![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Star Trek: Picard, Doctor Who, Harley Quinn, Big Hero 6: The Series, and Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, the Pixar short Lamp Life, the latest episode of Muppet Babies, and the series finale of The Good Place.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-One: The Hellbound Heart"
This show is officially on probation. That was a good episode back, but I had a very ugly and public dump with Riverdale recently, and I knew going in it's possible this is my last season of this show. Riverdale didn't start megasucking until season 3 after all, so anything was possible.
I am not near the point where I feel I need to drop the show, but Roz, Harvey, and Theo starting a band was concerning. If there's a musical episode I will be MUCH closer to dumping this show too.
I love Richard Coyle's performance as Hilda pretending to be Blackwood. He has this weirdly effeminate thing going on too, which is weird because I've already found Blackwood notably effeminate.
Bronson Pinchot has never been scarier. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that is the Balki of Cousin Larry's nightmares.
I am so disillusioned that after Zelda and the Coven freed themselves from the evil of Satan last year, that Zelda goes right back to trying to remake the Coven into something that worships evil. Wasn't the fact that Satan was evil the actual reason he sucked? Wasn't that the lesson taught? These idiots have learned nothing.
I like that Theo and Nick's actors are in the main title now.
Not bad. ***1/2.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Two: Drag Me To Hell"
The cheerleader and band stuff was outright awful but the rest of the episode was pretty good.
Here's a notion. I don't agree with Sabrina that the first guy deserved mercy from Hell. In my opinion anyone dumb enough to sell their soul to be really, really good at chess is too stupid to go to Heaven.
Still, that ice cream man was nasty instead, wasn't he? I enjoyed seeing Sabrina take him down.
That was pretty great. Let's just hope the rest of the season goes easy with the band and cheerleading stuff. ****.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Three: Heavy Is The Crown"
Not feeling it. Too dark. I love Hilda's marriage proposal but not much else.
Nick's thing in the brothel at the end made me want to lose my lunch. I can't believe Sabrina is mooning after this loser.
Why did they have to do that for Theo for his first boyfriend? That's not cool.
The episode pretty definitely states this takes place in the same Universe as Riverdale, and goes so far as to call Riverdale the murder capital of the U.S.. Personally, I would rather the show downplay those associations with that terrible show while it is on such thin ice with me.
Didn't like that. **1/2.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Four: The Hare Moon"
This episode is pretty much this show's problem in a nutshell. It's asking us to root for Satanists over Pagans. It's absolute lunacy what this show expects me to want.
I do not discount Nick's suffering at all. But Sabrina is far too forgiving of him cheating on her. One of the worst things about the Church of Satan here is that that sort of thing is tolerated and excused. When he tells Sabrina she wasn't worth sacrificing himself to Hell for, he's got it backwards. In reality, he simply wasn't worth the trouble she took to get him back.
This show has serious problems build right into its foundation. Sometimes it can either rise above them, or simply get me to ignore them. This was just bad. *.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Five: The Devil Within"
I guess maybe Robin isn't all bad after all.
I don't feel Harvey and the meatheads busting up the carnival was actually evil or badly intended. It frankly felt pretty righteous. The show's morality continues to be all over the map.
Sabrina's betrayal of Caliban is a case in point. Sabrina is a very hard heroine to root for, especially after revealing that she's doing what she's doing mostly for the power.
Speaking of which, the reason Sabrina and Nick were never going to work was her saying "You have nothing to be ashamed of". That is a terrible mindset for any girlfriend to give their boyfriend that blank check after all of the destructive things Nick did. Whether he was under Lucifer's influence or not, it is to Nick's credit he won't let her let him off the hook. Maybe Nick knows how toxic he is, and knows that Sabrina is not built for toxic relationships, and doesn't respond to destructive behavior in a remotely acceptable way.
I said the show was on thin ice at the beginning of the season. These past two episodes haven't helped things. *.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Six: All Of Them Witches"
I'm furious about what happened to Dr. Cerebus (poor Hilda can't catch a break) but I am wholeheartedly on-board everything else. And I remember the real reason I dropped Riverdale is that it was incapable of delivering an episode less than awful. This show delivers the goods sometimes. Not every episode. But that was a smashing outing.
I'll try to be brief and get to everything.
