2017 Music Roundup

And just like that, another year has come and gone. I wouldn't say this year was as exciting musically as last, but we still enjoyed some bangers. Here's what I enjoyed this year:

Albums

Kehlani: SweetSexySavage
Migos: Culture
Syd: Fin
Bebe Rexha: All Your Fault Pt.1
Zara Larsson: So Good
Drake: More Life
Trey Songz: Tremaine The Album
Cashmere Cat: 9
Logic: Everybody
Dua Lipa: Dua Lipa
Halsey: Hopeless Fountain Kingdom
PartyNextDoor: Colours 2
Calvin Harris: Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1
Leikeli47: Wash And Set
Shoffy: Shoffy
Demi Lovato: Tell Me You Love Me
Sabrina Claudio: About Time
Kelela: Take Me Apart
Dvsn: Morning After
Snoh Aalegra: FEELS
H.E.R.: H.E.R.
Kygo: Kids In Love
Maroon 5: Red Pill Blues
Tove Lo: Blue Lips
Jaden Smith: SYRE

*bold denotes my top 5

#TeenWolf4Ever: A Farewell To The Show That Ruined My Life For 6 Years...

Wow, I truly can't believe that Teen Wolf is off forever! The series had a great run but I’m glad they stopped while they were ahead and didn’t get out of hand with these plot lines a la The Vampire Diaries. This last season was pretty good, but I wouldn’t say it was the best out of the six. I felt that the series finale that aired on Sunday 9/24 was a little blah at times. One high point of the final episode for me was when Lydia and Jackson finally reunited. I wasn’t sure how the moment was going to go when/if it happened since he was a trash boyfriend. But it was literally like nothing had ever happened and they were good friends that spoke all the time. She also knew he was gay and was waiting for him to figure it out which had me shook. Another highlight would be the montage like return of the villains from the past seasons i.e Jennifer ‘The Darach’ Blake, the Dread Doctors, and Berserkers.

I liked how the show went with a flash forward intro and then back in time to show how the fight went down. I mean, the storytelling was good, but I don’t think bringing Alec (the new wolf) into the mix so late was necessary. What were we supposed to do with the information from his story? Nothing. Especially since there’s no more story left to tell. I felt like the ending of 6A seemed to have a better closing/finale effect than did that of the actual last episode in 6B. Don’t get me wrong, seeing the gang reunite at the end and walk off in unison was a great ending but also a little corny? Predictable? I’m not sure.

Out of all 6 seasons of Teen Wolf, I’d have to say that 3B was my absolute favorite. Void Stiles/ Nogitsune had to be the best character in the series. Dylan O’Brien’s acting in those episodes was something I hadn’t seen on a show about supernatural characters. I’d compare it to that of Nina Dobrev portraying Elena, Katherine, and Amara throughout those few episodes of TVD. Overall, this show has given me a lot. It was what brought my best friend and I together, helped me realize that I loved to live tweet shows and interacting with others, and was just something different from what I’d been watching before it came along. Teen Wolf was a great show and I know I’m not the only one who is going to miss it. 

HTGAWM 'It's War' Recap: Yeah, It's About To Go Down

So I can't be the only one that’s been low-key bored with this second half of the season right? Yeah, I didn’t think so. It’s been a while since I’ve written about the show but honestly, there hasn’t been anything to share. At least not until this week’s episode. The Keating 4 have been slandering Annalise ever since she was arrested and now that she’s back home it continues and I’m over it. We still don’t know #WhoKilledWes but at this point, I’m over it and all of the buildup. That was until I realized next week is the season finale and it’s also 2 hours long! That means we’re going to find out everything (we better, or I’ll stop watching) that happened the day that Wes “died”. Let us discuss.

HTGAWM 'Who's Dead' Winter Finale Recap: I'm Still Shook

How To Get Away With Murder finally returns tomorrow and I haven’t been this excited in my life. Now, as I’m sure y’all know, Wes was the one who ended up under the sheet. The question that remains is who killed him before the fire!? Finding out that he was dead is one thing, but finding out that he was dead before he partially burned in Annalise’s house fire a la Two-Face was even crazier!

