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Episode 07: “Stick”

“You can keep the sticks, you’re gonna need ‘em!”

Opening Credits

Ninjas.. not quite what I expected to start off the episode. This ‘blind ninja’ is stalking someone in a office building in Japan, and asks about “Black Sky”. He finds out that it was taken to New York City.

(Tune in to the TV Soup Podcast - Daredevil, "Stick" & "Shadows in the Glass" Review) 

We don’t know that the ninja is blind until after the middle-aged looking office guy has been decapitated. Cool way to unveil the character – and of course there are some parallels there to the other blind guy that we have gotten to know.. Matt Murdock.

Stick

Matt wastes no time going after the next bad guy in line (Leland Owlsley), but ends up writhing on the floor of a parking garage after being tasered in the process of interrogating Owlsley. Turns out, he was distracted by the tapping sounds of a walking stick.. Stick reveals himself shortly afterward and wastes no time either, proceeding to mock Matt’s unsuccessful altercation.

The relationship between Stick and Murdock is a rough one – Stick found him at a young age in an orphanage (the motivation behind which is still undetermined) and took him under his wing for training. It’s obvious the amount of skill that Stick has in using his senses to ‘see’ the world around him much better than even a normal person can (demonstrated by describing the specific dairies and chemicals, etc contained within a single taste of ice cream).

It’s great that Stick wants to train Matt and pass on these abilities, although Stick lets on early that he is being trained for a war that is yet to come. When Stick goes back to Matt’s house with him, he further rails into Matt because he believes that one should not become ‘soft’. Relationships, silk sheets and other material items will only lead to your death, he says.

After a physical confrontation with Stick that gives us some more glimpses into their relationship years ago, Matt agrees to help him find and destroy ‘Black Sky’ but only if killing is not a part of the plan.

Foggy & Karen

Back at the homestead, Foggy goes on a tirade about the “devil of Hell’s Kitchen.” Seems the public opinion of this man in a mask has turned sour very quickly, mostly due to Wilson Fisk’s well-timed disaster-on-demand and the city’s need for a scapegoat, blaming it on Daredevil.

Karen goes out once more to search for answers – this time to Elena’s apartment – and when she leaves she is met head on by several thugs. The only way she survives is because Foggy had followed her and was able to put them out of commission with his softball bat. Looks like he’s got a pretty good swing. Still, Karen is not happy about the situation – she would prefer to keep her secrets to herself. Like most people in this series, except for maybe Foggy. He seems like an open book.

We also find out that Karen has told Foggy all about her and Ben’s investigation, much to Ben’s chagrin. Karen insists that he is trustworthy, though, and it looks like Karen now has a whole team on her hands.

The Docks

Seems like most comic book series’ find themselves at the docks from time to time. I mean I get it, people are always shipping the darndest things. In this case, we find out that Black Sky.. ‘bringer of shadows’ as referred to earlier, is really a boy. At one point, Stick takes aim at the kid with a bow but Matt notices his actions and is able to deflect the arrow before it gets to its intended target. Daredevil also gets a new weapon, a pair of wooden batons that Stick gives to him.

Surprise, surprise – Stick reveals later at Matt’s house that he had already killed Black Sky and that it wasn’t a child, but a weapon. Unrelenting in his belief that killing is never necessary, Matt attacks Stick and this time is able to take him down convincingly – perhaps for the first time in their history. Although Matt is furious, Stick is actually pleased that Matt is finally able to defeat him.

We are not specifically introduced to the character that is revealed at the end of this episode, but we know that he is a well-built, heavily scarred man that is familiar with Stick and with Matt. He asks Stick if Matt will be ready, and received the foreboding response, ”I don’t know”.

Episode 08: “Shadows in the Glass”

All About That Fisk

Every good superhero show is made so not only because of the merits of the hero, but also because of the villain. How awesome is he, and how believable his backstory? In this case, Fisk has been built up to be a larger than life character and all of this violence and insecurity that has so far been revealed requires an explanation.

A visually and emotionally grueling episode, we’re taken through Fisk’s childhood with an abusive father and all that goes with it. Strangely, this episode comes across as much quieter than the previous ones - even though it ultimately ends with death and the disposal of a body in the river.

The routine that Fisk has for himself every morning – making the same omelette, picking out the same cufflinks, etc is a way for him to make sure that he is in control. Absolute control, over every single thing that occurs around him. He has demonstrated an extreme rage when presented with things that were not a part of the plan.

