Matt Zimmer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
matt_zimmer) wrote2019-08-19 08:16 pm
matt_zimmer) wrote2019-08-19 08:16 pm
"Batman: Hush" Review (Spoilers)
Also reviews for the latest episodes of Young Justice: Outsiders, Teen Titans Go!, and DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts, the series finale of Krypton, and the latest episodes of Preacher, and Muppet Babies.
Batman: Hush
I liked the first half a lot. I don't like Hush being the Riddler though.
I've never read the story, and Thomas Elliot made a fine red herring here, but the Riddler reveal was problematic. Mostly because once it's revealed it's the Riddler, you know Hush doesn't have a shot. If he WERE some major outsider character like Elliot was in the comics, the final fight would be credible. Instead Riddler is sniveling and pathetic, and there's no way he's gonna win.
I understand Batman objecting to Selina letting the Riddler die. In his head, it was the wrong move. But considering how much time was left? She saved his life by getting him away from that nonsense. I sympathize that Bruce wants to save everyone. But he can't and he shouldn't be expected to do so if he'll die along with the serial killer he's trying to help. That's unreasonable.
Ivy calls Superman "Lover". I think he has a LOT to explain to Lois. I'm actually not cool with that. If Lois dumps his butt over that I'll punch the air.
Do you know why Batman is cool? After the fact, it's revealed he never sanctioned throwing Lois off the roof. But instead of blaming Catwoman to Superman, he silently accepts Superman's rebuke because not only does he refuse to sell her out, but since she's his responsibility on this mission, it's his fault anyways. I don't know how many people will watch that movie and have that be the thing that stuck with them about Batman the most. That was it for me.
I didn't quite get his rage at Joker. Joker has killed people Batman has cared about before. I didn't feel or believe his descent into almost killing the Joker. Not for Thomas Elliot. Maybe Dick, Alfred, or Damian. Not Thomas.
Luthor is a provisional Justice League member. Quick question: Is the League insane? The movie wants me to find that funny and cool and unexpected. Instead I just think it's nuts.
I really resented Selina's line about Harley's outfit going out of style in the 90's. Right, because her hookerwear the comics and movies put her in are SO trendy. If you want to take a shot at Harley, fine. Maybe not take a shot at the first and best version.
The cat named Eartha was almost meta. Where did Selina actually get that name for it?
Here is a serious question I want to ask not only the producers of the movie, but DC Comics in general: What is up with Damian Wayne? His entire shtick is to make him the most unlikable and obnoxious little twerp ever. How does that help Robin or the Batman franchise? I'm curious about the thought process here. It's like the producers saw Wesley Crusher's "Grown-ups!" scene on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and took it as a personal challenge to make a character ten times worse that the audience universally hates. I don't get the logic of doing that, especially making him Bruce's freaking son. Am I missing something? Is making Joffrey from Game of Thrones Robin some genius storytelling move I am simply too dumb to understand? Help me out here. Every inch of that scene was pure cringe. Protection?! Gross!!! Kill me! Stop it, DC Comics. You aren't winning anybody over. DC needs an intervention at this point. The good news is that teenage sociopaths now have a hero for themselves they can totally relate to. Neat!
I really enjoyed myself for the first part, but the mystery resolution was lacking. I think the biggest problem is that the producers were under the (mistaken) impression that since this IS a mystery, they needed a different culprit from the comics to make it legit. It worked for Gotham By Gaslight because that's Elseworlds, and the culprit was a fine choice. But I think the producers are misguided in thinking they need to always change culprits in mysteries. Honestly? If the people who've read the comics know the culprit, that's actually fine. I think these movies should be geared toward general audiences, (like to use a selfish example, ME) who don't read the comics and are coming to the material fresh. Because making it the Riddler might have surprised comic book fans, but it made the movie worse, and not a great representation of this story. They already have the fanboys hook, line, and sinker. It's okay to do a straight adaptation, especially because I'm betting more people will watch this movie than would ever pick up the comic.
But yeah, it shouldn't have been Riddler. I wound up disappointed. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Antisocial Pathologies"
Weisman sycophants are going to eat that up with a spoon, but I found it obnoxious.
