"Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" Review (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Also reviews for the latest episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, Justice League Action, Teen Titans Go!, and Gotham, the season premiere of Lucifer, the latest episodes of Ben 10 and The Powerpuff Girls, the series premieres of Marvel's Inhumans and The Gifted, the latest episodes of Marvel's Spider-Man, Star Wars: Forces Of Destiny, DuckTales, The Lion Guard, Tangled: The Series, Mickey Mouse, and Transformers: Robots In Disguise: Combiner Force, the season premiere of The Simpsons, the latest episode of The Orville, the season premieres of Family Guy and Bob's Burgers, the series premiere of Ghosted, the series premiere of The Last Man On Earth, the first two episodes of the season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the latest episode of The Good Place, and the season premiere of The Blacklist.

Upcoming reviews include Doctor Who: Series 9, Class: Series 1, The X-Files: Season 10, Avengers: Age Of Ultron (Blu-Ray), Ant-Man (Blu-Ray), Captain America: Civil War (Blu-Ray), Doctor Strange (Blu-Ray), Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (Blu-Ray), Spider-Man: Homecoming (Blu-Ray), Jessica Jones: Season 1, Daredevil: Season 2, Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2, Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 1, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Blu-Ray), X-Men: Days Of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse (Blu-Ray), Logan, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Season 1, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Season 2, Zootopia, Moana (Blu-Ray), Tangled: Before Ever After (DVD), Inside Out (Blu-Ray), The Good Dinosaur (Blu-Ray), Finding Dory (Blu-Ray), Once Upon A Time: Season 5, The BFG, Tomorrowland, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Blu-Ray), Star Wars Rebels: Season 2, Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales, Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures: Season One, Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow (DVD), Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (Blu-Ray), Justice League Action: Superpowers Unite!, Teen Titans Go!: Get In Pig Out, Teen Titans Go!: Recess Is Over, DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games, LEGO DC Super Hero Girls: Brain Drain, The LEGO Batman Movie, Batman Vs. Two-Face, Batman And Harley Quinn, Suicide Squad (Blu-Ray), Wonder Woman (Blu-Ray), The Flash: Season 2, The Flash: Season 3, Arrow: Season 4, Arrow: Season 5, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow: Season 1, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow: Season 2, Supergirl: Season 1, Supergirl: Season 2 Vixen: The Movie, Gotham: Season 2, Gotham: Season 3, iZombie: Season 1, iZombie: Season 2, iZombie: Season 3, Lucifer: Season 1, Lucifer: Season 2, Samurai Jack: Season 5, Be Cool Scooby Doo!: Spooky Kooky Fun!, Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Prod.: Hare-Raising Tales, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies: Extended Edition, Airplane! / Airplane II: The Sequel: Double Feature, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Beyond The Known Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Earth's Last Stand, Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Shredder, Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half-Shell Heroes: Blast To The Past, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows, Power Rangers (2017), Power Rangers: Zeo: Volume 2, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Power Rangers Turbo: Volume 1, Power Rangers: Turbo: Volume 2, Power Rangers In Space Volume 1, Power Rangers In Space: Volume 2, Power Rangers Samurai: The Complete Season, Power Rangers: Megaforce: The Complete Season, Power Rangers: Super Megaforce: The Complete Season, Transformers: Robots In Disguise: Season 1, Heroes Reborn: The Complete Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 1: Water, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 2: Earth, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire, The Legend Of Korra: The Complete Series, Haven: Season 5 - Vol. 1, Haven: The Final Season, Under The Dome: Season 3, Sleepy Hollow: Season 2, Sleepy Hollow: Season 3, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 2, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 3, The Jurassic Park Trilogy, Jurassic World, Back To The Future: The Complete Animated Series, Shaun The Sheep Movie (Blu-Ray), Shaun The Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas, 12 Monkeys: Season 1, 12 Monkeys: Season 2, Grimm: Season 4, Grimm: Season 5, Grimm: Season 6, The Wonder Years: Season 4, The Wonder Years: Season 5, The Wonder Years: Season 6, The Peanuts Movie, Peanuts By Schulz: Snoopy Tales, Peanuts By Schulz: Go Team Go!, Bob's Burgers: Season 5, Ghostbusters: Answer The Call, Community: Season 6, Danger Mouse: The Complete Series, Prison Break: Season 5, Game Of Thrones: Season 5, and Game of Thrones: Season 6.



Star Trek: Discovery "Context Is For Kings"

This was quite good.. It hit all of the right notes, and shows that even the TV-MA episodes are not going to be too tough to take. I am still a little unclear as to why that was TV-MA. Hannibal showed more gruesome stuff happening to live people on a weekly basis, and was TV-14. A couple of gross corpses don't quite rate to that.

Love that Lorca has a Tribble. Harry Mudd foreshadowing?

Interesting that this says that Burnham and Spock were actually raised together by Sarek and Amanda. Which raises questions about why Spock never mentioned he had a human adopted sister. Perhaps because she was the first mutineer in Starfleet history, he was ashamed of her.

Andorians were also mentioned.

Tilly is a bit obnoxious, but so was Barclay. I'm sure I'll get used to her eventually too. I love the idea that Starfleet has Aspies among them. Barclay sort of hinted that that was what was going on, but this makes the spectrum thing a bit more explicit.

Saru continues to be cooler than cool, and I laughed at Lorca telling Stamets that Saru just called Burnham smarter than him. Great line.

Speaking of which, I love the Klingon putting his finger to his lips, and Stamets asking, "Did he just shush me?" I love that because that was the last thing I expected the Klingon to do.

I'm going to like this series, and I'm totally willing to pay 6 bucks a month for it. ****1/2.




Justice League Action "Harley Goes Ape!"

David Sobolov was a great casting choice as Gorilla Grodd. I actually think he's better than both Powers Booth and John Dimaggio.

