Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Saturday, January 28, 2023

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Arrow Season 6

 


+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 5, but no major season 6 spoilers+++


Season six of Arrow aired during the 2017-2018 TV season. The season begins five months after the events ended season 5 with Adrian Chase detonating the bombs on Liyan Yu. Of course, we get a flashback to see who made it out and who did not. From there, the season involves Oliver struggling to keep his vigilante identity a secret, and then the team has to deal with a couple of different "big bads" throughout the season. The season ends on a quasi-cliffhanger and is resolved very differently than the prior seasons have been. Eight episodes into the season, the big Arrowverse Crossover event happens, with a big storyline that crosses between Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. This one involves a version of Earth, called Earth-X in which the Nazis won World War II and the heroes have to face evil doppelganger versions of themselves. 

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 23 episodes are spread over four discs. The A/V quality is on par with the prior season releases and the releases of all of the Arrowverse shows. The extras include each episode of the crossover from the other shows, so you can watch the crossover straight through without having to get discs from the sets of the other shows, then there are featurettes on Slade Wilson, whose arc was basically wrapped up this season, a featurette on one of the big bads, and then two featurettes that are the same as on the releases for the other Arroverse series from that year. One is a featurette on the crossover event, and the other is a Best of DC at Comic-Con.

Overall, the season is very good and takes the show in a new direction, which I think was necessary. The cast pretty much remains the same, really the only big change is that some cast members are upgraded to series regulars, including Katie Cassidy, who was a recurring character in season 5 after Earth 1's Laurel died and she started playing Earth 2's Black Siren. She has a very good arc with Paul Blackthorne this season and does a good job playing an evil character that is starting to show hints of good. The series also brings back characters from previous seasons, including a pretty nice surprise return. Some of the recurring and guest cast members include Kirk Acevedo (from the series Fringe), Michael Emmerson (from the series Lost), Manu Bennett (reprising Slade Wilson), and Katrina Law (reprising Nyssa). The acting and writing both continue to be very good, and the writers do a good job of keeping the show relatively fresh, even after 138 episodes. This season also sees the end of the flashbacks from the island which were getting harder and harder to make realistic as Stephen Amell got older. So, if you have been a fan of the prior seasons of the show, this is definitely worth watching.

No comments: