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Matt Zimmer ([personal profile] matt_zimmer) wrote2016-07-24 06:11 pm

12 Monkey "Memory Of Tomorrow" (Season Finale) Review (Major Spoilers)

Also reviews for the latest episodes of Batman Unlimited, DC Super Hero Girls, Ultimate Spider-Man Vs. The Sinister 6, Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, The Lion Guard, Disney's Descendants: Wicked World, Girl Meets World, Wayward Pines, Scream, and Angie Tribeca.



12 Monkeys "Memory Of Tomorrow"

Of course it's Cassie and Cole's kid. After last episode's hallucinogenic freak-out it would be weird it wasn't. Also smart because this way they could reveal the identity and then have a big reveal of the actual person next season. SO glad this has already been renewed. With Haven gone, this is the best current genre show on television. Except this is probably better than Haven.

I love how independent and free-spirited a resurrected Jones was. I'm going to like this new her next season.

I am about to state some controversial: I think Jennifer's "Be excellent to each other" is her best movie reference of all time. That is NOT a line you hear quoted much in pop culture, yet, Bill and Ted was an insanely popular movie, and that was one of its most memorable catchphrases. It almost strikes me as weird that this is the first TV or movie project I've heard it repeated. It should not have been.

I love the idea that the Tall Man's mother will switch sides in the future. That was probably the most pleasant surprise of the episode.

I loved how when Charlie begs Cole to understand him, he DOES, and therefore winds up apologizing to Cassie, before shooting him. How is it she remembers that timeline? How is it she is actually pregnant? Clearly that is something that WILL be addressed next season and I look forward to it.

Jennifer in the trenches of WWI: Could she have picked a worse time and place in history to be stuck in? Yeah, a Nazi concentration camp would be worse, but it would also be no fun. This is going to make next season awesome.

I love this show. And how about that Madeleine Stowe? *****.



Batman Unlimited "Night Game, With A Chaser"

Splat! Also, yawn. **.

Batman Unlimited "The Accidental Apprentice"

Free "homage" tip. If you're gonna try and spoof Fantasia, the parody should actually RESEMBLE Fantasia. That means classical music, if not The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I know. That is more effort than the lazy producers want to put into these shorts, but if they aren't going to do it right, they should just do something else. *.

DC Super Hero Girls "Hero Of The Month: Batgirl"

Wait, Comm. Gordon knows? And he's cool with it? This continuity is so dumb. *.




Ultimate Spider-Man Vs. The Sinister 6 "Symbiote Saga: Part 3"

Worried about MJ, although to be honest, any complications down the road are probably worth her learning the secret. I have to imagine Peter's life is much easier now that all of his loved ones know. Doc Ock is the wild card, but so far he hasn't told anyone else. I don't know why (it WOULD do major damage to Peter) which tells me whatever he has planned for the secret is far worse.

Energy draining Morbius? You know what? I'm NOT disappointed! This is what the 90's show should have done! It's so freaking obvious, and TV-Y7 ready, that it really makes me think little of John Semper Jr.'s intelligence if this never occurred to him. If I never have to hear the word "Plasma" over and over again on a Spider-Man cartoon, I'll be happy.

Good to see Stan again but I think the absence of Coulson is REALLY starting to grate on me. How busy can Clark Gregg be? Why don't they write a role for him, ask him, and see what he says? The fact that they seem to have forgotten about him (and his romance with Aunt May) really aggravates me. We even got Fitzsimmons this season! This shouldn't be too much to ask.

Flash enjoying the idea of the Marauders states something interesting about him. In reality, Flash was jealous of Peter, and simply wanted to be in his clique. But as admitting that would be embarrassing and a social no-no, he tormented him instead. It was his way of being in Peter's life without having to admit he was. That's probably one of the most endearing takes on Flash's motives I've ever seen, and I'm surprised I didn't see it before now. It's a great idea.

I really liked this. The show has done far fewer chibis and cutaways this season, and it's all the better for it. I think it is probably the best Spider-Man cartoon we've ever gotten. ****1/2.

Guardians Of The Galaxy "I Feel The Earth Move"

Good cliffhanger, I think. It was dire, but not so dire that I saw no way out of it, and it made me want to watch next week. Those three things are all a good cliffhanger needs.

