![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Titans, Batwoman, Supergirl, DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts, Marvel's Spider-Man, Star Wars: Resistance, The Simpsons, Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers: Cyberverse, Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, The Good Place, Black Jesus, and The Blacklist.
Carmen Sandiego "The Hot Rocks Of Rio Caper, Part 1"
The opening was totally Samurai Jack.
Fedorable is a great word.
The concept of this show means it's the only TV-Y7 show you'll hear the words "Christ the Redeemer".
I like the trick of Zack bribing the guy with his own watches.
Good episode back although I could have used a recap. ****.
Carmen Sandiego "The Hot Rocks Of Rio Caper, Part 2"
As a Masshole I've heard of Duck Boats before, but I didn't know their origins. Neat.
Carmen is throwing bricks at Tigress's head? That's liable to get her killed. Even more dumb is that some of them land in her face and she's fine.
The end of Shadow-San telling Carmen she was his teacher was a big moment. I like it.
Although their alliance will probably cause Carmen a LOT of problems with Acme in the future.
Solid. ****.
Carmen Sandiego "The Daisho Caper"
Aw, that ending was sad. I like that Shadow-San does NOT get the happy ending, and his brother doesn't forgive him. There are consequences to the life he chose, and it's good the show is making him suffer them. That is something even many grown-up shows refuse to do for their characters on a redemption arc.
I love him saying he was not going to dishonor the blade by using it on the VILE agents and then fighting them hand-to-hand. That was awesome.
Paperstar continues to creep me out.
This show is doing all the right things. ****1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Fashionista Caper"
It's good that the fact that Carmen doesn't have a headquarters was mentioned. In fact, Shadow-san believes he doesn't know the location because he isn't trusted. It's actually because Carmen never stops moving.
For the record, Julia's completely vanilla and conservative Acme suit would totally work in a fashion show as long as she was wearing THAT hat. For the record.
I loved Shadow-san whining that he wants the sunglasses because Zack got pizza and gelato.
Another good episode. This show is doing great. ****.
Carmen Sandiego "The Boston Tea Party Caper"
The accents are a complete put-on obviously, but it's sort of neat to get some cartoon characters from Massachusetts. I recognize the mannerisms and attitudes completely. When I hear Republicans decrying Massachusetts's "liberal elites", I'm like "These people have never been to Massachusetts." It's filled with meatheads like Ivy and Zack. It's pretty much everyone there too. As Peter Griffin once correctly noted on Family Guy about Boston, that it's amazing that a town with so many great colleges is filled with nothing but dopes. That about sums it up.
I like the idea that the biggest concern and worry Carmen has about a headquarters is that it's a little to close to VILE Island. I get why she's worried about that completely, while also thinking she is totally overthinking it. Buildings in and of themselves are not evil. The actual good or bad intentions belong to the people who reside in them.
I love that when Carmen refers to one of the siblings as "Muscles" Ivy takes it upon herself to respond. I love even more that Zack is not threatened by that. This is NOT the show to complain about strong women.
Wicked origin story. ***1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Need For Speed Caper"
I can safely say at this point that Shadow-san joining the team has been a Godsend to the show. Not only do the heroes have an extra person to play against, his personality is diametrically opposed to everyone else, which creates great interpersonal conflict, drama, and even comedy. Once Shadow-san was revealed to be a good guy, I expected more undercover work, or him being an occasional asset they run across once in awhile. Having him be there every episode is MUCH more interesting. What's especially interesting is that if I were running the show, I probably wouldn't have made that choice, at least not yet. But the show is better for just going for it.
Shadow-San brought up something interesting about Player that isn't really addressed all that often. He expected a face to face meeting, but Player has parents and life outside of this. Carmen and the rest of the team have never actually met them. I look more forward to their meeting because it still hasn't happened yet.
I think at this point even Zach and Ivy are starting to believe the Duke cover story. It's not like anybody ever contradicts them.
This show knows what it's doing. ****1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper"
This episode made me realize something bad, and something that is an actual fault in the fabric of the show.
But why isn't Player in school? Why do Player's parents never spend time with him? Why has this kid never heard of a curfew? The biggest problem with the concept of Player is that he's always available. One of the cool conceits of the character is that he's just a regular kid who does this during his downtime. The problem is that the show is acting like he has nothing BUT downtime. And this episode was the first that really brought that home for me. It's not a good thing.
I did like how they didn't retcon Crackle's happy ending. We'll see how the rest of the series shakes out.
The stuff with the ballet and the force fields should not have worked at all. Narratively it was a mess, and completely not credible. Visually? I believe it. They MADE it work, which is an accomplishment. On paper it's nonsense.
This was my least favorite episode of the season. ***.
Carmen Sandiego "The Stockholm Syndrome Caper"
This show reminds me strongly of The Zeta Project. Carmen is Zeta, Chief is Bennet, Argent is Lee, and Divaneaux is West. But those are the dynamics at play here.
I love that Ivy says that the mission was completed by Carmen Sandiego. Because it sort of was.
Ice Palaces are actually a thing? I would not like to spend time in a structure that is actually cold and slippery. That's outright weird.
Not used to seeing Carmen operate at such a diminished capacity. The episode was interesting for that reason. ***1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The African Ice Caper"
The idea of Shadow-San having killed Carmen's father explains a LOT about his conflicted attitudes about her. A LOT. It's easy to see why he was able to hide the actual truth from both her AND VILE for so long.
That dream tells me that on some level Divaneaux fancies Argent more than a little bit.
I liked it. Good set-up for the finale. ****1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Deep Dive Caper"
Dynamite. As great an idea as Shadow-San as the potential killer of Carmen's father is, the Chief is WAY better. I was like "Are they even allowed to do that?"