There are definitely a lot of questions that we need answered ASAP! First one being who blew up Annalise’s house? Was it Frank?  Last week, we thought he'd end up killing himself but he didnt. We didn’t see him as everyone piled into the hospital one by one. Or was it Nate? We saw him go into the house before the fire also. Next question is why did Annalise tell everyone to meet her at the house? Was she planning to light them all up? Cause that’s what it sounds like to me. Next question, is Laurel still pregnant? She was the only other person in the house besides Wes when it went up in flames. All of that smoke inhalation can't be good for her or the baby. Also, we still don’t know who the father of this child is. Next question, was Wes the anonymous source that ratted out Annalise or was there someone else?

Everyone on Twitter was dead af when we all saw that it was Wes. Many people even said that they hoped Wes wasn’t dead and that he had a twin that was instead which I thought was hilarious. I hadn’t thought about it until I learned that the show was coming back last week, the 19^th, that’s when I started freaking out again and finding as many theories as I could. But then TGIT got pushed back a week and I had time to chill. I’m very excited to see where this half of the season is going to take us, I know that we’re in for a ride because, at the end of the day, Peter Nowalk is an evil mastermind.

How To Get Away With Murder returns tomorrow at 10pm on ABC.

2016 Music Roundup: My Favorite Albums Of The Year

I realized that I didn't talk about music at all this year considering that is an aspect of entertainment I want to speak about on this blog. So I decided to compile this list. I never realized exactly how much music came out this year until I found the list on Wikipedia. We all know that albums are dropped on a weekly basis, but unless it's your job to keep up with all of those drops, the list I saw would've surprised you as well.

Below are the albums that I enjoyed this year along with my top 10* in the order of when they were released.

Albums

Anti: Rihanna

This Is Acting: Sia

Nine Track Mind: Charlie Puth

Begin: Lion Babe

The Life of Pablo: Kanye West

This Is What The Truth Feels Like: Gwen Stefani

Mind of Mine: Zayn

Lemonade: Beyonce

Views: Drake

The Colour in Anything: James Blake

99.9%: Kaytranada

Thank You: Meghan Trainor

Dangerous Woman: Ariana Grande

Chapters: Yuna

Last Year Was Complicated: Nick Jonas

Conscious: Broods

For All We Know: Nao

Generationwhy: ZHU

Glory: Britney Spears

The Divine Feminine: Mac Miller

Illuminate: Shawn Mendes

The Alter: BANKS

Mad Love: Jojo

Long Live The Angels: Emeli Sande

24k Magic: Bruno Mars

DNCE: DNCE

Starboy: The Weeknd

"Awaken, My Love!": Childish Gambino

Stoney: Post Malone

Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin': Kid Cudi

*bold titles denote favorite albums which were chosen based off of me liking more than half of the songs included on the deluxe version if applicable.

HTGAWM 'No More Blood' Recap: The End Is Nigh!

With this week’s episode in the past, we’re one week away from finding out who is under the sheet. And honestly, I’m ready for all of the mystery to be over! There have been so many times where I’ve questioned whether or not I was under the sheet based on those shocking moments so far. Last week, we found out that Wes was alive, for now, and that he had snitched on Annalise to save himself from everything to come with her and her house fire. This week, we didn’t really find out who was safe, but we’re two people closer to figuring out who isn't. Either way, I was shook by the great acting and can't wait to see who truly is gone for good. Let’s chat.

HTGAWM 'Call It Mother's Intuition' Recap: Guess Who's Back?

Honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can take theorizing about who could possibly be dead. This week’s episode confirmed that it’s time for me to take a break and let the body fall as it may! I can no longer stress myself during the episodes trying to decide who I do/don’t want to be under the sheet. Last week, we found out that Asher was alive, which was fab. ‘Call It Mother’s Intuition’ was the episode that reminded us that the Five were actually all Annalise’s children even though they thought she was trash AF and ruined their lives. Let’s talk about it.

