The Big Finish Catch-Up September 2021 - December 2021

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues; 

However as I've fallen behind its time for some snap reviews of the last years of my Big Finish listening, these contain first time listens and relistens to old favourites: 

The Maltese Penguin - A lovely subscriber special from the early years with a big helping of Frobisher 8/10.

Sympathy for the Devil - An interesting twist as we see a "what if UNIT faced all those invasions without The Doctor" with two melancholy performances from David Warner and Nicholas Courtney. A release where the performances and ending are more engaging than the story 7/10.

Brave New Town - A well plotted "twist story" that is always engaging and has some memorable characters 8/10.

Exile - A rare wrong turn for Big Finish that comes over as transphobic, unfunny and nasty -10/10.

45 - A combination of four episodic stories with a joint theme featuring the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex. Absolute fun as the regulars are thrown into some fast paced short stories 9/10.

Out of Time - A fun fast paced story as the 4th and 10th Doctors are paired up for some fun with the Daleks 8/10

Return of the Krotons - Fun subscriber special with a notable guest appearance from Philip Madoc 6/10.

Legion of the Lost - First story of the War Doctors second box set, John Hurt is immense but the story feels unsatisfyingly Doctorish 6/10.

Full Fathom Five - Another "unbound" story that gets better with a re-listen as no attempt is made to hide the stories twist 7/10.

Thoughts on Game of Thrones: The Mountain and the Viper

I've decided to put some thoughts of some notable Game of Thrones episodes as I go through them for the first time so obviously beware spoilers. There's a wonderful structural form to this episode as we start off in the North and as we catch up with different characters events take us further South. Also we start with a Wildling from the furthest North we've been being unexpectedly saved and end with someone from the Southernmost point of Westeros being unexpectedly killed after it looks like he's about to win a trial by combat. A very different start to finish and an episode that takes us on a journey where possibly the most engrossing scene is the finale.

The Wildlings are getting closer and closer to Castle Black. They're taking their time but due to Gilly and the baby being in the town they sack we finally have a raid that has a stake in it for the viewer.

Over the narrow sea one of the constants of the show from the very start is taken away as Jorah and Daenerys part ways. This is a pivotal moment for the series as they have been together from the start and for a long time Jorah was the only practical resource she had. Its rather heart breaking to see Robert Baratheon's signature showing that Jorah's treachery stems from so early in the show. The visual of allies who joined later preventing Jorah from reaching Daenerys is both powerful and a visual representation of how far she's come since episode one.

At Arryn we get a little bit of politics as Littlefinger passes his murder of Lysa's off as suicide. Sansa's assistance is most interesting as is the prospect of Arya arriving at the castle with The Hound. Arya herself provides some amusement at her reaction to Lysa's death.

Theon continues to show how he's regressed as he betrays more of the Iron Islanders. The Bolton's now look like they have control of the entire North. Ramsay continues to be my most loathed in a panto villain like character - a position he took from Theon - although it is lovely to see him rewarded by being officially inducted as a Bolton.

Finally the titular fight as Oberyn Martell takes on The Mountain in Tyrion's trial by combat. Coming at the end it did feel like we weren't going to visit Kings Landing this episode. However we get the moment that I expect this episode is remembered for as we get a fight scene with a shocking swerve at the end which takes it up to 10/10. This fight is expertly directed and is beautiful, it is reminiscent of the fight scenes from the film Troy with an unexpected flavour of The Princess Bride. Memorable as a scene in its own right it is also tide firmly to the plot as we're thrown into the end credits things don't look good for Tyrion and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Lost - Catch 22

This is without doubt a beautiful episode, with a big time event for the series as a whole. For the first time we get to see Desmonds visions from his point of view. Not only this we get to see Desmond trying to understand and come to terms with them - he comes to the wrong conclusions but its fascinating to see how worked up he gets trying to make his vision comes true.

The flashback is good as well as at first it looks like an in-joke explaining why Desmond calls people "brother" all the time. Like in the present part of the episode we see him making decisions and coming to the wrong answers. However in a wonderful twist we find out that the flashback is the tale of how he meets Penny as she turns up unexpectedly right at the end.

There's a little bit of fluff about the Jack - Kate - Sawyer love triangle but its very uninteresting. Of note is Charlie and Jin doing a lot more than usual as is the reveal we have a new character who is somehow linked to Desmond, 9/10.

Deep Space Nine - Dax

This is a really nice episode with a simple mission statement, help the viewers understand what a Trill is. I'm watching the series with my sister whose never watched it before and at the end she had a firm understanding of who Jadzia Dax is, her relationship with Sisko and is looking forward to seeing more of her as we go forward. The trial format adds an element of danger to the episode as its blatantly obvious that if Dax gets extradited she's going to pay for what is possibly Curzons crime.

Most of the other regulars get something to do this episode, from taking a part in the hearing to doing some investigating - in fact the only criticism I have is the one who gets the least to do is arguably Dax whose job for the episode is to be centre stage when the storm rages around her. But I'm willing to shrug this off as it feels like a gateway episode to bring Dax onto centre stage from the side lines.

Its a notable guest cast this week as we get Gregory Itzin off of 24, Anne Haney off of Liar Liar (and loads more) and Fionnula Flanagan off of Lost. Between them all they were fairly regular irregulars and all help power the episode. It's a strong 7/10 from me.

Lost - One of Us

There is a lot of stuff going on in this episode which is a relief after the start of the season. We see more of Juliets back story as her flashbacks fill in her time on the island and fill us in on her motivations before throwing in a possible swerve at the end. 

The majority of the episode is the ramification of Juliet switching sides from The Other to the Losties* and the issue of will they accept her. There's decent stuff happening here with Claire getting some screen time and Juliet gets a rather convenient chance to prove herself. We get a good bit of character stuff as various Losties get to interact with Juliet - some for the first time with Hurley stealing the scene he's in and Sayid & Sawyer showing their distrust.

It's a 7/10 from me and a really good strong flashback which adds a lot to the episode and helps colour in a character we hadn't met until this season.  

* I need a shorthand for the regulars and this is all I've got 

Deep Space Nine - Q-Less

Oh, I'd forgot that Q was in DS9!

We're in curates egg territory in this episode in that we have the first episode not to have any of the main cast as the starring character - something that the show would go on to be known for due to the strength of the supporting cast. However the two main characters of the episode are Q and (looks up wikipedia) Vash who I have no memory of what so ever.

Vash is actually quite fun - she's paired up in a fun double act with Quark and if anything she's the actual base of which the episode is built around. Q however does not fit at all into the DS9 format which is strange as he's brilliant everywhere else I've seen him. The strength of Q has always been in his relationship with the commanding officer to the show - to Picard he's the court jester ready to throw the Enterprise about for his own amusement and to Janeway he's the maturing class joker eager to prove that he's capable of maturing. With Sisko we get nothing - straight away he's viewed as a nuisance and someone who he's been briefed on. We get an amusing scene and moments here or there but there's no time given to creating a relationship.

The regulars mostly suffer this episode, O'Brien is perhaps given the worst material wondering around the station making references to the Enterprise while the only two that escape unharmed are Bashir and Quark. Quark gets his fun double act and arguably the most screen time while Bashir gets some comedy moments with Vash and Q before being written out for half of the episode.

I'm giving this 6/10 as Vash alone (plus Quark) makes this a fun episode however there is no need for Q. He's a half arsed addition to the episode that the producers don't fully commit to. The episode is notable for being the first to be fronted by a guest cast but it feels wrong as it's the guest cast from another show. Personally I think it's a swing and a miss instead of something that didn't work and without an early episode like this we'd never see the supporting cast grow.

Lost - Left Behind

This is a very tight episode, there is a lot going on but it has the feel of an episode where not a single shot is wasted. It's another episode where the action is spread over multiple locations; the flashback, the Others Barracks and the beach camp. The flashback bearing in mind the subject matter is the weakest part of the episode - plus it seems to mix up the Left Behind metaphor the episode is based around with Never Go Back. In order for this episode to work we need to see more of what Kate left behind. We get two good guest actors on show in the shape of Kim Dickens off of Deadwood and Elizabeth Broderick of Teenage Witchery fame - other shows may apply. They should have been given better material.

The stuff at the Barracks is brilliant, everything is from Kate's point of view - not from a camera Peep Show sense but it's certainly from her lens. Juliet is viewed as suspicious and Jack as some kind of end of level trophy that she has her aim on. There's a good scene with Locke early on which perfectly sums up his character, he's trying to be judgemental, aloof, looking for a moment where he gets to say goodbye and "ascend" but like Kate we don't care - we want to know where Jack is. We get a good set piece with Kate and Juliet handcuffed and encountering the smoke monster - we find out The Others don't know a lot about it and that the Pylon fence is designed to keep it out. The theme of this section is that The Others have gone and left behind everyone they (or Ben?) don't want - including Juliet.

