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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Young Justice, DC Nation, ThunderCats, MAD, Fringe, Once Upon A Time, Alcatraz, The Cleveland Show, American Dad, Bob's Burgers, Ringer, Community, and 30 Rock.
Upcoming reviews include Wallace & Gromit's World Of Invention, Stephen King's Bag Of Bones, The Muppets, Transformers Prime: Season 1, The Adventures Of Young Indiana Jones Vol. 2: The War Years, The Adventures Of Young Indiana Jones Vol. 3: The Years Of Changes and Heathcliff: Season 1, Volume 1.
DC Nation
Green Lantern: The Animated Series "Into The Abyss"
Not as great as the premiere or the second episode. It was passable but while last week WAS a filler episode too it happened to be a GREAT filler episode. This one, not so much. Kilowog's and Razer's conflict was done similarly on a million types of shows before and will be done on a million shows again.
It wasn't all bad though. I liked Aia helping out by becoming those little bug robots and the conversation at the end between her and the group about what exactly MADE a Green Lantern. I like her android form too.
I'm worried about Razer's ring running out of power soon. They need to be able to address this to keep him on the series.
A so-so episode. It doesn't change my opinion that the series has potential but it was definitely a wee bit of a misstep. ***.
Young Justice "Agenda"
That was really unfair of Wonder Woman to suggest kicking Captain Marvel out of the League because he was just a kid in his secret identity. I'm betting he's not the only hero on the team whose identity is a secret and as far as I'm concerned it's nobody's business. Captain Marvel has proved he can take care of himself. Kudos to Batman for standing up for him.
Loved Dr. Fate admitting Zatara wanted himself in the League because he didn't trust Nabu. That makes perfect sense.
Superboy at the lab was less successful but the revelation that half of his DNA came from Luthor was a great and welcome twist.
Best part of the episode was when John Stewart and Hal Jordan LOUDLY vetoed the idea of Guy Gardner in the League. NOBODY likes him. I also love that the show has made John as important of a Lantern as Hal. I had thought that DC had tried to recently bury the character and this is a very good thing that they didn't here.
I was ticked off we didn't actually get to see who made the cut at the end of the episode but we didn't get a vote count right away in Justice League's Starcrossed either. I can be patient.
An episode that was more interesting for once because of the adults instead of the kids. ****1/2.
Character Profile: Plastic Man
I'm glad they're doing character profiles now. I was kind of hoping we'd see footage of Plas from Batman: The Brave And The Bold though since that was his biggest exposure to this generation of kids. ***1/2.
DC's World's Funnest #3
This honestly felt a bit TOO short. If they ARE going to go the Creature Comforts route they need to stick with one segment per short. That may not be as superheroey but I think it would help. ***.
Plastic Man In... The Many And The Fowl
Well, this gave us some idea of how a superhero vs. villain scenario would work in these shorts. It wasn't as funny as the first short but I liked all of the crazy villains. The end gag of Plas forgetting the stamp was funny too. ****.
ThunderCats "New Alliances"
The Lion-O/Tygra/Cheetara triangle is really trying my patience. Which is too bad because the episode introduced Monkian and Jackalman finally (they should have been in season one) and made them particularly bada** too especially compared to Slithe.
Like the twist that Jackalman is now insane. Being a duplicitous traitor was what made him so uninteresting on the old show. Having Monkian being so savage was also a nice upgrade for the character.
Panthro, Snarf and the Berbils were cute. The show is doing something else right: making the Berbils recurring allies. I had feared that the Elephants would have taken the Berbils' rightful place as their main allies on Third Earth but that luckily didn't happen. I'm not a fan of the new Thundertank though. It's too big.
I'm REALLY sick of eno Lion-O and his whining and the fact that he is SUCH a baby about the Cheetara situation that he has no trouble putting Tygra in danger because of it. Lion-O may have been a square on the old show but he at least had some integrity. He was actually pretty stupid and childlike but he wasn't such a brat.
I loved Monkian and Jackalman (excuse me, Atticus and Ka-Nar) but because of Lion-O the episode is getting a lower grade than it otherwise would have deserved. ***1/2.
MAD "Garfield Of Dreams / I Hate My Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
MAD went there. Not that Family Guy is a rip-off of The Simpsons (it isn't really) but that every single Seth MacFarlane show has the exact same premise. The Sethverse shows don't rip off Matt Groening and Al Jean. They rip off each other. I have NEVER seen that acknowledged on a TV show before. Every swipe South Park and The Simpsons take at Family Guy is so frelling personal and unpleasant that they never bother stating what the REAL problem with the Sethverse shows is. And it's not that it hurt Trey Parker and Al Jean's fee-fees. For people who dismiss Family Guy's importance so much Parker and Jean seem to take it REALLY personally.
