Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

Welcome back to the fun segment “A&E Trivia.” We will play a little quizzo with a total of four questions — one question from each category. You will be given three answer choices. The categories are movies, television, music and celebrities. Let’s go!

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s “A&E Trivia” and hopefully got a question or two right. Email tripodij2@lasalle.edu any questions you’d like to see asked in the next edition.

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor 

Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week. 

Drake loses over a quarter of a million dollars in a bet

Rapper Drake lost $275,000 after betting that Jorge Masvidal would beat Colby Covington at UFC 272. Drake lost the bet because Covington won the fight. After the fight, Covington took the mic. He said, “Let’s talk about all the money that Drake lost tonight,” before calling his music a derogatory term. Despite this, one positive thing from this experience was that Masvidal, who was an underdog heading into the fight, took to Twitter to offer Drake a free dinner the next time he is in Miami. 

“The Bachelor” airs new episodes two nights in a row

ABC’s “The Bachelor” aired its “Women Tell All” episode on its usual Monday night time slot. Here, the women who were eliminated from bachelor Clayton Echard’s season reunited on stage. They confronted the villain from the season, Shanae. The ladies also expressed their hurt and disappointment to Clayton. The following night, the “Fantasy Suites” episode aired. Viewers were surprised to see Clayton unexpectedly say goodbye to a front-running contestant after they got into an argument over his previous overnight dates with the other two women. 

Kelly Clarkson pays tribute to Dolly Parton at the ACM Awards

The 57^th Academy of Country Music Awards was recently held in Las Vegas. One of the most notable performances of the night was pop singer Kelly Clarkson’s tribute to country music legend Dolly Parton. The “American Idol” alum sang “I Will Always Love You,” a song that was originally written and performed by Parton. The audience was moved, as Clarkson received a standing ovation. Parton then walked onto the stage and embraced Clarkson before telling the crowd, “I was backstage trying not to cry my false eyelashes off.”

“The Weekend Away” is trending on Netflix

The new film “The Weekend Away” is trending on the streaming platform Netflix. Starring Leighton Meester and Christina Wolfe, this thriller tells the story of two female friends named Beth and Kate who take a girls’ trip together to Croatia. After Kate tragically vanishes, Beth is investigated and named as a suspect. As Beth frantically races to figure out what really happened to her friend, she discovers something unsettling. “The Weekend Away” is rated TV-14. 

Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Mar. 12, 2022

According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals. During its 59^th week on the charts, this alternative/indie song is at the top spot for the first time. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is Disney’s “Encanto” Soundtrack. At the top spot for the eighth time, this is the 14th week the Latin pop film score is on the charts.

Danielle O’Brien, Staff

“Promised Land” is a drama series created by Matt Lopez that appears on Hulu every Monday and is a great example of the Latino representation and talent in need of your support. The show began in January of 2022, originally appearing on ABC at 10 pm on Tuesday nights, however, from the 6th episode the show was moved to Hulu due to lower viewership on cable. Nevertheless, it received a high score on Rotten Tomatoes and much critical acclaim.  

(SPOILERS AHEAD) The premise of the show follows a well-established mixed family in all definitions of the word. Although Joe Sandoval, his wife Letti (played by Cecilla Suarez), and their kids seem to only have to deal with the first-world problems presented to them while living in the mansion of their California vineyard, it wasn’t always this way. It is important to note that the show is told in the frames of two different points in time: one in which we follow an older Joe (played by John Ortiz) in issues he and his family have to experience after inheriting the vineyard, and the second, a younger Joe (played by Andrez Velez) who was simply working on the vineyard with no concept of what more he wanted to do with his life.

