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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episode of Doctor Who, the season finale of Harley Quinn, the latest episodes of Teen Titans Go!, DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts, Batwoman, Supergirl, Marvel Bend & Flex, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, The Simpsons, Duncanville, Bob's Burgers, and Family Guy, the season premiere of Power Rangers: Beast Morphers, and the latest episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Star Trek: Picard "Stardust City Rag"
There has always been a raging debate in nerddom over who would win in a fight: Captain Kirk or Captain Picard? The correct answer is Seven Of Nine.
Good for the episode for resisting nerfing Seven's coldbloodedness at the end. I tend to agree with Picard that vengeance solves nothing, but that woman was dangerous and still causing great harm. I think Seven killing her was not just vengeance. It was necessary for the safety of all former Borg.
Poor Icheb. They recast him but I don't mind too much. I couldn't exactly expect his original actor to return for THAT scene.
Picard's goofiness with the eyepatch is probably only done because the writers now know something about Patrick Stewart they didn't know on The Next Generation. Stewart is not afraid to look goofy and play the fool. His performance on American Dad is utterly fearless and that's just a cartoon. He is willing to put himself in degrading situations if the comedy payoff is worth it. And as goofy as this was, it WAS worth it, and not as degrading as what he's usually asked to do for Avery Bullock either. And I like that they leaned into that strength here with that specific character for the first time ever.
I was unsurprised Agnes turned out to be dirty. She was acting a bit shady throughout the episode. The audience was privy to alarming and confusing reaction shots she had at various points that the other characters weren't. It was set up is what I'm saying.
Elnor reminds me that this is the very first Star Trek series to have a Romulan as a series regular. It almost strikes me as long overdue.
Raffi's son sucks. Although I am again noticing how integrated with the rest of the galaxy Romulans are now in that a human and a Romulan can have a baby together and nobody bats an eye. In a lot of ways Romulan society is worse off for Picard's failures. On the other hand, in many ways it is more progressive than it has ever been.
Quark from Deep Space Nine was mentioned here, not only stating that he's still alive, but that he's delved deeper into the criminal underworld.
I found it very interesting that one of the things Picard is most famous for among outsiders is that he's a former Borg. You heard all of his accomplishments a couple of episodes ago, but you realize that no matter what he achieves, he'll never outrun the Battle of Wolf 359. Also very interesting that he admits to Seven that he still doesn't feel fully human again. That was a very eye-opening moment to me, and I'm thinking the only reason he told her that specific thing is that she too is a former Borg, and knows what he's going through, and probably even more-so. I don't picture him ever revealing that Troi. It was a great scene.
Very cool episode. ****1/2.
Doctor Who "Ascension Of The Cybermen"
That was amazing. One of the selling points of the show to me is that it always gets me to lose my cynicism and believe at various points that any character can die at any moment, including the Companions. I talk smack about Davies and Moffat a lot, but this idea started with both of them and the dire tone has never really faltered or let up in the finales.
The Master next week, and the truth of Gallifrey, and I'm still mad we probably won't be getting any answers about Ruth this season. Still next week looks to be a shocker.
That was a pretty great episode. ****1/2.
Harley Quinn "The Final Joke"
A happy ending for this show is the bad guys winning and Gotham being in chaos and the Justice League missing. I can accept that. I can even be impressed that they revealed Batman's identity to Joker and killed off Scarecrow without buying that and Ivy's death back with a time travel scenario. If Joker loses his memory the Batman reveal won't matter. I loved the reveal by the way, and how mad Joker was with it. It was really underwhelming, which is probably why he hated it as much as he did. And Harley is empowered, and Joker is humiliated and defeated at the end as he should be.
So all of that is solid, right? So why do I think the episode sucked?
It's not funny. It's not like a major drama like BoJack Horseman either, I just either didn't find either the jokes funny, or the appalling things happening on-screen that the show thinks I should find funny funny. My biggest complaint about the Pilot is that it seemed geared to entertain either psychopaths or people who are so jaded they can't actually enjoy anything. And I find projects that cater to either of those two demographics, just plain, well, lousy. There will always been critics who praise and find merit in depravity being depicted on-screen. But I don't find it funny. I don't find it entertaining. And I resent the fact that the show thinks I'm supposed to find King Shark's teeth being ripped out as a sight gag funny.
I get the appeal of these types of shows to seriously messed up fans, of which have an alarming amount of power at DC Comics, and seem to be the kind of fans the company is most eager to please and cater to. And I'm sure there are plenty of people who enjoyed that who aren't messed up. But as long as I'm not personally messed up, I can't enjoy that. Who knows, maybe someday I'll be at a low point in my life where I will find something that nasty cathartic. As it stands, I can't watch that kind of thing with a clinical detachment and act like every bad thing happening is outside of my emotional response. And there will be people who like the show objecting to me calling it geared towards psychopaths. But it seems to ask the viewer to not be bothered by a lot to enjoy very little. And maybe that's possible for non-psychopaths. It is not possible for me while I am not a psychopath. I am not wired that way. I'm sure there is a lot of high-quality avant-garde film and television that is lost on me because I respond so negatively to being shown bad things. But I like that about me. And I'm not changing my entire outlook on life just to act like this is remotely acceptable.
