Constantine S:01 E:03

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: The Devil’s Vinyl
Original Airdate: 11-7-14

This episode is very much a stand alone story that really plays up the horror elements of the show. There’s an acetate that was recorded back in the 30s or 40s by a blues artist who had sold his soul to the devil. And the devil came to collect during the session resulting in the voice of the deceiver being burned into the disc. And I should probably clarify as very few people are likely to even know what an acetate is aside from being a certain chemical. In this instance, it’s a specific type of album used to record music sessions that aren’t specifically made for mass production as it can actually be played immediately after recording on it. And as it has the recording of the devil himself on it, it also has the evil power within it that tends to make people desperately want to listen to it and play it so other people can listen to it. This episode is also notable for introducing Poppa Midnight who also made an appearance in Constantine. There he was mostly helpful, but slightly annoyed at Constantine’s antics, here he is only slightly agreeable, but mostly antagonistic. Especially when he thinks that Constantine is after the same thing he is, so much so that he basically strings him up and leaves him to die in a rather tortuous way. It also has a lot more of Zed becoming part of the team and I’m very quickly beginning to like her as a character almost more than Constantine himself. Even though there is quite a bit of blood in this episode, there still isn’t much of what I would call scares, it continues to have a feeling of a macabre murder mystery combined with the occult and some dark humor. I’m still on board though as they mesh quite well, though I’d be happy if they did have a much more scare oriented episode.

Gotham S:01 E:07

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Penguin’s Umbrella
Original Airdate: 11-3-14

It turns out my prediction for this week was wrong, instead of going back downhill as it had been going up and down the past few episodes, I was pleased to see another good episode following last week’s good episode. Last week was a bit of a cliffhanger where Gordon was arrested by the MCU for the murder of Oswald Cobblepot when Penguin himself walked through the GCPD doors to vindicate him. So this episode was all about how Gordon deals with being in deep with the wrong people. Everyone is out to get him from Falcone, Mooney, and even his partner. There is a lot of great moments where Gordon finally gets to act like a total badass even when Falcone sends one of his best men Victor Zsasz. Zsasz is a Batman villain I am actually very vaguely familiar with, while he did have a very minor appearance in the Nolan trilogy, I best know him from Kevin Smith’s Cacophony where he plays a minor role in the story. His thing is that he keeps track of the people he’s killed by carving a tally mark into his own skin. In the Batman era, his body is completely covered with them, though here he has only a handful on his arm. But otherwise he didn’t really stand out as being a future Batman villain, instead he was just another mob enforcer with a recognizable name. What I loved about this episode is how it actually started bringing together some of the threads it has been tossing around throughout these early episodes. While I knew Penguin had a larger plan in mind, it was explained quite nicely here. He is a snitch, through and through, and it wasn’t a surprise that he’s playing both sides towards the middle, but it did help explain some of Falcone’s odd actions towards Mooney and her plant in the past couple episodes. But Gotham wouldn’t be Gotham without throwing a couple headscratcher moments like the entire scene with little Bruce. It was such an infuriatingly unnecessary moment in an otherwise great episode that annoyed me to no end, that along with the complete stupidity that Barbara showed when she came back to Gotham to plead with Falcone. She’s presented as a smart and strong woman in this show, it baffled me that she could do something so completely stupid whose only purpose was to back Gordon into a corner. It would have been a better character moment if Falcone used his network or influence to find out where she was rather than this. But again, overall it was a good episode that is taking the show in the right direction.

Constantine S:01 E:02

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: The Darkness Beneath
Original Airdate: 10-31-14

After getting interested in this show through the pilot which introduced us to a female lead that has gone away, this episode almost feels like a secondary pilot as it introduces the actual female lead through the rest of the season with Zed. Honestly, even though I only got the chance to see each character through one episode. An episode where they were both introductions where they each have a mystical power that can help Constantine with his investigations, and he can help them control and/or understand their powers. I have to say that I like Zed much better than Liv. Even though Liv gained some confidence by the end of her episode, Zed starts off the episode with much more confidence and charisma than Liv ever did. Even though Zed doesn’t fully understand her powers or have full control over them, she isn’t a complete novice when it comes to what Constantine is doing and already feels like she is helping him rather than slowing him down. As for the episode itself, it’s hard to tell if it was actually trying to go for a real scare or not, as the actual horror portion of the show did feel a little weak. But I also didn’t think that hindered the show too much because the overall tone feels like it’s more of an action show than a horror show. Or technically, it feels a bit more like a supernatural procedural where Constantine is solving the mystery of the supernatural element in a way that Gotham feels like it should be doing. While the solution to the mystery was a little bit unfulfilling, especially as Constantine’s deduction was all pulled from clues near the beginning of the episode though he didn’t play his cards until the very end. But he did have a great moment as he turned the woman’s own dark magic against her in an ending reminiscent of a Tales From the Crypt episode. I’m honestly a little tired of the talk of the coming darkness already, but I suppose it’s one of those necessary story elements to help explain the premise of the entire show. It’s still fun, and I am glad that they went with Zed over Liv.

