#they totally sneaked out of the base and went to watch a bowling tournament

[hitwiththetmnt]

This happened, can’t change my mind

[kariachi]

KevinepisodeKevinepisodeKevinepisode

We’re doing Kevins on this frabjous day, starting with the episode De-Fanged!.

Apparently my son is causing problems on purpose. We’re all shocked I’m sure.

And lo, but we are back to the wild world of laser tag.

VR laser tag, specifically, because apparently people were getting too much exercise during gameplay.

Maxwell Tennyson, bringing his grandkids to play laser tag despite them being banned. Asking that they please keep a low profile like Ben has ever kept a low profile in his life and Gwen isn’t the most competitive creature to have ever walked the face of this earth.

...nope, still not impressed by the concept. Sorry Ben.

The crowd standing there, oooing and ahhing over Fang, only for my son to arrive on the scene and take him out when he’s busy looking majestic and badass

Ben and Gwen, not even recognizing Kevin’s handle despite Ben competing with him online before, but still instinctively unimpressed.

Dude, Fang, you got taken out of a vr tournament not shot, fucking chill

You know, I still need a fic someday where the kids end up in a tag-team laser tag game again except this time it’s Ben and Kevin vs Gwen and Argit and Kevin just, isn’t even trying. Like, he fully believes they could beat Gwen and anyone else as long as they didn’t argue but Gwen and Argit he instinctively knows is an unbeatable combination. Most of the episode actually follows Gwen and Argit as they butt heads and ends with them being too busy arguing with each other to claim their prize so the boys steal it.

Anyway, hello, Kevin, my son, onscreen

The drama in Ben’s response to seeing Kevin. As I said before, these boys don’t have an ounce of chill between them.

Ben just straight up dropping Fang so he can confront Kevin properly.

“Anybody can beat you!” Them’s fightin’ words, Tennyson

Fang is fucking crying, dude, please, tell me you are not basing your selfworth on being able to beat an 11-yo at laser tag.

Kevin not even rubbing shit in, just wandering off to go defend his new title.

“Ben instead of focusing on you why don’t you focus on Fang?” Pan to show Fang leaned against a vending machine looking like he’s five and somebody just stole his favorite toy. “Yeah, Fang can totally help me destroy Kevin! Thanks Gwen!” And that is when Gwen realized she wanted to die.

Fang. Wtf. Get down off the vending machine, put your bigboy panties on, and start acting like the grown-ass man you are.

He is not doing any of those things.

Ben is heading into the game in pursuit of Kevin Destruction. Becuase the only thing these boys love more than anything is causing each other trouble. Ben tries to act like he doesn’t but, shit keeps happening.

Basically only one of them can be mature at any time.

All Tennysons are in.

.....

......

......

Y’all. My son. Should not be allowed. I do not even have words for the fucking 90′s inspired 80′s rocker bullshittery his avatar is, I cannot describe this. What is this child.

Score when the round is down to the top four remaining players is- Kevin with 788 points, Ben with 771, Gwen with 698, and Max with 556. So we know where the Tennyson cousins get it.

How many Kevins can we fit in one laser tag game? I believe we are about to learn

My child is going for drama now

Max and Gwen are down, only Kevin and Ben remain

“The Tri-Fang must be giving Kevin the upperhand!” No, Benjamin, he just hacked the game, and I am very proud of him.

Ben turns into Four Arms to even the playing field and a Kevin steals one of his blasters while he’s distracted.

And there go another two. Kevin is going to hold this numbers advantage thank you kindly.

Oh good lords he stole Ben’s blasters and went QuadSmack. I love this child y’all. I really do. He’s a menace.

Ya know I’d have thought you would’ve suspected Kevin was cheating before now, Gwen, given he came up behind you while you were watching him cross an open space

“At least Ben seems to be taking the loss well, I don’t hear any screams of agony. ... That’s probably bad.”

There the screaming is.