The whole episode is basically the writers explaining their "genius" hindsight plot twists, and showing off by the characters unrealistically putting all of the correct pieces together through dialogue, as if people actually have the courtesy of doing that in real life.. Do you know what? They're not genius plot twists. They're overly complicated, make the show hard to follow, and basically make the entire cast unlikable. I imagine most fans will love this episode, and consider it the high point of the season. I find it tiresome nonsense, and not something I'm willing to pretend is acceptable in a show I watch.
And can I just say the show is treating Jefferson like absolute cr*p? I would feel his anger at Bruce and Dick would be legitimately righteous if the whole Jace thing didn't make him look like a total sap. Jeff is the one character the episode wants me to sympathize with (besides arguably Beast Boy). It's hard to do that when he slept with such a hateful, disgusting person and brought her closer to the team.
I loved "The Gathering" on Gargoyles. It was a perfect blend of rug-out-from-under-you surprises, and explanations for those surprises. But the coolest thing about it is you don't actually need to know the ins and outs of Puck's plan to enjoy the twist. That's just the icing. The fact that Owen is Puck is the actual cake. THAT is the genius thing. There's none of that here. It's just icing. And it doesn't fill me up, and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth on its own. Plus it still totally makes me fat. The genius of "The Gathering" was that when Owen swirled into Puck, your mind was officially blown. The episode explaining the ins and outs of the revelation was awesome for sure, but it wouldn't mean anything if the revelation weren't awesome itself.
And Weisman has been coasting on that genius twist his entire career, and has never topped it. I can't really fault him for that. That's a pretty hard twist to top. What I can fault him for is never realizing why the twist was great to begin with. Why casual Gargoyles fans (of which I definitely qualified back in the day; I wasn't a hardcore fan at the time, at least not until the twist) could think it was the coolest thing ever. This entire episode is borderline incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't just obsessively watch the show, has to read up every bit of information online too. That's an unreasonable ask for an audience. It's great to cater to the hardcore fans and the people who obsessively follow the show. But you also have to make a story with characters and situations that a casual viewer will be able to grok and be impressed by. The fact that I am unwilling to spend hours online pouring over Ask Greg means I didn't enjoy the episode at all. And it's not an unreasonable ask to make an enjoyable episode as long as secrets and revelations are being revealed at breakneck speed. It's not unreasonable at all.
And Jace is going on about Bedlam and I was like "Who?" And it's like the whole secret of the twist was dependent on a character so unmemorable I wasn't aware he even existed. He didn't register with me at all, and now he's the focal point of the conspiracy. I would have handled Condiment King being one of the masterminds with more grace, even if we've never seen him on this show. Because I at least remember him.
There is a thin line between clever and stupid. And usually I don't consider something this tightly and intricately plotted stupid, but if you go THIS far to impress the audience with your twist writing genius, that's probably a waste of time, and yeah, stupid. I was way more impressed by Owen spinning into a cyclone and turning into Puck. This cr*p don't cut it. *1/2.
Teen Titans Go! "The Viewers Decide"
"Bumblebee will NOT return..." You know what? This is not the show with a ton of integrity and built-in cred. Bumblebee will return when the show is desperate for ratings. I am not taking that vow at face value.
I love Cyborg eating his cereal with a conveyor belt hooked up to his mouth.
Is this the first time we're seen all of Titans East together? I feel like Kid Flash being a part of it feels like a bit of a new addition.
Only Mas E Menos had no lines.
And of course the hotline number is a 555 number. Remember what I said about this show lacking credibility?
Love the Batman: The Animated Series tribute at the end.
It was cute, if more than a little obnoxious. Which describes the show itself, so it gets a total passing grade. ***1/2.
DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts "Artificial Intelligence"
I question the idea that Giganta can have such perfect photos of the heroes and not know who they are. I'll give her Batgirl because of the mask. But every single other hero is clearly one of her classmates. I find the idea that she would never realize this, especially after becoming super-smart, far-fetched. ***.
Krypton "The Alpha And The Omega"
Canceled? Figures. It was a good last episode though.