Harley was hit and miss. While she has the right design, her voice is super annoying, even for her. I liked her calling Stargirl Powerpuff though, as well as her turning into Grodd's therapist at the end.

This episode shows an essential Titano theme: He is an innocent. He didn't ask for this, and isn't actually looking to hurt anyone. Harley's rage at the cops opening fire on him was shared by me.

Laughed at Jonathan Kent's "Hi Clark!" / "Bye Clark!". Good to know Pa Kent is alive and kicking in this continuity.

Fun episode, but a little of Harley goes a long way. ***.

Justice League Action "It'll Be A Miracle!"

Is Mr. Miracle this much of a Booster Goldish, attention seeking, dumpster fire in the comics? Because he wasn't on JLU. At all. I much preferred that version.

Still, even I will acknowledge JLU Scott would never give Darkseid a bear hug. That was hilarious.

Who was the green Fury with the sword?

I think it would add insult to injury if Scott learned Batman was taught his slight of hand by Zatanna of all people. Small universe.

Speaking of which, how does the World's Greatest Detective not know Big Barda and Scott Free are a thing? Sheesh, Bats. Do some research, whydoncha?

Fabulous episode. ****1/2.

Justice League Action "E Nigma, Consulting Detective"

I love the stories in the cartoons and comics where Nygma reforms and helps the heroes. I love it because the only reason Nygma commits the crimes he does is to prove he's smarter than Batman. After awhile, he doesn't need to keep proving that, and can actually move on from that. Once society recognizes his genius, he doesn't NEED to be a criminal. And it's not like people ever went broke for being smart.

I loved hearing the Batman: The Animated Series Joker and the Young Justice Joker finally playing off each other. Of course Hamill is the superior Joker, but I think Spiner is a pretty great Riddler too.

One of the few interesting things about Joker to me is that he gets the psychology of Batman better than any of his other rogues. Maybe that's overstating things. Maybe he doesn't truly GET Batman. But he WANTS to, and is actually fascinated by what makes Batman tick more than the rest of his rogues are. It hints to me that the Joker is secretly perceptive, or at least wants to be. And the trap he designed for Riddler proves it. Even Batman wouldn't be smart enough to move all of the pieces in place so that the Riddler lost if he actually answered the riddle. Partly because it wouldn't occur to Batman to be that deliberately cruel to Riddler simply to achieve his goal. And Riddler can't NOT answer it.

Hamill was sublime in this scene. There is nothing subtle about the line, "Maybe you don't even know," yet the sympathetic and manipulative way Hamill says it is incredible. Riddler knows he's jiving, and he knows Riddler knows, and Riddler knows that, but as ham-fisted as, "Maybe you don't even know," is, it works BECAUSE it is obvious and ham-fisted. The Riddler knows he's lost by answering, but he cannot keep silent. Do you know what this reminds me of? Jim on The Office tricking Dwight into trading something valuable for a a packet of magic beans. Dwight knows it's crap, Jim knows it's crap, they BOTH know Jim is full of it, but Dwight cannot help himself. That is Nygma and Mississippi. It's more of a mind game than any of the Riddles Nygma ever cooks up.

I noticed they misspelled Nygma's name in the title card, and it's the Iceberg LOUNGE, not the Iceberg Club. Interestingly, they didn't even need to change the name to make the Riddle work. The Lounge is still a club. In fact, one of the most fun things about Frank Gorshin's Riddler is how the answer was always six degrees away from the clue. And that isn't even HALF of how little West's Batman actually had to work with.

Dana Snyder does not suck as Penguin the way he does Plastic Man. Tom Kenny is better at both roles, but unlike Plas, Snyder is a passable Penguin.

Great episode. *****.

Justice League Action "Race Against Crime"

How am I supposed to believe Superman is a match for Flash in a race if he's never heard of the Speed Force?

Luthor is right that Chronos has a whiny voice. I would have shot him too.

All right, but not great. ***.

Justice League Action "System Error"

What a great high concept sci-fi premise! Even better, the robots survived at the end! And yes, Booster, you sound EXACTLY like that. I would not like to have been explicitly made aware of that fact in the manner he just was.

The show uses the most eclectic line-up of villains, until it actually said "Hold on, these team-ups are actually WEIRD." And I love that the show knows that.

Terrific outing. *****.

Teen Titans Go! "Career Day"

Those dancing cartoon teeth were cute.

I love that Beast Boy and Cyborg don't want to be multimillion dollar CEO's. How exactly did Robin finagle that job for them anyways?

Loved Starfire using kittens for construction workers.

Bad things? Oftentimes Teen Titans Go! has phenomenal original songs. This was not one of those weeks. Beast Boy and Cyborg's song was just plain awful.

Still, I liked more than I didn't. ***.




Gotham "A Dark Knight: The Fear Reaper"

Not terrible.

I love that Victor Zsasz takes the gun without paying for it.

I was a little upset Barbara was still alive. Seeming to kill her off was one of the few right things the finale did last year. But I confess I liked her not flinching during Tabitha's hand bluff.

Love that Lucius knows what is actually going on. Lightweight bulletproof armor will be very handy for dangerous rock-climbing.

I don't blame Harvey not going with Jim for the reasons he stated. At least he offered to take him out for drinks. Getting drunk sounds like a good idea.

The episode and the show gets major props from me for having Crane have black face paint around his eyes when he took off his mask. Most other superhero projects do the continuity glitch of the hero having black guyliner under their mask, and it magically disappearing when they remove it. This is the first superhero project I've seen do it properly.

Italians don't forget things like that. Good observation.

Does water seem like an incredibly weak fear toxin cure to anyone else? It's like the writers weren't even trying with that.

Decent week. ***1/2.




Lucifer "They're Back, Aren't They?"

