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The Night King Blew A 20-1 Lead To Arya Stark: ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8, Episode 3 Recap

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Source: Helen Sloan/HBO / Helen Sloan/HBO L ast week on Game of Thrones everyone was BIG HORNY waiting for the arrival of the Night King. Finally, television’s most prominent villain and his army of wights showed up and showed the hell out in the most extended episode of the season clocking in 82 minutes. If you think we didn’t have time for this battle, yes the hell we did, we have only been waiting forever to see this showdown and besides I watched Avengers: Endgame twice so this is nothing.   The North Got Its Ass Whooped Early  Source: Helen Sloan/HBO The episode opens up with everyone still getting ready for war with some of the participants poised for battle while others nervously look on into the darkness where their doom awaits. Sir Jorah of the friend zone is leading the first wave with an army of Dothraki warriors behind him. Before they do what they do best and savagely head off to kick off the Battle of Winterfell a familiar face pops up. It’s none other than the infamous Red Witch, Melisandre, and instead of being a waste of space she proves to be quite useful right out the gate. Using her powerful magical skills bestowed upon her by the Lord of Light, she ignites all of the Dothraki’s swords on fire in a magnificent spectacle. Despite her doing them a solid, Sir Davos still wants to put her on a spike, but she reassures him that there won’t be no need for that because she will be dead by sunrise. Oh you know they were hyped now, and they should be, magic is on their side as well. Led by Jorah, they charge into the vast darkness to take on the things that go bump in the night flaming swords held high. The sea of light quickly dims as the horde of undead overwhelm the army of Dothraki riders rapidly killing them all except for Jorah and few stragglers who managed to survive the onslaught. With the sh*t quickly hitting the fan the wights engage with the remaining army comprised of the Unsullied (who fought nobly) and other fighters led by Grey Worm, Jamie, Brienne, Samwell (who should have taken his ass in the crypt), Eddison Tollett, Tormund, The Hound, Beric, and Podrick. They proved to be no match for the relentlessness of their undead foes who don’t tire and smartly decided to get the hell out of dodge. While they ran inside after getting their asses whooped collectively, the Unsullied protected them. They had a plan to light the trenches with Dragon Fire but unfortunately, due to the Night King doing his best Storm from the X-Men impression and calling on a magical snowstorm, Dany couldn’t see the signal to light it. With the air bitter cold, fire arrows were not helping, so Melisandre came back out with the Unsullied as her bodyguards, and she prayed to Lord of Light to ignite the trench keeping the wights at bay for now allowing the defenders of man to catch their breath for a minute basically halftime. It didn’t seem as if he was listening to her ass at all, but he finally came through and answered her prayers. The break in the action won’t last too long though. Keep in mind all of this happened without the Night King even being present! Oh, and thanks to Sam’s punk ass we lost the Lord Commander of Night’s Watch, Eddison, who fought valiantly, but his watch has finally ended. Round Two Goes To The Wights Source: Helen Sloan/HBO / Helen Sloan/HBO Despite Melisandre lighting the trench with her powerful magic, that still proves to not be enough to stop the dead from coming. The Night King telepathically instructs a few wights to sacrifice themselves forming a bridge so the rest can squeeze through and continue slaughtering folks. Looking like a scene out of World War Z, the wights climb up the wall like ants till they reach the top throwing themselves over inside of Winterfell. The battle quickly gets intense to the point where the hound has a panic attack because he feels its pointless to battle death. Beric tries is best to get him back in the game and eventually does pointing to Arya who was handing out fades left and right to zombies who dare get in her way. After she gets overwhelmed, she escapes to the inside of the castle, after finding his courage in watching her handle herself The Hound and Beric go after her. Meanwhile, in the belly of Winterfell our favorite Lady Mormont is leading the charge but encounters a giant wight. Upon entry, the dead giant knocks her out of the picture like Hulk did to Loki, but she doesn’t stay down. In a last valiant effort, she picks up her dragon glass ax and charges at the undead behemoth and scoops her like a child does a damn Barbie doll. He squeezes the young Lady of Bear Island, crushing her bones, but she still has the energy to pull out her dragon glass dagger and stab him in the eye killing the giant zombie as her final act of heroism. Salute to Lady Mormont for going out like Cleo in Set It Off— the North will always remember. Jorah Died Fighting To Get Out of The Friend Zone Source: Helen Sloan/HBO / Helen Sloan/HBO Jon and his Auntie/boo thang Daenerys take to the air to provide some dragon air support with Drogon and Rhaegal. Their air dominance quickly goes away when the Night King riding undead Viserion shows up to play. We get an epic air battle between the two Dragons Rhaegal and Viserion with Jon’s dragon managing to knock the Nigth King off his dead flying ice fire-breathing lizard. With him, on the ground, Daenerys sees her chance to turn his ass into a puddle and orders Drogon to rain fire down on him. Of course, it didn’t work, so all she managed to do was piss him off him even more. Once it’s revealed he can’t even be harmed by dragon fire, he gives her a smirk and walks away. Jon is also on the ground now and wants all the smoke with the Night King and chases after him. He knows he is going after his brother, GoT Professor X aka Bran who is conveniently located in the Godswood. Anyway, the Night King stops and faces Jon… Or should we call him Aegon now? He realizes what’s about to happen, but it’s too late. Realizing his numbers are depleted hedecides to enlist some new recruits, and he’s got a fresh batch of Dothraki, Unsullied and Northerners to use thanks to Jon. Snow just wanted to shoot the fair one with the Night King, but if we keeping it a buck, it would seem he wanted no smoke with Jon at all leaving him as a present to his new zombie recruits. Things are looking bleak for Jon, but Daenerys swoops in at the right time and turns the wights that surrounded Jon into BBQ. Jon runs off after the Night King and Daenerys and Drogon are soon overwhelmed by walkers. She falls off her Dragon who looks like he is covered in ants and eventually takes off leaving his mother to fend herself. Things are looking bleak for Dany, but her Jorah arrives to save his queen. He puts up a valiant fight fending off the dead getting stabbed left and right taking the hits allowing his Queen to get some kills. When the dust settles Jorah dies doing what he loves the most serving Daenerys but its damn shame she never let him sniff that thang one time. RIP to the one person who fought till his death to get out the dreaded friend zone. Chilling In The Crypt Was A Dumb Idea Source: Helen Sloan/HBO / Helen Sloan/HBO While all of the able-bodied warriors are topside doing their best to fend off what seems like an endless wave of walking corpses, the weak are chilling in the crypts of Winterfell. Sansa at the bidding of her sister Arya armed her with a dragon glass spear after she realized sh*t is going to get real, told her to take her spicy ass down below. All throughout last weeks episode the women, children, Tyrion and Varys were all instructed that the crypt would be the safest place for them to be during the epic battle. We soon learned that it is definitely not the case. Before things got extra crazy down below, Sansa and Tyrion had another moment to reflect on their marriage. It would seem she was open to being his wife but states it would have worked because of Daenerys. Well while the Night King was up top replenishing the numbers, his spell to raise the dead made it down into the crypt, and you guessed it, the dead Starks buried down there come to life and attack everyone.  Tyrion and Sansa hide and have one tender moment before they decide to face their fear before the actions of Arya (we will get to that) save their lives. The Night King Blows A 20-1 Lead Source: Helen Sloan/HBO / Helen Sloan/HBO We are now in the final act, and it looks like Night King and his White Walkers with the great hair have this all wrapped up. Winterfell’s defenses are spread thinner than Sansa’s white lips, and the wights have pretty much flooded the castle. Arya is now trying her best to evade White Walkers creeping past them like the protagonist hiding from the crazy ass Baker family in Resident Evil VII . She manages to elude them while in the library but is quickly overwhelmed, it’s not looking good for the young Stark, but she is saved when the Hound and Beric show up. While they are trying to get away Beric who threw his cool ass flaming sword at a wight to save Arya sacrifices himself to ensure that the hound and Arya get away. In doing so, he is stabbed numerous times but gives them enough time to run into another room. He follows them inside but quickly succumbs to his wounds, we are losing cast members left and right but as long its not a Stark we are good. They are not alone in the room, it would seem Beric was leading them directly to Melisandre who was waiting for them. She tells them that Beric served whatever his purposed was and it was to make sure Arya makes it safely to that moment. Ayra recalls meeting Melisandre a few seasons back, the witch reminds her that she saw eyes of those she killed in the darkness inside her, “brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes.” If you guessed the “blue eyes” belonged to the Night King, you win cause after their conversation Arya takes off to update her kill list. Meanwhile, poor Jon is trying his best to make to his brother who is about to encounter the Night King as planned. Unfortunately for Aegon, he has to deal with the giant undead dragon that won’t seem to let him get to his final destination. While Jon is taking on Viserion, Theon is doing his best to protect Bran while in the Godswood located in Winterfell. The penisless Greyjoy is the last one standing, after successfully and tirelessly fending off a bunch of wights but that will be the least of his troubles when the Night King flanked by his White Walker generals. Bran who decided to Warg into a bunch of ravens when sh*t got crazy finally returns to his body and tells Theon thank you and that he is a good man. Theon realizes that his time has come to an end rushes the Night King but is easily killed with his own spear. Damn, we lost another one. Bran and the Night King have an epic stare down and with would seem like Bran is about to bite the dust. But Ayra comes out of nowhere and before she can deliver the final blow the Night King catches her. Using her skills as an assassin, she drops the Valyrian steel dagger to her other hand striking the cocky zombie king saving Winterfell in the process. Now if you recall back in Season 7 Bran gave that knife that was meant to kill him to his sister and low and behold. Look at all of these full circle moments happening this season. Now before we go there was one more death to report. Melisandre who we think is the MVP kept her word to Sir Davos. After the Battle of Winterfell, she removed the magic choker that kept her young and turned to dust as if Thanos himself snapped her ass away. But we gotta tip our hat because if it wasn’t for the red witch, they might not have won The Great War at all. So when the dust settled here is who is still alive: Jon, Arya, Bran, Daenerys, Tormund, Jamie, Podrick, Tyrion, Sansa, Missandei, Varys, Gilly, Little Sam, Sandor, Samwell, Davos, Rhaegal, Grey Worm and Ghost. Is what’s left of their armies be enough to take on Cersei in King’s Landing? We will have to wait and see come next week.  