I found that refreshing. Strictly speaking, Krypton is NOT actually a superhero show, or at least not entirely one, and I am very happy to see the show operate outside of those specific confines. This isn't about superhero smackdowns or the origin stories of heroes and villains, it's about political intrigue and family drama. And I like that fact. I like the fact that the show isn't trying to be something it shouldn't be like Gotham and Smallville always wound up doing. This is set 150 years before superheroes. It's okay if the proudest moment for the closest character to that involves him drunkenly trying on his jetpack indoors and crashing into the ceiling. I feel like Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing don't focus enough on superhero stuff. And as I said, Gotham and Smallville did it too much. This is a perfect balance, and best of all is able to use concepts like Zod, Brainiac, Doomsday, Lobo, and the Black Mercy without contradicting established canon. That's pretty spiffy if you ask me.
How do I feel about Zod's fate in the Black Mercy? I would have honestly preferred him killed off. And the Mercy is FAR too kind a fate for him. I understand why Seg used the light touch, but nothing said that this show is about choices rather than bloodlines more than Seg and Lyta agreeing to try to kill him. I get why they wussed out (there IS some superhero left in the show after all) but I don't agree with it, because not only does this show not effect the rest of canon, but for all we know Zod had already had all of his biggest adventures with Superman, and this is how he always ended. But I will concede the Mercy was a brilliant way to tie into that dire teaser without having to go through with it. And I didn't feel cheated for being fooled, which is not my first instinct to any given fake-out. Why? Because the show is smart enough to have set up the Black Mercy all along and made it a tool for the heroes to use instead of a deus ex machina. It feels completely earned, and I enjoyed feeling like a total chump. That doesn't happen very often because most shows that fool the audience with fake-outs make those fake-outs completely unfair and badly written. This was neither. I LOVED feeling like a dope for once.
I found a lot of real-world parallels to Zod's downfall with many current events world leaders. I can't imagine this wasn't deliberate, but it was ambiguous enough not to be off-putting to anyone who refuses to see the parallel. Lemme put it like this: Zod is a buffoon. Zod has no actual juice. He is unable to read the room, and thinks he's beloved instead of despised. And the show did that in the simple scene of Zod executing the guy he promised to spare as a threat to his number two guy. See, Zod thinks that makes him bad@$$, and scary, and someone to be feared. In reality it makes him look dishonest, weaselly, and weak. And Zod can't tell the difference. Once his number two guy refuses to follow his orders, he has no Plan B for when Number three has had quite enough. He is very like Trump is that everyone's made up their minds about him, he has zero soft support, and any former supporters he's lost are so disaffected he'll never get them back. You'd think Zod would want to get ahead of the revelation that Lyta was alive and against him, and have a cover story ready, but he is a buffoon. He is not the master strategist many interpretations portrays him as. He's kind of a dumb@$$, in all honesty.
Speaking of dumb@$$es, Nyssa's plan was idiotic. It wasn't even a plan. And considering the stakes, that's unforgivable. She is being a bad mother for risking everything with literally no information to go on. What kills me is that I bet Adam is the precise kind of guy who would be willing to help her get Jor back using the Zeta Beam, but she ambushes him and leaves him behind. He could have been a HUGE freaking resource on that quest, and instead she goes in completely blind with no clue how to proceed. Cool Thanagarian moment at the end though, right?
Part of me thinks it is a totally lame joke what happens when Seg tells Lobo to lower his weapon, and the part of me with a speck of a sense of humor snickers in shame. I'm not saying the joke actually made me laugh. But it also was a lot funnier actually portrayed on screen than it would be on the page.
And finally, I want to address the biggest way this is unlike a superhero show finale. Yes, there is an epic battle of sorts. But the tension of the episode (and ultimately the season) isn't the heroes winning the battle. It's stopping the battle before misguided people die for the wrong cause. Have I mentioned how refreshing that is? Do you know what franchise did that? Star Trek. And I love it for it. I can concede that Star Trek could do more gee-whiz space battles than it does without violating the premise's sense of humanity, but speaking in favor of that idea, it's equally fun to watch Picard just smooth things over before they get that far. That's the reason I have been more impressed with Picard instead of Kirk. I like the idea of the lesson being that the epic space battle is actually unnecessary with a cool hand in charge. And that's what I saw in the end here. To say this is unusual for a DC superhero show is an understatement and a half. But I LIKE it because it's unusual. So there.
Great episode and ultimately series finale. *****.
Preacher "Search And Rescue"
That was interesting.
