At first glance, Darnell (Taye Diggs) appears to be a nice and charming guy.
He appears to have a good job. He’s confident. He’s seems to be all about family. He’s the guy who tells his stepdaughter’s boyfriend to look him in the eyes because “that’s showing respect,” but he somehow manages to do it without coming across as being a complete jerk. Darnell spends a lot of time talking about the correct way to show respect and how to act like a man and his wife, Asia (Tamar Braxton), appreciates it. Her ex-husband, Tim (TJ Shaw), was irresponsible and hurtful. Her teen daughter, Melanie (Jessica Jarrell), is going through that rebellious phase and Asia is happy to have someone who can back her up when it comes to being a parent. And Darnell …. well, Darnell is all about family. In fact, one might even say that he’s a bit obsessed with finding the perfect family….
Of course, Darnell’s name isn’t really Darnell. He’s used many different names over the years and he’s been a part of many different families. Though Darnell might seem nice and polite on the surface, he regularly has fantasies where he loses control. When he’s alone, he talks to his other personalities. He also remembers how he murdered his last family and went on the run.,..
Stepfather, as you already guessed, is an uncredited remake of the classic 1987 thriller, The Stepfather. Taye Diggs steps into the role that was previously played by Terry O’Quinn, Robert Wightman, and Dylan Walsh. (Wightman played the role in Stepfather III while Walsh took over for the 2009 remake that literally no one remembers.) Is this latest version of Stepfather any good?
Define good.
I say that because this is a Tubi original and I think you can very much argue that, when compared to other Tubi originals, Stepfather isn’t bad. The film is in focus. You can hear the dialogue. The pacing sometimes feels a bit off and the scenes of two detectives searching for Darnell often feel like filler but, for what it is, Stepfather is an entertaining film. I watched it on Friday while it was raining outside and I enjoyed it. It can’t really compare to the original film because the original film was as much a satire as it was a thriller. The remake does have a few moments where Darnell’s attempts to be a “perfect father” seem to comment on all the psychobabble about “respect” that was sold by the television shows that Darnell probably watched as a youth. But, for the most part, Stepfather is a straight-forward thriller. There aren’t a lot of surprises, especially if you’re someone who has watched a lot of Lifetime films. But the film still holds your attention.
Not surprisingly, the strongest thing about the film was the memorably unhinged performance of Taye Diggs. If the original film was made all the more effective by Terry O’Quinn’s initial blandness as the title character, this version wastes no time in establishing that Darnell is a bit unstable. After murdering his previous family, he dances. When he meets Asia in a grocery store, he delivers every line like a charming wolf on the hunt. When he argues with his other personalities, Diggs does a good job of establishing each personality as an individual character. Diggs shows what a good actor can do with familiar material.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1983’s Frightmare!
If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime and Tubi! I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!
Today’s scene that I love comes from Bob Fosse’s 1979 masterpiece, All That Jazz.This scene features the legendary Ann Reinking at her best. Roy Scheider said that he cried after shooting this scene.
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
Today is the first day of summer so these 4 shots all celebrate films about summer vacation!
4 Shots From 4 Summer Films
Race With The Devil (1975, dir by Jack Starrett)
Hitch-Hike (1977, dir by Pasquale Festa Campanile)
Tomorrow is not just Father’s Day. It’s also the first day of summer. This song by Kid Rock seems to be one of those songs that people either love or they absolutely hate, if just because they always think they’re about to hear Werewolves of London during the opening chords.
Though the song takes place at Lake Michigan, the video was filmed in Tennessee. Actress Colby Crain plays the friend who was smoking funny things all summer long.
Along with his work with Kid Rock, director Deaton Flanigen has directed several country music videos.
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!
This week, a loft sees a lot of action!
Episode 2.17 “Interior Loft Later”
(Dir by Ken Wiederhorn, originally aired on February 4th, 1990)
The loft is now home to sculptor Alex McFain (Robert F. Lyons). Alex spends most of his time sitting and sleeping in a bath tub and complaining about the fact that his work doesn’t make him much money. When his wife, Fabina (Fabiana Udenio) accidentally kills one of Alex’s models, Alex comes up with a brilliant plan. He’ll fake his own death so his work will become valuable!
At first, the plan works. The only problem is that Alex can no longer leave the loft. With Fabina constantly going outside to sell his work, Alex starts to worry that she’s having an affair with another man. It tuns out that he’s half-right. Fabina is having an affair but it’s with another woman. Alex is shocked but he’s then killed by decorative sword that falls off of the ceiling. Now, his work will be really valuable!
Months later, Fabina’s former boy toy, Art (Dean Fortunato), shows up at the apartment and discovers that it is now occupied by Stacy (Leslie Bega) and Gina (Tory Polone). Art moves in with them and proceeds to seduce both of them. He tells one that he’s an environmental activist being pursued by a cartel of fishermen. He tells the other that he’s being chased by the mob. When Stacy and Gina compare notes, it’s bad news for both Art.