The stuff at the camp with Sawyer and Hurley is lovely character stuff. Hurley manipulates Sawyer to be the leader they need in a series of comical set pieces and at this point we're getting the double act we didn't know we needed as the two characters bond.

It's a strong 8/10 from me and with a stronger flashback this could have been something special.

Lost - Expose

When I review something I like to review what is given to us viewers on the screen, however that is not going to be possible for this episode. The meat of this review is what happened backstage and due to the nature of the show it's going to centre on the production team's continued path to distrust. First of all a quick sum up of the episode, it's a good bit of fluff and gives the camp something to do while we take an episode away from the rescue attempt, ordinarily this would get a fun fluffy 6/10.

I fully believe that the production team let down Kiele Sanchez & Rodrigo Santoro the actors who play Nikki & Paulo and threw them to the wolves. From day one the producers of Lost were clear that they had a plan, as a viewer I was cool with that liked what I saw and decided I was in this for the long haul. And then season two happened, on my watch through (which started before these reviews) the season was better than I remembered but then it did spend half the season introducing "the tailies" a group of five character's (two main, two supporting and an occasional guest character) who were then killed off, or thrown into the background or given an average of one scene a season. But then again they did introduce Ben so we got a bit of goodness and a lot of dead end story that went nowhere.

We reach season three and we're repeating the start of the previous season in that it's a very slow start and the show has never been good at pacing the use of characters. If you take every regular and put them in the category of overused, underused or just right very few will be in the third category. Due to the pacing fandom of the show was at a low ebb as season three got going and the wrath of fandom was taken out on Nikki and Paulo who started cropping up in the background of scenes and like most of the cast based at the camp didn't do a lot. The producers to appease fans announced they had a plan for the show and it would be a six season run, then to appease us short term killed off Nikki and Paulo.

This is just abject cowardness imo and shows a lack of production management, also it takes away a little trust as a viewer. From this point there would always be a bit of suspicion between myself and the producers. As an episode it's fine, it even has a lot of fannish touches for viewers in bringing back characters from the dead for some flashbacks. Everything I've read about the initial plans for the characters sound brilliant and going through with those storylines would have been a good way to get the show on track. As such from a character point of view we have Nikki and Paulo playing their endgame characters for this episode and are not recognisable to the characters we've seen for the entire run up to now. It's like watching episode one of Robot seeing Tom Baker making his debut as The Doctor and not tuning in again until episode four as Logopolis the performances are unrecognisable from each other but in Tom's case we saw the character change. As such this episode gets two marks 6/10 for what we got on screen and 0/10 for the spineless producers.

Deep Space Nine - Captive Pursuit

A fun little episode which sees Chief O'Brien takes centre stage and also the first time someone comes through the worm hole from the Gamma quadrant. We get a nice little bit of culture as we see Tosk through the eyes of O'Brien and the first few acts of the episode are us getting to know Tosk while trying to figure whats up with him. With the final act we get answers and also a mini invasion of the station which is quite fun.

Avery Brooks does a good low level performance as Sisko as he quickly realises what O'Brien is up to and slow rolls any attempt to stop him. Odo trying to resist racing after O'Brien after Sisko's orders is a fun moment. Colm Meaney & Scott Macdonald as Tosk are the main ingredients to this episode working as they give excellent performances. A good fun episode with interesting things to say about the Prime Directive, 8/10.

Lost - The Man From Tallahassee

I had forgot how brilliant this episode is, we've been building up to this one for some time as the rescue party has been moving closer to The Others camp. It's not the all action affair that "Not in Portland" was earlier in the season but that's ok - we get something we weren't expecting. We get a character episode where Ben and Locke are pushed to the for-front and we get so many good scenes with them both. All centred around the fact that one of them is in a wheelchair and the other isn't.

The rescue is over quite quickly - so quick it's easy to assume viewers would have been disappointed. Kate, Sayid, Rousseau and Locke against The Others to rescue Jack is an event that sells itself. After being overwhelmed they all get their moments but going into this episode I was expecting more. Jack's plan to escape is quite frankly a good one and there's a brilliant low level telegraph that this rescue attempt is going to lead to it failing.

We finally see how John lost the use of his legs and it's a good reveal. It's the conclusion of his flashbacks going back to season 1 and it's a case of a long standing plot line ending well. The placement of Lockes flashback in this episode is perfect as we see him with his private agenda of seeking to keep the use of his legs - he cares about no-one or nothing else. It feels at first that we're going to see a Locke episode where he isn't manipulated but them Ben enters onto the stage and we get a battle of wits between the two of them with each getting the upper hand at different stages.

Again it's a 10/10 episode which is mainly due to the level of performance of Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn. As with most highly regarded episodes we get a fantastic finale/cliff hanger and of note we get one of the main differences between Season 2 and 3. In the previous season we had endless scenes with Jack & Locke however as Locke blows up the submarine and Jacks way off the island we have the first time their paths cross this season. We're left in a wilder place than when we started the episode and I can't wait for the next one.

Lost - Par Avion

 A quick review due to time constraints.

A good Claire centric episode with flashbacks centring on the fact she's Jacks stepsister and introducing Daddy Shepard into her life. The mission to rescue Jack continues apace with some interesting tidbits about "the others" through the dialogue and things get more interesting when we reach the pylon fence. The stuff at the beach is good character stuff as Claire finds out about Desmond's visions. It's a good slow build performance by Emilie de Ravin as she's asked to be low key in her own centric episode but her performance get's more frenetic as the episode goes on. As well as a good character episode it's a good logistical episode as there is a lot of things going on and a lot of characters get screen time 8/10.

Lost - Enter 77

A rare run of the mill episode that just feels flat, nothing that happens in this episode is bad technically just uninspiring and bland. Sayid's flashback is uninteresting and the thing that sums up the episode best is when Rousseau (a character we've been waiting to turn up all season) decides to skip the episode and wait for the rest of the rescue team under a tree.

The Flame Station is a disappointment, Klugh's death is annoying and it feels like a wheels spinning while everyone goes through the motions. Mikhail is interesting but its faint praise. The classic example of a 5/10 episode.

Deep Space Nine - Babel

Here I am a walking Primrose. To eat the large tree with the slightly muddled bloomers. Always going forward because we can't find reverse as we watch them all fall down. Hanging around the place when I heard the hurdle scream and decided it was time for a change. Your going to need a sandwich with that versatility. Greenhorn of plenty is by no means tapping a head with the broom of destiny as we pogo the windows. But what shall the tally be if we forsake the duck.

Maybe next time I'll take a ride on by when your near. There are many veterans as we let the prizes float on out of the window. However can we really believe the perks if the moon strikes under six. Too many of our time can even out every single weeks. To decide to go when you are visible every single day from the cross of the tigers. Listening to a strange progression on the internet is the way forward, 8/10.

Lost - Tricia Tanaka is Dead

Despite the title this is a lovely fluffy fun episode for Hurley that has a few plot elements tucked in to keep the viewers happy. Hurley's flashback is fun and raises a few laughs and the tone is set straight away by his Mr Cluck fast food joint gets hit by a meteor. Timeline wise this takes place just before Hurley heads to Australia and it's all good set up. Special mention to Cheech Marin who sets his character to the tone of the episode in ways most actors are unable to.

In the meat of the episode we get a character piece on Hurley who after taking so many blows since the start of season two reaches the point where he needs a win. We get a sequence where the Losties find a camper van with a dead body in it (Roger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and decide to get it going again - the van not the dead body. During this sequence Kate and Sawyer return to the camp and Kate promptly packs some water and leaves again taking Locke and Sayid to rescue Jack. The stuff with the compass reading is utter balls but recruiting Rousseau to the party is a tasty development as Alex has been well set up this season and we could see a development of the separated mother/daughter plot thats been in play since season one.

It's a lovely fluffy 7/10 from me and I'd forgot the Dharma work clothes and Roger were introduced so early. This episode flies or crashes based on Jorge Garcia's performance as Hurley and for me it flies, it's a rare example of an actor displaying their full range.

The Big Finish Catch-Up June 2020 - August 2021

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues; 

However as I've fallen behind its time for some snap reviews of the last years of my Big Finish listening, these contain first time listens and relistens to old favourites:

The Silver Turk - Absorbing and engaging with the first full distance look at a new TARDIS lineup, 9/10.

Project Destiny - Possibly the most emotional story I've heard in years which had me at one point yelling "Don't do it - LEAVE HEX alone!" 9.5/10.

The Kingmaker - One of the highlights of Big Finish and virtually perfect 10/10.