The one exception to this may be his infatuation with Vanessa. When originally at the art gallery, Fisk was drawn to one painting in particular, entitled ‘Rabbit in a Snowstorm’. When we first discussed this, we thought it may be the chaotic patterns, or a number of other things that attracted him to it – but it turns out that this visceral reaction that he experiences when taking in the painting can be directly attributed to his childhood. In fact, ‘Rabbit in a Snowstorm’ looks very much like the plastered design of the wall from his house as a child. The one that he was forced to sit in front of and stare at while in the background his father savagely beat his mother. The one that he stared at while building up the courage to stand up and put an end to that beating, permanently.

Vanessa Marianna

It’s all a little suspicious, isn’t it, that Vanessa has stuck it out this far into a relationship with someone that can kindly be called ‘troubled’? I suppose she herself may have an equally sordid past and thus be able to deal with Fisk much better than normal people.. on par with someone like James Wesley, for example. If that’s the case, though, she has not yet revealed any of that to us.

Yes, I assume that there is more underneath the exterior there, because there always is (except maybe with Foggy) but it seems like Vanessa has had an extremely large impact on Wilson Fisk in a very short amount of time. She has taken him from an unstable dinner date to shattering his normal routine and joining him for breakfast. He is even letting her pick out his clothes (and cufflinks!).

A bit of a breakthrough for Fisk, it seems, after letting the worst of himself and his past out into the light. In doing so, he reclaims his name and sets to become more of a public personality – which just so happens to shatter the expose that Matt has urged Ben to write for the paper. The one that he almost submits right before seeing the live footage of Fisk’s speech on his computer screen.

Vanessa is certainly guiding Fisk at this point. Whether or not that is for her own nefarious purposes, I suppose we will find out in the episodes yet to come! I will be watching the rest of the season’s episodes with rapt attention.

Daredevil S01E11 – “The Path of the Righteous”

Fight or Flight

Wilson Fisk barges into the hospital with Vanessa, who has been poisoned by something in the drinks that were offered at the benefit they were attending. Immediately, he tries to get his way and get Vanessa immediate care. “Don’t you know who I am?” asks Fisk to a young woman working in the hospital when she refuses him entrance to the room that they take her into - “doesn’t matter,” she says, “fill out the paperwork.”

What will happen if Fisk loses his newfound love? Wilson Fisk without Vanessa at this point – especially if she was taken from him in this way – would likely send him into a chaotic freefall, even more out-of-control than he currently is.

“There was a time when I believed that I was complete – that I needed no one to understand who I am”. “If she dies..” Fisk suggests that Vanessa be sent away if she recovers so that she doesn’t have to be in danger any longer by staying at his side.

Battered and Bruised

Karen finds Matt still visibly hurt and thinks he may not be telling the truth about being in a car accident. It’s pretty amazing that for all of this time she doesn’t seem to have caught on to Matt’s after-hours escapades but, of course, she is dealing with a number of her own issues at the moment.

TV Soup Podcast: Daredevil, "The Path of the Righteous" & "The Ones We Leave Behind" Review 

Both Claire and Karen are telling Matt to be more careful – his injuries are showing more and more and it’s becoming more difficult to hide his nightly exploits from the people that he associates with during the day. He doesn’t have to hide them any longer from Foggy, but Foggy doesn’t want anything to do with him for the time being. I suppose Karen will eventually find out if she continues to spend a great deal of time with Matt, but I don’t think it will be anytime soon.

A Turning Point

“Fisk killed his father, people need to know that”. Karen tries to get Ben to write up the story – Ben is still upset that Karen was lying to him when she brought him to the home on false pretenses. Ben says that Fisk can simply spin this like anything else. Good point.

Karen appeals to Ben’s morals and he lets her know that someone may have poisoned the drinks at the benefit – and that perhaps there are already people that are going after Fisk and his people (the news of this is currently being covered up).

Karen really does appreciate the people in her life that care about her and are worried/concerned with her well-being. She’s starting to develop a good relationship with Ben. She is abducted at the end of the evening by Wesley.

Wesley spends a long time talking to Karen about Fisk’s mother and her visit. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it,“ Karen says. “I’m not here to kill you, Ms. Page, I’m here to offer you a job.”