Unfortunately I am at a loss to explain why the rest of the Guardians, save Peter, were undergoing "Seed madness". It made no sense for that to happen between friends (how hard is it to take turns for something like that?) and if Peter's right, the Seed was lying in its vision. So the big question is, why would the seed do that? Is this particular seed malevolent? If so, why? Why wasn't Peter affected by the selfishness, especially considering he's had far more visions about the thing than the others did? Why was Gamora effected at ALL? She didn't appear that have ANY visions. And will all this actually be addressed next week? Because I honestly think it would be REALLY weird and unsatisfying if it wasn't. Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot were acting like crazy people. And I can't figure out why.

Good cliffhanger as far as the action goes. As far as answering burning questions? Not so much. ***1/2.




LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures "Race On Tattoine"

Now we're gettin' somewhere! Not so much a huge fan of the episode (Master Shake the Hutt is funnier in small doses) but I love that Rowan learned the truth, and now I'm dying to see what he does with it. Because if I were him, I would be VERY wary of standing against Naare. She is obviously the most dangerous and powerful person in his life. And yet, if he does nothing, she may take the Emperor's advice and simply kill his whole family. Suddenly this cute little Lego comedy has a very real dilemma that I don't see an easy way out of. His best hope in my mind is convincing Naare to switch sides. But that carries its own risks. What if she says no? And from what I've seen of her behavior when she is alone, I'm 90% sure she would. Granted, there's a 10% chance she is as reasonable as she seems. But they wouldn't keep showing us these scenes of her acting so outright evil if that were the case.

I'm very curious what they'll do next with this. What would the Rebellion do if Luke Skywalker was actually evil? It didn't turn out so well for the Republic and Anakin Skywalker. We'll see. ****.




The Lion Guard "Too Many Termites"

This show is getting so freaking old. And it's episode 15! THAT is the thing that worries me. If I were feeling that way a couple of seasons in, I wouldn't be bothered too much. But to have the show's formula be so predictable and boring this early on is a bad thing. I don't care if it's ostensibly a preschool show. It's still true. Sesame Street was able to rock my socks off when it still did the magazine format until 1999. And Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was ALWAYS enjoyable, as low-key as it was. The Neighborhood of Make-Believe was properly effed up for me as a kid. Just because this show is for little kids doesn't mean it NEEDS to be boring and predictable. Toddlers won't object, and parents won't complain, but it seems very noticeable with the effort and time put into the amazing animation and pretty good songs, that it still can't tell a good story to save its life. This show should be doing more things that are like African Fables, and introducing the mythology of clever animals outsmarting dumber ones. On this show, ALL of the animals are dumb. And that bums me out.

I'm probably overthinking it. But that doesn't mean the show isn't boring. **.




Disney's Desendants: Wicked World "Neon Lights Ball"

Oh, God, these shorts are bad enough in three minute doses. But a half hour? Kill me now. 0.




Girl Meets World "Girl Meets True Maya"

Parts of it were good, and parts of it were bad, but I just want to draw attention to the fact that Reginald Vel Johnson started out as a cop in Die Hard, worked his way down to a cop on Family Matters, and is now a cop on Girl Meets World. That is a REALLY depressing career trajectory. He went from working with characters named John McClane and Hans Gruber into working with characters named Urkel and Farkle. Also, he's massive now, which has me worried about his health. Stuart Pankin's current appearance on the show is similarly alarming.

They need to get rid of Doy now. It's a dumb, obnoxious, and frankly painfully loud joke that was never funny. It just makes me want to reach for the remote. Enough already. Worst character and kid on the show.

Do you know what the show should have made explicit? That Maya declined to deface the statue because it's art. Sabrina Carpenter played the moment very interesting (which is not something I usually say about a person on a Disney kidcom). She played the moment as if she instantly appreciated the statue for what it was. I'm a bit amazed the show didn't make that idea explicit, because it gives Maya a secondary reason for realizing she's outgrown her lousy old friends. She doesn't need to be entirely defined by Riley's (often psychopathic) influence. It would have been nice if part of the reason she declined to deface the statue is because destroying art is wrong.

Good and bad. ***.




Wayward Pines "Walcott Prep"

SO amazing. I have to say the fact that Carrie is Jason's mother is shocking, horrifying and totally awesome. And shows yet another way Pilcher was a completely p*ss-poor planner. How could he have possibly let that happen? Idiot.

