OJ: Made in America - Part 4 (2016)

This installment of the series was entirely focused on the trial and the things that surrounded it.

Mark Fuhrman played a big role in this part of the documentary. He had appeared prior to this but for the first time the spotlight is turned on him. His reputation is that he is a racist. He denies this under oath, on the witness stand. Later tapes emerge from 1985 of him using racial epithets and advocating very heavy handed tactics against African-Americans. Fuhrman is interviewed for the documentary and he plays it off as stories he made up. When asked about the tapes during the trial he invokes his 5th amendment rights and refuses to answer the questions. The jury only gets to hear a couple snippets from the tapes.

The questionable methods used by the Los Angeles Police Department in gathering evidence are also spotlighted. There were cameras everywhere when the police were working and by carefully examining photographs and video of crime scene investigators the defense team was able to poke a number of large holes in the value of the evidence being used by prosecution in their case against O.J. Simpson. At first it seemed like there was a preponderance of evidence that OJ killed his ex-wife, Nicole, and Ron Goldman but the case made by the defense calls into question the validity of much of that evidence based on the fact that there was lots of potential for contamination of the evidence.

Underlying the murder case is the the larger context: the African American community vs the Los Angeles Police Department. As was made clear in the first two installments, the LAPD had a very poor track record when it came to how they treated African Americans who lived in LA. A large portion of the African American citizens felt that OJ was innocent. The subtle implication is that their support for him was not because they felt he was innocent but because he was an African American man on a big stage in their hometown who was being put through the ringer. He was emblematic for them, his case was emblematic for them. It wasn't that he did or didn't do it. It was that he was one of their community (or at least looked like he was) and facing off against the same police department that had treated them poorly for decades.

There are a number of smaller spotlights cast on people like Ron Shipp when he tried testifying for the prosecution, and Ron Goldman's father's public reactions to the defense team's tactics. The bloody gloves that were found, one at the murder scene and the other behind OJ's house, also get their own moment as Chris Darden gets goaded into asking OJ to try them on only to discover that they don't fit. The installment winds down with the closing remarks of Johnny Cochran and leaves it there for the final installment.

Once again fascinating to watch. It is much easier to watch now that it isn't everywhere on the news like it was back then. It also doesn't hurt that the dust on the case has settled.

Orange Is the New Black 1.03

Lesbian Request Denied

Chapman finally gets wise to the fact that Crazy Eyes wants to be more than just friends. I guess it was only hinted at in the last episode but she probably should have known better, should have known that nothing in life is free, especially in prison. Eventually Chapman lets Crazy Eyes know that she can't be her wife. Crazy Eyes seems disappointed but okay with it, but that isn't the end of it.

Chapman has a few more encounters with Alex. One of them occurs in a flashback to when they first met. In another one Crazy Eyes defends her, by throwing food at Alex. Alex insists that it wasn't her who gave her name to the police. There were a number of other people who were caught at the same time. Alex insists that it could have been any one of them. She also lets it drop that Piper broke her heart.

Piper hasn't told Larry yet that Alex is in prison with her. When she talks to him on the phone she asks him to see if he can find out who ratted her out, if it was Alex or someone else. He says he will try. He doesn't visit her this episode. Instead she gets a visit from her mother and her business partner.

The other major story in this episode is the backstory for Burset, one of the other inmates, the hairdresser, who used to be a man. She was married to a woman and had fathered a son. She was a firefighter. Her wife was very understanding about transitioning and even comes to visit her in prison. What she isn't okay with is the crimes that landed Burset in prison, major credit card fraud that she perpetrated to pay for her surgeries.

In the present Burset is facing a crisis when the prison cuts back on her estrogen pills. She is panicked enough that when the warden refuses to let her see a doctor she swallows the head of one of his bobble head toys. This does get her a visit to the doctor but not the right dosage of the pills she needs so badly. One option that presents itself is one of the guards, Pornstache, who offers to help her out if she "helps" him out. So far she isn't interested but based on the looks she gives him maybe that will change in the next episode.

I like how they have weaved in the backstory for characters other than Chapman in this and the previous episode. I expect that they will continue to do so and look forward to see who's next.

There are some other subplots developing, like the guard/prisoner budding romance.

I've got a feeling that things aren't going to last for Piper and Larry, or at the very least that there's some rough waters ahead. I think she is going to cheat on him with Alex, eventually. I wouldn't be surprised if he does the same to her. I'm not sure which will happen first.

This show is still batting 1000. I think it is great. I'm probably won't love every episode this season but the show is off to a tremendous start.