Joe was an immigrant from Mexico who crossed the U.S-Mexico border in the ’80s to reunite with his older brother Billy (played by Rolando Chusan but more like Rolando Chulito, in my opinion) who works at a vineyard in California. On his venture to cross the border, Joe meets another girl trying to cross, Letti and her sister Rosa. Joe learns that Letti aspires to be a teacher and Rosa aspires to be a nurse, while Joe initially doesn’t seem to have many plans outside of working at the vineyard with his brother in the U.S. In the course of traveling across the border, however, Joe, Letti, and Rosa run into many trials and tribulations which bring them closer, such as almost getting trafficked and Letti’s sister even getting kidnapped for blackmail. Over the course of a few episodes the issues are resolved and Joe and Letti are reunited with Joe’s brother in California, Billy, who gets them a job at the vineyard and even forged them government documentation. Joe’s original name was Carlos and Letti’s was Juana, however, these forged documents forced them to take on a completely new identity. While Joe and Letti’s choice to rename themselves symbolizes the plights that many immigrants are forced to do in leaving behind part of their identity to assimilate to this new world, it remains true that even with these new identities in this strange new country, there are more problems that Joe, Letti, and Billy have yet to anticipate. For one, the three witness firsthand how unwanted they are in the vineyard when the vineyard owner’s daughter, Margaret Honeycroft (played by Kerri Medders) befriends Letti. Margaret comes from a completely different world of privilege but nevertheless faces issues of her own. In an attempt to make friends, Margaret strikes up a conversation with Letti, enlisting her help as a personal tutor in Spanish. It’s made very clear, however, from Margaret’s father that befriending the “help” was shameful. Joe and Billy also struggle with the woes of their father who also lives in the United States but is constantly asking his sons for money.

            However, the main course of chisme (drama) in the show is the love “square” as you could put it between Joe, Letti, his brother Billy, and Margaret which carries on into their adulthood. It’s clear from the beginning of the series that Joe is in love with Letti, however, Letti doesn’t seem to reciprocate the feelings of Joe. This is likely due in part to her meeting Joe’s brother, Billy (who could blame her?). The two spark a fiery romance that they try to hide from Joe who eventually finds out anyway. Nevertheless, Joe doesn’t take long to “get over it” as he turns to pursue Margeret who has always had an interest in him, however, Joe had some frustration upon first meeting her. Interestingly, however, Letti seems to disapprove of  the two’s relationship although she should be preoccupied in her own relationship.

Nevertheless, it’s clear the love square turns into a circle as the show pans to the other perspective of when the characters are older. Margaret and Joe got married and had four kids, Letti and Billy shared one, and once both couples divorced, Joe and Letti also shared one kid after remarrying one another. However, the chisme never seems to end between the four as the older Billy returns after deserting Letti and their child to reinstate those familiar sparks between himself and his ex-wife who is currently taken by his brother. On top of the drama ongoing between the parents of the mixed family, their children’s issues adds further drama to the story which makes it even more worth the watch.

Besides the show being presented from two different points in time, what makes it interesting is how beautifully the show balances the addictive chisme reminiscent of a telenovela, but better, while also having a serious undertone concerning the American dream and the state of immigration within the U.S today. There are several references to the struggles undocumented persons in the United States experience in the process of immigrating, such as the risk of being trafficked by coyotes “helping”  those cross the border. Furthermore, even if undocumented persons safely arrive in the United States, these same immigrants face further horrors in this new country such as racism and the constant presence of ICE threatening their livelihood. These themes all play a role in developing the plot of the show. I would also like to make a point that the show includes representation of real Latinos of all colors. While it is one feat to have a lead cast of Latinos on prime time television, it is another thing for there to be a range of diversity in said Latino representation, from gueras/gueros to morenas/morenos in an industry where when there is a Latino character, they are often cherry picked to look a certain way.

With all these factors in hand as to why “Promised Land” is worth the watch, it is upsetting that the show was removed from premiering live on ABC on Tuesday nights to being moved to Hulu. However, with a persistently large following, “Promised Land” could at the very least secure a second season to premiere sometime in the future, which it is very much deserving of. The show and it’s actors deserve the opportunity at a second season for the diversity it brings in representing the Latino community in a way no show on prime time television has before. Not to mention, it’s become one of my favorite shows and I’m begging whoever is reading this to give the show a watch so I can finally decide which brother I like more.

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.

Prinz von Anhalt changes his mind after adopting adult son

            The German-American prince and widower of socialite Zsa Zsa Gábor, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, has decided that he does not want his adopted son, Kevin Feucht, after the show they were going to be featured in, “Adults Adopting Adults,” got canceled. According to TMZ, the wealthy prince, who has no biological children, decided to adopt the 27-year-old in order to carry on his royal lineage. In exchange for the wealth Feucht would inherit, he must cook and do house chores. However, after the new A&E series was dropped, the prince wants to reverse the adoption. He is now looking to adopt an adult woman.