My favorite thing about Shadow-San in the episode is that he does not deny that he would have finished his mission if he weren't interrupted. That is a serious lack of pretense there, and the fact that Carmen could forgive even that says VILE didn't understand the situation at all. In the end, she isn't even out for revenge for the Chief. She just wants to know the truth, and now to find her mother. The idea of Chief as a potential Big Bad of the series is a truly gutsy one.
The cliffhanger with Divaneaux was awesome too because he was losing every other moment of his life in that episode. But now the Chief wants and NEEDS an agent who shoots first, and doesn't ask questions at all. He will be a thorn next year, I predict.
That was an amazing twist for the finale. I approve wholeheartedly. *****.
Titans "Atonement"
It does not take much. I came up with a theory a few years ago that has been proven time and time again. It's perhaps not quite relevant here, but this episode reminded me of it.
Any great television series is two bad episodes away from being a terrible television series. It is very easy to blow up a great show you have spent seasons on end building, and be unable to ever recover from being stupid enough to do that. The reason I don't think this theory is relevant here is because Titans has NEVER been a great series. But it was passable for most of the season. And just like that, it's back to being the worst DC project, film or television, live-action or animated, that ever existed. It really does NOT take much to completely ruin any given television show. You'd think a show already on ice this thin would be more careful about that kind of thing. But lord, I feel deeply foolish for giving the earlier part of the season any benefit of the doubt.
Never bet on this show or its producers. They are going to let you down every time.
We'll get to Dick in a minute but the biggest thing I took from the episode is that I'm watching a superhero series with no superheroes to root for. Am I alone in thinking that is completely messed up? Is having a single character I like an unreasonable ask for a show based on a DC property? These people are all monsters.
Donna's grumbling about Dick is getting on Rachel's nerves because Rachel correctly points out that as far as Jericho goes, Donna hands are just as dirty as Dick's. I found myself sympathizing with Raven's viewpoint, which is the exact moment she inexplicably disappears and we don't see her again. We aren't allowed a character to agree with or like. This series does not believe in trying to make the audience enjoy what they are watching. Making painful, sucky television seems to be the entire point. I knew the Game of Thrones misery porn viewpoint was going to ruin a lot of genre, and it ruined Titans in the precise way I knew it would. It shows terrible things happening without having the decency of Game Of Thrones in making those terrible things actually matter. I knew somebody would see Game of Thrones' unending misery and think people responded to the darkness. They didn't. They responded to how that made them feel. With no characters to root for on this show, my only emotion left is disgust.
Hank and Dawn: Granted Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly have great singing voices, but they aren't even allowed to enjoy that. It instantly turns into "You got my brother killed." Good for Hank for not being apologetic at all, as it was more her fault as a sister than it was theirs as friends, but it's like an insightful Hank is not something to show wants to give the audience, so he randomly dumps Dawn after all they have been through for no good reason at all.
Why did they do that with Conner? Why did they ruin that? What good will come from doing that? And Gar walks away like a coward and a punk because he IS.
Kori SUCKS! The poor dude has been telling her all season that things were falling apart since she left, and she locks him in the spaceship and ignores her responsibilities as if they don't matter. And she's surprised that Blackfire is filling the power vacuum that she left? If Blackfire hadn't killed her parents, I would claim Starfire is the actual villain in that scenario. Starfire didn't seem too broken up at her parents' deaths though, did she? This show loves showcasing its cast of sociopaths.
Finally, let's get to Dick.
I was a little surprised Jericho dying was not his fault at all last week, so it infuriates me he lied about it for years anyways. He couldn't even take the appearance of hovering near the edge of responsibility, so he lies to everyone for years on end. The guy is clearly a sociopath. Can you believe he went to Jericho's mother for forgiveness? She claims Dick only did it to make himself feel better, and if that's true (and it is) I'm a bit surprised she didn't point out that it was extra selfish to pop up in this woman's home unasked and spring that on her out of the blue. How could a person ever do something like that? How did he think that would help her? It would do nothing but hurt her, but she doesn't actually matter and that's not why he's there. He wants her to forgive him even though he hasn't made the slightest effort on any level to take responsibility for his actions. And he actually has less responsibility than Slade claims. But as long as he is denying ALL of it, he is every bit as guilty as Slade thinks he is.
Two episodes. A cautionary tale. If you are a good or promising show, never EVER take your eyes off the prize. There are some things you can't come back from. Titans pretty much did them all in this episode. 0.
Batwoman "Mine Is A Long And A Sad Tale"
"Batman doesn't do goggles." Is that even true? Because it sounds like it isn't.
Alice told her henchman Batwoman is her sister? I feel like that's this show playing a little too fast and loose with the secret ID's.
Mary's reaction to Catherine's confession was interesting, because if you think about it, she is the one member of the family without skin in that particular game. It's very interesting that she is as upset as she is. I still don't know what to make of Mary.
Beth's past is freaking rough. Although I don't agree with her choice to become a criminal, I understand why she is as upset with Kate as she is. What's amazing is that while I sympathize with that, I also recognize that none of this is actually Kate or Jacob's fault. I am pretty much on everybody's side as far as this thing goes.
That scene with Alice and Jacob was heartbreaking. It only took her stabbing him to make him realize it's her.
Is Mouse supposed to be Falseface? That's a weird superpower.
That end scene between Alice and Mouse was super creepy. It also raised a ton of questions about what Daddy they are referring to. And how does she not know the dude's name? I am very curious about how all this shakes out.
Great episode. ****1/2.
Supergirl "Dangerous "Liaisons"
About time we heard more about Leviathan. I had thought the show had forgotten about it. No, that's not True. I had forgotten about it.
Is this the first time Phil Lamar has been credited in the main guest cast?
It's a bit galling that Alex is asking Supergirl to use kid gloves on a potential mass murderer because it could make Kelly's life a little bit uncomfortable. But it's pretty much Classic Alex. Everything is about her.
That lizard looking thing was scary.
