Possible Plot: Fantastic Four

So here’s a Possible Plot that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of the Fantastic Four, but, I can say with confidence that their representation in films have been really lackluster. Hell, if I had the authority, I’d demand that Fox return the rights to Marvel. Why? Franchise abuse and neglect, that’s why. But, then again, I’d also demand that Fox and Marvel work out a deal so that the X-Men could be introduced into the Marvel Universe. Power abuse? Maybe. Would you love the results? You know you would.

Maybe, someday, you'll get a movie that's
on par with the rest of Marvel.

But back to the FF. For this version of the Fantastic Four, I’d say we do a complete 180 degrees from the original film. Make them the heroes that keep flying under the radar. Not because they haven’t been contributing to the Marvel Universe, but because they have had the bad luck of having all of their adventures happen at the same time as bigger Marvel events. The Fantastic Four are born when four people are bombarded by cosmic rays. Big deal, the Avengers just stopped an alien invasion. Super Scientists Reed Richards discovers the alternate dimension he dubs the Negative Zone. That’s cool, but Captain America just took down three helicarriers and revealed extreme corruption in SHIELD. Super scientist Reed Richards marries team mate Susan Storm? Shush, Iron Man’s house was blown up, and the president was kidnapped by the Mandarin. The FF meet and battle Namor and the forces of Atlantis? Ultron tried to drop an entire city onto the planet! Kind of hard to notice one when the other is going on, am I right? Present this as some newspaper articles or from brief news stories. Or Johnny complaining about how despite being "Fantastic" they're never noticed. Dealer's choice.

The film would take place in two locations, Latveria and the Negative Zone. Iron Man and SHIELD, along with the UN, are planning on using the extradimensional Negative Zone as a place to hold the various Super Criminals that have been popping up. They commission Reed to help design the facility, and plan on building the Earth side base of operations in Latveria. Why? They were the lowest bidder for the contract. We’d establish all of this with a video chat between two of the biggest geniuses of Marvel, Reed Richards and Tony Stark. Stark could make a few snarky comments about how he personally hates the Latverian leader, the Baron, and his scientific advisor, Victor von Doom. Reed could make a few cracks about Tony not liking anyone smarter than him, that sort of thing.

Once the Four land at the facility, they’d meet the Baron and Doom. The Baron would be your pretty standard foppish monarch, self-absorbed and too confident in his personal power. Doom, on the other hand, would be rather soft spoken, hardly making a comment. Until the Thing or Human Torch point out that he’s wearing a faux Iron Man suit. Doom would then get super angry and make claims about discovering the designs and how improved upon Tony’s “rusty suit.” They’d see glimpses of Latveria, from their “Ivory Tower,” and see how the police force seems to be mainly comprised of robotic soldiers. Reed would make a comment about how…dangerous an army of Doom Bots might be, but the Baron would laugh it off, and inform them that Doom’s robots cut crime by 90% in the year since they’ve been switched on. Doom would say something like, “I’m committed to peace,” before they get to the work site.

The Four and a team of engineers set up the portal to the Negative Zone, open the portal, and step through. The Negative Zone is a hellish, but beautiful alien location. Have a moment where we can all enjoy the beauty of this uncanny place. They set up a base camp, just in time to be attacked by a horde of alien insects. The creatures, lead by their war leader, Annihilus, were drawn to this planet in the Negative Zone by Reed and co punching holes in reality. Annihilus, being a xenophobic bug man, wishes to cross over to Earth, and raze our planet. A huge fight ensues, where the Four can show off their powers, and Doom can show that his comments about improving Tony’s suit weren’t a load of hot air.

The Four and Doom shut down the portal, and do their best to escape. They’re trapped in the Negative Zone with Annihilus, and need to think of a way to stop him before the villain can think of a way to active the portal, or worse, someone Earthside attempted a rescue mission. Have some character moments, Ben and Johnny relieving some stress by pranking each other, Sue and Reed having a few romantic moments, maybe have Johnny pick his Bro-in-law’s brain about the craziness of how Annihilus controls such a huge horde.

We need a Doom that you can believe
is capable of dooming the entire planet
for his own ends.