Kanye West is dating a Kim Kardashian look-alike

            Rapper Kanye West has been spending time with a woman that looks very similar to his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. The look-alike is a 24-year-old social media influencer named Chaney Jones. Not only does Jones have an almost identical physique, hair and face as Kardashian, but she also wears similar clothes and accessories. According to Cosmopolitan, the pair have been hanging out frequently over the past few weeks, and have recently become Instagram official.

                                             

Amanda Seyfried stars as Elizabeth Holmes in new original series

            In the new drama miniseries, “The Dropout,” actress Amanda Seyfried takes on the leading role as the notorious Elizabeth Holmes. The real-life Holmes, who was once named by Forbes as the youngest self-made woman billionaire, is a former CEO who is now in prison for fraud. In this series, Seyfried portrays the powerful rise and dramatic downfall of the founder of Theranos, which was a fraudulent private health technology company. “The Dropout” premieres Mar. 3 on Hulu and Disney+. 

Netflix releases, “Cat Burglar,” an interactive short

            The streaming platform, Netflix, has released an interactive short film titled “Cat Burglar.” Recreating a vintage cartoon, the storyline follows Rowdy, a cat who wishes to steal a highly valuable painting from an art museum. However, in order to be successful, he must defeat the guard dog, Peanut. The viewer decides whether Rowdy will be successful, or fail, based on their answers to trivia questions. If the viewer gets all of the trivia questions right, Rowdy moves on to the next level and becomes closer to stealing the art. If the questions are answered incorrectly, the cat dies and the film starts over.

Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Mar. 5, 2022

According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” by Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the “Encanto” cast. Staying at the top spot, this is the ninth week the Disney song is on the charts. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is Disney’s “Encanto” Soundtrack. At the top spot for the seventh time, this is the 13th week the Latin pop film score is on the charts.

HBO’s hit drama series continues its strive with a successful second season full of just as much anxiety and character work as the first. (Some spoilers)

Nolen Kelly, Editor

If I went to the High School from “Euphoria,” I would be the guy in the background who always wears a Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt, I think. Never has there been a show that has been so recommended yet immediately regretted quite like “Euphoria” has. While other current or past shows may deal with uneasy content or are just hard to recommend, it’s been a while since a series has been so relentlessly jarring and shocking with its subject matter while also maintaining a consistent level of unnerving-ness each week. “Euphoria” just wrapped its second season on Sunday Feb. 27 and while the show has matured a bit since its first season, this has not changed the fact that it seeks different ways to make you feel terrible and was worth the wait for the weekly watch or a single sit and binge. With that bit of positivity out of the way, I think season two was a bit of a mess and sort of disjointed despite how great it was.

The season continues with Rue (Zendaya Coleman) and her misadventures of substance abuse and addiction, picking up right after the finale of the first season which saw Rue being left at a train station by her at-the-time girlfriend Jules (Hunter Schafer). Despite being clean at that time, Rue relapsed back to drugs to help her get over Jules. In this season we meet Dominic Fike as Elliot, Rue’s new classmate who has a very show appropriate introduction to the show by saving Rue from a near overdose in the first episode. That begins the downward spiral of Rue’s addictions and problems. Her unquenchable need for pills leads to putting up a facade as a sober business savvy student who buys a literal suitcase of drugs to “Sell to other high school students” but just ends up consuming them herself. After another near overdose, Rue severs nearly all ties with her friends, family and loved ones in an attempt to score anything. She finishes the season on a healthier note with some sobriety and relationships mended but there are still no good feelings to be had.

There’s a lot of good and some bad stuff, so I’ll just get the bad out of the way first because while there was so much stuff and so many things to praise, this season was far from perfect with glaring structural problems as well as an imbalance of character screen times. In a show that originally gave each character nearly an entire episode to go through their story, resolve it there, then carry on through the grander story, this season had a lot of choppy segments and strange pacing of certain stories. Similarly, many characters seem like they are going to be given a major chunk of screen time or importance but then have their stories cut short or don’t even exist. For example the season opened with a backstory for one of Rue’s drug dealer’s grandmother who has been bed ridden since the start of the show. While the story was great, I honestly thought that would have tied into the season in some way but was really just another introduction story. I understand it was really just a front to set up Ashtray (Javon Walton), Fezco’s (Angus Cloud) adopted younger brother, but the framing of the story made it seem like she would be more important later on. Maybe that’s a bit of a strange nitpick but the expectation was set up and was there but never came to fruition and kind of disappointed me. 

