One of the goals I set for March was to watch season #2 of Jessica Jones. Jessica Jones is my favorite “Defender” introduced thus far on Marvel’s Netflix series. The first season did a fantastic job wrestling with several difficult topics including PTSD stemming from sexual assault. Season #2 is phenomenal although, not all fans agree with me. I have heard the criticisms regarding this season, but I am going to offer my opinion as to why I enjoyed this season as much as Kilgrave’s season.

This season focuses heavily on Jessica’s past. Season #1 ignored how she got her powers instead focusing on how Kilgrave manipulated her. The beginning of season #2 shows Jessica drinking heavily, insulting Malcolm, and trying to survive in NYC. She is approached by a man in a yellow coat claiming to have “powers” who believes someone is trying to kill him. Jessica unsurprisingly blows him off. When he dies in a terrible accident, Jessica starts to investigate and discovers a connection with IGH. IGH should be familiar as it was hinted at with Officer Simpson at the end of season #1.

Besides Jessica’s powers, we really see her relationship with Trish becoming more strained along with why Jessica named her PI business Alias Investigations. Additionally, Jessica meets her mother who apparently didn’t die in the car accident. Her mother gained powers through illegal experiments performed at IGH. Unfortunately for Jessica’s mother, she cannot control the people she kills and the anger she exhibits. Ultimately, Trish kills her in the last episode due to all of the crimes she committed.

One of the biggest criticisms of this show is there really isn’t a “big bad villain”. Kilgrave led season #1 while season #2 centers around Jessica’s mother. Karl Malus could be considered a villain, but his intentions are good. However, I want to argue the reason why season #2 is as great as season #1 is because of character development. Malcolm has a bigger role this season besides just being a drug addict controlled by Kilgrave. He takes charge of his future and eventually sticks up for himself telling Jessica he’s done being mistreated by her. He has a heart and even though Trish completely uses him, he still wants to make sure she’s okay.

One last thing I want to mention is I adore Jessica’s relationship with Oscar and his son Vido. Especially the end scene where Jessica has dinner with the two of them and talks about her day. She isn’t in a good place mentally so instead of drinking her sorrows like her usual, she spends time with them.

Season #2 of Jessica Jones has a different tone from season #1, but I loved it.

If a new Marvel TV show is released on Netflix, I will watch it within the week.  Daredevil blew me away with the inner battle between Daredevil & Wilson Fisk. The Punisher was officially introduced in the second season of Daredevil and Jon Bernthal blew me away with his performance of the character. One scene in season #2 I always think back to is when the Punisher is at a pawn shop when the owner acknowledges to him he’s selling child pornography. The Punisher barely bats an eye as he walks back to the owner and seals his fate. This is realistic to The Punisher as a character because of how he uses violence to achieve justice. The Punisher season #1 is addicting, thrilling, and at times hard to watch.

The Punisher is probably the most violent graphic show Marvel has to offer. Frank is often severely beaten in some episodes along with a video being shown of a man being tortured. If violence is something that provokes you or prompts any memories you may have, I do not recommend watching this and instead quickly scrolling through Wikipedia for a summary of the show.

The Punisher begins with Frank Castle attempting to live a normal life. He’s contacted by a supercomputer hacker named Micro who believes there is a conspiracy involving the murder of Frank’s family. This first season details Frank’s struggle with PTSD in losing his family and also trying to move forward.

At first, I thought the first couple of episodes were a little bit slow. I did find by episode 3 or 4, I was more likely to watch the rest of the season. I also found 13 episodes seemed a little long. I would have been fine with 8 or 10 and I think it could have still effectively told the story.

I am so glad Karen Page is included in this first season. I like how Marvel turned her into a character that fights for the truth and she’s often seen defending the Punisher. My only wish is that she had a bigger role in the plot of the show.

I’m curious to know all of your thoughts on this first season. I’m interested in having the Punisher cross over into Daredevil or Jessica Jones because I think Jon Bernthal does a great job at accurately bringing the comic book character to life.

This is probably one of my favorite categories on my blog to write about. I love watching TV shows because once you watch a good show you become obsessed with it for weeks. A couple days ago I was browsing through my Netflix “list” and stumbled upon Riverdale and decided to give it a watch. I finished watching season #1 in two days. I wanted to type my final thoughts on this Archie Comics reboot.

I can’t say I have ever been a fan of the Archie comics. They just didn’t intrigue me and it seemed like a comic about two beautiful women fighting over one guy and I was just over that cliche. The TV show though… I want to go back and read the comics.

