is a theme park for the worlds rich while not stated in the show how much it is to stay there in the movie its $1000 a day but that was 30 years ago! Guests enter the world of the wild west, with all the trimming, they enter into story lines build into the parks hosts or robots who look, feel and act real. In the first episode we met Dolores who is a host in the park who relives the same day over again with slight differences depending on who she meets host or guest. Her host father finds a photo dropped by one of the guest which sends him off questioning everything about his life as a host. He tells her something which seems to them trigger her into remembering different memories of a life she can't recall. Her father is shut away after the control room and management state is malfunction.
I really like how the viewer gets to see both sides the theme park itself and then those who control it or who think they do. Anthony Hopkins is amazing as always as the park's creator Dr Robert Ford who seems to be fighting his own demons. One of the guest who is terrifying is The Man in Black played by Ed Harris in a twist from the movie he is actually a paying guest but he is playing a much darker deeper game.
I really like the nod to the original movie in this episode when the viewer meets two friends Will (Jimmi Simpson) and Logan (Ben Barnes) and through there eyes we see the park from the guests point of view.
It was Thandie Newton who ran away with this second episode as Dolores repeats the words her father told her to Newton. Newton is an English Madame running the saloon in Westworld. Yet as we find out she is in trouble of becoming decommissioned in the control room as guests are getting bored of her. From the moment Dolores whispers those words to her Newton is haunted by harrowing, violent memories of what must be her past or past storylines as we found in the opening episodes hosts are reused for different storylines and characters throughout the park.
Only two episodes in there is defiantly trouble ahead!

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

I find this series is getting better and better finally we are introduced to Victoria's cousin Prince Albert. Straight away there is some chemistry between these two Albert is serious and quiet to Victoria's playful flattery. They both found each other fascinating, attractive and annoying in equal measures and they also came across like that on screen. Albert was maybe a bit too whinny and Victoria a bit too bratty! The piano scene was my favourite as there real feelings for each other came out to play! Of course they both hide it from each other but not to others as every one in court knows how they really feel even Lord Melbourne. He seems a little put out by the Prince and Victoria's feelings for him. If it does seem a little sudden don't blame the script writers it was actually like that in the history books. Victoria did fall for the German Prince hook, line and sinker they here engaged three weeks after he arrived at court! I did love she had to propose to him, how he looks kind of stumped over as he looks at her because she is so small, and how he wanted to kiss her before she even finished asking her question. Tom Hughes and Jenna Coleman play these two brilliantly and I am looking forward to see more of this fiery royal partnership.

Just wanted to state again how I love the production and filming of this show. Cornwall really is like another character in this show, the coastline scenes are stunning, as is the title sequence.
Ross was on trial in this episode, Francis is not dead, he misfired and the gun power did not ignite! Poor Francis can't seem to get anything right!! The trial turned out to be a paid witch hunt to send Ross down, with lots of paid 'witnesses' stating how Ross lead the plundering and looting of a ship.
The other news was Demelza is pregnant again she confines in Elizabeth that she hasn't told Ross yet because of the trial. The odds don't look good in Poldark's favour but I don't think I wasn't the only one who cheered when old servant Judd turned his statement around to Ross's favour!
In the end Poldark is found not guilty and is freed! Not sure how the jury found him not guilty maybe they saw through the lies! So now everyone knows that it was George who set up Ross, and I think that will change Ross as he will want his revenge. Francis and Elizabeth seem to found there spark again at the end of the episode but Francis once again wouldn't again make peace with his sister.
The end of the episode saw Ross and Demelza look happy but with Ross telling her that they should wait to start a family unknowing Demelza is already with child....I think there may be trouble ahead!

With the dreadful news that Bake Off is leaving BBC after this season to move to Channel Four next year, I am really going to savour the rest of this season. Unlike many other fans of the show I have seen what the format is like on a channel with ads as The Irish Bake Off (the Irish version of the show) aired on a channel with lots of ad breaks. Due to this there is only two bakes the signature and the technical with no showstopper! The viewer barely gets to know the bakers before there voted off and it ruins the pacing of the show. This added with the fact that Mel and Sue will also be leaving the show makes me think that I will not be tuning into the new version on Channel Four. Don't get me wrong I love alot of shows on Channel Four but for me the format at the BBC works best.
Now back to, tonight's episode it was batter week! Not sure if I am a fan of batter week but it was fun to watch the bakers lose there cool over frying pans!
We where only seconds into the show when Mel and Sue sang a little ditty which made me fall in love them all over again! First bake was Yorkshire puddings which had to filled with all sorts of delights! The curse of Star Baker continues as Tom had a bit of a rubbish week! We had Lace pancakes is that even a thing?!! Lace pancakes for the technical which I don't think was that hard of a technical challenge but then again I'm not the one doing it! Showstopper was Spanish street food churros which been honest didn't look appealing at all mostly over fried greasy dough!
One of my favourites Benjamina won Star Baker and Kate was sent home after her over cooked deep fried churros rabbits where not a hit!
Next week it's filo pastry!!

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

Life has been so hectic lately that I have been watching good TV but not had the time to blog about it! So Poldark is back on our screens Sunday nights, after a slightly longer wait then normal. The BBC decided to put it on the same time as ITV's Victoria so I have to watch one and SKY Plus the other!
For a season opener it was quite lacklustre in my opinion, this episode was all about Ross's up coming trial after been framed for murder. There can't really be much suspense about his fate as this is the first of a ten part series! I think this season will be about how the trial effects him and his family as his cousin Francis is still reeling after his gambling debts left him in ruin last season. He still seems to be on a path of self destruction as the episode ended with him holding a gun to his head.
I am looking forward to seeing how the trial unfolds and if Aidan Turner wants to get his top off a little more that would also be welcomed!

