Daredevil: Born Again (Season 2) + The Punisher: One Last Kill

 

From ChatGTP: Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again picks up about six months after the end of season 1, with Matt Murdock operating as a fugitive vigilante while Wilson Fisk tightens his grip on New York as mayor. Fisk expands his Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF), effectively turning the city into a police state where masked heroes are hunted.

Matt teams up with Karen Page, journalist BB Urich, and a growing underground resistance to expose Fisk’s corruption. At the same time, Fisk gains support from powerful political figures, including the mysterious government operative Mr. Charles, who hints that Fisk’s influence may spread beyond New York. 

Because of the AVTF, Matt has been in hiding ever since saving Fisk from Bullseye in season 1. In season 2, Karen is placed on trial, accused of aiding vigilantes. Matt comes out of hiding to represent Karen as his lawyer. As the trial proceeds, he reveals himself as being Daredevil to undermine Fisk and save Karen, effectively ending any separation from his personal life and Daredevil. 

The trial against Karen Page turns against Fisk, as state authorities come after him, forcing him out of office and into exile. However, Matt's admission that he is Daredevil has its own consequences, as he is arrested for his actions while he is Daredevil. 

The biggest item to come out of this season is the return of Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones. I enjoyed the Jessica Jones series and her character, so her return was exciting. Additionally, it is revealed that Jessica has had a child since we've seen her last and the father is Luke Cage, setting up a possible reunion of the Defenders!

The Punisher: One Last Kill is a standalone episode of another one of my favorite Marvel characters. It's interesting because on the surface, The Punisher is a character that I wouldn't be interested in. But he is so emotionally complex, and Jon Bernthal plays him so well, that he has become a character that I really like. From ChatGTP:

After the events of Daredevil: Born Again, Frank is isolated, traumatized, and trying to abandon the Punisher identity entirely. He locks away his weapons and appears close to suicide, haunted by visions and memories of his dead family.

The story begins when crime boss Ma Gnucci places a bounty on Frank’s head to avenge the destruction of her family. Criminals flood Frank’s neighborhood looking to kill him, turning his apartment block and surrounding streets into a war zone. Frank initially wants nothing to do with the violence. Once the attacks escalate, Frank fully becomes the Punisher again.

Bernthal is fantastic as always as The Punisher. This is the most violent Marvel show I've seen, and at times the violence is a little bit much for me, however.

Timepiece Blueprint - Year 1 - A (Themed) Chronograph

Historically I've gravitated towards chronographic watches. I've always found them visually appealing to look at, and I think they're just cool to be honest. In more recent times I've found watches with simpler dials more appealing. Watches with less complications are sleeker and pair better with dress clothes, and honestly are easier to read. With that being said, however, I think every watch collection needs a chronographic watch, and this watch checks off two boxes in my revised collection: (1) a chronograph, and (2) a themed watch.

There are numerous themed watches available. Breitling has NFL watches, there are lots of Snoopy collaborations, and possibly the most famous is Omega with their James Bond watches. I'm a huge Indycar fan, and a huge fan of the Indy 500, so the Tag Heuer F1 Chronograph Indy 500 Special Edition is the perfect themed watch for me. It's an homage on my wrist to my favorite and one of the most famous sporting events in the world, made by a watch company in Tag Heuer with a rich and deep history in racing.

The watch features the Indianapolis Motor Speedway "wing & wheels" logo on the bottom complication at 6 o'clock. The second hand is in the complication between 2 and 3 o'clock. It features quartz movement, which on the one hand is considered less "fancy" as mechanical movement, but on the other hand is more reliable, especially in a watch that you may not wear daily. The red hand that looks like a second hand and the complication to the right of the watch are chronographic time keeping portions of the watch. The face is black and is surrounded by a red band, giving it a sporty and racy appearance. The 11 is also highlighted in red, paying attention to the year 1911 which was when the first Indy 500 was ran, which is a nice touch. 

Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord (Season 1)

 

I've always enjoyed the Dave Filoni animated Star Wars shows, so I was excited for this show when it was announced. His Rebels and Clone Wars series added so much context and story to the Skywalker series, most of which was quite interesting. As for Maul, he is a character who is quite famous considering how relatively little screen time he had in just one of the main Star Wars movies, Episode 1. Despite the small amount of screen time, Maul as a character is quite complex, with a rich back story that is explained primarily in the Clone Wars TV show and extended in Rebels. From ChatGTP:

Darth Maul was born on the planet Dathomir as a member of the Nightbrother clan, a group tied to the mystical witches known as the Nightsisters. As a child, he was taken by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who secretly trained him to become a weapon of the Sith. Sidious raised Maul in extreme isolation and brutality, teaching him that anger, hatred, and pain were sources of strength.

By the time of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Maul had become Sidious’ deadly apprentice. Maul fought Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo, killing Qui-Gon before Obi-Wan defeated him by cutting him in half and sending him down a reactor shaft.

Although presumed dead, Maul survived through sheer hatred and the dark side of the Force. He ended up on the junk planet Lotho Minor, mentally broken and using crude mechanical spider-like legs to survive. Eventually, his brother Savage Opress found him and brought him back to Dathomir, where the Nightsisters restored his mind and gave him cybernetic legs.

After recovering, Maul became obsessed with revenge against Obi-Wan Kenobi and also sought power independent of Sidious. During the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he built a criminal empire called the Shadow Collective by uniting groups like Death Watch and several crime syndicates. He briefly took control of Mandalore and murdered Satine Kryze in front of Obi-Wan as an act of revenge.

In Star Wars Rebels, he became a wandering, bitter figure seeking ancient Sith knowledge and trying to manipulate Ezra Bridger into becoming an ally or apprentice.

Maul’s story ultimately ends on the desert planet Tatooine, where he tracked down an older Obi-Wan Kenobi. Their final duel was extremely short, with Obi-Wan killing Maul in a single strike. As he died, Maul asked whether Obi-Wan was protecting “the Chosen One,” and Obi-Wan confirmed it. Maul died believing that Luke Skywalker would one day destroy the Sith and avenge them both against Sidious.

In Maul: Shadow Lord, the series follows Darth Maul after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as he tries to rebuild his criminal empire while surviving in a galaxy now controlled by the Empire. He believes he can operate and regain strength while working from within the shadows. However, his actions draw the attention of the Empire, who send Inquisitors to retrieve him at first, and ultimately Darth Vader comes after him. Maul is portrayed as an angry and tragic villain, rather than just a Sith assassin. He is still upset at what Darth Sidious put him through, and is mad that the world has moved on without him. While the first couple of episodes are a bit slow and without much action, as the season moved along, the plot picked up and the action got intense, especially once the Empire showed up. The animation was appealing, almost looking like a van Gogh painting in style. I haven't heard news on a second season, but if there is one I will plan to watch. 

Assassin's Creed: Unity

 

I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Assassin's Creed (AC) games. About half to two-thirds of the games I've played I've enjoyed, while the rest I didn't really care for. AC: Unity is a bit in the middle for me. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. I liked it well enough to complete the game, though there were a couple of occasions during the campaign where I thought about quitting. I had read that starting with AC: Origins (or possibly Odyssey) the gameplay shifted from a stealth approach to more of an action approach. AC: Unity came out before these games and definitely has more of a stealth approach. I'm OK with either approach, although there were a few stages early in the game where if you were caught you failed the stage, without an option to fight off the enemies. I don't particularly like this situation, and this was one of the times I almost quit the game. Luckily, most of the time if you were caught you simply just fought off the enemies. A lot of the stages involved infiltrating heavily defended areas, and being stealthy was definitely an advantage, and I'm OK with that. Here is the plot summary from ChatGTP:

Assassin's Creed Unity takes place in late 18th-century Paris during the French Revolution. The story follows Arno Dorian, a young man caught between the centuries-old conflict between the Assassins and the Templars while France collapses into political violence.