Wesley wants Karen to convince Ben that Fisk is a good man and that he should no longer be trying to find faults in him and his character. He suggests that if she doesn’t comply, he will slowly kill everyone that she cares about before coming after her.

Karen is able to take a moment of distraction (Fisk calling) to grab the gun from the table and shoot Wesley. He had unloaded the first chamber of the gun, but the rest of the bullets were just where they needed to be. Bye, Wesley.

Wesley knows that Ben was there as well, which doesn’t bode well for him in the short term.

It’s Personal

Karen is still trying to get the word out about Fisk’s mother, but Foggy is of the same opinion as Ben was –  “it won’t be enough”.

Foggy wants to talk to Karen about what he found out about Matt but he is still keeping his mouth shut out of the remaining respect he has left for his old friend. “It’s personal,” is all he’ll say.

Angels & Demons

On one of his many visits to talk to the priest, Matt has an intense conversation about good and evil. Maybe devils were created as a warning to us all – to tread the path of the righteous. The priest basically admits to knowing that Matt is the masked man – I’m not sure that Matt can trust the priest, but then we don’t know very much information about him and his history.

One would think that someone as careful as Matt would have thought all of these things through, but then again he often just bursts onto a scene without giving the situation enough thought beforehand. The priest has basically given Matt his name and purpose here.

Becoming Daredevil

Matt finds out more about Fisk’s body armor – he’ll need to figure out a way past it if he is to finally be rid of Fisk. Turns out the source of this armor was a man named Melvin Potter, who is not very intelligent but is possessing of a huge amount of strength and endurance.

Melvin is being made to work for Fisk – he is afraid that if he doesn’t do what Fisk says, ‘Betsy’ will be hurt. Betsy is someone that Melvin cares about. Matt talks Melvin into making him something.. “a symbol” out of the armor that he works with. Looks like we’re talking about a new, upgraded costume! Thank goodness for that, because Matt likely would not have lasted much longer getting his ass kicked at least once per episode.

Daredevil S01E12 – “The Ones We Leave Behind”

Reconsideration

Fisk shows up at Karen’s house - he has quite an imposing presence. He says, “It gets easier” (referring to Wesley’s death by her hand), “the more you do it”. Thankfully, she wakes up – it was just a nightmare. All of this is weighing on Karen quite heavily.

Karen and Foggy have a conversation at the office and Foggy reassures Karen that “everything is going to be alright” The mood turns decidedly more sour when Foggy turns to leave and finds Matt at the door.

Everyone is slowly leaving Matt’s side – Karen says “You know, I’m starting to feel like I made a mistake” [about coming to work at Nelson v. Murdock]. She is not leaving yet, however.

Later on.. “Matt.. is this what we are now? 3 People that don’t even talk to each other?” asks Karen.. this starts a conversation where Matt breaks down to Karen – he needs the support of his friends, he can’t go on alone as he has been and keeps burning bridges and keeping secrets from everyone. Although he doesn’t reveal his identity to Karen, this is a step in that direction.

Complications

Vanessa wakes up in her hospital bed - “why am I here,” she asks. Fisk explains that he has made arrangements for her to be taken out of the country, but she does not want to go along with those plans. “I knew being with you would be.. complicated.” She says. “Find whoever did this to us and make them understand.” “I’ll make them suffer for what they’ve done,” retorts Fisk. “I expect nothing less,” says Vanessa. These two are just made for each other.

Fisk finds out that Wesley was shot after his people located the body in the warehouse where he had brought Karen. In a fit of rage he beats one of his own men, just for following Wesley’s orders.

Fisk’s people are all beginning to blame the Japanese for the problems that they are coming up against recently (poisoned drinks, Wesley’s death). Fisk finds Wesley’s cellphone and realizes that the last call he made (the one that made him leave suddenly and resulted in his death) was to Fisk’s mother. Karen and Ben are still not safe.

Bach's Violin concerto No. 1 in A minor

Matt and Ben want to slow down Fisk’s takeover of the city so they’d like to cut off the main supply of money. Ben knows that a blind Chinese man is usually carrying the drugs around in a pack, so (using Ben’s information) Matt tracks the man into a car (playing classical music) as they drive through the city. It’s quite an impressive jaunt across the rooftops, really.

Now inside the building where the blind man was headed to, Matt witnesses the drug packing enterprise here firsthand. All of the workers have been blinded.

