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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episode of iZombie, the series premiere week of The Powerpuff Girls, the latest episodes of hMarvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultimate Spider-Man Vs. The Sinister 6, Marvel's Avengers: Ultron Revolution, Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, Once Upon A Time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Simpsons, the season finale of Sleepy Hollow, the latest episodes of Grimm, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bob's Burgers, Bordertown, and The Last Man On Earth, the special The Adult Swim Golf Classic, and the latest episodes of The Blacklist and Blindspot.
Arrow "Eleven-Fifty-Nine"
Normally, I'd feel relieved that the show just killed off my least favorite character instead of someone I cared about. But I don't. Because I DO care about Quentin. And this is just unnecessary. It never ends for that guy. And it's starting to feel cruel.
I really hope Oliver did not help her fake her death. It's hinted that might be the case due to the part of the conversation we didn't hear before she crashed, but if Oliver is lying here, Felicity would never forgive him. And she'd be right not to. As sucky as it would be, I hope Laurel stays dead.
I kind of like that Laurel outright said that she wasn't the love of Oliver's life. I'm glad the show is at that point where they can definitively state that. And Laurel declaring that she still loved Oliver was made extra tragic by her dying seconds laters. It's possible she knew the surgery didn't go right and was saying goodbye.
I knew Andy was a traitor. Because Oliver would not have been SO sure if he wasn't. Oliver is usually pretty even-handed, but something about that entire situation smelled wrong, and I trusted his judgment. The writers wouldn't have had him be wrong about something that huge. Especially because of what he had to do when he believed it.
Where do Oliver and Felicity go from here? I have no clue. And I'm betting they don't either.
I am still of the opinion they didn't need to kill off ANYONE for this season to work. And I still believe that. ***.
DC's Legends Of Tomorrow "Progeny"
I don't know why Rip didn't go through with it. The episode tried to play the scenario as an ethical choice, when really, there was no choice at all. Yeah, I wouldn't want to kill a kid either, especially if I had never killed anyone before. But that was one of those instances with so much as stake, that Rip should have stepped outside of his comfort zone, just for a moment. The fact that he didn't meant disaster.
Why are Kendra and Ray still together? Every since they've hooked up, it's been hinted that they are unhappy and feel that they aren't right for each other. Sometimes loving somebody isn't enough. And I think this is one of those times.
As for Rory and Snart, Rory learned something about himself that he didn't know before. He cares. And it's not just for Snart. It's in general. I think Rory's biggest hang-up since he was abandoned was believing that Snart cared less for him than he actually did. When Sara reassures him that wasn't the case, maybe Rory began to think of his career as Chronos as nothing but a big waste.
I think the episode was interesting, but the heroes made the wrong call here, and I'm a little bit amazed that the show is trying to say it is the good and noble one. It totally wasn't. It was selfish. It was Rip refusing to destroy a piece of his own soul at the expense of his family and the world. That is not my idea of heroic. The nature of being a hero is sacrifice. And if the sacrifice you have to make is that you are now a terrible person, sometimes that's something you have to do. ***.
iZombie "Reflections Of The Way Liv Used To Be"
I was hoping for bigger Major fall-out, but with that ending, not only are we getting it next week, but it's gonna be a thousand times bigger than it could have been with Ravi. Still, Ravi is an idiot for not telling Liv immediately. Can't believe he is buying into "Liv is helpless" meme. Not only does it make no sense that Major thinks it, but Ravi certainly shouldn't.
I kind of love Enrico Colantoni being so menacing, consider how warm Keith Mars was. Still, he's technically still a good guy so we can see him again. His character is interesting.
The Rob Thomas reference was giving me an extra meta headache. It's not quite a David E. Kelly level of sucky self-promotion that makes no narrative sense, (iZombie has never been referenced on Veronica Mars) but with Colantoni in the episode, it still makes my brain hurt.
Vaughn: Worst father ever. That is all.
This episode had a weird problem. The actor they got to play the murderer was too good, and instantly gave the mystery solution away. The guy had an actual screen presence, which isn't something somebody who is cast as a random vendor answering detectives' questions should have. If they wanted me to forget about the vendor, they should have cast a forgettable actor. I knew it was him immediately.
Blaine isn't faking. We've gotten enough bewildered looks from him when he is on his own to know that he's as worried about this craziness as anyone. "That's upstairs business." I love that idea. And maybe Blaine isn't such a bad guy when he doesn't have his memories. Loved Ravi giving him the laundry list of his crimes. Major walking in and Ravi pointing out who he actually was was hilarious because Major was so chill. What a ridiculous brain.
Can't wait for next week even if it means pushing off Flash for another two. *****.
The Powerpuff Girls "Escape From Monster Island"
We'll do a quick review of the ways this new show is better and worse. My expectations were rock bottom because the original cartoon is one of the most overrated cartoons of the 90's. Only Darkwing Duck and the Spielberg WB cartoons are more overpraised. But... Darkwing Duck had it's moments. And you can't TRULY hate Pinky and the Brain. But there was no part of the original series of Powerpuff Girls that wasn't overly cynical and unnecessarily violent. There is a reason the movie bombed. Because the cartoon sucked and nobody actually asked for a movie.
