***The following recap and review contains spoilers for 13.06. Please watch it before reading.***

On tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor takes off her conversion plate to avoid Swarm disintegrating her, but ends up splitting herself in three: one stays outside the universe, one joins Karvanista and Bel on the Lupari ship, and the other reunites with Dan, Yaz, and Jericho in the tunnels.

Through the course of the episode they discover that the Sontarans, having used Claire to find the time and location of the final Flux event, have sent out a broadcast trying to broker peace with the Daleks and the Cybermen, but it’s a ruse. They know that to stop the Flux, which is made of antimatter, they need to hit it with matter, and they plan to use their enemies to do it and the ships of the Lupari who they massacred to shield them, taking control of the entire universe.

Eventually the Doctor and her friends stop and exile the Grand Serpent, who was working with the Sontarans, and gain control of the Lupari fleet to shield them from the Flux. They disperse the rest of the Flux energy into Passenger, at the suggestion of none other than Diane, who along with Vinder was able to escape the prison and call for the Doctor. Unfortunately, Jericho can not transmat away from the Sontarans and is pulled into the Flux with them.

***The following review and recap contains heavy spoilers for 13.05, so please watching before reading.***

This week on Doctor Who, while the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) finds herself outside of the universe at Division, Yaz (Mandip Gill), Dan (John Bishop), and Jericho (Kevin McNally) are stuck in 1901. The trio spends the next three years searching for clues about how and when the universe will be coming to an end. Meanwhile, the Doctor finally gets some answers, as the woman she met previously in her memories, who turns out to be Tecteun, reveals that the Division, originally created on Gallifrey, created the Flux to hide their existence and get rid of the Doctor in one fell swoop to move on to the next universe, destroying hers in their wake.

Overall, there were some positives and some negatives about the episode this week, in my opinion. The episode was fairly linear again and easy enough to understand, but I’m not sure the story that was told was as revealing or exciting as it was meant to be.

First of all, although the last episode’s final scenes were so crazy, it was resolved right off the bat with a rather unsatisfactory conclusion that apparently the Doctor was turned into a Weeping Angel all for the sake of transporting her to Tecteun. It didn’t really explain why that was necessary.

***The following review and contains spoilers for 13.04 as well as the "next time" trailer for 13.05, so please watching them before reading.***

I was impressed with tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, titled “Village of the Angels.” Weeping Angels are one of my favorite villains/creatures of the series, but I was afraid that the episode would be ruined by having everything else jammed in it like last week. I was happy to be wrong.

Unlike the first three episodes, especially last week’s, the story was much more linear (as linear as it can be in a time travel show). There was one main story thread that was split by the characters being split up, and then there was the side story with Bel (Thaddea Graham). Whereas I would have preferred the action not stop to make room for Bel and Vinder (Jacob Anderson), it didn’t feel squashed in like last time. The episode was much more cohesive as a whole, and aside from Azure (Rochenda Sandall), there weren’t other alien creatures, and it didn’t feel like random things were happening.

The main storyline with the Angels and our characters trying to escape felt like a classic (new series) episode. I loved how they brought in the idea of an image of an Angel being an Angel, because we’ve seen that before, and they took the idea to the extreme as Claire (Annabel Scholey) was seen transforming partially in moments. I also think the writers did a really good job of explaining what Angels were to any potential new viewers, and it gave everyone else a quick reminder of the basics, without making the episode feel like there was too much exposition.

***Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free blu-ray copy to review. Opinions are my own.***

Based on the graphic novel series and film from Bong Joon Ho, Snowpiercer is set in the not-so-distant future after the world has been frozen over. What’s left of humanity is aboard the perpetually moving train that is over ten miles long and, originally, over one thousand cars.

At the end of the first season of the series, the train passengers became aware that the train was not being led by Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean) as they had thought, but rather by Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly), pretending to give orders as the man. There was a revolt, and the Tailies took over with Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) emerging as the leader of the merged classes.

However, when a rival train called Big Alice appears and attaches to the tail of Snowpiercer and it’s revealed that Mr. Wilford is, in fact, alive, Melanie risks going outside the train in the deadly weather to stop him from taking Snowpiercer. It’s also revealed to those on the train that Melanie’s daughter, Alex (Rowan Blanchard), who she thought dead, is Wilford’s protege.

Season two hits the ground running, as Melanie remains outside, unaware that her daughter is alive. Meanwhile, Wilford threatens to uncouple from Snowpiercer and leave everyone to die if his demands are not met. Now, essentially one train, with Big Alice having parts Snowpiercer needs, and Snowpiercer having fresh food needed by Big Alice’s crew, both sides will have to work together to stay alive, but neither Wilford nor Layton is willing to bend.

***The following review contains spoilers for 13.03, so please watching it before reading***

When we last left the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and company, Swarm (Sam Spruell) had replaced the faulty Mouri with Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Vinder (Jacob Anderson) to fix the time stream, but as humans they wouldn’t have survived time flowing through them. The Doctor, thinking fast, replaces another Mouri with herself, so she can absorb most of the time stream. She can’t contain it all, but she is at least, for the most part, able to hide Yaz and Vinder (and Dan [John Bishop]) within their own time streams. However, as the universe keeps shifting around them, they keep moving and some of their memories become corrupted. The Doctor must not only fix time and save her friends but try to attain her missing memories and figure out who created the Flux.

Tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, “Once, Upon Time,” had a lot of action and it never slowed down, however, it was to the detriment of the story. Like the premiere episode, so many different things were shoved into it that a lot of the episode did not make a lot of sense, and I still can’t break it all apart without a rewatch.

***Following the review is a detailed recap of the episode. Note that there are many spoilers for episode 13.02 in both the review and recap, so please don't read any further until you've watched it.***

On tonight's episode of Doctor Who, written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill), and Dan (John Bishop) end up on the battlefield of the Crimean War where they meet Nurse Mary Seacole (Sara Powell) and Lieutenant General Logan (Gerald Kyd). Only the British aren’t fighting the Russians, but the Sontarans - on horseback! Things continue to go wrong, however, when Dan and Yaz fall through time and the Doctor is stuck alone in 1855.

The Doctor must race against time to not only stop the Sontarans from turning the Earth into their outpost, but to save a captured Yaz and Vinder (Jacob Anderson) from Swarm (Sam Spruell) and Azure (Rochenda Sandall) and stop time itself from breaking apart completely and taking her friends with it.

This week’s episode of the series I felt was much more cohesive than the last. While there were some unnecessary complications that probably would have kept it more linear (such as a short scene where Yaz meets Williamson [Steve Oram]), it flowed together well. The episode was quick-paced and the pieces fell into place. I think the idea of time itself coming apart and it affecting the TARDIS is really interesting. We are so used to the TARDIS being a place of safety, and it’s a huge added danger when it’s not.

***Following the review is a recap, and both contain spoilers for tonight's episode, so be sure you watch it first if you don't want to be spoiled.***

Today, Doctor Who premiered a special Halloween episode, “The Halloween Apocalypse,” written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, that stands as part one of six of a season long story arc. The episode was fast-paced, but with a lot of different storylines intermingled it left me a bit confused about what the flux was actually happening.

I loved that the episode takes place during Halloween. The series is known for doing fun holiday episodes and the departure was nice. It also made for some great dialog between Dan (John Bishop) and Karvanista (Craige Els) when he thought he was simply someone dressed as a dog.

I really was pleased with Dan as the new companion; he brought some new energy to the group in the absence of Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Ryan (Tosin Cole). He seems to have a good sense of humor and will likely bring some of the comic relief that would be missing without Graham. I also think the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Dan, and Yaz (Mandip Gill) fit fairly well together as a team thus far.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is advertised as an expansion to the original VR game Doctor Who: The Edge of Time. That game was available on virtual headsets, including Oculus, on which I originally played part of. The VR aspect I admit does make the game more immersive. It also makes the creatures seem more eerie when they can jump out at you. I, however, get motion sickness so I was never able to make it super far in the original game, so I was really excited when I heard the game was coming to other platforms. The game is still not super long, clocking in at about two to three hours, but with the $24.99 price tag, it’s well worth it. There is also a deluxe edition on some platforms which includes multiples sonic screwdrivers and different gloves. I, however, received the standard edition for review. If they ever have the bonuses available as DLC, I will be buying it.         

The game starts out with the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) calling you for help in stopping the threat known as the Reality Virus, which has put all of time and space at risk, and you become her new companion. You start by investigating a London-based laundromat for clues, which eventually leads you to her TARDIS and other planets, where you help her find the Time Crystals and stop the villain known as The First.

The acting voices, sound effects, and music really make you feel like you are on the show, and it’s fun to get to wield a sonic screwdriver. Getting to not only enter and look around the TARDIS but hit buttons and levers was really thrilling as a fan. I do wish, however, that you could venture beyond the area around the console.

Last season on Big Sky, Ronald (Brian Geraghty) was finally arrested but talked the cops into bringing him to the crime scene where he was hiding a body. During return transport, members of the trafficking syndicate helped him escape with Scarlet (Anna Savcic), leaving Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) shot and Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) to give chase.

Tonight, on ABC, the series picks up after those events, but Ronald isn’t the only problem the duo will be facing this season, as another car crash outside of Helena will require their assistance, where teens get much more than they bargain for when they come into possession of some money.

Tomorrow, Netflix releases its new original CGI anime series, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, which is based on the hugely popular survival horror video game series by Capcom, which was first released in 1996 on PlayStation. The series centers around two characters from Resident Evil 2, Federal Agent Leon S. Kennedy (Nick Apostolides) and TerraSave staff member Claire Redfield (Stephanie Panisello), who unite to stop a zombie outbreak and the government from covering it up. The story also introduces new characters Jason (Ray Chase) and Shen Mei (Jona Xiao). The show, which is set between the events of Resident Evil 4 and 5, spans four episodes, which are about twenty-five minutes each.

At the start of the series, viewers learn of the civil war that has broken out in the fictional nation of Penamstan. Leon, working for the U.S. government after saving the presidents daughter, is investigating a hacking incident that was uncovered, when there is an outbreak of the T-Virus in the White House. Meanwhile, Claire, who has been working with refugees from the war and overseeing the construction of a welfare facility, gets drawn into the action while waiting for an interview with the press secretary at the White House.