Russell being Rip Roar was not a surprise, but it was the right ending, so I don't mind.
Decent week. ****.
DC Super Hero Girls "Soul Taken"
That was fun. Loved Harley in the photo booth with the sword. The fake mustache and glasses were a riot. ****1/2.
Marvel's Spider-Man "The Road To Goblin War"
Wow, I was very satisfied with that. It was just solid the whole way through. Not every episode needs to be mindblowing. Cranking out solid standalone episodes is important too.
I like that Peter is offended that Otto claims Uncle Ben as his own, but suddenly realizes that the guy's influence is real and so big that he has no right to deny it to anyone.
And it's nice that that makes him open to repairing their relationship and helping Otto out in other ways. And Otto is open to it because as said before, the legacy of Ben Parker cannot be denied of anyone.
That symbol thing was great. As far as I can tell, nobody ever picked up on it before. I've seen nothing about it online. When I get around to rewatching the series, that is going to make it fun.
I am not ready to call this a great Spider-Man series. I am not sure he's had that yet, and a great deal of this show's earlier stuff was lousy. But it's still probably the best Spider-Man show we've gotten so far. That might not be saying much, but the show is delivering solid episodes on a weekly basis now which is not true for any earlier series. We'll see how the rest of the season and series shakes out. ****1/2.
Star Wars: Resistance "The Engineer"
That mostly worked, but I could pick a couple of holes.
Sinara's entire job was making sure Nina didn't get to the ship and she completely messed that up. Kas couldn't radio over the comm that Nina was trying to escape? That strikes me as a plot oversight.
So Nina is now going to be executed by the First Order if they see her again. Nice friends you've got there, Nina. Tell me again what it's like to be on the winning side.
Pretty good. ***1/2.
The Simpsons "Gorillas On The Mast"
That was quite enjoyable.
Jane Goodall proves the show can still get great guest stars. Fun Simpsons trivia: Goodall was mentioned in the first regular Simpsons episode EVER in 1990 (Bart the Genius). I like the idea of the show nabbing a guest that has been famous as long as it has existed even better because they've actually name-dropped her in freaking Episode 2.
The thing about shaving the gorilla to make him a stunt double for Bruce Willis, and if he behaves he BECOMES Bruce Willis, was a great celebrity slam. That's actually been one of the show's weak points since the beginning, and the show does better venerating celebrities instead of degrading them, but that was excellent.
I love the idea that Lenny and Carl's girlfriends look exactly like each other. Their shrinks could have a field day.
The guy in the ticket booth is just as trapped behind glass as the whale. And no, he can't come with them.
Air bagpipes are all kinds of cringe. For some reason, the show STILL makes committed attempts at jokes that will never work. It's almost fearless in a way, but a show this long-running should understand comedy by now, and what is just patently stupid instead of funny. It's almost maddening especially since the rest of the episode was fine.
I love that Grandpa used to fish with IOU's. It would have been even funnier if that's what the will was too. Missed opportunity there. He's a good parent by the day's standards. The messed up thing is that's probably true.
The Cars For Kids song has really been getting slammed in pop-culture in recent weeks. The Good Place recently made it the defacto theme song of Hell which is just about right.
A good night. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "One Man's Junk"
It's always down to the creepy bus.
Fun Mantis facts are not so fun for Repo Mantis.
Cats are fun, cuddly, and always trying to eat Dad.
I love Repo Mantis mistaking the Foot Soldiers for shoe salesmen. That was legitimately funny.
Good episode. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Snow Day"
Is this the first musical number ever in a Turtles project? I think it may be.
For the record, April has a dynamite singing voice.
Love Raph's selfies with Ghost Bear.
"Angelo" still hits the ear wrong.
I laughed at Donnie ordering Leo to sacrifice himself for the rest of them.
How is it this show is so much dang FUN?! ****.
Transformers: Cyberverse "Spotted"
It's a good thing this episode came along when it did. I was getting the distinct impression Cheetor was useless. I still sort of think that, but it's at least being made part of the plot. It's being addressed.
Have I ever mentioned that Starscream is totally nuts? I cannot think of another version quite this bananas.
What is up with Rachet's voice? Is it just me, or does he sound like a mincing gay stereotype? The thing that tells me I read that wrong is that there is no reason for the show to do it. The thing that tells me I may have read it RIGHT is that there is also no reason for the show NOT to do it.
Pretty good. ***1/2.
Transformers Rescue Bots Academy "Tune Out"
That was dum de doo da dumb. *.
Transformers Rescue Bots Academy "Metal Munchers"
This show is doing wrong by the Aligned Continuity. Scraplets should not ever be shown as helpless animals, or have a baby trying to get back to it family. They are supposed to be relentless killing machines. The cute outward appearance is designed to lull you into a sense of complacency before they disembowel you. This show actually thinks Scraplets should be cute. Ugh.
Also I don't point this out every episode because I'd be a broken record, but the dialogue on this show is legitimately badly written. Maybe I shouldn't be judging a preschool show by adult standards, but Elena of Avalor is doing just fine, thank you very much. There is no reason this shows needs to be as badly written as it is. No kids watching are demanding that.
Awful. 0.
Power Ranger Beast Morphers "Seeing Red"
That sucked but not enough for me to do a lengthy deconstruction. I will make two points:
1. The Power Rangers are superheroes but it is clear they are not crimefighters. They fight aliens and monsters, and the crooks are down to the police. I think the police feeling their toes being stepped on would have been a very interesting controversy to explore, except this show is not interesting in exploring interesting things.
2. The sitting on the cake thing is another thing that proves that 30 years in, the series still doesn't understand what makes slapstick humor funny. Frankly, I'm not sure slapstick humor IS funny, but there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way. And then there is The Power Rangers Way which is wrong to the Nth degree.
Lousy episode but no big deal. **.