The thing with Sabrina and the candle is the one thing in the episode that didn't interest me much, because I don't take something like that at face value. But the show did a very similar thing between Harvey and Roz and I DID believe it, which was the entire problem.
When the price of restoring Roz's life is Harvey's love, I was like, "This is too pat. This is the show taking the easy way out in salvaging the Sabrina / Harvey 'ship with minimal understandably hurt feelings." But then the show does an unexpected and genius thing. The sacrifice is rejected. Basically, they used a potential loophole out of messiness to say that things are actually about to get really messy. I love that. Unreservedly.
The ending was great. It was a shock and yet the episode couldn't end any other way, which is the best kind of twist.
When Blackwood tells Mary that the Devil could be standing right in front of her whispering his lies convincingly that seemed a little too on-the-nose. But it crazily works because of the performances of Richard Coyle and Missy Gomez. I suspect many other actors would play that scene as outright comedic. They seem to take the idea seriously, and play it totally straight, so it's unsettling instead. Big point in this show's favor.
Madame Marie is a Catholic? For some reason I sincerely hope her values rub off on the Coven. I don't speak merely as someone raised in a Church. I speak as someone tired of the characters on this show worshiping people who do nothing but grind them into the ground. If there is a different way to access magic powers without selling your soul, by all means, let Zelda learn it. It's about freaking time.
That being said I didn't actually buy Zelda turning away Lilith. Because there was no good reason for it, and Lilith is the type of witch better to have on the inside than the outside. She quite possibly would never have been shot if Lilith hadn't been forced to go to Wardwell as her second choice.
I punched the air at Sabrina's righteous rant at Nick. A long time coming. I reached out for a cigar after that before realizing I've never smoked before. It was beyond satisfying. And do you know what I think did it? Prudence pointing out Nick never once thanked Sabrina for what she did for him. I feel like a chump for never realizing that, but that's not just poor behavior, it's outright weird that he was unable to even pretend to indulge in the proper social niceties. Another reason he and Sabrina would never work. I don't think Nick necessarily needs his women to be narcissistic, and in fact I could see that being a turn-off to him. But if they aren't all about him, he thinks they are doing something wrong. Have I mentioned how much I utterly loathe the patriarchy of the Coven? Because that will be on the test later.
Fantastic episode. I'm taking a half-star off for Cerebus but that was otherwise awesome. ****1/2.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Judas Kiss"
This specific review is being written BEFORE I've seen the last episode. I can make a pretty good guess though. A LOT of that will be undone or retconned. I could have actually accepted the deaths of Prudence and Agatha at face value. Except Zelda and Harvey going too means there's gotta be some time travel in Sabrina's near future. I not only don't accept the idea that Harvey and Zelda could die, I reject the idea that the show just killed off four regular characters in a single episode. That's not how television operates outside of The Walking Dead and Game And Thrones. And this show is neither.
How great was the idea that Judas Iscariot is the father of Vlad the Impaler and the father of all vampires? I especially love his horrified reaction to drinking Sabrina's blood, and Sabrina disgustedly telling him consent is real is beyond awesome. That's the first time I've ever heard a person under Dracula's thrall say that, and it's about freaking time.
Blackwood is an utter snake and turns out to be the guy on the show with no redeeming qualities. He's sort of like Stannis Baratheon in that way, except much less surprising. Mark of Cain or not, he is going to meet a bad end, possibly involving torture of the eternal variety. And like Stannis, I bet this utter monster will actually be surprised at his end because being a cold-blooded killer of your own children doesn't actually up one's IQ any. That was the thing that killed me the most about Stannis. He didn't see it coming, and that was probably more outrageous to me than him burning his own daughter at the stake. I see a very similar arc for Blackwood by the time the series is over.
The great thing about the Caliban betrayal is that it's an added complication when they don't need it, and it's so bad it barely qualifies as a complication at all. If anything it's even worse than the threat of the Pagans. On this show when it rains, it pours. I love it.
Man, that was amazing and a bit infuriating. These are practically the same producers. Why is Riverdale so awful and this show so often great? It makes no sense. *****.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sabrina Is Legend"
The series is officially off probation. I now can say I can look forward to a season four (if there is one).
Time travel. Had to be. Love Sabrina breaking the paradox rules at the end (along with a cute wink at Ambrose) but part of me doesn't like ANY part of her being the Queen of Hell as long as Lucifer is there. She's gonna have to have sex with him, you know. I really wish the series hadn't already established that swell facet to her queenly duties. I think that was this show being shocking and edgy without thinking of any larger consequences down the line or what would happen if Sabrina ever DID accept the crown. It's icky and unfortunate.