I don't want anyone who reads this review to think that I automatically think they are a psychopath if they liked that. But can you at least perhaps entertain my concern that DC seems to be targeting this stuff towards a very toxic element of fandom?
To be absolutely 100% fair to the show, even if what I'm saying is true, on some level it's an admirable thing that they are targeting the show towards cynical incels. Why? Because the empowerment message of Harley rejecting Joker is something those people need to see and hear. And maybe they'll be slightly receptive to that message as long as the female characters are still suffering horrible things. I feel like this episode could be a turning point for its Alt-right fans. But that doesn't make me one of them.
Sigh. Very disappointing finale, although as a whole the series hasn't been all bad. *.
Teen Titans Go! "We're Off To Get Awards"
So how are we going to do this?
That must be destroyed. And it will be pretty easy to do. What tack do I take to point out how much that sucked? That's it's loud and obnoxious? That it tackles an issue that none of the kids in the audience relate to using a movie they have probably never seen? Low hangin' fruit, man.
No, the only bad thing I need to point out is that the Awards show is literally titled "The Superhero Awards Show".
Do me a favor, Teen Titans Go. This is as much for your benefit as it is mine. Could you at least TRY? I mean sometimes, at least? I am aware this show is probably not that difficult to write, but you could get a cheap laugh by calling them the Supeys, and nobody would blame you. But the show is so stupid, so badly written, and so lazy, even that's too much for them.
This was totally pathetic. They couldn't even come up with a joke for the framing structure for the episode premise. It's like for DC Animation the moral is that if you put in no effort and are hated by the hardcore fans, you automatically get 6 seasons and two movies. Why didn't Justice League Unlimited or Young Justice ever think of that? *.
Teen Titans Go! "Bat Scouts"
Christopher Nolan will forever be blemished as the guy who handed off the DC movie franchise to Zack Snyder, willingly no less, but for my money, his worst contribution to DC lore is the Bat-Growl. It is just awful, and now it appears to be the status quo for live-action. Basically Nolan ruined every single Batman performance from his movies forward. It's a travesty.
Also, Batman is not mysterious and cool for leaving behind people's backs. He's freaking rude. And it's about time he was called on it.
Not bad. Made fun of the right things. ***.
DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts "Flash Forward Flash Back"
I have always really like Phil Lamar's voice performance as Barry Allen. This short was a good showcase for him. ****.
Batwoman "Drink Me"
"Things have gotten too serious and it's time to have a little more fun" was a very self-aware meta moment. The past couple of weeks have been a downer and a chore to watch. Batwoman vs. a vampire helps.
I love Luke suggesting making a reaction video to Kate watching Nocturna hit on Sophie. Give those two girls a cup and we're in business.
It's bad enough Jacob waltzes right back into work and doesn't understand the realities of the job have changed while he was gone. What I dislike is that he's automatically back in charge of the Crows to begin with. Even if he got sprung from prison, I'd have to think a ton of his men would think his shaky alibi was a complete fantasy and crock. I don't understand why he was reinstated back to the top slot after that. At the very least there would be hearings and discussions over his fitness for the position. The show was far too eager to get back to the status quo that it skipped the believable middle step entirely. Do you know what other Berlanti show does that? Riverdale. That is not good company to keep.
I like that Mary is smart enough to figure it out on her own. You'd figure Sophie would be able to tell she's kissing the same person though. If I were Kate I'd be insulted.
I love Kate calling Alice a vampire who feeds on her guilt. Her long list detailing the ACTUAL reasons she's been stupid was a great Why You Suck moment.
Better than the past few weeks. ***1/2.
Supergirl "It's A Super Life"
I like the idea that hunky Mxy was always a put-on and he always really looked Thomas Lennon the entire time.
You know what? I hated the premise of the episode at first. The whole point seemed to be to show that there was no good time to tell Lena, and that idea lets Kara too much off the hook. But this should also not be the historic chore Lena is making it. Perhaps it's the revelation that Kara has put way more effort into this friendship than it was worth is what is Mxy's true gift.
And you know what? That's the actual moral, at least for me. For Kara she says she realizes there would always be consequences to telling her and she has to live with them. I don't agree with that perspective entirely, especially with Mxy present. But if it will stop her from repeatedly apologizing to Lena for Lena being a sucky friend, I'LL live with it.
Still, I don't understand why Kara wouldn't be allowed to pop into the new timeline where Lena knows and save her from Agent Liberty. It's like the episode forgot its own hook of Kara being able to edit her past. Why is that restricted to only once per timeline?