I'm annoyed they are dragging things out with Chloe learning the secret, and I think the ship drama is a bit ridiculous at this point.

I love that Tom Welling's name appeared in the credits as he stepped down the stairs. That made his appearance a surprise. What do I think of Pierce?

I think he's a jerk. I believe that Dan had his cold shoulder coming, but his behavior towards Lucifer and Chloe upon meeting them was outright grotesque. And he brags about the size of his Johnson to strangers? What a creep! Just the fact that Ella likes him makes me think a LOT less of Ella.

Speaking of which, is this the most annoying she has ever been in any episode ever? Because I never remembered the character being this obnoxious in season 2.

Dan is right back to being a jerk to Lucifer. Between him and Chloe, Lucifer continues to be blamed for things that are not his fault.

I am super disappointed the desert wasn't Heaven or Hell, and was actually a place on Earth. In California even! The wings growing back plot is interesting, and the loss of the Devil face hints to me that Lucifer is no longer currently the Devil. It's not like the wings will make him unable to offer proof of his story to Chloe anyways though.

Love that Amendiel isn't mad at Lucifer for cutting off the wings, but more mad at himself by realizing Lucifer would not confide something this huge with him because Amendiel's feelings about this precise topic were so delicate. Were I Amendiel, I would have been mad anyways, but I like that he recognizes that he should actually be there for Lucifer in times like these.

No Maze this week, which strikes me as a mistake after what happened with her in the finale. Linda seems to be doing better though, and still seems to see nothing wrong with prostitution. At least she's the John this time.

I predict the Sinnerman is Pierce. Just because this is not the kind of show willing to build up a bunch of plausible red herrings. Tom Welling IS the stunt casting of the season, and the newest cast member. That means the show is going to make him the Big Bad. I wish the show didn't always telegraph stuff like that this far ahead of time, but it probably would have been a better idea to wait to seed the concept of the Sinnerman until we actually had a few plausible suspects.

Not loving the new season so far, but it's hardly a wash. I'm still on-board. ***.




Ben 10 "Forgeti"

I like that Gwen is concerned about all of the animals in cages. She values the correct things, which is cool.

Not a fan of the amnesia crutch, but if any episode telegraphed it was coming, it was this. I can't be TOO disappointed if I'm this unsurprised.

All right. ***.

Ben 10 "Max To The Max"

"What kind of genius created a device that you have to wait so long to reset between each use?" I see what the show did there.

The multiple B-tch Maxes were great too.

Funny stuff. ***1/2.

The Powerpuff Girls "Midnight At The Mayor's Manor"

I'm not upset that Bubbles and Buttercup don't know who Rosie the Riveter is. My question is how does Blossom? She must be one socially conscious six-year-old.

The Scooby Doo chase scene parody has been done a hundred times before on shows better than this, but the appearance by what looked like Globetrotters in the hallway, make this an above average interpretation of the trope.

I love Blossom poking holes in the logic of an indoor, nighttime sundial. This show needs more nitpicking if you ask me.

Decent episode. ***.

The Powerpuff Girls "Bedtime"

The Professor is so annoying. **1/2.

The Powerpuff Girls "I'll Be Baked"

Not funny. **.

The Powerpuff Girls "Mojo Builds A Shelf"

I like that as things get worse and worse, yodeling music is played and sped up in the background. ****.




Marvel's Inhumans "Behold... The Inhumans / Those Who Would Destroy Us"

Wow, that totally sucked. You are going to hear a LOT of people say that about this two part pilot, but none of the scathing reviews have done justice to how much this truly sucks.

I hear "The costumes suck", I hear "The Writing sucks", I hear "The visual effects suck", "The acting sucks", etc... but I don't actually entirely agree with those complaints. Yes, it is a step down from the rest of the Marvel's Cinematic Universe, but just compared to everything else on television, all that stuff is merely average. That's not the problem.

The problem is the entire premise is abhorrent. The producers have said that this version of Maximus is not a villain, and I agree with them. Because Attilan sucks. The Royal Family sucks. The entire Inhuman race supposedly lives by a "caste system", but in reality, that's just a pretty way to say that people without superpowers are made slaves. The GOOD GUYS, the ones who I am supposed to be rooting for, believing in slavery based upon genetic superiority. And if this is from the comics, I gotta say, this sounds like the worst comic of all time, and I'm not only aghast that Marvel would adapt something so horrid, but that it apparently has a decent enough fanbase to be upset by the adaptation.

This is basically if Marvel made Trask and the Sentinels the heroes of the X-Men comic. And this concept is supposed to replace the X-Men in the Cinematic Universe? No. Just no.

If the fact that everything was below par was the main problem with a series with heroes who are slaveholders, and where there is literally no one to root for and relate to, I'd consider us in pretty good shape.

I have never seen a haircut filmed on camera that felt more like a violation than Medusa's did. Not even Cersei. It was actually all kinds of ick.

As bad as this was, I must have liked something, right? Karnak is a good character, not due to the gimmick or the writing, but Ken Leung's deadpan performance.

The guy who play Black Bolt is also not terrible, because he's reasonably good as reaction shots while using pantomime, which is important for a character who doesn't speak. The scene where he humors the cops by kneeling and putting his hands behind his head, because he has no context for what the human cops are referring to, or trying to do, was an outright good scene. Unfortunately, it was the only one.

This is going to be a disaster. *.

The Gifted "eXposed"

Legion was such an interesting show because it completed subverted your expectations about what an X-Men series could be. It was the first superhero project I've seen that was structured like an indie art film. The Gifted is much more traditional, and in line with the rest of the X-Men universe. Unfortunately, that automatically means it is less interesting. On the plus side, it is also not off-putting at all, which is something Legion often was. Part of me regrets that this series is exactly what we've come to expect about the franchise, but you won't have an extended reaction shot on a guy drooling in a mental hospital, or a nightmarish version of Aubrey Plaza with hairy armpits. And that's the trade-off, and one I perfectly comfortable making.