The Flash S:01 E:04

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Episode: Going Rogue
Original Airdate: 10-28-14

Appropriately enough, this episode is titles Going Rogue, though it doesn’t seem like it’s specifically about any one person going through a betrayal. Instead, the title is a combination of a couple things. One is the fact that this episode really begins to create the Flash’s rogue’s gallery with the introduction of Captain Cold through this episode and also the hint of Heatwave at the pre-credits scene instead of yet another Wells moment. It also applies to the fact that the weapon that Captain Cold gets a hold of is one that was created by Star Labs, specifically Cisco who created the weapon before Barry became a trusted member of the team to specifically combat him in the event that he himself went rogue. We also get a brief glimpse of Wells’ darker side as he chastises Cisco for creating the gun in the first place. There’s also the subplot and Arrow tie-in with Felicity coming to visit Barry where she is a possible love interest though they both understand that Barry has a thing for Iris and Felicity has a thing for Oliver. Overall, it’s a decent episode though it feels more like filler than anything else. Wentworth Miller was decent as Captain Cold, and the scenes with Felicity and Barry were great, especially the moment when she is supposed to cover for him and notes how she is talking to the air.

Gotham S:01 E:06

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Spirit of the Goat
Original Airdate: 10-27-14

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but Gotham is very uneven from episode to episode. Some episodes have a lot of over the top acting, are more on the campy side of things. And somehow the show manages to skirt the edge of gritty and campy which is a hard thing to do. At first, I thought that it was the mob politics that I liked seeing and wanted to see more, but when I got it in spades during last week’s episode, it was a big mess. What I realized with this episode is that what I like about this show is when they allow Gordon and Bullock to do actual detective work. When this show actually becomes more like one of those more typical police procedurals, only with hints of Batman in the background. And I feel like this episode hit that tone better than any before it. It also helped that it had the same visual feel of Arkham during several moments including a great shot of Penguin in the bathtub. I think what really helped win this episode over for me was the fact that it was written by Ben Edlund whose work I’ve enjoyed from his time on the Tick up through Angel and Supernatural. There was the right amount of humor that wasn’t too campy, even if there was a callback to the ’66 Batman when Bullock exclaims “Holy Ghost on a bicycle!” It was also a great subtle touch to have The Goat’s mask have a bit of the Batman ears to it. This is the kind of subtlety that I liked seeing. There were still some weak points in the episode, I wasn’t fond of Nygma’s scenes, nor the odd throwaway scene of Catwoman stealing something that I’m sure will be important a few episodes down the line from little Bruce. But aside from those moments, this was another strong episode. Unfortunately, based on the track record, I’m fully expecting next week to be another poor episode. Time will tell.

Constantine S:01 E:01

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Non Est Asylum
Original Airdate: 10-24-2014

The last comic book show of the fall season is upon us and it’s definitely not the Supernatural ripoff that some people think it might be, it’s also not a spin-off of the Keanu Reeves movie from a few years back though it shares the same name. Instead, it’s something inbetween the two. It’s based off the John Constantine Hellblazer comics from DC’s Vertigo line and from what I understand this plays it much closer to the source material than the Keanu movie ever did. But at the same time, since I am familiar with that movie, I do see a few similarities for the uninitiated. For the most part I thought it was pretty good, and it got kicked up a notch during the climax.
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The Flash S:01 E:03

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Things You Can’t Outrun
Original Airdate: 10-21-14

This episode gets into a lot of the Star Labs team’s backstories, specifically the day of the reactor explosion. Something that I realized I didn’t talk about in last week’s episode was the final scenes with Dr. Wells. The first one shows that he has knowledge and is quite possibly from the future though his motives are ambiguous, the second one shows without a doubt that he has a much darker side, and here it shows that he actually orchestrated the particle accelerator explosion in order to create the Flash. I’m very curious to know what part he will actually play as the show goes forward, though I’m not curious enough to look through analysis from people more knowledgeable about the comics that may already have some theories that hold weight. Aside from that point, there is a lot of forward momentum with all of the characters. The freak of the week was fairly mediocre, but he wasn’t a very large part of the episode to tell the truth. We get a lot of moments where the characters have to face their truths. Iris faces the truth of her relationship with her dad’s partner and finally comes clean with her dad, who of course already knew. Caitlin Snow faces the truth of her fiance’s death during the particle accelerator explosion where she originally blamed herself as he wouldn’t have been there if she wasn’t there, but in the end he died a hero. And though the show doesn’t support this theory, since there are many meta-humans who were thought to be dead, there’s always a chance that he will show up later in the show as a meta-human himself. And Joe faces the truth of his old friend Henry Allan who he thought had killed his wife all these years and now realizes that he made a horrible mistake and essentially asks forgiveness. This is the kind of thing that makes a great series and why I have high hopes for this show, it takes something like a superhero and it makes it relate-able on a more human level as a metaphor. It reminds me of Buffy on its best days, it has already made some great relationships between the characters, and it shows much more subtlety than Gotham. It’s quickly becoming my favorite show of the season.

