Gotham S:01 E:14

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode Title: The Fearsome Dr. Crane
Original Airdate: 2-2-15

One of the biggest complaints against Gotham seems to be how it has been taking too many of Batman’s villains lately and having them come into play long before Bruce Wayne even develops an irrational fear of bats. There’s a couple thought processes that go into this criticism. The biggest one against is the theory that it was the appearance of Batman himself that created the more eccentric supervillains of Gotham. If he hadn’t come around with his theatricality then the crime would still be there, but it would continue to be the stereotypical mob and street crime. The other theory is that the most interesting thing about the world of Batman, Gotham City, and Arkham Asylum are the villains and to have this show focusing on the city that beget Batman without using any of the rogues gallery would be a waste and be uninteresting. I find that the show is the best when it walks the fine line between those two sides, but it is a fine line and different for everyone.
Continue reading Gotham S:01 E:14

Batman Beyond S:01 Ep:01-02

Posted on by Elwood Jones

Episode title: Rebirth

Original air date: January 10, 1999

Pilot episodes can be notoriously difficult things to pull off, more so when they are spin offs from a universally popular series which is the situation this show finds itself in with “Rebirth”. Originally designed to be released as a two part episode it would ironically end up being shown with both parts joined together in a TV movie format which arguably works a lot better than the original intention the show’s creators had of splitting it into two parts.

Continue reading Batman Beyond S:01 Ep:01-02

Constantine S:01 E:11

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode Title: A Whole World Out There
Original Airdate: 1-30-15

It’s coming down to the end of the season already with only two more episodes to go after this one and unfortunately the ratings aren’t quite living up to the quality of the show as this week dropped off once again from last week’s slight bump. It’s disappointing because I really am enjoying this show and it seems to get better each week as it gets deeper into its own mythology. This episode marks the return of one of the few friends of Constantine who hasn’t died. The professor and tech guy Ritchie from the pilot episode returns as a professor who has some students that invoke a very real ritual to go on an out of body experience and end up releasing the spirit of a someone long trapped in his own plane of existence. It was a really great episode that had quite a few horror elements to it that I wish they would do more of. The one downside was that much of is was fairly predictable, but the characters were all interesting enough to hold it together for me.
Continue reading Constantine S:01 E:11

Arrow S:03 E:11

Posted on by Jeffrey Lyles

Episode Title: Midnight City
Original Airdate: 1-28-15

While Oliver is still recuperating after his duel with Ra’s al Ghul, the rest of Team Arrow are still trying to pick up the pieces and determine if they will continue to carry on his mission. But this week, they get some unexpected reinforcements. Continue reading Arrow S:03 E:11

The Flash S:01 E:11

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode Title: The Sound and the Fury
Original Airdate: 1-27-15

Once again, the Flash reminds me of Smallville in some of the best ways. Even when it has an episode with a fairly weak villain as the main focus of the episode, there are still some great elements of character development that are just too interesting and/or enjoyable to ignore. There is a lot to dislike in The Sound and the Fury from the rather uninspired villain of the week who has sonic gloves and a hearing aid that more or less turns down his super hearing, or at least just tempers his extreme tinnitus. Not to mention overplaying the chess metaphor between the Pied Piper aka Hartley Rathaway and Dr. Wells. But aside from the A story, there were some interesting developments regarding the mysterious Dr. Wells himself, giving a few more hints as to what his ultimate goal is as well as making him very analogous to Smallville’s Lex Luthor in the early seasons when he was still trying his hardest to do good and be Clark’s friend, but it just wasn’t in his upbringing to go about it in any other way than through money and power. In a very similar way Dr. Wells is doing what he can to be a hero in Barry’s eyes, but meanwhile he has an alternative agenda in place that is much more sinister.
Continue reading The Flash S:01 E:11

Gotham S:01 E:13

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode Title: Welcome Back, Jim Gordon
Original Airdate: 1-26-15