But I did like them keeping the extra Sabrina instead of getting rid of her like all other time travel stuff. I love when time travel breaks the rules.
I love that Prudence blames Ambrose for Dorkus' death. I think she's oversimplifying things, but I also understand why she feels that way. They'd all be better off if Blackwood were dead.
By the way, Chance Perdomo has a great voice. He should do voice-overs for cartoons. He's the show's secret MVP.
I suspect Miranda Otto will put her passionate incantation to Hecate on her Emmy reel, but as great a performance as it is, without context nobody at the Emmys will get it. The good news is that Emmys are ultimately a meaningless reward bestowed mostly upon undeserving TV shows. Sometimes the Emmys get it right (Breaking Bad). And sometimes you are reminded David E Kelly has a shelf full of the them.
It's cool that Herod, Vlad, and Pilate joined the good guys because they were saving their artifacts for that specific moment. In a show with Satan worshipers it's nice to think there aren't many people who can't actually be redeemed. Even the first vampire, son of Judas Iscariot.
I cheered upon Cerebus being alive. This show is not afraid of a happy ending, especially for characters that deserve it.
And whether or not Dr. C is actually dead, what Hilda did with the voodoo doll didn't strike me as cold-blooded or scary. It was justified. Full stop.
Hecate is a progression in the right direction. I'd almost ask why they feel the need to worship ANYONE but I guess their powers have to come from somewhere.
If I ignore the implied incest, that was a great episode. I'm gonna ignore the implied incest. ****1/2.
Star Trek: Picard "Maps And Legends"
I did not like that as much as the Pilot. Probably because it focused much less on Picard. I also didn't quite understand what was going on with the Romulans and the Borg.
I will say this: I learned a lot more about the Romulans than I have since any Star Trek series since The Next Generation. The whole idea of Romulans never having androids works because it contradicts nothing. We haven't really gotten into that species' technological culture at all. And it looks like this series will be good for delving deeper into well-known Star Trek aliens and telling us new things about them.
I had a feeling last week (that I didn't state in my review) that this is almost certainly the last Picard project and that Picard would probably die in the series finale. Learning he has a fatal illness tells me my gut was right.
Starfleet is now inherently corrupt if the appalling way that foul-mouthed admiral treated Picard is any indication. Being infiltrated by Romulan spies in the least of Starfleet's problems.
I really liked the teaser of the fall of Utopia Planitia. The talk about the Tal Shiar's secret police in the episode (secrecy is woven into the fabric of Romulan culture) leads me to believe the Androids may have purposefully struck when they did to halt the mission to save the Romulans. That specific flashback being shown in the episode where we learned what we did made me go "Hmmmm."
I was not a fan this week. That's okay. I'm still on-board. ***1/2.
Doctor Who "Praxeus"
That was not a great episode. But as far as mysteries go, it connected many disparate elements, and tied them together satisfactorily. I'm not going to say the resolution actually made sense (this show never does) but it fit the logic of the show at any rate. Ultimately, it's a workmanlike mystery, with no mindblowing curveballs. But I don't think those types of stories have no value.
I like when Jake is listing all of the things he hates, Graham quips that he sounds like quite a catch. What a perfect thing to say to that. I'm gonna remember that for the next emo whiner who annoys me.
I especially love that Chibnall's tenure allows the Doctor to save Jake because there is nothing wrong or dirty about a happy ending, even between starcrossed lovers. Man, I seem to keep noting this, but Davies and Moffat made the show MUCH harder than it actually needed to be.
Not great. But decent enough. ***.
Harley Quinn "Bensonhurst"
That was unpleasant. Didn't like it. But I did like two things.
I liked Bane's coffee mug that says "Caffeine is my reckoning."
I also liked the stuff with Frank and the hallucinogenic honey.
But everything else was too violent and depressing. **.
Big Hero 6: The Series "Fear Not"
I love the relationship between Supersonic Sue and Stu. She is SO supportive of her dimwitted grandson, it's endearing. When she gives him a kiss at the end of the episode I was like "I don't care if they're crooks, I love them both unreservedly."
Baymax has concerns. That was a great line. I also love Sue calling Gogo Skatertot.