The Night King Blew A 20-1 Lead To Arya Stark: ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8, Episode 3 Recap

Solange Covers ‘T’ Mag, New Album Dropping Any Day Now?

Source: Collier Schorr / Collier Schorr / T Magazine Fans can stop speculating and confidently rejoice in Solange returning to music. She is dropping a follow up to her  A Seat At The Table  this week. As  Vulture   noted the singer is releasing a new album any day now as per her recent interview in  New York Times’ T Magazine . According to the lengthy feature, the new project will “likely arrive into the world fully formed at some mysterious and unexpected moment”. Her description of the direction is just as complex. “There is a lot of jazz at the core. But with electronic and hip-hop drum and bass because I want it to bang and make your trunk rattle” she explains. Source: Collier Schorr / Collier Schorr / T Magazine The “Cranes In The Sky” singer also detailed how she is trying to take a step back from being the protagonist of her material. “I realize how much wider, figuratively and literally, my work could be if I took myself away as subject.” Her unique and very lengthy recording process is also revealed. “I like to be able to tell the story in 13 different ways, then I like to edit.”  The Times reports that each song for A Seat At The Table were all 15 minutes or longer and then she trimmed them down. Along with lightly touching on the yet to be named LP she also discussed her creative aspirations from as a child (“My dream was to go to Juilliard”) and shares how even with her popularity she still gets nervous about releasing her projects (“I have this fear living in my body about releasing work”). Check out the cover on the flip. You can read the rest of the feature here . — Photo: Collier Schorr courtesy of T Magazine

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Solange Covers ‘T’ Mag, New Album Dropping Any Day Now?

Cold Blooded: Student Breaks Teacher’s Ankles On The Court For Talking Reckless

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Source: RapidEye / Getty He said his teacher was always talking reckless (via @lkemp20 ) pic.twitter.com/TJJMHB1OSh — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 5, 2017

Cold Blooded: Student Breaks Teacher’s Ankles On The Court For Talking Reckless

Your Guide To The Island Vibes On ‘She’s Gotta Have It’s’ Soundtrack

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Source: Brent N. Clarke / Getty Have you noticed the great mix of island music on Spike Lee ‘s new Netflix joint,  She Gotta Have It ? In case you were wondering, Jamaica’s own  13th Street Promotions  did the dirty work for you: Adapted from the 1986 Spike Lee Joint , “ She’s Gotta Have It ,” revolves around a young woman and her three lovers. The series features a great selection of music from Hip Hop to Reggae for its soundtrack. Reggae Artist Fanton Mojah , Reggaeton Artist Daddy Yankee , Reggae Band Steel Pulse , Dancehall Artist Opal , and Soca Artist GBM Nutron  all lend their sounds. In episode 2, you can find Fanton Mojah’s “ Kingston Town ” which features Capleton and Turbulence, Opal’s “ This Me Know “, and Daddy Yankee’s “ Hula Hoop “. In episode 4, you can find Steel Pulse’s “ Can’t Stand It “, and GBM Nutron’s “ Scene ” (plus a shout out from the series’ Protagonist). Clickthrough to see the full playlist.

Your Guide To The Island Vibes On ‘She’s Gotta Have It’s’ Soundtrack

Watch “Taken” Tonight

NBC airs the season finale of “Taken” tonight at 10PM and we really wanted to urge you all to watch! If you haven’t tuned in so far, the show is an origin story that finds the protagonist of the “Taken” film Bryan Mills in his days as a young secret agent acquiring essential experience to add to his very lethal special set of skills. There’s a lot to love about the show. It’s fast paced with plenty of fight scenes, a body count that has continued to climb each episode and a cast that’s diverse without being extra or obvious about it. Standouts are Jennifer Beals — who is head chick in charge Christina Hart, Asha Flynn (Brooklyn Sudano) — Mills’ love interest (who happens to be black) and fellow agent John, played by Gaius Charles. Since the series’ start earlier this winter Charles has made himself available for weekly recap calls that include a little foreshadowing into the next week’s episode. When BOSSIP joined Charles on a recap call last week, he praised the episode for it’s strong female characters. Another aspect of the show that we love. Specifically the Black Girl Magic that’s evident in Beals, Sudano and Amanda Ware’s performances. Ware was a standout in last week’s episode “Gone,” playing an agent named Marie Salt, who finds herself compromised when her husband is taken. But it’s the threat against Sudano’s character Asha, that most compels us to watch tonight. “I like seeing Brooklyn Sudano’s character getting some time to shine,” Charles said of the episode. “I really like that relationship becoming so much more relatable, you see even in the struggles, in the fight, this isn’t just a cookie cutter TV show. Their relationship is more than a superficial piece of the episode, it’s really something that’s part of the humanity of their experiences.” The finale is LITERALLY the moment that we’ve been waiting for all season. A moment that should be so obvious, given the show’s title and the premise for the movie. The woman who is most important to Mills, his love Asha, has been “Taken” by the cartel leader who has been grappling with Mills for revenge since the first episode, a plot twist so obvious we could have kicked ourselves when it happened. But it snuck up on us, much like the show itself. @JaneeTMB @TakenNBC Yeah… I'm worried too #taken — Brooklyn Sudano (@BrooklynSudano) April 25, 2017 So if you haven’t already guessed we will be tuning in for the season finale. We urge you to do the same, and if you can’t catch it tonight be sure to catch up on the whole season on NBC.com or On Demand. This show definitely deserves to get a second season. Panagiotis Pantazidis/NBC | 2016 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

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Watch “Taken” Tonight

Games of Thrones Original Plot Outline, Possible Spoilers Revealed: Who Survives the Series?!