Bob's Burgers "Legends Of The Mall"
Tina pretending a boy asleep at the mall is her boyfriend is a funny B sounding plot, but what's great about the show is that they actually built out an entire story around it and the pratfalls of the fall-out of her doing something that crazy. It just keeps getting worse and worse, even when she's telling the truth. Even Brian doesn't believe she's not his girlfriend, although he's admittedly on a ton of antihistamines.
Linda being good at guessing mystery novels is something about Linda I've always noticed. Whenever she turns out to be surprisingly secretly good at something, it's always an inconvenience to someone else, usually disastrously so. Linda is the type of person who is the textbook definition of why we aren't allowed to have nice things. Even her good points are actual character flaws.
I like Louise saying Tina's pubedar was going off, and that when they arrived in the parking lot she was scratching at the car window. The sad thing is I can believe that's true.
Tammy and Jocelyn are so stupid that they think the "You are here" sign at the mall works by tracking their phones. Them pretending those eleven year olds were their boyfriends shows they are really no better than Tina. I groaned when the kid told her she said she was going to help him find his mom. Those two girls suck. It's galling Tina wants to impress them.
That was funny. I'd say "Poor Tina" but that mess always does this to herself. ***1/2.
Family Guy "Cat Fight"
And lo, the Heavens opened up and miraculously Bruce and Joanne found each other. This is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Speaking of the Heavens opening up, I love that they credited Adam West for the old audio they used.
About time Quagmire and Brian got a Chicken Fight. Does the ending mean the feud is actually over? Because I would actually be cool with that. It would mean they could stop making Brian a scumbag to prove Quagmire right. Although if the show actually DOES stop either of those things I'll be pleasantly shocked.
I laughed out loud at the Bugsteins. The best part is that because of the thin ice thing you knew they were going to call back to it.
I love the fiber commercial too. "Regular" and "active" are like the two worst codewords for that ever.
I also love that Meg's response to Lois talking about Chris like that is to say that she's a monster. You know what? She is. The show usually does not have the courtesy to call out the monstrous parenting for what it is, and I like that they took a rare moment for Meg to point out that isn't cool. Because it's not. We accept it because it's this show, but it doesn't make it all right by a longshot.
Simpsons won the night, with Family Guy eking out a close second. Bob's Burgers was actually good too, but still placed third. ****.
The Good Place "A Chip Driver Mystery"
The framing structure was solid. It had me hooked every step of the way. Which ultimately did not turn out to be a great thing. Because I don't think the story itself had a strong enough ending to warrant such a cool framing device. Framing devices like that are use to preserve mystery about cool stories that are going to surprise you. This wasn't surprising. It was also unresolved, which is a bad note for a person telling a story in a framing device to end on. I liked the moral Michael learned. But he could have learned that in any episode. This episode was not strong enough for me to recommend.
The fight interested me though because all things considered, whether it's the Good Place or not, that sort of conflict is super rare. Mostly because the characters are always trying to keep going some sort of facade and sharing their feelings would ruin it. You know what? Brent deserved that. Simone is right that if this IS the Good Place she should not have to accept racism as it is, and be the one to asked to accommodate Brent. Which is a minor flaw in the premise. Simone is not stupid. If she were being written as the smart woman she is supposed to be, she'd be giving an Eleanor-esque "Holy fork! This is the Bad Place!" upon realizing that. The fact that she's right means this isn't Heaven. And she's a lesser woman than Eleanor for not being able to reason out something that simple with that much obvious given help.
I think the episode was a wash, which is unusual. I do not always mind great shows occasionally delivering underwhelming episodes. And it's to this show's credit, that the underwhelming episode didn't hurt the show, or the structure of the show, which is not true for most underwhelming episode of otherwise decent shows. Underwhelming episodes of decent shows tend to REALLY hurt the franchise in a measurable way that it might take weeks to fix, if it ever is. This was a just a boring episode. I'll take it. **1/2.
Black Jesus "The Compton Crusader"
So I was looking for the tribute card for John Witherspoon and it wasn't there. That was annoying.
I somehow think the idea of Black Jesus is much more believable than Black Superman. Honestly, Jesus's goal is nice, but I think misguided. I expected the episode to be a bigger deal than it was when he pulled a gun on Jesus and threatened to kill him. As Lloyd said, that's been tried before.
Instead Jesus convinces him he's Superman instead. I don't agree that Jesus need to be free of sin to have value to Christianity. But I kind of feel like he shouldn't intentionally lie to someone, no matter how good his intentions are when doing it. I felt much comfortable with the idea that the first thing Jesus asks people is if they have weed. For some reason, that goes down easier.
Black Jesus is at its best when it delivers a big message making you realize the goofiness is just for show and the show is actually a great Biblical allegory. I felt like this could have been one of those episodes, but it disappointingly fell a little short. **1/2.
The Blacklist "Norman Devane"
Creepy villain this week. Absolutely loathsome.
That kid refusing to believe the truth seems like he wants to be killed.
Speaking of which, I was about to congratulate Red for using carrots instead of sticks, by offering rare shaker molds to the guy, instead of threatening to smash his shakers. Good for him and the stories about the shakers he saw were delightful. Then he accidentally shoots the guy (twice!) and the other dude is suddenly Marvin in Pulp Fiction.
I don't care about Aram's love life. It's weird the show thinks I should.
Funny that Brett Cullen's character is supposedly one of Red's oldest and dearest friends, when if he's appeared before, I don't remember it.
Ressler's "I always wanted to say" is much less funny and impressive than Red's.
Red shooting Devane was great. It was exactly what he deserved. No carrots for that monster.
I like it when Ressler said that sometimes you are supposed to look the other way.
A bit convenient Aram crashed the right wedding, don't you think?
Liz is making SOME progress at least by finally realizing maybe those answers aren't worth poking the hive. However I sincerely doubt this viewpoint will be permanent. This IS Liz after all, and she IS just the worst.