Cut over to one of the Fantastic Four finding Doom doing a Tarot Card reading. Doesn’t really matter which one, they’d all have something funny or insightful to say about seeing a super scientist fortune telling. Doom would then explain his background, how he grew up as a poor Romani in Latveria, how his father was a doctor and leader of his tribe, and how his mother was a mystic. Reading Tarot Cards, while inherently pointless, comforts Doom and reminds him of his late mother. The team and Doom would then reconvene, and discuss the enemy. Doom would point out that with every order Annihilus uttered, the staff would glow and then the bug people would react. They’d realize the staff, Annihilus’ Cosmic Control Rod, would be the key to his power and their best way to stop him.

The Four plus Doom would battle Annihilus and his army. The fighting would be fierce, but in the end, Reed and Doom would be able to rip the Rod from Annihilus’ hands. Doom would get his hands on it, and would almost immediately become drunk with power. He’d claim that the insect army would allow him to protect the world from its foes. No more Ultron’s, no more Loki’s, there would be one world, under Doom. The Four would then battle Doom, and during the fight, the Rod would explode in Doom’s face.

While he clutches his ruined face, Doom would shriek at Reed, calling him a fool, an idiot, and an arrogant SOB that just ruined the world’s best chance for peace. Reed would counter with the usual lines about how free will > peace, and then they’d return home. One the plane ride back to the US, they’d get a call from Tony, who’d inform them that not only was Doom pardoned for his crimes, but he’d been named Latveria’s diplomat to the UN. Shocked gasps, and then fade to black.

Back in the Baron’s castle, we’d see the Baron cleaning up a bloody mess. During said clean up, the skin of his face would tear, revealing metal. Doom would then comment that the new Baron would need a few upgrades. Doom would travel down into the depths of the castle, into an old library. He’d reveal a secret passage behind a bookshelf. He’d make veiled threats to the empty room, “A fool am I? I will be smarter next time,” that sort of thing. He’d pull out a musty old trunk and open it. He’d pull out various books, Secrets of Sorcery, Magic for Novices, and finally, the personal grimoire of Cynthia von Doom. The film would end with Doom’s newly scarred face smiling as he says, “Time to study up.”

Pretty much the entire Negative Zone
has a pest problem.

In my head, this is a very in medias res story. Much of the Fantastic Four’s history and interpersonal relationships would already be established. Ben and Johnny would have their strange sibling-like rivalry, Sue and Reed would already be romantically entangled, and so on. Why? Because in my limited experience with the FF, I do understand a big part of their story is that they are a super team second, and a family first. We don’t need to waste time with the “getting to know you” phase that both FF movies before have focused on. We can also skip over the “Cure Ben” story, as by this point the Thing would be more or less content with his altered form. What can I say? I hate repeating stories.

I’d want the Negative Zone as the location for this tale, because, like the Fantastic Four themselves, it hasn’t been given fair treatment in the movies. Planet Zero, my hairy face. It’s also an important part of the Marvel Universe, which is inherently tied to the FF. Annihilus works as villain, as he’s been rarely used in Marvel projects, and his whole army of insects does make him a pretty serious threat. Possibly comparable to Doom himself.

Doom would have as nearly as big a focus the Fantastic Four. This movie would be more his origin story than the FF’s. We’d establish him as a technological genius, and as an unstable sociopath. And, in this way, we’d completely remove that stupid misconception that Doom’s powers are the result of the same accident as the FF. He’s not a mutant, he’s a magic scientist, get it right. This is a bare bones sort of plot, and there are several improvements that could be made to the overall structure. I honestly can’t tell you who the “main” focus of the film would be. You know how team movies go, even if the majority of characters get equal screen time, there’s always the one guy who stands out the most. In X-Men, it’s Wolverine. In Avengers, it’s Iron-Man. In the eventual Justice League, I’m going to call it right now and say Batman. Of the four, it might be interesting to see Sue as the primary character. Really, in all the movies to date, she’s had the smallest role and shortest arc. Fantastic Four she was just trying to get Reed to stop being such an egghead and notice her. In Rise of the Silver Surfer she was mostly concerned about her wedding. Way to keep things in perspective, guys. World could be destroyed, and she’s upset that they have to delay the wedding. I honestly can’t say what her arc was in Fant4stic, she really didn’t have an arc. She was just kind of there. Sure, she found Reed towards the end of the movie, but otherwise, she was just there to talk to Johnny and Reed. That was silly. All of that being said, I think this could be a good way to introduce these characters into the main Marvel Canon without having to jump through a whole lot of hoops to fit them in. I won’t be truly happy until Marvel’s cinematic universe is whole. I’d prefer getting the X-Men introduced in first, but beggars can’t be choosers. Next time, let’s talk about Annihilus.