I think Yedlin is probably a better hero than Ethan Burke, probably because he is less interested in right and wrong, which makes him more willing to use unacceptable tactics. Which frankly, in this particular scenario is needed. Ethan was always playing defense and putting out the fires Pilcher and Pam set. That isn't Yedlin. He's creating his own opportunities to take down the bad guys and he's doing it without them being aware he's doing it. For one thing, he just outright lied to Carrie about Jason calling her expendable. That's horrible, and yet it's the best way to convince her to kill him which is absolutely essential. This plan is nuts. Now that we know Margaret survived (a pleasant surprise for once) I think Yedlin's next task is brokering a peace. And if Jason isn't actually dead, he needs to offer him up to the Abbies as part of the negotiation. It's a good thing Pilcher isn't alive. Because I think he'd be equally good collateral for the town's safety and he's probably the one human the Abbies hate more than Jason.

How much does Pilcher suck? He doesn't understand Animal Farm is a bad thing. I could almost excuse Pilcher's rationale at the beginning of season one. He didn't know how things would shake out and he's possibly playing it as safe as possible. But hearing that he thinks Orwell had the right idea all along, tells me once again Pilcher is what would happen if Donald Trump were in charge of Noah's Ark. Disaster. I'm frankly a little bit sickened about what I learned about Pilcher here.

I love that in the flashback Carrie jumps when Jason touches her leg. Awesome reaction. I love it whenever fiction is smart enough to do stuff like that. And it usually isn't. People on television are far too comfortable putting their hands on strangers, and weirdly enough, people don't actually do that in the real world. And if they do, they are considered scary. I loved that moment.

They are not going back in the tubes next week. Yedlin is going to broker if not a peace, a truce. That is my guess. At least I HOPE I'm right. *****.




Scream "Village Of The Damned"

I think Brooke was going to do that whether she was drunk or not. That's specifically why she got drunk. To make sure she didn't chicken out. I kind of appreciated that her dad wasn't mad at her. I hate Mayor Maddox, but I won't dismiss that moment. That was significant to me.

I really hope the killer isn't Stavos. Because that means the killer is dumb. And he really shouldn't be. How is he dumb? Eli is a similar creep, but Eli gives himself plausible deniability for all of the crap he pulls. He's the king of making excuses. That is a good thing for a killer (and sociopath) to be able to do. Well, Stavos is a sociopath too, but he never justifies anything to my satisfaction. If he's the killer, why would he taunt his father prove it? How stupid is that (and how dumb is drawing murder pictures during the school lockdown)? And if he isn't the killer he's wasting his father's time investigating him when he could be pursuing other leads. Pretending you MIGHT be the killer is a bad idea if your father is the sheriff. It is literally liable to get people killed. But I really hope he isn't the killer. Because that would mean all of the victims were killed by an idiot. And that would bum me out.

I can't believe Audrey did that to Noah again! Forget Noah being a saint for putting up with it, so is freaking Zoe. She must really like that kid, especially since she DID hear the recording.

I don't understand why Audrey was dumb enough to announce to the killer she was going to Emma. Of COURSE the killer would then beat her to the punch. That's pretty much the only move the killer has left. There was no reason to hold that secret over Audrey except to damage her, and if the killer won't be able to do that going forward, they can at least drop an a-bomb on the way out. It's pretty much the most damaging thing the killer could do and by constantly telling Noah that she's gonna do it and SOON, she's going to make herself a target.

Here's the big question: Is Zoe the killer? She is the only person we know who knew about the recording besides Noah, and we know it's not Noah, because Noah is John Karma. Noah being the killer is about as likely as Charlie being the smoke monster on Lost. Or is Zoe not the killer and released the recording for a different reason? Did she release the recording as revenge for Audrey vag-blocking her TWICE?

Looks like my suspicions last week of Miss Lang being Leo Johnson was right if next week's previews are any indication. I'm pretty sure she didn't do it, but I'm positive again that she has to do with it.

Eli telling Emma that it was Kieran she should have been afraid of might have looked more credible if his bloody mouth didn't make him look like such a horrorshow. That made me MORE likely to trust Kieran over him, not less. What a creep.

Weird week that the killer lost. I like that idea occasionally though. Horror is scarier and more exciting if you know some people can get away. ****.




Angie Tribeca "Boys II Dead"

I kind of wanted to see Tanner's actual dance moves.

Not too great. The series continues to think Heather Graham is more gorgeous than she is. And whenever she shares the screen with Rashida Jones that is a miscalculation. **1/2.


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