: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 16: “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (airdate: Tuesday, February 10, 1998): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – THE END Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 & Part 2 Xander Harris wants Amy Madison to cast a love spell on Cordelia Chase, who broke up with Xander at the Bronze’s Valentine’s Day dance. Amy needs something personal that belongs to Cordelia, so Xander asks for the return of […]

Looking Forward (February 2026): First Brain Inventory Since 2025

This is the quadmonthly happiness report for February 2026. Our belief here at FirewaterCorp is that happiness is defined as always having something to look forward to. In our world, choices in entertainment play a huge role in this pursuit. Our company motto is “Read. Play. Watch. Listen.” And then, of course: “Write About It.” […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 16: “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (airdate: Tuesday, February 10, 1998): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 & Part 3 The students of Sunnydale High School are all pumped up about the upcoming Valentine’s Day dance at the Bronze. Willow Rosenberg is enjoying telling everybody that her boyfriend—Daniel “Oz” Osbourne—is playing in the band for the party. We find out […]

Another Trilogy? Seriously?

I just learned that Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as president of Lucasfilm, a job she’s held since Disney bought Star Wars back in 2012. Dave Filoni, a name most fans recognize, is being promoted to president and chief creative officer. Lynwen Brennan, a name I don’t recognize at all, will serve as co-president handling […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 16: “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (airdate: Tuesday, February 10, 1998): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 Part 2 & Part 3 On this day in history . . . The #1 R&B song in the US is “Nice and Slow,” by Usher. I’m grooving to it as I type these words. “Sex and Candy,” by Marcy Playground, still rules the Alternative charts. I’ll groove to that in just […]

The Good Place: Season 1 — a review

Here’s how it happened. Sharon, my wife, began watching this series several years ago. Since the series ran from 2016 to 2020, we know—for a fact—that it wasn’t before then. But I’m thinking it was after 2020, and probably after all four seasons were available on one streaming platform or another. I do know that […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 15: “Phases” (airdate: Tuesday, January 27, 1998): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 & Part 2 On the night of the full moon, while Buffy Summers and her Watcher, Rupert Giles, are out hunting for the werewolf that terrorized neighborhood pets the previous night, a student named Theresa was walking home in the dark, carrying […]

For All Mankind: Season 1 — a review

This is another series created by Ronald D. Moore. I should have become an avid Ronald D. Moore fan while I was watching Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I became aware of his name as a writer and producer around that time. But, I don’t think I really gave […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 15: “Phases” (airdate: Tuesday, January 27, 1998): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 & Part 3 Willow Rosenberg is ready for Daniel “Oz” Osbourne to take their relationship to the next step. She’s ready for “smoochies.” Xander Harris is having a lot of feelings about the Willow/Oz romance. None of them good, and most of them […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 15: “Phases” (airdate: Tuesday, January 27, 1998): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 Part 2 & Part 3 On this day in history . . . The WNBA begins filling the rosters of the Washington Mystics and the Detroit Shock. Also, a construction crane crashes into a Roosevelt Island tram in New York City. Ten people were injured. But . . . on the day […]

Evil: Season 1 — a review

I don’t know why I didn’t watch Evil while it was still on the air. I have theories—though they only showed up afterward, like myths invented to explain a natural disaster. (Geomythology, I think, is the word, though I’m no authority on myth.) My best guess? I avoided it because I knew my wife wouldn’t […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 14: “Innocence” (airdate: Tuesday, January 20, 1998): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – THE END Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 … Part 2 Angelus breaks the Slayer’s heart, giving her the “Love ya, babe. I’ll call you” goodbye as he leaves her crying in his apartment. Angelus reveals himself to Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg. He plans to kill them. Jenny Calendar […]

