By: Manny Ochoa-Reeve

A broke high school teacher with cancer has a daughter on the way and needs to cook meth to provide for his family. The hit 2008 AMC show ‘Breaking Bad’ is popular again! If you go on social media you will most likely hear about this show. I watched it and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.

This TV show follows a high school teacher in New Mexico who has been diagnosed with cancer. He’s running out of money with the hospital bills, a baby on the way, and a disabled son. There’s no way he can make enough money from being an underpaid chemistry teacher. In order to make money, he starts using his chemistry knowledge and teams up with a former student to cook meth so he can start making money. At first, it’s going well and nobody is suspicious, but just like any TV show, this has many twists and turns.

A fan favorite, and my favorite part of the show, is the character development, because the characters change so much after the experiences they’ve had. Each character has their own personality without anything being confusing and stupid. If you had told me this was a documentary about a drug dealer, I would believe it because the characters and acting are so good.

Something really interesting about this show is that the characters come up with an idea, but you don’t know what that idea is, so then you can follow along and try to find out what will happen next. This aspect of the show adds so much mystery and tension to the show and when the writers reveal the outcome of the plan, it gives you a good or bad emotion, depending on the outcome of the plan.

The only thing that I can think of to make this show better is the pacing. The show has lots of big events that happen and whenever there’s nothing going on it can get boring. Whenever something really big happens in the story, and then tension just dies down, you get bored because of nothing happening.

I think that this show was a nine out of ten because of all the detail. The plot and characters made the show what it is today. Seeing the characters evolve and interact with each other really made the show for me. For all these reasons you can really see why this show is all over the internet.

By: Leticia Bugg-Sam

*Warning, spoilers and talk about suicide*

The TV show ‘Reservation Dogs’ took place in Oklahoma and is about four indigenous kids talking about how they want to go to California for better lives, but things take a wrong turn.

The four kids, Willie Jack, Bear, Cheese, and Alora, were on the reservation for a long time; there were five in the group before they called themselves the “Reservation Bandits”.

Let’s talk about the characters in the show and their lives.

They’re a family as the four grew up and called themselves family. Alora didn’t really have that much regular family. She only had an Auntie and an Uncle and her Grandma. We don’t know what happened to her father, but her mom, well, she passed away when Alora was little.

Her Grandma, in season two, passed away, and her Auntie wasn’t around much. Her Uncle also wasn’t around much.

Willie Jack, she had her mom and her dad but her brother passed away.

Bear had his mom, but his dad left to be a native rap artist and so he just had his mom.

Cheese, it doesn’t say if he had any family in season 1, but later on in the season, he meets a old woman in the hospital and so now he calls her Grandma.

Why they called themselves that.

They called themselves the Reservation Bandits because they steal things, but they do it for a good reason. On the reservation, they’re poor; they don’t have money. There are not that many jobs around there so the four decided to steal things and go to a person who gives them money to see if that stuff is viable.

One thing that was viable was copper; copper and street lights. Another thing that they stole was a chip truck and plenty of other things.

You may think to yourself “Why don’t they just get a job?” Well, where they live which is Oklahoma, on the reservation, they didn’t have plenty of jobs, or jobs that pay good money, and some of those jobs you have to have experience to get the position, and none of them had that experience. So that’s why they decided to start stealing things, and that’s the way they got money.

Now, let’s talk about how there were five in the group.

Well, before the TV show started, they started off as five, but as you get into the show there is an episode called “Hunting” where they start to talk about Daniel, which is Willie Jack’s brother. The reason they didn’t start off with Daniel in the show, was because Daniel, well, he had a rough life and his parents were fighting. He was going through a lot of things, like bipolar depression, and his parents fighting, that all affected him until one day he decided to give up life and attempt suicide. It was very sad, that’s why now, during season 1 and 2 there is only four.

They all decided they wanted to leave Oklahoma and go to California. Well, first it was Daniel’s idea to go but when the word got out, they all decided to go to California. But when Daniel died, they still decided to all still go for Daniel, and for better lives.

But that all took a wrong turn in the last episode of season 1.

Overall, I would rate this show a 10/10. You can watch it on Hulu.

By: Julia Sikorski Roehsner

The Riverview Theater is not your typical movie theater. Based in Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood, Riverview Theater was established in December of 1948. Since then, though all projection and sound equipment has been updated, the building itself still reflects those mid-1900s.

