Entertainment
Bob Odenkirk Kicks Ass And Takes Names In New, R-Rated Action Thriller
By Chris Sawin
| Published
In Osaka, Japan, three yakuza have disgraced their boss. With death being the only other option, they are asked to cut off part of their pinky fingers as a sign of loyalty. Two of them perform the task without hesitation, while the last one chickens out. He is beheaded on the spot. The two surviving yakuza are sent to Normal, Minnesota, to redeem themselves.
Three weeks later, Sheriff Ulysses Richardson (Bob Odenkirk) is sent to Normal as the temporary sheriff for eight weeks. Ulysses is easy to get along with, personable, and laid back. He relates to people and can talk to them, but he also knows when something doesn’t feel right.
Odenkirk Operating On God Mode
Everything in Normal is fairly routine, as paperwork and telling people that “there’s nothing to see here” is essentially what Ulysses does all day long. That is, until a bank robbery occurs and Ulysses stumbles onto a secret that he’s never meant to see.
Directed by Ben Wheatley (Meg 2: The Trench) and written by Derek Kolstad (the John Wick and Nobody films) and Odenkirk, Normal is a fast-paced action thriller. At 90 minutes, Normal doesn’t try to be anything that it isn’t. The action is heavy, the premise is simple, and the humor is amusing enough to remain entertaining throughout. It may be worth noting that Normal continues the common action film trope of one guy being able to battle off hundreds. It’s understandable if that’s too much of an issue to enjoy the film, but honestly, its unlikely concept makes the events that unfold all the more enjoyable.
‘Saul Good, Man
As Normal progresses, you can tell that something isn’t right in Normal. Even Ulysses is hiding something that isn’t revealed at first. However, the separation from his wife is something he’s open about from the moment the character is introduced. Ulysses hasn’t spoken to his wife in a long time, but he calls her regularly and leaves voicemails. What he says in those voicemails serves as the film’s narration.
Ulysses is always calm and is plagued by the same nightmare at the one motel in town he stays at every night. Odenkirk has moments where he’s able to be poignant and rightfully distant. The character isn’t overly emotional, but Odenkirk’s performance portrays Ulysses in a positive light. He doesn’t take the temporary sheriff gig too seriously because the one serious aspect of his life fell apart because of him. However, when it hits the fan, he seems to know how to handle the situation.
Come For The Carnage, Stay For The Contrast
Outside of Ulysses, a flaw that Normal has is that there isn’t much character development outside of “here’s this town in the middle of nowhere full of schmucks, now watch them all die.” Henry Winkler is around long enough to introduce himself as the asshole mayor, while Lena Headey is Moira, the town bartender who has little to no backstory other than she can play pool and always has booze on her.
The rest of the Normal police force is just as forgettable. Deputy Mike Nelson (Billy MacLellan) does nothing but kiss Ulysses’ ass while Deputy Blaine Anderson (Ryan Allen) lets Ulysses do all the hard work as sheriff before he thinks he’ll be able to take over the role full-time. The film introduces Alex (Jess McLeod) as a trans character with a troubled past, but very little is done with them, and the character’s ending is a little disappointing.
The action sequences are where Normal reels you in, and everything in the film changes after what is discovered in the bank vault during the robbery. Taking place in Minnesota, Normal is either a film set in constant snow or one that’s actively snowing throughout. There are two gunfights, and they are visually awesome because of the color contrast. There’s gunfire in the snow at night, which is this battle of sporadic yellow muzzle flashes from guns and the soft white snow falling to the ground.
Soon after, there’s a gunfight in one of the shops when the power is out, and the visuals are almost nothing but darkness. Those explosive muzzle flashes are set against a nearly black interior, with glimpses of the attackers and whatever weapon they’ve chosen. There’s a free-for-all battle featuring everybody near the end of the film with squishy, breakneck violence where nearly every person on-screen dies in some gruesome way. At 63, Odenkirk is surprisingly solid at hand-to-hand action sequences, even if there are a lot of noticeable cuts.
Normal is a flawed action film, but it uses its basic concept effectively. Its throwaway characters are used to a kick ass and bullet-heavy advantage while the action is swift, brutal, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. This is a bite-sized action film that delivers unabbreviated destruction.
Normal is now playing in theaters.
Entertainment
How I scored ad-free Paramount+ Premium for only 99 cents
SAVE $26: As of April 22, returning subscribers can score two months of ad-free Paramount+ Premium for only 99 cents per month with the code N8C27L. Usually $13.99 per month, that’s $26 in savings. Just note that your mileage may vary.