Back in 1993, a little-known author named George R.R. Martin wrote a three-page letter to his publisher outlining a planned trilogy (Ha!) entitled A Song of Ice and Fire. Twenty-two years later, those books have captivated millions of fans, inspired the most-watched show in HBO history , and swelled into a seven-part series that might not be completed before the sun explodes and engulfs the earth. Recently, a British bookseller tweeted and deleted Martin’s letter, which includes some major differences between the original outline and the eventual completed books, but also some clues as to where the story might be headed from here. Of course, Game of Thrones spoilers pop up online every day and they often turn out to be bogus, but this latest round comes straight from the raven’s mouth. The outline mainly describes events that have already taken place (or have been drastically changed), but there’s a major reveal in the letter that could answer the question of which characters will survive until the end of the story. Game of Thrones Characters In Real Life 1. Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen View Photo Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen. Yes, the mother of dragons is smokin’ hot. 2. Emilia Clarke Photo View Photo Emilia looks quite different (but still insanely gorgeous) without her character’s signature blonde locks. 3. Kristian Nairn as Hodor Photo View Photo Kristian Nairn plays Hodor on the HBO series Game of Thrones. The show’s fifth season debuts April twelfth 4. Kristian Nairn Photo View Photo Kristian Nairn from HBO’s Game of Thrones. The show’s fifth season debuts April twelfth Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 5. Rose Leslie as Ygritte Photo View Photo Rose Leslie plays Ygritte on HBO’s Game of Thrones. The show’s fourth season debuts April sixth. 6. Rose Leslie Photo View Photo Rose Leslie stars on the HBO series Game of Thrones. The show’s fourth season debuts April sixth. 7. Maisie Williams as Arya Stark Photo View Photo Maisie Williams as Arya Stark on HBO’s Game of Thrones. The show’s fifth season debuts April twelfth 8. Maisie Williams Photo View Photo Maisie stars in the HBO series Game of Thrones. The show’s fifth season debuts April twelfth Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 9. John Bradley as Samwell Tarley View Photo John Bradley as Samwell Tarly. He’s emerged as an unlikely fan favorite in recent episodes. 10. John Bradley Photo View Photo John Bradley stars on HBO’s Game of Thrones. The show’s fourth season debuts April sixth. 11. Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth View Photo Liam Cunningham plays Davos Seaworth on HBO’s Game of Thrones. The show’s fifth season debuts April twelfth 12. Liam Cunningham Photo View Photo Liam Cunningham of Game of Thrones. The show’s fifth season debuts April twelfth. Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 13. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister Photo View Photo Peter Dinklage plays charismatic imp Tyrion Lannister on the show. 14. Peter Dinklage Photo View Photo Dinklage’s dapper sense of style certainly helps to differentiate him from his character. 15. Alfie Allen Photo View Photo Alfie Allen is one of the star’s of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Here, he attends the show’s fourth season premiere. 16. Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy Photo View Photo Alfie Allen as Theon/Reek. The last couple seasons have not been easy on this dude. Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 17. Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane Photo View Photo Rory McCann on HBO’s Game of Thrones. The actor looks completely different in real life. 18. Rory McCann Photo View Photo Rory is one of the stars of HBO’s Game of Thrones. He plays Sandor Clegane on the show. 19. Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister View Photo Lena Headey on Game of Thrones. She plays evil queen Cersei Lannister. 20. Lena Headey Image View Photo Lena Headey of HBO’s Game of Thrones. The actress plays Cersei Lannister on the show. Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 21. Carice van Houten as Melisandre Photo View Photo Carice on Game of Thrones. She plays Red Queen Melisandre. 22. Carice van Houten Photo View Photo Carice stars on HBO’s Game of Thrones. She plays Red Queen Melisandre. 23. Gwendoline Christie as Brienne Photo View Photo Christie on HBO’s Game of Thrones. She plays Brienne of Tarth and looks completely different from her character! 24. Gwendoline Christie Photo View Photo Gwendoline Christie of HBO’s Game of Thrones. She plays Brienne of Tarth on the series. Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 25. Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon View Photo King Robert Baratheon on Game of Thrones. Spoiler alert: Hie reign was not a long and prosperous one. 26. Mark Addy Photo View Photo Mark Addy is the actor who plays Robert Baratheon on GoT. He looks significantly cleaner (but somewhat less regal) in real life. 27. Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand View Photo Indira Varma is the height of Dornish sexiness as Ellaria Sand. 28. Indira Varma Photo View Photo Indira Varma is every bit as beautiful as Ellaria Sand. Of course, the English actress doesn’t look quite as otherworldly exotic in real life. Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 29. Hannah Murray as Gilly View Photo The life of a young single mom is not an easy one. Especially in Wildling territory. Gilly’s rough life has clearly taken a toll… 30. Hannah Murray Photo View Photo Hannah Murray doesn’t have quite the same issues as poor Gilly. That may be why she looks about ten years younger than her GoT character. 31. Game of Thrones Dragon Photo View Photo One of the dragons from Game of Thrones. This guy looks nothing like the actor who plays him. The End. Did you like Game of Thrones Characters In Real Life? If so, please share: Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter Email a Friend Pin on Pinterest Want more? Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE: First the major differences between the outline and this final drafts: Robb Stark and King Joffrey do battle, and Joffrey is severely disfigured. He marries Sansa and she gives birth to his evil spawn. Jon Snow falls in love with Arya Stark (!), but he must compete with a lovestruck Tyrion for her affections (!!!) Speaking of Tyrion, he removes Joffrey from the throne, and the crown is then handed to Jamie Lannister. Jamie double-crosses his brother and has Tyrion exiled after blaming him for Joffrey’s crimes. Daenerys kills her husband Khal Drogo to avenge the death of her douchey brother, Viserys, becomes the Khaleesi only after stumbling upon some dragon’s eggs while fleeing from the Dothraki The whole Jon-Arya thing bolsters the popular fan theory that Jon Snow is not really Ned Stark’s son . (Not that GoT is above a little incest.) The big reveal, of course, is the five characters who will supposedly survive the events of ASOIAF/GoT. They are: Tyrion, Daenerys, Jon Snow, Arya Stark, and Bran Stark – fan favorites, all. So maybe Martin doesn’t hate his readers? Ultimately, much of this could prove meaningless, as the last two books are not yet completed and the GoT showrunners have already demonstrated a willingness to stray from their source material. Plus, the last paragraph of the letter is blacked out, so you can rest assured GRRM still has a few Red Wedding-esque shockers in store.  7 Game of Thrones Scenes That Are Tough to Watch 1. Bran’s Winterfell Fall When a lovable kid gets paralyzed early in the story, you know the guy telling tale isn’t gonna spare your feelings. 2. The Beheading of Ned Stark View Attachment Ned Stark was setup as the protagonist and moral center of the story. Then out of nowhere, he lost his head. 3. The Death of Khal Drogo View Attachment Khal Drogo was another good guy we were sure would be in it for the long haul. Instead, we all learned a valuable lesson about disinfecting cuts and scrapes. 4. The Red Wedding View Photo Yeesh…we’re beginning to think someone named Stark picked on GRRM in grade school and this whole story is one long revenge fantasy. Advertisement A message from our sponsor. 5. Theon Loses His “Favorite Toy” View Attachment This is another one where we’d prefer not to go into detail: Theon gets his junk cut off and we hit fast forward when this scene comes up in reruns. Granted, he’s not the greatest guy, but what happened to him reeks. 6. The Mountain Kills The Red Viper You just had to get cocky, didn’t you Oberyn? 7. …And Tyrion is Found Guilty Not only did Oberyn get himself killed while trying to avenge his sister, he also got Tyrion sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit! Justice is hard to come by in Westeros, yet we keep hoping for a hapopy ending. The End. Did you like 7 Game of Thrones Scenes That Are Tough to Watch? If so, please share: Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter Email a Friend Pin on Pinterest Want more? Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE: Yes, despite all that we’ve learned from the outline at the end of the day, when it comes down to who will live and die, we know nothing, Jon Snow. Watch Game of Thrones online at TV Fanatic to hold yourself over until the April 12 premiere of season 5.