Let's talk about the way the show has improved. While the old Powerpuff Girls formula of six minute cartoons started and always wrapped up by the Narrator was one of the most memorable and consistent things about the old show, it also got old quick. That's part of why the show was so cynical. It was making fun of those kinds of cartoons without ever being clever enough to figure out a way to be better than them. When you engage in a trope to make fun of a trope, you're still engaging in the trope. The 11 minute adventure format will probably be better in the long run. Besides, 6 minutes cartoons never made sense. Because the show was never funny.
Bad things:
Recasting. Other than cheesing off the fans and original VO's, what's the point? It's not like the original voices were celebrities and expensive and hard to get. Frankly, I imagine it now costs three times what it used to to get Tom Kenny and they still got him. They could have recast the Mayor and afforded the original voices with no problem.
As terrible as the old show was, the animation popped. It seems like all CN shows have stopped trying to have nice animation. Be Cool Scooby Doo, Teen Titans Go!, the animation is all bland and uninteresting. The only good-looking current CN toons are Bunnicula and Wabbit, and both of those shows are struggling. It seems to me that CN is rewarding shows with bad animation because it seems like it's the shows with bad animation that become the monster hits. The Powerpuff Girls no longer zip around in a flash of neon lights. And it's ridiculous that the animation is worse. There is no reason it should be. Animation techniques have improved so much that if they used the old show's style, they could still do it on a shoestring budget. This just looks boring.
Also, this is a critique of the episode, and not the series, but anytime a TV show or movie has a character start off a rap with the words "My name is Blank and I'm here to say..." that means the writer of the project is white. And probably a stupid white person who fears black people.
The Pilot didn't wow me. **.
The Powerpuff Girls "Princess Buttercup"
Utonium's absence was really felt while the girls were bemoaning their potential broken familial bond. It is so weird he wasn't in the first two episodes. *1/2.
The Powerpuff Girls "The Stayover"
Finally got Utonium and Mojo Jojo. Better late than never.
Still, I am a little bit shocked to remember how terrible a character Mojo Jojo is. At least on the old show, the hyper-stylized nature sort of made him fit into the universe. But he isn't funny, or cool, or interesting. The original series wasn't funny either, so it wasn't a big deal, but if the new show is going to try to mine comedy from him, they are probably fighting an uphill battle.
Anything I DID like? I like that Blossom and Buttercup bought the hats from the vendor. I laughed at that. **.
The Powerpuff Girls "Painbow"
This bored me. *.
The Powerpuff Girls "Horn Sweet Horn"
Another snoozefest. *.
The Powerpuff Girls "Man Up"
I actually really like this episode for one moment: When Manboy throws the chainsaw at the statue, nothing happens. The fact that cool moments happen on television all the time shows how unrealistic it is. In real life, Oz misses the vampire with the thrown stake 99 out of a 100 times. I have never seen a moment that observational in this franchise before, and it's a joke you still don't see often (I can't think of any other place but the Oz moment on Buffy and the Family Guy scene with Brian and the squeaker ball at the toy factory where something like that happened). But true bad@$$ moments are a fluke in real life, and gravity and reality doesn't care at all how cool you were trying to look. You're almost always going to miss, and even when you hit, almost certainly nothing is going to happen. ****.
Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Spacetime"
Excellent.
I love listening to a scientist use a simple demonstration to try to show a layman the concept of something mindblowing. This is a very unique gift. Neil De Grasse Tyson has it. And apparently so does Leo Fitz. The whole concept of the 3-D phonebook with the outside pages marked, really hit home what he was talking about. What is really provocative about it is that he is almost certainly wrong. Time travel stories are not unheard of in the Marvel Universe, and you CAN change stuff in most continuities. Maybe that's technically different if the stuff already happened. But that's what time travel is messing with in the first place.
I love the solution that it was two-way glass. Makes sense, and they didn't actually have to walk anything back from the "You can't change time" moral. I also don't think Daisy and the homeless man actually changed anything. They each seemed to think they saved each other, but I think it was always supposed to go down that way.
I love the vision at the end. It's ominous, but you don't see any bodies, so they can work around the premise of a fixed future without getting boxed in. Because whatever that scenario actually is, I'm pretty sure I don't want it to happen.
Andrew's scene of resisting turning into Lash for the final time reminded me a bit of the Tenth Doctor's ignorable regeneration on Doctor Who. At least the writers here were kind enough to not have Andrew have to go through it alone. Russell T Davies SUCKS and did wrong by David Tennant. I'm still mad about it.
I found the scene of Ward asking Malick why he resurrected him to be very interesting. Because, as Ward pointed out, Malick didn't really have a credible reason to do it. He wants to rule the world? He already does! By anybody's reasonable definition, he does. What more does he want?
That was when they lost me a bit with Ward and Malick trying to make a grand statement on the human condition about what taking a life is like. If the writer of this episode has never killed anybody, maybe they shouldn't be making broad, sweeping general statements about that. It seems like every writer in Hollywood think they're an expert on this subject, when in reality, they are just as clueless about it as the rest of us non-murderers. I can't even say it's a bad superhero trope, it's all genre. And then I realize I can't even say it's a bad genre trope. It's ALL TV and movies. Hollywood writers like to pretend they have super insights into human nature, but they are just as dumb about the subject as you or me. The only difference is that they get paid for pulling stuff out of their @$$.
But really, this was an otherwise flawless episode. The promos were right to build it up. *****.
