The Zeta Project Season 1 Review (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Also reviews for the latest episodes of Heroes, Reaper, Lost, Smallville, Dollhouse, The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad.



The Zeta Project: Season 1

Seeing the first season of this cult spin-off to Batman Beyond about a rogue Government robot on the run from the government while trying to find his creator to prove he could be peaceful on DVD for the first time made me realize something: this series is actually REALLY good. I guess after reading so many lukewarm online reviews that said the first season sucked and the show didn't start getting decent until year two, and even then it was only marginally watchable, I guess I started to believe that instead of my own lying eyes.

I think a BIG part of what makes the series so good is Julie Nathanson as the runaway Ro. She plays her so perfectly and is VERY cute and appealing. It was also nice to get a strong female character on Saturday morning television. Yes, the DCAU has had strong female characters before and since but it's nice that this show gave us one without a huge bust or a total fan-service type skin-tight costume. She was a nice role model for little girls who watched the cartoon and saw a strong capable woman every bit the lead character's equal.

I especially like the NSA agents who chase Zeta because unlike MOST bad guys, they are actually good guys who believe Zeta is dangerous and are trying to protect the public. It was nice and sort of turned everything you questioned a villain on a DC superhero toon should be. They aren't sympathetic creeps like the rogues on Batman: The Animated Series but genuinely good people who, while they may be misguided are truly only trying to do what they believe is right.

I've said it elsewhere but I believe The Zeta Project had the best character development of any DCAU series. It's MUCH easier to say that after seeing season two because a LOT of the characters like Bennett, Ro, Lee and Bucky changed and grew as the series progressed. Even Zeta himself is not the same character we saw in his debut Batman Beyond episode ("Zeta" also included on this set). The only cartoon I can think of that had this much character development was Gargoyles and that had seventy eight episodes to grow the characters instead of only 26.

I am SO bummed the series was canceled after season two. SO many unanswered questions: will Bennett ever believe Zeta can be good? Did Zeta ever get his freedom? Did Ro ever find her family? What ultimately happened to Agent Lee and Bucky? What was the relationship between the gang leader Slam and the Bounty Hunter Krick? (They look SO similar.) Was Agent West related to Wally West? If he was it would explain why he was never fired for incompetence: a legacy from his Uncle Flash would have a hard time NOT getting government work if he wanted it and it WOULD make sense that Bennett would always give him assignments where he could cause the least amount of trouble instead of firing him.

The DVD set collects the first 12 episodes of the season including one never aired on American television ("Ro's Reunion"). The season finale "Absolute Zero" will be on the second season set. This set also includes the Batman Beyond crossover ("Shadows") as well as the two Batman Beyond episodes that feature Zeta. There is also a nifty Making Of featurette included in the special features. I was also delighted that the set includes the "Ground Wire" shorts at the ends of the episodes featuring Ro and Zeta discussing various discontinued items from the 20th century (the funniest is Ro's take on chocolate).

Best episodes on the set are the one that guest starred Batman Beyond and Bruce Wayne (Shadows), the hilarious Bucky episode (Kid Genius) and the debut of Krick the Bounty Hunter (Taffy Time).

No really bad episodes here but I found "Change of Heart" kind of boring and there have been MUCH better Ro spotlights than "Hicksburg". Season overall: ****. DVD set overall: *****.

Now to review the episodes:

The Accomplice: I've heard people say this episode sucked but I think it's enjoyable to watch because even at this early stage Ro is such a scene stealer. Julie Nathanson delivers her lines with such wit and she has such great chemistry with Deidrich Bader who plays Zeta/ Zee. ****.

His Maker's Name: This episode showed one of Zeta's biggest strengths: he doesn't hold grudges against people who wrong him especially if he knows they believe they are doing the right thing. Loved him saving Dr. Arroyo and the Dr. coming over to Zeta's side by the end of the episode. ***1/2.

Remote Control: For the record Bucky IS annoying in this episode (his first appearance). He's SUPPOSED to be and that's what makes him so funny. I love Dr. Tannor too especially the way Dinosaurs' Stuart Pankin plays him: as the most put-upon and pathetic character in the DCAU. ****.

Change of Heart: One of Zeta's first "The Fugitive" type episodes where he makes a difference in people's lives he happens across. Season two was MUCH better at doing these types of stories and they don't quite have the hang of it this episode. **1/2.

The Next Gen: I love Infiltration Unit 7 and the amount of punishment he constantly undergoes. The episode was smart to throw Bucky into the mix and smarter for unintentionally turning Zeta into the IU7's next target. Good guest turn by Stacy Keach as De Fleures too. ***1/2.