Out of all of the religious characters it strikes me that Jesus is okay. God's an utter dirtbag, but I think Jesus might be okay. Which amazing considering the amount of awful stuff on this show being done in his name.
It does not sit right to me that Hitler is privileged to be in a scheduled meeting with Jesus. If there is any proof that God's design is evil, it's that.
Cassidy's escape was brilliant. I loved that.
I found Jessie's stuff with the captain by turns moving, optimistic, and dark. Do you know what it wasn't? Funny. I think the writers wanted me to laugh at the sharks eating the corpse. I am not as twisted a person as the writers hope I am. There was nothing funny about that. Plus it was super predictable.
Getting some ideas about what Herr Starr actually wants, but I'm still in the dark about God's design. We'll see as the show wraps up in the coming weeks. Adding Jesus to the gang will be fun too. ****.
Muppet Babies "Starship Piggy / My Buddy"
Starship Piggy:
Is this happening? Am I actually going to do a full-length review and deconstruction of two 11-minute preschool cartoons? Holy poop! This is my life now!
The premise for the first one was flawed from the ground up. Not just the sci-fi stuff, but the preschool moral too. I did not like the moral one bit. This was NOT a lie Piggy needed forgiveness for. This is a lie Piggy never should have been dumb enough to tell.
She seriously never figures Kermit will set the story straight? She seriously believes she'll weather that particular storm? Piggy is self-involved, but not actually stupid. Or at least she shouldn't be.
Here is a sad fact child psychologists would be loathe to admit: But one of the first social skills a kid picks up is how to lie. One of the very first. There wouldn't be any bullies at ALL if kids didn't learn to traffic in b.s. right off the bat. I think in hindsight I did so poorly in social interactions as a small child because I sucked at that skill. But kids my age routinely lied to me and each other. And the one defining characteristic of the lies is that I and whoever was lied to is that we believed it at the time. Only the hindsight of age and wisdom makes me see the lies for what they were. It's not so much sociopathy that guides little liars. I think it's more boredom and idol curiosity over how dumb their mark is. I was a pretty dumb mark, to be honest. Because I sucked at lying, I didn't recognize it when it was done to me. And it was done to me pretty much nonstop as kid. By people I'm pretty sure didn't grow up to be serial killers or President.
Basically, considering how forgiving the babies, particularly Kermit, are of being played for chumps, it strikes me that the better moral would be for Piggy to learn how to tell more plausible and convincing lies. It's not like she won't totally get away with it either. Her actual problem is there is someone in the playgroup who knows the actual truth. And I'm like, "This wouldn't be a problem if Piggy just lied about making a free-throw nobody else saw or could disprove."
The second failure is the sci-fi stuff. The spaceship is a slight homage to Pigs In Space, but if you ain't gonna actually go for it, don't freaking bother. The worst thing is it was a bad Star Trek tribute too. That opening theme song when the cast looking at the camera confidently is NOT a Star Trek trope, at ALL. That's from The Brady Bunch, and The Love Boat. If you can't at least give us Pigs In Space I don't think a recognizable Star Trek spoof is an unreasonable ask.
Is there anything in this episodes I liked? The return of Nanny's star socks. Those are awesome.
The rest of the episode? Not so much. *1/2.
My Buddy:
If there isn't such a thing as a stuffed animal police, there oughtta be.
I also felt this moral was a little shaky too, but in fairness it's a problem that the old show suffered from too, and far worse. But when Buddy rips, Gonzo's Animal Hospital is a ludicrous notion for a 4 year old in the audience to relate to. The first thing the kid with the broken toy does is go to an adult. To fix it if they can, to snitch on the guilty party if they can't. The babies are a LOT more independent minded in that specific scenario than any real world kid would be. They'd go screaming to Nanny FIRST, not have her be the last resort.
I mean, the Babies KNOW Gonzo can't actually do anything but make things worse, right? In real life, none of those kids would be humoring his nonsense. Because it's not actually about Gonzo's imagination and adorability. It's about fixing a broken toy. That's it. And that's ALL any real kid would care about.
This is a problem for the entire Muppet Babies franchise, and it was admittedly MUCH worse on the original series. But part of the reason I think both of these cartoons will be hard for preschoolers to relate to is because it doesn't deal with problems or solutions that ever effect or happen to any real world kid.