Ultimate Spider-Man Vs The Sinister 6 "Anti-Venom"
Geez, everything bad on this show happens to the Osbornes. It's kind of like enough already. While I think this version of Peter Parker is refreshing because his life doesn't suck, and the writers aren't constantly piling on complication after miserable complication to his storyline, I kind of feel like this show is doing that to Harry and Norman. It's gotten too much.
But I pretty much can't stand most versions of Peter Parker for this reason. Stan Lee supposedly gave him so many problems because it would make it easier for the reader to relate to him, but that's precisely why I can't relate to him. NOBODY has that many problems. I cannot relate to a guy getting framed for bank heists every other week while his aunt is on her deathbed the other weeks. How old is Aunt May anyways? Why are we supposed to accept the sister of Peter's mother as a frail old lady? Shouldn't she be in her 40's? Let's just say I prefer the spry version on this show.
I was annoyed with this. **1/2.
Marvel's Avengers: Ultron Revolution "Under Siege"
See, this is the problem with superhero comics and cartoons. Nobody would call themselves the Masters of Evil. Because nobody thinks they're evil. The good villains, the ones who has resonance, believe they are the hero of the piece. And that's what makes them interesting. Nobody thinks they're evil, and the idea that people would call themselves that is beyond stupid. It's as if somebody volunteered to be put on the sex offender registry for no reason.
God, I hate superheroes. *.
Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy "Come And Gut Your Love"
Pretty good. Not much else to say than that I liked it. ***1/2.
Once Upon A Time "Our Decay"
Lord, Greg Germann is great, isn't he? Who knew Richard Fish had that in him? I gotta say, considering how crappy the season has been in general, Germann's performance is easily the show's most pleasant surprise. I never expected to get a character and actor this great in a storyline this horrible. He's probably the best character on the show. Now that Neil's gone, he doesn't really have ANY competition, but it is not lost on me that the best character is not only a guest role, but a brand new guest role. This show has been in deep trouble for a long time. Can Fish fix it? I hope so. I hope to God.
I like that when Rumple is bored or nervous, he spins gold. Great character quirk to have him doing that in the background without drawing attention to it.
Speaking of Rumple, I have to say his cold-hearted honesty to Belle almost makes me forgive him. I shouldn't, but the fact that he's done b.s.-ing her is forward momentum for the character after what was a disastrous backslide brought on by terrible writing. He wants it all, Belle is welcome to share in that, but he's not choosing her over power. He's not giving it up, and if that's where they part ways, so be it. I admit I don't hate him as much as I did before this episode now.
I love that they expanded Dorothy's role. Frankly, I think their Oz adaptation in season 3 was absolutely dreadful, and it was a good idea for the writers to say "Yeah, that sucked, but cooler stuff happened after that." And now Dorothy Gale is a teenage bad@$$! I can live with this.
Snow's snit in the diner reminded me why I detest the character. Everything is about her. The fact that David just goes along with her self-absorption without ever being smart enough to realize he should actually call her on it, shows exactly how weak and stupid he is.
I like that Regina says that her enemies have become her family. I love hearing stuff like that, and when the show stops trying to be cynical, it is sometimes able to recapture some of that magic from the first two seasons. Not always, but that was a good moment.
I want a Hades spin-off. Now. Or do Once Upon A Time In Oz and have Hades be the Big Bad. They can never get rid of this character. They need to make him a regular in season six. ****.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Revenge Of The Triceratons"
How do we know these are space Gremlins? One of them exploded in a microwave! Sick!
I like that unlike the cartoons from previous seasons, the Turtles seem to hate the Chris Bradford one. Their tastes are improving.
I was bummed the Triceratons got the two Black Hole Generator pieces. I feel like we've lost forward momentum.
That Triceraton who expressed reluctance to use the virus interested me. He had similar regrets about the mind reader in last season's finale. Is it possible he will wind up switching sides?
Mozar seems to be losing his mind. He seems more deranged here than usual.
When did David Tennant start saying "Bloop bloop!"? I wouldn't have noticed it if he had been doing it all along, but I think this is the first episode where Fugitoid has had that particular quirk.
Okay. ***.
The Simpsons "The Burns Cage"
I love that Smithers got an excellent performance review at the end and a big hug from Burns.
This is the first episode where Smithers is out. The producers usually hedge their bets (He's usually labeled a "Burnsosexual") but Homer and the guys seem to already know for the first time ever. The TV landscape really HAS changed.
I loved Milhouse using Mrs. Brady and Greg as an example of a famous celebrity couple. I also liked him nitpicking Casablanca's plot holes. Why WOULD Nazis follow orders made up by Charles De Gaul anyways?
I love the idea that The Simpsons letters actually exist in the Springfield skyline.
Just from where Grady's map arrow pointed, it looks like Springfield is in Kansas.
Mr. Largo is still gay and dating Grady!
How do you get on George Takei's good side? Say you've never heard of Shatner. I love that moment. Takei has always been a good friend to this show and Futurama, but I believe this is the first time he's played himself here. Oh my!
Enjoyable episode. ****.
Sleepy Hollow "Ragnorok"
Wow, that sucked. The show did not jump the shark in the way Once Upon A Time or Grimm have, but this has definitely been a bad season, and this is a terrible ending. Nicole Beharie is off the show? I don't see how it could possibly be worth watching without her. And making Joe's sucky death stick is almost as awful. I am truly upset.
Any good things? I'm glad the Horseman returned, and the fact that it wasn't the emo talking version. But I sincerely doubt I am ever going to enjoy this show in the same way again. *.