The Struckers seem to be based on several different Marvel characters. Am I wrong in thinking it's actually the Trasks with the Mutants in their families? It could have been the Strykers, but I'm not sure. The Struckers are the evil German family from Captain America in the comics. They seem to be a combo of all of these, and none of these at once. What interests me about them is that Reed does not appear to be a bad guy at all, which makes me question why he is in such a horrible line of work. It's like the X-Universe has gotten so bad, so fast, that totalitarianism and a total loss of freedom and civil liberties, is no longer considered abnormal. And I like that message for today. This instantly bring up parallels to the Muslim Travel ban, and the mass deportations going on in this country. One of my biggest beefs with the X-Men premise (and this goes especially for the 90's cartoon series) is that once equality and tolerance became more acceptable and mainstream in real-life, the civil rights allegory of the series became not only a bit dated, but less relevant to modern times, or at least how people would like to believe modern society had progressed. What is great about this show is that it doesn't even need to do the explicit racial allegory to show the cops and the government are out of control.

This clearly takes place in the original film series timeline, which suggests to me the bad end of Days Of Future Past is an inevitability. I kind of hope that this show basically leads up to that movie, and the last episode shows everything resetting once Wolverine fixed the Timeline. I'd like to see what happens to these characters once the Timeline isn't so warped. The entire premise of the show is built on the idea that this particular timeline is going to be completely erased. And that actually seems kind of cool to me. I kind of what to see how things now actually shook out.

Terrible Stan Lee cameo. They didn't even try there.

I love that the guy's ring tone was the 90's X-Men Theme Song. That right there is only something a nerd would get. I love it.

This is not a great episode, and this will probably not be a great show. But it will probably be an enjoyable one, and one I won't wind up feeling guilty for enjoying. That's good enough for me. ****.




Marvel's Spider-Man "Ultimate Spider-Man"

Wow, Miles Morales is annoying. What bugs me is that this is the first episode where that is true. I think this is the wrong episode to get me to hate him.

My favorite scene was the backroom discussion between Norman Osborn and Eugene Tooms. If the series was ALL that, I'd like it more.

So-so. **1/2.




Star Wars: Forces Of Destiny "Volume One"

A compilation special with new wraparounds and featuring some segments that haven't aired online yet. It's pretty good although I think the wraparounds are pretty low-quality as far as the writing goes. As great as this show, it's not the best written Star Wars project. But the cool animation and bad@$$ female characters in action scenes make you sort of ignore that. Having a character sitting still and talking to the camera is a scenario in which I cannot actually ignore the lousy writing.

The rest of the cartoons were cool though, especially the ones I hadn't seen before. ***1/2.




DuckTales "Daytrip Of Doom!"

I love that when Donald and Mrs. Beakley start screaming at each other, Louie wonders if they are going to kiss. This is not your father's DuckTales.

I love that people spray paint the word "flatulence" on the sides of buildings in the bad part of town. Only Duckburg.

"Why can't WE have that?" I hear you, Big Time.

Loved Donald pitching a fit over Bouncer. Beakley's all "I guess he CAN take care of himself." Before she was like, "He's gonna get himself killed. Good."

I love that Scrooge doesn't mind a little childish mayhem in his mansion. But Donald using his tub? There's gonna be a family meeting about that.

Great episode. ****1/2.

DuckTales "The Great Dime Chase"

Gyro Gearloose! Blabbering Blatherskeit! First EVER animated Ms. Quackfaster! Pep! Della Duck mystery! Dawson shout-out! Gizmoduck foreshadowing!

The Dawson shout-out tells me a Back To The Klondike adaptation is coming. The family tree stuff says that the Don Rosa era of the comic canon is also going to come into play (See "The Life And Times Of Della Duck"). I suspected the wild goose chase would be pointless because Scrooge has always been the kind of guy who could instantly find every coin in his bin, but instead they do the whole "He keeps it on a string in his coat" thing and the one on the pillow is a dummy. Good twist, that I totally forgot about.

Gyro is more sinister than usual, but Jim Rash is pretty funny. I also like that Scrooge's accountants are all vultures. Sounds about right.

I loved Scrooge having to remind Louie at the beginning that HE was rich, and Louie was gonna have to work for a living. Louie strikes me as the most useless triplet.

No Huey or Donald this week.

Fun. ****.

The Lion Guard "Rescue In The Outlands"

Scar is a refreshing villain in that once he hears that Jasani is a friend of The Lion Guard he completely changes his mind about recruiting her and instead sends Janja to kill her. Because recruiting her would be a good idea on paper, especially if she IS close to the Lion Guard. If she was turned, she could get them a lot of valuable intel. But Janja's complaints seem to have Scar thinking she's a genuine risk instead, and even if Janja is dumb and can't see the big picture, that is still not someone you want to have as a mole. Better to kill her and simplify the entire situation.

I didn't know the thing about tsetse flies and zebra stripes. This show has the weirdest nature trivia.

I liked the episode. ****.

Tangled: The Series "Big Brothers Of Corona"

This was pretty much all adorable. Of course, Rapunzel is the person to crack the girl's shell. The Nunya Bidness thing was funny too.

I love this show. ****1/2.

Mickey Mouse "Bee Inspired"

I loved the different art styles at the end! The bees had such great and cute character designs. That is one severe looking stinger, and I laughed when Mickey gave the bee CPR, and it started squeaking like a chewtoy.

Cute episode. ****.

The Scariest Story Ever! A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktaculator

I have to say, it was REALLY good hearing Russi Taylor voice Huey, Dewey, and Louie again. It seems a bit weird they call him "Unca Mickey", but it sounds kind of right too.