Gotham S:01 E:05

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Viper
Original Airdate: 10-20-14

After last weeks episode that I actually quite enjoyed, it went back downhill hard. Where I liked the setup of the war between the crime lords in Gotham last week, it somehow had the air knocked out of it this week. Instead of having an air of intrigue to the situation, it had all the subtlety of a sack of bricks. Maroni ends up looking more like a punk thug who just wants a piece of the action, and Fish Mooney… Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on with Fish Mooney. One minute Jada Pinkett sounds like she’s doing her best Eartha Kitt impression, the next minute she’s acting like a psychopath, the next she’s acting like a caring mother to her singing secret weapon. I will say that I did like some of the seeds planted on the scheming front as we see that she is working with one of Falcone’s other lieutenants against him, and the secret weapon singer she picked up last episode and was grooming this episode is to become an inside man, so to speak, into Falcone’s intimate side. But the rest of the episode did not work at all, with little Bruce playing at detective and digging into the Wayne Corporation’s books to find all the off-book deals was just ridiculous. The Viper subplot was another way too on the nose reference to Batman when they casually mention that Venom has already been perfected. And Penguin spills the beans to Maroni in order to become his inside man, but almost dies for it and gets Gordon neck deep in Maroni’s dealings as well. It’s just all too convoluted for me, and where there were a lot of great looking shots last week, there was nothing on par this week. It’s just too up and down for me at this point.

The Flash S:01 E:02

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Episode: The Fastest Man Alive
Original Airdate: 10-14-14

One of the things that Flash took from Smallville that was a great idea was to have this big event that quickly and easily explained how meteor freaks slash meta humans appear throughout their respective towns for them to battle over the course of the show. But where Smallville fell into the “freak of the week” hole, the Flash manages to avoid feeling like it’s falling into that trap here in the second episode. While on the surface, the episode is about the current “freak of the week” Multiplex, there is enough meat on the bones that further the other ongoing plots and also develop several of the characters and their interrelationships. I’m already a fan of Danielle Panabaker’s Caitlin which is a departure from the 90’s Tina though there is a very small hint of a possible relationship between her and Barry down the line. But at this point, it’s just a hint. I also like the love triangle between Barry and his kinda-step sister who he keeps blowing off to be the Flash while she is yet another superhero friend going into a journalism career, kinda. What this episode really does well is explore the adoptive father-son relationship between Joe and Barry and it works very well here aside from the cliched moment where he yells that Joe isn’t really his father. And the special effects continue to look amazing with Multiplex’s many doubles all looking realistic. And while I imagine this is something true for all versions of the Flash, I like to think that it’s another nod to the 90’s series how they work out his increased appetite. All in all, another great episode.

Gotham S:01 E:04

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Arkham
Original airdate: 10-13-14

One of my biggest problems with Gotham so far is how it hits the viewer over the head with hints of what is to come with Batman. This is the first episode where it felt like it hit the right balance for the most part. It also moved forward one of the most interesting things about Gotham during this point in time: the dynamic of the criminal underworld and the threat of a gang war between Falcone, Maroni, and Fish Mooney. And at least as far as I know, the hired killer that is the main villain for the episode has nothing to do with the Batman universe whatsoever, even though he did have a bit of a quirky way of killing his victims. The only real foreshadowing in the episode is the fact that the episode revolves around what is going to happen to the old Arkham Asylum and the resulting potential turf war between Falcone and Maroni. Penguin also got some forward momentum on his own personal character arc, and while I do like the direction it is going, I don’t know if it’s really the best origin for what Penguin is going to become. There are moments in the show that still bother me, Gordon spends way too much time having heart to heart talks with 12 year old Bruce Wayne and Alfred. I also am not fond of his relationship with Barbara and how she is trying to find out about his life while he is keeping secrets, and then turning around and getting angry at her for keeping secrets from him. While it’s not exactly Batman foreshadowing, it is awfully on the nose at calling him out on his hypocrisy. I will say that one thing I noticed a lot during this episode and has been throughout the show so far is that the cinematography is gorgeous. There are some really stellar looking shots in the show, I just wish there was a bit more meat to the plot and some of the characters.