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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts, The Flash, and Unikitty!, the premiere of Pixar SpartShorts, and the latest episodes of Mickey Mouse, Big Chibi 6: The Shorts, Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy, Riverdale, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Blacklist, and Blindspot.
Star Trek Discovery "An Obol For Charon"
One of the most infuriating things to me about this show is how it claims to be in the Original Timeline, but ignores crucial continuity that the first five series and ten movies spent decades carefully building up and fitting into each other, and basically destroys it. But by God, the show itself is amazing. It's the second best show after DS9, mess or no. I WANT it to fit. If they are smart, they will hire the Okudas and the Reeve-Stevens to fix any messes they've made in the future. Hopefully when CBS and Viacom re-merge the stupid rights issues will stop being a problem for the designs. But this show moves me in a way no other Star Trek besides DS9 and sometimes Next Gen ever do.
Burnham and Saru have been through so much, and this episode means as much to me as it does simply because of the trials they faced with each other in season one. Burnham declares Saru the most empathetic being she has ever known. She's right. Deanna Troi was a carny barker next to him with a cheap parlor trip. I mean, if the only way to empathize with someone is to be able to read their mind or emotions, it's much less impressive to me than the strides Saru has made, especially with Burnham. And I appreciate how angry he is at the Prime Directive, and the fact that he isn't allowed to return home when he realizes his entire species is living under a faulty assumption. And I can't blame his outrage that he seems to be unable to fix his people's fear as long as Directive One stays in place. It's frankly a bit outrageous to me, but I thought Saru's whole refugee status in the Short Treks stunk to high Heaven. This is why.
Small mess fix: This episode explains why the Enterprise used viewscreens exclusively and not holograms. It doesn't explain why no other ships from The Original Series did, but it's a freaking start.
I also like Number One very much.
I love that Saru's deathbed promise from Burnham involves her fixing her relationship with Spock. I especially love that the moment meant so much to her that she's still going to try to do it, even though Saru living means she is not under the obligation of that promise anymore.
The stuff with Stamets and Tilly is amazing as always as well. Stamets remains my favorite character and it strikes me that as cool that he treats Tilly like a daughter. Speaking of characters going far from season one, Stamets fits that bill.
I especially love and am haunted by the moment where he sings Tilly's favorite song with her, and then drills a hole into her temple. I don't know why that scene is beautiful. By all rights it should be horrific. Maybe part of me thinks my opinion about that is something only exclusive to Star Trek, and there IS something to that idea. But I don't really see any of the other Trek series ever having done something like that. Maybe if DS9 had lasted 20 years, something similar would have come up, but as of now, it's not only funny and bittersweet, it's also refreshing as far as Star Trek goes.
I like the Grease Monkey very much. The two biggest things I noticed about her is that she is great at insults. She has the gift of being able to size someone up immediately and correctly pick the one thing to say that will hurt or annoy them the most. And you don't ever see humans like that on Star Trek. In my mind, it is about freaking time. I also admire the fact that she's a normal looking woman. I don't mean she's ugly or unattractive. But Discovery is the first Star Trek show that seems to cast real people in crucial roles instead of typical Hollywood playboys and starlets. And it make the characters feel more authentic and, yes, attractive to me than if she were actually conventionally hot. And this kind of casting would never have occurred to any previous Trek, not even the best episodes of the best ones. Which is another reason I'm rooting for this show and desperate to find a place for it to fit.
All throughout Pike seems unreasonable, until Saru makes him understand the gift he is being handed. He's the former Enterprise Captain. Coming off a war or not, exploration is why they are all there. And this thing is like if Picard's Flute told stories about untold numbers of civilizations for hundreds of thousands of years. This is one of Starfleet's biggest wins of all time, and maybe the biggest one not involving Kirk or Picard. The easiest way to tell this show might not be canon is that it was such a triumph, you kind of figure it would come up on an earlier series. Do you know what they should do? Have the Picard series mention it. Maybe only in passing, but I want Saru remembered for the right reasons.
As a Star Trek show this is hit or miss. As good television itself, unconnected to anything else? It's freaking amazing. And maybe that's the real reason I want them to find a way to explain the mistakes of season one. Because a show this good deserves to stand with the best of Next Gen and DS9. Amazing episode of a series that has grown on me as a viewer, if not a Trekkie. *****.
DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts "Hashtag Frowny Face"
I like Diana's accent. ***1/2.
DC Super Hero Girls "Get To Know Bumblebee"
Bumblebee's bee form is very cute. ****.
The Flash "Goldfaced"
On the one hand I'm mad at Barry for foolishly messing up the deal. On the other, those cop-killer guns weren't exactly something he could easily walk away from either, right? And just when you think he's fearless, awesome, and creative with the Chemist gambit, you realize the bluff backfires and gets him in even deeper with even direr consequences.
For the record, I couldn't tell the moral at the relief Goldface was still alive. Barry electrocuted him and literally melted his eyes. The fact that he didn't kill him strikes me as coincidental than anything else. So much for the no kill code.
Why was Iris still sticking around in that house to do the interview when Cicada was giving her every chance to leave? I thought the whole point was to find out where he was? What's she's hanging around a serial killer for?
I know the series wants me to thinks it's a bit obsessive and doofy that Sherloque married the same five women, but I actually find the notion epic, romantic, charming, and poetic. And it's not even dishonest because they all know about each other. The idea tickles me.
Good week. ****.
Unikitty! "Unfairgrounds"
I'd write my review but I'm Still On The Ride!
I think the notion that Master Frown was scaring away all of those people so he could ride the ride was quite childlike and innocent. And of course the one time he acts like a halfway decent human being comes back to haunt him.
I love that upon Hawkodile leaving his friends forever, Dr. Fox notes he has the key to their van. See that, Hawk? That's precisely how much she cares about you.
The ending being a years long fake-out made me wonder. Hawkodile has robot kids he certainly thought he sired. Is Lego Minifigure sex a part of the ride? Because that strikes me as a part of a simulation I wouldn't object to myself. Talk about safe sex.
All in all, it was a pretty good episode. ****.
Pixar SpartShorts "Purl"
The adult language and tone is off-putting. That being said, I do appreciate the gender politics of women in the workplace. I just wish they didn't have to be so vulgar to show it. **.
Mickey Mouse "For Whom The Booth Tolls"
This cartoon is interesting because it imagines Mickey's unflinching honesty, one of the more annoying staples of the recent iterations of the character, as a hang-up, rather than a virtue. The fact that his fears turn out to be justified and the Toll Booth an actual threat matters not a jot. Mickey is messed up in the head.
Mickey springing the quarter from the changeroll looked surprisingly bad@$$.
Good cartoon. ****.
Big Chibi 6: The Shorts "Gumball Trouble"
So much fun and cuteness! ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Smart Lair"
Good to hear Greg Cipes again in a Turtles project.
I love that Splinter's life-long dream is traveling through time solving mysteries with a microwave.
Love Donnie calling his brother rapscallions.
I also laughed at the sight gag of the giant circular machine roaming around the lair and bumping the walls like a Roomba.
Funny episode. ***1/2.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "Blame Game"
Those little robots are a buncha snot-nosed punks. I hate them all.
There was a small thing I liked. Dusting SHOULD be called "undusting" because dusting sounds like you're adding dust instead of getting rid of it. Cute joke.
The rest of the episode was hot garbage. *.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "Surprise, Medix!"
Medix is no fun. In fairness, neither is the episode.
That being, said they at least had the correct moral. It isn't that the introverted kid needs to become more like his friends and like surprises. It's that the popular kids need to accept their friend as-is. That's a good moral for 2019 in a show with a dearth of good morals. *.
Riverdale "Chapter Forth-Seven: Bizarrodale"
Too much sex. Normally it's not a problem, but I want to watch Archie Comics, not porn.
The adults in this town are failing those kids miserably. Moose's dad is messed up.
Good for this show spelling out to the kids in the audience why outing somebody is wrong, and the negative consequences that could follow. We live in an era where everyone on TV is happy and welcoming of gay couples. In the real world, not every gay kid is facing that scenario.
I suspect Jughead is going to go ape-poopy when he learns what his mother has been into. I'm already disgusted she's using Jellybean the way she is.
Not terrible, which is pretty much my metric of success for this specific show. ***1/2.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Crime Scene"
Oh, my God! I love Trudy Judy! And like Doug, she's at her best and most lovable when she's getting away with it. Brilliant stuff. Up to par with the first couple of Pontiac Bandit episodes.