I think the best part of the episode was probably Ronny's seriously chill and low-key prerecorded distress-call message. He doesn't seem to care either way, which just makes me love him more. One of the selling points of this being a Disney show rather than a Marvel one is that they are allowed to make the characters lovable. Outside of Hulk and Thing, and occasionally Spider-Man when he isn't infuriating me, there aren't a ton of Marvel characters I think of as lovable. But cute characters crawl out of the woodwork on this show, simply because it's Disney. It's so much fun to watch a superhero comic cartoon where I never wind up feeling bad. It's refreshing is what it is.
That was fun. ****.
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure "Race To The Spire"
I was all set to comment on how cool it was Rapunzel saved the snow monsters, and how detestable Cass has gotten, but a bigger question hit me at the end of that:
Why did Zahn Tiri reveal herself to Rapunzel?
In all respects it's a tactical mistake. One of the biggest things Team Cass had going for it is that Rapunzel didn't actually know what she wanted. She still doesn't, but knowing Zanh Tiri is involved gives Rapunzel a rough idea. Especially dumb is Zanh Tiri telling her Cass is under her influence. If Rapunzel knows that, she can attempt to break the influence. It seems like bad villaining at first glance.
But if you think about it, it's kind of brilliant. Why? Whether or not Cass is fully responsible for her actions (and I don't tend to give her the benefit of the doubt there) telling Rapunzel she isn't is a good move on some level now that we know there is a war coming, and Cass and Rapunzel are on opposite sides. Why? It speaks to the weakness Zanh Tiri learned about Rapunzel: She's compassionate. To a fault. While Cass will be fighting her to the death, she'll be fighting Cass to containment. Which is how wars are lost. Wars are not for the timid. And if Rapunzel believes Cass can be reached, she is fighting at an immediate disadvantage, and Zanh Tiru is right that it's a weakness. Not in most circumstances. In war? Definitely.
I think Rapunzel is in for a world of hurt. I don't think reaching Cass is out of the question (this IS a Disney show) but she's going to put far more effort into that than she should, and going to lose far more than she needs to because of that. Varian's father is a case in point. Without her compassion for Calliope, he'd be fine. I think Varian has grown as a person, but if he wants to blame Rapunzel for what happens next without turning criminally insane, he will be right to.
I honestly don't like where this is headed. This used be an enjoyable show. It's still interesting and psychologically complex, which is good, but it's no longer enjoyable. I probably wouldn't be mad except the show used to be all three at once. I don't get why or appreciate that the show is no fun anymore. ***.
Lamp Life
Bo Peep's post Molly life seems to have sucked.
The security system stuff says Bo Peep is embellishing a lot of her adventure.
Woody being voiced by Jim Hanks says this project isn't very important.
We still didn't learn how Bo broke her arm.
Cute, but not much else. ***.
Muppet Babies "Chicken Round-Up / Summer's Snow Cone Stop"
Chicken Round-Up:
It's kind of hard to do the Chicken Dance if you are too cheap to license the music.
Animal annoyed me this episode. **1/2.
Summer's Snow Cone Stop:
The rest of the babies annoyed me here. Piggy in particular is insufferable for putting up pictures of herself everywhere.
I liked the poster of Mah Na Mah Na though. **1/2.
Episode Overall: **1/2.
The Good Place "Whenever You're Ready"
It's very interesting to see an episode where the afterlife is actually working. I like that normal people are actually allowed in the Good Place now, like Jason's family. It's also nice that the test improves people too like Tahani's parents.
I thought the teaser with Sean was cute. That's a lot of nevers. And then his face twitches. I also like that he's trying not to sound evil. Not doing a great job there.
Ron Swanson made it to Heaven! At least, I THINK that's him.
The stuff with Eleanor and Chiti literally made me cry. So sad and moving.
Mindy and Derek! They brought back practically everyone I cared about. Except for that demon played by Adam Scott. And I didn't really care about him.
Michael being made human is a perfect end for him. I like that he and the Judge hooked up.
The Judge finds them all annoying. She knows they saved the Universe but it's their tone.
Michael Realman. I love that. I also love that his guitar teacher is Mary Steenburgen.
I love that they actually went to Europe to film the scenes for Chiti and Eleanor's vacation. That was neat.
I found the end that perhaps people going through the door wind up as good intentions really cool.