I loved the music during the opening sequence, and the end credits. I thought the animation and character expressions were absolute dynamite. Some of the best stuff the show has ever done.

Super Goof! Morty and Ferdie! Clara Cluck! The Disney fan in me was very happy.

I like Goofy telling Mickey it isn't his fault he's such a "insert pejorative here _____". And then goes on and on about it. Wait, he's got four more.

Bill Farmer's line readings as Dr. Goofestein were magnificent. He's really got the old horror movie cadences of the mad scientist completely nailed down, and talks as properly theatrically as the people in those old movies did. People will remember this show for being the first thing to make Tony Anselmo stretch in his performance as Donald Duck, which led to his complex characterization on the DuckTales remake. But I would argue Farmer actually gets an even bigger chance to show off his voice acting and comedy chops with Goofy, than he did in any previous project. I personally find the character of Goofy, as seen in the classic cartoons and comics strips, quite detestable. Rudish's Goofy admittedly has some of that, but it doesn't pretend the character is a saint the way latter day interpretations do. But just the fact that Goofy is a bunghole doesn't mean he isn't an entirely interesting character as well. If Floyd Gottfredson had been able to thread that needle with the character, Goofy would not have ruined NEARLY as many early Mickey Mouse comic strips serials as he did. This show is the high point of Farmer's entire career.

Great special with great animation. I am impressed and pleased. *****.




Transformers: Robots In Disguise: Combiner Force "Prisoner Principles"

Not much to say this week other than to ask if I'm the only one who thinks if it's weird that the Decepticon's "Camo colors" are a bright neon yellow? I'm not, right? **1/2.




The Simpsons "The Surfsons"

Kevin Michael Richardson was great at the White Walker. Aslan was hilarious too.

Julie Kavner seems to be having a bit of trouble voicing Marge's mom. I hope she isn't sick.

The rich using the misery of workers to grow tiny wings that don't do anything was a pretty good allegory there.

I like the Puerto Rico tribute as the end, but I noticed the Gracie Films title card is missing. Is that no longer the show's production company?

Loved Billy Boyd singing the Hobbitish theme at the end.

Slightly above average. ***1/2.




The Orville "If The Stars Should Appear"

Another classic Star Trek type episode: Turning an episode about a theocratic dictatorship into an allegory for climate change denial.

Love Malloy and Lamarr's game of "I'd Rather" at the beginning. Also funny was Norm MacDonald looking forward to a night alone with toothpaste.

Robert Knepper is a classic kind of Star Trek baddie in that as horrible as he is, even he is happy to learn the truth and reform at the end. "Hamalak, I presume? Great name. Just kidding. It's not," was a great burn by Mercer.

I love that Alara wears a head kerchief on the alien world, just like Spock did. I love that Mercer refers to what she does as opening pickle jars. She is totally hot for him.

Speaking of which, funniest joke of the episode was Isaac describing how the robots on his homeworld are constructed, and Ed says "That's hot." That's hilarious, actually.

And Liam Neeson is God. Because of course he is.

Fun episode. But here's a shocker. I'm not giving it five stars this week. Which is good. It's good for the show to be settling into a routine. That means it is going to be comfort food like 90's Star Trek was, and super exciting during Sweeps. That makes me happy. ****.




Family Guy "Emmy-Winning Episode"

I'm less concerned with the tropes the series is parodying, and more tickled by the guest voices. Louis C.K. supposedly being there because his popularity has cooled down enough for him to do it, was a wry observation, and Ty Burrell's live-action chicken fight was the funniest thing ever.

And of course, The Simpsons was the one that got the buzz for the crossover. All negative buzz, but still, everyone on Family Guy is jealous.

The real reason Family Guy hasn't won an Emmy? The show sucks. I am glad the show is aware of that fact. Every year Married With Children would beg for an Emmy for Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy, and every year it was a losing proposition. Because that show sucked too. Which is why Family Guy will never win one.

Interesting fact: Family Guy WAS nominated for Best Comedy once a couple of years ago, and Seth MacFarlane has won a voice-over Emmy. But the big Best Series and Animated Series Awards? I doubt Family Guy will ever see them.

I love it whenever the show pokes fun at itself. ****.




Bob's Burgers "Brunchsquatch"

What a great episode! The funny thing is that the various fan art was often better animated than the actual show, which is probably why they did it. Louise was funny this episode and I love Linda's new friend and how he wasn't really freaked out at the end.

I loved the episode. ****.




Ghosted "Pilot"

I need to see a couple more episodes to form a more complete opinion, but what I saw, I liked. Craig Robinson and Adam Scott are great together, and the premise is interesting, even if the laughs aren't that great. Promising. ***1/2.




The Last Man On Earth "M.U.B.A.R."

I like that Jack Black is the Police Squad Special Guest Star who gets killed off before he can say two words.

I have to say, I liked the episode a lot, and think Pamela is MUCH bigger trouble than we had been led to believe. She kind of has to be because Kristen Wiig is not a series regular, and they need an excuse to separate her from the cast when it isn't sweeps. But behavior that is cute and heartbreaking when you are doing it alone, becomes alarming and selfish when other people are there to suffer it. Nobody proved this more than Tandy in season one.

Great premiere. This is going to be a great season. ****.




Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Big House, Part 1"

Yeah, this is not my favorite format and I knew that going in. This is partly why I hated last season's finale as much as I did.

Still, the idea of Ramen Soup as currency is funny, especially the warden being wise to outside flavors. I have never eaten Ramens, but this particular product placement makes them sound quite palatable.

Tim Meadows was great as the cannibal. His low-key delivery is Meadows' biggest selling point. He was pretty much the best part of Son Of Zorn and the biggest reason I regret that show's cancelation.

I can't wait for this to be over. **1/2.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Big House, Part 2"

That was pretty funny, but I'm glad it's over. Even two episodes of this premise was too many.