Oh gods Max is going to find a manager. This can’t end well. Also confirmation that his eyes are brown in the reboot, or at least this episode of it, who the fuck knows

Fake mustaches so they don’t get kicked out for being banned when they find a manager.

Meanwhile Ben is right back in the game, four lives left, out for Levin blood.

And lo, Ben is faced with the fact that he is now horribly outnumbered by Kevin. There are at least five Bashmouths here

And Ben is dead again, this time knowing that cheating is happening. Also he has been found by an employee. Thankfully the dude doesn’t care enough to look into if this is that banned kid

Oooo, suspicious managerial behavior

Minimum eight Kevins now, still only one Ben with three lives. Bashmouths vs Heatblast

The worst part is that Kevin could’ve beat this mess by now with Ben none the wiser, driving him completely around the gourd, but he didn’t because he’s a dramatic little shit

Take’s out a load of Kevins, thinks he’s good, only for another humany Kevin to pop up with a fire extinguisher. This is wonderful

We’re only halfway fucking through y’all

Ben is down to two lives

Gwen’s attempt at sneaking into the employees only area is so far a failure

Ben is down to one life

You cannot tell me the crowd doesn’t know something is up. And I’m fairly certain the staff are helping Kevin out. Why though? Personal vendetta against Fang? An attempt to shake things up? Blackmail? I mean if anyone on this show was going to both be involved with blackmail and be using it to win a laser tag tournament it’d be Kevin, I think we can all agree.

Fang, you came down off the fucking vending machine, good for you. Now get your janitor ass in the backroom and figure out what’s going on.

Fang please

He has given the Tennysons access to the backroom

Ooo, personal vendetta against Fang! Fang stole the title from this dude- on his birthday of all days- and when Kevin showed up going ‘I want the title, help me cheat’ he jumped at the opportunity!

Oh good lords Manager Scottie is Fang’s son! What a twist!

...well this is awkward

Huh.

Every time Fang calls Kevin ‘Kalvin’ I wanna throw a packing peanut at him

Armored!Rath just, is ugly as original sin, can I just say it? Ugly as original sin

Oh look, Kevin’s self-worth issues coming out in the heat of the moment. As soon as there’s anything resembling a statement that he can’t do something, he’s ready to take off a head.

Ooo, and Scottie gives control of the extra Kevins over to Max and Gwen.

Honestly I’m amazed Kevin’s watch lasted as long as it did. He’s really getting it working how he wants it.

My son is a disaster

Everything gets finished with, people are hugging and shit, Kevin walks onscreen with a bowl of nachos, goes ‘nope’, turns around and walks away

And the Tennysons are still banned.

8.7/11

[nellie-elizabeth]

Modern Family: The Prescott (11x10)

I think this episode was trying to mimic some of the greats from the past - the Vegas episode, or some of the big holiday episodes, where there's so much action, so many character beats, crammed together to create a fast-paced and energetic story. And this episode... well, it did that, I guess, but I definitely still have some stuff to complain about.

Cons:

Fresh off the high of Schitt's Creek's season premiere yesterday, watching this episode made me realize how sexist a lot of sitcoms still are these days. Modern Family was so fresh and innovative when it started, and now it feels woefully out of touch in comparison to so many other comedies on the air. There are so many gross jokes about sex and women being gifted to men in this episode. You've got Higgins promising to "deliver" Gloria to Phil, and nodding along with all of his inadvertently sexist statements. You've got Manny and Luke trying to hook up with older women, and having conversations about who gets who. I don't know, there were just so many moments that felt icky to me, in a sort of general, unspecified way.

On the nitpick front, it was stupid that Claire's hair dye came out entirely in the pool, with just one dunk of her head... I know it's new dye or whatever, but that was a stupid farce for the sake of some not-so-funny physical comedy.

Pros:

I thought this set-up was going to be a flop, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Basically, Alex is staying in a fancy hotel because of her job, and the whole family sneaks in to use the cool amenities, even though they aren't supposed to do so without being accompanied by a resident.