The last timeline with Evil Lena shows me exactly how worthless Lena is. She is the same person as that fascist and only different circumstances changed her. That not a good person worth saving. That's a bad person deep down.
Do you know what I love? Winn isn't an evil Toyman in any of the worse timelines. Our boy is always on the side of angels in this Universe, no matter what. I love that.
I love that Mxy gave Alex and J'onn a game of paintball to distract them. That was fun.
Weird they didn't bring Mechad Brooks back for the 100th episode. Honestly, the fact that he DIDN'T come back, even in a season he had appeared previously in, tells me he's simply done with the show. Considering how wasted James was, if that's the case, I don't blame him a bit.
Calista Flockhart being absent was a bigger surprise and disappointment.
My favorite Mxy moment was him conceding he can't force people to like him, and he was grateful to Kara to show him how it felt to be a hero, and genuinely appreciated by people. Say what you will about this version of Mr. Mxyzptlk, he's not a villain at all. And he never was.
I looking forward to Kara stop trying to save Lena. She's isn't worth it, and the show will be better once it stops acting like a character who is willing to destroy an entire city because she has no friends isn't actually totally weird, and not worth saving. Ick. It's about time. ****.
Marvel Bend & Flex "Shield Of Screams"
That is SO funny. I love Venom clapping with Spidey at the end and then Spidey nailing him with a web blaster. Even funnier is that Venom was allowed to lick the cupcake.
I loved it. *****.
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure "Once A Handmaiden"
I am about to give that a very negative review, but before I do I feel the compulsion to compliment the show for a scene that was wonderful in both its ingenuity and what it revealed about the characters. It was Rapunzel and Cass playing each other in the play and saying what they believed the other felt deep down. That is the kind of psychological stuff the show used to excel at and it was good to see it again. But once the line "So who is the bad guy?" is spoken, the episode falls apart nearly immediately.
Cass is the bad guy. Cass is the one who tried to kill Rapunzel a couple of episodes ago. I don't want the show offering me nuance about the character after that happened. Which is something that bothers me about superhero shows with supposedly sympathetic villains too: It's how easily manipulated the on the fence villains are, and how willing they are to ascribe the worst motivations to the hero trying to reason with them. It doesn't strike me as a character development so much as mere bad luck, piling onto itself. In saying nobody is the bad guy, and in washing Cass's hands of blame or responsibility, the show has had to do unbelievably hackneyed backflips to explain why Cass has done all this. Occam's Razor states she destroyed Corona because she is a bad person. But the show is doing everything in its power to refuse to have her own full responsibility for it with the lame and coincidental justifications done by Zhan Tiri with minimal effort. It's all so phony and cliched, and why most shows trying to get the audience to sympathize with a bad guy don't actually work. They sometimes do. But not always. And add the notion of the betrayal which I've always blathered would never work, and the episode and premise of the season were already on life support.
This doesn't help things. The show has been far worse this season than it has ever been, and that is down solely to the shark jump of the last scene of last year's finale. I would have loved to have done a mea culpa about being wrong in my harsh prediction that the series was now ruined, but I was 99% sure I would never have to offer it when I made it. Here is an unbelievably sad fact to me. I have said the betrayal trope never works and never ends well. Let's say I AM wrong, just this once, and this series will be the first fictional project in modern history to pull this off. Even if things end well, I won't be that impressed. Why? Because THIS episode sucked for it, and the majority of episodes with Cass sucked for it, so even if they somehow created a phenomenal series finale out of this mess, it's still been a net negative for the season and the series. For all of the pleas I've heard to give the series a chance to tell their story and the benefit of the doubt, and how unfair and harsh I have been on the show without knowing how it ends, I can say the season is almost over, and I already dislike it greatly, as it's been going on. It's no fun to watch anymore, and whether or not the series has an outstanding finale will not change that impression I have been having week after week. There really is no point in being offended for me not being willing to see how it ends up when I HAVE seen and hated most of how it's played out already. I don't like the season and an amazing last episode won't change that.
But I will give it up for the clever scene at the play. *.
The Simpsons "Frink Coin"
It wasn't great but I still liked it.
I like that the week after we were cruelly denied the Old Sea Captain spotlight we always wanted, we got the Dr. Frink spotlight we always wanted. Not bad.
Mr. Burns getting angry over the Monty thing really steamed me for some reason. I'm glad Smithers goes to a sycophant support group, but that was ugly.
Also I think it was ugly the way it turned out Lenny and Carl were using Frink. I get Kirk and Gil using him. They suck. But it angers me that Lenny and Carl did because they are generally speaking nice.
I'm glad Homer was not included in the final test. Because if it turned out he WAS just using Frink that would actually be out of character for the Homer from every season past the fourth. Homer has not been that much of a jerk in a LONG time. Jerk@$$ Homer was never a real thing, and it was actually "fans" misremembering the fact that the Homer of the first few seasons was an utter b*stard. Modern Homer's actually a legitimately nice guy with very few wants and needs. And it's because he wants and needs so little which is why he's nice. I would not be down with the idea that he was using Frink. Because in reality Homer wouldn't actually care about money one way or the other. His apathy about things like that is why he's nice, and also why he's stupid. It's also why he's relatively happy compared to everyone else on the show.