100 - A fun collection of stories which range from fun to doing a deep dive into the Sixth Doctor 8/10.

Night Terrors - One of Big Finishes best ventures into outright horror 9/10.

Cairdroia - A fun story with a low level slice of bite that changes the status quo of the ongoing storyline 9/10.

Oh No It Isn't - The very first Big Finish and very first Bernice Summerfield story. Lots of laughs, Benny hits the ground running 9/10.

The Kiss of Death - A fun romp with the Fifth Doctor and his three companions, good Turlough story 6/10.

And You Will Obey Me - Cracking little story that keeps escalating 7/10

Vampire of the Mind - Fun romp as Sixy meets the Big Finish Master 7/10.

The Two Masters - A fun end to the trilogy 9.5/10.

The Curse of Davros - A good twist story with enough elements to keep it going after the twist is revealed.

The Witch From the Well - Another well engaging plot story that keeps the listener guessing 9/10.

A Death in the Family - The feeling of Big Finish doing something special 10/10.

The Fourth Wall - A fun fluffy story which has a slightly off tone but is still good 7/10.

Circular Time - A collection of Fifth Doctor and Nyssa stories that when put together are stronger than the sum of their parts 10/10.

Lost - Stranger in a Strange Land

A notorious episode for a number of reasons, first of all it's an episode based on Matthew Fox tattoo and secondly it's the final episode shown on Virgin in the UK before Sky took Sky1 away and didn't give it back for one and a half seasons. I approached this episode with a sense of trepidation and came away a tad shocked when it turned out to be quite good.

It's a character episode with a bit of filler thrown in as in what remains a bonkers flashback Jack gets his second in what feels like a too soon story based on the actors tattoo. On Hydra island we see the ramifications of the escape and Jacks attempt to turn Bens operation into a hostage situation. The best moment is when we see Cindy from the tail section and the introduction of Isabel. The escapees are still on their way back to the camp in a traditional "it takes a few episodes to cross the island" sequence and Karl is written out.

In short a good slow burn character episode let down by a week flashback, at worst this episode is unengaging and at best a much requested look at "The Others" society, 8/10.

Deep Space Nine - Past Prologue

My Deep Space Nine watch-a-long continues at a slightly out of order pace due to Netflix as we move through the opening episodes of DS9. While this is certainly a Kira episode the star of the show is most certainly the debuting Garak. We also see more of the shows culture developing and theres a sense that this corner of Star Trek is most certainly going to be fun.

Lets start with Julians ongoing chaser storyline, it takes the obligatory step forward as he meets up for dinner with blatant homosexual Cardassian Garak. These scenes are wonderfully played as gay dates with Julian being unsure of himself during them (and boasting about them later to his friends) while Garak blatantly has intentions of taking him under his wing. At this point all we're missing from this storyline is a dream fantasy sequence involving Dax and for Garak to disappear for an extended sequence before popping up again and acting like he never left.

The majority of this episode is about Kira and her relationships with the Bajoran Government, Starfleet and her older more extreme colleagues from the resistance. Emotionally she's thrown from pillar to post and for the majority of the episode we don't know whose side she will choose. Also her relationship with Ben Sisko at this point is wonderfully spiky.

Garak is already loads of fun, I like the guest appearance by the Klingon sisters who help bed in the show to remind us we're in the same fictional universe as Star Trek Next Generation. Nana Visitor is proper intense in every scene and has a lovely moment where Ben informs her not to go over his head again and the soldier inside her cringes at being chewed out by her commanding officer.

In terms of main cast relationships the relationships Kira has with Starfleet and Odo are established and Julian has been given a wonderful situation to dive into with Garak. It says so much that so many of the main cast haven't really done a lot yet and this is going to be the third high ranking episode in a row, 9/10.

July Football

 The new part of the blog continues as I rank the football matches I watched in April from least favourite to favourite. Based on nothing more than my opinion and enjoyment from watching each match.

Switzerland 1-1 Spain (Spain win 3-1 on penalties), Euro 2020, Spain went ahead through a deflected corner in the first ten minutes and this looked like it could be a gubbing. Losing interest I nodded off and was rudely awakened on the 68th minute when Shaqiri scored an equaliser. Things had unexpectedly got interesting and ten minutes later Switzerland were down to ten men. They held out to force extra time and then spent all of extra time defending like lions as Spain got closer and closer. Despite heroics from Sommer in the Swiss goal Spain moved on to the next round.

Ukraine 0-4 England, Euro 2020, after the last game Ukraine looked like they'd have to stitch their players back together in order to field a full strength team. England went ahead with a trademark early move and as the half went on Ukraine slowly got back into things. Early in the second half England put them to the sword and it was all over. The most dominant display of the quarter finals went to an ominous looking England.

England 2-1 Denmark, Euro 2020, going in this game had the feeling of being the less interesting semi-final but it turned into a good game as Denmark went ahead and looked like they weren't here to roll over. Naturally player of the tournament OG got England level and Harry Kane scored the winner in extra time robbing us of penalties.

Italy 1-1 England (Italy won 3-2 on penalties), Euro 2020, Italy didn't turn up until half time which left England to try and dominate the game with eight defensive players. They went ahead early and Italy spent the rest of the game getting back into it with Bonucci eventually converting a goal mouth scramble. In truth Italy dominated the game while both teams had chances and it was a fun final. England briefly went ahead in the shootout, Italy came from behind to win and we got an emotional end to what was an emotional tournament. 

Belgium 1-2 Italy, Euro 2020, two of the narratives flowing through the story of these Euros were Belgiums best ever team running out of time to win something and how Italy got their groove back. Italy went two up during the first half with Lukaku scoring in injury time. The second half turned bonkers as Italy bent time and space to keep two certain Belgium goals out as both teams continued to attack. Kevin of the Bruynes looked more and more crazed as the game went on (poor sod was playing through injury) and Italy progressed albeit with the caveat of losing Spinazzola for the rest of the tournament.

Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark, Euro 2020,  the main story of the Euros for obvious reasons has been Denmark due to Christian Eriksen. They progressed after a fun blood and guts match as both teams went for it and left it all on the pitch - great fun.

Italy 1-1 Spain, Euro 2020, the first semi-final and it had the feel of an epic. Spain had the majority of the possession but when Italy got it they used it well. Busquets was the player of the match and it took Italy longer than expected to work him out. Chiesa put Italy ahead and Morata equalised. We got an epic extra time and went to penalties where the overwhelming memory will be Morata's shot getting saved.

Lost - Flashes Before Your Eyes

I absolutely adore this episode, when we got Desmond's first flashback episodes in the season finale it felt pretty special. But "Flashes Before Your Eyes" comes after one of my favourite episodes and arguably knocks it out of the park. Even more impressively it does it with a different set of characters and little to do with the previous episode. This is where Lost is at its strongest - throwing story lines, characters and twists at you that leave you wanting more.

I'm going on record with this statement, Desmond has the strongest collection of flashback episodes in the show. There's the odd unique one here or there like "The Other 48 Day" but no other regular has so many classic episodes. There are so many nice touches in this episode from the whiskey to Charlie turning up around the same time of the man in red shoes. Where seriously into time travel territory at this stage of the show when the network famously made the producers take references to time travel out of season one episodes. Its not done in a sci-fi way, its done in a scary yet fully character manner. 

We see other characters who we don't see much of this episode such as Eloise Hawking (for the first time) someone full of mystery, Charles Widmore played by the wonderful Alan Dale and Penelope Widmore whose chemistry with Desmond helps create one of the most important relationships of the show. Its all about Desmond though and giving him a mission that has been very well set up in previous episodes. He's come a long way since that entrance as a mad man in a hatch. 10/10 

My First Days Work of 2021

Before yesterday my last day of work was at Cheltenham 2020 and since then I've barely left Port Talbot apart from job interviews and getting my Covid jabs. Since then Stadium Hospitality has nearly opened back up a few times but been postponed at the last minute. So anyway yesterday I had my first days work of 2021, Golf firmly remains as something enjoyable is unappealing to play and not at all interesting to watch, plus at £167.00 for a round it has become laughable. It was the first time I'd been on a long distance train journey for a year and given that it was just after 06:00 I didn't notice much difference. Newport looked rather nice - truth be known I've always had a soft spot for Newport, the most polite way of summing up Newport is that its the South Easts equivalent of Neath but more friendly. So getting into Newport at 07:30 I headed out of the city centre heading for Celtic Manor hotel / golf course. Newport was just waking up, the sun hadn't made it over the hills yet and a 3.6 uphill walk was enriched by a lovely view.