Episode three of this series was also shown on Sunday I chose to SKY Plus this due to the amount of ad breaks! I am really enjoying this but one flaw I find with this is the over dramatic storyline of Victoria and Lord Melbourne. Victoria's actual life is so full of exciting stories that to be there is no need to add this mostly fictional romance. In reality Lord M wasn't half as good looking, fatter and going bald! Some scenes of Victoria pinning for her dear Lord M are quite cringe worthy, but then she is only 18 with no really male role models. I do like how the love seems to be one sided and in this episode young Victoria relaises that been Queen must come before everything and everyone.
I am glad that this storyline is coming to an end as in the closing scenes we saw Prince Albert stroll into Victoria's life.

This week in the tent it was bread week so Paul had his claws out! My favourites are still quirky Val but I do think she is holding on by the skin of her teeth. She should of went home this week instead or young Michael his bakes where bad but nothing as bad as Val raw dough elephant of Candice's collapsed brioche! My other favourites are Selasi, Andrew and Benjamina it will fun to see how they get on next week for the first ever batter week!

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

Dwayne Johnston or The Rock as we all really know him as, is back in Ballers

This about a group of American football players, there agents and families

It is quite like the sports version on Entourage, and while I really didn't like that show

I love Ballers the cast, writing and music is what makes it for me. The Rock is brilliant as slightly jagged ex football turned agent Spencer Strasmore. Andy Garcia has been added to the cast for this second season as Spencer's mentor turned enemy and I am really enjoying the story lines so far this season.

Just can't beat a bit of Paul Hollywood on hump day!!

The bake off was back tonight as 12 new amateur bakers battle to become the bake off 2016 champion

I love looking at these new faces on week 1 and wondering who is going to join the winners

and who will become slightly annoying by crying all the time!

Mel and Sue where as funny as ever,

with Mel even asking one baker where she got orange juice from the baker replied from an orange!!

My favourites so far are retired head mistress Val who was bobbing around to a bit of Ed Sheeran in her VT! She almost put cornflour in her bake and told Paul Hollywood to come see her later!

Jane is another favourite and she looked so happy with tears in her eyes when she was announced Star Baker. But I do think Selasi was robbed of Star Baker this week, this huge hunk of a man looked so relaxed and at ease in the bake off tent I almost thought he was on holiday and had wandered into the wrong tent! His bakes looked amazing, and from what Paul and Mary said tasted amazing too! Selasi is basely winning at life!

 The right person when home in Lee he had a awful weekend. Next week is biscuit week so I better get some custard creams in! 

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

I haven't watched much TV at all this week
For us TV slows down in the Summer months and most of our favourite shows
don't start back till Autumn or the Spring
Most of our friends have been talking about this show Stranger Things and when I looked into
it I just knew the hubby would love it. His favourite childhood movie is The Goonies, his favourite author is Stephen King all of the things this show plays homage to!
We are so far six episodes in and are hoping to finish the series before the weekend
so far we are loving it. Set in the 80's about a group of young boys they are the geeks or nerds of the school but when one of there friends goes missing when cycling home they know its up to them to try help find him. When Will goes missing unexplained things start to happen, and things that go bump in the night send chills up your spine! The boys find a mysterious young girl called "L" who they hide and try get information from. The group of young actors in this show are amazing and of course I have to mention the brilliant Winona Ryder who plays Will's heartbroken Mother, she knows there is more to Will going missing than meets the eye, most of the town think she is going crazy with grieve but her older son and the town's sheriff think she might be on to something but don't want to admit it just yet.
We can't wait to watch the remaining two episodes tonight!

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

The long awaited finale of Outlander was finally here in Ireland last Wednesday
we sat down last Thursday with a glass of fizz and tissues as I knew this would be a sad one!
First of the finale wasn't perfect but for me it nearly was I love it! The jumps from 1968 and back to Culloden was perfect I really enjoyed how the writers done this. I do have some minor gripes, beautiful Caitriona Balfe didn't look 20 years older! I know Claire is meant to age beautifully but a few grey streaks in her hair doesn't make her look 20 year older! That said I did love the 1960's style and makeup on Claire she looked stunning. The other gripe I felt like they slightly crammed the Roger and Brianna storyline into one episode. Roger was perfect everything I imagined from the book and more, I thought Richard Rankins was a great choice to play him. Brianna played by Sophie Skelton was also good but I think I might need to see a little more of her to be sure about her.
I am hoping that in the third season we see some more of them before the time jump!
Some of the scenes from 1968 where really heartbreaking, Balfe really showed us how Claire 20 years later is still haunted by her choices. This is really showed in the scenes where she returns to a run down Lallybroch, haunted by the voices of the past. I did cry when she hears Jamie voice recite a poem and looks in the archway and for a second sees him standing there.
Back in 1746 Claire tells Jamie to avoid the slaughter of Culloden they need to kill Bonnie Prince Charles but Dougal overhears them. He calls Claire a witch whore and goes for Jamie, they fight to the death and Jamie kills his Uncle. He now knows he is a dead man, he killed one of his own and his clan will not forgive that. He has to leave with Claire quickly but before he does he signs over Lallybroch to Ian and Jenny's son young Jamie, sends Fergus of with the deed back to Lallybroch. He tells Murtagh he will be back to fight on the Culloden moor but wants his Godfather to leave and get to safety. Murtaght tells him he will not leave but fight by his side.....que more tears from me!
In 1968 Roger is showing Bree all the sights of Scotland, in doing so they accidentally bump into Geillis Duncan, Claire's time jumping friend from the 1700's! This is a younger Geillis but she is crazy about a free Scotland and the Jacobite cause and we now know why her and Dougal made such a good couple!
Roger and Bree find old documents and newspapers about Claire going missing back in the 1940's
Claire also makes her own discovery, turns out Roger is a MacKaenzie and he is directly related to Geillis and Dougal!
Bree confronts her Mother, Claire spills the beans about Jamie being her Dad and that he is from 1746! Bree of course doesn't believe her and poor Roger doesn't know where to look! He does what every Celtic bloke does and takes her out for a drink to try make sense of everything. Meanwhile Claire looks up Geillis Duncan's home address she isn't there but her poor lost drunken husband is, he tells Claire that Geillis has left him and uses all her time to look up history and magic!
Bree comes home and asks Claire to tell her about Jamie, but Claire quickly loses her when she brings up Culloden and time jumping! Brianna thinks her Mother has gone mad! When Claire relaizes that Bree and Roger have met Geillis she tells them that she met Geillis in the past, Bree eye rolls again! Claire tells Roger that he is related to to Geillis and Dougal and they have to go to the stones to warn Geillis that her actions will lead to her getting burned at the stake. Bree doesn't want to but Roger convinces her to go.
In 1746 Claire realizes that Jamie is bringing her back to the stones at Craigh na Dun she cries, and screams that she is not going back. If they die then they die together, Jaime tells her he knows she is pregnant again and he will not let there baby die here for nothing.  The scenes at the stones had me sobbing brilliantly acting from Caitrina Balfe and Sam Heughan. While they tell each other how much they have loved each other in the past three years, how they gave each other there hearts and souls. They didn't do the cutting initials but the walk half dance to the stones as they both cry was heartbreaking.
Back in 1968 the trio get to the stones just as Geillis has set her husband on fire and runs through the stones. Straight away Bree knew she was wrong and believes her Mother, she says something very Jamie-like "I don't understand it but I beleive you" both Roger and Bree agree that they can hear the buzzing of the stones. As the dawn breaks and the trio in shock look on at the stones, Roger breaks the news to Claire that he has been looking through documents and that Jamie didn't die at Culloden like he was meant to, still in shock Claire looks at the stone as the sun rises and says "I have to go back"
The camera whizzes around the stones and then fades to black!
What an ending to a brilliant season....hurry up season three...I hate Droughtlander!