The Ninja Turtles parody made me sad. Because I learned yesterday that the new Micheal Bay movie reboot will make the Turtles space aliens. That's just crazy. I hope the new cartoon show is good enough to make up for Bay ruining another franchise. He's even worse than Tim Burton (although his hands are admittedly nowhere NEAR as dirty).
Man, this review wasn't much about the MAD episode was it? ****.
Fringe "A Short Story About Love"
Just as I suspected: there IS no "home" universe for Peter to get back to. The rebooted universe is permanent. I just hope they can somehow give Walter his memories of his life with Peter.
SO glad they managed to bring August back to life. I suspected they would but it was a rough few weeks worrying about him.
I felt so bad for Nina. That has GOT to be a terrible situation for any mother. Gosh.
The main plot of the episode was nothing special. But it's the Peter and Olivia stuff that really caught my interest. ****.
Once Upon A Time "Hat Trick"
I cry foul! Mad Hatter isn't a fairy tale character! Still made a great episode out of him.
Was I the only one disappointed that Emma didn't believe him? He's not the first person to relate this story to her and he won't be the last.
Gold and Regina are worrying me. I don't like to see them on the same page on ANYTHING.
This was a really fun episode. ****1/2.
Alcatraz "Garrett Stillman"
I'm disappointed Stillman wound up dead. He was SUCH a clever villain that I was almost hoping he'd either get away and be a recurring bad guy or turn into a Hannibal Lector type character that would help the team find other 63's from time to time.
Cobb's meeting with Lucy gave me the creeps, especially learning that she WAS the target after all. I want to know why whoever is in charge wants her dead.
Great episode. ****1/2.
Alcatraz "Tommy Madsen"
I was convinced the episode they went after Tommy would be the series finale but they surprised me. I feel a little cheated that he got away after all that but that's season ending cliffhangers for you.
Will that silver blood heal Rebecca? Who was the crazy guy inside the Warden's safe? Will Doc Soto get more screentime next year? Will there even BE a next year?
I'm dying to find out. *****.
The Cleveland Show "The Men In Me"
I am uncomfortable about a show about a black character trying to come to grips with his racial identity being written by an almost all-white writing staff. REALLY uncomfortable. Still, Florence Henderson is ALWAYS awesome especially since we learned her character had a lesbian affair with Cookie. But this episode felt wrong on so many levels. **1/2.
American Dad "Less Money, Mo' Problems"
This was one of the sickest American Dad's in years and I almost mean that as a compliment. The show has gotten a WEE bit too safe for the past two or three years and this (and last week's episode) were just about as disgusting as the show was in season two, in it's sick heyday. It was a bit of an unpleasant experience but it was certainly audacious and daring. Not to mention quite funny. ***1/2.
Bob's Burgers "Syncronized Swimming"
Linda is a MUCH less annoying character this season than she was last year. Her doofishness is actually a bit endearing rather than Peggy Hill obnoxious. Tina and Louise as usual stole the episode. I'm a bit creeped out by Tina to be honest. I can't recall a character I like this much that I've simultaniously been repulsed by. Maybe, the Borg Queen?
Funny episode. ****.
Ringer "That Woman's Never Been A Victim Her Entire Life"
Surprised it was Henry who killed Tyler. I'm glad Juliet finally told the truth to Bridget about the rape. This sick subplot looks to be winding down and in my mind that can't happen fast enough. Glad Andrew's okay and that we learned he DOESN'T want Shiobhan dead.
Not much else to report this week. ***1/2.
Community "Contemporary Impressionists"
I am REALLY worried about Abed. I'm sort of surprised the show is taking the tack that Abed's sense of whimsy is something to be alarmed by. I think it could turn out to be a really interesting development. I just never thought they'd do that and that the writers though Abed was untouchable.
Jeff stole the episode. He's a handsome as the guy famous for being handsome. You could TELL Joel MacHale was having a blast this episode. The weird thing is that an egomaniacal Jeff is even more likable than regular Jeff. I've never seen narciscism portrayed in that manner before.
And I never realized how little they gave Chang to do this season until he finally got a subplot for the first time in ages.
I think they should have had THIS be the first episode back. ****1/2.
30 Rock "Grandmentor"
I think it's possible Hazel may be the most insane character on the show, and for a show with Jenna in it, that says something. Kenneth was actually likable for once here too. As for Jenna playing Avery? Well, if they can get Mary Steenburgen to play Elizabeth Banks' mother NOTHING is unbelievable. ****.
30 Rock "Kidnapped By Danger"
I hate Jack's relationship drama so much I'm not even amused when it's satirized. I'm pretty much just bored. But casting Billy Baldwin as the Jack stand-in? Brilliant! ***.
Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season
I had actually missed the majority of this season when it aired so I enjoyed watching a "lost" season of Smallville for the first time. I liked it a lot too, although I have to confess I would have been frustrated beyond belief watching this over the air because of the holding pattern the show did for the second half of the season.
I think the best performances this season came from Allison Mack as Chloe. There weren't a ton of episodes that really stretched the actors' muscles but of the few there were, they all involved Chloe and Mack was masterful at them.
I also enjoyed the debuts of Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen, Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and Phil Morris as Martian Manhunter. I wish Green Arrow had stuck around for the entire season but knowing he eventually came back made his disappearance midway through tolerable.
My biggest complaint of the season goes to the series as a whole: I REALLY think it was a mistake to make the legendary emnity between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor turn out to have been started by a love triangle with Lana Lang. That's almost as bad as how they resolved the Lana / Clark relationship in season eight.
The best episodes of the year were the hilarious episode where Clark gets a cold (Sneeze), the watershed debut of the JLA which was beyond awesome (Justice), the dark episode that threw everything at the audience (Crimson), Lana and Lex's wedding day (Promise), the Allison Mack tour de force (Progeny) and the season finale that introduced Bizarro (Phantom).
A few stinkers this year though. Worst episodes were the gross Wither, the preachy Rage, the derivative Combat, and the completely lame Noir. Season Overall: ****.
Zod: Like all Smallville season premieres this was a bit of a disappointment. I loved the shot of Clark and Lex/Zod struggling while flying through the air. That was a great effect. And Lana is pretty stupid. I loved the debut of Jimmy Olsen too. Aaron Ashmore is very cute and funny. My biggest complaint is that Clark is M.I.A. during most of the important stuff in the episode. I know they were setting up the Phantom Zone prisoner escape but it hurt the episode a bit. ***1/2.
Sneeze: A blast (literally). I loved Oliver Queen, and Lex getting kidnapped, and I loved Clark discovering he had super-breath. Him sneezing the barn door off was absolutely hilarious. I haven't had this much fun watching the show in a while. The last shot of Oliver making that arrow target on the Daily Planet globe was awesome too. ****1/2.
Wither: Lex and Lana having sex made me gag but the rest of the episode was passable. Not great though. **1/2.
Arrow: Green Arrow's debut episode was a good one and a season highlight for Lois. I like that the show hasn't completely made Lionel a good guy even though he's now on Clark's side. However I'm knocking off an entire star of Lana "holding her own" in the art of manipulation against the Luthors. The writers weren't building Lana up like they were trying to do, but tearing Lex down. The fact that he said he was "impressed" with her was absolutely terrible writing. Lana ruins everything she touches but she's maing Lex suck this year. LEX! There was a highlight to the plot point however. At the end when Lionel asks Lex what makes him think he won't tell Lana about his manipulations Lex has a great response: "Because you've spent so much time tricking the Kents into thinking you're a good person you've started to believe it yourself." ****.
Reunion: This episode was surprising, dark, and VERY watchable. Not exactly a pleasant experience but I learned a lot about Lex and Oliver that I never would have guessed. Powerful. ****.
Fallout: Raya has always been a cool character and I loved seeing her and Clark team up. Predictable that she died at the end of the episode though so I'm taking off points for that. ***1/2.
Rage: Total Afterschool Special. I was annoyed throughout. By the way Clark trying to get Lois to stay away from Oliver because he was on drugs was the stupidest tactic EVER. Lois was completely right that you don't just abandon a person when they need help the most and Clark of all people should have not only realized that, but known that Lois would have felt the same way. *1/2.
Static: Martian Manhunter? Awesome. Everything else? Not so much. And from the episode title I was disappointed this wasn't a trip to the Dakotaverse. **1/2.
Subterranean: All right but nothing special. Clark is great with kids though and that's always fun to see. ***.
Hydro: Hate Tori Spelling and thought the episode was only so-so becaused they didn't actually have the budget to use the water effects to their fullest. However I'm giving the episode a passing grade for the scene at the end of a delighted, smirking Chloe having Lois tell Clark that Green Arrow was an even better kisser than Oliver. The looks on Chloe and Clark's faces were priceless. ***.
Justice: If you want to get technical about it, this episode isn't REALLY great but merely good. But I'm giving it five stars because it was such a crowd pleaser and filled with so much fanservice. Bart is MUCH cuter in this episode than in his debut in season four and when A.C. and Victor Stone showed up I cheered. And the end "power walk" of the Justice League as they walked away from the blown up lab was admittedly cheesey but I loved every second of it. *****.