I'll miss this show. Take it sleazy, Good Place. Take it sleazy. *****.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-One: The Hellbound Heart"
This show is officially on probation. That was a good episode back, but I had a very ugly and public dump with Riverdale recently, and I knew going in it's possible this is my last season of this show. Riverdale didn't start megasucking until season 3 after all, so anything was possible.
I am not near the point where I feel I need to drop the show, but Roz, Harvey, and Theo starting a band was concerning. If there's a musical episode I will be MUCH closer to dumping this show too.
I love Richard Coyle's performance as Hilda pretending to be Blackwood. He has this weirdly effeminate thing going on too, which is weird because I've already found Blackwood notably effeminate.
Bronson Pinchot has never been scarier. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that is the Balki of Cousin Larry's nightmares.
I am so disillusioned that after Zelda and the Coven freed themselves from the evil of Satan last year, that Zelda goes right back to trying to remake the Coven into something that worships evil. Wasn't the fact that Satan was evil the actual reason he sucked? Wasn't that the lesson taught? These idiots have learned nothing.
I like that Theo and Nick's actors are in the main title now.
Not bad. ***1/2.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Two: Drag Me To Hell"
The cheerleader and band stuff was outright awful but the rest of the episode was pretty good.
Here's a notion. I don't agree with Sabrina that the first guy deserved mercy from Hell. In my opinion anyone dumb enough to sell their soul to be really, really good at chess is too stupid to go to Heaven.
Still, that ice cream man was nasty instead, wasn't he? I enjoyed seeing Sabrina take him down.
That was pretty great. Let's just hope the rest of the season goes easy with the band and cheerleading stuff. ****.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Three: Heavy Is The Crown"
Not feeling it. Too dark. I love Hilda's marriage proposal but not much else.
Nick's thing in the brothel at the end made me want to lose my lunch. I can't believe Sabrina is mooning after this loser.
Why did they have to do that for Theo for his first boyfriend? That's not cool.
The episode pretty definitely states this takes place in the same Universe as Riverdale, and goes so far as to call Riverdale the murder capital of the U.S.. Personally, I would rather the show downplay those associations with that terrible show while it is on such thin ice with me.
Didn't like that. **1/2.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Four: The Hare Moon"
This episode is pretty much this show's problem in a nutshell. It's asking us to root for Satanists over Pagans. It's absolute lunacy what this show expects me to want.
I do not discount Nick's suffering at all. But Sabrina is far too forgiving of him cheating on her. One of the worst things about the Church of Satan here is that that sort of thing is tolerated and excused. When he tells Sabrina she wasn't worth sacrificing himself to Hell for, he's got it backwards. In reality, he simply wasn't worth the trouble she took to get him back.
This show has serious problems build right into its foundation. Sometimes it can either rise above them, or simply get me to ignore them. This was just bad. *.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Five: The Devil Within"
I guess maybe Robin isn't all bad after all.
I don't feel Harvey and the meatheads busting up the carnival was actually evil or badly intended. It frankly felt pretty righteous. The show's morality continues to be all over the map.
Sabrina's betrayal of Caliban is a case in point. Sabrina is a very hard heroine to root for, especially after revealing that she's doing what she's doing mostly for the power.
Speaking of which, the reason Sabrina and Nick were never going to work was her saying "You have nothing to be ashamed of". That is a terrible mindset for any girlfriend to give their boyfriend that blank check after all of the destructive things Nick did. Whether he was under Lucifer's influence or not, it is to Nick's credit he won't let her let him off the hook. Maybe Nick knows how toxic he is, and knows that Sabrina is not built for toxic relationships, and doesn't respond to destructive behavior in a remotely acceptable way.
I said the show was on thin ice at the beginning of the season. These past two episodes haven't helped things. *.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Six: All Of Them Witches"
I'm furious about what happened to Dr. Cerebus (poor Hilda can't catch a break) but I am wholeheartedly on-board everything else. And I remember the real reason I dropped Riverdale is that it was incapable of delivering an episode less than awful. This show delivers the goods sometimes. Not every episode. But that was a smashing outing.
I'll try to be brief and get to everything.
The thing with Sabrina and the candle is the one thing in the episode that didn't interest me much, because I don't take something like that at face value. But the show did a very similar thing between Harvey and Roz and I DID believe it, which was the entire problem.