“All those people – you took their eyes,” accuses Matt of Madame Gao when they finally meet. “No, they blinded themselves,” she says. Madame Gao engages in a confrontation with Matt, knocking him out for a short time with what seems like very little physical force and managing to get away. Trying to get away himself, Matt gets in an altercation with a police officer where he attempts to explain that he is not deserving of the bad rap he is currently getting. Good luck with that, Matt.

Old Flames

Foggy allows Marci to see all of the information that they have gathered so far on Fisk (including the material handed over by the masked man (who Foggy now knows is Matt). Marci’s firm represents Fisk, but she seems genuinely interested in what Foggy has to show her.

Will she help or hurt them in the long run? It seems like Foggy and Marci had a trusting relationship and are starting it back up. Hopefully Marci won’t be stabbing Foggy in the back literally or figuratively – he’s such a genuinely nice guy.

The Long Farewell

Ben is desperately trying to get the editor of the paper to publish his latest story about Fisk killing his own father, etc but is not having any luck at all. He pushes so much that he gets suspended, and then eventually fired after accusing his boss of being on Fisk’s payroll.

Regardless of Ben’s situation with the newspaper, his wife will always be behind him 100% and suggests that he just try other news outlets in order to get the story out. The internet, etc. It looks like this story has legs and he is not going to give up on it anytime soon.

“I’m going to write about all of it. Tonight. Get it out there,” Ben says.

As Ben sits down to begin work on his new project, Fisk begins talking to him from the shadows. He explains that he had taken precautions after the Union Allied article was released and he also had found out that Ben went to talk to his mother. “I’m not here to threaten you,” he says at one point – “I’m here to kill you.” It’s unfortunate that we’ve grown to like Ben so much as a character of principle with a good heart, but those are the best characters to kill off  in a series like this – it makes the most emotional impact and reinforces just how dark the heart of our villain, Wilson Fisk, can be.

Although viewers are certainly looking around on-screen for Matt, or anyone else to come to his aid at the last moment – Ben is killed in cold blood by Wilson Fisk, and his words will die with him.

Who is Madame Gao?

Looks like Gao and Owlsley have been working together the whole time, and are trying to get Vanessa away from Fisk. They were behind the whole poisoned drink thing. They’re having serious trouble getting rid of Fisk’s girlfriend. “Yeah, she’s a real mule,” says Owlsley.

When Owlsley asks where Gao is going, she says that “I will visit my homeland and reflect upon the future.” Pressed as to where that exactly is.. China, maybe? She retorts, “It is a considerable distance farther.” Is she an alien? Referring to another world outside of the Earth? I’m just loving this supernatural intrigue – we know what types of things exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but haven’t seen much of that yet in season 1 of Daredevil.

This episode seemed to be a departure from most of the season, but not necessarily in a bad way. Obviously, a few characters have plot armor, but a few things still felt a little over the top - mainly Fisk's assault on the bridge. I digress, so let's start back at the beginning.

Ben/Karen

The Ben Urich chapter of this show has ended, and the characters are saying goodbye, in the most coincidental gathering of people in New York City - hey, it's most of the cast! Ok, ok, that's going to happen in these kind of shows, I'll let it go. It was a nice funeral for Ben, with Foggy noticeably absent. Karen is terrified that Fisk will find out that she visited his mother with Ben, though he did do an ok job of covering for her, I just hope Fisk's mother doesn't say anything else about it.

Fisk/Owlsley

Wilson has been able to take Vanessa home from the hospital and he's a little worried there's some funky stuff going on in his business. Without Wesley around, he has no one to rely on for these things. He goes to visit Owlsley and doesn't get the answer he was looking for and it doesn't take much for him to figure out that Owlsley has been stealing from him.

TV Soup Podcast: Daredevil, "Daredevil" Review

Owlsley makes a really big mistake, telling Fisk that their real target was Vanessa. That's what we call a sensitive issue in Fisk's world. Even with the bargaining chip of Detective Hoffman in his pocket, he's unable to keep his mouth shut and Fisk shows him to the bottom of an elevator shaft.

Matt/Foggy

Matt and Foggy are finally talking again. Matt's rage is definitely getting the better of him. He wants to lash out at Fisk and everyone he works with, but really the whole thing is a bit quixotic. Matt is just one guy, and Foggy can only shout the truth back to him - you can only defeat him with the law.