West Bound: This was the episode where I first really started to dig the character of Agent West voiced by Micheal Rosenbaum. (JLU's the Flash; coincidence? Hmmm.) Despite his clumsiness he isn't really a stupid character by any means. I love Ro's reactions to him too. ****.

Hicksburg: The show has done better Ro family stories but it's always good to hear Clancy Brown's voice (here as Sheriff Morgan). ***.

Shadows: Outside of Terry McGuinnis behaving slightly out of character I really enjoyed this Batman Beyond crossover. This is notable for being both Will Friedle and Kevin Conroy's only appearances on the series. Conroy voicing Bruce Wayne here means he has voiced the character on every single DCAU series (Batman: The Animated Series, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited) or movie (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman) with the exception of Gotham Girls, a record unmatched by any other DCAU voice actor. ****1/2.

Crime Waves: Notable for an early voice over work for Firefly's Adam Baldwin and not much else. ***.

Taffy Time: Best episode of the first season. Krick is a VERY interesting villain and I love that this episode slowly gives Agent Lee a reason to believe Zeta may not be exactly the monster the NSA believes him to be. Best bits in the episode were Lee telling Zeta and Ro to stay put for 10 minutes and Zeta's fake-out to Krick at the end of the episode where he replaced Agent Lee on the torture rack. ****1/2.

Kid Genius: Fine. Be as snobby as you want but you can't convince me that an episode featuring de-evolved ape-men wearing Hawaiian shirts (along with a Planet of the Apes reference) or Tannor being surrounded by de-aged kids isn't the greatest thing ever. This episode is hilarious and Bucky's first great spotlight. Outstanding. ****1/2.

Ro's Reunion: Touching episode that posits a scenario that I hadn't realized before. If Zeta and Ro ever get seperated and Ro caught they would never be able to see each other again. VERY touching goodbye scene between the two of them and I love that Zeta risked everything to help Ro once he realized the TV show was a fraud. Nice episode. ****.



Heroes "Chapter Seven: Cold Snap"

I liked this a lot. In retrospect is seemed pretty danged obvious Micah was Rebel (Rebel could appear on any electronic device anywhere) but it completely took me by surprise. Boo to the episode though for ruining Noah Gray-Cabey's appearance by putting his name in the opening guest star credits. They could have taken a page from The X-Files or Buffy the Vampire Slayer and waited until the end credtis.

Loved Angela and I loved how clever she was in getting away from Danko's men. I have a feeling Sylar is looking to cut a deal with Danko but I'm a little bit surprised he didn't kill Doyle himself. Puppetry would be a VERY cool power to have.

The big thing about the episode was the death of Tracy. Of course there's a third Niki clone out there but I truly believe this is Ali Larter's swan song as a regular. If she ever reappears I think it will be as a special guest star a couple of Volumes down the line.

I was bummed Daphne died but the episode gave her a MUCH better end to go out with and a cool last scene with Matt. That's all I ever wanted. This DOES mean however that the future CAN be changed and the nightmare future from Villains has already been altered.

VERY satisfying episode. *****.


Reaper "The Favorite"

REALLY fun episode written by the series creators. It was nice to get a brief history of Angels before they became demons and how God got his revenge on them (harsh). I also thought Morgan (the Devil's son and Sam's half brother) was really fun as was the escaped soul. Gladys stole the episode with her scene with Ben who is quickly becoming one of the most appealing characters on this show (him preparing to have sex with a demon was priceless). Also good was Sock and Andi's subplot with Ted.

I liked the episode. ****.


Lost "He's Our You"

LOVED this episode for the time-travel conundrums it posited. Faraday claimed in earlier episodes that the time-travel rules on this show are similar to Gargoyles, i.e. set in stone and meant to happen. Sayid tested this theory in a fun manner by shooting a young Ben who we learn has been baiting and using him during flashbacks of his time off of the island. By the way, I don't care if the show goes completely back to flashbacks from now on. Their time off the island during the three years is clearly tied to the mythology and not stuff that was used to fill time like the flashbacks were in the first three seasons. I'm on board.

LOVED Sawyer getting in over his head and quickly losing control of the situation as Sayid refuses to play ball. The "He's out you" moment with the Dharma torturer played by Newhart's William Sanderson) was interesting too.

I liked this. ****.



Smallville "Hex"

A fun episode featuring Zatanna that could have been better, but could have been worse too. The show is obviously interested in expanding it's members of the Justice League now and it's cool that Oliver is using Chloe to tie them all together. STILL doesn't explain why the Legion hasn't heard of her though.