When the price of restoring Roz's life is Harvey's love, I was like, "This is too pat. This is the show taking the easy way out in salvaging the Sabrina / Harvey 'ship with minimal understandably hurt feelings." But then the show does an unexpected and genius thing. The sacrifice is rejected. Basically, they used a potential loophole out of messiness to say that things are actually about to get really messy. I love that. Unreservedly.
The ending was great. It was a shock and yet the episode couldn't end any other way, which is the best kind of twist.
When Blackwood tells Mary that the Devil could be standing right in front of her whispering his lies convincingly that seemed a little too on-the-nose. But it crazily works because of the performances of Richard Coyle and Missy Gomez. I suspect many other actors would play that scene as outright comedic. They seem to take the idea seriously, and play it totally straight, so it's unsettling instead. Big point in this show's favor.
Madame Marie is a Catholic? For some reason I sincerely hope her values rub off on the Coven. I don't speak merely as someone raised in a Church. I speak as someone tired of the characters on this show worshiping people who do nothing but grind them into the ground. If there is a different way to access magic powers without selling your soul, by all means, let Zelda learn it. It's about freaking time.
That being said I didn't actually buy Zelda turning away Lilith. Because there was no good reason for it, and Lilith is the type of witch better to have on the inside than the outside. She quite possibly would never have been shot if Lilith hadn't been forced to go to Wardwell as her second choice.
I punched the air at Sabrina's righteous rant at Nick. A long time coming. I reached out for a cigar after that before realizing I've never smoked before. It was beyond satisfying. And do you know what I think did it? Prudence pointing out Nick never once thanked Sabrina for what she did for him. I feel like a chump for never realizing that, but that's not just poor behavior, it's outright weird that he was unable to even pretend to indulge in the proper social niceties. Another reason he and Sabrina would never work. I don't think Nick necessarily needs his women to be narcissistic, and in fact I could see that being a turn-off to him. But if they aren't all about him, he thinks they are doing something wrong. Have I mentioned how much I utterly loathe the patriarchy of the Coven? Because that will be on the test later.
Fantastic episode. I'm taking a half-star off for Cerebus but that was otherwise awesome. ****1/2.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Judas Kiss"
This specific review is being written BEFORE I've seen the last episode. I can make a pretty good guess though. A LOT of that will be undone or retconned. I could have actually accepted the deaths of Prudence and Agatha at face value. Except Zelda and Harvey going too means there's gotta be some time travel in Sabrina's near future. I not only don't accept the idea that Harvey and Zelda could die, I reject the idea that the show just killed off four regular characters in a single episode. That's not how television operates outside of The Walking Dead and Game And Thrones. And this show is neither.
How great was the idea that Judas Iscariot is the father of Vlad the Impaler and the father of all vampires? I especially love his horrified reaction to drinking Sabrina's blood, and Sabrina disgustedly telling him consent is real is beyond awesome. That's the first time I've ever heard a person under Dracula's thrall say that, and it's about freaking time.
Blackwood is an utter snake and turns out to be the guy on the show with no redeeming qualities. He's sort of like Stannis Baratheon in that way, except much less surprising. Mark of Cain or not, he is going to meet a bad end, possibly involving torture of the eternal variety. And like Stannis, I bet this utter monster will actually be surprised at his end because being a cold-blooded killer of your own children doesn't actually up one's IQ any. That was the thing that killed me the most about Stannis. He didn't see it coming, and that was probably more outrageous to me than him burning his own daughter at the stake. I see a very similar arc for Blackwood by the time the series is over.
The great thing about the Caliban betrayal is that it's an added complication when they don't need it, and it's so bad it barely qualifies as a complication at all. If anything it's even worse than the threat of the Pagans. On this show when it rains, it pours. I love it.
Man, that was amazing and a bit infuriating. These are practically the same producers. Why is Riverdale so awful and this show so often great? It makes no sense. *****.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina "Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sabrina Is Legend"
The series is officially off probation. I now can say I can look forward to a season four (if there is one).
Time travel. Had to be. Love Sabrina breaking the paradox rules at the end (along with a cute wink at Ambrose) but part of me doesn't like ANY part of her being the Queen of Hell as long as Lucifer is there. She's gonna have to have sex with him, you know. I really wish the series hadn't already established that swell facet to her queenly duties. I think that was this show being shocking and edgy without thinking of any larger consequences down the line or what would happen if Sabrina ever DID accept the crown. It's icky and unfortunate.