Hitchcock and Scully in the theme now. Nice!
If there isn't such thing as a Black NASA, there should be.
I love Doug Judy rocking the bar Mitzvah. He said something interesting: Nobody appreciates hiphop like a 13-year-old Jewish boy. It's probably not true, but it strikes me as one of those things that SOUNDS true when you hear it. Funny stuff.
Great episode. Now that Ghosted's a bust, I'd like to see more Craig Robinson. ****1/2.
The Blacklist "The Ethicist"
One of the things that concerns me about some of the high-concept Blacklisters out there is that I'm worried that the show is giving potentially bad people out there ideas for evil and villainy that would never have occurred to them before this show existed. A value assessment serial killer is one of those things I hope the show doesn't actually trigger. I think the gimmicks of the villains are sometimes too clever for their own good.
I would never claim that about Liz though. She's as dumb as a brick. She never stopped to consider that somebody would actually check her easily disproven lie that Red gave her the case? What did she think would happen? Now she's got Ressler all up in the middle of this mess. Liz remains the primetime character I watch with the least sense of actions and consequences. That fact that she is still out there causing the damage she is with no-one calling her on it in season 6 is nigh inexcusable.
I like Red evenly saying that he doesn't get angry, he gets even. I especially liked that the shrink unknowingly pegged the idea that he was his living life as an impostor. It is almost eerie how easily and accurately a good shrink is able to tell you the reasons you suck. The worst part is they tend to be right. Which is why I don't like or trust shrinks.
I had some problems with the episode, and if Liz's newfound sister is the only one calling b.s. on her, that's a bad thing for Season 6. **1/2.
Blindspot "The Tale Of The Book Of Secrets"
A treasure hunt with Rich and Patterson? What could go wrong?
How about every torpid scene between Jane and Weller? Some seriously bad acting from the both of them which brought things to a screeching halt.
Boston's tantrum bluff was fun, but it's clear he could only get away with that once. He'd be killed if he tried it again. That being said, he absolutely used the gambit in the precise moment it would have actually done him any good.
But the treasure hunt in Peru was a gas with a great villain, clever mystery resolution, and stunning vistas. But I'm knocking off a star and a half for Jeller nonsense. ***1/2.
Star Trek Discovery "An Obol For Charon"
One of the most infuriating things to me about this show is how it claims to be in the Original Timeline, but ignores crucial continuity that the first five series and ten movies spent decades carefully building up and fitting into each other, and basically destroys it. But by God, the show itself is amazing. It's the second best show after DS9, mess or no. I WANT it to fit. If they are smart, they will hire the Okudas and the Reeve-Stevens to fix any messes they've made in the future. Hopefully when CBS and Viacom re-merge the stupid rights issues will stop being a problem for the designs. But this show moves me in a way no other Star Trek besides DS9 and sometimes Next Gen ever do.
Burnham and Saru have been through so much, and this episode means as much to me as it does simply because of the trials they faced with each other in season one. Burnham declares Saru the most empathetic being she has ever known. She's right. Deanna Troi was a carny barker next to him with a cheap parlor trip. I mean, if the only way to empathize with someone is to be able to read their mind or emotions, it's much less impressive to me than the strides Saru has made, especially with Burnham. And I appreciate how angry he is at the Prime Directive, and the fact that he isn't allowed to return home when he realizes his entire species is living under a faulty assumption. And I can't blame his outrage that he seems to be unable to fix his people's fear as long as Directive One stays in place. It's frankly a bit outrageous to me, but I thought Saru's whole refugee status in the Short Treks stunk to high Heaven. This is why.
Small mess fix: This episode explains why the Enterprise used viewscreens exclusively and not holograms. It doesn't explain why no other ships from The Original Series did, but it's a freaking start.
I also like Number One very much.
I love that Saru's deathbed promise from Burnham involves her fixing her relationship with Spock. I especially love that the moment meant so much to her that she's still going to try to do it, even though Saru living means she is not under the obligation of that promise anymore.
The stuff with Stamets and Tilly is amazing as always as well. Stamets remains my favorite character and it strikes me that as cool that he treats Tilly like a daughter. Speaking of characters going far from season one, Stamets fits that bill.