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Slowing down, but never stopping

So I guess it’s time to let you all in on the sad news. So, even after nearly two months at my position as a City Carrier’s Assistant at the Minnetonka Post Office, I’m still being run ragged. I’m averaging six days a week, and upwards of fifty hours per week. Which makes me laugh when I’m continually being told that my position is “part time.” Anyone else feel like that that is a total bunch of hogwash? Yep, I thought so. Because of this more extreme workload, I’m afraid that Theme Weeks are going to be put on hold for a little while.

Most days, I’ve got maybe four hours of free time per day. It’s surprisingly stressful and mentally demanding work that leaves me pretty drained by the end of a day. I’ve also got a writers group that I’m trying to remain a part of, and my novel that I’m trying to finish. So yeah, not a huge amount of time to devote to my blog. Much less enough time to devote to creating seven posts more-or-less in a row. Even my shortest posts take at least two to three hours to write up a draft for. Don’t worry, I’m not shutting this thing down or anything. I’ll still be doing my best to give you all at least five posts per month. Hopefully, as I get more used to my position, I’ll reach the point where I’m NOT working 50 hours a week, and thus have more time to devote this again. Here’s hoping, anyway. 

I love talking about heroes and villains, and I really love knowing that I have folks like you that want to read my ramblings. Honestly, if I could figure out a way for this blog to generate an actual revenue stream, I’d quit my job and work on this full time. But, given that over the last year I’ve generated a grand total of 5 dollars, that seems kind of impossible. Stranger things have happened. I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, but expect at least one more post before February ends. Have a good night everyone.

Review: Deadpool

And that’s why you don’t have a Theme Week, Deadpool.

Huh, okay that’s a fair point. Are you going to explain it again for the regulars?

That’ll be next time. For now, let’s get to your movie.

B-e-a-utiful. I love talking about me.

Okay, so Deadpool is a very different superhero film. It’s raunchy, violent, and crazy, and anyone who takes their under 16-year-old to see it should seriously reconsider their parenting techniques.

It’s beautiful. SOOOOOOO Beautiful.

Took me ten years to get this gorgeous mug
on a poster. Worth it.

The movie opens with Deadpool in a taxi cab. He explains to the Indian man driving the cab that he’s planning on getting vengeance today. For Wade, it's Christmas in April, as he keeps insisting. After stiffing the guy on the cab fare-

I pay in high fives, the most encouraging currency.

Sure… Anyway, he leaps into action. To call the action sequence that followed one sided would be an understatement. Deadpool slaughters his opponents, despite only having, what, twelve bullets?

Exactly. I’m economical.

After that, we finally get more or less Deadpool’s backstory. He’s a former special forces soldier that was working as a mercenary at a local bar. Basically, if you can pone up the cash, old Wade Wilson would threat and possibly kill anyone that’s giving him trouble. He’s not a great guy, thought, as he incites a fight between two other regulars at the bar in the hopes one would kill the other so he could win the dead pool. Shortly after that, he meets Vanessa, and the two really hit it off.

Hit it off? Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Back in my day we just called it f—

I’m trying to be subtle, Deadpool.

OH, I get it.

Sure you do, Deadpool. But yeah, they have several scenes that one should never watch with their parents, and Wade even proposes to her around Christmas time. Though, that’s when it hits the fan.

Late stage cancer in my brain, lungs, and prostate. Sooo much fun.

He tries to leave Vanessa a few times, to spare her from the mental/emotional pain of watching him wither. He finally does leave, once he’s approached by a mysterious man in a suit that offered him a cure for cancer, provided he was willing to be subjugated to some less than ethical experiments.

It's a love story. Sort of.

Yeah, the guy in charge, Francis, puts me through a bunch of screwy stress tests to try and trigger a mutation in me. We’re talking water torture, being smacked by bamboo poles, and so on. The tipping point was when I was stuck in a machine designed to keep me in a perpetual state of suffocation. It was sooo much fun that my mutation triggered, which had the less than savory side effect of turning my Ryan Reynolds face into a potato.