$0.99/month for 2 months (save $13/month) with code N8C27L
If you’re looking to save some money on your streaming lineup, my number one recommendation is to cancel your subscriptions. While it doesn’t work for every streamer, many will offer you a special discount to come back. Not to mention, you’ll be eligible for any new deals that may appear that are marketed to “new and returning customers.” Case in point: as of April 22, returning subscribers can get two months of ad-free Paramount+ Premium for just 99 cents per month.
I’ve tested this out myself, so I can vouch for it. When you navigate to Paramount+ and sign in to your existing account, you’ll be prompted to pick a plan. Select the Paramount+ Premium monthly plan for $13.99 per month. On the “Welcome back!” page, scroll down to the box that says “Have a promo code?” and enter N8C27L. Once you hit “apply” the price should drop to just 99 cents per month.
Credit: Paramount+
That’s all, folks. You can take advantage of two full months of ad-free Paramount+, Showtime, BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, CBS live TV, UFC fights, and more for less than two bucks. That’s $26 total in savings.
Mashable Deals
Paramount+ has a surprisingly hefty library. Subscribers can enjoy Paramount+ Originals like Landman and RuPaul Drag Race All Stars, Showtime series like Dexter Resurrection and Yellowjackets, CBS hits like Survivor and NCIS, and nostalgic shows from Nickelodeon and MTV. Not to mention, there’s a lineup of movies that’ll keep you fully entertained for your two-month promotional period. Just be sure to cancel again before the second month is over if you want to avoid paying full cost. You can always sign up again when another deal arises. I know I will.
Entertainment
How Stargate SG-1 Used A Classic Trope To Emotionally Wreck Its Fans
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Garfield and Friends said it best: “Oh no, we’ve resorted to an evil twin storyline.” Star Trek: The Original Series did it the best with Mirror Universe Spock, and ever since, it’s been a lazy excuse for every series to use when they run out of ideas. The exception is Stargate SG-1’s sixth episode, “Cold Lazarus,” which plays with the trope by making the twin less evil and more confused.
When fans say they skip this episode when rewatching, it’s not because it’s a lazy, poorly written episode. In fact, it’s the opposite. The ending of “Cold Lazarus” is a pivotal character moment for Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and a gut punch to the audience.
Stargate SG-1’s First Evil Twin
“Cold Lazarus” opens with the SG-1 team on a planet that doesn’t look like Vancouver (it was a giant pile of sulfur at the port of Vancouver). The desert landscape is dotted with shattered blue crystals that look like the remnants of a civilization until we see a crystal eye-view of O’Neill, a mysterious light knocks him out, and all of a sudden, a second O’Neill is looking down at the first. Turns out, the crystals are the civilization.
Fake O’Neill is trying to figure out who O’Neill is and what SGC is all about. When he pulls out photos of his family, it takes Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) by surprise. O’Neill’s never mentioned his wife, Sara, or his son, Charlie. Confused, the Fake O’Neill goes to the home, where Sara is disgusted he’d come by and thinks it’s a sick joke that he’s asking about Charlie. If you’re wondering if you missed a key part of O’Neill’s backstory, don’t worry, this is the first time that either Sara or Charlie is mentioned, and tragically, we soon learn why.
No One Ever Dies
Charlie shot himself with O’Neill’s gun. Fake O’Neill starts to piece this together when he goes into Charlie’s old room and breaks down, prompting Sara and him to finally have the conversation about their shared grief. Back in SGC, the crystal’s nature is revealed to be an energy alien calling itself Unity, which accidentally killed a Jaffa, and the Goa’uld shattered them in retribution. That’s when O’Neill stumbles back through the Stargate, and the team realizes the mistake they made.
The Fake O’Neill is soon captured at a local hospital, suffering from Earth’s radiation, where he explains that he sensed O’Neill’s pain after he took his form and wanted to help ease the suffering, as nothing ever truly dies to Unity. To prove its point, Unity transforms into Charlie, giving O’Neill and Sara one last chance to see their child. Fans who haven’t lost a child can understand the emotion, but for fans who have, this scene is emotional torture, in the best way possible.
Jack knows this isn’t Charlie, but he talks to him like he is, and then they walk together through the Stargate back to Unity’s planet. It’s a beautiful moment that explains so much about O’Neill’s throwing himself into work and how even his friendships remain professional. “Cold Lazarus” may have started out with the “evil twin” trope in full effect, but the ending is proof that even early during its run, Stargate SG-1 was going to be the greatest.