They decide to move forward, and go see Sgt. Mahoney and pick his brain about Ben's death and what's going on with Fisk. They're really just in the right place-right time, as Matt is able to easily eavesdrop and finds out that Hoffman is still around.

Matt/Foggy/Karen

The band is back together, and Foggy is daydreaming about being a butcher again. Seems like this might be the kind of gig he'll retire to. Or maybe it's really corny foreshadowing for his nickname when he turns evil (now that would be a twist). Digging through Owlsley's records, they manage to find out where Hoffman likely is (and through a smooth move, Karen might be a little suspicious about the man in the mask's identity).

Man in the Mask

Matt manages to locate Hoffman just in time, of course. After a rather interesting conversation, Matt is his usual persuasive self. Hoffman (blood still covering his face) turns himself into Mahoney. They're finally able to get in a room with the right people who aren't bought by Fisk. Hoffman elaborates on the extent of the criminal enterprise and Matt and Karen are taking a mental victory lap. Cue the montage of bad guy after bad guy getting busted by the FBI (not Fisk's guys), and this is clearly the best work that the Mask has done.

Fisk goes down

All the missed connections in this show (who shot Wesley? who was the rat at the newspaper? etc) remind me of an unreliable narrator in books. It rewards someone who can watch everything in depth, because only the viewer (or reader) is able to put the entire correct story together. In a very dramatic arrest, complete with perp walk, Fisk is taken away. This leads to a fun little victory party for the crew at Nelson & Murdock.

You didn't think it would be that easy, did you? Fisk takes a moment to tell his captors a story from the bible. This is yet another way that the show has used religion to impress not faith upon people, but just examples of how to live their lives. It makes religion feel like a real part of the show, rather than some one-sided part of some aspects of the story. Fisk, like Jules in Pulp Fiction, mostly uses his bible story to deliver a badass line before the shit goes down. "I am the ill intent, who set upon the traveler on a road that she should not have been on."

Fisk gets away in a rather over the top fashion, of course. Why not just run away in the first place, if that's what you were going to do anyways? It's all over the news right away, so it's not like this is stealthy or anything,

Matt, knowing he needs a big upgrade, goes to Potter and gets his new threads. He's now got a proper superhero costume and some actual protection so he doesn't get the crap beat out of him all the time. Like any boy with a new toy, he's eager to try it out and goes Fisk hunting.

The final battle between Fisk and Matt is another in a long line of wonderfully choreographed fight sequences in this show, Matt had to finish off the fight with some sticks, a nice call back to his old buddy. Mahoney is the guy who shows up on the scene and he's able to take Fisk in and even gives Matt his nickname - Daredevil.

Parting Notes

- Foggy getting back with Marci? Go after Karen, dude!

- Does Karen, at the very end, know Matt's secret, or at least strongly suspect?

- Fisk gets to stare at a white wall again, this will definitely end well.

- The horns are too much, I agree with Foggy.

The term "cord-cutting" has been thrown around for several years now. Many people are interested in saving money from ever rising cable bills and some people never went in for traditional media in the first place. Usually, cutting the cord means that you're interested in partially or completely replacing your traditional TV watching with alternate sources. This could mean subscribing to Netflix or Hulu (or often times, multiple services), and having some kind of device to watch it on. There are, of course, tons of different combinations.

Retrospectical Ep 16 - Cord Cutting Guide: Cable Alternatives

The Numbers

According to a 2015 study, 15% of American adults qualify as cord-cutters - meaning that they once paid for cable or satellite TV, but no longer do. 24% of people do not have any kind of cable or satellite TV, a majority of them citing the fact that it's too expensive or they can access what they want elsewhere online or via an antenna. This trend, of course, is more prevalent with young people - 19% of young adults have cut the cord and another 16% never had one in the first place.

Price is the driving factor for most people when they decide not go to with a service, be it cable TV, satellite, or even broadband internet in the home (which peaked in 2013 at 70%, now is down to 67%). A growing number of people, 13%, are going with a smartphone and no broadband at all. So, the big question with cord-cutting is - can it save me money, and how much?

First of all, I don't think anyone thinks that their cable bill is cheap. They're often subject to regular increases and confusing bundles - sometimes cancelling a service actually can raise your monthly rate! Last year, the average bill hit $99, which is a 39% increase since 2010. Add that to the average monthly broadband bill - $47 for Time-Warner customers - and it seems like finding some relief on a $150 monthly bill is a good idea.