Broad City: Season 1 — a review

The first season of Broad City comes in hot, all manic energy and fueled almost entirely by the chemistry between Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. I was working my way through Workaholics when this series started popping up in my recommendations. In my never-ending, possibly doomed quest for self-actualization—and because I’ve sworn to keep an […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 14: “Innocence” (airdate: Tuesday, January 20, 1998): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 & Part 3 Spike is becoming impatient with the Judge, who he thinks isn’t living up to his hype. The Judge says he’ll get stronger the more lives he takes. Spike is ready for the world to end. I spent some time in […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 14: “Innocence” (airdate: Tuesday, January 20, 1998): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 Part 2 & Part 3 On this day in history . . . Fans of the show didn’t have to wait a week for the conclusion of the story that began with “Surprise” on Monday night. The very next evening, “Innocence” aired, also marking the schedule shift from Monday to Tuesday nights […]

Ballard: Season 1 — a review

You don’t have to be a Harry Bosch fan to enjoy Ballard, but if you are, you’ll feel right at home. The Bosch DNA is everywhere: Los Angeles as a living, breathing backdrop; cops who don’t play well with others; and corruption baked so deep into the system you wonder if LAPD stationery comes watermarked […]

10-List: First Seasons (Since April 2025)

We’ve already established that I’m a risk-adverse person. A person who is completely satisfied with remaining in his lane. Someone who likes what he likes and seldom wants to branch out to try new things. However, I keep trying on new television/streaming series for size. Often, I’ll hit on one that I want to spend […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 13: “Surprise” (airdate: Monday, January 19, 1998): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – THE END Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 & Part 2 In part two of our three-part, annotated synopsis of “Surprise,” we discovered that the Scooby Gang and Drusilla were both planning parties. The Scoobies were planning Buffy Summers’ surprise birthday party. She’s turning seventeen. I think Drusilla was planning […]

Tulsa King: Season 1 — a review

I’m a Sylvester Stallone fan, he said reluctantly. Reluctantly, because I’m not a fan of everything Stallone has done. I liked the Rocky movies, sure—especially the first and third—but I’ve got a soft spot for all of them, even the lesser ones. Same goes for the Rambo series. Those films came with their own kind […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 13: “Surprise” (airdate: Monday, January 19, 1998): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Part 1 & Part 3 Buffy Summers is having dreams again. She dreams that Drusilla is alive and is going to dust Angel in slo-mo. Also, her mother is going to break a saucer. There’s some history of prophetic dreams, so Buffy is a bit […]

Halo: Season 1 – a review

I’ve never played a Halo game, but watching Season 1 of the Paramount+ series, I kept thinking: This feels a lot like Mass Effect. Master Chief John-117 (Pablo Schreiber) could easily be Commander Shepard’s armored cousin—stoic, hyper-competent, caught between alien threats and questionable military orders. The UNSC fills the role of the Systems Alliance: an […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2, Episode 13: “Surprise” (airdate: Monday, January 19, 1998): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 Part 2 & Part 3 On this day in history . . . Carl Perkins passed away at age 65, in Jackson, Tennessee, where I had begun my training for Target just a couple of months earlier. Perkins was the rockabilly and rock-and-roll pioneer who wrote songs that were later recorded by […]

Mayor of Kingstown: Season 1 — a reluctant review

Full disclosure. I’ve already finished watching Season 3 of Mayor of Kingstown. Since I’ve gone on to watch the seasons that followed the first, you would be safe in assuming that I like this series. I do like it. But I hesitate to write this review because this series is also good at making me […]

|||[Boldly Going]||| Star Trek: The Original Series—Season Two: Ep. 2.22 “By Any Other Name” – (Original air date: Friday, February 23, 1968)

Welcome to my rewatch of the original 79 episodes of the series that launched the franchise. Below are the bulletpointed notes I jotted down while watching “By Any Other Name.” Firewater’s Are-There-Kelvans-in-the-Kelvin-Timeline? Scorecard: 3 Stars “By Any Other Name” is not one of my favorite episodes of classic Star Trek, but I don’t hate it. […]

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Read. Play. Watch. Listen .

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