Arrow S:03 E:09

Posted on by Jeffrey Lyles

Episode: The Climb
Original Airdate 12-10-14

Silly me. I thought “Arrow vs. Flash” was last week, but DC’s top 2 comic book TV shows played another game of “can you top this?” Just as it seemed like the Flash vs. Reverse Flash confrontation gave Team Flash a seemingly insurmountable advantage, we get a jam-packed episode filled with major revelations after major revelations, Oliver vs. Ra’s al Ghul, the debut of A.T.O.M. and that insane cliffhanger making it clear that “Arrow” once again established itself as the king of the TV comic book shows.  Continue reading Arrow S:03 E:09

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S:02 E:09 & E:10

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: …Ye Who Enter Here
Original Airdate: 12-2-14
Episode: What They Become
Original Airdate: 12-9-14

I know, I’m a week behind on this, but it just slipped my mind. It’s not because of the lack of interest because I’ve been enjoying the second season quite a bit. The characters have really meshed well together, the story arc is getting interesting, and I keep hearing good things about what’s going on. I will be combining these two episodes as I watched them back to back and am not entirely sure where one episode ends and the other begins anymore in my memory. This marks the return of Rayna who was left to run off into the wild so that she could more or less lead S.H.I.E.L.D. to Whitehall because he was after her. One of the best parts of the moment where Rayna gets recaptured by S.H.I.E.L.D. is the return of Patton Oswald as the Koenig triplets who are down to two, though there’s a question as to whether there are more brothers out there that we haven’t been introduced to yet. With all of the action going on and the politics between Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D, the comic relief of Patton Oswald is worth the minor budgetary special effects used in order to sell the twin effect. I loved the little jokes that he kept doing like when he said there were thirteen of them, and then later when his brother was off screen he joked that he had to recharge his batteries. There’s also a great moment of return of Agent 33 who still has the technology that gave her Agent May’s face and voice, although because of the electrocution from their earlier fight it apparently is permanently fused to her face, only there’s a large burn scar on one side and the voice modulation isn’t working correctly. Although I imagine that part of that is so that Ming Na can get a little bit more screen time as well as the chance to play a villain because she is so great at being the badass. And now that the team dynamic has shifted in season 2, she hasn’t had nearly as many opportunities to be that badass, especially since Skye has started to transition more into that role herself. And she gets a great chance to kick some major ass here during a fight with Agent 33, though she doesn’t come through it completely unscathed. But some of the major relationship issues get resolved here in the midseason finale portion. Skye gets one of the greatest moments with Ward when he starts working with her again, and she just shoots him the moment she gets a chance to, even though he does manage to survive. It really shows a lot of growth for Skye’s character compared to how she started out in the first season. There’s also the slight surprising moment where Whitehall gets shot by Coulson, not only that, but he shoots him right before Skye’s father gets his moment of revenge for the death of his wife and Skye’s mother. Or technically Daisy’s mother. I must say that I almost expected during the moment when Skye’s father starts humming “Bicycle Built for Two” and Skye says that she had heard that song before, I totally expected her to say something along the lines of “that space movie with that psycho HAL computer”. And we finally get to see what’s inside the buried alien city which is mainly just a lot of weirdness, and we do earlier get to find out that the aliens definitely are the Kree who play an important part in the Marvel universe, though I personally don’t exactly know what that part is. It’s sad to see Agent Triplett go, but I am curious to see what the future holds for Skye and Rayna in the latter half of the show.

The Flash S:01 E:09

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: The Man in the Yellow Suit
Original Airdate: 12-9-14