I would have liked more Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) and more of Kat’s (Barbie Ferreira) storyline with Ethan (Austin Abrams). Kat and Ethan are great together and their story got really interesting when Kat had her own issues and Ethan figured out what their diner date was. After that it just stopped and this was disappointing, because despite Kat being an unnecessary grinch, the storyline’s conclusion would have been great. Nate is actually one of my favorite characters on the show and I hope I don’t get glares for that. Nate is an evil person. Nothing about him is good. They did a tremendous job building him up in season one as an actual threat to everyone around him whether they realize it or not but this season he was stuck with Maddy (Alexa Demie) and Cassie (Sydney Sweenie), his dad and a little bit of himself. There was so much great stuff about Nate I wish was expanded on or taken to darker lengths like his teased closeted sexuality from season one or his violent and unstable tendencies. Nate had some harsh stuff happen to him this season so this is more of a personal preference but I can’t help but feel like they missed some marks not taking Nate to defcon one and an actual physical threat. Here’s to hoping season three fully capitalizes on Nate’s potential, more complete storylines and a balance of character screen times.

Although the negative section was pretty hefty, I promise I liked more of this season then disliked it. One moment that is a basic summation of how I felt watching this season was the intercut scene between Cassie and Cal Jacobs (Eric Danes) as they both deal with the losses of loves in their respective lives. One is drunk, one is concussed and drunk, but both are sad and cry-singing “Drink Before the War” by Sinead O’Connor. Although I disliked it at first due to the disjointed and sort of weird editing of the scene, it has grown like crazy on me. The scene is gorgeously shot and haunting considering how different yet similar the two characters are. I don’t think I will get the image of a makeup smeared and drunken Cassie, surrounded by ribbons, wearing a swimsuit for attention and practically screaming out to O’Conner as her best friend and the man she desires watch on with pity, out of my head. The scene reflects a lot of how I think the season went: full of haunting and semi-beautiful moments that show these vile people at a point we never realized they could sink to or achieve while everything feels slightly anxiety inducing. 

Visually, this season was really ugly, but I liked it. This was mostly due to Rue’s sobriety and the harshness of nearly every situation forcing the pretty fireworks and colors away and I think it worked really well. Although I touched in the negatives of how there were a lot of missed opportunities in the season, I think there was an equal amount of great opportunities this season created for the future. The ambiguity of some stories and relationships are intriguing enough to see what happens next. The score was extra tense and sometimes hilariously excessive thanks to the great works of Labrinth. The acting was very good this season especially from Danes (Cal), Zendaya (Rue), Sweenie (Cassie), Demie (Maddy), Abrams (Ethan) and Elordi (Nate). Each of these characters had a particularly rough season and although only Abrams is mentioned for the good and light heartedness he brought to the season, each of these actors stood out the most for how great they portrayed their characters this season. Despite the finale being separated into two parts and a few stories forgotten, they did a good job balancing the character stories and cleaning up some of the plotlines they focused on. Rue has a lot more to fix in the next season but what she fixed in the finale was good. Nate and Cal’s story wrap-up was great and probably my favorite story of the season. Maddy and Cassie’s plot was pretty good and although it is definitely not finished, it was left in a good place. Fezco and Ashtray’s saga was brutal, fun and satisfying for me and Lexi’s play went a lot longer than I wished but was nevertheless still very entertaining. 

“Euphoria” season two had a lot of stuff happen, almost too much stuff. I know I am forgetting so many important points from this season but whatever I have here is what we will call “good enough.” The major style changes of the colors and the less enthusiastic music choices made this season really dark and not very fun but in a fun way. I enjoyed this season and I like this show. It’s not an easy show to binge or watch for everyone, and the very obvious problem of these high school teenagers doing these obscene things is very clear but not one of these people look like teenagers or high school students so for me it’s pretty easy to suspend the disbelief. “Euphoria” is a rough time every time but it’s a show that is leaving its mark on modern TV and most likely will not be going away any time soon. “Euphoria” season two is fully available on HBO Max.

Danielle O’Brien, editor

“Abbott Elementary” is a show airing on Tuesday nights at 9 on ABC. It captures the struggle of teachers in today’s American education system displayed in a nevertheless fun and comical twist. Not to mention, it is based on the Philadelphia area and school district, which is why it is especially deserving of your attention.