Grimm "The Believer"
I love that the fairytale they tackled this week was the Crucifixion. Provocative to say the least.
Do you know why Eve having performance problems is so funny? Because it wasn't Bitsie Tulloch playing it. She would never be able to pull of the comedy of that moment the way Sasha Roiz, a gifted actor, was able to. It is not lost on me that Roiz makes a more convincing Eve than Tulloch does.
Is the stuff with Wu having to do with his Werewolf bite? What was the mosquito about then? Weird.
About time we are getting some answers on the stick and they sound ominous. Which all of the sudden has me worrying for Monroe. What have these idiots gotten themselves into? They should have been exploring this stuff two weeks ago . Dragging it out is bad for the show. Full stop.
Better than average episode, that unfortunately makes me realize that Tulloch is an even worse actor than I thought. And I already thought she was pretty bad. ****.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "Paranoia"
Best proposal ever!
I am amazed at how attached I have gotten to Adrian Pimento. It's not just the fact that he's such a terrible person that surprises me as to how much I love him. It's the fact that he's a new character on a show that's been around for a couple of seasons. New characters always suck and drive focus away from our favorites. I never feel that with Adrian. And it's the fact that he is so terrible which is the reason I love him. Because he doesn't mean to be. And he's trying to change. If more awful people on TV were as open to the idea of growth as Pimento is, I'd like TV a lot more.
Charles had the best party. Gina's was a joke. As fun and funny as it was, she is just piggybacking on someone else's party. She put no effort into it. Amy's party was the funniest and most subversive, but the thing that made Charles' thing the best is that he probably had to call in a ton of favors and spend some real money. He put the most effort into his and I love that Rosa obviously appreciated it the most.
What a great episode. ****1/2.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "Maximum Security"
Not much of anything happened this episode but I did like the solution as to how Jake and Amy repaired the mess in the prison. Clever and effective. I also like that Holt enjoys high-fives now.
Best line goes to Gina: "If people knew how smart I was, it would be MUCH harder to control them." ***.
Bob's Burgers "House Of 1000 Bounces"
Louise ruining Rudy's birthday party show that she is selfish and much stupider than a supposed evil genius should ever be. She doesn't realize Rudy's birthday isn't about her or what she wants. I have to say, I've really started to dislike Louise over the past couple of seasons. And I don't really give her a free pass anymore.
I like the idea that Bob confused seeing The Birds when he was five with an actual life experience. And then he realized he had no reason to be afraid of pigeons after all. Teddy's stool pigeon joke was hilarious.
You can't own tape! It belongs to everybody! Gene is even stupider than Louise.
The Bob stuff was good but I was annoyed by the stuff with the kids. **1/2.
Bob's Burgers "Stand By Gene"
That two-butted goat was just as magnificent as advertised. And we got to see the two anuses. And I realize how easy I am to impress. ****.
Bordertown "Drug Lord"
I laughed at the idea that Gert will no longer be the only girl in her class with an adult boyfriend. She DOES look like a shrunk version of Mimi from The Drew Carey Show. Yet another party ends with trying to find out where Gert landed.
Speaking of parties, I like that guy asking why they were watching the news at a party. Great observation there.
The day laborer saying that the Americans were taking their jobs was good.
But this animation on this show is still atrocious.
This was a better than average week. ***1/2.
The Last Man On Earth "Fish In The Dish"
Not as bad as I feared, but I'm guessing it is still the shark jump. Todd was the one likable character on the show and I don't like him anymore. Which sucks. Whether I still like the show will depend on the fall-out next week, and how badly Gayle and Melissa feel hurt. If they can forgive him, I will too, but if they are as disgusted at him as I currently am, I won't.
Look forward to Phil's brother next week. I still cannot believe Phil punched him in the nuts tonight. That guy is insane. **.
The Adult Swin Golf Classic
Spot-on satire and very authentic. But it's freaking golf. Even if the players are swearing and terrible, it's still the most boring sport. Still, I commend the special for committing as far as they did. They were not afraid to make the special outright lame and boring in the name of authenticity.
God, TV used to suck. There was no previous Golden Age of Television. As far as I'm concerned we're currently living in it. ***.
The Blacklist "Mr. Solomon"
That scene of Amir trying to revive that terrified dying woman moved me.
I was kind of hoping Major would get a bigger end. I was kind of hoping his name would eventually be an episode title.
Solomon's being one is long overdue. I can't wait to see him taken down next week.
Red seemed AWFULLY sure about Tom being bad news , didn't he? And Red has never been wrong. There is something about Tom he doesn't want to tell Liz, but perhaps she's going to have to force him.
I look forward to finding out if it's Liz's mother who wants her or if it is somebody else. I can't imagine.
Cool first parter. ***1/2.
Blindspot "Any Wounded Thief"
I am amused and annoyed that NBC's entire hook for the episode not only occurred in the last five minutes, but didn't actually involve either a threat on Weller's life, or seem to be something that will change the dynamic of the show. As bad as Fox promos are (they are generally considered the gold standard of promo suck) I think NBC is much worse. By far. And always has been.
But Jane's ex-fiance is right. She isn't the only person being forced to do things they don't want to. Poor shmuck. **.
Arrow "Eleven-Fifty-Nine"
Normally, I'd feel relieved that the show just killed off my least favorite character instead of someone I cared about. But I don't. Because I DO care about Quentin. And this is just unnecessary. It never ends for that guy. And it's starting to feel cruel.