It’s probably been discussed quite a bit in the other TV circles that I don’t quite follow myself over who Dr. Wells really is considering the rather big, and yet somewhat unsurprising reveal at the end of this episode. From the very beginning of the show, it’s been leading up to the reveal of who the man in the yellow suit is, and even though we get to see him, and we know that he is very closely tied to Dr. Wells, we still don’t really know anything about him at all aside from the fact that he is essentially the Reverse Flash. He’s faster than Barry, he’s much more experienced at being a speedster than Barry, and he’s obviously much more ruthless than Barry. And yet, he doesn’t seem to want to see Barry dead either or else he likely would have killed him fairly early on in the episode. I absolutely loved seeing Amanda Pays reprise her role as Tina McGee. One of the things that I loved about Smallville was how they would give actors from previous incarnations of the character new roles in their own timeline, like Christopher Reeve and Dean Cain. Here, the main characters from the 1990’s Flash are returning to play essentially the same characters, only with a bit of a spin on them. John Wesley Shipp has had a recurring role as Barry’s father, Mark Hamill is set to reprise his role as an older Trickster already in jail, and here Amanda Pays reprises her role as Tina McGee. Only instead of working for Star Labs, she’s working for rival company Mercury Labs, which is obviously a nice little play on things as Mercury is the messenger god known for his speed. As far as the episode as a whole, it was generally great though it felt like it didn’t answer enough questions, or have any real resolution. I suppose that’s the intention of a midseason cliffhanger style finale, but it was still a bit of a letdown. I haven’t read further into it, but I imagine that the best theory is that Dr. Wells is in fact a speedster, but he’s not the man in the yellow suit, instead he likely wears a red suit just like Barry, which could mean that he is one of the other Reverse Flashes as there are several, or he could be connected in some way to Bart Allen since he is likely from the future. But in general, that is the kind of thing that this show is good at, creating theories that may or may not be correct, it’s quite fun to guess at what direction this show is going to take next and I can’t wait until its return.

Constantine S:01 E:07

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Blessed are the Damned
Original Airdate: 12-5-14

After last week’s relatively mediocre episode it was nice to get back to something a little more interesting as well as something that I hadn’t seen much of before here. While I said last week that it was nice to have an episode without Zed, I was actually glad that they didn’t spend much time away from her and brought her back right away. The case of the week here was actually quite interesting where they follow a reverend of a small, backwater church of snake handlers who gets bitten by a venomous snake but comes back to life holding the feather from an angel’s wing. While the angel herself wasn’t quite as majestic as Tilda Swinton’s wings from the movie version, they were still quite impressive for television. I also thought the twist was very well done when they find out that the angel wasn’t actually one of the ones from heaven, but instead she was a fallen angel working for hell. And after several episodes of just popping up and giving Constantine some infuriatingly vague advice, the actual angel Manny finally comes around to finally picking a side and helping Constantine a little bit more, and a lotta bit more at the very end where he does something that he says he will have to face consequences for. But he doesn’t yet say what those consequences might be. And the final tease shows some further possible darker motives for Zed even though I have no idea what it actually means for the future of the show. One thing outside of the episode that I thought was really great was the fact that for some reason William Shatner was livetweeting the West Coast feed.

Arrow S:03 E:08

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: The Brave and the Bold
Original Airdate: 12-3-14

As essentially the other half of the Flash/Arrow crossover episode, I had to watch it. Especially because they teased Captain Boomerang via the first half of the episode. One of the first things I noticed about Arrow is that I had no idea that they introduced a sidekick for him already and throughout the episode I don’t think I ever caught his name, though I do believe “Speedy” was referenced. I’m not entirely sure if that’s what they actually call him, or if that’s what his sidekick was named in the comics back in the day. I also thought it was interesting that the title of the episode was also used for a Batman cartoon series several years back. It also was great to see the Flash really act like the Flash that I’ve known from those kind of cartoons. The cocky, flippant character that is absolutely a blast to watch. He felt more like the Flash here in Arrow than he has so far in any episode of his own show. There wasn’t any bothering with the serious love story or the serious backstory of his parents, or anything else. All the serious stuff was kept with Arrow while the Flash just got to spend the entire episode being the Flash and I absolutely loved it. Even though I didn’t really have any idea what was going on with several of the other characters like Diggle and his love interest, or anything to do with Amanda Waller. I am slightly familiar with the Suicide Squad and I knew that it had been referenced in Arrow but I didn’t quite know to what extent. Coming into it blind, there was quite a bit to take in, but it was still a nice episode and companion piece to the Flash’s half of the crossover episode, especially the end tease with the full blown practice fight between Arrow and Flash.