The premise of the show revolves around the staff of a public elementary school set in Philadelphia. One of the main characters of the show is a once-Temple attendee, Quinta Brunson, who plays Janine Teagues in the show. Quinta dropped out of Temple to pursue a career in Hollywood working for the poultry news and entertainment outlet, Buzzfeed. You may remember Brunson Janine from her “Girl who’s never been on a nice date” video (if you don’t know what I’m talking about from the title, look it up and you’ll remember instantly). Quinta has been one of the most successful women emerging from the Philadelphia area, being featured in Forbes “30 under 30” list in 2017, a list of people under 30 years of age recognized from 600 different small businesses and industries in which 30 are selected in twenty industries each. 

Quinta plays an optimistic young teacher fresh to the field of education who struggles to balance her personal wants and goals with the limited resources handed to her in the school. On top of being forced to navigate how to give a quality education to her school kids in an underprivileged school system, Janine and her fellow younger coworkers, Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti) and Gregory Eddie (Tyler James WIlliams)struggle to gain respect from teachers who have worked in the school system for much longer and are uninspired by the changes Janine and her generation seek from the world, approaching her with the attitude of  “these are just the way things are.”

For example, in the first episode, Janine struggles to get something as simple as rugs for her class to sit on. At the beginning of the episode, her older colleagues become frustrated at her constant need to ask for more. They try to persuade her that this is the type of thing she’ll have to get used to, working in a school district such as this one. and that you just end up disappointed when you ask for things you’ll never receive. Nevertheless, the two groups find out they have more in common when their common enemy for the episode, Principal Coleman (played by Janeele James) uses a large amount of money awarded to the school for rugs on a new hairdo for herself and a new sign for the school. Together, the teachers work to get Janine the rugs she needed for her classroom on their own merit thanks in big part to South Philly don, Melissa Schemmenti (played by Lisa Ann Walter), and her under-the-table Italian connections. 

Janine reveals that she was so persistent about the rug situation because some students, in particular, find it a safe space to rest as they have personal issues going on at home, which sets the deeper tone of the serious, highlighting how our educators work through the financial obstacles thrown at them in America’s education system because they so love the children they teach, sometimes even having to resort to their own means. On a more positive note, however, the rug that they do end up getting for Janine is an eagles rug! On two of the issues Janine is facing in her career, she also has a SoundCloud rapper boyfriend who doesn’t seem to contribute much to their relationship but headaches. Interestingly, it seems as though Tyler James Williams (“Everybody Hates Chris”) who plays substitute teacher Gregory Eddie is interested in Janine in a romantic type of way.

“Abbot Elementary” is a must-watch for everyone in the Philadelphia area, as there are constant references to Philadelphia culture. But besides the “The Office’s” style direction and overall laughs the show has to offer, “Abbot Elementary” is worth watching, as it is doing something not many other shows on prime time TV can brag about. For one, having a predominantly black cast sheds light on the very real issues facing Philadelphia and the U.S education system at large in a nevertheless very light-hearted way. The show has employed real Philadelphians who look the part to represent one of the most diverse and unique cities on the east coast. From its references to Philly slang to north, south, east, and west Philly culture, Abbott elementary is a must watch aside. At a time in which Philadelphia is experiencing one of its highest peaks in crime and violence as displayed on the news daily, by just flipping over the channel we are reminded about the identity of Philadelphians which makes us the City of Brotherly Love. Make sure to watch “Abbot Elementary” on ABC, Tuesday nights at 9, and it is available to stream on Hulu. 

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

            Welcome back to the fun segment “A&E Trivia.” This week, we have a special “Quotes” edition. We will play a little quizzo with a total of four questions — one question from each category. You will be given three answer choices. The categories are movies, television, music and celebrities. Let’s go!

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s “A&E Trivia,” and hopefully got a question or two right. Email tripodij2@lasalle.edu any questions you’d like to see asked in the next edition.

How a series I was dreading became my favorite comedy of all time. (Spoiler free)

Jakob Eiseman, Editor-in-Chief

Header Image: HBO Max

Not only is “Peacemaker” the best new show I’ve seen in 2022, it’s the best thing to come out of DC in a decade, the best HBO Max original, John Cena’s best role, best superhero series to date and the first series I’ve watched that didn’t have a single bad episode. Normally, when I review something for the Collegian, it’s because it’s new, trending or deserving of a spotlight for one reason or another. This is the first time I’ve gone into a review for this publication knowing I cannot be objective and that this is going to be an entire column of me hyping up this silly, awesome, heartfelt, stupid, amazing show.