Entertainment
Star Trek’s Scariest Episode Secretly Answered Fans’ Oldest Complaint
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star Trek is a long-running franchise filled with tropes, some of them more annoying than others. For many fans, the dumbest trope that keeps popping up is when there’s only one ship that can save Earth from one catastrophe or another. It always begs the question: why isn’t the seat of the United Federation of Planets better protected? It certainly feels like such an important planet would have its own fleet for protection rather than relying on a long-range vessel like the Enterprise to warp in and save the day.
However, it seems that Star Trek’s scariest episode might have secretly answered fans’ oldest complaint about the franchise. Over on Reddit, user u/Wallname_Liability presented a compelling theory: that in the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter “The Best of Both Worlds,” the collection of Starfleet vessels lost fighting the Borg at Wolf 359 was the home fleet. This theory would help explain that Earth was typically better-defended than we might imagine and why there were fewer ships to protect the planet in later movies and shows.
My Borg Friend’s Back (And There’s Gonna Be Trouble)
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, most of the adventures take place in deep space because the intrepid crew has an ongoing mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and (come on, you know you’re already saying it out loud) boldly go where no one has gone before. But in “The Best of Both Worlds,” a Borg Cube starts heading directly for Earth. The Enterprise crew tries to develop a weapon that can defeat this implacable foe, one who seems nearly unstoppable after they assimilate Captain Picard. Meanwhile, a fleet of Starfleet ships assembles at Wolf 359 for one last stand against the Borg.
Unfortunately, that entire fleet is wiped out. The Borg makes it to Earth, but the Enterprise manages to stop these bionic baddies after rescuing Captain Picard. Data exploits Picard’s connection to the Collective and puts the cube to “sleep,” and it explodes soon after that. Picard and his crew get a mostly happy ending, but the same can’t be said for the crew of the ships that fought at Wolf 359. All vessels were lost, and only a handful of people survived, including Benjamin Sisko and Liam Shaw.
Resistance Was Futile
According to this Redditor’s theory, the fleet that assembled at Wolf 359 was the home fleet assigned to (among other things) protect Earth. Some of the ships were likely already at Earth (possibly undergoing repairs or retrofits), and others might have been located near some of humanity’s older colonies. But everyone would have had to have been close enough to Earth to quickly warp to Wolf 359, a real star system that is only eight light-years from humanity’s home planet.
Why is the idea that this was the home fleet so important? In various Star Trek episodes and films, there has often only been one ship (usually the Enterprise) close enough to save Earth. In Star Trek: Generations, for example, the Enterprise-B is on a shakedown cruise, but it’s the only ship close enough to save the El-Aurian refugees from the threat of the Nexus. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, only the Enterprise can intercept V’ger. In Nemesis, the Enterprise is the only Starfleet ship capable of preventing Shinzon from killing everyone on Earth, and so on.
The Best Of Trope Worlds
This trope can get frustrating when you start comparing Starfleet to, say, the United States Navy. How insane would it be if the whole country had to keep relying on a single ship to save us from major existential threats? Star Trek asks us to repeatedly believe that there’s only one ship within spitting distance of the entire solar system that can take care of the crisis du jour. It’s completely unbelievable, but this Wolf 359 home fleet theory helps make these frustrating moments make more sense.
It’s entirely possible that, in the time of Star Trek: The Original Series and its spinoff movies, there wasn’t a home fleet. Starfleet was a lot smaller back then. Remember, the original Enterprise was one of only 12 Constitution-class vessels. However, both The Motion Picture and The Voyage Home had Earth being attacked by seemingly unstoppable alien forces. In each case, the only man who could stop things was James T. Kirk, but Starfleet must have known he wouldn’t be around forever. Therefore, sometime before The Next Generation premiered, they developed a home fleet that could protect the Earth from overpowered alien attackers.
The Worst Massacre In Starfleet History
Or so they thought. The Borg wiped the floor with the fleet at Wolf 359, which helps to explain why the admiralty needed to assemble an ersatz fleet in First Contact. They were still rebuilding from earlier losses, and most spare vessels were probably being ordered to areas of interest as the Dominion War loomed near. Speaking of which, that war is the most likely reason that the Enterprise was the only ship that could help in Nemesis. The movie took place four years after the Dominion War ended, and once more, Starfleet would have needed time to fully rebuild its fleet.
Obviously, these are only theories, but they are compelling ones. It makes sense that Starfleet would have learned its lessons from V’ger and the Alien Probe and developed a home fleet, only for it to be destroyed by the Borg at Wolf 359. Afterward, the next big Borg attack and the Dominion War destroyed many vessels, all while requiring the existing fleet to stretch that much thinner. Fortunately, Earth was in good hands. No matter how bad the war with the Dominion got, Captain Sisko and Admiral Ross ensured that there was always a fleet or two close enough to protect paradise, even from those pesky Breen.
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