STRANGE LOG: Jog and Despair, Losers!

Greetings folks, once again your boy Ugo has returned, not with an article but with...well...another Strange Log, because let's be real honest, there is less and less worth writing about, am I right? Who the hell am I asking, since no one is reading this anyway, am I right? Again, who am I talking to? Wanna know my thoughts on random stuff? Well, here you go, whoever you are, enjoy.

Let's start off right outta the gate by taking a bite outta the nostalgia burger, and that's the revival of "Malcolm In The Middle". What is going on with TV shows reviving old IPs from the dead? I know the answer to that question, and yet, I still ask. However, in reality, no one is asking for this, and I love "Malcolm In The Middle", but seriously...*sigh* No one wants to move on with their lives or do something else, and I have this feeling we're gonna get stuck in this cycle of resurrecting old IPs rather than letting new ones breathe. Hence why I'm happy Vince Gilligan did something completely different after "Breaking Bad" and it's pointless spin-off (Yes, I am calling it pointless because that's what it was, freakin' pointless) "Better Call Saul" and created "Pluribus", a show that is completely different from "Breaking Bad". Frankie Muinz hasn't been burning it up in the acting department, and he really doesn't need to, since I hear he's been racing cars. Lord knows Bryan Cranston doesn't need the money either. So everyone is coming back for the fun. Will I tune in? Maybe, but honestly, I am tired of the revivals.

Who was asking for this?

"Stranger Things" ended, let's talk about that, I guess. This was a weird finale. Certainly not the worst, but in terms of how it felt...I didn't get a feeling of danger. At no point did I feel like the characters were in any danger, even when they were fighting that needless CGI monstrosity at the end. I just didn't feel any stakes, and for my suspicions only to be confirmed in the end, no one died, no one was hurt or maimed, it just feels...well...fake. Also, the build-up to the reveal that Mind Flayer was, in fact, the one in charge this whole time was both awesome and lame at the same time. Let me break this down. It's awesome because when Eleven and Henry had their first showdown, it seemed like Eleven managed to push Henry into another dimension...and then somehow was no longer capable of doing that again. It makes sense that Henry wasn't pushed into another dimension but rather pulled into it by The Mind Flayer as a means of saving him, and could only do so because Henry had a piece of that dimension within him, which was awesome.

What made it lame is the fact that Henry was scared to go into the cave to experience his first kill and the origins of his powers. Why be scared of that? It'd make more sense if Henry forbade the children from going into the woods to prevent them from finding out the source of his powers and discovering that his powers were not his own, that'd have made more sense. But because of what The Duffer Brothers did, for a brief moment, we all believed Henry was a poor, innocent victim of The Mind Flayer, a last-minute plot twist, but a plot twist nonetheless that recontextualized Henry as a villain but a dark mirror of what Will could become...only for Henry to deny his victim status and claim that he was in league with The Mind Flayer the whole time...so then why was he scared to into the cave? Makes no damn sense.

He's crying because...

If I may juxtapose this the ending of "My Hero Academia.", a show in which also no one died, Tomura Shiguraki and All For One were both villains, but were exposed at the end, Tomura never stopped being a villain, but realized the source of his villainy was the pain he endured as a child he was just lashing out at the world, after this realization he never stopped. Still, he did recognize that he was going about everything all wrong and facing his demons from the past would have helped him and learning those demons were planted by All For One to begin with showed him his life was never his. Still, he had already come so far as a villain that stopping would be absurd, so he gave up and that's when All For One took over his body. All For One was exposed as a genuinely sad and lonely man when all was lost, who just wanted attention and wanted to be loved by the only person who ever truly loved him, his brother. "My Hero Academia" showed that evil comes from a place of hurt; it's not a creation in and of itself; it's an inversion, and that was shown in the desperate cries of All For One as he held his brother one last time. "My Hero Academia" earned what "Stranger Things" didn't, in that it gave us an ending that cost something: Deku lost his quirk, Jirou (my precious and beautiful Jirou) lost an ear, Bakugo was maimed, Endeavor lost an arm...everyone got wrecked, the party from "Stranger Things" didn't have a scratch.