Phil is there to try a slider at the restaurant and talk about it in his food blog. Jay wants to use the movie theatre, but then discovers that the "Foodie in a Hoodie" is in attendance, and wants to find his internet nemesis. So they spend the episode evading each other, with Phil trying fruitlessly to eat a damn slider, and Jay trying to catch the unknown food blogger and give him a piece of his mind. I liked the comedy with Phil's blogger name, and how various other people had heard of him. Apparently he's quite famous! And everyone pronounces it differently, trying to make the two words rhyme, when, as Phil says, "it rhymes on the page."

Meanwhile, Claire wants to get her hair colored by a fancy hairdresser who Gloria hates for stealing her hair coloring formula. I liked the comedy of people not recognizing Claire with darker hair, because when I was a kid I totally had face-blindness and recognized people through hairstyles!

Cam and Mitchell trying to get each other out of the way so they could meet celebrities was really funny, especially when you contrast Cam wanting to meet David Beckham, with Mitchell wanting to meet Victoria Beckham. Eventually, they team up and do meet David, but he's accompanied by Courtney Cox, with no Posh Spice in sight. Cam and Mitchell have sort of a... competition-based marriage, which is unhealthy in so many ways, but undeniably funny to watch onscreen a lot of the time. I loved how Mitchell faked an injury to send Cam away, but Cam spotted him working out through the window. And it was funny that in the end they got what they wanted, or at least Cam did!

David Beckham and Courtney Cox were funny cameos, and not at all distracting. They had their own comedy bits in the episode, about their bowling tournament for charity, and David's abysmal performance. I wasn't so crazy about Luke and Manny hunting down women to sleep with, but I did think it was funny that Luke was going to chat with David Beckham and see how things went. I wish it wasn't just a punchline to a joke that would never be explored, but it was still mildly humorous all the same.

The real star of this episode was Higgins, the concierge. He basically popped up everywhere, in every possible location that any of the characters might need him, completing insane tasks like hunting down special candy for Jay, climbing up a water slide to help Gloria, sending sliders all around the hotel for Phil, arranging multiple different rendezvous in the hot tubs on the roof, and even being willing to do some role play to join in Cam and Mitchell's sex life. This character was so funny, and I liked how he was just ubiquitous, showing up everywhere and anywhere he was needed, seemingly able to complete all tasks single-handed.

All in all, this was a good outing for the aged Modern Family. I don't think it fully captured some of the chaos and energy that similar episodes have in the past, but that could be just because I, personally, am beyond ready to say a final goodbye to this show.

8/10

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

Weatherald ton seals Strikers' maiden BBL title | Cricket

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/weatherald-ton-seals-strikers-maiden-bbl-title-cricket/

Weatherald ton seals Strikers' maiden BBL title | Cricket

Adelaide Strikers 2 for 202 (Weatherald 115, Head 44*) beat Hobart Hurricanes 5 for 177 (Short 68, Bailey 46, Siddle 3-17) by 25 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

An innings of a lifetime from Jake Weatherald helped Adelaide Strikers to their maiden BBL title.

Weatherald clubbed Hobart Hurricanes to all parts of the Adelaide Oval, hitting eight sixes and nine fours in a stunning 115 from just 70 balls. Weatherald’s maiden T20 hundred underpinned Strikers’ monstrous total of 2 for 202 on a superb batting surface.

The Hurricanes threatened early, courtesy a powerplay blitz from their captain George Bailey. It resulted in the Strikers’ nerves jangling, knowing that there was no Rashid Khan or Billy Stanlake to turn to, as both were absent due to international duty.

But post the powerplay, the unlikely duo of Liam O’Connor, playing his first game of the tournament, and Peter Siddle reduced the Hurricanes chase to a crawl. Siddle was unhittable, and finished with 3 for 17 from four overs, while O’Connor conceded just one four and one six in his four overs that went for 27.