They flash forward to the freeway again, where Wade is finally able to fight and disable Francis. He goes by Ajax, FYI. He tries to force the mutant maker into fixing his face, but is interrupted by Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, a pair of X-Men.

Still want to trade names with her.

Apparently, Colossus and Deadpool had met before, as the big guy wants to force Wade into becoming an X-Man. Deadpool is less than thrilled, especially when Ajax uses the opportunity to slip away. We flashback again to how Deadpool escaped Ajax. His sidekick, a bruiser named Angel Dust, had a habit of keeping a match in her mouth like a cigarette. Deadpool head-butted her when they re-strapped him into the oxygen sucking machine to steal it. Ajax really should have taken the hint when you didn’t have a smartass remark.

If I’m not talking, I’m usually planning something horrible. I take the match, light with my mouth, and then blow the oxygen tanks to kingdom come. I show off my new healing powers, and get into a crazy Kung Fu fight with Francis. I would have had him, if I wasn’t as equipment-less as a man can be. That’s right, I get to fight bare butt naked.

It was…graphic. Deadpool is stabbed through the chest and left for dead. But, he survives the explosion, and sets about getting vengeance. He gets help from his buddy the Weasel, and starts setting himself up as Deadpool. We get a montage of him performing murder and mayhem.

If Trump can do it, Wilson/Bob '16.

My favorite was the Zamboni. So much fun.

Which leads to the confrontation at the freeway. After having his status of not-being-dead revealed, Ajax goes after Vanessa.

No body messes with my girl. Ain’t no body.

Which leads into the super intense final battle, with Deadpool, Colossus, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead vs. Ajax, Angel, and an army of goons.

They should have brought more goons to the Not-Helicarrier.

This is the perfect representation of Deadpool. We get to see his gross out humor, his “creative” approach to violence and torture, as well as the heavier stuff like how he handles his cancer and his status as a “Super Hero.” They have plenty fourth wall jokes, gross out jokes, and just regular jokes. My favorite was when he went to the X-Mansion for help, and comments on how “I only ever see [Colossus and Negasonic]. It’s like the studio couldn’t spring for more X-Men.” The CGI is great, the violence is great, too.

I think we spent most of the budget on dismembered body parts, and Colossus’ big metal body. I’m a little surprised I didn’t mention how weird it is that he’s always armored up. It’s like the perfect Deadpool-servation.

Ryan Reynolds is excellent as the Merc with a Mouth. It’s like this entire movie was a big fat “I’m sorry,” for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. TJ Miller, Vanessa Carlysle are great as Weasel and Vanessa, respectively. Ed Skrein is great as the villain, Ajax. The perfect mix of sadistic, and yet still quirky. He really really really wants to make Deadpool call him Ajax, but Deadpool refuses. I also find it kind of hilarious that Colossus, who is a mixture of motion capture, and top notch voice acting, got more characterization here then he did in four main series X-Men movies. Pretty nuts. I honestly have no major complaints for this one.

So… I get an A?

A+ Mr. Wilson.

Heck yes. It’s hammer time. Uh-ho, uh-ho.

I can cross Deadpool doing the MC Hammer dance off of my list of things I’d thought I’d never see. So yeah, if you’re interested go see Deadpool. It’s a fun story. Next time, I’ll be giving ya’ll an update on some changes that’ll be happening here. Have a good night everybody.

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Viewer Log: Arrow ep 4

When we last left Mr. Queen, he was frantically saving the life of his unlucky bodyguard, John Diggle. Diggle had taken a few GSW’s to the chest, with bullets that were laced with curare. So he’s doubly screwed. Or would be, if Oliver hadn’t gotten him to his lair in time. When Diggle awakens, he learns that his employer is actually the mysterious Hood that’s been running around town. I feel like this was an “Ohhh!” moment for Diggle. Oliver asks Diggle to help him with his crusade against the corrupt elite of Starling City, but Diggle is a little uncomfortable with the offer. He leaves in a huff.