The Flash S:01 E:08

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: The Flash vs. Arrow
Original Airdate: 12-2-14

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good crossover episode. Probably not since the time when Buffy and Angel crossed paths with each other on their respective shows, even though I didn’t see them until syndication. But this episode has been hyped since almost the start of the season when they showed that the two characters existed on the same universe and just a mere train ride or run in order to meet up with each other. The Flash has already seen Felicity come over to the show for an episode, but this time around the whole gang comes along and secret identities be damned! The high point for me was all the hilarious reactions from Diggle who I wasn’t familiar with at all considering I haven’t really been watching Arrow at all. Mainly the episode felt like an excuse to showcase how differently each of the heroes work, where Barry has the power but goes in head first and flies by the seat of his pants. While Arrow has a plan of attack and relies on his preparation and experience. There’s nothing funnier than seeing Flash get shot with an arrow in the back with the casual reply “I heard you heal fast”. But of course, there’s also the villain of the week involving someone who essentially has the power of Red Kryptonite from Smallville, only with a bit more rage than just the losing of inhibitions. And of course, Barry gets “whammied” as an excuse to have the two heroes fight each other outside of being just a practice exercise. It’s even more noticeable when it finally comes time to go work together to catch the villain and it all happens during the commercial break. Overall, it was a pretty fun episode and also played an important part in the overall storyline involving Barry and Iris. Although I believe some iterations of the Flash have him eventually marrying Iris (although without the whole growing up together as step-siblings), here he gets on her bad side as he goes after her current boyfriend while under the influence of Red Kryptonite, or the rage glare, whatever you want to call it. Of course, she still hasn’t made the connection between the Flash and Barry, so those two are likely still on good terms. And of course, there’s also the setup that there is a Flash task force now within the police force dedicated to arresting him. Good times. Oh, and I have to mention that I loved the fact that Dr. Wells name-dropped Batman within the episode like it was nothing.

The Walking Dead S:05 E:08

Posted on by mrsthuro

Episode: Coda
Original Airdate: 11-30-2014

Mid-season finales are no friend to the Greene family. I was never a huge fan of Beth, but only because I didn’t see much in her character, despite the show’s best efforts of pushing her more to the front after the prison collapsed. Be that as it may, that doesn’t mean I was praying for her death. Only now that she’s gone do I truly see how tragic it all is and I appreciate her innocence, hope and strength in the cruel world she was thrust into as a teenager. Above all though I mourn her loss for Maggie, who was on the verge of being reunited with the only blood family she had left, and for Daryl, who changed during his time on the road with her. The rest of the episode was on point, with some great action at the church for Michonne and Carl fighting off a mini-horde. The group headed for D.C. returned, reuniting (almost) everyone. And all the scenes at the hospital were incredibly intense until the last minute. As for Beth’s demise, I felt it coming. If anyone was going to die, she was a prime candidate, and once she tucked the scissors into her cast, her fate was sealed. And yet, I was still shocked because everything happened so quickly, that before I knew it Beth was dead and Daryl retaliated by killing Dawn, though I have to wonder what Beth hoped to accomplish by stabbing Dawn in the first place. I really wondered if Rick would just go ahead and kill everyone else in the hospital (he’s had a real bloodlust since Terminus), but he was able to walk away. And the closing moments were just heartbreaking. Though this episode wasn’t a game-changer for the group, like last season’s mid-season finale, I’ll be interested to see where things go when the show returns in February, because now the group has no home or goal with two recent deaths hanging over their heads. Mostly, I want this Morgan mystery resolved.