I had thought they were going to retcon "Lex's" death by Oliver using his wish to undo Lex's murder but I think they are going to go in a different direction since they didn't use that easy out here. And they could have and I wouldn't have blamed them.

Decent episode. ***1/2.


Dollhouse "Echoes"

The show is getting interesting but unlike Joss Whedon's other projects (Buffy, Angel, Firefly/ Serenity and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) I don't think the cast on this show is strong enough to play comedy. That's what they were going for this episode and I was kind of wincing throughout.

The episode DID have the brains to give us some insight into Caroline/ Echo which is something that I had been wondering about since the first episode. I also liked the bad guy of this episode being turned into a Doll at the end. We haven't seen the last of him.

This was all right. ***1/2.


The Simpsons "Wedding For Disaster"

I was right about the show going in a more random rapid-fire joke direction that I noticed last week and after seeing the rerun of the FIRST HD episode I realize this started when the show went High Def. I liked this episode a lot and not just because it was funny. It gave a scenario of conflict between Homer and Marge which was believable because it wasn't their fault and their love for each other came through every second they were apart. If they do more conflicts like THIS on the series I will have NO problems with it. Well done, Al Jean.

Also well done was the fact that this episode gave us an ever-rarer Simpsons first: an appearance by Sideshow Bob where the episode wasn't focused on him. I LIKE seeing Bob not being a bad guy and his bits with Krusty (ESPECIALLY about The House of Sand and Fog DVD Commentary) were classic. The mystery of Bob figuring out that Selma was the true culprit was so pleasurable because you remember the two characters were briefly married. I LOVE when the show does stuff like that.

The opening scene with the Parson who was modeled after Bing Crosby was nice too. Sometimes I think the writers of this show are old fogeys (they have a knee-jerk aversion to new technology) but then I remember the fact that they are means we can get Bing Crosby jokes. So it's worth it.

This was a REALLY good episode. ****.



Family Guy "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven"

This episode had SO much wasted potential and it makes me sad. A long-hyped reunion of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation? And it's the B PLOT? What the heck? It was absolutely great to see the entire cast playing clueless versions of themselves (and yes, Denise Crosby gets killed off) and Patrick Stewart and Micheal Dorn stole the episode. Also funny was Stewie's H-Wil H-Wheaton riff.

But dang did the surrounding story suck. Peter was right to try to get us to change the channel upon learning this is a Meg episode. EVERY time they cut to this story I kept wishing for them to return to The Next Generation cast. Forget the completely lame and unfunny ending: they had potential for comedy gold for the whole episode and refused to use it!

I wish this had been better. I REALLY loved parts of it but I was so ultimately disappointed that I'm only giving it three stars on principle. ***.


American Dad "Wife Insurance"

Speaking of disappointing this is the kind of episode the show has done a million times before and it really didn't work here. About the only good thing the episode had going for it was the welcome return of Wheels and the Legman (now where is the Golden Turd?). Other than that, Meh. **1/2.

Comments

[dcauyojimbo.livejournal.com]

The Zeta Project: I completely agree with you! I even liked the theme and the intro is like a mix between The Fugitive and Tron. Really cool. Being obsessive with details, I liked how there was an effort to tell us exactly what state and city an episode took place in with some exceptions.

Heroes: I agree, I think we'll still see Larter a guest star next volume. True, the Volume 3 future is changed but the Volume 1 future is still viable, imo.

Lost: I thought it was a nice touch to have William Sanderson as the resident torturer. I like that Sayid, unlike the rest of the Survivors, has no problem with trying to test time travel physics and offing Ben (even though I think Jacob will heal him). Speaking of Faraday, a bit odd that he's been off scene for a couple episodes now...

Loved the mention of Ann Arbor by Radzinsky. Only then I realized that this time travel predicament has made it possible for the DHARMA founders, Alvar Hanso and the De Groote's to appear as well. I'm sure they traveled to the Island every so often to check out what's going on and kick the tire so to speak. I have to look this up, but with the Swan under construction, it may not be that much of stretch for us to finally learn the details of "The Incident," which changed the purpose of the Swan to button mashing.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

The Zeta Project: It was SUCH a great show.

Heroes: I think the season one future isn't viable either since Peter didn't explode. I only think the new future happened the way it did because Peter changed the future of both the bomb and the plague.

Lost: Like Rose and Bernard, I think Faraday has had some adventures in the intervening three years that would explain where he is. Notice Sawyer said last week that Faraday isn't with the Dharma folks anymore. I bet we find out what happened to him soon.

I want to know what the Incident is too. It's almost as big a mystery as Calvin and Hobbes' Noodle Incident.