The required run-rate spiraled out of control. D’Arcy Short tried his best to reel it in, but could not recapture the tremendous timing and power he displayed through the season.

Danger averted

Alex Carey loomed as the danger man for the Hurricanes and they were able to subdue him early. The Hurricanes quicks elected to go around the wicket to both left-handers to try and cramp them for room. They did concede two boundaries from veering too straight and also let three wides slide down leg, but the first four overs cost just 30 runs. Jofra Archer’s second over, the fifth of the innings was a pivotal moment in the match. He got it wrong to Weatherald. He uppercut a short, wide long-hop over the deep backward point boundary.

Archer got it right to Carey. His first short ball was ramped over the keeper’s head for four by the batsman. The second was slightly slower and closer to Carey’s body, and the batsman chopped on, attempting to run it to third man. The Strikers were 1 for 41 after five overs.

Weatherald whips up a storm

While the plan to cramp the left-handers from around the wicket had worked in the first five overs, it failed thereafter. Weatherald, with his eye in, started swiveling on balls fractionally short and depositing them over the tiny square leg boundary. It was masterful striking. In five consecutive balls delivered from the City End, he hit Riley Meredith and Dan Christian for three sixes and two fours. The sixes were all off pull shots; the fours were off slashes through backward point to overcorrections from the bowlers. Weatherald’s charge was only halted when he couldn’t get on strike. Travis Head was dropped twice in consecutive overs – first by Tom Rogers, who grassed a sharp return catch, and then Short, who misjudged a skier at deep midwicket. The run-rate dipped below 10-an-over before Weatherald launched Meredith again. He reached his hundred from just 58 balls, with 28 deliveries remaining in the innings. He did begin to wilt in the warm conditions, but found a way to squeeze out two more boundaries off Archer before holing out. Colin Ingram played another superb cameo scoring, an unbeaten 14 from six balls, while Head continued his good form at the other end to tip the total past 200.

Bailey Blitz

The Hurricanes opted to open with Short and Tim Paine to have a left-right combination. It meant that Matthew Wade, who was Man of the Match in the semi-final for his 71 from 45 balls opening the innings, waited at the bench. Paine was out to Head’s part-time offspin in the opening over. Wade kept waiting as George Bailey walked out to keep the left-right combination going. The move worked initially. Head tried to sneak in a second over and Bailey clobbered him for two sixes. While Short battled for timing, Bailey blasted the bowlers to all parts in the Powerplay. He had two fours to go with his two sixes, and had 31 from 18 balls as the Hurricanes stayed up with the required run-rate at 1 for 60 after six overs.

Rashid who?

O’Connor’s last bowl in a match was in Perth premier cricket on December 9. But his style of right-arm wrist spin – quick, skiddy and attacking the stumps – suited the surface. The Hurricanes’ preference for pace on the ball is well known. Before the final, they had scored at 9.51 runs per over against pace in the tournament, compared to 7.01 against spin. O’Connor and Head bowled three of the first four overs post the powerplay and the Hurricanes scored just 25 runs, including one boundary. In the semi-final, against the Scorchers’ all-pace attack, the Hurricanes scored 38 in the same period, hitting a boundary an over, with Wade inflicting most of the damage.

Wade watched on as Bailey and Short struggled. Siddle returned to turn the screws. He bowled his first over in the powerplay for seven runs. His next three overs – the 11th, 15th and 17th of the innings – cost just 10. His mix of slower balls and yorkers were untouchable, and he picked up the wickets of Bailey, Ben McDermott – to a questionable lbw decision – and, finally, Short with the last ball of his spell. Wade walked out after Short’s exit with his side needing 58 runs from 18 balls. He was run out for a duck without having faced a ball, when he and Ben Laughlin tried to pinch a leg bye to the keeper. The Hurricanes fell 25 runs short.

Alex Malcolm is a freelance writer based in Perth

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.