I really hope Oliver did not help her fake her death. It's hinted that might be the case due to the part of the conversation we didn't hear before she crashed, but if Oliver is lying here, Felicity would never forgive him. And she'd be right not to. As sucky as it would be, I hope Laurel stays dead.
I kind of like that Laurel outright said that she wasn't the love of Oliver's life. I'm glad the show is at that point where they can definitively state that. And Laurel declaring that she still loved Oliver was made extra tragic by her dying seconds laters. It's possible she knew the surgery didn't go right and was saying goodbye.
I knew Andy was a traitor. Because Oliver would not have been SO sure if he wasn't. Oliver is usually pretty even-handed, but something about that entire situation smelled wrong, and I trusted his judgment. The writers wouldn't have had him be wrong about something that huge. Especially because of what he had to do when he believed it.
Where do Oliver and Felicity go from here? I have no clue. And I'm betting they don't either.
I am still of the opinion they didn't need to kill off ANYONE for this season to work. And I still believe that. ***.
DC's Legends Of Tomorrow "Progeny"
I don't know why Rip didn't go through with it. The episode tried to play the scenario as an ethical choice, when really, there was no choice at all. Yeah, I wouldn't want to kill a kid either, especially if I had never killed anyone before. But that was one of those instances with so much as stake, that Rip should have stepped outside of his comfort zone, just for a moment. The fact that he didn't meant disaster.
Why are Kendra and Ray still together? Every since they've hooked up, it's been hinted that they are unhappy and feel that they aren't right for each other. Sometimes loving somebody isn't enough. And I think this is one of those times.
As for Rory and Snart, Rory learned something about himself that he didn't know before. He cares. And it's not just for Snart. It's in general. I think Rory's biggest hang-up since he was abandoned was believing that Snart cared less for him than he actually did. When Sara reassures him that wasn't the case, maybe Rory began to think of his career as Chronos as nothing but a big waste.
I think the episode was interesting, but the heroes made the wrong call here, and I'm a little bit amazed that the show is trying to say it is the good and noble one. It totally wasn't. It was selfish. It was Rip refusing to destroy a piece of his own soul at the expense of his family and the world. That is not my idea of heroic. The nature of being a hero is sacrifice. And if the sacrifice you have to make is that you are now a terrible person, sometimes that's something you have to do. ***.
iZombie "Reflections Of The Way Liv Used To Be"
I was hoping for bigger Major fall-out, but with that ending, not only are we getting it next week, but it's gonna be a thousand times bigger than it could have been with Ravi. Still, Ravi is an idiot for not telling Liv immediately. Can't believe he is buying into "Liv is helpless" meme. Not only does it make no sense that Major thinks it, but Ravi certainly shouldn't.
I kind of love Enrico Colantoni being so menacing, consider how warm Keith Mars was. Still, he's technically still a good guy so we can see him again. His character is interesting.
The Rob Thomas reference was giving me an extra meta headache. It's not quite a David E. Kelly level of sucky self-promotion that makes no narrative sense, (iZombie has never been referenced on Veronica Mars) but with Colantoni in the episode, it still makes my brain hurt.
Vaughn: Worst father ever. That is all.
This episode had a weird problem. The actor they got to play the murderer was too good, and instantly gave the mystery solution away. The guy had an actual screen presence, which isn't something somebody who is cast as a random vendor answering detectives' questions should have. If they wanted me to forget about the vendor, they should have cast a forgettable actor. I knew it was him immediately.
Blaine isn't faking. We've gotten enough bewildered looks from him when he is on his own to know that he's as worried about this craziness as anyone. "That's upstairs business." I love that idea. And maybe Blaine isn't such a bad guy when he doesn't have his memories. Loved Ravi giving him the laundry list of his crimes. Major walking in and Ravi pointing out who he actually was was hilarious because Major was so chill. What a ridiculous brain.
Can't wait for next week even if it means pushing off Flash for another two. *****.
The Powerpuff Girls "Escape From Monster Island"
We'll do a quick review of the ways this new show is better and worse. My expectations were rock bottom because the original cartoon is one of the most overrated cartoons of the 90's. Only Darkwing Duck and the Spielberg WB cartoons are more overpraised. But... Darkwing Duck had it's moments. And you can't TRULY hate Pinky and the Brain. But there was no part of the original series of Powerpuff Girls that wasn't overly cynical and unnecessarily violent. There is a reason the movie bombed. Because the cartoon sucked and nobody actually asked for a movie.
Let's talk about the way the show has improved. While the old Powerpuff Girls formula of six minute cartoons started and always wrapped up by the Narrator was one of the most memorable and consistent things about the old show, it also got old quick. That's part of why the show was so cynical. It was making fun of those kinds of cartoons without ever being clever enough to figure out a way to be better than them. When you engage in a trope to make fun of a trope, you're still engaging in the trope. The 11 minute adventure format will probably be better in the long run. Besides, 6 minutes cartoons never made sense. Because the show was never funny.
Bad things:
Recasting. Other than cheesing off the fans and original VO's, what's the point? It's not like the original voices were celebrities and expensive and hard to get. Frankly, I imagine it now costs three times what it used to to get Tom Kenny and they still got him. They could have recast the Mayor and afforded the original voices with no problem.