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Games of Thrones Original Plot Outline, Possible Spoilers Revealed: Who Survives the Series?!

The Good Wife Season 6 Episode 6 Recap: The God Test

Sunday night on The Good Wife Season 6 Episode 6, Alicia continued to move forward with her campaign while facing heightened scrutiny regarding her atheism. Watch The Good Wife Season 6 Episode 6 Online Johnny Elfman gets our protagonist an interview with Pastor Jeremiah, obviously a very religious man and one with a lot of questions, giving her a rare opportunity. One of the best scenes of The Good Wife Season 6 Episode 6 was Alicia turning to her daughter Grace for support and wonderful mother and daughter bonding. Drawing strength from that exchange, the interview ends up turning out quite well for Alicia, who passes the God test, if you will, with a strong performance on camera. Meanwhile, Diane evicts Lockhart Gardner & Canning from their office space. Alicia and Diane move into the space with the former sitting at Will’s old desk. The week’s case involved economic espionage, not something that you would think would be compelling drama, but remember what show this is. If you watch The Good Wife online , you know what they can do with seemingly dense and non-sexy material, and this week’s episode hit the mark. In a continuation of last week’s storyline, Alicia teamed with Elsbeth to take on AUSA Josh Perotti, using Perotti’s affection for Elsbeth to their advantage. Perotti, off his game in the courtroom, ends up sleeping with Elsbeth on her desk, so who said this had to be entirely non-sexy? Oh wait, that was us. Our bad there. In any case, Kalinda found and Elsbeth turned over a crucial invoice that got the case dismissed and sent Perotti back to Washington DC. Meanwhile, a stressed out Cary takes the day off from work and ends up getting drunk and picks up a woman at a bar, a decision that has negative consequences. The service officer assigned to him learns that he was in violation of his bail terms crossing state lines into Indiana, which lands him in front of a judge. That violation was inadvertent, yes, but the officer recommends he wear an ankle monitor, be subject to curfew and most significantly, stay away from Kalinda. As usual, it was a solid installment that evoked the past, both in terms of Will’s passing and Alicia’s comments about religion hurting her political aspirations. All while building toward a terrific sixth season and possibly beyond. Well done as always by The Good Wife showrunners on a drama you can’t miss.