For the record, Animal is right: Grandmas rock.
Outside of that bit of unimpeachable wisdom, this didn't work either. **.
Episode Overall: *1/2.
Batman: Hush
I liked the first half a lot. I don't like Hush being the Riddler though.
I've never read the story, and Thomas Elliot made a fine red herring here, but the Riddler reveal was problematic. Mostly because once it's revealed it's the Riddler, you know Hush doesn't have a shot. If he WERE some major outsider character like Elliot was in the comics, the final fight would be credible. Instead Riddler is sniveling and pathetic, and there's no way he's gonna win.
I understand Batman objecting to Selina letting the Riddler die. In his head, it was the wrong move. But considering how much time was left? She saved his life by getting him away from that nonsense. I sympathize that Bruce wants to save everyone. But he can't and he shouldn't be expected to do so if he'll die along with the serial killer he's trying to help. That's unreasonable.
Ivy calls Superman "Lover". I think he has a LOT to explain to Lois. I'm actually not cool with that. If Lois dumps his butt over that I'll punch the air.
Do you know why Batman is cool? After the fact, it's revealed he never sanctioned throwing Lois off the roof. But instead of blaming Catwoman to Superman, he silently accepts Superman's rebuke because not only does he refuse to sell her out, but since she's his responsibility on this mission, it's his fault anyways. I don't know how many people will watch that movie and have that be the thing that stuck with them about Batman the most. That was it for me.
I didn't quite get his rage at Joker. Joker has killed people Batman has cared about before. I didn't feel or believe his descent into almost killing the Joker. Not for Thomas Elliot. Maybe Dick, Alfred, or Damian. Not Thomas.
Luthor is a provisional Justice League member. Quick question: Is the League insane? The movie wants me to find that funny and cool and unexpected. Instead I just think it's nuts.
I really resented Selina's line about Harley's outfit going out of style in the 90's. Right, because her hookerwear the comics and movies put her in are SO trendy. If you want to take a shot at Harley, fine. Maybe not take a shot at the first and best version.
The cat named Eartha was almost meta. Where did Selina actually get that name for it?
Here is a serious question I want to ask not only the producers of the movie, but DC Comics in general: What is up with Damian Wayne? His entire shtick is to make him the most unlikable and obnoxious little twerp ever. How does that help Robin or the Batman franchise? I'm curious about the thought process here. It's like the producers saw Wesley Crusher's "Grown-ups!" scene on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and took it as a personal challenge to make a character ten times worse that the audience universally hates. I don't get the logic of doing that, especially making him Bruce's freaking son. Am I missing something? Is making Joffrey from Game of Thrones Robin some genius storytelling move I am simply too dumb to understand? Help me out here. Every inch of that scene was pure cringe. Protection?! Gross!!! Kill me! Stop it, DC Comics. You aren't winning anybody over. DC needs an intervention at this point. The good news is that teenage sociopaths now have a hero for themselves they can totally relate to. Neat!
I really enjoyed myself for the first part, but the mystery resolution was lacking. I think the biggest problem is that the producers were under the (mistaken) impression that since this IS a mystery, they needed a different culprit from the comics to make it legit. It worked for Gotham By Gaslight because that's Elseworlds, and the culprit was a fine choice. But I think the producers are misguided in thinking they need to always change culprits in mysteries. Honestly? If the people who've read the comics know the culprit, that's actually fine. I think these movies should be geared toward general audiences, (like to use a selfish example, ME) who don't read the comics and are coming to the material fresh. Because making it the Riddler might have surprised comic book fans, but it made the movie worse, and not a great representation of this story. They already have the fanboys hook, line, and sinker. It's okay to do a straight adaptation, especially because I'm betting more people will watch this movie than would ever pick up the comic.
But yeah, it shouldn't have been Riddler. I wound up disappointed. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Antisocial Pathologies"
Weisman sycophants are going to eat that up with a spoon, but I found it obnoxious.
The whole episode is basically the writers explaining their "genius" hindsight plot twists, and showing off by the characters unrealistically putting all of the correct pieces together through dialogue, as if people actually have the courtesy of doing that in real life.. Do you know what? They're not genius plot twists. They're overly complicated, make the show hard to follow, and basically make the entire cast unlikable. I imagine most fans will love this episode, and consider it the high point of the season. I find it tiresome nonsense, and not something I'm willing to pretend is acceptable in a show I watch.