I especially love and am haunted by the moment where he sings Tilly's favorite song with her, and then drills a hole into her temple. I don't know why that scene is beautiful. By all rights it should be horrific. Maybe part of me thinks my opinion about that is something only exclusive to Star Trek, and there IS something to that idea. But I don't really see any of the other Trek series ever having done something like that. Maybe if DS9 had lasted 20 years, something similar would have come up, but as of now, it's not only funny and bittersweet, it's also refreshing as far as Star Trek goes.
I like the Grease Monkey very much. The two biggest things I noticed about her is that she is great at insults. She has the gift of being able to size someone up immediately and correctly pick the one thing to say that will hurt or annoy them the most. And you don't ever see humans like that on Star Trek. In my mind, it is about freaking time. I also admire the fact that she's a normal looking woman. I don't mean she's ugly or unattractive. But Discovery is the first Star Trek show that seems to cast real people in crucial roles instead of typical Hollywood playboys and starlets. And it make the characters feel more authentic and, yes, attractive to me than if she were actually conventionally hot. And this kind of casting would never have occurred to any previous Trek, not even the best episodes of the best ones. Which is another reason I'm rooting for this show and desperate to find a place for it to fit.
All throughout Pike seems unreasonable, until Saru makes him understand the gift he is being handed. He's the former Enterprise Captain. Coming off a war or not, exploration is why they are all there. And this thing is like if Picard's Flute told stories about untold numbers of civilizations for hundreds of thousands of years. This is one of Starfleet's biggest wins of all time, and maybe the biggest one not involving Kirk or Picard. The easiest way to tell this show might not be canon is that it was such a triumph, you kind of figure it would come up on an earlier series. Do you know what they should do? Have the Picard series mention it. Maybe only in passing, but I want Saru remembered for the right reasons.
As a Star Trek show this is hit or miss. As good television itself, unconnected to anything else? It's freaking amazing. And maybe that's the real reason I want them to find a way to explain the mistakes of season one. Because a show this good deserves to stand with the best of Next Gen and DS9. Amazing episode of a series that has grown on me as a viewer, if not a Trekkie. *****.
DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts "Hashtag Frowny Face"
I like Diana's accent. ***1/2.
DC Super Hero Girls "Get To Know Bumblebee"
Bumblebee's bee form is very cute. ****.
The Flash "Goldfaced"
On the one hand I'm mad at Barry for foolishly messing up the deal. On the other, those cop-killer guns weren't exactly something he could easily walk away from either, right? And just when you think he's fearless, awesome, and creative with the Chemist gambit, you realize the bluff backfires and gets him in even deeper with even direr consequences.
For the record, I couldn't tell the moral at the relief Goldface was still alive. Barry electrocuted him and literally melted his eyes. The fact that he didn't kill him strikes me as coincidental than anything else. So much for the no kill code.
Why was Iris still sticking around in that house to do the interview when Cicada was giving her every chance to leave? I thought the whole point was to find out where he was? What's she's hanging around a serial killer for?
I know the series wants me to thinks it's a bit obsessive and doofy that Sherloque married the same five women, but I actually find the notion epic, romantic, charming, and poetic. And it's not even dishonest because they all know about each other. The idea tickles me.
Good week. ****.
Unikitty! "Unfairgrounds"
I'd write my review but I'm Still On The Ride!
I think the notion that Master Frown was scaring away all of those people so he could ride the ride was quite childlike and innocent. And of course the one time he acts like a halfway decent human being comes back to haunt him.
I love that upon Hawkodile leaving his friends forever, Dr. Fox notes he has the key to their van. See that, Hawk? That's precisely how much she cares about you.
The ending being a years long fake-out made me wonder. Hawkodile has robot kids he certainly thought he sired. Is Lego Minifigure sex a part of the ride? Because that strikes me as a part of a simulation I wouldn't object to myself. Talk about safe sex.
All in all, it was a pretty good episode. ****.
Pixar SpartShorts "Purl"
The adult language and tone is off-putting. That being said, I do appreciate the gender politics of women in the workplace. I just wish they didn't have to be so vulgar to show it. **.
Mickey Mouse "For Whom The Booth Tolls"
This cartoon is interesting because it imagines Mickey's unflinching honesty, one of the more annoying staples of the recent iterations of the character, as a hang-up, rather than a virtue. The fact that his fears turn out to be justified and the Toll Booth an actual threat matters not a jot. Mickey is messed up in the head.