Freddy doesn’t do anything in either one of these stories, other than introduce them. Both stories follow the familiar pattern where anything overly dramatic that happens is ultimately revealed to be a dream. Neither story is all that interesting but Robert F. Lyons does his best to bring some life to his role of the sculptor pretending to be dead. As has so often been the case with the second season, this episode isn’t great or even memorable but it’s still a hundred times better than the majority of the first season.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Daily Motion.
This week, season 3 comes to an end.
Episode 3.24 “Cheers”
(Dir by Bruce Paltrow, originally aired on March 27th, 1985)
It’s Easter at St. Eligius and, of course, everyone is a bit depressed. While the patients in the Children’s Ward prepare for the annual Easter egg hunt (and are told about the magic Golden Egg), a man who dresses like Jesus is attacked by a bunch of vagrants and wheeled into the Emergency Room. Meanwhile, Dr. Craig is shaken to learn that his mentor, Dr. David Domedion (Dean Jagger), is suffering from dementia and Dr. Auschlander worries about his wife as she undergoes heart surgery.
And yet somehow, Dr. Westphall still manages to be the most depressed person in the hospital.
I have to admit that, over the course of this season, I’ve grown a bit frustrated with Dr. Westphall and his nonstop depression. At least one terrible thing has happened to every character on the show but they’ve all managed to continue on with their lives and their careers. Dr. Westphall is selling his house and, as a result, he’s spent a year having an existential crisis. Dr. Asuchlander is terminally ill and he still manages to smile occasionally. I realize that I’m probably being too hard on Westphall but seriously …. cheer up, old man! People love you!
This rather dark and depressing episode features an odd moment when Westphall, Crag, and Auschlander go to a neighborhood bar and talk about life. Their conversation is serious but the bar is Cheers, which was the setting of a popular sitcom of the same name in the 80s. (Dr. Frasier Crane first appeared on Cheers, though he’s sadly not present in this episode.) While the doctors wrestle with their misery, the bar regulars make jokes.
Barmaid Carla (Rhea Pearlman) gives them a hard time when she discovers that they work at St. Eligius. In fact, the entire bar seems to groan at the hospital’s name.
Bar regular Norm (George Wendt) is also Auschlander’s former accountant. Norm apologizes for losing Auschlander a good deal of money. Then Norm goes back to drinking. Maybe don’t hire an alcoholic to be your accountant.
Postman Cliff (future PIXAR regular John Ratzenberger) tries to get free medical advice. The doctors aren’t in the mood.
It’s an odd scene but there’s still a definite charm to it. It’s as if the show’s writers were acknowledging how difficult it can be to take Westphall’s nonstop glumness and they were puncturing his self-absorption a little by having the cast of another show attempt to steal the spotlight from all of his problems. This episode seems to be saying, “There’s a world outside of St. Eligius and it’s full of day drinkers.”
Still, the scene is ultimately about Dr. Westphall. At the end of it, he announces that he’s done with being a doctor. He’s going to retire. He’s going to leave St. Eligius and presumably find a new group of people to depress. Well, good for him.
The episode ends with Westphall leaving the hospital, perhaps for the last time. As he leaves, he spots and picks up the Golden Easter Egg.
“A true warrior doesn’t need a sword.” — Thors Snorresson
When people talk about the greatest historical fiction in anime, Vinland Saga usually storms the conversation like a Viking longship breaking through a thick morning fog. Adapting Makoto Yukimura’s sweeping manga masterpiece, Wit Studio and later Studio MAPPA created something that transcends the typical boundaries of the shonen and seinen demographics. It starts out looking like a brutal, blood-drenched revenge thriller set during the 11th-century Danish invasion of England, but it morphs into a profoundly moving philosophical epic about pacifism, trauma, systemic violence, and what it truly means to be a warrior. If you came for the hyper-violent axe fights, you will stay for the agonizing, beautiful deconstruction of why those fights shouldn’t happen in the first place.
To understand why Vinland Saga hits so hard, you have to look at how it builds its protagonist, Thorfinn. When we first meet him as a young boy in Iceland, he is bright-eyed, energetic, and eager to prove his worth. His world is shattered when his father, Thors—a legendary warrior who abandoned the Jomsvikings to live a peaceful life—is foully assassinated by a mercenary leader named Askeladd. Driven by blind rage, Thorfinn joins Askeladd’s crew, surviving in the harsh wilds of war-torn Europe for a decade just to earn formal duels against his father’s killer. For the entirety of the first season, Thorfinn is a feral, screaming ball of spite. He doesn’t care about politics, the crown of England, or the suffering of the villages he helps raid. He only cares about revenge. It is a brilliant, uncomfortable framing because the narrative doesn’t glorify his skill; it treats his obsession as a tragic wasting of his youth.