Some days I feel like I’m too much of a positive person. There’s plenty of Batman fans that didn’t like this show and still don’t. But there is enough of an audience to give it a second season and episode by episode I’m falling more in line with the fans of this show rather than the detractors. In fact, this episode is one of the first episodes where I didn’t have any major issues with any moment in the show. There were still a couple little moments, but they were brief and often made up for even within that same scene. This wraps up Fish Mooney’s story arc, puts some more much needed kick into Jim Gordon as a character, and gives a bit of play to several of the other supporting characters’ arcs. It may be that I’m just getting a better feel for the characters in the show overall, but I thought this was definitely one of the strongest episodes of the season so far.
Continue reading Gotham S:01 E:13

Batman Beyond – Introduction

Posted on by Elwood Jones

Released in 1999 during the golden age of comic book adaptions when Warner Bros. Animation was given full access to the complete back catalogue of their sister company DC comics. They created this series which formed the DC Animated Universe including “Batman Beyond” or “Batman of the Future” as it strangely renamed here in the UK, with the series forming a book end for the universe they’d established with the series which came before it. The show would equally create another timeline for DC Animated Universe which would continue to be revisited by several other franchises even after the series ended, teasingly hinting that perhaps the studio wasn’t quite as done with the series as it would have seemed by its abrupt cancellation.

Continue reading Batman Beyond – Introduction

Constantine S:01 E:10

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode Title: Quid Pro Quo
Original Airdate: 1-23-14

“Quid Pro Quo” is a Latin phrase that means “this for that” which really gets to the heart of what Constantine is all about. There’s often talk of how when it comes to magic in the world of this show, “there is always a price” and we get to see a lot more of that price in this episode. We also get to see a lot more of the backstory of Chas, why he is so loyal to Constantine, and how he is seemingly immortal. While there is several mentions of the rising darkness, this felt much more like a one-off episode that didn’t really further any of the season-long plot lines, but it is a really great character piece that shows how far both Constantine and Chas have come over the past couple years. And it does so without getting into Newcastle any futher aside from one throwaway mention.
Continue reading Constantine S:01 E:10

Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Introduction

Posted on by laundryroombruce

Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an animated anthology series inspired by The Brave and the Bold comic book series.  It aired three seasons on Cartoon Network from November 2008 until November 2011 with a final tally of 65 episodes.  Much like it’s inspiration, the television series builds each episode around a “team up” of Batman and a (usually) lesser known hero to take down a bad guy.  To a guy like me that is absolutely devoted to being exposed to as many incarnations of as many different comic book characters as possible, a show such as this is Nirvana.  Further adding to the robust roster of characters is the convention of starting each episode with an unrelated teaser adventure before the story proper begins, always featuring characters that are not part of the primary story.  Simply put, if a character has any degree of significance in the DCU he or she is bound to show up in this series eventually.  I’m particularly found of episodes including forgotten characters from the early silver age (Catman) or prematurely abandoned recent creations (Geo-Force).  Another characteristic of the series is that it often provides a straight forward superhero adventure while also demonstrating a meta awareness of the perceived ridiculousness of many of the characters involved.  With art that is simultaneously classic and distinctive in appearance as well as writing that is both aware of cannon yet unafraid to alter it when needed, this show rarely disappoints.  It is an understatement to say that I am excited to be reviewing each episode of this series, and I invite you to join me in this journey if you fancy yourself as brave and/ or bold.

The Flash S:01 E:10

Posted on by Bubbawheat

Episode Title: Revenge of the Rogues
Original Airdate: 1-20-14

The Flash is back and so is his first recurring villain: (not counting the metal guy who Wells let out to fight the electro guy a couple episodes back) Captain Cold. Honestly, I’ve been a little nonplussed by most of the villains that Flash has faced this season with the exception of Reverse Flash. It’s been nice that they have been using some of the more flamboyant of his villains instead of going low key, but none have really been much more than the freak of the week. So I’m glad that Wentworth Miller returned, and it seemed like he has a better handle on the character. Back in episode four I thought he did a good enough job, but I really enjoyed how he played the villain this time around with his obsession with the Flash and his odd clipped manner of speaking. It also helped to have the addition of Heatwave with his slight Russian accent and psychotic tendencies to help play off of Captain Cold.
Continue reading The Flash S:01 E:10