Good episode. ****.
Carmen Sandiego "The Hot Rocks Of Rio Caper, Part 1"
The opening was totally Samurai Jack.
Fedorable is a great word.
The concept of this show means it's the only TV-Y7 show you'll hear the words "Christ the Redeemer".
I like the trick of Zack bribing the guy with his own watches.
Good episode back although I could have used a recap. ****.
Carmen Sandiego "The Hot Rocks Of Rio Caper, Part 2"
As a Masshole I've heard of Duck Boats before, but I didn't know their origins. Neat.
Carmen is throwing bricks at Tigress's head? That's liable to get her killed. Even more dumb is that some of them land in her face and she's fine.
The end of Shadow-San telling Carmen she was his teacher was a big moment. I like it.
Although their alliance will probably cause Carmen a LOT of problems with Acme in the future.
Solid. ****.
Carmen Sandiego "The Daisho Caper"
Aw, that ending was sad. I like that Shadow-San does NOT get the happy ending, and his brother doesn't forgive him. There are consequences to the life he chose, and it's good the show is making him suffer them. That is something even many grown-up shows refuse to do for their characters on a redemption arc.
I love him saying he was not going to dishonor the blade by using it on the VILE agents and then fighting them hand-to-hand. That was awesome.
Paperstar continues to creep me out.
This show is doing all the right things. ****1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Fashionista Caper"
It's good that the fact that Carmen doesn't have a headquarters was mentioned. In fact, Shadow-san believes he doesn't know the location because he isn't trusted. It's actually because Carmen never stops moving.
For the record, Julia's completely vanilla and conservative Acme suit would totally work in a fashion show as long as she was wearing THAT hat. For the record.
I loved Shadow-san whining that he wants the sunglasses because Zack got pizza and gelato.
Another good episode. This show is doing great. ****.
Carmen Sandiego "The Boston Tea Party Caper"
The accents are a complete put-on obviously, but it's sort of neat to get some cartoon characters from Massachusetts. I recognize the mannerisms and attitudes completely. When I hear Republicans decrying Massachusetts's "liberal elites", I'm like "These people have never been to Massachusetts." It's filled with meatheads like Ivy and Zack. It's pretty much everyone there too. As Peter Griffin once correctly noted on Family Guy about Boston, that it's amazing that a town with so many great colleges is filled with nothing but dopes. That about sums it up.
I like the idea that the biggest concern and worry Carmen has about a headquarters is that it's a little to close to VILE Island. I get why she's worried about that completely, while also thinking she is totally overthinking it. Buildings in and of themselves are not evil. The actual good or bad intentions belong to the people who reside in them.
I love that when Carmen refers to one of the siblings as "Muscles" Ivy takes it upon herself to respond. I love even more that Zack is not threatened by that. This is NOT the show to complain about strong women.
Wicked origin story. ***1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Need For Speed Caper"
I can safely say at this point that Shadow-san joining the team has been a Godsend to the show. Not only do the heroes have an extra person to play against, his personality is diametrically opposed to everyone else, which creates great interpersonal conflict, drama, and even comedy. Once Shadow-san was revealed to be a good guy, I expected more undercover work, or him being an occasional asset they run across once in awhile. Having him be there every episode is MUCH more interesting. What's especially interesting is that if I were running the show, I probably wouldn't have made that choice, at least not yet. But the show is better for just going for it.
Shadow-San brought up something interesting about Player that isn't really addressed all that often. He expected a face to face meeting, but Player has parents and life outside of this. Carmen and the rest of the team have never actually met them. I look more forward to their meeting because it still hasn't happened yet.
I think at this point even Zach and Ivy are starting to believe the Duke cover story. It's not like anybody ever contradicts them.
This show knows what it's doing. ****1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper"
This episode made me realize something bad, and something that is an actual fault in the fabric of the show.
But why isn't Player in school? Why do Player's parents never spend time with him? Why has this kid never heard of a curfew? The biggest problem with the concept of Player is that he's always available. One of the cool conceits of the character is that he's just a regular kid who does this during his downtime. The problem is that the show is acting like he has nothing BUT downtime. And this episode was the first that really brought that home for me. It's not a good thing.
I did like how they didn't retcon Crackle's happy ending. We'll see how the rest of the series shakes out.
The stuff with the ballet and the force fields should not have worked at all. Narratively it was a mess, and completely not credible. Visually? I believe it. They MADE it work, which is an accomplishment. On paper it's nonsense.
This was my least favorite episode of the season. ***.
Carmen Sandiego "The Stockholm Syndrome Caper"
This show reminds me strongly of The Zeta Project. Carmen is Zeta, Chief is Bennet, Argent is Lee, and Divaneaux is West. But those are the dynamics at play here.
I love that Ivy says that the mission was completed by Carmen Sandiego. Because it sort of was.
Ice Palaces are actually a thing? I would not like to spend time in a structure that is actually cold and slippery. That's outright weird.
Not used to seeing Carmen operate at such a diminished capacity. The episode was interesting for that reason. ***1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The African Ice Caper"
The idea of Shadow-San having killed Carmen's father explains a LOT about his conflicted attitudes about her. A LOT. It's easy to see why he was able to hide the actual truth from both her AND VILE for so long.
That dream tells me that on some level Divaneaux fancies Argent more than a little bit.
I liked it. Good set-up for the finale. ****1/2.
Carmen Sandiego "The Deep Dive Caper"
Dynamite. As great an idea as Shadow-San as the potential killer of Carmen's father is, the Chief is WAY better. I was like "Are they even allowed to do that?"
My favorite thing about Shadow-San in the episode is that he does not deny that he would have finished his mission if he weren't interrupted. That is a serious lack of pretense there, and the fact that Carmen could forgive even that says VILE didn't understand the situation at all. In the end, she isn't even out for revenge for the Chief. She just wants to know the truth, and now to find her mother. The idea of Chief as a potential Big Bad of the series is a truly gutsy one.