Oliver comes home, gets chastised for apparently abandoning his family by Laurel, you know, the usual hero clichés. The next day, Oliver finds out Diggle quit, and he already has a replacement Bodyguard. I didn’t bother learning his name, he’s not that important. He also hears about a news story from when he went missing, of a man named Peter Declan murdering his wife Camille. The part that interests him, Camille had worked for a fellow named Jason Brodeur. Who is on the list. Dun-dun duuuunnnn. And just to make sure we get that Brodeur is a bad guy, we see him meeting with his head of security, who confirmed that he did indeed kill Camille. Way to make us work for it, Arrow Writers. Oliver, in his Hood costume, gets Laurel to look into the case, and we learn from Declan that his wife was going to report Brodeur for illegal dumping.

Say what you like about Laurel, but she's an effective attorney.

Back with Diggle, he’s spending time with his sister-in-law, Carlee. She generally approves of Diggle quitting, and that Oliver is an @%$, just for Oliver to show up. He descretely tries to convince Diggle to join him again, even showing him the book and the list, and telling Diggle how his father died. While a little more intrigued than last time, Diggle still says no. Oliver then gets in costume and “talks” with Camille’s supervisor. By now, you should get that when I say “talk” it involves torture. This time, he uses a train. Oliver is a sucker for the classics. He learns that Camille gave the supervisor a file with all the info. He gives the file to Laurel, who gives it to a judge, but it’s not enough for the judge to stay Declan’s execution.

Diggle talks with Carlee again, this time, it sounds like both think that working with Oliver is the “right” thing. Oliver goes after Brodeur, who after being shot through the hand, tells Oliver that Declan and Laurel are good as dead. Oliver rushes to Iron Heights Prison, and arrives just in time to save the two. The security guy Declan met in the beginning staged a prison break to cover up the hit. Oliver saves the day, and Declan is reunited with his daughter. Everybody wins. Oliver’s mother, Moira, meets with a mysterious man. Said guy points out that all the Hood’s targets are part of their secret little cabal. The plot thickens. Diggle meets Oliver at the lair, and agrees, though he refuses to be a side kick. When they go back to the Queen mansion, Oliver is arrested. Oh, forgot to mention that subplot. Detective Lance got some video footage of Oliver grabbing his gear in the previous episode, and sets out to stop the Hood.  

The Island subplot, Oliver is barely surviving. The Archer gives him a bird. He says something in Chinese, that Oliver doesn’t get. I understood based on the context right away, Kill the Bird if you want to eat. Once Oliver finally get it and kills the bird, the Archer, in English, tells Oliver what he was saying means “survive.” He urges Oliver to stop looking at his picture of Laurel and survive the island. There’s also a subplot of Walter Steele looking into an accounting irregularity. 2 million dollars missing, pretty big irregularity. He gets Felicity to look into it, and learns Moira invested it in something called Tempest Industries. They just have bought a warehouse. Walter goes to the warehouse, and discovers the wreckage of the Queen’s Gambit. This plot is pudding thick.

This episode was solid, but not fantastic. Pretty standard, Oliver finds a local injustice and solves it. Him trying to convince Diggle to help him stop the people on his list is an interesting little plot. When Diggle does agree, he does give one of the better speeches in the show about why he’s going to help. Don’t want to ruin it, just watch the episode and enjoy. Next time-

We need to have a chat.

Deadpool? What are you doing here?

What opens this week?

Y-your movie?

Yeah, MY movie. So where the heck is my Theme Week? Shnk Think carefully before answering, and I might not stick this katana into you.

Ah…. Next time, Deadpool review. Goodnight everybody. Gotta run!

Get back here, you nerd!

Viewer Log: Arrow ep 3

Episode Three opens to Oliver Queen pumping iron and monologuing. He does a lot of both of these things throughout the series. I can sum up 90% of the monologues from season 1, “(Insert Name) has failed this City. I’m going after him/her.” This particular robber baron, James Holden, owns a company that installed substandard fire alarms in The Glades, Starling City’s low income district. Oliver implies that there’ve been dozens of deaths. Messy. Holden had just won the lawsuit that would have required him to pay damages to the survivors and their next of kin. Oliver decided to “converse” with Holden and strongly suggest he reconsider paying. He goes to Holden’s penthouse, takes out his guards, and confronts Holden. Before they can get into the meat of their conversation, Holden is shot and killed, and Oliver takes a bullet or two dodging the gunman.