Unlike many movie theaters, the Riverview has just one screen. Among its distinctive architectural features are an open-spaced lobby with couches, a copper drinking fountain, marble countertop tables, and a proscenium.

Concessions include popcorn, soft drinks, and candy. Popcorn is made fresh daily with real melted butter. All prices are extremely reasonable.

Not able to fit a movie into your schedule, or planning a fun stay-at-home night? The Riverview welcomes patrons to stop in whenever the theater is open to buy concession items to go, with popcorn one dollar off usual prices.

Though the theater was forced to close down in the middle of March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic–not reopening its doors until late May of 2021–the owner, Loren Williams, offered popcorn, slushies, and candy to go throughout the lockdown and placed inspirational quotes from movies and actors on the marquee.

Riverview Theater is constantly showing new movies that cater to all ages, both recently released movies and second-runs. Favorites of the past include ‘Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,’ ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ ‘Encanto,’ and ‘Frozen II.’

One of their biggest coming attractions is a Hitchcock Film Festival, beginning September 30th and ending October 6th. Classic thrillers will be shown multiple days throughout the week at varying times. Tickets are on sale now for just $7, discounted to $5 for seniors and students, as well as attendees of any Tuesday showings.

Included in the Fest are ‘Psycho,’ ‘The Birds,’ and ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much.’ It is an occasion you won’t want to miss.

The Riverview Theater isn’t just a movie theater; it’s a beloved and heavily supported part of the community. New customers are always appreciated and welcome.

The theater is within just fifteen minutes driving distance from Highland Park Senior High.

For more information, please visit:

• http://www.riverviewtheater.com/

By: Mia David

On September 5th, 2022, National Geographic released the documentary series ‘The Edge of the Unknown.’ It was filmed and produced by photographer, filmmaker, and mountain athlete Jimmy Chin.

The series consists of 10 episodes that each follow athletes doing extreme sports. From snowboarders and skiers to rock climbers and kayakers, Jimmy Chin tells the stories of athletes risking their lives for their sport.

The athletes tell stories of times they were forced to question whether risking their life is worth the reward.

Angel Collinson is one of the best skiers in the world, male or female, and in episode 2, she makes her way up to Alaska to ski down some of the most unique and challenging terrains in the world. While making her way down the line, Angel stumbles and falls 1000 ft down to the bottom of the mountain.

Angel is shaken to her core. It was a rude awakening that forced her to reflect on her career; the hours she spent on the slopes and the childhood she had lost to the sport.

After that, it was simple for her. She walked away from skiing ultimately, much to the shock of her family and friends. She didn’t feel the risk and sacrifice were worth the title she earned and the rewards she got.

Not everybody feels this way after facing the extreme danger of the Alaskan mountains. In episode 5, Travis Rice says, “There are so many little mini breakthroughs. I, to this day, continue to chase that feeling that gives me a sense of living.”

Travis gets caught in a deadly avalanche and somehow makes it out with no serious injuries. Although Travis almost lost his life that day, he is quick to get back on the slopes with the support of those around him.

In Travis’ case, it raises the question of whether or not someone should give up something that could take their life if that means losing the one thing that makes them feel alive.

One last example is Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbuic, who kayak in rivers in Central Africa with their mentor and friend Henri Coetzee. Throughout the journey, they face the threat of crocodiles and hippos. One day, on the river, Henri’s kayak is flipped, and a crocodile drags him under the water; Ben and Chris have to quickly paddle away because there is no hope for saving him.

These athletes continue to experience different life-threatening events and have to pause and reflect on their choices. For some, it’s simply lowering the stakes or walking away; for others, they jump right back into the game.

For those who don’t spend their days climbing mountains, it’s hard to understand how you could get back to the sport after a terrible accident. Chin describes it like this, “In the adventure world, there is a certain understanding that we choose to do what we do and we do it intentionally.”

Chin has an episode discussing his life-threatening adventure where he should have died but miraculously made it out alive. However, like others, he can’t resist the thrill and adventure he finds in the mountains. He says in episode 8, “It’s really impossible to describe the insatiable calling of the big mountains.”

For people like Travis, Ben, Chris, and other athletes in the series, the call to adventure is unlike anything else. Whether it’s mountains, rivers, or the ocean, it’s impossible not to return to the one place you feel alive.

This idea of the risk worth the reward could be debated for a long time. We can pull in different aspects like the level of risk, family and loved ones, and the health of individual people. We must also consider the love, passion, and freedom said person feels towards these sports.

You can watch this series on Disney+.