Too Tall Jones? I love when the show casts people who were famous before the show existed. I believe I complimented Jane Goodall earlier in the season for the same reason.
Jim Parsons made it! Did everybody see that? That was funny.
Good for Frink for hooking up with his nemesis at the end. They have more in common than they don't.
Moe is the Evil Bartender and he always was.
Mel isn't allowed his own lane. Also Eddie needs more things to do.
Patty and Selma can't smoke because of Disney. At least they can admit it and own up to it.
For some reason, making fun of the Cats movie already feels dated. Although the same thing can be said about that movie's visual effects.
I enjoyed that. ***1/2.
Duncanville "Redhead Redemption"
I had a sneaking suspicion this would be the last time I saw the show, but do you know what? I'll stick around for another week at least.
There were things I liked and things I didn't.
I liked that Kimberly proclaims nobody can hurt her feelings because as a teenage girl she's been subject to every level of insult and shaming possible. And yet, learning she's a cyberbully too makes that moment of empowerment absolutely irrelevant. I wouldn't have liked that latter joke anyways, but couldn't they at least have put it in a different episode than the first joke?
Duncan's dad refusing to throw out the Confederate flag, despite knowing why it is evil, says the guy has a serious problem. I can see keeping one of those things if you are a total monster. But if you keep it because you're a packrat / hoarder, you need industrial strength therapy.
Slightly better than last week, and I stuck around for this week after last week. I'll be back for at least one more go-round. ***1/2.
Bob's Burgers "Three Girls And Little Wharfy"
I love Megan telling Louise to stay away from the cat on her street because it cannot be trusted, and Louise retorting that "Well, alright but if the cat talks to me I'm not going to be rude."
Teddy continues to be the most annoying character on the show. Bob's pastime this week is absolutely worthless. And I'm still aggravated when Teddy interrupts him for no reason. That character is a special level of suck. I don't know how anyone else puts up with him.
We didn't have Spirit Week at school when I was a kid. My childhood actually sucked but I think it would have been much worse if we had.
Linda slapping on the lotion was gross.
Do you know moment felt ridiculously true to life? Louise and Linda getting into an alarmingly sudden screaming match over going to bed defused by Linda kissing her on the forehead. That felt real to me in every way. It was also super funny so that's another reason I loved it.
Solid week. ****.
Family Guy "Undergrounded"
I didn't exactly like that, but I didn't have any real objections either.
I love Peter saying that husbands aren't actually adults. They somehow both pay for things and are burdens at the exact same time. That bordered on deep.
Don't do that, Mila. Not on this show.
Brian seeking validation for being a dog will never stop being funny. The character is always loathsome. Except when he does that.
The tag calling back the Lois murder thing was awful, yet somehow unsurprising and in character for them both. This is a show about some very horrible people.
Yes, Joe was on Seinfeld. He played the Soup Nazi.
Star Trek VI is a solid Star Trek movie but it never gets any pop culture love. About freaking time.
That was fine but Bob's Burgers won the night. ***1/2.
Power Rangers: Beast Morphers "Believe It Or Not"
We'll stipulate that was lame. That should go without saying. There was something at the beginning however I really loved.
The first scene of the series (season) was Devon tussling with the jock who was going to be the original Red Ranger and turned out to be one of the villain avatars through no fault of his own in a karate match, and losing his cool. Devon's behavior in that scene always rubbed me the wrong way. At first I thought that was a deliberate story choice, and perhaps the Hasbro era distancing itself a bit from the corny clean-cut image the series previously had. But no, that was the only episode like that, so in hindsight Devon's just a jerk.
What I liked about this episode is that him and the jock are going a couple of rounds again. And then he helps him up after knocking him down. After their experience, they are now friends. It's really cool for ANY show to parallel its opening scene, but what's even better is that it is used here to show growth, and why things are now better. All things considered, the show sucks. But that was not something a sucky show usually does. I will give it the proper credit for that.
I'm giving that four stars on general principle. ****.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Jimmy-Jab Games II"
I love that Debbie think Charles is suave. For some reason the idea that Charles is hung also doesn't surprise me. The series tends to reward good behavior so it makes sense one of the most chivalrous males on the show is well-endowed.
Is it just me or has Holt turned kind of pathetic since he became a beat cop? It's not just me. I felt so bad for Rosa when she revealed Jocelyn broke up with her. Ray is NOT good at human interaction.
I like Debbie's singing voice. But I especially like that she's so stupid she thinks believing she can do anything means she can steal evidence from the evidence locker.
Jake took out the batteries for his smoke detector for his singing Billy Bass? Jake is not smart. Him on the Epipen was hilarious.