Let’s dive into the characters first if you are unfamiliar with the Archie comics. Archie Andrews (played by KJ Apa) is a conflicted teen who is on the football team. He finds solace in playing his guitar. Betty Cooper (played by Lili Reinhart) is the stereotypical girl next door, literally as she lives next door to Archie. Veronica Lodge (played by Camila Mendes) is the opposite of Betty as she’s sophisticated and edgy. Jughead (played by Cole Sprouse) is the social outcast of the group.

The TV show revolves around the mysterious disappearance of Jason Blossom who later is found shot to death in a river. All of the characters mentioned above have somehow been interwoven into solving Jason’s murder. Just when you think you have an idea of what’s going on, the show basically delivers a scene leaving you asking yourself what the heck did I watch? This is surprising since this seems like a creepy/eerie Gossip Girl show.

Usually, in my Bizarre Brunette Binges posts, I talk about spoilers, but I’m going to leave out all spoilers in this post. The next season of Riverdale airs on October 11th.

The joy of being an adult is driving home to & from work in rush-hour traffic. Listening to a podcast while I drive helps make traffic less stressful and allows me to get lost in the episode. Sometimes I learn something new or I get a new recommendation on a book to read. Plus I just cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen while listening to a podcast so I can be productive while hearing about Ixalan the new Magic The Gathering set.  I wanted to give you a couple podcast recommendations to get through rush hour traffic.

Panels & Pizza:

Panels & Pizza is hosted by Adam Vermillion a local Minnesotan comic book fan. He recruits local Midwest comic writers/illustrators on to his show to promote their work. This podcast is the reason I am able to support indie comics and become more of a comics fan. If you’re not from MN this podcast will introduce you to comics you didn’t know existed.

Once Upon a Crime

This podcast should be downloaded if you’re a true crime fanatic. Esther Ludlow is a fantastic storyteller as she describes the murderer, the suspects, and the towns in which horrific crimes took place. Sometimes it’s so detailed that I cannot even listen to this podcast in the dark because it freaks me out. I usually am listening to this podcast in daylight when the boyfriend is home in the apartment with me.

Dorky Diva’s Podcast

Savannah Kiefer is a Star Wars fan with a geeky sense of style. She writes her own blog which includes Star Wars fashion and does monthly episodes on her podcast.

Coffee With Kenobi:

Coffee with Kenobi is another podcast for Star Wars die-hard fans. What I like about Coffee with Kenobi is that it breaks down the Star Wars fandom into different themes. For example, I like the Comics with Kenobi series along with Lattes with Leia because of the female co-hosts. Also if you’re a Star Wars Rebels fan, there are episodes that discuss the Rebels season. It took me some time to get caught up with this podcast since the first episode debuted in 2014. This podcast will keep you busy for some time.

Magic the Amateuring

Magic the Amateuring is hosted by Megan and Maria and they talk about Magic the Gathering. It’s a great podcast for new players to turn to if they’re starting to play Magic. I like the two female co-hosts as they are energetic and passionate about the game. It’s helped rejuvenate my own Magic the Gathering fandom.

How We Roll

How We Roll is a D&D-based podcast with a couple guys from England and Ireland getting together with alcohol and Cthulhu. The DM creates an intricate story for the players and I enjoy hearing the players laugh when they epically fail a roll. It’s also a great podcast to learn the vocabulary of D&D if you have always wanted to play.

These couple of podcasts should keep you busy for a while. I am a podcast fanatic now and I can’t believe it took me so long to use the podcast app on my phone. What other podcasts are you enjoying right now?

When I went to my first convention in 2013, I saw so many Doctor Who references. I went to that same convention a year later, and it was a lot of fun seeing a Dalek rolling around the floor and knowing what it was. When I started watching Doctor Who, I got hooked on Christopher Eccleston’s sass, and ever since, I have called myself a fan. However, once Matt Smith left the role, I felt disconnected from the fandom because Peter Capaldi didn’t charm me as the other doctors had. In my excitement about this announcement, I wanted to do a quick blog tag describing some of my favorite components of the show. 

My Doctor:

Fans of Doctor Who often refer to their favorite Doctor as “My Doctor”. This is the Doctor that got them into the series or who carries the most sentimental value. The Ninth Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston) introduced me to the series and I appreciated the chemistry that him and Rose (played by Billie Piper) had throughout his whole run of Doctor Who.