The Networks

First, we'll look at the options for content, because after all, if you don't have something to watch, what's the point?

- Netflix - Cost (7.99/9.99/11.99 monthy), the increased cost is for multiple concurrent streams (1/2/4) on one account, and HD service at the 9.99 level. Netflix is perhaps the most well known of streaming options, and features tons of original content. With 75 million subscribers, as many as 2/3rds of these users share their account with at least one other person. While Netflix doesn't condone this, they do offer the different tier packages to accommodate multiple users on one account.

Netflix made 450 hours of original content in 2015 (16 original series) and plans to make 600 hours this year (10 of those, Daredevil Season 2, were excellent). Award winning shows like House of Cards have lead the way for all streaming companies to have legitimate talent creating top notch television. In my opinion, Netflix is a must in any cord cutting setup.

- Hulu - Cost (7.99/11.99 monthly), the increased cost is for a commercial-free version of Hulu, so yes, there are commercials with the base plan of $7.99 per month. Hulu tends to feature a lot of new network content that has a shorter shelf life. They have a bit of everything, like most of the services, and have started to venture into original content as well. You can also add Showtime to Hulu.

- Amazon Prime - $99 per year, this provides you with access to their streaming content and free 2-day shipping, music streaming and more - there's actually a lot of smaller perks that may or may not apply to you. For example: same day delivery in Chicago, New York, Baltimore and Los Angeles. Amazon Prime features just handful of original programming series (Transparent, Man in the High Castle), but they do make a surprising amount of pilots, which they then have users vote on to decide what shows will be made into a series.

- HBO Now - $14.99 monthly, by far the largest catalog of originals in both quantity and quality. It's basically the same as HBO Go, which is available to regular HBO subscribers, but available without the $100 cable bill attached to it. So if the only show you're into is Game of Thrones, then you can subscribe for a few months and take the rest of the year off.

- FX, ESPN, USA and a number of other networks have streaming sites as well, however they all require a cable/satellite subscription. Pay-per-title services like iTunes and Google Play also have new releases available, for both TV shows and movie. This is the kind of network you may need to borrow a password for.

- Sling TV - $20 monthly (one device at a time), several add on packages are available, but this is the cheapest way to add access to some of the basic cable networks such as AMC, CNN and ESPN. This is a cheap option if you still really want to have live TV, and especially live sports. (ESPN, TBS, TNT, ESPN2, ABC are all included in the base package).

SlingTV requires a broadband internet connection, but so do the rest of these really. Sling TV runs off of a number of set top devices (more on these later) and does not have any of its own hardware. Sling TV does not generate its own content.

- MLB/NHL/NBA – Cost: MLB 85 (single team)/110 (league), NHL ~$130 (league), $105 (single team), NBA $7 (single game), $120 (full season, one team). The NHL and MLB offer you an option to stream all of the games, while the NBA does not offer that yet. The main problem with these packages is that they still black out the local broadcasts, so that means you still need to subscribe to cable in Chicago if you want to watch White Sox games on MLB.tv. All of these services also lower their prices as the season goes on, so if you’re just the kind of person who follows the month before the playoffs start, this works out well for you.

So, there you have four content providers, three sports and a low cost streaming cable option. I would be negligent in my duties if I did not discuss, on drinkfive.com, how you’re going to watch football. Thankfully, almost every game is on broadcast TV, which means all you need is a decent antenna on your HDTV and you’re already getting football games. Half of the Thursday night games (possibly all if Fox picks up the rest of them – and Twitter just signed a deal to manage all of the TNF online content, so who knows what that might entail). Every game on a Sunday is broadcast on free TV - of course, mostly to local markets. The trouble comes when you want to stream the Monday night game – your only option is to purchase Sling TV, have a cable subscription, or have a Verizon phone that offers it. The big fantasy football channel – NFL Red Zone, is also only available through a cable subscription, although again, Verizon users have the option to pay extra to get this straight to their phone, though that’s not really a good TV replacement.

The Devices

- Roku - ($130 for new Roku 4) – Roku is one of the most established third party suppliers of cord cutting hardware. Roku doesn’t generate any content itself, but does provide a lot of free content through many “channels”, and it also provides apps for its device for people to log into and access. For example, you can use Roku to access your Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, ESPN, HBO and other accounts in order to stream everything. Roku also supports Sling TV.