And can I just say the show is treating Jefferson like absolute cr*p? I would feel his anger at Bruce and Dick would be legitimately righteous if the whole Jace thing didn't make him look like a total sap. Jeff is the one character the episode wants me to sympathize with (besides arguably Beast Boy). It's hard to do that when he slept with such a hateful, disgusting person and brought her closer to the team.
I loved "The Gathering" on Gargoyles. It was a perfect blend of rug-out-from-under-you surprises, and explanations for those surprises. But the coolest thing about it is you don't actually need to know the ins and outs of Puck's plan to enjoy the twist. That's just the icing. The fact that Owen is Puck is the actual cake. THAT is the genius thing. There's none of that here. It's just icing. And it doesn't fill me up, and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth on its own. Plus it still totally makes me fat. The genius of "The Gathering" was that when Owen swirled into Puck, your mind was officially blown. The episode explaining the ins and outs of the revelation was awesome for sure, but it wouldn't mean anything if the revelation weren't awesome itself.
And Weisman has been coasting on that genius twist his entire career, and has never topped it. I can't really fault him for that. That's a pretty hard twist to top. What I can fault him for is never realizing why the twist was great to begin with. Why casual Gargoyles fans (of which I definitely qualified back in the day; I wasn't a hardcore fan at the time, at least not until the twist) could think it was the coolest thing ever. This entire episode is borderline incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't just obsessively watch the show, has to read up every bit of information online too. That's an unreasonable ask for an audience. It's great to cater to the hardcore fans and the people who obsessively follow the show. But you also have to make a story with characters and situations that a casual viewer will be able to grok and be impressed by. The fact that I am unwilling to spend hours online pouring over Ask Greg means I didn't enjoy the episode at all. And it's not an unreasonable ask to make an enjoyable episode as long as secrets and revelations are being revealed at breakneck speed. It's not unreasonable at all.
And Jace is going on about Bedlam and I was like "Who?" And it's like the whole secret of the twist was dependent on a character so unmemorable I wasn't aware he even existed. He didn't register with me at all, and now he's the focal point of the conspiracy. I would have handled Condiment King being one of the masterminds with more grace, even if we've never seen him on this show. Because I at least remember him.
There is a thin line between clever and stupid. And usually I don't consider something this tightly and intricately plotted stupid, but if you go THIS far to impress the audience with your twist writing genius, that's probably a waste of time, and yeah, stupid. I was way more impressed by Owen spinning into a cyclone and turning into Puck. This cr*p don't cut it. *1/2.
Teen Titans Go! "The Viewers Decide"
"Bumblebee will NOT return..." You know what? This is not the show with a ton of integrity and built-in cred. Bumblebee will return when the show is desperate for ratings. I am not taking that vow at face value.
I love Cyborg eating his cereal with a conveyor belt hooked up to his mouth.
Is this the first time we're seen all of Titans East together? I feel like Kid Flash being a part of it feels like a bit of a new addition.
Only Mas E Menos had no lines.
And of course the hotline number is a 555 number. Remember what I said about this show lacking credibility?
Love the Batman: The Animated Series tribute at the end.
It was cute, if more than a little obnoxious. Which describes the show itself, so it gets a total passing grade. ***1/2.
DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts "Artificial Intelligence"
I question the idea that Giganta can have such perfect photos of the heroes and not know who they are. I'll give her Batgirl because of the mask. But every single other hero is clearly one of her classmates. I find the idea that she would never realize this, especially after becoming super-smart, far-fetched. ***.
Krypton "The Alpha And The Omega"
Canceled? Figures. It was a good last episode though.
I found that refreshing. Strictly speaking, Krypton is NOT actually a superhero show, or at least not entirely one, and I am very happy to see the show operate outside of those specific confines. This isn't about superhero smackdowns or the origin stories of heroes and villains, it's about political intrigue and family drama. And I like that fact. I like the fact that the show isn't trying to be something it shouldn't be like Gotham and Smallville always wound up doing. This is set 150 years before superheroes. It's okay if the proudest moment for the closest character to that involves him drunkenly trying on his jetpack indoors and crashing into the ceiling. I feel like Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing don't focus enough on superhero stuff. And as I said, Gotham and Smallville did it too much. This is a perfect balance, and best of all is able to use concepts like Zod, Brainiac, Doomsday, Lobo, and the Black Mercy without contradicting established canon. That's pretty spiffy if you ask me.