Online or Digtal Favourite

This is another show that is not airing on Irish TV!
This Walking Dead spin off aired last year with season two airing earlier this year in the States
We have caught up on the first season and are three episodes in to the second season
While I enjoyed seeing how the virus started, and the fall of society
I am find this show very slow I gave it the first season to pick up and get the action started
but now into the second season and it's still quite slow
Don't get me wrong I do enjoy most of the slow episodes in TWD because they mostly
serve a porpoise but this show just seems to be taking forever to pick up
None of the characters a very likable, I get that TWD also do this but even in the pilot of that show you had Rick and Morgan who where likable from the start.
I will watch Fear but if it hasn't picked up by the end of the season I think I'll be giving the third season a miss!

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

To be honest I haven't watched much TV the past week
with Outlander on a break from Irish TV until this week and most of our favourite shows
on a break over for the Summer I was at a bit of a lost at what to watch!
I do watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians but don't normally blog about it!
I do like a bit of guilty pleasure TV, The Kardashians, Teen Mom, Dance Moms and Doctor Phil are all part of what I call Trash TV that I watch! Hubby hates this type of TV so I normally catch up on all of it when he is working late!
This season of The Kardashians has been a good one, lots of drama with Rob and his new girlfriend, Khloe and Lamar, Kourtney and Scott, plus the whole fall out between once so close Rob and Khloe.
Khloe also seems to have some major beef with Ex-Stepparent Caitlyn Jenner.
It's not ground breaking TV by any means and I always wonder what there deceased Father Robert Kardashian would think of there fame using his name?! It's car cash TV but I can't stop watching!

On to a more educational show that I have been watching, really enjoying the reruns of series two and I love the mini extras of children's books on BBC Four.
I really like the stories behind Five Children & It and The Waterbabies both books I read as a child but they where by no means my favourites, yet I really enjoyed finding out more about the authors.
The society in which these books where written and find out more about who the characters where based on. I really hope BBC have plans for a third series.

Online or Digital Favourite

Hubby and I have been really enjoying catching up on this series
we are now three episodes away from the finale. The second half of series two seems
alot darker, even the way it's been filmed seems dark and cold.
The nods to the comics and movie adaptations have my hubby delighted and fan-boying all over himself!
I am really enjoying this series and I like it more than Arrow and Flash put together
it's just a major pity no Irish TV stations picked up the second series as this show
has a huge fan base.

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

Most of our favourite shows are finishing up there current run
and we are looking for new shows to feel the gap!
We tuned into this new show called The Living And The Dead on BBC not knowing much about it
Set in the 19th century Somerset where a prodigal son comes home to his family's large farm with his new second wife. While it is just meant to be a holiday his Mother dies while he is there, he wants to sale up and go back to London but his wife persuades him to stay and try give it ago living on the farm.
Colin Morgan played psychologist turned farmer Nathan Appleby very well and I enjoyed watching him on screen. It's a good job because while I liked the show I found it very slow in places. While all the domestic life on the farm is going on, a young girl called Harriet has started talking funny, hearing voices, going for midnight swims, spying on lovers and feeding ducks to pigs!
While Nathan witnesses some of Harriet's shocking behaviour the psychologist in him agrees to help her, much to the annoyance of his wife. We are given glimpses of the man Nathan was before, his first wife died in childbirth, his Mother raises his son and he became a bit too fond of the drink. We think his son had died under mysterious circumstances as he finds a recording of his son on a gramophone and weeps.
Nathan hypnotises Harriet and we find out she is possessed by a unloved wretched man called Abel North, so hated by his preacher Father that he was never baptised. As soon as Harriet is baptised the spirit seems to leave her, but before Abel drops hints that he knows what happened to Nathan's son.
There is a huge twist at the end when Nathan unable to sleep hears sounds in the house and goes to check them out armed with a candle and meets a woman wearing a duffel coat and holding an ipad, and she looks just as shocked as him!
I am looking forward to seeing more of this show over the next six weeks but I have a feeling it will be a slow burner.

