Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

This fun experiment is proof that even when the machine overlords take over, they will never replays the real play right.

(Submitted via iPhone voice-to-text. Please excuse any types.)

The bond between these siblings is tender, strong, contentious, but most of all genuine. All too often they are played either for laughs or crisis, but in this moment of alertness by DeeDee and his fixation on protecting his family, we see how Amelia, at once both exasperated and loving, looks out for her brother in a way that only they can understand. John Patrick Bray does a masterful job of bringing them to us so we not only understand them, but want to be with them.

Whether you admit it or not, everyone needs a safe space. It can be your room, your study, the garage, the kitchen, or even an erstwhile comic book store in someone's basement. The people in David Hansen's world of "The Negative Zone" have found this place where they can find themselves with friends, learn truths about themselves and their friends, and still feel at home. Their imaginary world, populated by comic book heroes and villains, is slowly evolving to real life, and this refuge is their way in as they grow up...and out.

In trying to recall a dream upon waking, we remember bits and pieces out of order. Trying to relate it to others, it seems to make no sense unless you shared the same experience -- or think you did. These four friends are all recalling a time together when none of them is sure if it was real, imagined, or something else. Yet there is a common thread and magic in this suspenseful tale woven delicately by John Patrick Bray, and as you follow them, you are drawn in as deeply as they are.

The course of true love is often messy and painful. At least for a moment. But as Beauregard and Zeke continue to explore their brave new world, even if it's paradise -- sorta -- by the dashboard lights, their caring and passion for each other overcomes the awkwardness that only experience and understanding can overcome. I can't wait to read more about these lovable lovers.

The difference between being intimate (to put it politely) with someone and being able to express one's feelings is a chasm that doesn't always narrow with age. For some, it's unbridgeable and they go through their lives together unable to say even the simplest words, even though they desperately want to. Watching Beauregard and Zeke approach the event horizon of true expression, even when they are finding their way, is so well explored here, even if it is done in silence or shortness of breath.

The way that these two boys interact at the drive-thru is both adorable and cringe-worthy, thereby making it the most honest way to depict what happens here. The discussion about the dipping sauce is as important as what comes after, and the bravado that masks the nervousness makes this more than just the beginning, however awkwardly, of the intimacy that they crave.

The breezy dialogue in this opening salve of this promised and promising series belies the intensity of feeling on the part of these two young men, and that is what makes it so real and captivating. We go along on this journey, this moment, and for me, it is a vivid reminder of being that age all too well.

The set-up -- two friends seeing each other years later after a traumatic incident -- could be played for melodrama, horror, or tragedy. But Scott Sickles makes this more than just a set-up: it is a realistic and powerful moment of recognizing the distance and wanting to somehow deal with it. Both characters suffered wounds, but both know that the only way to heal is to find the love and the bond that lies beneath the scars and start again to at least try to heal.

History is a record, but the best history is in the telling by those who were there. I had never heard of Roscoe "Sputnik" Monroe until now, but Everett Robert has given us a tale of a character who made history, and we get to feel it and sense it through his recollections. It is enlightening, entertaining, and meaningful all at once, and a great role for an actor.