As a child, Arno witnesses the murder of his father, an Assassin. He is later adopted by François de la Serre, the Grand Master of the French Templars, and grows up alongside de la Serre’s daughter, Élise, with whom he falls in love. Years later, Arno is blamed when de la Serre is assassinated during a party at Versailles. Imprisoned in the Bastille, he meets the Assassin Bellec, who recruits him into the Brotherhood after they escape during the storming of the Bastille in 1789.

Arno joins the French Assassins primarily to uncover who framed him and killed de la Serre. His investigation reveals that a radical faction within the Templar Order is responsible. These extremists, led by François-Thomas Germain, want to exploit the Revolution to gain power through chaos and terror. Germain manipulates key revolutionary figures and events from behind the scenes, worsening the bloodshed in Paris.

As the Revolution intensifies, Arno witnesses major historical events and figures, including the execution of King Louis XVI, the rise of Maximilien Robespierre, and the Reign of Terror.

The climax takes place in the Temple crypt beneath Paris. Germain possesses a powerful Sword of Eden, an ancient First Civilization artifact capable of unleashing destructive energy. During the confrontation, Élise ignores Arno’s warnings and attacks Germain directly. Germain kills her, but Arno manages to defeat him afterward.

I found 18th century Paris to be a bit drab. The city itself wasn't particularly interesting, and I found it a bit difficult to navigate due to the winding streets and surrounding tall buildings. However, I want to highlight the people and crowds. They were huge (seemingly in the 1,000s at times), and at times you had to navigate through these massive rioting crowds to accomplish your task. That part of the game was pretty neat, and impressive actually, because there were no noticeable frame rate drops. As usual, the modern day portions of the game did nothing for me. Luckily they were minimal in this game. The controls were a bit sluggish, something that plagues a lot of games from the 2010-era. I've listed my grievances with this game, but generally it was enjoyable. 

Your Friends & Neighbors (Season 1)

 

Season 2 of Your Friends & Neighbors (YF&N) just released, and subsequently there has been a lot of chatter about the show on Apple social media as well as other news feeds I follow. The chatter has been mostly positive. I like Jon Hamm, and really like Olivia Munn, so I decided to give it a shot. Overall I enjoyed the first season, though I thought a couple of the episodes right in the middle of the season dragged a bit in plot progression. Below is the summary of the premise of the show from ChatGTP:

Season 1 of the Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors follows Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a wealthy hedge fund manager whose life falls apart after he loses his job and goes through a painful divorce. Desperate to maintain the luxurious lifestyle he and his family are used to, Coop begins secretly robbing the homes of the rich people in his upscale suburban community.

What starts as a way to stay financially afloat gradually becomes addictive, and Coop discovers that the seemingly perfect lives of his friends and neighbors are filled with affairs, lies, blackmail, and dangerous secrets. As he digs deeper into their lives through his burglaries, he gets pulled into a larger criminal mystery involving a suspicious death.

This show is different than most shows I watch (it's non sci-fi) and was a nice change of pace. The drama was uncomfortable at times, but overall it was enjoyable and even funny at times. Seeing how the 1% live (Patek Philippe watches for example) is both interesting and amazing, honestly. I know the show was fictitious, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of what was shown is true in certain communities. It's interesting how Coop's perspective of his rich neighbors changes once he falls on "hard" times and learns about some of their questionable actions. Like I said above, the show overall was enjoyable with some lull in plot progression and uncomfortable drama, but I liked it enough that I plan on watching season 2. I like a lot of the actors in the show, and I think this is the first thing I've seen Olivia Munn in since her Attack of the Show days (except for the one X-Men appearance). I enjoyed the watch references in the show as well! 

