HBO’s Watchmen: 11 Easter Eggs And References From Episode 5
HBO’s Watchmen TV show continues to impress. What Easter Eggs and references to the comics were you able to catch?
This week’s episode of HBO’s Watchmen focuses on a character who’s been here from the start–Wade Tilman, AKA Looking Glass, the Tulsa PD’s very own interrogator. And, as it turns out, there’s a lot more to “mirror guy” than meets the eye. In Little Fear Of Lightning, we learn that LG was directly affected by the squid attack back in 1985, not because he was a cop or a detective in New York, but because he was a Jehovah’s Witness attempting to convert the “sinners” in New Jersey. As you can probably guess, his fear of the end of the world was in no way helped or cured when he found himself stumbling naked out of a funhouse, bleeding from the ears, into a sea of dead bodies.
But there’s more to Wade’s trauma than just the unrelenting fear of armageddon. Like everyone in Watchmen, his life is a carefully constructed series of masks, both literal and proverbial. And naturally, with that many layers of trauma and delusion in play, Little Fear Of Lightning wound up being just as dense and complicated as we’ve come to expect this show to be.
We’ve dug up 11 Easter Eggs and references hidden in Wade’s tragic life for you to enjoy and speculate about as we round the corner passed the halfway point. Only four more episodes to go. Tick, tock.
Google Stadia Adds 10 New Games for Launch
Google Stadia has added 10 new launch games and has revealed that Samurai Shodown will be available for free for Stadia Pro members alongside Destiny 2: The Collection.
Google’s Phil Harrison announced the news that the original list of 12 games for Google Stadia’s launch on November 19, 2019, has now increased to 22. Geoff Keighley broke down the list on Twitter, and the full launch lineup of games are as follows;
The Walking Dead Delivered a Saboteur Shocker
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…
The Walking Dead offered up some classic, but still effective, Walking Dead this week with regards to Siddiq’s tragic demise.
Using the tried and true series hallmark of giving a character a big arc/spotlight episode right before the show smites them, Siddiq’s Season 10 trauma angle came full circle – with the reveal that Dante, this entire time, has been Alpha’s mole.
No, there was nothing more to Siddiq’s perpetual delusions and nightmares beyond the fact that he saw some awful s*** go down, and that he felt guilty for not trying to do something, but it still worked. He was rightfully scarred from watching his friends die horribly. The way he hid it from everyone though seemed to suggest that he was more culpable than he was. As in, he was keeping quiet about his mental state for reasons more than just his survivor guilt.
Watchmen Episode 5 Review
The fifth episode of HBO’s Watchmen, “Little Fear of Lightning,” is a near-perfect hour of television. Finally, the show feels like a fully-realized sequel to the graphic novel. Finally, its nagging political puzzle snaps into place; it feels like the payoff to something mysterious, despite the lack of exciting mystery. Finally, the story focuses on one of its most intriguing characters, Tim Blake Nelson’s Looking Glass/Wade Tillman, an echo of the comic’s Rorschach. And finally, the series kick-starts its stagnant plot, providing an emotional gut-punch worthy of the Watchmen name.
Prior to this week’s entry, the show was far more concerned with worldbuilding than with walking down the path of its central mystery. Even last week’s stellar “If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own” fell victim to spinning plot wheels that hadn’t moved forward since the lettuce truck in Episode 1. There were hints that something, of a nature not even vaguely teased, may eventually transpire; it felt like Lost without the alluring aesthetics or smoky mysteries to keep one tuning in. And while this revelation has not yet come to pass, the show’s fifth episode feels like faith rewarded — at least, for those of us who believed showrunner Damon Lindelof would be a perfect fit after his work on The Leftovers. And it is, in fact, The Leftovers that feels like the episode’s emotional blueprint. It opens in 1985, on the day the comic ended, and re-tells the devastation from Looking Glass’ perspective. Young Wade Tillman, a conservative “end is nigh” doomsayer, not unlike Rorschach, has his own faith rewarded in the most Hellish way possible, when he witnesses the mass death caused by Ozymandias’ giant squid being teleported into Manhattan.
Google Stadia Will Now Launch With 22 Games
Google Stadia is right around the corner, with the system launching on November 19. Google recently announced the system’s launch titles, along with the other games coming in 2019. It was a thin list, with only one console exclusive (Gylt), which had some potential customers concerned. Thankfully for early adopters of the new machine, the launch line-up has been expanded, with many titles that were due at some point in 2019 now arriving on day one.
The news was announced by Google vice president Phil Harrison, who thanked the developers and publishers who worked to prepare their games for the system’s release.
Excited to announce that we are INCREASING the Day One launch line-up of titles for @GoogleStadia – we now have TWENTY TWO games launching with the platform on Tuesday. Huge thank you to our game developer and publisher partners for bringing more titles #stadia
— Phil Harrison (@MrPhilHarrison) November 18, 2019
These are the 12 games initially announced for the Stadia launch, which are still coming on day one:
And now, here are ten more games that will now release on November 19 alongside the new system:
Borderlands 3, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 and Darksiders Genesis are also due before the end of the year. Darksiders Genesis will release on December 5, the same day as the PC version, making it a console exclusive to Stadia for about three months (it launches on PS4, Xbox One and Switch on February 14, 2020.)