How do I feel about Zod's fate in the Black Mercy? I would have honestly preferred him killed off. And the Mercy is FAR too kind a fate for him. I understand why Seg used the light touch, but nothing said that this show is about choices rather than bloodlines more than Seg and Lyta agreeing to try to kill him. I get why they wussed out (there IS some superhero left in the show after all) but I don't agree with it, because not only does this show not effect the rest of canon, but for all we know Zod had already had all of his biggest adventures with Superman, and this is how he always ended. But I will concede the Mercy was a brilliant way to tie into that dire teaser without having to go through with it. And I didn't feel cheated for being fooled, which is not my first instinct to any given fake-out. Why? Because the show is smart enough to have set up the Black Mercy all along and made it a tool for the heroes to use instead of a deus ex machina. It feels completely earned, and I enjoyed feeling like a total chump. That doesn't happen very often because most shows that fool the audience with fake-outs make those fake-outs completely unfair and badly written. This was neither. I LOVED feeling like a dope for once.
I found a lot of real-world parallels to Zod's downfall with many current events world leaders. I can't imagine this wasn't deliberate, but it was ambiguous enough not to be off-putting to anyone who refuses to see the parallel. Lemme put it like this: Zod is a buffoon. Zod has no actual juice. He is unable to read the room, and thinks he's beloved instead of despised. And the show did that in the simple scene of Zod executing the guy he promised to spare as a threat to his number two guy. See, Zod thinks that makes him bad@$$, and scary, and someone to be feared. In reality it makes him look dishonest, weaselly, and weak. And Zod can't tell the difference. Once his number two guy refuses to follow his orders, he has no Plan B for when Number three has had quite enough. He is very like Trump is that everyone's made up their minds about him, he has zero soft support, and any former supporters he's lost are so disaffected he'll never get them back. You'd think Zod would want to get ahead of the revelation that Lyta was alive and against him, and have a cover story ready, but he is a buffoon. He is not the master strategist many interpretations portrays him as. He's kind of a dumb@$$, in all honesty.
Speaking of dumb@$$es, Nyssa's plan was idiotic. It wasn't even a plan. And considering the stakes, that's unforgivable. She is being a bad mother for risking everything with literally no information to go on. What kills me is that I bet Adam is the precise kind of guy who would be willing to help her get Jor back using the Zeta Beam, but she ambushes him and leaves him behind. He could have been a HUGE freaking resource on that quest, and instead she goes in completely blind with no clue how to proceed. Cool Thanagarian moment at the end though, right?
Part of me thinks it is a totally lame joke what happens when Seg tells Lobo to lower his weapon, and the part of me with a speck of a sense of humor snickers in shame. I'm not saying the joke actually made me laugh. But it also was a lot funnier actually portrayed on screen than it would be on the page.
And finally, I want to address the biggest way this is unlike a superhero show finale. Yes, there is an epic battle of sorts. But the tension of the episode (and ultimately the season) isn't the heroes winning the battle. It's stopping the battle before misguided people die for the wrong cause. Have I mentioned how refreshing that is? Do you know what franchise did that? Star Trek. And I love it for it. I can concede that Star Trek could do more gee-whiz space battles than it does without violating the premise's sense of humanity, but speaking in favor of that idea, it's equally fun to watch Picard just smooth things over before they get that far. That's the reason I have been more impressed with Picard instead of Kirk. I like the idea of the lesson being that the epic space battle is actually unnecessary with a cool hand in charge. And that's what I saw in the end here. To say this is unusual for a DC superhero show is an understatement and a half. But I LIKE it because it's unusual. So there.
Great episode and ultimately series finale. *****.
Preacher "Search And Rescue"
That was interesting.
Out of all of the religious characters it strikes me that Jesus is okay. God's an utter dirtbag, but I think Jesus might be okay. Which amazing considering the amount of awful stuff on this show being done in his name.