HTGAWM 'Is Somebody Really Dead' Recap: Snitches Will Get Stitches

I don’t think there will be another episode that’ll top the iconic performances from last week. But this week’s episode did take us one step closer to finding out who might be #undertesheet. Honestly, I’m confused about who I think it is, but the confusion comes from a place of me not wanting it to be Connor. ‘Is Somebody Really Dead’ was that episode that reminds you how close we are to the big reveal that it doesn’t offer too much new information but a time stamp. It was still worth the watch, though. Let’s chat.

Blindspot 'Resolves Eleven Myths' Recap: Rich Has Returned

Last week, we learned that Weller has some unknown knowledge of Shepard based on him recognizing her voice in the unmodulated recording of Winter’s kidnappers. I thought that we would’ve got into that this episode, but the team was busy with other things like you know, just the regular ninja-like active shooter. This week’s episode was pretty decent and funny seeing as Rich Dotcom has resurfaced. He’s a little extra most of the time, but he’s dead on most of the time as well. Especially when it comes to reading the room when Weller and Jane are also in it. I also believe we’re a little bit closer to finding out who the FBI mole is considering they contacted Roman when contact is supposed to be limited. Let’s talk about it!

The Vampire Diaries 'Hello, Brother' Season 8 Premiere Recap: The Beginning Of The End

When Season 7 was airing, I was skeptical of watching because I wasn’t that big of a fan of Season 6 so I didn’t. Well, I did enjoy Kai and his evilness, but couldve done without some of the other stuf like Elena forgetting Damon. It wasn’t until I started seeing the buzz about Season 8 being the last that I decided I wouldn’t wait until this season was on Netflix to finally watch it. So I did what any smart person would do and binged season 7 three days before season 8 premiered. I’ve never made a better decision. Season 7 made me remember why I loved watching TVD all of these years. And the finale definitely made me want more! The premiere was everything that I thought it’d be, so I’m satisfied. ‘Hello, Brother’ was a good start to the final season of the show and I know that we’re going to be taken for a serious ride. Let’s dig in!

HTGAWM 'It's About Frank' Recap: Michaela Gives Me Life

Looking back on last week’s episode the reactions it brought were nothing compared to those this week. This had to be the best episode of the series so far in my opinion. The acting was so on point that I couldn’t contain myself. There were so many things that happened this episode. We found out who was posting the flyers, who isn’t dead, as well as more about our favorite psycho, Frank. Let’s chat!

Blindspot 'Her Spy's Mind' Recap: Who's That Lady?

It’s been a minute since I’ve recapped Blindspot, but honestly, it’s because it hasn’t done much for me. The past two episodes almost had me turn off my tv halfway through the episode. For some reason, though, I didn’t. This episode made up for the last two as it was the Blindspot I know and love. I enjoyed the episode because things are finally starting to come together. So I guess we needed two filler episodes for the writers to get themselves together. Let’s get into it!

HTGAWM 'Don't Tell Annalise' Recap: Guess Who's Pregnant?!

Last week we found out that Bonnie was next on the list of fire survivors, Laurel and her dad have some real issues, and Annalise has a strong back hand. This week, though, I was more shook than I’ve ever been before when it comes to this show. The flash forward this week literally ruined my life, I actually screamed. This was a great episode. Eve was back and then gone again, Annalise completed the first step towards recovery, and Wes had a party as awkward as his tension with Laurel. Let’s dig into it!

HTGAWM 'Always Bet Black' Recap: The One With Laurel's Dad

We’re getting closer to finding out #whosunderthesheet every week and I’m dying. Last week, we ended with Oliver being the first to be on the still alive list when he showed up to the crime scene. The next person to emerge this week wasn’t a shock to me, but I still thought one of the others would appear first. This episode finally gave us a look into Laurel’s life and it isn’t as good as we thought. Let’s get into it!