Grid Legends

 

I've been playing Grid Legends off and on since I got a Playstation Plus subscription in 2022. I enjoyed the game, but for whatever reason it was always the first game I dropped when I was crunched for gaming time or when a new game came along that I wanted to play. I finally dedicated time to play through the game on the Portal, and though I didn't finish the game per se, I played through all of the rounds that I was easily able to unlock. I've definitely dedicated enough time to this game for it to have its own post, and my thoughts are below.

The first thing to say about Grid Legends is that it looks fantastic. I don't typically spend a lot of time discussing graphics on modern games because in the era of 4K visuals with high refresh rates, and with the current generation of gaming hardware, most games look amazing. Grid Legends looks particularly good, however. It most definitely is an arcade racer, featuring 20+ cars on the track simultaneously with very close racing. Cars take damage, have mechanical failures with David Hobbs-style kablamos, and even flip and roll at times. All of this with over-the-top laser light shows and fireworks going on in the background. The frame rate remains smooth and the crashes are spectacular. Some of the best damage visuals I've seen. I remember a race I did recently at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, where it was lightly snowing. Seeing snow on a racetrack is rare, and seeing how it looked on this game was fantastic. 

Going back to the arcade racing style of the game, I think this is both a strength and weakness of the game. On the positive side, there are a lot of fun racing categories and secondarily fun cars to drive on this game. One of the more memorable races was a semi truck race on the IMS oval, in the dark, and in the rain. Are you kidding?!? The super trucks were a lot of fun to drive too. In addition to semis and trucks, there are GT cars, prototype cars, open wheel cars, etc. There's plenty of fun and oftentimes unique racing categories to keep the gameplay fresh. I generally enjoyed the arcade style of racing. At times I thought the controls were a bit less responsive than they should be, and the AI drivers can be particularly aggressive. Otherwise, the gameplay was fun.

The track selection is decent. The real track selection was great. I thought a lot of the fictional tracks were mediocre, but racing through the streets of downtown Chicago with the elevated train above was super cool. Overall, this game was a lot of fun and a nice break from the more serious racing games that I typically play. There was plenty of racing leagues and tracks to keep me entertained for a long time. The controls and aggressive AI drivers were a bit of a negative at times, but otherwise it was a fun game to play.

Tropic Envy

Tropic Envy is the 4th book in Van Coops' Luke Angel series. Like the earlier books in the series, the novel combines tropical atmosphere, flying sequences, humor, and thriller elements, with Luke portrayed as a reluctant but capable hero who keeps getting pulled into trouble around the aviation world. I have generally enjoyed the books as they are quick and entertaining reads. Sometimes at the end of the day it is nice to enjoy a story without having to think too hard. The first book in the series is the best one in my opinion. This is probably the 3rd best book of the four. The mystery of who is guilty wasn't exactly hard to figure out, though their motives remained a secret until the end of the book. Below is the plot from ChatGTP.

Luke enjoys a relatively simple life running his seaplane business, but everything changes after he performs a heroic rescue that gets captured on camera. Overnight, he becomes a local celebrity, attracting attention from influencers, rival pilots, and people around the airport he’d rather avoid. The sudden fame puts him in the middle of airport politics and personal conflicts he normally keeps clear of.

Things escalate when someone connected to the airfield dies under suspicious circumstances. Luke starts investigating because the details don’t add up, and he suspects the death is connected to secrets hidden within the tight-knit aviation community. As he digs deeper, he encounters a cast of colorful but potentially dangerous characters, including an influencer chasing attention, an angry flight instructor, and a sarcastic charter pilot.

The deeper Luke gets into the mystery, the more his own reputation suffers. Rumors spread, tensions rise, and he realizes someone at the airport is willing to kill to protect the truth. The novel builds toward a fast-paced finale involving aviation action, betrayals, and dangerous confrontations in the Florida heat.

With the exception of the influencer Sierra, I didn't particularly find the other cast of characters all that interesting. Like I said, the mystery was easy to figure out (mostly), but I didn't understand the motive until the end of the book. Tropic Envy is a decent book, and is easy to read and overall enjoyable. But I think the first book in the series remains the best one.