The penultimate episode in the second season of Outlander was an action filled one!
I liked how at the start of the episode the gang looked tired, cold and hungry after months on the road and food supplies running out. Catriona Balfe done a great job of showing the weary Claire who looks as if she just wants to sleep.
The writers and director fitted alot into this episode Claire meets Mary Hawkins again, but this time she is sharing rooms with Alex Randal who is very sick. Claire takes one look at him and knows he is dying, as the two ladies chat Alex is delighted when his brother "Johnny" to him Black Jack to us joins them. Claire quickly leaves, Black Jack runs after her and pleas with her to help his brother, not for him but for Mary and his brothers unborn child. Claire realises that Frank isn't related to Black Jack but his brother Alex. Jack gives Claire some information in return for helping his brother he knows where the English camp are and they will be off guard the night before the Culloden battle as there is a celebration for Cumberland's birthday.
Colum McKenzie arrives not with men as Dougal hopes but with the news he is dying and needs to sort his affairs out before he goes. He names Jamie as his son's guardian and leader of the clan much to Dougal's horror. Claire examines Colum and they have a quiet moment when Colum tells her he was wrong, that she and Jamie makes a good match and have a strong marriage. He also tells her that her friend and only other who crossed the stones Geillis Duncan from the first series had her baby before being burned at the stake for being a witch. Claire grateful for the news thanks him. he then asks her for something to take near the end when the pain is too bad, she reluctantly agrees and gives his a poison to drink.
She then goes to see Alex who is pleading with Black Jack to marry Mary as he knows he is going to die soon. Jack says definitely not and storms off to the nearest pub! I am not sure if liked what the writers done to Black Jack this episode. In the books this is when we see Black Jack has feelings, and that his brother doesn't see Jack's cold black heart he sees only the loving brother who loves and protects him. So the scenes where Jack drunkenly yet so cruelly told Claire he enjoyed what he done to Jamie in the last season and doesn't regret it felt a little out of place. Surely he wouldn't be thinking of things like this when he beloved brother is dying? Reluctantly Black Jack marries Mary in what can only be described as the most glum wedding ever! When Alex takes his last breath soon after Black Jack goes bananas and beats the body of his dead brother to a pulp in another scene I'm not sure why the writers added!? Surely this was the time to show that sometimes even monsters can feel heartbroken and despair as the only person who cared for him has died, the only person that he has ever shown true love to has left the world and now he is truly alone with his coal black heart. That is what I felt when I read the scene in the book, the scene in the show just left me feeling somewhat shocked.
The scenes for me in this episode which really moved me, was when Dougal drunkenly comes to confront Colum. Colum asks to be left in peace for his finally hours Dougal will not give him that. What we expect is an all out war of words between the two brothers, but what we get is a brilliant piece of acting by Graham McTavish who plays Dougal of how he watched his older brother waste away from illness as they grew up. He asks his brother a question but gets no answer and he realises Colum has passed away after taken the poison. He holds his brother and tells him everything he wanted to say will not be said and remain in his head.
So we come to the ambush that never took place as Jamie's men march 12 miles out from camp to met with Prince Charles and surprise attack Cumberland's men. It does not happen because Prince Charles got lost in the fog and fields and turned his men back. Jamie and his men turn back for camp, his men are starving, cold, and weak and tomorrow means the battle cry of Culloden.
We don't have an episode of Outlander next week due to it being on a weeks break because of the 4th July holiday in the states. So I have to wait a week and half for the finale!
I am a little worried about how the 90 minute finale is going to go as book readers will know there is a HUGE storyline in the book that hasn't been added yet. I am a little worried that the writers are going to try fit half a book and such a big storyline into a 90 minute episode that will already have so much else going on! Anyway I guess we will just have to wait and see!!

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

If there is one thing I hate its double bill finales!
Not extra long finales what I mean is when a channel shows the last two episodes of a show together and that's what Sky Atlantic done this week with Penny Dreadful.
So I Sky Plus the two episodes and watched them on two different evenings. I like to try process what has happened in each episode and enjoy the two separate episodes, so I will review both episodes individually.
In episode 8 The Perpetual Dark, a fog/mist has descended on London and as Sir Malcolm, Ethan, and Kaetenay arrive a lone dock worker tells them to get back on the ship and go far from this ghost town. The unholy fog has killed many of London's residents and we know our hero's are not going to stop until they find Vanessa, soon they are joined by Catriona and Dr Seward.
The scene stealer in this episode was Billy Pipper as Lily as Frankenstein battles with whether or not to use the serum on her. Lily gives her heartbreaking reason as to why she doesn't want her pain to be took away. She doesn't want to lose memories however heartbreaking of her baby daughter who died as an infant. In the meantime Dorian clears his house of the band of fallen women Lily has recruited, Justine tells him she would rather die they go back to the life she lived, a wish Dorian grants her. John Clare's happy ever after doesn't last very long as his son dies and his wife demands he takes him to Frankenstein to be reborn. He pleas with his wife not to make there son suffer the same faith as he did, she tells him leave with there dead son to go to Frankenstein or don't return at all.
The big reveal was that Kaetenay is also a werewolf and was the one who turned Ethan. I have to be honest and say I guessed this from the start, also this big reveal lacked a little as it didn't have the big impact of waiting another week to see what happened next.
 Vanessa was absent for this episode, I enjoyed the fact that she was absent as it build suspense to see her in the final.
The finale was called The Blessed Dark Lily arrives back at Dorian's house where Dorian explains he no longer can feel any emotions good or bad. Lily had made him feel something for a while but a lifetime out living his loved ones has left him numb. The last scene between these two was beautifully shot, with Dorian's paintings surrounding him, as she walks away from him for the last time. He stands in the window and tells her You will be back, and I'll be here....I'll always be here.
It was poignant scene which highlights the true loneliness and sadness of Dorian. I thought this was a fitting last scene for Dorian for all his charm and confidence, he is a man who can no long see the passion in life as he continues to outlive everyone around him. Lily's final scenes felt a little rushed for me with her storyline ended with her no longer needing men she strides out of Dorian's home without looking back.
Frankenstein who saved his humanity by letting Lily go, says goodbye to his friend Dr Jekyll and bumps into the gang looking for Vanessa and agrees to help them. I was slightly disappointed in the Dr Jekyll storyline a very good actor who was slightly underused this season, but then there was so much else going on. I would of liked another season to flesh out his character, we never got to really see how his serum worked, and each episode I was waiting to see him use it on himself, alas that never happened but I did  like the twist of how he comes Mr Hyde!
Dr Seward finds out through Renfield where Dracula and his vampires are and the battle ground is set for its final battle. I did enjoy the action scenes near the end of the episode, Patti LuPone and Perdita Weeks have been a delighted to watch and added to the strong group battle scenes. It is a shame that we didn't get to see more of these characters. Ethan's journey across this show has been to accept himself, as a person who has done awful things but also as the wolf who has done awful things. He accepted his wolf Father this episode but also accepted what he had to do to bring this good versus evil war to an end. As a show that has always been based around Vanessa and her battle against the evil that haunts her, it was a shame we didn't see much of her this episode briefly with Dracula all dressed in black at the start of the episode and then at the end dressed all in white. I would of liked to have seen more of her relationship with Dracula and to know what the relationship was to each other. The ending was heartbreaking as the wolf knows he alone has to release Vanessa from the arms of darkness and into the arms of heaven. These scenes mixed with the scenes of John Clare giving his son a water burial was heartbreaking and brought tears to my eyes. Seeing John Clare so heartbroken about not only the death of his son but also Vanessa, as he hid at her graveside until everyone was gone and wept while his character narrated the poem Intimations of Immortality. Actually see THE END appear on the screen also felt a little heartbreaking as we say goodbye to this amazing show. While I felt it was a little rushed towards the end, I will really miss this show, fantastic actors, amazing scripts and beautifully shot goodbye Penny Dreadful you will be missed.