Favorite Creature:

The Adipose is my favorite creature in Doctor Who! This episode is fun to watch because it relates to my major and the Doctor comes back to meet with Donna (played by Catherine Tate). In the photo above, I have a stuffed adipose that I purchased at a Doctor Who convention in 2015.

Creature I Fear the Most:

Weeping Angels are the scariest creatures in Doctor Who because even though they don’t physically harm you necessarily, transporting you back in time away from your family would take a mental toll.

Favorite Doctor Who Character who was also in the Harry Potter Franchise:

There’s a running joke that a lot of British actors who were in Harry Potter can also be seen in various Doctor Who episodes. The most infamous example is David Tennant who played the Tenth Doctor also plays Barty Crouch Jr. in the Harry Potter film franchise.

I think my favorite example is Rory’s dad (played by Brian Williams) who also played Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films.

Favorite Color of Dalek:

BLUE 🙂

Episode that Made Me Cry Ugly Tears:

Doomsday, Blink and Angels in Manhattan all made me emotional.

Doctor Who Cosplay Inspiration:

I want to cosplay Amy Pond with the red plaid shirt and tally marks from The Silence because that would be easy to do. I also would love to do a female Eleventh Doctor cosplay with the blazer and a tight black skirt.

I cannot wait for Jodie Wittaker to take over the franchise. It’s odd that there’s been so much backlash to this announcement. If male fans don’t want to watch the show, then so be it!

I’m sitting in the theater watching Captain America Civil War when I see Spider-Man on the big screen battling Captain America. My initial thought is finally Marvel comes to a deal with Sony to share the rights to Spider-Man. We don’t see that much of him in this movie, but when Marvel announced that they would be redoing Spider-Man with Spider-Man Homecoming, I was skeptical. It hadn’t been that long since Andrew Garfield’s movies and I didn’t want to see another retelling of the spider that bites Peter. Thankfully, in Spider-Man Homecoming there is no origin story because Spider-Man is already established in New York. Spider-Man Homecoming is easily the best Spider-Man movie and I’m instantly looking forward to a sequel.

Tom Holland is an excellent Spide-Man. The first couple minutes of the movie shows him recording the sequence of events leading up to Civil War. He’s a teen who when asked by Tony Stark himself to battle with him, cannot contain his excitement. After Civil War, Peter is anxiously awaiting a call from Tony Stark, but he’s constantly disappointed. Peter notices a robbery that he intends on thwarting and he is attacked with alien weapons. Peter is determined to get the weapons off the streets even though Tony Stark advises him not to.

One thing I notice is Spider-Man is someone any teen can relate to. One minute he’s fighting with the Avengers and then for a couple months he’s going to school like a normal kid. He wants to feel important in New York and if I were him, I would feel the same way. Can I just mention how adorable Ned Leeds is though!! He’s Peter Parker’s nerdy sidekick and discovers his powers when he brings the Lego Deathstar to his room. Plus he becomes the “guy in the chair” which makes sense if you go see the movie.

Also, Michael Keaton makes a damn good villain. His origin story dates all the way back to the first Avengers film when he was a contractor removing alien equipment from NY. He feels that he’s entitled to the alien equipment so he steals some of it to make weapons. Vulture is challenging to battle with and implores Peter to be creative on how to stop him because Peter is inexperienced with this whole superhero thing.

Honestly, I could go on for another couple of paragraphs describing in detail how much I enjoyed this movie. I’m already planning on seeing it again in the next couple of days and I’m determined to read Silk, Miles Morales, and Spider-Gwen. 

There has been a lot happening in my life recently. Graduating from college was the biggest highlight, although I did participate in Free Comic Book Day and I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. #2 twice. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy as it was a movie that I didn’t know what I was expecting when I originally watched it for the first time. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was fun.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 focuses on the theme of family. Is family the people who are related to us by blood or the friends we meet along the way, or both? In the first five minutes of the movie, we see the Guardians defeat a supreme beast and protect precious batteries for the Sovereign nation. After Rocket steals these batteries for his own means; the Guardians are attacked by the Sovereign fleet. This is when Star-Lord meets his father, Yondu & Rocket connect, and Gamora and Nebula form a sisterly bond.

Gamora and Nebula’s relationship changes in this movie and for me, I liked how they became allies. It shows that they both had a miscommunication in their relationship and they were able to come to terms with their experiences and abuse under Thanos.

As always, the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack is still so fun. I found myself having the soundtrack on repeat no matter if I was at the gym or relaxing at home. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. #2 is still a great sequel.