Roku is a small device you hook up to your TV via HDMI and connect to the internet via WiFi or Ethernet. This is a way to have a much smaller footprint and much better streamlined setup when compared to an HTPC.

- Amazon Fire – ($85 for FireTV, $40 for Fire Stick) – This is a set top box that can run its own applications, stream content with your Amazon Prime account, and has lots of other features, similar to Amazon Prime, which may be more or less helpful to you. Fire is probably the best in terms of computing capability – it even lets you download and install some games (though not many, storage space is very limited). The Fire Stick has almost all the same capabilities, but has its hardware toned down a little.

- Chromecast – ($35 for the base and Audio models) – Chromecast is different from the previous two devices in that it doesn’t provide any kind of interface for you to interact with. Chromecast is tiny compared to the other two devices (easy to leave at a hotel room!). Chromecast will just stream the screen of a PC or android device – it then takes over processing the stream and doesn’t need to necessarily burn your phone’s battery down while you use it. There are also mobile and web apps that are Google Cast enabled (HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Youtube).

- Apple TV – ($150/32gb, $200/64gb) – Apple TV is a 4^th generation standalone set-top device, similar to the Roku or Amazon Fire, and it’s designed to play extra nice with all of your apple products. Apple TV features apps from all of the major streaming networks, and were the first to offer HBO Now, which is thankfully out of its exclusivity period. Apple TV can sync with a computer running iTunes in order to stream photos, music or video.

- HTPC - Home Theater PC – This is usually an option for hobbyists that want to fully customize everything, By hooking a computer up directly into your entertainment system, you are given a huge amount of options right away – all you need is a wireless keyboard & mouse combo (and the computer, of course). Different software packages, such as XBMC or Plex, will allow you to install apps similar to a Roku and also manage your media library. This is definitely the most expensive option, but also the most customizable one.

- Xbox/Playstation – Both of these gaming consoles offer streaming TV options at this point in the game. Xbox is compatible with most networks, but of course requires you to already have an account, usually through a cable provider. Playstation does currently work with HBO and Epix.

Summary

So, there is a large variety of options currently available for you to make your very own media package. Unfortunately, there is no direct replacement for traditional cable/satellite TV, so there will be tradeoffs based on your own interests. This isn’t always a downside, as people have been clamoring for years for an a la carte option from the big providers so consumers can just get the stations that they want.

We still don’t have the option to just pick what networks we want, but we’re getting closer all the time. Sometimes you just borrow a buddy’s password to catch up on Mr. Robot or something like that and it fills the gap for the shows you don’t have access to. Sometimes the providers themselves are restrictive, perhaps unnecessarily. The best example of this is that while HBO Go is on Roku, you cannot use the app if your HBO subscription is through Xfinity. Just another example of the plethora of red tape that people cut the cord just to avoid.

So, how do you end up saving money? Well, here’s a few example packages that should provide enough entertainment: (Based on the average bill of $99).

#1 (The Standards) – Netflix HD ($10/month), Amazon Prime ($8.25/month), Sling TV ($20/month) comes out to about $39/month. You’ll want to get a Roku for your main TV and probably a Chromecast to take with you and to use on another TV. That will set you back another $165, but you will make that up in the first 3 months. (Savings of $60/month).

#2 (The Thrones Fan) – HBO Now ($15/month), Amazon Prime ($8.25/month), $40 Amazon Fire Stick. For a monthly cost of less than $25, you have access to the entire HBO catalog, as well as everything that Amazon Prime is currently offering. For $65, you can be all set up, much cheaper than one month of cable! Of course, if all you care about is one TV show, you can even cancel HBO when it’s not on (or just subscribe after the season is over and marathon it – not suggested). (Savings of $74/month, but you probably weren’t paying that much to begin with).

#3 (The Everything) – Netflix HD ($10/month), Hulu Plus No Commercials ($12/month), Amazon Prime ($8.25/month), HBO Now ($15/month), Sling TV ($20/month) comes to $66/month, which is still a savings of $33 per month. A package like this, however, compares better to our bulky cable setup at the studio, which is closer to $130/month (meaning you’re still saving about 50%!). To go with this, you’ll want a Roku or Apple TV and probably one or two Chromecasts. (Savings of $33-$64 per month).