Outlander is another show that is wrapping up lose ends with only two episodes left in it's current run but at least I can be happy with the knowledge that it has been renewed for two more seasons!
This episode was written for TV by the actual author Diana Gabaldon and it was a great episode that started to wrap up some of the storylines of the season.
The highlanders are camped in North England at a cross roads with lack of men to carry on to London they are forced to turn back, a thing that Jamie or Prince Charles do not want to do.
Jamie tells Claire the news and they more or less both know history will not be changed as they hoped as the Officers outnumbered Charles and Jamie and they start the long journey back to Lallybroch for the Winter.
The most beautiful scene in this episode and took straight from the book was when Claire is sleeping and Jamie says a pray in Gaelic over her. I really loved this scene quiet moments like this are sometimes forgotten when adapting a book to screen and I am really glad it was kept in.
Dougal tells Jamie that have been banished by the officers due to Jamie's influence on the Prince, the Prince and others have left for Inverness while Jamie and his highlanders make there way to Lallybroch. They never get there because a group of English soldiers start to fire at them, they take shelter in a church but are soon surrounded. Poor Rupert is having a hell of a time, lost his friend and now his eye as he is shot in the eye, Claire saves him and give his an eye patch!
The redcoats soon surround the church and treat to set the thatch roof on fire with no other option Claire pretends that the Scots have her prisoner and bargains herself for there freedom.
Poor Jamie and Fergus don't want her to leave, Jamie especially as he is nervous he will not get her back.
Claire and the redcoats arrive at a small tavern for the night when she see Jamie's beggar friend Hugo Murno where she is able to leave a message with him for Jamie. Where the redcoats bring Claire is no other than the wealsey Duke of Sandringham's estate! He sets a trap for Claire and she quickly falls for it believing every word he says. It also turns out the sweet little Mary Hawkins is the Duke's Goddaughter and staying with the Duke until he finds a suitor for her. Claire notices a birthmark on the Dukes servants hand and immediately knows he was one of the men who attacked and raped Mary back in Paris. The Duke reveals that it was the now dead Le Comte who wanted Claire murdered but the Duke bargained with him just to have her raped but Mary got caught in the crossfire. If I didn't already dislike him I really now hated him!!
Claire asks Mary to help her as she now knows Jamie is heading straight into a trap, but Mary says she is too frighted annoyed Claire heads to the kitchen to escape herself. The damn Duke has decided to have a bite to eat and is in the kitchen himself. Mary who has got over her fright also heads to the kitchen but is ordered back to bed, but runs to the front door and tells Hugo Muro that its a trap.
Suddenly Jamie bursts in and all hell breaks lose!! Claire tells Jamie and Murtagh that the servant is the rapist from Paris and it was all The Dukes doing, Mary listening to all this cracks and stabs the servant to death. Murtagh then chops the Duke's head off and lays it a Mary's feet, Mary being very cool about the whole thing suggests they leave!
Wow there was alot going on in this episode but I really enjoyed it and am also sad that there is only two episodes left this season!