As terrible as the old show was, the animation popped. It seems like all CN shows have stopped trying to have nice animation. Be Cool Scooby Doo, Teen Titans Go!, the animation is all bland and uninteresting. The only good-looking current CN toons are Bunnicula and Wabbit, and both of those shows are struggling. It seems to me that CN is rewarding shows with bad animation because it seems like it's the shows with bad animation that become the monster hits. The Powerpuff Girls no longer zip around in a flash of neon lights. And it's ridiculous that the animation is worse. There is no reason it should be. Animation techniques have improved so much that if they used the old show's style, they could still do it on a shoestring budget. This just looks boring.
Also, this is a critique of the episode, and not the series, but anytime a TV show or movie has a character start off a rap with the words "My name is Blank and I'm here to say..." that means the writer of the project is white. And probably a stupid white person who fears black people.
The Pilot didn't wow me. **.
The Powerpuff Girls "Princess Buttercup"
Utonium's absence was really felt while the girls were bemoaning their potential broken familial bond. It is so weird he wasn't in the first two episodes. *1/2.
The Powerpuff Girls "The Stayover"
Finally got Utonium and Mojo Jojo. Better late than never.
Still, I am a little bit shocked to remember how terrible a character Mojo Jojo is. At least on the old show, the hyper-stylized nature sort of made him fit into the universe. But he isn't funny, or cool, or interesting. The original series wasn't funny either, so it wasn't a big deal, but if the new show is going to try to mine comedy from him, they are probably fighting an uphill battle.
Anything I DID like? I like that Blossom and Buttercup bought the hats from the vendor. I laughed at that. **.
The Powerpuff Girls "Painbow"
This bored me. *.
The Powerpuff Girls "Horn Sweet Horn"
Another snoozefest. *.
The Powerpuff Girls "Man Up"
I actually really like this episode for one moment: When Manboy throws the chainsaw at the statue, nothing happens. The fact that cool moments happen on television all the time shows how unrealistic it is. In real life, Oz misses the vampire with the thrown stake 99 out of a 100 times. I have never seen a moment that observational in this franchise before, and it's a joke you still don't see often (I can't think of any other place but the Oz moment on Buffy and the Family Guy scene with Brian and the squeaker ball at the toy factory where something like that happened). But true bad@$$ moments are a fluke in real life, and gravity and reality doesn't care at all how cool you were trying to look. You're almost always going to miss, and even when you hit, almost certainly nothing is going to happen. ****.
Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Spacetime"
Excellent.
I love listening to a scientist use a simple demonstration to try to show a layman the concept of something mindblowing. This is a very unique gift. Neil De Grasse Tyson has it. And apparently so does Leo Fitz. The whole concept of the 3-D phonebook with the outside pages marked, really hit home what he was talking about. What is really provocative about it is that he is almost certainly wrong. Time travel stories are not unheard of in the Marvel Universe, and you CAN change stuff in most continuities. Maybe that's technically different if the stuff already happened. But that's what time travel is messing with in the first place.
I love the solution that it was two-way glass. Makes sense, and they didn't actually have to walk anything back from the "You can't change time" moral. I also don't think Daisy and the homeless man actually changed anything. They each seemed to think they saved each other, but I think it was always supposed to go down that way.
I love the vision at the end. It's ominous, but you don't see any bodies, so they can work around the premise of a fixed future without getting boxed in. Because whatever that scenario actually is, I'm pretty sure I don't want it to happen.
Andrew's scene of resisting turning into Lash for the final time reminded me a bit of the Tenth Doctor's ignorable regeneration on Doctor Who. At least the writers here were kind enough to not have Andrew have to go through it alone. Russell T Davies SUCKS and did wrong by David Tennant. I'm still mad about it.
I found the scene of Ward asking Malick why he resurrected him to be very interesting. Because, as Ward pointed out, Malick didn't really have a credible reason to do it. He wants to rule the world? He already does! By anybody's reasonable definition, he does. What more does he want?
That was when they lost me a bit with Ward and Malick trying to make a grand statement on the human condition about what taking a life is like. If the writer of this episode has never killed anybody, maybe they shouldn't be making broad, sweeping general statements about that. It seems like every writer in Hollywood think they're an expert on this subject, when in reality, they are just as clueless about it as the rest of us non-murderers. I can't even say it's a bad superhero trope, it's all genre. And then I realize I can't even say it's a bad genre trope. It's ALL TV and movies. Hollywood writers like to pretend they have super insights into human nature, but they are just as dumb about the subject as you or me. The only difference is that they get paid for pulling stuff out of their @$$.
But really, this was an otherwise flawless episode. The promos were right to build it up. *****.
Ultimate Spider-Man Vs The Sinister 6 "Anti-Venom"
Geez, everything bad on this show happens to the Osbornes. It's kind of like enough already. While I think this version of Peter Parker is refreshing because his life doesn't suck, and the writers aren't constantly piling on complication after miserable complication to his storyline, I kind of feel like this show is doing that to Harry and Norman. It's gotten too much.
But I pretty much can't stand most versions of Peter Parker for this reason. Stan Lee supposedly gave him so many problems because it would make it easier for the reader to relate to him, but that's precisely why I can't relate to him. NOBODY has that many problems. I cannot relate to a guy getting framed for bank heists every other week while his aunt is on her deathbed the other weeks. How old is Aunt May anyways? Why are we supposed to accept the sister of Peter's mother as a frail old lady? Shouldn't she be in her 40's? Let's just say I prefer the spry version on this show.