It does not sit right to me that Hitler is privileged to be in a scheduled meeting with Jesus. If there is any proof that God's design is evil, it's that.
Cassidy's escape was brilliant. I loved that.
I found Jessie's stuff with the captain by turns moving, optimistic, and dark. Do you know what it wasn't? Funny. I think the writers wanted me to laugh at the sharks eating the corpse. I am not as twisted a person as the writers hope I am. There was nothing funny about that. Plus it was super predictable.
Getting some ideas about what Herr Starr actually wants, but I'm still in the dark about God's design. We'll see as the show wraps up in the coming weeks. Adding Jesus to the gang will be fun too. ****.
Muppet Babies "Starship Piggy / My Buddy"
Starship Piggy:
Is this happening? Am I actually going to do a full-length review and deconstruction of two 11-minute preschool cartoons? Holy poop! This is my life now!
The premise for the first one was flawed from the ground up. Not just the sci-fi stuff, but the preschool moral too. I did not like the moral one bit. This was NOT a lie Piggy needed forgiveness for. This is a lie Piggy never should have been dumb enough to tell.
She seriously never figures Kermit will set the story straight? She seriously believes she'll weather that particular storm? Piggy is self-involved, but not actually stupid. Or at least she shouldn't be.
Here is a sad fact child psychologists would be loathe to admit: But one of the first social skills a kid picks up is how to lie. One of the very first. There wouldn't be any bullies at ALL if kids didn't learn to traffic in b.s. right off the bat. I think in hindsight I did so poorly in social interactions as a small child because I sucked at that skill. But kids my age routinely lied to me and each other. And the one defining characteristic of the lies is that I and whoever was lied to is that we believed it at the time. Only the hindsight of age and wisdom makes me see the lies for what they were. It's not so much sociopathy that guides little liars. I think it's more boredom and idol curiosity over how dumb their mark is. I was a pretty dumb mark, to be honest. Because I sucked at lying, I didn't recognize it when it was done to me. And it was done to me pretty much nonstop as kid. By people I'm pretty sure didn't grow up to be serial killers or President.
Basically, considering how forgiving the babies, particularly Kermit, are of being played for chumps, it strikes me that the better moral would be for Piggy to learn how to tell more plausible and convincing lies. It's not like she won't totally get away with it either. Her actual problem is there is someone in the playgroup who knows the actual truth. And I'm like, "This wouldn't be a problem if Piggy just lied about making a free-throw nobody else saw or could disprove."
The second failure is the sci-fi stuff. The spaceship is a slight homage to Pigs In Space, but if you ain't gonna actually go for it, don't freaking bother. The worst thing is it was a bad Star Trek tribute too. That opening theme song when the cast looking at the camera confidently is NOT a Star Trek trope, at ALL. That's from The Brady Bunch, and The Love Boat. If you can't at least give us Pigs In Space I don't think a recognizable Star Trek spoof is an unreasonable ask.
Is there anything in this episodes I liked? The return of Nanny's star socks. Those are awesome.
The rest of the episode? Not so much. *1/2.
My Buddy:
If there isn't such a thing as a stuffed animal police, there oughtta be.
I also felt this moral was a little shaky too, but in fairness it's a problem that the old show suffered from too, and far worse. But when Buddy rips, Gonzo's Animal Hospital is a ludicrous notion for a 4 year old in the audience to relate to. The first thing the kid with the broken toy does is go to an adult. To fix it if they can, to snitch on the guilty party if they can't. The babies are a LOT more independent minded in that specific scenario than any real world kid would be. They'd go screaming to Nanny FIRST, not have her be the last resort.
I mean, the Babies KNOW Gonzo can't actually do anything but make things worse, right? In real life, none of those kids would be humoring his nonsense. Because it's not actually about Gonzo's imagination and adorability. It's about fixing a broken toy. That's it. And that's ALL any real kid would care about.
This is a problem for the entire Muppet Babies franchise, and it was admittedly MUCH worse on the original series. But part of the reason I think both of these cartoons will be hard for preschoolers to relate to is because it doesn't deal with problems or solutions that ever effect or happen to any real world kid.
For the record, Animal is right: Grandmas rock.
Outside of that bit of unimpeachable wisdom, this didn't work either. **.
Episode Overall: *1/2.