Back at his hideout, Oliver does his best to do some forensic investigating on his new opponent. Which is interrupted when he realizes that the bullet he was hit with was poisoned. He takes some sort of anti-toxin before passing out. Flashback to the island, but I’ll get to that in a minute. He wakes up hours later, returns home, and sees his sister being brought in for breaking and entering. Thea Queen has continued the family tradition of being a problem child, much to Oliver’s dismay. While the cops start investigating Holden’s murder, all but Detective Lance convinced that “The Hood” did it, Oliver is a couple of steps ahead. Bullet’s laced with curare, a deadly poison, and making incredibly difficult shots are the signature of an assassin that various intelligence agencies have labeled Deadshot.

Kind of amazing that a guy with a bow and arrow could beat him
Just sayin'.

Oliver takes a quick break from investigating to show Tommy, and to a lesser extent Diggle, his factory. Not the cool stuff he set up in the basement, but the ground floor. His plan is to turn it into a nightclub. Why? To Tommy, Diggle, and everyone else, because he’s a bored trust fund baby. Really? To cover his…unusual hobby. Hey, I’ve heard worse ideas. Rather shockingly, we learn that Oliver has connections to the Russian Mob. Yeah, they don’t go into detail about that one for a while. He’s able to get info on Deadshot, whom the Mob have used before. He learns that Deadshot is Floyd Lawton, and where his usual hideouts are. He confronts Lawton at his hideout, but Deadshot is a rather tough opponent and escapes. Oliver gets his hands on a laptop, which he brings to Queen Consolidated’s IT expert, Felicity Smoak. Felicity, who is awkward but adorable, is able to get some info from the laptop.

Apparently, there’s a company up for auction, and one of the perspective buyers hired Lawton to…lessen the competition. Oliver looks into the site that the auction is going to take place in, and it’s pretty much a perfect killing site for someone of Lawton’s skills. Oliver, as the Hood, goes to Det. Lance and lets the Detective know what’s going to go down. Lance sets up a security detail, and Oliver prepares for the fight. Deadshot starts shooting, and Lance just barely save’s Oliver’s step-father Walter. Oliver gets Diggle to watch out for his mom and sister, and sets out to stop Deadshot. Oliver and Deadshot duke it out, while having a morality debate. You know how it goes, “you’re a killer” “so are you” “Shut up, I’m different.” Oliver is just barely able to stop Deadshot, after the assassin’s wrist mounted machine gun runs out of ammo. Arrow through his funky telescopic lens, and into his eye. The euphoria of victory quickly fades when Oliver turns around, and sees Diggle. Diggle had followed Oliver, you know, because he’s a bodyguard, and took several bullets. Oliver rushes to his lair, and treats him for GSW’s and poisoning. The episode ends with Diggle seeing Oliver in gear.

The flashback story is pretty simple. The mysterious Archer pulls the arrow he hit Oliver with from his shoulder. After recovering, Oliver attempts to escape, is caught in a net, and then rescued again by the Archer. He’s really sticking his neck out for a spoiled rich boy. Just saying.

Overall, a solid episode. It is the firsts time that Oliver goes beyond his personal quest and starts fighting a villain that isn’t related to his list. We also get some odd little inconsistencies with his past. If he was stuck on the Island for five years, how the heck did he get connections with the Russian Mob? And where did he get training in forensics? Get set up for the long haul, cause those questions won’t be answered for a while, just a heads up. Deadshot is a decent villain for Arrow, as his skill set is close enough to be a real threat to Mr. Queen. There’s some continued exploration of Thea’s bad habits, as she’s 17, getting drunk, breaking and entering, and just overall being a problem child. The whole dad and bro being dead thing really messed with her, apparently. This episode also introduced the breakout character of the series, Felicity Smoak. Ms. Smoak was originally supposed to be a one-off character, name dropped, does her thing, and then fade back into the background. But, actress Emily Bett Richards’s portrayal of the socially awkward, but still adorable tech geek, and her chemistry with Stephen Amell turned her into a recurring character for season 1, and then a major cast member for the rest of the series. While I’m not crazy about the “Olicity” fandom, look it up some of those folks are just plain nuts, I do enjoy Felicity and her quirky quirkiness. We also get some exploration of Diggle, as they introduce his sister-in-law, Carlee, and learn that he’s got a dead brother. Minor things for now, but they’ll get more important as the series goes on. So yeah, good episode. Next time, number 4 of Arrow.