Tim Meadows was great, as was Lou Diamond Philips. Jake was super funny in solitary with the mashed potato Amy, and the reenactment of The Lion King. How random was The Lion King thing? Scar's introduction scene is literally something I have never seen parodied, or even referenced before. The specificity of the reference made it even funnier. And the mashed potato boob falling off was hilarious too.

Jake on "bliss" (meth) was funny too.

I question exactly how Holt is on the hook for owing the crook a favor. How does the crook intend to make Holt deliver? What would happen to Holt if he simply refused? That would actually be my first instinct, so I'm wondering why it doesn't seem to be on the table.

Can't wait for things to get back to normal next week. ***1/2.




The Good Place "Dance Dance Resolution"

As great as that was, I can safely say the new premise is unsustainable. Unless something changes, or rather stabilizes, fast, the show is gonna break. Soon. Half of the fans will be like "What just happened?" But I saw it coming.

I loved this episode. I love this season. But the show is on a collision course for disaster. Remember Buffy: Season Seven? Arguably the strongest opening few episodes of a season EVER on that show, but they did too much too fast, and the second half of the season wound up limping all the way till the last five episodes, and some would argue never actually stopped. Now Buffy had 22 episodes to work with, and The Good Place has it easier with only 13, but Buffy could only blow through as much mythology as they did at the beginning of Season 7, solely because it was its last. This is the beginning of season freaking two! Unless they slow things down, this show is headed for disaster.

I mentioned I love the episode? Perhaps the best one yet. Michael calling Jason figuring things out a new low was perhaps the funniest thing ever. But I don't expect this level of quality to last. It cannot with this premise. This is even dicier than The Last Man On Earth, if you ask me. The show is going to fall apart and soon. I'll just enjoy the ride until then. *****.




The Blacklist "Smokey Putnum"

Didn't like the last scene, but the rest of the episode was great.

I think the last scene bothered me because I couldn't tell if the scene was a flashback or a flashforward. If it's a flashback, Tom is dead, and that guy is an imposter. If it's a flashforward, Tom is in serious trouble. I don't like either scenario, and storytelling like that is why I hate television.

I loved the rest of the episode though. I can tell that this is going to be a fun season, which will be quite a break from the nonstop misery of seasons three and four. Red seems to really enjoy his new simple surroundings, which is one of the cool things about Red. He is appreciative of the little things in a way someone as rich as he used to be usually is not. Most rich people would be driven crazy by being forced to live in a motel. For Red, it is getting back to his roots, and him putting in the work to get his empire back is going to be fun.

I think it was kind of jerkish that Red assured the skinhead Liz wouldn't shoot him, and that he turns out to be right. I could feel Liz's fury at that, and completely got why she was so upset. Red not only undercut her bluff, but her actual FBI authority. Which would not have been a problem had he been wrong.

I love that Red's plan ultimately involves both collecting the bounty for Smokey, and then freeing him to get him and his ex to work for him. As always, Red is all about the carrots. I had no idea about the Z Carnie language, but it's strikes me as fun, especially since Red worked two years at a carnival and still couldn't figure it out. That last thing is absolutely great, and show's Red's self-deprecation. He could have bluffed at being an expert, since almost no one else could have known what is happening, but it's funnier if he makes a joke about it, and the comedy of the situation is what's important. That's great.

Ressler is in a bad way, but it's not like he doesn't totally deserve it. Ironically, I think the show miscalculates the idea that the audience is hoping Ressler escapes from this particular fix. I don't. Aside from the fact that he is trying to cover it up, Ressler has always been the most loathsome and mean character on the show. If anything, I WANT to see him get caught.

I love Aram telling Liz it's super cool that she has a criminal mastermind in her family. And you know, IT IS. I love that Aram's the one guy who gets that. Because he's right.

And yeah, even Liz admits that she was wrong that Red was scared. All throughout the episode, Red's perspective is that all of the variables and things going wrong are a part of what made everything fun. And it's maybe Red with nothing left to lose who truly appreciates having fun with minimal actual risk to any empire he's built. When he has nothing, he can take chances and risks he wouldn't do when he was rich. And he LOVES taking chances and risks. The fact that he can routinely do that again without getting in any trouble for it, has to be the most exciting thing in the world. Kaplan took away all of Red's comforts. But the truth is, the adventure of the criminality is the thing he finds most comforting. If anything, she ultimately wound up doing him a huge favor.

The last scene has me worried for the future, but this was an otherwise fun joyride of an episode. ****1/2.




Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

I have never read a Teen Titans comic book. I am familiar with the animated series and HAVE read some of their comic tie-ins, but as to the actual DC Universe Teen Titans, I'm a novice. But from what I've gathered about their most famous story, The Judas Contract, it has three famous (and at times controversial) beats.

1. Robin becomes Nightwing.

2. Terra and Slade boink.

3. Terra turns out to be industrial strength crazy and irredeemable.

I won't fault them for not doing the Robin into Nightwing arc. Dick is already Nightwing in this continuity, so no, harm no foul. But having Slade be a "gentleman", and Terra showing remorse at the end shows that this is an extremely watered down adaptation. Do you know what other Titans project did this story without Robin turning into Nightwing, underage sex, or an evil Terra? The Teen Titans TV show. You know, the TV-Y7 one, that was geared towards grade-schoolers. At least they had a ready made excuse to water things down (it was a kids show) but this movie could have done all three of these things had it chosen to and kept the PG-13 rating. What is alarming about that is that this means this project is no more hardcore than the Original Series, s-bombs or no.

It's not technically a bad movie, but as its based on the comics most controversial and memorable story, it would do better to be more controversial and memorable.