“Eat peace, motherf***ers” 

In August 2021, Warner Bros. released “The Suicide Squad,” a strange match-made-in-heaven situation that paired up the characters of the DC Cinematic Universe (DCEU) with director James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Slither”) known for his signature style of rapid-fire comedy and heartfelt storytelling. The film served as a pseudo-sequel to the 2016 film “Suicide Squad” that was absolutely abysmal and failed in nearly every way. I believe “Suicide Squad (2021)” suceeded because of its amazingly written comedic characters and that bounced off each other, spouting jokes nearly every minute of the film, but in a way that also endeared you to the squad and kept you emotionally invested in their stories and antics. Among this cast was a character named Peacemaker, played by WWE Wrestler and underrated actor John Cena. Just before I went to see “The Suicide Squad,” I had read that Peacemaker would be getting his own series on HBO Max written and partially directed by Gunn, so while I was watching, I kept a close eye on him, and I wasn’t entirely impressed to be honest. I walked out of that movie really anxious about how the “Peacemaker” series was going to stand alone, as I thought Cena was good in the role, but the character was weak and not the best among the group. Beyond this, the series was also going to feature an additional cast of characters that shared maybe five minutes of screentime in the movie and were annoying the whole time. I was anticipating a major flop.

To set up the series: Peacemaker is a wannabe superhero with daddy issues whose slogan is “I cherish peace with all my heart. I don’t care how many men, women and children I need to kill to get it.” Okay, it’s funny enough to see Cena in way too tight of a costume with a ridiculous helmet acting as a walking irony generator, but it was everything that surrounded this that led me to love the series so much despite my initial concerns. In the same way Gunn made me care about the team from “The Suicide Squad,” he wrote the main cast of characters in “Peacemaker” to be equal parts lovable and ridiculous, and by the time we got to the final episode of the series, if any of them died I was ready to riot. Whether it be the lovable Leota Adebayo played by Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black,”) the gruff military agent Amelia Harcourt played by Jennifer Holland (“Brightburn”) or the idiotic bloodthirsty Vigilante played by Freddie Stroma (“Harry Potter,”) every single character was heightened, but also grounded in real emotions and reactions, and made me laugh out loud and nearly cry every episode, almost in equal measure.

“What separates us from other killers is we only kill bad people. Usually… Unless there’s a mistake.”

“Peacemaker” follows a typical big-budget movie story from the current superhero genre that takes a character that isn’t good at being a hero and places them at the helm of a world-saving quest to kill aliens. All the makings of a cheesy, run-of-the-mill sci-fi story are here. But, it’s the way that Gunn bends the conventions of the genre and plays with these tropes that makes the story genuinely interesting, and also highlights both comedic elements and flaws of each main character. The story is broad, sweeping, sci-fi as sh*t and unapologetically violent and grotesque. 

Every major plot point in “Peacemaker” seems to be marked with a perfectly choreographed fight scene, extreme display of violence or gross alien shenanigans. But, instead of the characters reacting how they would in a superhero movie, they acknowledge how gross, violent, scary or awesome these situations are. The characters constantly flip back and forth between the zany heightened comic characters you’d expect to straight, normal humans with real emotions and real reactions.

Gunn expertly writes the story of the show through the background, with only about one main set-piece scene per episode being dedicated to driving the plot forward in a major way, with the other scenes giving moments between characters, the aftermath of the last episode’s events or small side-stories that eventually culminate in their own conclusions toward the end of the season. 

As for the obstacles along the way of the story, the antagonists in this series are impeccable. The main villains are mysterious, sympathetic and can act genuinely evil, but the sub-antagonists are just as well-created. One of the main villains is an unapologetic white supremacist, which means I hated him from the jump, and loved to hate him througout. But, the way they tied his one-dimensional bigotry to the characters close to him made for excellent growth when they eventually broke ties with him because of his ignorance. Also, one of the bad guys is a short man in a leather suit who throws Cheetos at people. Just saying.

“You don’t want to believe in miracles? That’s on you.”