Another of my favourite shows ended it's season run this week it was of course Game of Thrones.
This show knows how to go out with a bang literally!
While I wasn't a fan of some of the story arc's this season, and how some of the smaller characters have been forgotten, I cannot deny that this was a cracker of a finale, with shocks and twists I didn't expect.
The slow, elegant first ten minutes of the episode while accompanied by a beautiful piece of music slowly build to an amazing piece of television. Love her or hate her this was Cersei's episode just as last season's final episode was about her downfall and shame this was about her rise and power. As King's Landing was getting ready for the trail of the century, Cersei calmly dressed and drank wine. The high families gathered in the Great Sept along with the Faith Miltant and The High Sparrow. Loras admits to his sins and it looks as the trial is more or less over but then Margaery reminds The High Sparrow that neither Cersei or Tommen are there yet. She knows there is something wrong and The High Sparrow all too late also knows it. We soon realize that this is something Cersei has been planning for a long time. As she has anyone who has every wronged her killed, Grand Master Pycelle was the first to go by the hands of what used to be Vary's little birds. Then as her cousin and Jamie's stand in Lancel is lead down into a cellar under the city where there is hundreds of barrels of wildfire ready to blow and blow it does wiping out half the cast in it's process! Everyone in the Great Sept goes up in flames, The High Sparrow, Lancel, Loras, Kevan Lannister, Mace and my favourite Margaery all gone!
The scene I found the most moving was surprisingly when Tommen looked on in horror as the Sept burned realizing that his wife is dead he calmly took off his crown and jumped to his death. In a poignant silent scene for a character that never had his own voice, a puppet king who was used by everyone around him, and never given the chance to grown or make his own choices. I found it quite heartbreaking and moving. Cersei on the other hand has turned to the ash she has caused and didn't seem at all moved by the death of her last child, now she really has nothing to lose.
In the North Jon tells Sansa they must trust each other as they have enough enemies, Sansa agrees but later when Littlefinger talks to her he plans seeds of doubt in her head. I know everyone hates Littlefinger but he is actually one of my favourites in the show and a character I love to hate. He did open his heart to Sansa and told her his main aim in life is to be on the Iron Throne and he will not stop till he is. So later when Jon is announced The White Wolf and The King In The North Sansa looks at Littlefinger and we are not sure if she is feeling afraid for her brother or wanting to be Queen herself?!
We also saw Bran have a vision and it confirmed what fans have been saying for years. Ned Stark is not Jon's Father but his Uncle, as we saw Ned sister's Lyanna dying in childbirth and asking Ned to take her child as Robert will surely kill it. So it confirms that Rhaegar Targaryen is his father although we didn't hear everything that Lyanna said to Ned.
Meanwhile Jamie does his best to seem somewhat comfortable in the presence of the Freys, which isn't working as we can tell he wants to be anywhere but there!! Re-watching the scene where he and Walder Frey are talking about being honorable and the future I was paying close attention to the servant girl.
Which was the most shocking scene for me turns out to be Arya, later in the episode she kills the Frey sons and bakes them in a pie to serve to Walder and then quickly slit his throat!
Olenna The Queen of Thorns escaped the fiery death thanks to her Granddaughter who told her to leave King Landing a few episodes ago, is in Dorne makes alliances with the Sand Snakes to bring Cersei down.
Back in Kings Landing Cersei as named herself Queen and makes her entrance in the Throne room just a Jamie arrives back. I am guessing by the look he throws her, he isn't happy that she has burned most of Kings Landing to the ground and there last remaining child is dead. I think this may be the last straw for Jamie and he will finally see Cersei for what she is.
So we come to Daenerys who done what we all wished she would do seasons ago but I guess she had to buy her time before she left Meereen. She quickly dumps Daario, names Tyrion hand of the Queen and with her alliances with the Greyjoys, Dorne, Tyrells, Dothraki and Unsullied set sail for Westros.
In a beautiful shot final scene which gave me goosebumps, we see thousands upon thousands of ships and Daenerys three dragons stretch out across the ocean. Westros is not going to know what has hit it when she arrives!!

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

Love Nina, finished this week on BBC and I really enjoyed this funny quirky mini series

This week Nina is questioning what is next for her, George brilliantly played by Helena Bonham Carter is annoyed that Nina is so awful at the household chores and hires a clearer. Nina quickly displeases the clearer and she quits more or less before she even started! Nina is under stress to pass her A level if she wants to go to college and her relationship with her boyfriend is also tested.

The episode ends on a high note with Nina passing her A level, George telling her even though she is useless at the chores the boys love her and she makes them happy and even her boyfriend comes around and is waiting for her after her exam.

This was my husbands favourite episodes of Outlander
Dougal had a real wake up call this episode and found out what a
soft, idiot loser Bonnie Prince Charles really is. The look on Dougal's face when after
riding his horse out into bog lands to see if the English troops could cross through it, Charles
hugs and kisses him was priceless! I think deep in his heart then Dougal knew this isn't the man to bring Scotland victory. The two men are fighting for something different Charles for the throne of England and Dougal for a free Scotland.
Claire was in full nurse mode, rallying her ladies the same way Jamie was rallying his men. She was so busy looking after the camp she forgot to give Fergus a job that would keep him out of trouble. He sneaks off and goes with Jamie's men when they plan an ambush on the English.
The scenes I loved the most this week where not the ones with Jamie and Claire
(although of course I loved them too)
but where the ones with Angus and Rupert there funny, crude, manly, friendship
made me laugh and cry this week. How Angus tells Rupert he can have his Scarlet the part time hoor if he dies and Rupert tell him she is not his to give!
The fog battle scenes were brilliantly done I loved everything about these scenes. Poor Angus carries his best friend into the camp hospital but the first thing Rupert asks about his Angus and how a canon exploded beside him. Claire who is outnumbered with wounded quickly checks them over and tells them both they should be okay, but warns Angus about falling asleep. Fergus turns up in shock and tells Claire he killed a man, she is not sure if she should box his ears or hug him! Claire finds Angus sleeping standing up but he is actually dying as he has been suffering from internal injuries, poor Angus dies a bloody death surrounded by his friends. The end of the episode was heartbreaking as Rupert sings mournfully Down Among The Dead Men for his lost friend.
This was a sad episode as one of the original characters died
our friends may have won the battle but they still have the war of Culloden to come.