Mickey springing the quarter from the changeroll looked surprisingly bad@$$.
Good cartoon. ****.
Big Chibi 6: The Shorts "Gumball Trouble"
So much fun and cuteness! ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Smart Lair"
Good to hear Greg Cipes again in a Turtles project.
I love that Splinter's life-long dream is traveling through time solving mysteries with a microwave.
Love Donnie calling his brother rapscallions.
I also laughed at the sight gag of the giant circular machine roaming around the lair and bumping the walls like a Roomba.
Funny episode. ***1/2.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "Blame Game"
Those little robots are a buncha snot-nosed punks. I hate them all.
There was a small thing I liked. Dusting SHOULD be called "undusting" because dusting sounds like you're adding dust instead of getting rid of it. Cute joke.
The rest of the episode was hot garbage. *.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "Surprise, Medix!"
Medix is no fun. In fairness, neither is the episode.
That being, said they at least had the correct moral. It isn't that the introverted kid needs to become more like his friends and like surprises. It's that the popular kids need to accept their friend as-is. That's a good moral for 2019 in a show with a dearth of good morals. *.
Riverdale "Chapter Forth-Seven: Bizarrodale"
Too much sex. Normally it's not a problem, but I want to watch Archie Comics, not porn.
The adults in this town are failing those kids miserably. Moose's dad is messed up.
Good for this show spelling out to the kids in the audience why outing somebody is wrong, and the negative consequences that could follow. We live in an era where everyone on TV is happy and welcoming of gay couples. In the real world, not every gay kid is facing that scenario.
I suspect Jughead is going to go ape-poopy when he learns what his mother has been into. I'm already disgusted she's using Jellybean the way she is.
Not terrible, which is pretty much my metric of success for this specific show. ***1/2.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Crime Scene"
Oh, my God! I love Trudy Judy! And like Doug, she's at her best and most lovable when she's getting away with it. Brilliant stuff. Up to par with the first couple of Pontiac Bandit episodes.
Hitchcock and Scully in the theme now. Nice!
If there isn't such thing as a Black NASA, there should be.
I love Doug Judy rocking the bar Mitzvah. He said something interesting: Nobody appreciates hiphop like a 13-year-old Jewish boy. It's probably not true, but it strikes me as one of those things that SOUNDS true when you hear it. Funny stuff.
Great episode. Now that Ghosted's a bust, I'd like to see more Craig Robinson. ****1/2.
The Blacklist "The Ethicist"
One of the things that concerns me about some of the high-concept Blacklisters out there is that I'm worried that the show is giving potentially bad people out there ideas for evil and villainy that would never have occurred to them before this show existed. A value assessment serial killer is one of those things I hope the show doesn't actually trigger. I think the gimmicks of the villains are sometimes too clever for their own good.
I would never claim that about Liz though. She's as dumb as a brick. She never stopped to consider that somebody would actually check her easily disproven lie that Red gave her the case? What did she think would happen? Now she's got Ressler all up in the middle of this mess. Liz remains the primetime character I watch with the least sense of actions and consequences. That fact that she is still out there causing the damage she is with no-one calling her on it in season 6 is nigh inexcusable.
I like Red evenly saying that he doesn't get angry, he gets even. I especially liked that the shrink unknowingly pegged the idea that he was his living life as an impostor. It is almost eerie how easily and accurately a good shrink is able to tell you the reasons you suck. The worst part is they tend to be right. Which is why I don't like or trust shrinks.
I had some problems with the episode, and if Liz's newfound sister is the only one calling b.s. on her, that's a bad thing for Season 6. **1/2.
Blindspot "The Tale Of The Book Of Secrets"
A treasure hunt with Rich and Patterson? What could go wrong?
How about every torpid scene between Jane and Weller? Some seriously bad acting from the both of them which brought things to a screeching halt.
Boston's tantrum bluff was fun, but it's clear he could only get away with that once. He'd be killed if he tried it again. That being said, he absolutely used the gambit in the precise moment it would have actually done him any good.
But the treasure hunt in Peru was a gas with a great villain, clever mystery resolution, and stunning vistas. But I'm knocking off a star and a half for Jeller nonsense. ***1/2.