But I did like them keeping the extra Sabrina instead of getting rid of her like all other time travel stuff. I love when time travel breaks the rules.
I love that Prudence blames Ambrose for Dorkus' death. I think she's oversimplifying things, but I also understand why she feels that way. They'd all be better off if Blackwood were dead.
By the way, Chance Perdomo has a great voice. He should do voice-overs for cartoons. He's the show's secret MVP.
I suspect Miranda Otto will put her passionate incantation to Hecate on her Emmy reel, but as great a performance as it is, without context nobody at the Emmys will get it. The good news is that Emmys are ultimately a meaningless reward bestowed mostly upon undeserving TV shows. Sometimes the Emmys get it right (Breaking Bad). And sometimes you are reminded David E Kelly has a shelf full of the them.
It's cool that Herod, Vlad, and Pilate joined the good guys because they were saving their artifacts for that specific moment. In a show with Satan worshipers it's nice to think there aren't many people who can't actually be redeemed. Even the first vampire, son of Judas Iscariot.
I cheered upon Cerebus being alive. This show is not afraid of a happy ending, especially for characters that deserve it.
And whether or not Dr. C is actually dead, what Hilda did with the voodoo doll didn't strike me as cold-blooded or scary. It was justified. Full stop.
Hecate is a progression in the right direction. I'd almost ask why they feel the need to worship ANYONE but I guess their powers have to come from somewhere.
If I ignore the implied incest, that was a great episode. I'm gonna ignore the implied incest. ****1/2.
Star Trek: Picard "Maps And Legends"
I did not like that as much as the Pilot. Probably because it focused much less on Picard. I also didn't quite understand what was going on with the Romulans and the Borg.
I will say this: I learned a lot more about the Romulans than I have since any Star Trek series since The Next Generation. The whole idea of Romulans never having androids works because it contradicts nothing. We haven't really gotten into that species' technological culture at all. And it looks like this series will be good for delving deeper into well-known Star Trek aliens and telling us new things about them.
I had a feeling last week (that I didn't state in my review) that this is almost certainly the last Picard project and that Picard would probably die in the series finale. Learning he has a fatal illness tells me my gut was right.
Starfleet is now inherently corrupt if the appalling way that foul-mouthed admiral treated Picard is any indication. Being infiltrated by Romulan spies in the least of Starfleet's problems.
I really liked the teaser of the fall of Utopia Planitia. The talk about the Tal Shiar's secret police in the episode (secrecy is woven into the fabric of Romulan culture) leads me to believe the Androids may have purposefully struck when they did to halt the mission to save the Romulans. That specific flashback being shown in the episode where we learned what we did made me go "Hmmmm."
I was not a fan this week. That's okay. I'm still on-board. ***1/2.
Doctor Who "Praxeus"
That was not a great episode. But as far as mysteries go, it connected many disparate elements, and tied them together satisfactorily. I'm not going to say the resolution actually made sense (this show never does) but it fit the logic of the show at any rate. Ultimately, it's a workmanlike mystery, with no mindblowing curveballs. But I don't think those types of stories have no value.
I like when Jake is listing all of the things he hates, Graham quips that he sounds like quite a catch. What a perfect thing to say to that. I'm gonna remember that for the next emo whiner who annoys me.
I especially love that Chibnall's tenure allows the Doctor to save Jake because there is nothing wrong or dirty about a happy ending, even between starcrossed lovers. Man, I seem to keep noting this, but Davies and Moffat made the show MUCH harder than it actually needed to be.
Not great. But decent enough. ***.
Harley Quinn "Bensonhurst"
That was unpleasant. Didn't like it. But I did like two things.
I liked Bane's coffee mug that says "Caffeine is my reckoning."
I also liked the stuff with Frank and the hallucinogenic honey.
But everything else was too violent and depressing. **.
Big Hero 6: The Series "Fear Not"
I love the relationship between Supersonic Sue and Stu. She is SO supportive of her dimwitted grandson, it's endearing. When she gives him a kiss at the end of the episode I was like "I don't care if they're crooks, I love them both unreservedly."
Baymax has concerns. That was a great line. I also love Sue calling Gogo Skatertot.