'No Tomorrow' Series Premiere Review: Is This A TV Movie Or A Show?

I know one thing for sure, if the world was ending, I’d want to spend my last days with Xavier also because he. can. get. it! No Tomorrow premiered tonight and it’s a fun show, I enjoyed it and its quirks. Here’s a quick overview.

The show follows Evie (Tori Anderson), a by the books kind of girl who works for a company similar to Amazon and Xavier (Joshua Sasse), the guy who throws a wrench into Evie’s “perfect” life and oh, he also believes that the world is ending in 8 months and 12 days…what? The way the two meet is cute but predictable when watching rom-coms. She saw him at the farmers’ market one day when he came up to her as she asked about rutabagas. After that moment, he was her dream guy that she’d never see again until that fateful day where his mail was accidentally delivered to her house. Once there, he invites her in and drops the asteroid on her. He used to have a normal copywriting job for a science magazine and that’s when he found out about the asteroid on its way to Earth. Evie obviously thinks he’s insane, but I was able to get past the crazy because of his face sorrynotsorry. NASA hasn’t replied to his email, but he’s prepared. He completed his ‘apocalyst’ with everything he wanted to do in those 8 months on it, including meet the hot rutabaga girl from the market aww.  He lives his life to the fullest every day and that is something Evie isn’t into which is obvious when she stated one thing she wanted to do before the world came crashing down was put foil in a microwave…. girl bye. Xavier takes Evie to complete one of the things on his list which was ride a dune buggy in the desert and she had a blast. That was the wake-up call that she needed. She had to remember what it was like to try new things and have fun.

The episode did have its bumps as any rom-com would. Xavier took it upon himself to send Evie’s boss a resignation email so that she could start living her life how she wanted. That definitely crossed the line. How do you do that to someone, let alone someone you don’t even really know? Evie found out that she had a heart condition as well. Evie had Xavier to thank for that because had she not gotten hurt, she never would’ve gone to the hospital (she has a fear of them) had she not fallen off of her pogo stick with Xavier watching and the worst could’ve happened. After the realization that her life and the world could end at any time, Evie creates her own apocalyst. There are only two things on it and the first has to do with her boyfriend Timothy, who barely speaks above a whisper, and turn down his proposal. The second thing was to tell Xavier that she was down to complete her apocalyst items but on her terms.

That all happened in one episode. It felt kind of like a rushed movie to me. I wish so much hadn’t taken place so fast. If the show continues on this path, I’m not sure it’ll make it to season two as the apocalypse would’ve come and gone by the end of season one. I hope that isn’t the case because there are gems in this show. Evie’s friends are entertaining and so is her family. Especially her nephew who replied with a no, thank you to the knee pads that Timothy had gotten him for his birthday. Hopefully, the show finds it’s footing because I think it fits in nicely with the line up The CW has going.

What did you think of the premiere?

No Tomorrow airs on Tuesdays at 9PM on The CW

'Conviction' Series Premiere Review: Should You Keep Watching?

Like many, I had watched the trailers for the show and anticipated its premiere. I never watched Agent Carter but was a fan of Haley Atwell from Captain America so I was interested in seeing her act in something outside of the Marvel Universe. Once Agent Carter was cancelled, everyone was basically ready to boycott ABC, but then Conviction happened.

Looking at the trailers and reading about the show's premise, it was very easy to compare it to the rest of the ABC lineup, more specifically Shondaland productions like Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder. Compared to them, Conviction is different in an I might be trying too hard to be different kind of way.