Reaching The Coldra was the sign I was rapidly approaching the edge of town and my destination. A left turn took me up a sharp climb - seriously sharp as despite being below the M4 for all of the walk I suddenly had to get above and cross it. All I knew about Celtic Manor was that it was a bit posh so I was mildly surprised to find that its so close to one of the busiest sections of the M4. I arrived at the entrance which is the rear of the hotel (the hotel faces away from the M4 in a rather bizarre if we ignore the noise and pollution it isn't really there kind of way) and it was time for the major challenge of the day, navigating the site.

I had been told to head to car park 2 to pick up my accreditation and there were shuttle buses from there to the rest of the site. I found car park 2 and it was empty of cars, buses and check in sites. Realising this was not the place I was meant to be I headed in to the hotel for directions. Alas I was at the rear of the hotel and headed into the trade entrance hoping to find a reception or security office to ask directions. Apparently it was too early for security and I couldn't find a check in area for casual workers so I opted to head back out and go in the front of the hotel to try for directions at reception. There was no direct way from the back to front entrance by foot and I had to travel by narrow road via two car parks (none of which was car park 2) and a kiddies play area. When I reached the front I entered reception and was given directions but also told it was inaccessible via foot.

For anyone whose never been on a golf course, one of the main key features of one is that its designed to be traversed on foot. I headed off armed with directions and passed a few golfers on the minor courses. When I could get no further I commandeered a golf cart that was laying around with the key in the ignition. I reached car park 2 and left the cart at the security desk advising it had been left unattended and keeping quiet about my lack of drivers license. After picking up my staff pass I jumped aboard the shuttle bus to my workplace for the day which was in hospitality at the clubhouse overlooking the 18th green.

Most of the workforce were from the same company as me and I recognised one or two faces from working Cardiff City matches. Sadly it was a bit of a tame day, we were a restaurant of twenty tables and we never had more than six tables full at the same time all day. Plus we only had two tables at all for the duration of afternoon tea - I know afternoon tea, I was unaware this had been a thing since 1910. We were let go at 19:00 as it was dead, in the hospitality area on the 18th hole of a European Tour event.

I got a lift to the front gates and headed back into Newport as the sun still shone in the summer evening. The view of Newport was better on the way back as you could see more of the bridges and gentle glow. The night life was getting into gear at this point as I passed many a pub and people heading into town. A few elderly revellers were out and had donned headshields. Newport's pubs had their outside drinking areas packed as I reached the station with ten minutes until the next train. The way home I saw how public transport had really changed as passengers were asked to sit in the window seats so staff could traverse the train. Strangely on a Great Western Train on a Friday evening there were barely ten people to a carriage.

Hopefully this day is the first of many as the hospitality industry reopens however to prove some things never change on checking my emails I had received the offer of a few shifts at the football IN NORTH ****ING LONDON.

Deep Space Nine - A Man Alone

After the extended opening episode Emissary its time to jump full throttle into the show with the second episode, which isn't the second episode as Netflix have the episodes in the wrong order! Hopefully this is a one off or things are going to get confusing. Right that's the admin done where was I? Oh yeah, A Man Alone! Whereas the opener was concerned with setting up a number of things this episode is concerned about life aboard DS9 while at the same time there's a good little mystery.

This episode makes very good use of the ensemble cast, its an Odo episode but he's not to far at the front of proceedings. Its also about the other characters relationship with him, most of them have only just met him, he seemingly has only one ally in Kira and supposedly an enemy in Quark. We have to talk about this relationship between Quark and Odo as already its one of the best things about the show. The scene in Odo's office as Quark arrives and tells him he hasn't found any information on the murdered Bajoran is the best of the episode.

Moving on to Jadzia, this episode examines the Trill and their relationships with other races after changing host. We're in transgender territory and largely the subject is treated well, in particular Bens reaction and later acceptance that their relationship is going to have to change. Julian however is written as a chaser and comes across as creepy every time he's in a scene with Jadzia. This is an aspect of transgender life that the show doesn't really need to be going into as the majority of viewers today don't understand what a "chaser" is let alone when it was broadcast.

The plotline with the school is perhaps the most satisfying it brings together a group of the supporting characters in Keiko, Jake, Nog and Rom. I'm watching this with my sister whose viewing it for the first time and it is so satisfying watching these characters start out while she has no idea how they'll grow.

Summing up this is a 9/10 episode from me as the establishment of daily life on the station combined with the setting up of the Odo / Quark relationship is completely my kind of jam. It loses a point for the Julian Bashir is a chaser stuff and an odd scene where Rene Auberjones genuinely looks like he's not aware the camera is rolling, he's saying his lines not acting them and looks like he's trying to block his movements out for when the camera starts rolling.

A good start to the series proper.

Lost - Not in Portland

This episode is no filler all killer as we get the conclusion to last episodes story, Kate & Sawyer are on the run on Alcatraz hunted by The Others while Jack sabotages surgery on Ben in an attempt to hold The Others at bay while the viewer is unaware about whose side Juliet is one. Blimey that was a long sentence! This is a culmination of so many plots as the mysterious girl Alex is revealed to be Bens daughter and tries to help the Losties escape in the hope they rescue her boyfriend and take him with them. Juliets motivation is revealed through her flashback - she's like a different person in the flashback and the performance shows how much life on the island and empty promises has broken her.

As the episode moves on it has a breathless energy, combined with the plot throwing multiple swerve balls at us this episode feels big. On top of feeling big we have Nestor Carbonell making his debut as Richard, it comes as a bit of a shock in that they sneak him in via Juliets flashback and I was sat there sitting gobsmacked as I forgot this was where he turned up. There is no clue what so ever about the character he will become and its a very satisfying performance in hindsight.

To sum up just when you think this episode can't get any better Rob McElhenney off of Its Only Sunny in Philadelphia turns up.

The Empire Strikes Back - Review

The Empire Strikes Back 9.5/10

As a child this was the Star Wars film that wasn't as much fun as the other two, its improved with age. The sexual tension between the characters is fun, there is more overt comedy than the other early films - in particular Chewy, Yoda, R2 and 3PO, there are loads of cool bits I remember with the ships, effects and everything. In particular I loved the snow speeders as a kid and they still press my fan buttons. 

I'd forgot how tight this film was, from the sets to the plot its possibly the slickest production of the entire franchise. Hoth feels dangerous before the Empire turn up, the Rebellion are battling conditions, the conditions and at times even their technology. Harrison Ford has turned into a meme in recent times over how laid back and dry he is in real life but on screen he's carrying the sass and its up to everyone else to keep up. You take him out of this film and you take away the heart of the film.

I can't give this a full 10/10 due to the Dagobah stuff - it belongs in a series in a film format it doesn't work or at least needs a montage. Also some of the action sequences are a bit "Michael Bay" and the physical geography is a bit bonkers. Bar that it still stands up and I like it better than in my youth.

Oooh, those new effects though, I proper dig seeing more of Cloud City than just the corridors.

Lost - I Do

This is a very unusual episode in that essentially its the opening episode of a two part storyline. Its all about the set up to cliff hanger and how we get there. Theres some stuff happing on the main island at the camp however its rubbish and only exists to give us something to cut away to from the main action. 

Kates flashback is a good character piece, it feels like this is the closest we'll get to see Kate settle down since going on the run. Nathan Fillion makes a good guest character appearance, he needs to have the acting chops to go up against Matthew Fox and Josh Holloway the male members of the cast who we know Kate is interested in. We know Kate won't stay with him but it shows how good he is that he convinced me for a few seconds that I could ship them as a couple.

The main action on Hydra Island is absorbing as Ben tries to manipulate Jack despite not having much time to do so and appearing to achieve his goal. It all ends as Jack during surgery cuts Ben and holds him hostage unless Kate and Sawyer are released. Meanwhile Pickett is set up as a low level villain in that he wants revenge for Colleen murder, originally when aired the wait for the next episode was unbearable but the ending was fantastic. Its a 9/10 from me being a near perfect set up episode with the only negative being the disrespect given to Mr Eko in not giving him a funeral.

June Football

 The new part of the blog continues as I rank the football matches I watched in April from least favourite to favourite. Based on nothing more than my opinion and enjoyment from watching each match.

Sweden 1-0 Slovakia, Euro 2020, after the 0-0 against Spain I was excited to see what Sweden could do next. Sadly not a lot, Slovakia downed tools early and set themselves up for a draw despite Duda trying to lead his team mates over the half way line. Sweden huffed and puffed but sadly couldn't break through until they had a penalty that saved us from the dreaded 0-0. Isak for Sweden sprung to life after they went ahead but did nothing in the first seventy minutes. 