I love Slade Wilson though. He's funny and I miss Miguel Ferrer already. I love him having to redo Damian's text because he's all "Oh, right. You're a d*ck," and telling the other Titans they probably had the urge to beat the crap out of Damian for being mouthy too. I also love that after Terra's rant that he has the meta sounding line, "Not a lot of gray area there". Which of course the movie stupidly buys back by making Terra gray by the end. If he had time to properly break Damian he's have him fetching his pipe and calling him "Papa".

Not all of Slade was great. I feel especially jarred to hear the word "Esse" come out of Miguel Ferrer's lips as an ironic racial slur. It doesn't matter if it's a Latino actor delivering the line, it's still racist. Even saying he is going to eat waffles after he's dead doesn't undercut it. And as far as this franchise is concerned, waffles undercuts everything. Also him telling Starfire they should be lovers because they are both newly single is beyond creepy.

Also, I kind of feel like Slade would have had more plausible deniability for betraying Terra at the end had he not said that. So it was stupid too.

He asks Robin if he thought he was a stooge in a B movie. And Robin's all, "Well, that costume...". But honestly, Slade saying that to Starfire in front of Terra shows he IS in fact, a stooge.

Speaking of creeps, Beast Boy definitely is one. Turning into a monkey to steal kisses is not cute, nor is turning into a python to squeeze Terra threateningly to force one. Her PTSD kicks in at that point, which is good.

I love "What's wrong with you people?" Partly because it shows Terra's dysfunction in being shocked at being treated so decently to people she just hurt, and partly because she's right that there is something wrong about that reaction. I would get Beast Boy being embarrassed and apologetic. Were I Robin or Blue Beetle though, I'd be outright P*SSED at her.

I am annoyed that Beast Boy says "Mama" like he does on Teen Titans Go! and DC Super Hero Girls. The messed up thing is that he never said that on The Original Series. And I don't really think it sounds right for anyone else but Greg Cipes.

Speaking of Beast Boy, where does Beast Boy's costume go when he changes into animals? I might not have even realized I should be asking this question if the last movie hadn't brought it up. Has Raven imbued his costume with magic? But then why can he change into a seal in his civvies at the end? Hmmm.

I like that the way to defeat Beast Boy is to lead him to a button that says "Do not press". Dick's reaction is the right one: "Oh, come on, Gar."

I like the dog Raven gave Damian at the end. I also loved seeing Wonder Girl. I know nothing about the character, and look forward to learning more.

Speaking of looking forward to learning more, we sort of overlooked the fact that Slade learned Batman's identity in an earlier movie because he died at the end, and it didn't matter. Now that he's back to life, and clearly knows the identities of Damian and Dick. I can't wait to see what that will mean for Batman's identity in the future. I think they played a little too fast and loose with the identities in the movie, but we'll get to that later.

I think the thing I dislike most is Kevin Smith. Were I Smith, I would have turned the project down, or at least given them writing tips about making the project sounds authentic. Smith DOES interview these comic types for podcasts and the like. And Beast Boy's interview sounds entirely fake and overwritten, and not a conversation real people would have. Nobody ever says "Too soon?" on these things. And since Smith seems to always be sort of braggy that he gets how real people talk in his movies, I would think that he would want to make sure that any time he was playing himself doing a professional interview, it didn't sound like it could have been written by the writers of Webra Walters for the 1987 version of DuckTales. That should not be too much to ask.

For the record, even if the interview hadn't sounded completely phony, I find Smith personally obnoxious, so I might not have enjoyed it either way. But I could at least see the merit to the cameo if it was plausible.

Starfire seems entirely too comfortable discussing her and Dick's sex life with teenagers. I personally think he's being kind of prudish about it, but it's not something she should be talking about with young kids either.

I love Dick telling Damian to quit complimenting the bad guys. I also like that he's quite a bit put out that Damian approves of him and Kori. Ummm, thanks? Damian can make anything weird.

I had to look up online to find out the guy in the tag is called Jericho.

I cringed at the dead black reporter being strung up. I am the type of person who believes that every time you show a death in fiction, you are making a statement, and that you might want to think about what statement you could be making if you show it. I wish not only that the writers of this movie would do that, but the rest of Hollywood too. It's not just this project that does thoughtless crap like that. And that fact bums me out.

For the record, the kissing to learn languages thing is the biggest punchline about Starfire, and the precise reason I will never be able to take the character seriously. Dumb miscalculation to set it up for a character they want us to see in a leadership role. Her first costume in the flashback is beyond tacky too. I suppose it's funny that Kid Flash and Speedy start talking about what languages they learned in school, but that's why I don't like the plot point. It's ridiculous and make Starfire look slutty, when she is not. It's annoying.

On the plus side, it's sort of interesting to see that the Titans have been around for awhile, and have a rotating roster. Although if five years have passed, that would make Beast Boy 17 at the youngest. Which does not seem at all credible to me. Present Day Beast Boy acts like he's 11, and had his first big boy dream yesterday.

Love that Dick knows how to pick locks. Mr. Youthful Offender.

Jaime must literally have the worst classroom erections ever. That scene was funny, but I wound up feeling far more bad for Jaime than the writers were probably intending me to.

I loved hearing David Zayas voice Jaime's father. Moroni was literally the best part of Gotham (which now sucks) and they killed him off for no good reason whatsoever. Always good to see that guy getting work.

As I've been rewatching the film and going through it, I kind of think there are more plot oversights and holes than usual. Because there are a LOT.

The Titans have been active for at five years and fighting alien threats? That does not track with Justice League: War, which said that was the first alien invasion Earth went through, and the first teaming up of the heroes. But if Batman and Flash's sidekicks are already on a first name basis with each other, it sort of undercuts the idea that the formation of the Justice League was a game changer on this Earth. It should have been and now it's not anymore.

Also I question why Blue Beetle is trying to hide his identity at the soup kitchen. He walks in with Beast Boy, green as can be, and the only person who looks like that on planet Earth, so if he feels comfortable enough doing that in his civvies, he was never that concerned about protecting the identity anyways.