Holt not liking the music but wanting to stay anyways was sweet.
Good episode. Debbie is going to be future trouble. ***1/2.
Star Trek: Picard "Stardust City Rag"
There has always been a raging debate in nerddom over who would win in a fight: Captain Kirk or Captain Picard? The correct answer is Seven Of Nine.
Good for the episode for resisting nerfing Seven's coldbloodedness at the end. I tend to agree with Picard that vengeance solves nothing, but that woman was dangerous and still causing great harm. I think Seven killing her was not just vengeance. It was necessary for the safety of all former Borg.
Poor Icheb. They recast him but I don't mind too much. I couldn't exactly expect his original actor to return for THAT scene.
Picard's goofiness with the eyepatch is probably only done because the writers now know something about Patrick Stewart they didn't know on The Next Generation. Stewart is not afraid to look goofy and play the fool. His performance on American Dad is utterly fearless and that's just a cartoon. He is willing to put himself in degrading situations if the comedy payoff is worth it. And as goofy as this was, it WAS worth it, and not as degrading as what he's usually asked to do for Avery Bullock either. And I like that they leaned into that strength here with that specific character for the first time ever.
I was unsurprised Agnes turned out to be dirty. She was acting a bit shady throughout the episode. The audience was privy to alarming and confusing reaction shots she had at various points that the other characters weren't. It was set up is what I'm saying.
Elnor reminds me that this is the very first Star Trek series to have a Romulan as a series regular. It almost strikes me as long overdue.
Raffi's son sucks. Although I am again noticing how integrated with the rest of the galaxy Romulans are now in that a human and a Romulan can have a baby together and nobody bats an eye. In a lot of ways Romulan society is worse off for Picard's failures. On the other hand, in many ways it is more progressive than it has ever been.
Quark from Deep Space Nine was mentioned here, not only stating that he's still alive, but that he's delved deeper into the criminal underworld.
I found it very interesting that one of the things Picard is most famous for among outsiders is that he's a former Borg. You heard all of his accomplishments a couple of episodes ago, but you realize that no matter what he achieves, he'll never outrun the Battle of Wolf 359. Also very interesting that he admits to Seven that he still doesn't feel fully human again. That was a very eye-opening moment to me, and I'm thinking the only reason he told her that specific thing is that she too is a former Borg, and knows what he's going through, and probably even more-so. I don't picture him ever revealing that Troi. It was a great scene.
Very cool episode. ****1/2.
Doctor Who "Ascension Of The Cybermen"
That was amazing. One of the selling points of the show to me is that it always gets me to lose my cynicism and believe at various points that any character can die at any moment, including the Companions. I talk smack about Davies and Moffat a lot, but this idea started with both of them and the dire tone has never really faltered or let up in the finales.
The Master next week, and the truth of Gallifrey, and I'm still mad we probably won't be getting any answers about Ruth this season. Still next week looks to be a shocker.
That was a pretty great episode. ****1/2.
Harley Quinn "The Final Joke"
A happy ending for this show is the bad guys winning and Gotham being in chaos and the Justice League missing. I can accept that. I can even be impressed that they revealed Batman's identity to Joker and killed off Scarecrow without buying that and Ivy's death back with a time travel scenario. If Joker loses his memory the Batman reveal won't matter. I loved the reveal by the way, and how mad Joker was with it. It was really underwhelming, which is probably why he hated it as much as he did. And Harley is empowered, and Joker is humiliated and defeated at the end as he should be.
So all of that is solid, right? So why do I think the episode sucked?
It's not funny. It's not like a major drama like BoJack Horseman either, I just either didn't find either the jokes funny, or the appalling things happening on-screen that the show thinks I should find funny funny. My biggest complaint about the Pilot is that it seemed geared to entertain either psychopaths or people who are so jaded they can't actually enjoy anything. And I find projects that cater to either of those two demographics, just plain, well, lousy. There will always been critics who praise and find merit in depravity being depicted on-screen. But I don't find it funny. I don't find it entertaining. And I resent the fact that the show thinks I'm supposed to find King Shark's teeth being ripped out as a sight gag funny.
I get the appeal of these types of shows to seriously messed up fans, of which have an alarming amount of power at DC Comics, and seem to be the kind of fans the company is most eager to please and cater to. And I'm sure there are plenty of people who enjoyed that who aren't messed up. But as long as I'm not personally messed up, I can't enjoy that. Who knows, maybe someday I'll be at a low point in my life where I will find something that nasty cathartic. As it stands, I can't watch that kind of thing with a clinical detachment and act like every bad thing happening is outside of my emotional response. And there will be people who like the show objecting to me calling it geared towards psychopaths. But it seems to ask the viewer to not be bothered by a lot to enjoy very little. And maybe that's possible for non-psychopaths. It is not possible for me while I am not a psychopath. I am not wired that way. I'm sure there is a lot of high-quality avant-garde film and television that is lost on me because I respond so negatively to being shown bad things. But I like that about me. And I'm not changing my entire outlook on life just to act like this is remotely acceptable.