The cliffhanger with Divaneaux was awesome too because he was losing every other moment of his life in that episode. But now the Chief wants and NEEDS an agent who shoots first, and doesn't ask questions at all. He will be a thorn next year, I predict.
That was an amazing twist for the finale. I approve wholeheartedly. *****.
Titans "Atonement"
It does not take much. I came up with a theory a few years ago that has been proven time and time again. It's perhaps not quite relevant here, but this episode reminded me of it.
Any great television series is two bad episodes away from being a terrible television series. It is very easy to blow up a great show you have spent seasons on end building, and be unable to ever recover from being stupid enough to do that. The reason I don't think this theory is relevant here is because Titans has NEVER been a great series. But it was passable for most of the season. And just like that, it's back to being the worst DC project, film or television, live-action or animated, that ever existed. It really does NOT take much to completely ruin any given television show. You'd think a show already on ice this thin would be more careful about that kind of thing. But lord, I feel deeply foolish for giving the earlier part of the season any benefit of the doubt.
Never bet on this show or its producers. They are going to let you down every time.
We'll get to Dick in a minute but the biggest thing I took from the episode is that I'm watching a superhero series with no superheroes to root for. Am I alone in thinking that is completely messed up? Is having a single character I like an unreasonable ask for a show based on a DC property? These people are all monsters.
Donna's grumbling about Dick is getting on Rachel's nerves because Rachel correctly points out that as far as Jericho goes, Donna hands are just as dirty as Dick's. I found myself sympathizing with Raven's viewpoint, which is the exact moment she inexplicably disappears and we don't see her again. We aren't allowed a character to agree with or like. This series does not believe in trying to make the audience enjoy what they are watching. Making painful, sucky television seems to be the entire point. I knew the Game of Thrones misery porn viewpoint was going to ruin a lot of genre, and it ruined Titans in the precise way I knew it would. It shows terrible things happening without having the decency of Game Of Thrones in making those terrible things actually matter. I knew somebody would see Game of Thrones' unending misery and think people responded to the darkness. They didn't. They responded to how that made them feel. With no characters to root for on this show, my only emotion left is disgust.
Hank and Dawn: Granted Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly have great singing voices, but they aren't even allowed to enjoy that. It instantly turns into "You got my brother killed." Good for Hank for not being apologetic at all, as it was more her fault as a sister than it was theirs as friends, but it's like an insightful Hank is not something to show wants to give the audience, so he randomly dumps Dawn after all they have been through for no good reason at all.
Why did they do that with Conner? Why did they ruin that? What good will come from doing that? And Gar walks away like a coward and a punk because he IS.
Kori SUCKS! The poor dude has been telling her all season that things were falling apart since she left, and she locks him in the spaceship and ignores her responsibilities as if they don't matter. And she's surprised that Blackfire is filling the power vacuum that she left? If Blackfire hadn't killed her parents, I would claim Starfire is the actual villain in that scenario. Starfire didn't seem too broken up at her parents' deaths though, did she? This show loves showcasing its cast of sociopaths.
Finally, let's get to Dick.
I was a little surprised Jericho dying was not his fault at all last week, so it infuriates me he lied about it for years anyways. He couldn't even take the appearance of hovering near the edge of responsibility, so he lies to everyone for years on end. The guy is clearly a sociopath. Can you believe he went to Jericho's mother for forgiveness? She claims Dick only did it to make himself feel better, and if that's true (and it is) I'm a bit surprised she didn't point out that it was extra selfish to pop up in this woman's home unasked and spring that on her out of the blue. How could a person ever do something like that? How did he think that would help her? It would do nothing but hurt her, but she doesn't actually matter and that's not why he's there. He wants her to forgive him even though he hasn't made the slightest effort on any level to take responsibility for his actions. And he actually has less responsibility than Slade claims. But as long as he is denying ALL of it, he is every bit as guilty as Slade thinks he is.
Two episodes. A cautionary tale. If you are a good or promising show, never EVER take your eyes off the prize. There are some things you can't come back from. Titans pretty much did them all in this episode. 0.
Batwoman "Mine Is A Long And A Sad Tale"
"Batman doesn't do goggles." Is that even true? Because it sounds like it isn't.
Alice told her henchman Batwoman is her sister? I feel like that's this show playing a little too fast and loose with the secret ID's.
Mary's reaction to Catherine's confession was interesting, because if you think about it, she is the one member of the family without skin in that particular game. It's very interesting that she is as upset as she is. I still don't know what to make of Mary.
Beth's past is freaking rough. Although I don't agree with her choice to become a criminal, I understand why she is as upset with Kate as she is. What's amazing is that while I sympathize with that, I also recognize that none of this is actually Kate or Jacob's fault. I am pretty much on everybody's side as far as this thing goes.
That scene with Alice and Jacob was heartbreaking. It only took her stabbing him to make him realize it's her.
Is Mouse supposed to be Falseface? That's a weird superpower.
That end scene between Alice and Mouse was super creepy. It also raised a ton of questions about what Daddy they are referring to. And how does she not know the dude's name? I am very curious about how all this shakes out.
Great episode. ****1/2.
Supergirl "Dangerous "Liaisons"
About time we heard more about Leviathan. I had thought the show had forgotten about it. No, that's not True. I had forgotten about it.
Is this the first time Phil Lamar has been credited in the main guest cast?
It's a bit galling that Alex is asking Supergirl to use kid gloves on a potential mass murderer because it could make Kelly's life a little bit uncomfortable. But it's pretty much Classic Alex. Everything is about her.
That lizard looking thing was scary.
Russell being Rip Roar was not a surprise, but it was the right ending, so I don't mind.