Constantine S:01 E:06

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Rage of Caliban
Original Airdate: 11-28-14

There’s two things that this episode does well compared to many of the earlier episodes. It finally has a stronger glimpse of horror rather than just a creepy vibe, and even though I’m fond of her character, it’s nice to have an episode that’s just Constantine and a bit of Chas without having to deal with Zed this time around. There’s yet another malevolent spirit, this time it’s inhabiting the body of a child and causes them to kill their own parents via some bloody and gruesome telekinesis. The spirit then moves onto a new host, a young boy who is usually scared of the “monsters” in his closet and under his bed. But now, he becomes very Damien-like with the creepy stares and need to cause harm to those around him. As far as Constantine’s role in all this, there is a hint of his guilt for the child that he had sent to hell, but overall it’s just a basic detective story with a bit of magic and a bit of humor. There are a few more decent scary scenes than usual, but everything else seems to be a bit more by the book. There is yet another moment where Chas gets incredibly hurt, which makes me think at this point in the show there should be someone who shouts “Oh my god! They killed Chas! You bastards!” every time he gets mortally wounded. There’s also more talk about the rising darkness, but it’s also starting to feel more like an ever-present macguffin rather than any sort of tangible threat. It was still a decent episode overall, but there just wasn’t any meat on its bones.

The Flash S:01 E:07

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Power Outage
Original Airdate: 11-25-14

The Flash comes back after a fairly weak episode in a return to form. There’s a lot more speculation about who Dr. Wells really is and what his ultimate goal will be as he has a moment to show his true colors to Barry Allen. And yet instead of turning him away, it actually accomplishes Wells’ goal to convince Barry to push himself and his speed further so he will eventually be fast enough to break into the Speed Force and gain the ability to travel through time, or something along those lines. The villain of the week is Blackout, and I read quite a bit this week about how some people think that this show handled the being with electrical power much better than the Amazing Spider-Man 2 did with Electro. I’m not quite sure if I would go that far with it, though I did appreciate how well it looked with the lower budget effects. There is something that can be said for doing something as simple as having the lights turn on or off when he is near, or having the car be unable to start. I will say that while I did like the subtlety of the effects, the personality of Blackout as a villain left quite a bit to be desired. He was essentially personality-less, he was just a slowly walking force of nature with a singular purpose to destroy Dr. Wells due to the fact that Blackout blames him for the particle accelerator accident and the deaths of his friends. What did make this episode great were the other moments, like when Wells breaks out the metal bully from last weeks episode in order to create a diversion, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop Blackout himself. There’s also a great B-story with the Clock King who takes the police station hostage, including Joe, Iris, and Eddie. There’s a lot of great tension on that side of the story and I appreciate the fact that it didn’t completely spell out what happened, aside from the fact that Iris was able to get the upper hand with the Clock King and neither one of them had to die. There’s also, like I mentioned, a bit more intrigue into the ultimate plan of Dr. Wells and his connection to the Reverse Flash as Blackout was able to siphon Flash’s power, though it seemed like he wasn’t able to use it. I also loved the great moment of comic relief with the broken mug, as well as Iris’s callback to how much Barry liked it.

Gotham S:01 E:10

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode: Lovecraft
Original Airdate: 11-24-14

I’ve gone on quite a bit about how I go back and forth on episodes of Gotham, often even within a single episode. But more than any other show this season, Gotham is the one that keeps me coming back week after week and is the one show that I tend to watch same day rather than waiting a day or two to go back to it. And it felt like this episode really paid off and was the show firing on all cylinders. Nearly every character that I have been iffy on came back in a strong way here, and the characters that I have always enjoyed really got a chance to show their stuff. Alfred was a real powerhouse, and I really enjoyed the chemistry he had with Donal Logue’s Bullock. Baby Bruce has been a bit of a weak spot in my eyes, but I thought that this episode finally gave him something interesting to do in a way that didn’t feel overly forced. There’s also a great chemistry between little Bruce and little Cat that hits the right notes of a childhood romance combined with the elements of who they will become in future Gotham City. In a show not known for its subtlety, it felt like it finally started to get the right balance of foreshadowing without hitting people over the head, like with Ivy’s brief moment in the show. And to wrap up the episode, Richard Kind gave a great performance as the Mayor. There were a few moments within the episode that I had issues with, like Harvey Dent still rubs me the wrong way, and I was not fond of the female assassin who only cared about her target, but made some odd decisions. As for the ending, I’m curious about shifting the focus more onto the newly reopened Arkham Asylum, but if they can give me more episodes like this one, I’ll be happy.