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The Good Wife Season 6 Episode 6 Recap: The God Test

Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele: New Fifty Shades of Grey Photo!

Dakota Johnson’s innocent heroine Anastasia Steele is the focal point of the latest promotional photo for Fifty Shades of Grey, and it’s a good one. The image was released on Wednesday, September 10, in celebration of Ana’s birthday and accompanied by the caption, “Happy Birthday, Anastasia. #FiftyShades.” As we saw in the Fifty Shades of Grey trailer , Johnson is the protagonist, her brunette locks framing her face and her signature bangs just skimming her eyebrows. The budding journalist holds a black pencil bearing the name Grey between her fingers, angled just so we can read the name of her future lover’s corporation. Christian Grey, played by Jamie Dornan, was the second man cast as the lead character in the adaptation of the best-selling books by E.L. James. The role originally went to another handsome actor, but Charlie Hunnam had a nervous breakdown and had to back out, leaving the door open for Dornan. Due out on February 13, 2015, the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie has been hyped for months, even years since it was optioned to Universal. The first trailer for the Sam Taylor-Johnson-directed flick debuted in July, offering a long-awaited peek at the boundary-pushing story of Ana and Christian. It was pretty hot … or cheesy, or unintentionally hilarious. Maybe a combination of all three. Either way, check out some of the highlights from it below: Fifty Shades of Grey Trailer: 11 Best Moments 1. Whips and Handcuffs! Christian prepares to WORK Ana like you’d expect in a marvelous GIF from the Fifty Shares of Grey trailer.

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Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele: New Fifty Shades of Grey Photo!

REVIEW: Visually Stunning ‘Oblivion’ Looks Like A Live-Action ‘Wall-E’

Although Universal’s publicity department has asked that journalists refrain from spilling the secrets of Oblivion , the major revelations, once they arrive, will hardly surprise anyone familiar with Total Recall , The Matrix  and the countless other sci-fi touchstones hovering over this striking, visually resplendent adventure. Pitting the latest action-hero incarnation of Tom Cruise against an army of alien marauders, director Joseph Kosinski’s follow-up to Tron: Legacy  is a moderately clever dystopian mindbender with a gratifying human pulse, despite some questionable narrative developments along the way. The less-than-airtight construction and conventional resolution may rankle genre devotees, though hardly to the detriment of robust overall B.O. Getting the blockbuster season off to an early start on April 19, when it opens Stateside in wide release and in Imax theaters, Oblivion  reps the latest test of Cruise’s bankability, coming mere months after he tried on a new ass-kicking persona with Jack Reacher . This time he’s Jack Harper, and without giving too much away, there’s an amusing, perhaps unintended existential subtext here about the somewhat interchangeable men of action Cruise has played over the course of his career. Still, the actor’s first foray into science fiction in eight years (if you don’t count Rock of Ages ) comes with a more intriguing backstory than most. It’s the year 2077, six decades after the people of Earth fought and vanquished an evil race of space invaders called Scavengers . But victory has come at a great cost. The planet is now an uninhabitable post-nuclear wasteland, and Jack (Cruise) is one of the last men still stationed on Earth, a fighter pilot/technician assigned to fend off stray Scavengers and repair the powerful drones overseeing a massive hydroelectric energy project necessary for the survival of the human species. It all looks and sounds a bit like a live-action remake of Wall-E , right down to the way the protagonist, spurred by natural curiosity and an unexpected love interest, finds himself on a dangerous unauthorized mission. Until now, Jack has worked effectively enough with Vika ( Andrea Riseborough ), who guides his repair jobs with cool, formidable efficiency from the glassy confines of their high-tech home base (referred to as the Skytower, though it might as well be called the iPad ). But unlike his partner, Jack is a dreamer and a bit of a poet, someone who can’t help reminiscing about the past or questioning everyone’s future. Haunted by pre-apocalyptic visions of a beautiful mystery woman ( Olga Kurylenko ), he can’t quite grasp why humanity, having won the war, has decided to permanently abandon its native planet for an uncertain future in space. As he steers his sleek, pod-like aircraft over a landscape of eerie, desolate beauty, dotted with craters and radiation zones as well as lush, unspoiled lakes and valleys, Jack can’t quite shake the feeling that all is not as it appears to be, despite the chipper directives coming from the mothership (represented by a crackling TV image of Melissa Leo , boasting a deceptively sweet Southern drawl). Indeed, the audience will likely have a clear sense of what’s going on long before scribes Karl Gajdusek and Michael DeBruyn (working from a 2005 short story that Kosinski later developed into a graphic novel) get around to spelling things out; suffice to say the title refers to more than just the physical aftermath of Earth’s cataclysmic destruction. Apart from an initial burst of neo-noir narration and a few moderately pulse-quickening action sequences, one of them set in the impressively imagined ruins of the New York Public Library, the first half of Oblivion  adopts a spare, unhurried approach that conveys a powerfully enveloping sense of Jack’s isolation. Kosinski wastes no opportunity to linger — and you can’t blame him — on his alternately seductive and staggering visuals, richly conceived by production designer Darren Gilford and filmed with marvelous fluidity on the new Sony F65 digital camera by Claudio Miranda (following his Oscar-winning work on Life of Pi  with another accomplished integration of cinematography and visual effects). This patient narrative strategy works well enough until Jack’s big questions finally start to yield answers – many of them delivered, as answers so often are, by the sage presence of Morgan Freeman – and the story’s underlying thinness and predictability gradually become apparent. The superficial cleverness of the plotting, with its elements of amnesia, self-delusion and impossible yearning, at times gestures in the direction of a Christopher Nolan brainteaser (as does the surging score by French band M83 , which sounds like electronified Hans Zimmer ). But the lack of comparable rigor, ingenuity and procedural detail is naggingly evident, as is the almost feel-good manner in which the story explains away some of its morally troubling implications. If Tron: Legacy  offered up an eye-popping playground with more videogame potential than human interest, Oblivion , despite similarly immersive environs, provides greater moment-to-moment dramatic involvement. Cruise combines his usual physical agility and daredevil stuntwork with one of his more affable characters in a while, a high-flying dreamer trying to figure out mankind’s place in this brave new world. Although much of the picture is essentially a one-man show, Riseborough locates the blood and passion beneath Vika’s icy surface, while Kurylenko brings flickers of feeling to an underwritten role. Kosinski’s architectural background is apparent in the picture’s suave, rounded design concepts and clean, coherent compositions, the effect of which is gloriously enveloping in Imax. Insofar as Oblivion  is first and foremost a visual experience, a movie to be seen rather than a puzzle to be deciphered, its chief pleasures are essentially spoiler-proof. Follow Movieline on  Twitter.