[dcauyojimbo.livejournal.com]

I think elements of volume one future are creeping in because Peter altered the future presented in volume two and three. It's like course correcting from Lost. Sylar now has the ability to alter his appearance, HRG is estranged from his family, specials are being hunted, and Peter is frustrated with everything going on.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I personally think everything is up in the air until we see a new future. And I hope we don't see one for a while if ever. One of the worst things about the first three volumes was the fact that we KNEW where all of the characters were headed if things didn't change. Here anything can happen and it's nice to feel that nothing is set in stone.

[dcauyojimbo.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. Most definitely. I mispoke. All I think is it's cool that they're referencing aspects of the future from volume one, which was the best season and as a result volume 4 is doing a lot better than the last two. I'm not the biggest fan of the alternate futures, either. It's just the geek in me that likes to hop around and point out these references and similarities, heh.

I think the staff felt they had to do alternate futures as a gimmick like Lost and flashbacks but now that not everything is set in stone, there is no need to throw it in our faces as much. I think all I want at this point are flashbacks about Primatech Company and the rest of the founders.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I'd love some more flashbacks. I personally am enjoying this volume more than season one but Villains officially makes season three a mixed bag.

[stinkingbishop.livejournal.com]

Today I ate a bag of chilli-and-chocolate flavour potato chips.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I need to move to England.

[stinkingbishop.livejournal.com]

View the official talkback here:
http://www.sweatdrop.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11684

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Wow, you guys get some disgusting food over there! Awesome!

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

Heroes was a great episode, the only misstep was, as you said, spoiling Micah's appearance. I hated seeing Daphne go, but it was a touching farewell (and I think the reason the future changed was because Matt was an idiot with her). Tracy's sacrifice was sad as well, but I don't think she's dead.

Smallville - I enjoyed the episode more than you, it would seem. I thought it was great, both funny and it had weight to it (Clark got through to Zatanna because they both lost their fathers). Plus the last bit with Chloe brought a huge smile to my face. What I'm guessing is that Chloe's role as the Watchtower has to remain so secret, that even after her death, her name was never revealed, and that's why the Legion never heard of her.

Simpsons - I guess High Def gave them the shot in the arm they needed. I'm glad Homer didn't skip out on Margezilla, and it's hard for me to like a Sideshow Bob post-Cecil, but I really liked the use of him here.

Family Guy - Why they didn't think the cast of TNG could hold a main plot is beyond me, but I guess they thought it was funny just to get all of them together and have them do silly and mundane things. I still prefer "No Fan", but you can't really compare the two. I couldn't stop laughing at the way Stewie pronounced Wil Wheaton. The ending kinda sucked, too, Brian's a jerk.

American Dad - It was a typical AD episode, and of course, you had to have that massive fight, but I still liked it. Steve and Roger were a lot of fun to watch.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Heroes: Nah, Matt was just fine with Daphne. I think it was Peter who changed the future.

Smallville: Good theory on the Watchtower. That would make sense.

Family Guy: This episode wasn't in No Fan's league but I don't think it was trying to be. Disagree about Brian being a jerk this episode. While I don't really agree with the show's anti-religion sentiment him convincing Meg there wasn't a God in such a cruel fashion was completely warranted. She had gone insane and this was the only way to bring her back to reality. And part of me thinks Meg deserves it for driving the entire town against him. That was not cool.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

Peter probably changed it on a larger scale, but, I don't know, I think Matt was scaring her off with all his talk about being in love with her, he didn't let it happen organically.

Oh yeah, Family Guy just liked being silly. Brian was sort of justified since the town was against him, and I guess he did need to snap her out of it, but the whole message was pretty messed up, and he still seemed like a jerk about it.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Heroes: He wasn't so much trying to tell her he was in love with her (although he did say that once or twice) he was trying to convince her she was a good person. In that respect he was completely successful and I'm convinced if she hadn't have been shot they would have hooked up.

Family Guy: Nah, she had it coming. I didn't really agree with his message but he was completely justified in giving it.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Matt was good at getting Daphne to find her self worth, I just think he should've tried to take things slowly when it came to their romance.

I'm just generally against any episode where Brian takes the high horse or is portrayed as being right.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

But your original argument was that Matt taking things too fast is what got her killed. I don't see how that is even remotely possible. Maybe a character flaw, yeah. But it had nothing to do with changing the timeline.

Brian's a jerk but even jerks are sometimes right. It sucks, but there it is.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

In a weird way, yeah, because rather than live her own life, Matt managed to keep Daphne close to him, part of his life, and part of all that danger. Maybe she would've died anyway, I just think he messed up something that he wanted that was almost a certainty.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I disagree (see the paintings by the African guy) but it's a completely valid point.