I was annoyed with this. **1/2.
Marvel's Avengers: Ultron Revolution "Under Siege"
See, this is the problem with superhero comics and cartoons. Nobody would call themselves the Masters of Evil. Because nobody thinks they're evil. The good villains, the ones who has resonance, believe they are the hero of the piece. And that's what makes them interesting. Nobody thinks they're evil, and the idea that people would call themselves that is beyond stupid. It's as if somebody volunteered to be put on the sex offender registry for no reason.
God, I hate superheroes. *.
Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy "Come And Gut Your Love"
Pretty good. Not much else to say than that I liked it. ***1/2.
Once Upon A Time "Our Decay"
Lord, Greg Germann is great, isn't he? Who knew Richard Fish had that in him? I gotta say, considering how crappy the season has been in general, Germann's performance is easily the show's most pleasant surprise. I never expected to get a character and actor this great in a storyline this horrible. He's probably the best character on the show. Now that Neil's gone, he doesn't really have ANY competition, but it is not lost on me that the best character is not only a guest role, but a brand new guest role. This show has been in deep trouble for a long time. Can Fish fix it? I hope so. I hope to God.
I like that when Rumple is bored or nervous, he spins gold. Great character quirk to have him doing that in the background without drawing attention to it.
Speaking of Rumple, I have to say his cold-hearted honesty to Belle almost makes me forgive him. I shouldn't, but the fact that he's done b.s.-ing her is forward momentum for the character after what was a disastrous backslide brought on by terrible writing. He wants it all, Belle is welcome to share in that, but he's not choosing her over power. He's not giving it up, and if that's where they part ways, so be it. I admit I don't hate him as much as I did before this episode now.
I love that they expanded Dorothy's role. Frankly, I think their Oz adaptation in season 3 was absolutely dreadful, and it was a good idea for the writers to say "Yeah, that sucked, but cooler stuff happened after that." And now Dorothy Gale is a teenage bad@$$! I can live with this.
Snow's snit in the diner reminded me why I detest the character. Everything is about her. The fact that David just goes along with her self-absorption without ever being smart enough to realize he should actually call her on it, shows exactly how weak and stupid he is.
I like that Regina says that her enemies have become her family. I love hearing stuff like that, and when the show stops trying to be cynical, it is sometimes able to recapture some of that magic from the first two seasons. Not always, but that was a good moment.
I want a Hades spin-off. Now. Or do Once Upon A Time In Oz and have Hades be the Big Bad. They can never get rid of this character. They need to make him a regular in season six. ****.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Revenge Of The Triceratons"
How do we know these are space Gremlins? One of them exploded in a microwave! Sick!
I like that unlike the cartoons from previous seasons, the Turtles seem to hate the Chris Bradford one. Their tastes are improving.
I was bummed the Triceratons got the two Black Hole Generator pieces. I feel like we've lost forward momentum.
That Triceraton who expressed reluctance to use the virus interested me. He had similar regrets about the mind reader in last season's finale. Is it possible he will wind up switching sides?
Mozar seems to be losing his mind. He seems more deranged here than usual.
When did David Tennant start saying "Bloop bloop!"? I wouldn't have noticed it if he had been doing it all along, but I think this is the first episode where Fugitoid has had that particular quirk.
Okay. ***.
The Simpsons "The Burns Cage"
I love that Smithers got an excellent performance review at the end and a big hug from Burns.
This is the first episode where Smithers is out. The producers usually hedge their bets (He's usually labeled a "Burnsosexual") but Homer and the guys seem to already know for the first time ever. The TV landscape really HAS changed.
I loved Milhouse using Mrs. Brady and Greg as an example of a famous celebrity couple. I also liked him nitpicking Casablanca's plot holes. Why WOULD Nazis follow orders made up by Charles De Gaul anyways?
I love the idea that The Simpsons letters actually exist in the Springfield skyline.
Just from where Grady's map arrow pointed, it looks like Springfield is in Kansas.
Mr. Largo is still gay and dating Grady!
How do you get on George Takei's good side? Say you've never heard of Shatner. I love that moment. Takei has always been a good friend to this show and Futurama, but I believe this is the first time he's played himself here. Oh my!
Enjoyable episode. ****.
Sleepy Hollow "Ragnorok"
Wow, that sucked. The show did not jump the shark in the way Once Upon A Time or Grimm have, but this has definitely been a bad season, and this is a terrible ending. Nicole Beharie is off the show? I don't see how it could possibly be worth watching without her. And making Joe's sucky death stick is almost as awful. I am truly upset.
Any good things? I'm glad the Horseman returned, and the fact that it wasn't the emo talking version. But I sincerely doubt I am ever going to enjoy this show in the same way again. *.
Grimm "The Believer"
I love that the fairytale they tackled this week was the Crucifixion. Provocative to say the least.
Do you know why Eve having performance problems is so funny? Because it wasn't Bitsie Tulloch playing it. She would never be able to pull of the comedy of that moment the way Sasha Roiz, a gifted actor, was able to. It is not lost on me that Roiz makes a more convincing Eve than Tulloch does.
Is the stuff with Wu having to do with his Werewolf bite? What was the mosquito about then? Weird.
About time we are getting some answers on the stick and they sound ominous. Which all of the sudden has me worrying for Monroe. What have these idiots gotten themselves into? They should have been exploring this stuff two weeks ago . Dragging it out is bad for the show. Full stop.