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REVIEW: Visually Stunning ‘Oblivion’ Looks Like A Live-Action ‘Wall-E’

‘Glee”s Chris Colfer On ‘Struck By Lightning’: Not Another Teen Orientation Story

In 2009 Chris Colfer rocketed to stardom as the out and proud Kurt Hummel on Fox’s Glee , a role that nabbed him two Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe, and the adoration of legions of fans worldwide. This week the 22-year-old actor, singer, New York Times bestselling author, and screenwriter makes his feature film debut in Struck By Lightning , in which he stars as an ambitious small town teenager killed by a bolt of lightning, a coming-of-age story which he also scripted. Like Colfer’s Glee alter-ego, Struck By Lightning ‘s Carson Phillips is a restless young man with a yearning for what lies beyond the confines of his high school hallways. But the Glee comparisons fade quickly. For starters, there’s no singing — just a little blackmail, used by wannabe journalist Carson to coerce his rivals into joining an extracurricular program that’s bound to score him points on his college applications. More importantly: Struck By Lightning , a story Colfer first wrote in high school, never acknowledges its hero’s sexual orientation. “I don’t want to do another orientation story!” Colfer exclaimed to Movieline . “I don’t care what it is… I didn’t want an orientation to take away from someone learning the lesson of [Carson’s] story.” Colfer spoke with Movieline about his feature acting and writing debut, the real life upbringing in Clovis, CA that inspired Struck By Lightning , his burgeoning literary career, and more. (The film is available On Demand and hits limited release today.) Struck By Lightning is a project that’s been with you since high school – what was the original seed of the idea that inspired you to write this as your debate project? Even back then I knew I wanted to screenwrite eventually one day, so I started writing it as a screenplay back then when I was 16, and it was a way to vent about my frustrations with my peers in high school and whatnot. Then I got involved in speech and debate and decided to do it as one of the events there, so I compressed all the events into a ten-minute version and I played all the characters. I think I did pretty well with it – I’m not sure if that was the year I got the big trophy or the smaller trophy, but I did do well with it. Then when I finally got Glee and got into this world I started to pursue it even more. You based it on your experience growing up in Clovis, CA. What was it like? Very flat, very conservative, and very strict. Strict? Socially strict – they had a very strict dress code, like, guys weren’t allowed to have our hair grow past our ears, things like that. With all due respect to it, because it is my home, I think there is a lot of progress that could be made there – and even people there know there’s a lot of progress that can be made there. But even though the movie takes place in a place called Clover, it wasn’t me pointing at Clovis – it was more like me winking at Clovis, I would say. And it’s much bigger than Clovis is. Clovis is like 100,000 people and it keeps getting bigger and bigger; Clover is supposed to be this tiny, small, podunk town. How many of the characters of Struck By Lightning did you base on actual peers and friends and people you knew? Only a few, really. A couple of the characters are combinations of the people I knew but the only character really based to a T was Mallory [played by Rebel Wilson], who was based on my best friend Melissa. How did she react to seeing how you filtered her personality through your eyes, onscreen? She knows it was exaggerated heavily and that it was more for Carson having that sidekick like she kind of was for me. But she’s very excited about it – she’s in the movie! She has a cameo, in the scene where I’m arguing with the chemistry teacher and she goes, “I believe in Creationism!” and he goes, “Exhibit A” – that’s her, sitting right in front of me. She’s always been a part of it. Where did the screenwriting impulse come from? I’ve always loved storytelling and I think that’s the current-day method to do it. I think that’s the best way to tell stories and ever since I was a little kid I’ve been writing stories. It’s always been something that I had to do. What about directing? Are you making your way from actor to writer to director as well? Not so much, because when I think about directing I think about lining up shots; I don’t necessarily think about creating a story or characters, and that’s what I’d like to do. But I’d never say never. Which filmmakers most influenced you growing up? Oh gosh! I don’t know. Honestly, unfortunately, I was always more inspired by the characters in a story that I never thought about the people behind them. I always thought “X-Men,” I never thought “Bryan Singer” or “Stan Lee,” you know? I have my favorite writers that I love, like Diablo Cody, Jennifer Saunders ,Tiny Fey – I love that they can make every line funny. Every line is quotable. And I love Woody Allen. So you grow up in Clovis, you move to LA, Glee happens, and you realize you have the opportunity to break into film. How did you approach the task of expanding your Struck By Lightning script into a feature film knowing it’s your first film and such a personal project? A quote that gets out a lot is “Write what you know,” and I definitely knew this character well because I was this character growing up. I