But as great as Thorfinn is, the first season is utterly stolen by Askeladd. He is easily one of the most complex, magnetic antagonists in all of anime. Askeladd is a cynical, brilliant tactician who loathes the very Vikings he leads. He is a man caught between his secret royal Welsh heritage and his current reality as a ruthless mercenary captain. His relationship with Thorfinn is deeply twisted—he is simultaneously the boy’s mortal enemy, employer, and twisted surrogate father figure. Watching Askeladd manipulate kings, generals, and his own men like chess pieces is a masterclass in writing. When the first season reaches its shocking, chaotic climax, Askeladd’s actions fundamentally break Thorfinn’s entire reality, setting the stage for one of the greatest tonal shifts in anime history.
That shift happens in the second season, often referred to by fans as the Slave Arc. If the first season is a roaring fire, the second season is the slow, aching process of clearing away the ash. Stripped of his purpose after the events of the season one finale, Thorfinn is sold into slavery and ends up clearing forests on a massive farm owned by a man named Ketil. Here, the show sheds its battle-shonen pacing entirely and becomes a slow-burning character study. Thorfinn is hollowed out, plagued by nightmarish visions of the people he slaughtered during his mercenary days. Alongside a fellow slave named Einar, Thorfinn has to learn how to farm, how to connect with other human beings, and how to carry the crushing weight of his sins without letting them destroy him.
This second season is where Vinland Saga cements itself as a masterpiece. It takes incredible narrative bravery to take a show known for jaw-dropping action animation and turn it into a quiet drama about crop yields and emotional vulnerability. The bond that grows between Thorfinn and Einar is incredibly moving, built on shared grief and mutual labor. The series uses the micro-cosmos of Ketil’s farm to explore how the violence of the Viking age wasn’t just a problem for kings and warriors on battlefields, but a systemic rot that trickled down to affect slaves, farmers, and women. When Thorfinn finally makes his vow to never hurt anyone again unless absolutely necessary, it feels earned in a way few anime character developments ever do. His realization that a true warrior needs no sword is a direct echo of his father’s words from the very first episode, bringing the emotional arc full circle.
The production values across both seasons are nothing short of stellar, despite a studio handoff. Wit Studio handled the first season with their trademark cinematic flair, giving the action sequences an incredible sense of weight, momentum, and visceral impact. Every swing of an axe or spray of blood feels heavy and dangerous. When Studio MAPPA took over for the second season, they seamlessly maintained the visual continuity while leaning heavily into the quiet, rustic beauty of the agricultural setting. The changing of the seasons on the farm, the play of light through the trees, and the hauntingly expressive close-ups of characters experiencing profound grief or joy are animated with breathtaking care. The soundtracks, composed by Yutaka Yamada, are equally phenomenal, mixing booming, Norse-inspired war chants with melancholic strings that will absolutely tear at your heartstrings during the show’s more tender moments.
It is also worth praising how the show handles its historical setting. While Vinland Saga takes plenty of dramatic liberties, it weaves its fictional narrative into real history with remarkable skill. Real-world historical figures like King Canute the Great, Thorkell the Tall, and Leif Erikson are major players in the plot. Canute, in particular, undergoes a fascinating parallel development to Thorfinn. While Thorfinn goes from a violent warrior to a peaceful farmer, Canute goes from a timid, deeply religious prince to a cold, calculating king willing to stain his hands with blood to build a peaceful utopia on earth. The philosophical clashes between Thorfinn’s personal pacifism and Canute’s grand political ambitions create an incredible, intellectual tension that elevates the final acts of the story far above standard good-versus-evil narratives.
Ultimately, Vinland Saga is an unforgettable experience because it asks incredibly difficult questions and refuses to give cheap answers. It asks how a person can find redemption after doing terrible things, and whether true peace can ever exist in a world built on conquest and subjugation. It is a rare story that respects its audience’s intelligence and emotional maturity, delivering a narrative that is as intellectually stimulating as it is emotionally devastating. Whether you are a die-hard anime fan or someone who usually sticks to prestige live-action television, this series demands your time. It is a monumental achievement in storytelling, an epic that starts with a roar of vengeance and ends with a quiet, beautiful plea for peace.
The only real sting left for fans is the agonizing wait for the next chapter of Thorfinn’s journey. Makoto Yukimura, the brilliant creator of the original manga, has openly expressed how much he looks forward to a third season of the adaptation, fully sharing the audience’s enthusiasm to see the Eastern Expedition arc brought to life. Unfortunately, the anime adaptation and the studio haven’t officially confirmed a third season yet, leaving passionate fans clamoring for news into silence. It is important to note that this delay isn’t because the studio dislikes the property or lacks interest in continuing it. Rather, it comes down to a massive, heavily stacked backlog of massive projects that the studio has to completely finish and clear out before they can even realistically allocate the core creative team to begin working on a third season of Vinland Saga. Until then, the community holds onto the hope that the patient wait will mirror the slow, rewarding pacing of the story itself.
Through the Shattered Lens 