Decent week. ****.
DC Super Hero Girls "Soul Taken"
That was fun. Loved Harley in the photo booth with the sword. The fake mustache and glasses were a riot. ****1/2.
Marvel's Spider-Man "The Road To Goblin War"
Wow, I was very satisfied with that. It was just solid the whole way through. Not every episode needs to be mindblowing. Cranking out solid standalone episodes is important too.
I like that Peter is offended that Otto claims Uncle Ben as his own, but suddenly realizes that the guy's influence is real and so big that he has no right to deny it to anyone.
And it's nice that that makes him open to repairing their relationship and helping Otto out in other ways. And Otto is open to it because as said before, the legacy of Ben Parker cannot be denied of anyone.
That symbol thing was great. As far as I can tell, nobody ever picked up on it before. I've seen nothing about it online. When I get around to rewatching the series, that is going to make it fun.
I am not ready to call this a great Spider-Man series. I am not sure he's had that yet, and a great deal of this show's earlier stuff was lousy. But it's still probably the best Spider-Man show we've gotten so far. That might not be saying much, but the show is delivering solid episodes on a weekly basis now which is not true for any earlier series. We'll see how the rest of the season and series shakes out. ****1/2.
Star Wars: Resistance "The Engineer"
That mostly worked, but I could pick a couple of holes.
Sinara's entire job was making sure Nina didn't get to the ship and she completely messed that up. Kas couldn't radio over the comm that Nina was trying to escape? That strikes me as a plot oversight.
So Nina is now going to be executed by the First Order if they see her again. Nice friends you've got there, Nina. Tell me again what it's like to be on the winning side.
Pretty good. ***1/2.
The Simpsons "Gorillas On The Mast"
That was quite enjoyable.
Jane Goodall proves the show can still get great guest stars. Fun Simpsons trivia: Goodall was mentioned in the first regular Simpsons episode EVER in 1990 (Bart the Genius). I like the idea of the show nabbing a guest that has been famous as long as it has existed even better because they've actually name-dropped her in freaking Episode 2.
The thing about shaving the gorilla to make him a stunt double for Bruce Willis, and if he behaves he BECOMES Bruce Willis, was a great celebrity slam. That's actually been one of the show's weak points since the beginning, and the show does better venerating celebrities instead of degrading them, but that was excellent.
I love the idea that Lenny and Carl's girlfriends look exactly like each other. Their shrinks could have a field day.
The guy in the ticket booth is just as trapped behind glass as the whale. And no, he can't come with them.
Air bagpipes are all kinds of cringe. For some reason, the show STILL makes committed attempts at jokes that will never work. It's almost fearless in a way, but a show this long-running should understand comedy by now, and what is just patently stupid instead of funny. It's almost maddening especially since the rest of the episode was fine.
I love that Grandpa used to fish with IOU's. It would have been even funnier if that's what the will was too. Missed opportunity there. He's a good parent by the day's standards. The messed up thing is that's probably true.
The Cars For Kids song has really been getting slammed in pop-culture in recent weeks. The Good Place recently made it the defacto theme song of Hell which is just about right.
A good night. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "One Man's Junk"
It's always down to the creepy bus.
Fun Mantis facts are not so fun for Repo Mantis.
Cats are fun, cuddly, and always trying to eat Dad.
I love Repo Mantis mistaking the Foot Soldiers for shoe salesmen. That was legitimately funny.
Good episode. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Snow Day"
Is this the first musical number ever in a Turtles project? I think it may be.
For the record, April has a dynamite singing voice.
Love Raph's selfies with Ghost Bear.
"Angelo" still hits the ear wrong.
I laughed at Donnie ordering Leo to sacrifice himself for the rest of them.
How is it this show is so much dang FUN?! ****.
Transformers: Cyberverse "Spotted"
It's a good thing this episode came along when it did. I was getting the distinct impression Cheetor was useless. I still sort of think that, but it's at least being made part of the plot. It's being addressed.
Have I ever mentioned that Starscream is totally nuts? I cannot think of another version quite this bananas.
What is up with Rachet's voice? Is it just me, or does he sound like a mincing gay stereotype? The thing that tells me I read that wrong is that there is no reason for the show to do it. The thing that tells me I may have read it RIGHT is that there is also no reason for the show NOT to do it.
Pretty good. ***1/2.
Transformers Rescue Bots Academy "Tune Out"
That was dum de doo da dumb. *.
Transformers Rescue Bots Academy "Metal Munchers"
This show is doing wrong by the Aligned Continuity. Scraplets should not ever be shown as helpless animals, or have a baby trying to get back to it family. They are supposed to be relentless killing machines. The cute outward appearance is designed to lull you into a sense of complacency before they disembowel you. This show actually thinks Scraplets should be cute. Ugh.
Also I don't point this out every episode because I'd be a broken record, but the dialogue on this show is legitimately badly written. Maybe I shouldn't be judging a preschool show by adult standards, but Elena of Avalor is doing just fine, thank you very much. There is no reason this shows needs to be as badly written as it is. No kids watching are demanding that.
Awful. 0.
Power Ranger Beast Morphers "Seeing Red"
That sucked but not enough for me to do a lengthy deconstruction. I will make two points:
1. The Power Rangers are superheroes but it is clear they are not crimefighters. They fight aliens and monsters, and the crooks are down to the police. I think the police feeling their toes being stepped on would have been a very interesting controversy to explore, except this show is not interesting in exploring interesting things.
2. The sitting on the cake thing is another thing that proves that 30 years in, the series still doesn't understand what makes slapstick humor funny. Frankly, I'm not sure slapstick humor IS funny, but there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way. And then there is The Power Rangers Way which is wrong to the Nth degree.
Lousy episode but no big deal. **.