felt that it was a very endangered character; every movie is about the same type of person, like a jock with a talent or an aspiring cheerleader trying to be popular. I wanted to know where the stories were for the kids who had dreams and goals and their life was about accomplishing those. Not the John Hughesian archetypal teenagers – the other kids in the hall? With all due respect, because there’s no way this movie would have been made without John Hughes making a mark in the industry, yeah – kids like me! I felt like it was almost an ignored genre all these years. Structurally speaking, why start the movie by killing your protagonist off the bat before we even get to know him? I don’t know where that came from. That was a choice I made in the beginning and I made it work. It’s funny because I ended up making symbolism out of lightning but just the mental visual image of Carson being killed by a bolt of lightning in the beginning of the movie and the audience going, “What?!” I thought that was hysterical. You open this movie, you don’t even know who this kid is, and boom! I thought that was really funny. How fun was it to have the opportunity to cast your own movie parents? Oh, it was great – it was like reverse-adoption, almost. Allison [Janney] was the only person I ever had in my mind to play [Carson’s mother] since day one, and she’s the actress whose voice I had in my head when I was writing it. Dermot [Mulroney] was one of the miracles of the movie; I don’t know if we thought he would ever do it, but a friend of a friend of his said, “You know who’d be great in this? Dermot!” It was that easy. You’re also now a published author, with a companion book for Struck By Lightning out accompanying the film and a novelization, not to mention your own separate novels. How did your literary career come about? It was something that I’ve always wanted to do – I started with The Land of Stories , which is a novel that I’ve always wanted to write since I was 8. I came up with the story then and promised myself that I would get it done eventually, and I never tried pursuing it in any form other than a book, because it came to me as a book – this was going to be a book that kids could read and have an intimate journey with these characters. Struck By Lightning , I never thought about turning into a novel until my publishers saw the movie and asked me if I’d ever like to turn this into a novel and I decided ultimately, yes I would. But I think when you’re writing a novel you’re 100 percent responsible for the story. When you do a movie, you have help – you have a director, a cast, people to help you bring what you write to life. You’ve worked closely with Ryan Murphy on Glee and also read for Dustin Lance Black’s 8 ; what’s the biggest takeaway you’ve gotten from working with folks like these over the past few years? With 8, my involvement was very easy – I got a call asking, Would you like to do this? It was an amazing experience and I think what I learned the most from it was I love people’s stories. I love picking people’s brains. So whenever I get to be in a room, whether it’s Polly Bergen or Allison Janney or George Clooney, or Dustin or Ryan, I’m always picking people’s brains. That’s my favorite thing in the world, just hearing about experiences. There will be inevitable comparisons between Kurt on Glee and Carson in Struck By Lightning ; they’re both high school outsiders striving to be heard, although the similarities mostly end there. Knowing people might draw that parallel, was it important or not for you to present a character that was very different from your Glee character? It’s so funny – people make comparisons that are convenient to the tone of whatever they’re writing, and some people think I made Struck By Lightning only to play a different character and show that I could do something else, but that wasn’t the case. For one, the character’s been with me much longer than Kurt has been with me so I definitely knew who he was before I knew who Kurt was. And had I wanted to do something just to show the world I could do something else, it would have been, like, something on Mars – I wouldn’t have played another high school outcast! [Laughs] It’s ridiculous. But people still like to pigeonhole me into that with their opinions. Were there certain aspects that you deliberately wanted to emphasize, or avoid, in order to evade those Glee comparisons? Not necessarily to stay away from Glee but I never wanted to reveal a sexual orientation for Carson. For one, because I don’t want to do another orientation story! I don’t care what it is. That was number one. And number two, I didn’t want an orientation to take away from someone learning the lesson of his story, because in my Glee experience sometimes if you state a character is gay or straight, the other orientation stops listening or stops paying attention, and thinks, “Oh, I can’t relate to them now.” I didn’t want that for this character. I wanted everyone to be able to feel like they could relate to him. I made him very asexual for that reason but also, does every character have to be defined by an orientation? No! I don’t think you miss it in this story. He’s so set on something that you don’t focus on who he wants to sleep with. He wants to get into college! That’s who he is. It doesn’t matter. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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‘Glee”s Chris Colfer On ‘Struck By Lightning’: Not Another Teen Orientation Story