Denmark 0-1 Finland, Euro 2020, for forty minutes this was a lively game with wave after wave of Danish attack narrowly held off by the Fins who looked to attack on the break. Then Christian Eriksen collapsed near the end of the first half. Things looked bleak as the stadium medical team rushed out and the players formed a barrier to keep the cameras out. Eventually they got Eriksen off the pitch and the game looked like it was going to be abandoned. Eriksen later regained consciousness and requested for the match to go on. The relief for Eriksen being stable was tangible and so play resumed but it had turned into an awkward sit. Were we absolutely sure he was ok? Was it really sensible for the Danes to playing football when a few hours earlier they were stood around their team mate expecting the worse? The Finland scored and this match turned from a tricky sit into a hard sit. Everyone involved in this match going ahead again needs to ask themselves weather they did the right thing, personally I'm not sure they did.      

Finland 0-1 Russia, Euro 2020, very low quality affair with two teams who have disappointed..

England 1-0 Romania, International Friendly, bit dull England got a penalty.

Belgium 1-0 Portugal, Euro 2020, a really good goal by Thunder Hazard knocked Portugal out and everyone rejoiced. The rest of the game was Portugal being Portugal.

England 0-0 Scotland, Euro 2020, any Scottish bloggers will have this game higher and rightly so however for the rest of us it was a bit of a stinker. Scotland managed England well by marking a few of their players out of the game while others such as Sterling were suffering from poor form. Scotland had the better claim for would be winners with Gilmour, McGinn, Adams and Tierney were outstanding, Dykes wasn't. Also bonkers decision to start two defensive midfielders by England. 

Wales 1-1 Switzerland, Euro 2020, one of the most soul destroying first halfs I've ever watched as bar 30 seconds of nifty running Wales did NOTHING. Letting Switzerland play themselves into form proved costly as they scored. Wales then turned up, got an equaliser and made an ordinary Switzerland side look like Stan Wawrinka instead of Roger Federer. Lessons needed to be learned we would find out if they had in the future. 

England 1-0 Croatia, Euro 2020, England started off unusually fast then remembered they were in an international tournament and got themselves bogged down in midfield. Croatia were slow to get started and when they did get going were overtaken by the over 70s Bavarian relay team. A game that suffered due to timing and hot conditions creating a slow game.

Portugal 2-2 France, Euro 2020, an odd game as despite being favourites and held as the best thing since someone took a good look at bread and decided it needed to be thinner, Portugal matched them. Portugal with their trademark ploop housery had a relatively comfortable time. The match had a few lively five minute spells but largely it was disrupted by fouls hence three of the four goals being penalties.  

Ukraine 0-1 Austria, Euro 2020, with the other match in this group a virtual dead rubber these two duked it out for second place. A slow paced match where Austria always felt comfortable, Ukraine squeezed through in third.

Croatia 1-1 Czech Republic, Euro 2020, the Czechs had the same game plan as England "go at the Croatians - their old and for the taking." They also have Dejan Lovren in defence who sadly is a bit of a disaster zone who this time conceded a penalty by smashing an elbow in Schicks face and blasting his nose open. Schick duly stuck some cotton wool up his nostrils and converted the penalty. Croatia equalised early in the second half and the game petered out. Croatia look potentially vulnerable against Scotland...

Spain 0-0 Sweden, Euro 2020, a strange game with wave after wave of Spanish attacks. Morata missed a sitter and Spain lost all their confidence afterwards. Good first half with some awesome attacking play that got dull in the second half as Spain went to bits. This would have been higher if Sweden hadn't played 4-4-2 which gave them little chance to break through Spains midfield - however when they did they got some good chances.  

Belgium 1-1 Greece, International Friendly, strange game Greece were attacking by their standards and able to close off most of the Belgium attacks before they got into the penalty box.

Finland 0-2 Belgium, Euro 2020, the thoughts going into this match were if Belgium could give Denmark a helping hand all would be right in the world. Belgium said certainly and then took their time eventually going ahead in the 74th minute despite Finland holding on by the skin of their nails.

Brazil 3-0 Venezuela, Copa America, a depleted Venezuela got eaten alive in a lively match.

Belgium 3-0 Russia, Euro 2020, played in the aftermath of the Christian Eriksen affair which had left me numb and to be honest if I hadn't already been financially tied up in this match I would have given it a miss. Belgium looked strong without getting out of second gear and Russia looked like a team stitched together who were beat when the first goal went in.  

Wales 0-4 Denmark, Euro 2020, its an odd feeling in an international tournament when you roll up in the knockout stage and you feel like a guest character in someone elses story. This was all about Denmark and their story after the shock of Christian Eriksen collapsing in the opening game. After a decent twenty minutes Denmark made some changes and there was nothing from the Welsh. They had us in disarray after that first (very good) goal went in and they could have been three up at half time. Injuries and red cards were the least of our troubles as Wales got tonked.  

France 1-0 Germany, Euro 2020, the heavyweights in the group of death went at it in a decent early game. France went ahead through a crackingly well set up own goal which lead to a game of German attack against French defence. France won although should have one by more as they had some good attacks on the break that resulted in offside. If France learn the offside rule they could walk this tournament, Germany however need to find their form in front of goal. 

France 3-0 Wales, International Friendly, a dominant display by the Euro 2020 favourites with a good performance in the Wales goal by Danny Ward.

Germany 7-1 Latvia, International Friendly, oh behave Germany we all know you're one of the favourites. 

Wales 0-0 Albania, International Friendly, what looked like being a dull little warm up turned into an unexpected full blown war as Albania started kicking lumps out of the Welsh. Highlight of the match was when a Welsh player knocked the Albanian manager over by throwing his own player into him.

Hungary 0-3 Portugal, Euro 2020, for eighty minutes this looked a fun banter of a game as Hungary held everyones favourite divers at bay and looked like escaping with a draw. Portugal were pulling their hair out with wave after wave of attacks that wouldn't go in. Then in the final few minutes a deflected goal went in and then Portugal really started taking the mick with two more goals including a penalty. 

Italy 1-0 Wales, Euro 2020, never has a one nill loss felt like a win. Italy were dominant and Wales struggled under their force but at half time it was still one nill and Wales were in it. Then early in the second half Ampadu mistimed a tackle and got red carded. Wales held on thanks to Danny Ward who surely has played himself into a first team transfer when his summer holidays are over. Wales went through is second thanks to goal difference and a good night was had by all. 

Netherlands 0-2 Czech Republic, Euro 2020, Hollands story through the tournament had been good in attack and poor in defence - ala most Eredivisie games. The Czech story had been attack with pace and take no prisoners. After a fun first half things changed in the second as Delicious and Light de Ligt was sent off. The Czechs went for it and scored two goals as Holland struggled to find a shape in the second half.

Slovakia 0-5 Spain, Euro 2020, Spain finally clicked and killed a team, Slovakian keeper did an absolutely brilliant own goal. 

England 2-0 Germany, Euro 2020, after 55 years England finally found a strategy that worked against Germany: let Chelsea buy their players and ruin them. As a game this felt like watching a blockbuster film that you'd already seen, fun fluff but no edge as the only players on form for most of the game looked to be Stirling and Hummels. Stirling eventually put England ahead with fifteen minutes remaining and in between Germany fluffing their chances Kane scored a second. This game was won in two minutes, when Stirling scored and when Werner signed for Chelsea as their striker curse claims another victim.   

Croatia 3-1 Scotland, Euro 2020, the dream ended for Scotland as they finished bottom of the group. They went out fighting having pulled level after falling behind, they very nearly went ahead when McGinn arrived at the back post and shot wide. They miss William of the clan Gilmour but there were reasons to be cheerful as Scotland finally got a goal and some youngsters got tournament experience.

Russia 1-4 Denmark, Euro 2020, Russia started the night second in the table and Denmark needed a win with help from Belgium to progress. Denmark went for it, gubbed Russia and finished second with a win cheered around the world.

Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic, Euro 2020, a fun attacking game as both teams looked to avoid the group wooden spoon. The Czechs went scored just either side of half time but the story of the game was Scotland in front of goal, Dykes played himself out of starting next game and Robertsons weakness in decision making struck again as Scotland game away with no points. Has to be said they were actually very unlucky in running with a lot of their shots on goal. 

Switzerland 3-1 Turkey, Euro 2020, Switzerland dominated Turkey and it could have been 5-1 but thankfully for Wales it wasn't. Shaqiri showed how good he can be when played further forward. Switzerland finished on four points which as of writing should be enough to progress.   

Sweden 1-2 Ukraine (AET), Euro 2020, nobody died during this game although it felt like it. Sweden and Ukraine had all the appeal of a football match between Sweden and Ukraine although it actually turned out to be a fun game. The commentators wheeled out their Switzerland V Ukraine (2006 world cup)  anecdotes early on and were determined to tell us how boring this game was despite the evidence of our eyes. Ukraine eventually one in the dying seconds of extra time when I was braced for penalties but the game will be remembered for turning into a banter as players started dropping like flies to the extent where both countries may have to merge to field a team to give England a match in the next round. This game was the best kind of fun, unexpected fun.   