Sad news for Penny Dreadful fans as this season has been announced as the last one
I for one am gutted as I LOVE this show and this season has been amazing
So next week will be my last review of this brilliant show!
The trio in America are on a boat home after Kaetenay has a vision that Vanessa is being seduced by Dracula. Ethan realises that he loves Vanessa and always has, in hindsight the conversation he has with Malcolm on the ship does has a hint of the end about it.
Lily has completely took over Dorian's home, and now he doesn't look frighted about it more
shall we say pissed off!! As he and Lily go for a walk her tells her how bored he has become with her and her plans, and frankly he is disappointed in her and the direction she has gone in. This speech showed us just how ruthless Dorian is and how he as survived for so long and added a depth the character which I had forgotten. Just as Lily is about to bite back she is quickly pulled into a carriage by Frankenstein and Jekyll who bring her to Bedlam to try change her back into the lady she once was.
John Clare seems to have got the happy ending he once dreamt off, after speaking with Vanessa he goes to his wife, who takes his back into her arms and tells him she loves him scars and all. They go to there son who is frighten but holds his Father's hand telling him without words that he loves him and accepts him. Not going to lie there where tears in my eyes at these scenes.
Finally Vanessa realises who Dracula is, and she goes to confront him in his creatures of the night museum. He tells her that he loves her for who she is, he will never try change her, and he just wants her to be who she really is. She gives in to him, he kisses her and then bites her neck and the creatures of the night close in....

So we come to episode nine of season six
Wow did this episode deliver the goods and live up to the hype of the now famous episode nine
I'll start with Meereen where Daenerys is looking on in horror as the masters destroy the city
She goes all burn everything to the ground mode until Tyrion has a word with her and suggests she plays a different card. The result is awesome when the masters met with her they think she has come to surrender but it is soon made clear that is not the case, when we see a dragon on the horizon. Soon she is flying out to sea on Drogon, when suddenly her other two dragons join her and wipe out the fleet of ships destroying the city. In the city itself the Dothraki take on the sons of harpy and Grey Worm takes out the masters.
Later in the episode the Greyjoys turn up at Daenerys feet offering there ships and an alliance, if she will name Yara as the rightful heir to the Iron Islands. The chemistry between Daenerys and Yara was great to watch and I am secretly shipping these two!
To the North where the battle of the two bastards was about to go down!
Sansa is trying to get Jon to listen to her about Ramsay she knows him and the games he plays, but Jon being a typical bloke will not listen to her and thinks he knows best. One thing I am not sure about is why at this time did Sansa not tell her brother about Littlefinger and the troops who would hopefully be there in time? Surely now was the time to tell him, maybe he could of changed his battle tactics if he had know more troops where on the way? It makes me wonder if Sansa is playing a game of her own?
The morning of the battle arrives just as Davos find Shireen's little wooden stag lying burned in the what remains of her funeral pyre, a nod to what happened in last season's episode nine. Davos loved that girl and by the look he throws Melisandre when he gets back to camp he knows it was her doing.
When Ramsay brings Rickon out on a lead we just know this isn't going to end well.
He plays a game of cat and mouse with the poor lad, telling Rickon to run to
Jon while Ramsay fires arrows at him, when Rickon is just seconds away from his brother Ramsay lands an arrow through his heart. The battle begins and what a battle it is, everyone who was involved in this show done a breathtaking job. It had me on the edge of my seat, the sounds, sights and suffocating feel of war had me sweating and thinking that maybe our hero's would not win. It did look like that as Ramsay's men surrounded what was left of Jon's band of hero's, death was surely closing in until, we saw the arrival of the troops from the vale lead by Littlefinger and Sansa.
Jon hunted down Ramsay and with the help of a Giant, Stark banners soon flew again in Winterfell
Goosebumps and tears all round!!
Jon smashed Ramsay's face in but then leaves what's left of him to Sansa. Who calmly waits for Ramsay to come around in his cell and released his own hounds on him.
She walks away with a grin on her face!
And with that the North was reminded.....

On The Box This Week

Warning-TV Spoilers Ahead!

Je Suis Prest was a brilliant episode of Outlander. This show was back on form after just an okay episode last week. Jamie and Claire met up with there men after the detour to Beaufort Castle
Dougal was back with his two men Rupert and Angus, I have missed these two funny, crude Scots. This episode was mostly training these farmers, labours and craftsman's into soldiers, with Dougal not agreeing with Jamie's strategy. Yet I didn't find it at all boring as the creators, writers and producers made it much more than that. Bear McCreary's arrangement and use of music was spot on and the montages of the men training with the beautiful Celtic singing made me patriotic of my own Irish heritage!
What I thought really added to the episode and story was showing Claire deal with her PTSD from World War Two. It showed us some of the Claire we haven't seen before the Claire before the time jump. We know Claire was a nurse during World War Two but nothing much else other than that, showing us that she was traumatised by what she witnessed and had to doing during the war, showed us that she more than anyone else there knows the horrors of war.
Jamie wants her to be safe and knowing what she is going through wants her to go back to Lallybrock, but Claire being the strong bad ass woman she is tells him no. She can't just go back waiting to hear news, not being able to do anything, feeling like being a dragonfly in amber.
This episode was also the making of Jamie, it showed us how much he has come since the first season. He is not the young men with scars on his back being used for his Uncle's cause, he is a man using his Uncle for his own cause! He is a leader now and thinks as a leader knowing his men are not ready, unlike Dougal who wants to rush in all guns blazing to get on Prince Charles good side.
The strong relationship of Claire and Jamie came across so well in this episode. Claire having Jamie's back when Dougal doubted him telling Dougal "My husband and I share everything" and Jamie knowing straight away there was something wrong with Claire as she was trying to hide her PTSD. It's wonderful to watch these two so strong together as they both seemed a little lost in there relationship in France.
Claire's quick thinking saved Jamie and the camp from the hands of the redcoats as a young English boy finds there camp. The boy will not give up any information until Claire pretends she is a captive and will let Jamie have his way with her if he lets the boy live. The boy spills about how many red coats there are and Jamie lets him go. He tells Jamie his name is William Grey and that he regards Jamie letting him go as a debt of honour. This episode reminded me of the first series how I felt when I watched it transported and that is when you know you have watched a good piece of storytelling.