Similarly, why is Dick publicly moving in with the only Tamaranian on Earth? He's using their real names on their answering machine, as if every Batman villain ever isn't currently salivating over putting the pieces together. And the worst thing is that he's practically finished the center of the puzzle, and is only asking the villains to put in the corners last. He's pretty much doing the hard work for them.

And finally, Dick and Kori should have immediately suspected Terra upon finding the pictures. Scratch that. Not suspected. Known. Figured out. Caught her red-handed. Because not only were they intimate, and taken inside the tower, but she wasn't in any of them. Which logically meant she was the one taking them. I really shudder to think of the idea that Dick Grayson learned on the knee of the World Greatest Detective. Maybe Damian, skeptical of Terra from the get-go, IS actually the proper son of Batman. Dick is doing his reputation no favors by saying Terra needs understanding instead of surveilence.

Cool that they got Crispen Freeman, Masasa Moyo, and Jason Spisak to reprise their Young Justice roles as Speedy, Bumblebee, and Kid Flash, respectively.

I like that Starfire is a little bit threatened that the team went to Dick with their concerns first. But I'm going to go there. It's not because Dick is a great leader (as Starfire thinks). It's because he's a man, and that crap is deeply ingrained into every level of society, men, and women like Raven alike. I don't fault Starfire for being disappointed. But if she was a little more aware of Earth misogyny, she also wouldn't be surprised.

No dedication to Miguel Ferrer at the end? Great, now I dread Batman Vs. Two-Face.

This was a very safe adaptation of a story that did NOT play it safe. I'm not saying I wanted all of the horrible things that happened in the story to happen, but for NONE of them to happen just means the adaptation is ultimately gutless. **1/2.

Titanic Minds: Reuniting Wolfman And Perez:

At first I think Wolfman sounds like the jerk of the year for calling some of Perez's old artwork bad, but it turns out that's just how they make each other better. I would feel much harsher against it were Wolfman not so supportive of Perez's writing. Raven was originally supposed to be black, but Wolfman decided against it, because he thinks black superheroes with their races in their name are dumb. I believe that was a shot across the bow at Black Panther and Black Lightning. Not to mention Black Manta. The biggest deal these two made before The Judas Contract, was to make sure they never changed their mind about Terra. And that happens to writers all the time when they fall in love with their characters. But they were determined to stand strong about this. Wish the movie had had the same nerve. I love the story about them being amazed they plotted Terra's 15 year old death in a New York City diner, and nobody called the cops because they heard what they were saying out of context. Only in New York. Deathstroke had only one eye, partly because the design looked cool, and partly because the idea of an assassin with no depth perception made him seem extra bad @$$. Don't you wish Gene Roddenberry had that same sort of mindset when he envisioned the original navigator (Geordi La Forge) of the Enterprise as being blind? It seems kind of obvious in hindsight that if you are going to make a joke like that, you should make the character extra awesome to back it up. George La Forge being a complete buttmunch loser stings especially badly for that reason. Great interview. ****1/2.

Villain Rising: Deathstroke:

Couple of observations. Deathstroke has a really interesting backstory. What bothers me is that he doesn't have an interesting backstory in these movies. Beats the Slade from Teen Titans though who didn't have a backstory at all. Speaking of TAS Slade, the idea that Deathstroke is a noble, honorable, honest man, is completely inconsistent with the Ron Perlman version. In fact, upon seeing this idea articulated, it really makes me think a LOT less of Wolfman and Perez. Why? Because they turned the young teenage girl he was statutory raping into a psychopath, and acted like this pedophile was her victim, and held the high ground after molesting her. Am I the only one who sees that disturbing subtext? I can't be, right? Say what you will about the repenting Terra on the cartoon. She is legitimately portrayed as Slade's victim, which is how I think it should be, even if they aren't sleeping together. Why wasn't this obvious to Wolfman and Perez? I do not have the problem that some people would have of Slade and Terra having sex to show their dysfunction. Because that IS dysfunctional. My problem is saying the dysfunction is one-sided, and belongs mainly to the kid being molested. And if you say Slade is an honorable, noble, honest man, that's what is happening. I much prefer my Deathstrokes to be total creeps in this scenario. **1/2.

A Sneak Peek At Batman And Harley Quinn:

Not on-board a DCAU project with swearing and sexual innuendo. The producers seem to be hedging their bets whether this is DCAU though. Perhaps they were lowering expectations in case it sucked. After seeing it, I'm still 50/50 to be honest. They say that Bruce Timm was the one person who could do the project right because of both his familiarity with the character, and the fact that he has the professional distance to her that someone like Paul Dini does not. And I think the movie could use less professional distance and more people concerned with keeping the integrity of this version of the character. They mention that the movie was structured like Harliquinade. Then don't you think the Blu-Ray should have had that episode as one of the bonus cartoons? It's seems like an oversight they included Harley's Holiday with Harley And Ivy instead. ****.

Trailers:

Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition: This refers to the awful Keri Russell animated abortion as a Masterpiece! Bwa ha ha ha ha! Is this a freaking joke? I think Disney has more of a legit claim to call The Black Cauldron a masterpiece than WHV does of calling that piece of garbage one. And that's saying something. Be thankful they didn't call the David E Kelly trainwreck TV pilot a masterpiece. But just based on this ad, I bet that's coming. *.

Justice League Dark: This trailer seems great but it is absolutely insane that they neglected the movie's biggest selling point: the return of Matt Ryan as John Constantine. That's the entire reason to see the movie and it isn't even mentioned. That's an outright weird business decision from Warner Home Video. ***.

Injustice 2: I cannot tell what the frak is happening in this videogame trailer. So I am annoyed instead of intrigued. It's not like I play modern videogames anyways, but if I did, this would be an easy pass. *.