Italy 3-0 Switzerland, Euro 2020, Italy dominated the game and got another three goals. The Swiss looked decent and had a game plan that didn't work.   

Austria 3-1 North Macedonia, Euro 2020, blimey this was fun North Macedonia started off quick and went for the jugular however while they were at the circus Lainer popped up at the back post and put the Austrians ahead. The Macedonians kept their heads and were back level before the break. Austria looked rattled for a few minutes and as the second half ended we faced the prospect of an unexpected result. Austria brought on the amusingly named Philipp the Lienharted after the the break and started winning more battles as the game went on winning 3-1 with two late goals.    

Netherlands 2-2 Scotland, International Friendly, a proper fun game with Scotland going ahead twice and nearly getting the win. A very good banter of a game with some very good Dutch goals from Walking in Depay.

Italy 2-1 Austria (AET), Euro 2020, a very good game saw Austria give Italy a scare and hold them to extra time. It was another story of offside as VAR rightly ruled out an Austria goal but come extra time Italy powered ahead with two goals leaving Austria to much to do even though they scored and gave Italy a few heart tremors. 

Turkey 0-3 Italy, Euro 2020, the tournament got off to a start involving a remote controlled car, U2 and a rampant Italy who took 45 minutes to find their shooting boots. Turkey were reduced to playing on the break until they scored an Own Goal. The attacking players union boss then turned up to ensure Immobile and Insigne got their quota. Chiellini also had a good game and got excited with a clean sheet saving tackle.

Hungary 1-1 France, Euro 2020, France looked like they were going for a record in this game, namely to see if the entire team could miss an open goal. Chance after chance went begging in the second half, after seeing them miss so many chances Hungary decided to have a go and scored during injury time before the break. The second half turned into a mission for Hungary to stay ahead which didn't happen as they were pegged back by a Griezmann equaliser but with the determination of John Hurt they said "NO MORE!" and held out for a shock draw.

Spain 1-1 Poland, Euro 2020, Morata got the backing of the manager before kick off and he needed a big game, he didn't deliver a big game he got the goal but like so many Spanish players tonight he should have a lot more. With Spain continuing to miss Poland got forward and Lewandowski netted a proper strikers header as he swatted off a Spanish defender mid leap. Spain became even slower and predictable which let Poland back into the game. Spain went to bits, missed a penalty and escaped with the second of two draws.

Sweden 3-2 Poland, Euro 2020, there are many mysteries in life that may never be explained, the chief among them being how the bleep did Poland lose this match? Sweden went ahead in the opening minutes which resulted in endless wave after wave from Robert Lewandowski and his boys until somehow Sweden scored again. The boy Lewandowski pulled one back straight away with a captains performance and then finally pulled things level with five minutes to go. Then those Nordic gits scored again and bundled the Poles out and finished top of the group. Somehow due to playing absolutely boring for two games and then knocking out an attacking team Sweden got a 3-2 win and topped the group. 

Germany 2-2 Hungary, Euro 2020, an absolute barn stormer of a game as Germany dominated from start to finish yet scrambled a draw with a late goal. One of the best banters of the tournament saw Germany going out for nearly eighty minutes.

Netherlands 3-2 Ukraine, Euro 2020, lock up your daughters and hide your stash the Dutch are in town and they've brought some chaos to the party. After an exciting first half which was a lot more even than expected things were goalless but it was easily one of the best first halves yet. The the second half gave us five goals, a comeback from two goals down and chaos on the inplay markets. Without doubt one of the most fun games this tournament will produce. Its easy to forget that the Ukraine won their group finishing ahead of Portugal who are a shorter price to win the thing. The Ukraine could be a dangerous floater if they tighten up the defence.

Turkey 0-2 Wales, Euro 2020, an epic game full where if you were Welsh everything mattered. Every tackle hurt, every shot that didn't go in was a disappointment or a near heart attack and when Aaron Ramsey finally scored it was ecstasy. This was my Wales, the Wales I see match in and match out - not that insipid performance in the first half against Switzerland. The match had everything, goals, offsides, very nearly a punch up, frustrating misses and countless man of the match performances from the Welsh.  

Portugal 2-4 Germany, Euro 2020, coming after Black Friday which saw a collection of poor games we needed something special and these teams delivered, the Germans started as they meant to go on with have after wave of destructive attacks saw the inevitable result as the worlds favourite divers charged on a rare break and scored. Cue more waves of German attacks, every viewer outside of Portugal was willing them on as they got closer and eventually they got two own goals before half time. The second half saw more of the same with Portugal resorting to poop housery to gain traction in the game. Pepe was a delight in this game as he made bad decision after bad decision and continued to blame team mates. The Germans however looked scary.

Croatia 3-5 Spain (AET), Euro 2020, this game started off with the best own goal in the history of ever which alone would have netted a top ten position. However this game then somehow got better! Spain equalised in the first half and we went in level. Two mistakes from Croatia resulted in two goals and all looked lost. Modric went on a charge and created a goal mouth scramble and a goal on the 85th minute. Then in injury time a cross found the head of Pasalic and we were going to extra time. However Spain had to much for them and scored two more in extra time.

France 4-5 Switzerland (Penalty Shoot Out), settling down for the second quarter final of the day shattered from the previous match we all expected a French win but what we got was a classic. Seferovic put Switzerland ahead with a deft header. Somehow despite chances for both it remained 0-1 at half time. The game look liked it turned early in the second half, Rodriguez took an insipid penalty that was saved and France were 2-1 up minutes later. Pogba then scored a contender for goal of the tournament and it was 3-1 and game over. Seferovic scored with ten minutes to go and we all had flashbacks to the earlier game, could it happen again? Mario Gavranovic said it could and scored on the 90th minute and it was off to extra time again. Both teams had chances in injury time but it would be the tournaments first trip to Penaltyville. Both teams penalties were cheeky however as the shootout got deeper I found myself rooting for the Swiss and each penalty starting wiping years off my life. Lloris got a hand to a penalty but couldn't quite save it but Sommer had no trouble as he save Mbappes penalty and knocked the favourites out.

Lost - The Cost of Living

Its a goodbye to Mr Eko but he goes out in some style. Its hard to review this episode as its so tempting to just list the things I like, obviously I give the episode 10/10 as its not only excellent from an artistic standpoint but also a production standpoint. From Eko's view point the episode feels like a last moment gasp of breath before death, theres a distance in him from the other characters - there always has been but its more defined in this episode. His flashbacks have a yellowish filter to help convey the feel of Africa which makes a visual difference even from other flashbacks set outside of America. The story of the flashback perfectly counterpoints where Eko was when we first met him on the island as before his arrival he had sunk to a judgemental low, murdering in a church and defiling his brother church Amina's line about owing Yemi one church lingers long in the mind long after viewing.

I mentioned production earlier, as one main character leaves others are introduced in the form of Nikki and Paulo - we'll bang our heads against a wall about them later. The Losties head out on a mission separate from Eko but heading in the same direction adds emotional distance. As viewers we want details about this mission, we want to know about eyepatch guy but we're tied into Eko. Eko's ending confrontation with the smoke monster who kills him is dynamic and raises the threat of the Smoke Monster to another level, up to now its been a mystery, a bit of fluff when an episode needs excitement - now its a killer. Without going into spoilers it feels like something wanted Eko and because it couldn't have him wouldn't let anyone else have him.

The stuff on Hydra island is low key which is good as our main attention is elsewhere this episode but as we say goodbye to Eko the show moves on and the plot of the next few episodes are developed. We now know for sure why they took Jack, what they want from him and that Juliet isn't what she seems. 

A pivotal and powerful episode.

Betting and Trading Tips For Euro 2020

Just some random thoughts after perusing the odds on the exchanges:

Group A looks straight forward, obviously Italy are favourites and obviously the value and decent prices have all gone on backing them for the group winner. I saw some 1.8 late end of last week but you'll do well to find 1.6 now. If you're looking for a fun bet I quite fancy a two bob bet on Italy and Switzerland to qualify. Wales are favourite to finish rock bottom but are above evens so this might get a small lay from me.

Group B looks similar, Belgium are still available at decent prices to win but like Italy not a lot of value. Russia are a team I have questions on but I might risk a lay on them to qualify as I don't think they'll get many points and think the Fins can cause them trouble.

Group C I see nothing to interest me in these markets bar hoping the Dutch get through.

Group D looks the most interesting so far as it looks like the markets can't decide weather Scotland or Czech Republic will finish bottom. Its going to be a late decision from me but both are currently just over evens to finish bottom. The only other thing thats tempting me is a straight forecast of England and Croatia to finish first and second.