Justice League Unlimited 3.10

Far from Home

Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow get abducted by a time bubble sent from the 31st century by Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Supergirl gets very punchy once Brainiac 5 introduces himself but her teammates manage to calm her down. The only other Legionnaire around when they arrive is Bouncing Boy. All the other Legionnaires (Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, Shadow Lass, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Ultra Boy, Blok) have been abducted by the Fatal Five.

It isn't long before the Fatal Five strike again. This time it is just Emerald Empress and the Persuader but they prove to be a little too much for the 5 heroes. The villains try to capture all the heroes but in the end settle for just taking Green Lantern and Bouncing Boy.

Green Arrow picks up on the budding romance between Supergirl and Brainiac 5 and gives them a little space. In addition to flirting the Kryptonian and the Colluan figure out where the Fatal Five are and what they are up to. They have the kidnapped Legionnaires plus Green Lantern brainwashed to do their bidding and send them to destroy the capital of the United Planets. Supergirl does her best to prevent the mindless heroes from leveling the capital of the United Planets while Brainiac 5 and Green Arrow take on the Fatal Five.

There are a lot of good, funny lines in this one. It isn't all humor but it had enough to keep me chuckling and it was well placed. A fair amount of it revolves around the mutual attraction between Supergirl and Brainiac 5, whom she initially describe to Green Lantern and Green Arrow as "seriously cute",

This is at least the second time that Supergirl has teamed up with Green Lantern and Green Arrow. The other episode that comes to mind is episode 1.01: Initiation.

There are a lot of captured Legionnaires who show up in this episode but none of them have any lines. On the one hand I wish that there had more Legionnaires with significant roles in this episode, on the other hand I think they did a great job with what they chose to use.

This episode has the feel of a back door pilot for a show that never happened, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. There was a Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon not too long after JLU went off the air but it was not done by the same team that did JLU and had a very different look to it. I don't think Supergirl was a regular on that show.

I remembered this episode but I didn't remember very much about it. I was cautiously optimistic that I would enjoy it. I was not let down.

Parks and Recreation 6.11

New Beginnings

Leslie returns to the Parks Department only to discover that things have changed. She immediately tries to put her stamp on how things are being done. This includes interfering with Tom's plans to open a lemonade stand in a city park.

Ben takes over as city manager. He tries cracking down and playing pranks on the Parks Department employees at the same time but it kind of backfires on him.

Ann and Chris drive an employee at a jewelry store nuts when they dither over whether to get married or not.

Ron wins it all. Speaking of which is Lucy Lawless going to show up on this show ever again? (Answer: According to IMDB her only remaining appearances on the show are in the two-part finale to season 6)

Iron Man (2008)

Act I: Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) get kidnapped while in Afghanistan. He is badly injured. There is damage to his heart. The Ten Rings, the group holding him, orders him to build them weapons. They are already using weapons built by his company but they want something bigger and better. Instead he builds a device to keep himself from dying and then builds an armored suit to help him escape.

Act II: Back from Afghanistan Tony starts working on a much improved version of the suit he built while in captivity. The original was left behind in his rush to escape. After completing the suit he flies back to Afghanistan and does his best to take down the Ten Rings. Unfortunately he sustains some damage and is unable to complete the job.

Act III: Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), his business partner of sorts, gets his hands on the original suit and makes some serious improvements to it. Stane is the one who was selling arms to the Ten Rings. Eventually there is a showdown between Tony and Stane.

There are a number of characters that I didn't mention in the 3 act description above, the most important of them are Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). Both play pivotal roles in third act.

I saw this movie in the theater when it was first released. This may be the first time I've watched it in its entirety since then. It totally holds up. I have no complaints about plot holes. It isn't perfect but it works for me.

Star Wars: Clone Wars 3.04

Sphere of Influence

The daughters of the Pantoran Chairman are kidnapped. Ahsoka teams up with Senator Chuchi to locate and recover the Chairman's missing daughters. The kidnapping is all part of a plot to get the Pantorans to join the side of the separatists.

One of the kidnappers is Greedo, the same Greedo who didn't shoot first, makes his one and only appearance in this show.

Not great but solidly good and a considerable improvement over the previous episode.

Black-ish 1.04

Crazy Mom

Dre tries to help Rainbow take care of the kids, more than he usually does. At first he is a celebrity but then it blows up in his face when he stops getting recognition for every little thing he does.

Not bad but not my favorite episode. There were some scenes that brought a smile to my face but I don't recall any laugh out loud moments. Maybe the problem was that it was just a little too formulaic or predictable.