Another show finishes up for the summer The Big Bang Theory finished up it's ninth season this week, with an episode that didn't feel like a finale at all! This season has been a little slow on the laughs and story lines. For me the whole Penny/Leonard wedding thing was done last season and in the season premier there was no need to rehash the whole thing again this time with Leonard's new divorced parents. While the guess actors are funny but aren't enough to base a whole season finale around. It's a shame that a storyline that was so big in the show in earlier seasons has now been the back burner to Amy/Sheldon relationship storyline which I do love but has been a little over kill this season. Amy who was my favourite character because of her quirkiness has been toned down to be the sensible one in the relationship and it annoys me. I loved the Amy of old who came out a little in this episode wanting to be maid of honour was a nod to past Amy who wanted to do anything to be Penny's friend. I am hoping a little of what made this show so great will return in season ten. 

This was another great episode of Penny Dreadful this show has been on top form this season
Eva Green and Rory Kinnear are amazing in this show but in this episode Eva was yet again brilliant.
Lily and Dorian recruit more women for there cause but its increasing looking more like Lily's cause as Dorian is starting to feel outnumbered. Justine is starting to hate Dorian as she tries to take his place in Lily's affections. She is starting to overstep her place where he is concerned and her blood lust is worrying him. When Frankenstein tries to kidnap Lily which goes terribly it shows us how outnumbered and isolated Dorian really is, and by the look on his face afterwards he now knows it.
The Jekyll and Frankenstein storyline is dragging on a little too long now, and needs to pick up the pace to match the rest of the storylines. John Clare manages to have a moment with his sick son before the child opens his eyes, and sees a pale, scared version of his Father before him and screams blue murder!
In the Wild West there is just about to be a show down! Ethan is becoming more and more bewitched by Hecate and her dark powers. Just as he is about to tell her to bring forth the dark powers of the night there is a shoot out, with Hecate shot and killed. Sir Malcolm and Kaeteny, Ethan's two father like figures who love him more than his own father, saving him from death.
In London Vanessa finds herself more and more alone and isolated, her final friend Lyle is being moved to Cairo, wouldn't it be great if this was a set up for a plot for next season! He gives her another name who might help her while he is gone, I was glad to see another strong woman Catriona Hartdegen who looks like she might be another ally for Vanessa. She is going to need it! As her friends are scattered around the globe she goes to the only friend she think she has Dr Sweet. He tells her he will be there for her and he doesn't think her mad, its the words she needs to hear and she gives into the seduction Dracula has been planing for a long time. The scene itself was done beautifully, the music and the over head shot of Vanessa's dress draped over them both like the wings of a bat is everything we have come to love about Penny Dreadful

The internet was a wash with theories about Ayra last week and how she could survive the Waif's stabbing. Yet none of these where even close to what happened in this episode, have fans started to over think or expect much more of this show? I don't know but I thought it a little weak that a cup of milk and nap was all Ayra needed to get over being stabbed in the stomach!
The hound was rampaging through the woods seeking revenge for his friends when he bumps into Beric (remember him from the third season) and his Brotherhood Without Banners they ask the hound to join them in going North. The hound isn't too sure, these scenes where very well done and as usual the hound got all the best lines of the episode!
It was great to see Pod actually get some lines in this episode. The scenes with Bronn and Pod have been whats missing from this season. The reunion of Jamie and Brienne was a good one. I feel like there is love and admiration there, Jamie sees Brienne for what he could of been a loyal and fearless Knight, instead of Cersei's pawn. While I loved the scenes with Jamie and Brienne, and also the scene with Jamie and Edmure (Tobais Menzies really stood out, again showing what good an actor he is) I feel Jamie's story arc is terrible. He seems to be right back where he started even reusing the line "the things we do for love" from the pilot episode and for me it felt sloppy. Jamie did take Brienne's advice and got the castle back without blood, while besides the death of Blackfish, but he choose death over running.
For me the highlights of these episode was in Kings Landing where Cersei choose violent over going peacefully to the High Sparrow. Her Mountain quickly took the head off one of the Faith Milant, but we knew the High Sparrow is clever and there would be repercussions. Tommen the puppet king announced the date of Cersi's trial and then dropped the bomb shell that trial by combat is no longer allowed. Giving the High Sparrow the upper hand as Cersei can no longer relay on her Mountain to save her.
The Meereen storyline drags on, Varys leaves Tyrion as he sails to Westeros to meet someone. Tyrion is in a great mood as he thinks his plan to work with the masters has worked. We soon find out otherwise as hundreds of ships start to fire apon the city. Just in time Daenerys arrives with her dragon! IMO Tyrion is another character this season who seems a little lost and not sure what to do with himself. Hopefully by the end of the season Daenerys and her crew will have left Meereen and there storylines will pick up.
Back to Ayra and after a good kip she is ready to run and jump for her life with the Waif hot on her heels. There was times watching it I was a little frightened for Ayra, but then I got the feeling she was leading the Waif justs where she wanted her. So after almost two seasons of training she rejects The Many Faced God and kills the Waif. She confronts Jaquen and tells him she is not no one she is Ayra Stark and she is going home, with a sly grin Jaquen makes us think that was his plan all along!

Online or Digtal Favourite

This was aired on BBC earlier this year, but with so many different TV shows on at that time we never got around to watching it. I knew there was hype around it so I set it to SKY Plus and forgot about it. It has been on our TV planner ever since so with alot of our shows finishing up for the Summer we finally had time to watch it.

It is amazing, the casting spot on, the scripts, acting and locations are fanatics. I now understand the hype around Tom Hiddleston as Bond!

We have two episodes left but so far this has been Delicious to watch and I am not just talking about Tom Hiddleston in swimming shorts! The plot is basely good versus evil, with Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine a hotel night manager who gets embroiled with arms dealer Richard Roper played brilliantly by Hugh Laurie. 

Throw in a list of fabulous actors Oliva Coleman, Tom Hollander, Douglas Hyde, and of course the big name in TV shows this year Tobais Menzies! The story telling is great and easy to follow, its filmed like a slick Hollywood movie which of course adds to the comparison to Bond. It was definitely a winner in our house as the hour long show went so quickly that we binged watched the first three episodes! It can be re-watched on BBC iPlayer and shown in the States on AMC