I don't want anyone who reads this review to think that I automatically think they are a psychopath if they liked that. But can you at least perhaps entertain my concern that DC seems to be targeting this stuff towards a very toxic element of fandom?
To be absolutely 100% fair to the show, even if what I'm saying is true, on some level it's an admirable thing that they are targeting the show towards cynical incels. Why? Because the empowerment message of Harley rejecting Joker is something those people need to see and hear. And maybe they'll be slightly receptive to that message as long as the female characters are still suffering horrible things. I feel like this episode could be a turning point for its Alt-right fans. But that doesn't make me one of them.
Sigh. Very disappointing finale, although as a whole the series hasn't been all bad. *.
Teen Titans Go! "We're Off To Get Awards"
So how are we going to do this?
That must be destroyed. And it will be pretty easy to do. What tack do I take to point out how much that sucked? That's it's loud and obnoxious? That it tackles an issue that none of the kids in the audience relate to using a movie they have probably never seen? Low hangin' fruit, man.
No, the only bad thing I need to point out is that the Awards show is literally titled "The Superhero Awards Show".
Do me a favor, Teen Titans Go. This is as much for your benefit as it is mine. Could you at least TRY? I mean sometimes, at least? I am aware this show is probably not that difficult to write, but you could get a cheap laugh by calling them the Supeys, and nobody would blame you. But the show is so stupid, so badly written, and so lazy, even that's too much for them.
This was totally pathetic. They couldn't even come up with a joke for the framing structure for the episode premise. It's like for DC Animation the moral is that if you put in no effort and are hated by the hardcore fans, you automatically get 6 seasons and two movies. Why didn't Justice League Unlimited or Young Justice ever think of that? *.
Teen Titans Go! "Bat Scouts"
Christopher Nolan will forever be blemished as the guy who handed off the DC movie franchise to Zack Snyder, willingly no less, but for my money, his worst contribution to DC lore is the Bat-Growl. It is just awful, and now it appears to be the status quo for live-action. Basically Nolan ruined every single Batman performance from his movies forward. It's a travesty.
Also, Batman is not mysterious and cool for leaving behind people's backs. He's freaking rude. And it's about time he was called on it.
Not bad. Made fun of the right things. ***.
DC Super Hero Girls Super Shorts "Flash Forward Flash Back"
I have always really like Phil Lamar's voice performance as Barry Allen. This short was a good showcase for him. ****.
Batwoman "Drink Me"
"Things have gotten too serious and it's time to have a little more fun" was a very self-aware meta moment. The past couple of weeks have been a downer and a chore to watch. Batwoman vs. a vampire helps.
I love Luke suggesting making a reaction video to Kate watching Nocturna hit on Sophie. Give those two girls a cup and we're in business.
It's bad enough Jacob waltzes right back into work and doesn't understand the realities of the job have changed while he was gone. What I dislike is that he's automatically back in charge of the Crows to begin with. Even if he got sprung from prison, I'd have to think a ton of his men would think his shaky alibi was a complete fantasy and crock. I don't understand why he was reinstated back to the top slot after that. At the very least there would be hearings and discussions over his fitness for the position. The show was far too eager to get back to the status quo that it skipped the believable middle step entirely. Do you know what other Berlanti show does that? Riverdale. That is not good company to keep.
I like that Mary is smart enough to figure it out on her own. You'd figure Sophie would be able to tell she's kissing the same person though. If I were Kate I'd be insulted.
I love Kate calling Alice a vampire who feeds on her guilt. Her long list detailing the ACTUAL reasons she's been stupid was a great Why You Suck moment.
Better than the past few weeks. ***1/2.
Supergirl "It's A Super Life"
I like the idea that hunky Mxy was always a put-on and he always really looked Thomas Lennon the entire time.
You know what? I hated the premise of the episode at first. The whole point seemed to be to show that there was no good time to tell Lena, and that idea lets Kara too much off the hook. But this should also not be the historic chore Lena is making it. Perhaps it's the revelation that Kara has put way more effort into this friendship than it was worth is what is Mxy's true gift.
And you know what? That's the actual moral, at least for me. For Kara she says she realizes there would always be consequences to telling her and she has to live with them. I don't agree with that perspective entirely, especially with Mxy present. But if it will stop her from repeatedly apologizing to Lena for Lena being a sucky friend, I'LL live with it.
Still, I don't understand why Kara wouldn't be allowed to pop into the new timeline where Lena knows and save her from Agent Liberty. It's like the episode forgot its own hook of Kara being able to edit her past. Why is that restricted to only once per timeline?
The last timeline with Evil Lena shows me exactly how worthless Lena is. She is the same person as that fascist and only different circumstances changed her. That not a good person worth saving. That's a bad person deep down.