Bob's Burgers "Legends Of The Mall"
Tina pretending a boy asleep at the mall is her boyfriend is a funny B sounding plot, but what's great about the show is that they actually built out an entire story around it and the pratfalls of the fall-out of her doing something that crazy. It just keeps getting worse and worse, even when she's telling the truth. Even Brian doesn't believe she's not his girlfriend, although he's admittedly on a ton of antihistamines.
Linda being good at guessing mystery novels is something about Linda I've always noticed. Whenever she turns out to be surprisingly secretly good at something, it's always an inconvenience to someone else, usually disastrously so. Linda is the type of person who is the textbook definition of why we aren't allowed to have nice things. Even her good points are actual character flaws.
I like Louise saying Tina's pubedar was going off, and that when they arrived in the parking lot she was scratching at the car window. The sad thing is I can believe that's true.
Tammy and Jocelyn are so stupid that they think the "You are here" sign at the mall works by tracking their phones. Them pretending those eleven year olds were their boyfriends shows they are really no better than Tina. I groaned when the kid told her she said she was going to help him find his mom. Those two girls suck. It's galling Tina wants to impress them.
That was funny. I'd say "Poor Tina" but that mess always does this to herself. ***1/2.
Family Guy "Cat Fight"
And lo, the Heavens opened up and miraculously Bruce and Joanne found each other. This is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Speaking of the Heavens opening up, I love that they credited Adam West for the old audio they used.
About time Quagmire and Brian got a Chicken Fight. Does the ending mean the feud is actually over? Because I would actually be cool with that. It would mean they could stop making Brian a scumbag to prove Quagmire right. Although if the show actually DOES stop either of those things I'll be pleasantly shocked.
I laughed out loud at the Bugsteins. The best part is that because of the thin ice thing you knew they were going to call back to it.
I love the fiber commercial too. "Regular" and "active" are like the two worst codewords for that ever.
I also love that Meg's response to Lois talking about Chris like that is to say that she's a monster. You know what? She is. The show usually does not have the courtesy to call out the monstrous parenting for what it is, and I like that they took a rare moment for Meg to point out that isn't cool. Because it's not. We accept it because it's this show, but it doesn't make it all right by a longshot.
Simpsons won the night, with Family Guy eking out a close second. Bob's Burgers was actually good too, but still placed third. ****.
The Good Place "A Chip Driver Mystery"
The framing structure was solid. It had me hooked every step of the way. Which ultimately did not turn out to be a great thing. Because I don't think the story itself had a strong enough ending to warrant such a cool framing device. Framing devices like that are use to preserve mystery about cool stories that are going to surprise you. This wasn't surprising. It was also unresolved, which is a bad note for a person telling a story in a framing device to end on. I liked the moral Michael learned. But he could have learned that in any episode. This episode was not strong enough for me to recommend.
The fight interested me though because all things considered, whether it's the Good Place or not, that sort of conflict is super rare. Mostly because the characters are always trying to keep going some sort of facade and sharing their feelings would ruin it. You know what? Brent deserved that. Simone is right that if this IS the Good Place she should not have to accept racism as it is, and be the one to asked to accommodate Brent. Which is a minor flaw in the premise. Simone is not stupid. If she were being written as the smart woman she is supposed to be, she'd be giving an Eleanor-esque "Holy fork! This is the Bad Place!" upon realizing that. The fact that she's right means this isn't Heaven. And she's a lesser woman than Eleanor for not being able to reason out something that simple with that much obvious given help.
I think the episode was a wash, which is unusual. I do not always mind great shows occasionally delivering underwhelming episodes. And it's to this show's credit, that the underwhelming episode didn't hurt the show, or the structure of the show, which is not true for most underwhelming episode of otherwise decent shows. Underwhelming episodes of decent shows tend to REALLY hurt the franchise in a measurable way that it might take weeks to fix, if it ever is. This was a just a boring episode. I'll take it. **1/2.
Black Jesus "The Compton Crusader"
So I was looking for the tribute card for John Witherspoon and it wasn't there. That was annoying.
I somehow think the idea of Black Jesus is much more believable than Black Superman. Honestly, Jesus's goal is nice, but I think misguided. I expected the episode to be a bigger deal than it was when he pulled a gun on Jesus and threatened to kill him. As Lloyd said, that's been tried before.
Instead Jesus convinces him he's Superman instead. I don't agree that Jesus need to be free of sin to have value to Christianity. But I kind of feel like he shouldn't intentionally lie to someone, no matter how good his intentions are when doing it. I felt much comfortable with the idea that the first thing Jesus asks people is if they have weed. For some reason, that goes down easier.
Black Jesus is at its best when it delivers a big message making you realize the goofiness is just for show and the show is actually a great Biblical allegory. I felt like this could have been one of those episodes, but it disappointingly fell a little short. **1/2.
The Blacklist "Norman Devane"
Creepy villain this week. Absolutely loathsome.
That kid refusing to believe the truth seems like he wants to be killed.
Speaking of which, I was about to congratulate Red for using carrots instead of sticks, by offering rare shaker molds to the guy, instead of threatening to smash his shakers. Good for him and the stories about the shakers he saw were delightful. Then he accidentally shoots the guy (twice!) and the other dude is suddenly Marvin in Pulp Fiction.
I don't care about Aram's love life. It's weird the show thinks I should.
Funny that Brett Cullen's character is supposedly one of Red's oldest and dearest friends, when if he's appeared before, I don't remember it.
Ressler's "I always wanted to say" is much less funny and impressive than Red's.
Red shooting Devane was great. It was exactly what he deserved. No carrots for that monster.
I like it when Ressler said that sometimes you are supposed to look the other way.
A bit convenient Aram crashed the right wedding, don't you think?
Liz is making SOME progress at least by finally realizing maybe those answers aren't worth poking the hive. However I sincerely doubt this viewpoint will be permanent. This IS Liz after all, and she IS just the worst.
Good episode. ****.