To find out more about what to expect from Google Stadia’s impending launch, be sure to check out our unboxing of the new system. We know that it’ll launch with several missing features that will be added over time.
Death Stranding Walkthrough: Episode 10 – Die-Hardman
Episode 10 – Sweet Memories
Obviously, roads are going to make this journey a cinch, and it’s nice to be able to take advantage of any hard work you put in earlier in this journey.
That said, compared to all the crap you put up with during the mountain chapters, this terrain should be a complete cakewalk to your regardless, especially since there’s no mandatory cargo to haul.
Take this opportunity to reflect on how far you’ve come since taking your first steps in this majestic land–hey is that a friggen’ tornado above Lake Knot City?
BETTER DRIVE STRAIGHT INTO IT!
This, surprisingly, marks the end of Episode 10. Hopefully, that journey was pleasant rather than a super-long slog, and reminded you of the magic that community and helping other people can bring.
We’re slowly ramping up to the climax of Death Stranding now, so please join us for the Episode 11 walkthrough, coming soon.
Ford V Ferrari Races Ahead Of Charlie’s Angels: Weekend Box Office November 15-17
This weekend saw three new wide movie releases in US cinemas, but there was a clear standout, with Ford v Ferrari outperforming expectations and comfortably topping the charts. The dramatization of Ford Motor Company’s 1966 quest to build a car capable of beating Ferrari at Le Mans ’66, which was directed by James Mangold (Logan) and stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale, brought in $31 million over the weekend according to Box Office Mojo.
This is well above Box Office Mojo’s pre-weekend projection of $22 million, and the film has earned strong reviews and excellent word of mouth, including a rare A+ Cinemascore from attendees. The movie carries a $100 million budget, but this is still a strong start (the film also made $21.4 million internationally), and there’s a good chance of the movie performing well over the weeks ahead, especially if it gets award buzz.
Charlie’s Angels got off to a considerable weaker start. The new movie, directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska as the eponymous Angels, was third at the box office (below last week‘s Midway). It opened to $8.6 million, well below expectations, and much less than the 2000 iteration of Charlie’s Angels (which opened to $40,128,550) and its sequel, Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle ($37,634,221). It’s not all bad, though–the movie picked up $19.3 million outside of America, and was made on a fairly modest $48 million budget.
The other new wide release opening this weekend, The Good Liar, brought in $5,656,000. This is a low result, but the film was made on a budget of just $10 million. Elsewhere in the charts, Doctor Sleep dropped to 6th place with $6,181,000, meaning that it’s still on track to lose money. Joker crossed the $1 billion mark internationally, making it one of the most profitable films of all time. Terminator: Dark Fate slipped out of the top ten, earning $4,375,000, and Waves, the new film from Trey Edward Shults (It Comes At Night), opened to $144,562 on just four screens.
Here’s the domestic top ten for this weekend, or you can view the full chart at Box Office Mojo.
1. Ford v Ferrari: $31.037 million
2. Midway: $8.75 million
3. Charlie’s Angels: $8.6 million
4. Playing with Fire: $8.55 million
5. Last Christmas: $6.7 million
6. Doctor Sleep: $6.181 million
7. The Good Liar: $5.656 million
8. Joker: $5.635 million
9. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil: $5.247 million
10. Harriet: $4.780 million
Batwoman: Season 1, Episode 7 Review
Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Batwoman: Season 1, Episode 7. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here’s our review for Season 1, Episode 6.
It was rough going for a while, but Batwoman slowly seems to be finding its footing and its place in the larger Arrowverse. The series no longer feels quite so derivative of Season 1-era Arrow. Nor is it struggling so mightily to balance its large ensemble cast. If there’s any takeaway from Episode 7 and the introduction of Christina Wolfe’s Julia Pennyworth, it’s that maybe there’s room yet to expand that supporting cast.
Death Stranding Walkthrough – Episode 9 – Higgs
Episode 9 – Super Punch Out!
Hey, have you ever finished Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots? If so, this next bit should be pretty familiar.
The fight will transition to a completely different style of game and control scheme, complete with a fighting game-style UI. Here’s a quick rundown of the controls
- Left Analog Stick: Dodge
- L2 (Press): Left-hand Punch
- R2 (Press): Right-hand Punch
- L2 (Hold): Block With Left Arm
- R2 (Hold): Block With Right Arm
- L2 + R2 (Hold): Block With Both Arms
As you might assume, your goal is to whittle down the health bar of the boss (who is Higgs, by the way, in case you hadn’t already guessed).
Watch Higg’s movements. If he looks open, punch him. If he’s visibly blocking, stop punching him. If you see him winding up a bunch, either block, or dodge the attack (backwards is usually a sure bet).
It’s important to keep your movements measured during this section (ie. don’t just spam the punches) because you still have a stamina meter to worry about (it’s the blue thing underneath your health bar). Every time you perform an action, you’ll use a bit of stamina.
The stamina bar will only recharge when you’re in a neutral position and doing nothing–when you’re blocking, the stamina bar will not recharge at all.