Better than average episode, that unfortunately makes me realize that Tulloch is an even worse actor than I thought. And I already thought she was pretty bad. ****.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "Paranoia"
Best proposal ever!
I am amazed at how attached I have gotten to Adrian Pimento. It's not just the fact that he's such a terrible person that surprises me as to how much I love him. It's the fact that he's a new character on a show that's been around for a couple of seasons. New characters always suck and drive focus away from our favorites. I never feel that with Adrian. And it's the fact that he is so terrible which is the reason I love him. Because he doesn't mean to be. And he's trying to change. If more awful people on TV were as open to the idea of growth as Pimento is, I'd like TV a lot more.
Charles had the best party. Gina's was a joke. As fun and funny as it was, she is just piggybacking on someone else's party. She put no effort into it. Amy's party was the funniest and most subversive, but the thing that made Charles' thing the best is that he probably had to call in a ton of favors and spend some real money. He put the most effort into his and I love that Rosa obviously appreciated it the most.
What a great episode. ****1/2.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "Maximum Security"
Not much of anything happened this episode but I did like the solution as to how Jake and Amy repaired the mess in the prison. Clever and effective. I also like that Holt enjoys high-fives now.
Best line goes to Gina: "If people knew how smart I was, it would be MUCH harder to control them." ***.
Bob's Burgers "House Of 1000 Bounces"
Louise ruining Rudy's birthday party show that she is selfish and much stupider than a supposed evil genius should ever be. She doesn't realize Rudy's birthday isn't about her or what she wants. I have to say, I've really started to dislike Louise over the past couple of seasons. And I don't really give her a free pass anymore.
I like the idea that Bob confused seeing The Birds when he was five with an actual life experience. And then he realized he had no reason to be afraid of pigeons after all. Teddy's stool pigeon joke was hilarious.
You can't own tape! It belongs to everybody! Gene is even stupider than Louise.
The Bob stuff was good but I was annoyed by the stuff with the kids. **1/2.
Bob's Burgers "Stand By Gene"
That two-butted goat was just as magnificent as advertised. And we got to see the two anuses. And I realize how easy I am to impress. ****.
Bordertown "Drug Lord"
I laughed at the idea that Gert will no longer be the only girl in her class with an adult boyfriend. She DOES look like a shrunk version of Mimi from The Drew Carey Show. Yet another party ends with trying to find out where Gert landed.
Speaking of parties, I like that guy asking why they were watching the news at a party. Great observation there.
The day laborer saying that the Americans were taking their jobs was good.
But this animation on this show is still atrocious.
This was a better than average week. ***1/2.
The Last Man On Earth "Fish In The Dish"
Not as bad as I feared, but I'm guessing it is still the shark jump. Todd was the one likable character on the show and I don't like him anymore. Which sucks. Whether I still like the show will depend on the fall-out next week, and how badly Gayle and Melissa feel hurt. If they can forgive him, I will too, but if they are as disgusted at him as I currently am, I won't.
Look forward to Phil's brother next week. I still cannot believe Phil punched him in the nuts tonight. That guy is insane. **.
The Adult Swin Golf Classic
Spot-on satire and very authentic. But it's freaking golf. Even if the players are swearing and terrible, it's still the most boring sport. Still, I commend the special for committing as far as they did. They were not afraid to make the special outright lame and boring in the name of authenticity.
God, TV used to suck. There was no previous Golden Age of Television. As far as I'm concerned we're currently living in it. ***.
The Blacklist "Mr. Solomon"
That scene of Amir trying to revive that terrified dying woman moved me.
I was kind of hoping Major would get a bigger end. I was kind of hoping his name would eventually be an episode title.
Solomon's being one is long overdue. I can't wait to see him taken down next week.
Red seemed AWFULLY sure about Tom being bad news , didn't he? And Red has never been wrong. There is something about Tom he doesn't want to tell Liz, but perhaps she's going to have to force him.
I look forward to finding out if it's Liz's mother who wants her or if it is somebody else. I can't imagine.
Cool first parter. ***1/2.
Blindspot "Any Wounded Thief"
I am amused and annoyed that NBC's entire hook for the episode not only occurred in the last five minutes, but didn't actually involve either a threat on Weller's life, or seem to be something that will change the dynamic of the show. As bad as Fox promos are (they are generally considered the gold standard of promo suck) I think NBC is much worse. By far. And always has been.
But Jane's ex-fiance is right. She isn't the only person being forced to do things they don't want to. Poor shmuck. **.
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Date: 2016-04-09 04:33 pm (UTC)I knew the brother was going to be a bad guy when we saw Oliver beating him up and using torture techniques on him, because that was the only way to redeem that storyline, but that doesn't make it okay for Oliver to be using torture techniques on anyone. I don't think the show understands that- Oliver isn't being brave or dedicated for taking it that far, he's being awful. I hope the show addresses that, but I really suspect they think it was justified.
I'm so glad I stopped watching Sleepy Hollow a while ago. It's so depressing to see how the showrunners ruined everything that made season 1 good.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-09 05:40 pm (UTC)I dislike the torture too. I thought they were going to address that last season after the Flash objected to it, but they quickly went back to it anyways. Torture is never justified.
Season three of Sleepy Hollow wasn't as bad as season two but the finale was MUCH worse. Killing off Abbie is the worst decision the show ever made.
Nice to see you in my journal.