Do you know what I love? Winn isn't an evil Toyman in any of the worse timelines. Our boy is always on the side of angels in this Universe, no matter what. I love that.
I love that Mxy gave Alex and J'onn a game of paintball to distract them. That was fun.
Weird they didn't bring Mechad Brooks back for the 100th episode. Honestly, the fact that he DIDN'T come back, even in a season he had appeared previously in, tells me he's simply done with the show. Considering how wasted James was, if that's the case, I don't blame him a bit.
Calista Flockhart being absent was a bigger surprise and disappointment.
My favorite Mxy moment was him conceding he can't force people to like him, and he was grateful to Kara to show him how it felt to be a hero, and genuinely appreciated by people. Say what you will about this version of Mr. Mxyzptlk, he's not a villain at all. And he never was.
I looking forward to Kara stop trying to save Lena. She's isn't worth it, and the show will be better once it stops acting like a character who is willing to destroy an entire city because she has no friends isn't actually totally weird, and not worth saving. Ick. It's about time. ****.
Marvel Bend & Flex "Shield Of Screams"
That is SO funny. I love Venom clapping with Spidey at the end and then Spidey nailing him with a web blaster. Even funnier is that Venom was allowed to lick the cupcake.
I loved it. *****.
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure "Once A Handmaiden"
I am about to give that a very negative review, but before I do I feel the compulsion to compliment the show for a scene that was wonderful in both its ingenuity and what it revealed about the characters. It was Rapunzel and Cass playing each other in the play and saying what they believed the other felt deep down. That is the kind of psychological stuff the show used to excel at and it was good to see it again. But once the line "So who is the bad guy?" is spoken, the episode falls apart nearly immediately.
Cass is the bad guy. Cass is the one who tried to kill Rapunzel a couple of episodes ago. I don't want the show offering me nuance about the character after that happened. Which is something that bothers me about superhero shows with supposedly sympathetic villains too: It's how easily manipulated the on the fence villains are, and how willing they are to ascribe the worst motivations to the hero trying to reason with them. It doesn't strike me as a character development so much as mere bad luck, piling onto itself. In saying nobody is the bad guy, and in washing Cass's hands of blame or responsibility, the show has had to do unbelievably hackneyed backflips to explain why Cass has done all this. Occam's Razor states she destroyed Corona because she is a bad person. But the show is doing everything in its power to refuse to have her own full responsibility for it with the lame and coincidental justifications done by Zhan Tiri with minimal effort. It's all so phony and cliched, and why most shows trying to get the audience to sympathize with a bad guy don't actually work. They sometimes do. But not always. And add the notion of the betrayal which I've always blathered would never work, and the episode and premise of the season were already on life support.
This doesn't help things. The show has been far worse this season than it has ever been, and that is down solely to the shark jump of the last scene of last year's finale. I would have loved to have done a mea culpa about being wrong in my harsh prediction that the series was now ruined, but I was 99% sure I would never have to offer it when I made it. Here is an unbelievably sad fact to me. I have said the betrayal trope never works and never ends well. Let's say I AM wrong, just this once, and this series will be the first fictional project in modern history to pull this off. Even if things end well, I won't be that impressed. Why? Because THIS episode sucked for it, and the majority of episodes with Cass sucked for it, so even if they somehow created a phenomenal series finale out of this mess, it's still been a net negative for the season and the series. For all of the pleas I've heard to give the series a chance to tell their story and the benefit of the doubt, and how unfair and harsh I have been on the show without knowing how it ends, I can say the season is almost over, and I already dislike it greatly, as it's been going on. It's no fun to watch anymore, and whether or not the series has an outstanding finale will not change that impression I have been having week after week. There really is no point in being offended for me not being willing to see how it ends up when I HAVE seen and hated most of how it's played out already. I don't like the season and an amazing last episode won't change that.
But I will give it up for the clever scene at the play. *.
The Simpsons "Frink Coin"
It wasn't great but I still liked it.
I like that the week after we were cruelly denied the Old Sea Captain spotlight we always wanted, we got the Dr. Frink spotlight we always wanted. Not bad.
Mr. Burns getting angry over the Monty thing really steamed me for some reason. I'm glad Smithers goes to a sycophant support group, but that was ugly.
Also I think it was ugly the way it turned out Lenny and Carl were using Frink. I get Kirk and Gil using him. They suck. But it angers me that Lenny and Carl did because they are generally speaking nice.
I'm glad Homer was not included in the final test. Because if it turned out he WAS just using Frink that would actually be out of character for the Homer from every season past the fourth. Homer has not been that much of a jerk in a LONG time. Jerk@$$ Homer was never a real thing, and it was actually "fans" misremembering the fact that the Homer of the first few seasons was an utter b*stard. Modern Homer's actually a legitimately nice guy with very few wants and needs. And it's because he wants and needs so little which is why he's nice. I would not be down with the idea that he was using Frink. Because in reality Homer wouldn't actually care about money one way or the other. His apathy about things like that is why he's nice, and also why he's stupid. It's also why he's relatively happy compared to everyone else on the show.