The face of a man who realized he made a profound mistake and can't take it back

And no, I don't believe Eleven died, I didn't even believe it while it was happening, because "the hedgehogs", as the soldiers called it, were active and Eleven showed no reaction. Yes, I understand they weren't pointed directly at her, BUT sound isn't a laser, it bounces off of walls, and those were sonic frequencies, like a radio signal, even if they weren't pointed directly at her...they would have had some effect. So no, even during Eleven's whole "death" scene, I wasn't buying it and didn't care. I was hoping The Duffer Brothers would commit to Hopp actually shooting Eleven under Henry's control because that would have been an AMAZING choice...but...they just couldn't commit. "Strange Things" and "My Hero Academia" both ended with a giant monster and a large group fighting it...but only one mattered; the other didn't.

As of now I think I'm tapped out on "My Hero Academia", so I probably won't be checking out "My Hero Academia Vigilante" anytime soon I heard good things but I'm ready to close the book on that world for a while and jump into the worlds of "Oshi No Ko" (which has a 3rd Season...goody) and "Eminence In Shadow" a.k.a Cid wins lol and "Call Of The Night", which I'm looking forward to watching when I decide to stay up, as watching that any other time would be blasphemous. Anime is getting harder and harder to get into, but I'm trying; it's just that there is literally SO much, and it's crazy to try and keep up with it all. Maybe when I'm retired, I'll finally binge-watch it all. Who knows?

Moving on, let's talk about "Avengers: Doomsday". The Russos are back, and it looks like all things considered, they're talking a more serious tone with this one. The most recent teaser featured a short-haired Thor praying to Odin for the strength to fight Doom. This movie is shaping up to be the literal most anticipated thing this year because it's going to be a cluster-cuss of things, but it won't be boring. I'm going into this movie wanting to see how they pull the rabbit outta their hat. They're bringing back RDJ as Dr. Doom, they're bringing back Chris Evans as Captain America...whatever happens in this movie, it is literally going to be INSANE, and that's all I can say for "Avengers: Secret Wars". This is The MCU's Comeback and Farewell tour, as I don't think there is anything planned after "Avengers: Secret Wars." "Avengers: Doomsday" needs to not only shake off the cobwebs of Hero Fatigue, it needs to breathe life into an MCU that has been on life support ever since...well...the start of Phase Three, which kicked off in 2021. This really needs to be a homerun for them...and somewhere in the very back, back, back of my mind...I actually think this just might pull it off. This is just the right amount of crazy and desperation for me to go, "Okay, they might actually be on to something.", but they got a good 11 months of hype to build up, so when the trailer actually drops, I'll let you know what I think.

Still think this is one of the biggest WTF? Moments in comic book movie history

Speaking of the trailer that was dropped recently, "Control: Resonant", the much-awaited sequel to "Control" has dropped, and this looks pretty dang awesome. This time we're taking control (see what I did there) of Dylan, and it looks like The Hiss is gone, but something else has gone astray, and we're leaving The Oldest House on this one, gang. I cannot express how excited I am about this game, as this was part in parcel why I purchased a gaming PC in the first place. "Control" was such a weird and fun ride that I got FOR FREE thanks to PlayStation Plus, and now with the 2nd game coming out, I am losing my collective shite to see what's going down in this one. The combat looks much better, and I hope Dylan has Hiss powers that give him different abilities from his sister. Long story short, I cannot wait for this one.

I am currently at the tail end of "Clair Obscur Expedition 33" and while I'm enjoying the game, don't get me wrong...it's just...*sigh* I am tired of every attacking being a QTE, it just gets annoying, and I'm tired of certain characters being hidden bad-asses, IF ONLY you had the correct build for them. I like that every character has their own unique thing, but damnit, it's hard. This stems from my own personal frustrations and impatience with video games. I get annoyed and angry very quickly with video games. If I can't quickly understand how something works, I get angry, and my enjoyment goes outta the window.

Writing What Ifs?... for comic books (Jubilee and Batman). I've been wondering what to do on this blog as of late, and I figured I'd share my ideas for comic books, both DC and Marvel. I've had ideas for comic book characters, and I wanna share those stories in my "What If...?" series. Not for any reason other than I feel like the comic book scene has become extremely messy with retcon after retcon, and instead of writing fan fiction, I'm more or less offering what I'd do with these characters and big events. Let me know if you folks are interested and I'll probably post a few. Anyway, looking forward to some things this year, we'll see what shakes down. Until then, here's a Gif of how I hope I'll feel after watching "Avengers: Doomsday".