I think the best part of the episode was probably Ronny's seriously chill and low-key prerecorded distress-call message. He doesn't seem to care either way, which just makes me love him more. One of the selling points of this being a Disney show rather than a Marvel one is that they are allowed to make the characters lovable. Outside of Hulk and Thing, and occasionally Spider-Man when he isn't infuriating me, there aren't a ton of Marvel characters I think of as lovable. But cute characters crawl out of the woodwork on this show, simply because it's Disney. It's so much fun to watch a superhero comic cartoon where I never wind up feeling bad. It's refreshing is what it is.
That was fun. ****.
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure "Race To The Spire"
I was all set to comment on how cool it was Rapunzel saved the snow monsters, and how detestable Cass has gotten, but a bigger question hit me at the end of that:
Why did Zahn Tiri reveal herself to Rapunzel?
In all respects it's a tactical mistake. One of the biggest things Team Cass had going for it is that Rapunzel didn't actually know what she wanted. She still doesn't, but knowing Zanh Tiri is involved gives Rapunzel a rough idea. Especially dumb is Zanh Tiri telling her Cass is under her influence. If Rapunzel knows that, she can attempt to break the influence. It seems like bad villaining at first glance.
But if you think about it, it's kind of brilliant. Why? Whether or not Cass is fully responsible for her actions (and I don't tend to give her the benefit of the doubt there) telling Rapunzel she isn't is a good move on some level now that we know there is a war coming, and Cass and Rapunzel are on opposite sides. Why? It speaks to the weakness Zanh Tiri learned about Rapunzel: She's compassionate. To a fault. While Cass will be fighting her to the death, she'll be fighting Cass to containment. Which is how wars are lost. Wars are not for the timid. And if Rapunzel believes Cass can be reached, she is fighting at an immediate disadvantage, and Zanh Tiru is right that it's a weakness. Not in most circumstances. In war? Definitely.
I think Rapunzel is in for a world of hurt. I don't think reaching Cass is out of the question (this IS a Disney show) but she's going to put far more effort into that than she should, and going to lose far more than she needs to because of that. Varian's father is a case in point. Without her compassion for Calliope, he'd be fine. I think Varian has grown as a person, but if he wants to blame Rapunzel for what happens next without turning criminally insane, he will be right to.
I honestly don't like where this is headed. This used be an enjoyable show. It's still interesting and psychologically complex, which is good, but it's no longer enjoyable. I probably wouldn't be mad except the show used to be all three at once. I don't get why or appreciate that the show is no fun anymore. ***.
Lamp Life
Bo Peep's post Molly life seems to have sucked.
The security system stuff says Bo Peep is embellishing a lot of her adventure.
Woody being voiced by Jim Hanks says this project isn't very important.
We still didn't learn how Bo broke her arm.
Cute, but not much else. ***.
Muppet Babies "Chicken Round-Up / Summer's Snow Cone Stop"
Chicken Round-Up:
It's kind of hard to do the Chicken Dance if you are too cheap to license the music.
Animal annoyed me this episode. **1/2.
Summer's Snow Cone Stop:
The rest of the babies annoyed me here. Piggy in particular is insufferable for putting up pictures of herself everywhere.
I liked the poster of Mah Na Mah Na though. **1/2.
Episode Overall: **1/2.
The Good Place "Whenever You're Ready"
It's very interesting to see an episode where the afterlife is actually working. I like that normal people are actually allowed in the Good Place now, like Jason's family. It's also nice that the test improves people too like Tahani's parents.
I thought the teaser with Sean was cute. That's a lot of nevers. And then his face twitches. I also like that he's trying not to sound evil. Not doing a great job there.
Ron Swanson made it to Heaven! At least, I THINK that's him.
The stuff with Eleanor and Chiti literally made me cry. So sad and moving.
Mindy and Derek! They brought back practically everyone I cared about. Except for that demon played by Adam Scott. And I didn't really care about him.
Michael being made human is a perfect end for him. I like that he and the Judge hooked up.
The Judge finds them all annoying. She knows they saved the Universe but it's their tone.
Michael Realman. I love that. I also love that his guitar teacher is Mary Steenburgen.
I love that they actually went to Europe to film the scenes for Chiti and Eleanor's vacation. That was neat.
I found the end that perhaps people going through the door wind up as good intentions really cool.
I'll miss this show. Take it sleazy, Good Place. Take it sleazy. *****.