Too Tall Jones? I love when the show casts people who were famous before the show existed. I believe I complimented Jane Goodall earlier in the season for the same reason.
Jim Parsons made it! Did everybody see that? That was funny.
Good for Frink for hooking up with his nemesis at the end. They have more in common than they don't.
Moe is the Evil Bartender and he always was.
Mel isn't allowed his own lane. Also Eddie needs more things to do.
Patty and Selma can't smoke because of Disney. At least they can admit it and own up to it.
For some reason, making fun of the Cats movie already feels dated. Although the same thing can be said about that movie's visual effects.
I enjoyed that. ***1/2.
Duncanville "Redhead Redemption"
I had a sneaking suspicion this would be the last time I saw the show, but do you know what? I'll stick around for another week at least.
There were things I liked and things I didn't.
I liked that Kimberly proclaims nobody can hurt her feelings because as a teenage girl she's been subject to every level of insult and shaming possible. And yet, learning she's a cyberbully too makes that moment of empowerment absolutely irrelevant. I wouldn't have liked that latter joke anyways, but couldn't they at least have put it in a different episode than the first joke?
Duncan's dad refusing to throw out the Confederate flag, despite knowing why it is evil, says the guy has a serious problem. I can see keeping one of those things if you are a total monster. But if you keep it because you're a packrat / hoarder, you need industrial strength therapy.
Slightly better than last week, and I stuck around for this week after last week. I'll be back for at least one more go-round. ***1/2.
Bob's Burgers "Three Girls And Little Wharfy"
I love Megan telling Louise to stay away from the cat on her street because it cannot be trusted, and Louise retorting that "Well, alright but if the cat talks to me I'm not going to be rude."
Teddy continues to be the most annoying character on the show. Bob's pastime this week is absolutely worthless. And I'm still aggravated when Teddy interrupts him for no reason. That character is a special level of suck. I don't know how anyone else puts up with him.
We didn't have Spirit Week at school when I was a kid. My childhood actually sucked but I think it would have been much worse if we had.
Linda slapping on the lotion was gross.
Do you know moment felt ridiculously true to life? Louise and Linda getting into an alarmingly sudden screaming match over going to bed defused by Linda kissing her on the forehead. That felt real to me in every way. It was also super funny so that's another reason I loved it.
Solid week. ****.
Family Guy "Undergrounded"
I didn't exactly like that, but I didn't have any real objections either.
I love Peter saying that husbands aren't actually adults. They somehow both pay for things and are burdens at the exact same time. That bordered on deep.
Don't do that, Mila. Not on this show.
Brian seeking validation for being a dog will never stop being funny. The character is always loathsome. Except when he does that.
The tag calling back the Lois murder thing was awful, yet somehow unsurprising and in character for them both. This is a show about some very horrible people.
Yes, Joe was on Seinfeld. He played the Soup Nazi.
Star Trek VI is a solid Star Trek movie but it never gets any pop culture love. About freaking time.
That was fine but Bob's Burgers won the night. ***1/2.
Power Rangers: Beast Morphers "Believe It Or Not"
We'll stipulate that was lame. That should go without saying. There was something at the beginning however I really loved.
The first scene of the series (season) was Devon tussling with the jock who was going to be the original Red Ranger and turned out to be one of the villain avatars through no fault of his own in a karate match, and losing his cool. Devon's behavior in that scene always rubbed me the wrong way. At first I thought that was a deliberate story choice, and perhaps the Hasbro era distancing itself a bit from the corny clean-cut image the series previously had. But no, that was the only episode like that, so in hindsight Devon's just a jerk.
What I liked about this episode is that him and the jock are going a couple of rounds again. And then he helps him up after knocking him down. After their experience, they are now friends. It's really cool for ANY show to parallel its opening scene, but what's even better is that it is used here to show growth, and why things are now better. All things considered, the show sucks. But that was not something a sucky show usually does. I will give it the proper credit for that.
I'm giving that four stars on general principle. ****.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Jimmy-Jab Games II"
I love that Debbie think Charles is suave. For some reason the idea that Charles is hung also doesn't surprise me. The series tends to reward good behavior so it makes sense one of the most chivalrous males on the show is well-endowed.
Is it just me or has Holt turned kind of pathetic since he became a beat cop? It's not just me. I felt so bad for Rosa when she revealed Jocelyn broke up with her. Ray is NOT good at human interaction.
I like Debbie's singing voice. But I especially like that she's so stupid she thinks believing she can do anything means she can steal evidence from the evidence locker.
Jake took out the batteries for his smoke detector for his singing Billy Bass? Jake is not smart. Him on the Epipen was hilarious.
Holt not liking the music but wanting to stay anyways was sweet.
Good episode. Debbie is going to be future trouble. ***1/2.