The show follows Hayes Morrison (Haley Atwell) a former first daughter whose mother is now running for Senate. She's also a lawyer who graduated at the top of her class at Harvard, had a 95% conviction rate as an ADA, and taught Law classes at a top university. What’s the catch? She made headlines for being photographed nude, sleeping with her students, and using drugs. The show actually opens with her in jail for cocaine possession. Apparently, it was a high enough amount that she could've been charged with intent to distribute. It sounds a little cliché because it is. The former good girl turned party girl and won't let anyone forget it storyline has been done before. But I decided to let that go and continue to watch. She's chosen to head up the new Conviction Integrity Unit by Connor Wallace, the golden boy District Attorney who only cares about upping his image before he runs for Mayor. Something about him makes it easy to see past his good looks and play with the idea that he has a hidden agenda and might be a bad guy, but we'll see. Turns out he was in cahoots with Hayes's mother and basically blackmailed her into the position because her mom asked Connor for "help". There seems to be some kind of sexual tension between the two but I can't tell if it's real or not. Hayes's team is made up of your typical characters the former NYPD Detective, the ex-con, the paralegal, and the person who was passed over for the job played by Merrin Dungey, Manny Montana, Emily Kinney, and Shawn Ashmore respectively. Throughout the episode, it's shown how intuitive she is as she's a step ahead of her team in knowing everything about them a la House, but she continuously had to make it known that she doesn't care and that she isn't a good person.

The one thing that I think is kind of dumb about the show is that the team is given a random five days to solve each case they reopen. I don't think the time frame was necessary. The writers could've just set it up like any Law and Order episode where the case is solved in the respective timeframe without the countdown of how long it's been.

I thought the episode was decent compared to other reviews. I went into it fingers crossed that it wouldn't be trash, and it wasn't. I think you should watch for yourself and decide.  I'll have to see what next week has to offer to decide if I'll stick with it or not. What did you think of the premiere?

Conviction airs Mondays on ABC at 10PM

HTGAWM 'There Are Worse Things Than Murder' Recap: The Who's Not Dead Games Have Begun!

So, we’re only two episodes in and I can already tell that this show is going to ruin my life (in a good way). The cliffhangers continue to leave me looking around the room in shock questioning how Pete Nowalk could do this to me. Last week we caught up with everyone and learned what they got into over the summer and we also learned that each week we’d find out who wasn’t killed in the fire at Annalise’s house. That alone is enough to cause me to have no nails left to chew on for the season! This week’s episode gave us a few more minutes of time with Annalise after finding out who was dead and we also got into a case that definitely hit home for one of the Keating Five. Let’s jump into it!

Blindspot 2x03 'Hero Fears Imminent Rot' Recap: I Pledge Allegiance To... Who Again?

Image via Flikr

After the emotional toll of last week, we continued on with a slightly less emotional true to storyline path this week. “Hero Fears Imminent Rot” brought us back to what the show and season is about, Sandstorm, and what their plans are. The show is still looking into Reade’s past, as they should since it’s so murky, and dropping hints about who characters really are. This episode wasn’t too bad, but I’m excited to see what next week will bring. Let’s get it!

'How To Get Away With Murder' Season 3 Premiere Recap: The Keating Five Are Back In Town

                                 

Remember when you were young and would jump out of bed on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought you? Well, that was me on Thursday morning when I realized that the day was finally here, HTGAWM was back for season 3!

This episode was ironically titled “We’re Good People Now” and we could all tell that the theory would be proven within the first few minutes. The premiere was chock full of hilarious dialogue and a more familial feel between all of the characters because I mean, they did all get away with murder twice. This episode was a great start to the season and showed the audience that we’re definitely going on a wild ride this season. Let’s get into it!

Blindspot ‘Heave Fiery Knot’ Recap: The Shade Team

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Have you ever gotten into an argument with a friend and when you get together after it, things seem a bit off? Almost as if your relationship is tainted forever even though it’ll blow over eventually? Whelp, “Heave Fiery Knot” had a lot of that going on. Jane’s been feeling like an outsider ever since she made her way back to the FBI. After explaining her side of the story, the team still continues to side-eye her whenever she opens her mouth. But of course, they had to come together to save people as usual so that was good. Let’s get into it!