Group E again not much interest at the top and also at the bottom as it looks like Spain and Slovakia are going to be the bread in a Swede and Pole sandwich. Sweden and Poland are so close in the groups odds that there are going to be a lot of decisions made over this group.

Group F, fix your makeup its game face time. This is where the money is going to be bar poor little Hungry we have France, Germany and everyones high fowling favourites Portugal. I think its between Germany and France to win and will be risking a few pennies on Germany to win the group @ 2.94. The matches in this group are what interests me the most and I can see a lot of cards being shown in this group. 

Looking at the overall markets it looks like Mbappe is favourite to be player of the tournament. If you fancy a long odds shot Jordan Pickford is currently at 1000s but my 50p is going on Griezmann. Denmark to reach the quarterfinal looks a fun banter of a bet. Lukaku for top scorer at 8.2 is where my 50p is going on the top scorer market. On the overall winner market I'm going back to lay mode with Belgium who are currently 8.2. Majority of people who read this will be supporting England who are currently 6.6 but if I'm backing something to let it ride I'm going with the favourites France.

May Football

The new part of the blog continues as I rank the football matches I watched in April from least favourite to favourite. Based on nothing more than my opinion and enjoyment from watching each match.

Nashville 0-0 Inter Miami, Major League Soccer, terrible game where both teams looked best when the other side had the ball. 

Hertha Berlin 0-0 FC Koln, Bundesliga, would have been more exciting if neither side had turned up.

Brentford 2-0 Swansea City, Championship Playoff Final, Brentford went ahead early and closed up the match, Swansea didn't turn up.

Chelsea 2-1 Leicester City, English Premier League, very poor stuff with Leicester looking to play on the break against a boring Chelsea side. Chelsea have ruined Timo Werner, a dull match until some potential handbags late in the game.  

Kilmarnock 1-2 Dundee FC, Scottish Playoffs, a professional Dundee killed the game early and sapped Killies soul.

AC Milan 0-0 Cagliari, Serie A, Milan did not have their shooting boots on and it ended as a damp squib.

Villarreal 1-1 Manchester Utd, Europa League Final, Villareal could barely get through Manchesters midfield and Utd just had wave after wave of insipid attacks. It went to penalties, I didn't last that far. 

Tottenham Hotspurs 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers, English Premier League, Wolves tried to kill the game and very nearly did.

Sheffield Utd 0-2 Crystal Palace, English Premier League, awful game with deflected goals at either end of the match. 

Elche 0-1 Atletico Madrid, La Liga, very poor with Atletico reverting to type.

Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea, Champions League Final, Chelsea with a very good defensive display by Chelsea did Man City on the break as is there trademark and Manchester City just walked into it. 

Chelsea 2-0 Real Madrid, Champions League, a very ordinary Madrid got done on the break by Chelsea.

Manchester City 2-0 Paris St-Germain, Champions League, City overpowered PSG who threw their toys out of the pram and petulantly exploded.

Dundee FC 2-1 Kilmarnock, Scottish Playoffs, a delightful slugfest.

Barnsley 0-1 Swansea City, Championship Playoffs, the first leg of the Championship playoff with the home team dictating the play they did nothing but clog first half and went a goal down. The game got better as it went on. 

Rennes 1-1 Paris St-Germain, Ligue 1, Rennes outfought PSG who as they did so often this month combusted.

Southampton 3-1 Fulham, English Premier League, Fulham reverting to their start of season form and Southampton punishing them for it. 

Arsenal 3-1 West Bromich Albion, English Premier League, Sam Allardyce got relegated - Huzzah!  

Fiorentina 0-2 Napoli, Serie A, didn't get going until the second half and Fiorentina lost it with the red card. 

Levante 2-2 Cadiz, La Liga, good stuff from both teams - more exciting result than match.

Chelsea 0-1 Leicester City, FA Cup, a classic cup final goal by Tielemans and late VAR review proved the memorable moments for this final.

Roma 2-0 Lazio, Serie A, Lazio played the better in this derby but Roma were clinical.

Manchester Utd 1-1 Fulham, English Premier League, unexpectedly even fun game.

Melbourne City 3-2 Brisbane Roar, A League, an absolute insane game which might be the most one sided 3-2 I've ever seen. Due to it being on early and my wits not waking up I thought Melbourne were 4-0 up at one stage. 

FC Twente 1-1 Heracles, Eredivisie, good attacking game that Twente will be wondering how they didn't win.

Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal, English Premier League, good little game but after a very early game Newcastle should have come out with at least a few guns blazing.

Sasssulo 1-3 Juventus, Serie A, Weird game as Juve decided to play on the break and left Phil Collins boys in tears.

Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City, English Premier League, strange game that had the end of an era feel as Sergio Aguero looked to do some big acting ala Gan in Blakes 7 as he was about to be written out.

Burnley 1-2 West Ham Utd, English Premier League, really good first half and a good lively game for a Monday night.

Angers 1-2 Lille, Ligue 1, a battling on the break away win clinched Lille the title. On another day Angers could have played exactly the same match and won.

Manchester Utd 1-2 Leicester City, English Premier League, Leicesters first team had a tough match against Man Utds reserves. 

Tottenham Hotspurs 1-2 Aston Villa, English Premier League, a fun banter as Spurs imploded.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion, English Premier League, a feisty game that was all about red and yellow cards. Brighton went ahead and then got a man sent off, cue wave after wave of Wolverhampton attacks who took the win with two late goals. 

Napoli 5-1 Udinese, Serie A, Napoli not only dominated but kept Udinese in their pocket with a cracking defensive display that was better than the attacking.

Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Mainz, Bundesliga, a game which Frankfurt dominated and cheeky Mainz escaped from with a draw.

Juventus 0-3 AC Milan, Serie A, Juventus did not have their shooting boots on and AC Milan made harder work of it than the scoreline suggested.

Burnley 0-3 Liverpool, English Premier League, so this is what its like to have an easy life...

Tottenham Hotspurs 4-0 Sheffield Utd, English Premier League, a fun gubbing and Spurs could have got more.

Liverpool 2-0 Southampton, English Premier League, good free flowing game.

Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace, English Premier League, after a few early scares Liverpool eventually slotted in two of their many chances in a one sided game and clinched a CL spot.

Sampdoria 3-0 Parma, Serie A, good free flowing game and Parma were unlucky which shows how thin the margins can be.

Burnley 0-4 Leeds Utd, English Premier League, even game despite the score line with Leeds getting a flurry of goals close together..

Ajax 3-1 VVV Venlo, Eredivisie, all attacking game in which Ajax got a player sent off then still scored two more goals.

ADO Den Haag 3-2 Feyenoord, Eredivisie, a fun bonkers Dutch league game and an insane end that saw five yellow cards.

Leicester City 2-4 Newcastle Utd, English Premier League, Leicester needed to keep it cool to make top four and Newcastle had their number and went for it. Utter utter fun.

Everton 1-2 Aston Villa, English Premier League, a game that looked beige in the opening minutes that was livened up by Ollie Watkins proper pouncing on Holgate.

Genoa 3-4 Atalanta, Serie A, Genoa turned it into an exciting finish after Atalanta went 3-0 up in the second half.

Aston Villa 1-3 Manchester Utd, English Premier League, good attacking game where two quick goals for Man Utd settled it.

Feyenoord 0-3 Ajax, Eredivisie, a game that had red cards, missed penalties, own goals and loads of attacking.

Atalanta 1-2 Juventus, Coppa Italia, good attacking final with goals, incidents and cards. 

Torino 0-7 AC Milan, Serie A, Milan rediscovered their shooting boots and didn't leave Torino with a pulse.

Leeds Utd 3-1 Tottenham Hotspurs, English Premier League, Spurs tried an all attacking midfield and Leeds outplayed and outfought them.

Brentford 3-1 Bournemouth, Championship Playoffs, one of the most eventful first halves of the season as Bournemouth went two nill up of aggregate, gave away a penalty and had a man sent off. Brentford were professional second half and go through to the final. 

Paris St-Germain 2-1 Lens, Ligue 1, good game and Lens could have got something if they hadn't overcomplicated their attacks.

Notts County 3-2 Sutton Utd, National League, exciting game as Notts went ahead three times with the third being in injury time with a man sent off.

Lille 0-0 Saint-Etienne, Ligue 1, Lille looked to potentially clinch the title with a game to go started out dominating but as Sarah Cracknells boys fought them off Lille began to mentally crack. From the dominating would be Kings at the start of the match, this game turned them into gibbering wreaks who could still yet crack and hand the title to PSG.  

Levante 3-3 Barcelona, La Liga, one of those typical bat bleep games you get in Spain as Levante got concussed and for 45 minutes thought they were Real Madrid.