The strange thing about gathering my thoughts for this review was that I realized I don’t have a favorite part of “Peacemaker.” The plot is genuinely interesting, the characters are actually lovable and sympathetic and the comedy throughout rarely missed a beat without getting me right back on board moments later. The fact that Gunn made me care so much about this silly character and his friends shows how great he is at his job. But, when I said Cena is an underrated actor I was serious. He is known for his comedic roles but he is a genuinely great actor that can display a wide range of emotions. Peacemaker as a character is deeply depressed, and many of the jokes that he delivers have an air of sadness as he is clearly pushing people away to avoid being emotionally vulnerable. By the end of the series, I feel like he grows as a character as a result of his opening up to the other characters, and I can’t believe I’m saying that about a character that has at least one fart joke per episode.

I’ve been writing reviews for the Collegian for four years now, and in all of the pieces I’ve written, I linger far too much on the negatives because it shows I did my job as a critic and as a journalist. But, “Peacemaker” is going to be the first review where that does not happen, and it’s also going to receive my first 10 out of 10 ranking for anything I’ve reviewed. “Peacemaker” is not a perfect show, and there are plenty of series that are far superior in terms of storytelling, drama and even comedy. But, I cannot praise the beautiful blend of action, comedy, emotion and story that HBO has achieved with this series enough, and it is fully deserving of a perfect 10. If you have HBO Max and are in the mood for a comedy, I highly recommend checking out “Peacemaker,” even if you’re not a fan of the whole superhero thing, which I understand, because this really does go past that into being a genuinely good character study and an amazingly funny piece of entertainment. Here’s to looking forward to a second season.

P.s.: If you ever click “Skip Intro” on “Peacemaker” you’re just sick and twisted.

Greg Shannon, Staff

Header Image: Aniplex of America

Season two of “Demon Slayer” is also referred to as “Demon Slayer: Entertainment District.”

In 2022, it’s almost impossible to not find a new anime to try since every season it seems like there are at least 50 new ones coming out. With so much content being produced, it’s hard for something to gain popularity, let alone be greenlit for multiple seasons. However, if there’s one new-gen anime that’s proven it’s here to stay, it’s “Demon Slayer.” After an impressive first season that broke the internet, garnering notable reactions from the likes of popular streamer Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins and Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie, as well as a movie that is now ranked as the highest-grossing anime movie of all time, they got right to work on making the second season. The second season debuted in 2021 and just finished up on Feb. 13, 2022.Here are my thoughts on the most recent season of “Demon Slayer.”

To start off, I like that they give a lot of screen time to the secondary characters this time around. In the first season, they focus mostly on the main character, Tanjiro, obviously since he is the protagonist. In the movie based on the series they give some shine to other characters, but still most of the focus is on Tanjiro. However, this time Zenitsu, Inosuke and Tengen, the cast of side characters in the show,all get a lot of time to shine and it really builds on their characters. Even the two big bad villains get a good amount of screen time and a backstory episode that really gives us a chance to appreciate and care about them a bit more. 

I can’t tell you the amount of fun I had watching them get so much screen time and play such a pivotal role in this part of the show. Almost every scene that had my favorite side character, Insokue, in it, had me out of my seat cheering for him.  Now when it comes to the supporting character Tengen the shinobi, there was honestly so much that grew on me. I tried my hardest not to get attached to him because he died, but they made it so hard to hate him. Everything about this guy is just cool- he’s a ninja, is referred to as the god of festivals, had some of the cleanest animation, and did I mention that this guy is really f**king cool. 

Then, there’s the animation quality. If there’s any selling point for “Demon Slayer” it’s that the animation quality is always phenomenal. Thanks to the help of an increased budget from the success of the movie and first season, the animation for this season was turned up even more than the last. This can especially be seen from episodes five and onward. This is where all of the big action scenes really start to kick in and my god is it beautiful. Every fighting technique, every slash-cut, etc., was just beautiful. When you look at how well-animated the episodes, like “Never Give Up” are, it’s clear to see why it’s so beloved by fans of the series. 

This season of “Demon Slayer” really showed just how much potential this series has. With the show hitting the halfway point, one could only imagine how much better the second half of this show will be. The main antagonist was still extremely menacing while only getting a little bit of screen time, the demon for this season had some extremely creative abilities and the protagonist got a lot of development  as well. If you haven’t seen this season or this show please give it a watch. It truly is one of the stand out anime of the newer generation. I give this season a solid 8.5 out of 10.

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

 Welcome back to the fun segment “A&E Trivia.” This week, we have a special “Award Winners” edition. We will play a little quizzo with a total of four questions — one question from each category. You will be given three answer choices. The categories are movies, television, music and celebrities. Let’s go!