Borussia Dortmund 3-2 RB Leipzig, Bundesliga, an all attacking game with a good comeback from Leipzig and a late winner from Dortmund.

Manchester Utd 2-4 Liverpool, English Premier League, most fun I've had watching football in ages. Both teams were on top at different points and various players who had poor seasons put form behind them to come up with a mighty performances.

Juventus 3-2 Inter Milan, Serie A, the game that overshadowed the FA Cup final. A game that had everything, Juventus went a man down when leading and Inter pulled level. Looking to get the winner in the final ten minutes they conceded a penalty and got a man sent off. A blood and guts match that delivered on the quality.  

West Bromich Albion 1-2 Liverpool, English Premier League, football is about moments. We were 1-1 and a disappointing season was about to peter out, Alisson goes up for a corner five minutes into injury time and heads it into the back of the net creating the best moment of the season.

Euro 2020 - England Sqaud

Thoughts on the keepers: won't lie the keeper choices make you realise how poor the standard in the EPL is right now. Dean Henderson could proper grab that starting spot if he has his game face on.

Thoughts on defence: theres a real sense of England catching up with the rest of the world with the only throw back being Harry Maguire whose in there on the strength of being a supposed hard case. The rest include some really good footballers and players who are multiskilled and can play in multi positions.

Thoughts on midfield: Jordan Henderson looks the midfield general but there are questions about his fitness. I'm looking forward to seeing what Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips can do. I'm looking forward to Jesse Lingard starting and becoming the new Darren Anderton in starting the season terribly and ending it by running midfield in the national team. Otherwise its full of players I'm looking forward to seeing.

Thoughts on attackers: Looking forward to seeing Sancho, Sterling and Foden running at defences. Harry Kane will no doubt do Harry Kane things as he does but the big questions are what Southgate will do with EPL newcomer Watkins and in form Calvert-Lewin.

The further forward you get in this squad the better it gets.   

Lost - Every Man For Himself

This is the point where I stop harping on about the slow start as at the four episodes mark more is happening and we're moving on from the start of the season. The flashback is perfectly counterpointed with the main action as we see Sawyer in action as a con man in a well constructed plot line featuring Bill Duke of Predator fame. In real time Ben slowly toys with and manipulated Sawyer into thinking he has an implanted pacemaker that will blow up his hart if his blood pressure gets to high.

Theres also other stuff going in, we get repercussions from earlier in the season as Jack is asked to perform surgery on Colleen only to find an x-ray of spinal cancer. At the Losties camp Desmond appears to predict a lightning strike giving another indication that Desmond is seeing the future.

A fun tight episode with lots of things going on an 9/10 from me.

Euro 2020 - Poland Squad

 Lots of familiar names in that Poland squad which is more than Lewandowski and co.

Grzegorz Krychowiak, part of that Sevilla team a few years back but the move to PSG didn't work out. Not just a defensive midfielder, over the last few years he's learnt how to score.

Piotr Zielinski is the closest thing they have to a household name after the boy Lewandowski being an ever present for Napoli.

Matty Klich has had a good season for Leeds in the EPL although I keep forgetting he's 30 and looks like a youngster.

Arkadiusz Milik is someone I want to see perform well, he's the poster boy for "looked good in the Eredivisie but disappointed elsewhere." This seasons loan to Marseille hasn't seen much improvement but he's still young enough to be around for multiple tournaments and has to be seen as the successor to Bob Lewandowski.

April Football 2021

The new part of the blog continues as I rank the football matches I watched in April from least favourite to favourite. Based on nothing more than my opinion and enjoyment from watching each match.

Leeds 1-1 Liverpool, English Premier League, happening at the height of the European Super League nonsense and viewed through a seething angry lens.  

Chelsea 0-1 Porto, Champions League, two of the most cynical teams on the planet playing anti football - a Sam Allardyce wet dream.

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City, FA Cup, Chelsea killed the game and scored on the break.

Paris St-Germain 0-1 Lille, Ligue 1, terrible game with so many fouls.

Leeds Utd 0-0 Manchester Utd, English Premier League, poor game with lots of wayward passing.

Arsenal 0-1 Everton, English Premier League, low quality affair with an own goal winner. 

Napoli 1-1 Inter Milan, Serie A, a game bogged down in midfield with Inter rescuing a point after a daft own goal.

RB Leipzig 0-0 Hoffenheim, Bundesliga, a tight game with Leipzig unable to break through a determined Hoffenheim.

Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool, Champions League, Liverpool played awfully and Madrid were nothing special.

Atalanta 1-0 Juventus, Serie A, a proper one for fans as the teams slogged it out in a tense game that got a late winner via a corner. 

AC Milan 1-1 Sampdoria, Serie A, Sampdoria with a good disruptive away performance and unlucky not to get away with three points.  

Leicester City 0-2 Manchester City, English Premier League, standard Leicester trying to play on the break against a better team. City broke through and were comfortable.

West Ham Utd 0-1 Chelsea, English Premier League, good little attacking game with flowing football albeit with limited chances created. Let down by a late iffy red card but a lot of fun to be had. 

Southampton 1-1 Leicester City, English Premier League, a game disrupted by Saints losing a man but turned into a decent silly buggers game as Saints got a penalty and got away with a one all draw.

Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa, English Premier League, a frustrating match as Liverpool threw everything at Villa only to go behind. It was a fantastic ending with a deep injury time winner.

Leicester City 2-1 Crystal Palace, English Premier League, lively game with Leicester coming from behind to win.

AC Milan 2-1 Genoa, Serie A, fairly even game with Milan winning with an OG, very unconvincing.

Paris St-Germain 1-2 Manchester City, Champions League, a good semi final and a classy looking accidental equaliser from Kevin De Bruyne.

Arsenal 1-1 Fulham, English Premier League, a good silly buggers game where Arsenal threw everything at Fulham who went ahead with a penalty and Arsenal finally equalising with a late goal.

Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle Utd, English Premier League, another silly buggers game as both teams played like they'd put money on a 4-3 score line. Neither could finish, Liverpool displayed all our season long weaknesses and Newcastle got a late equaliser.

Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspurs, League Cup, a typical all attack and not many goals City game but we had a crowd who created the highlight of the game with a rendition of "who let the fans out". 

Reading 2-2 Swansea City, Championship, Readings season combusted and Swansea clung on to the final playoff spot.

Crotone 1-2 Udinese, Serie A, fun attacking game with lots of chances.

Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Werder Bremen, Bundesliga, Dortmund went behind and then turned on the pressure scoring four goals and looking professional albeit disappointingly sane.

Norwich City 1-3 Bournemouth, Championship, Norwich were promoted before kick off and started like a steam engine, however they stoked the boiler to hot and a player saw red. Bournemouth then proceeded to fill their boots.  

Manchester Utd 3-1, English Premier League, all Man Utd but Burnley managed a quick equaliser and kept it level long enough to be a banter.

Everton 2-2 Tottenham Hotspurs, English Premier League, good fun game with loads of chances. 

Atletico Madrid 5-0 Eibar, La Liga, when did Atletico learn how to play attacking football? I know it was today but what time?

Paris St-Germain 0-1 Bayern Munich, Champions League, a very good second leg with tons of incident Munich had more of the play but PSG moved forward in the competition.

RB Leipzig 0-1 Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, a big feel match settled by one goal in an incident packed game.  

Newcastle 3-2 West Ham Utd, English Premier League, a game of four quarters as the first part of both halfs were dull but Newcastle went ahead and West Ham had a man sent off before half time. The final twenty minutes or so saw a West Ham comeback and Newcastle winner.

Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, Bundesliga, end to end stuff and a fun match.

Mainz 05 2-1 Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, really fun game with a nifty goal to get things started and a real sense of the underdog having a lot of fun.

Wolfsburg 2-3 Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, one of the most free flowing games of the season. Bayern threatened to run away with it but the home team made a game of it.

Atalanta 3-2 Udinese, Serie A, very attacking game with Udineses first goal coming at a good moment for trading.

Torino 2-2 Juventus, Serie A, a fantastic derby as both teams went ahead at one point. Juventus had most of the play but Turin played out of their skin for a point.  

Arsenal 0-3 Liverpool, English Premier League, Liverpool dominated and finally clicked when Jota came on - he needs to start.

Bayern Munich 2-3 Paris St-Germain, Champions League, utter barnstormer of a game, it was all Bayern yet Paris got a two goal early lead Bayern came back only for PSG to score again. Bayern continued to batter the PSG goal but to no avail.  

Cagliari 4-3 Parma, Serie A, one of the games of the year! Parma went ahead on the 5th minute and at one point were 3-1 up, Cagliari didn't get level until the 91st minute eventually going ahead on the 94th. Sexy Football!