Labyrinth: I usually hate these types of stories for personal reasons but I have to admit this was a good take on the "trapped in a sanitarium thinking your entire life is a delusion" episodes of genre shows. Part of that was because of Phil Morris' debut as The Martian Manhunter and that the episode kept throwing twist after twist at you. By the way, the episode needed a scene at the end of John Jones properly introducing himself to Clark and sure enough there was a deleted scene on the DVD showing exactly that. I wish they had included it in the episode itself even though they portrayed John in it a bit darker than he ultimately wound up being. ****.
Crimson: This was a dark episode done right. It pulled out all of the stops and completely up-ended things that were starting to settle into a nice little rut. And it was even funny in places (I LOVED Lois making Clark a mix CD). Great episode. ****1/2.
Trepass: I was sick of the Lana stalker episodes by season two. Did they really need to give us one this late in the game? Lex was right though. It was REALLY weird that Lana felt safe at the Kents' farm after Clark kidnapped her last episode. It was still a bit better than I expected though. ***.
Freak: The revelation that Chloe was meteor infected was genius especially because they tricked you into thinking Tobias was gonna rat out Clark. The scene of Clark using his heat vision to cut into Chloe's shoulder to remove the tracking device was something they would have pulled on a gory J.J. Abrams show so I loved it. I really enjoyed this one. ****.
Promise: Best episode of the year. The scene where Lana listens to Clark tell Chloe every one of his secrets reminded me of The Prince's Tale chapter from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I think Lana was put in a similar position as Harry in hearing an unexpected story that explained ALL of the weird stuff about Clark, and making her reevaluate everything she had ever known about him. The difference here is that the audience already knew this stuff but I couldn't help noticing the similarities. And even though it turned out he had a good reason for doing it, Lionel threatening to kill Clark if Lana didn't marry Lex was despicable and an alarming plot twist. Speaking of alarming plot twists, Lex commiting his first outright murder on the day of his wedding was chilling especially because he was actually able to enjoy the ceremony afterwards. Yikes! *****.
Combat: I hate Fight Club genre episodes and this one sucked too. The only thing I enjoyed was the smackdown between Clark and Titan at the end and Clark's realization that to stop the Zoners who escaped to Earth he was going to have to kill them all. **.
Progeny: Ever wonder why Chloe is so hot? It's because her mom is Lynda Carter who is still gorgeous and looks like a million bucks. I understand completely now why they didn't show Chloe's mom's face last season (although it doesn't explain why she was blonde). This episode was very moving too and I had to suppress tears by the end. Allison Mack did a GREAT job here. I loved this one. ****1/2.
Nemesis: I was surprised when Lex left Clark under that rubble but I was even more surprised when he went back for him. I can't explain that. And at the end of the episode Clark stated something that was obvious to the audience: he gave up on Lex too soon and was driving him to his dark place because of that. I'm glad that was finally addressed. By the way, the revelation that Lionel threatened to kill Clark to protect him was genius and completely unexpected. But they made it make sense in the season finale. ****.
Noir: A dud. Serious drivel. It's always a jump the shark moment when ANY TV show (and not just genre ones) do period dream sequences (see Moonlighting). It also doesn't help that this was done on the cheap and a great deal of the action sequences were actually footage stolen from old movies and obviously so at that. I'm giving the episode two and a half stars though because the non-dream stuff was good and it wasn't an insignificant part of the episode. **1/2.
Prototype: Helo! The last moment of the room lined up with supersoldiers reminded me of Justice League Unlimited's Flashpoint and the Ultimen. I liked the ep a lot. ****.
Phantom: Most Smallville season finales are good but the conclusions wind up disappointing. This was no exception. This episode had everything. Every single character except Clark, Lex and Martha's life was a question mark at the end, Martian Manhunter returned, and it was revealed that Lionel was Jor-El's emmisary and on Clark's side all along. I also liked Clark telling Lana he was an alien. Lex smacking Lana was terrible and I loved Lana throwing the faked pregnancy in Lex's face. Lex was such a coward he couldn't even fess up to it. I knew right away that Lana faked her own death though. And Bizarro making his debut at the end of the episode rocked! ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes:
REALLY great batch this year. Best scene was the one from Labyrinth that properly introduced John Jones. That should have been in the episode. Overall: ****1/2.
Sneeze: This scene of Martha and Clark inviting Lionel to dinner was excellent and it's clear it was only cut for time. For a "filler" the episode was jam-packed with material already and this scene was really long. *****.
Wither: The scene where Clark and Lana act like teenage drama queens: unneeded. The scene where Clark explains the Phantom Zone to Chloe: needed. ***.
Arrow: This expositiony scene starts with Chloe teasing Clark that he has feelings for Lois. ****1/2.
Fallout: Is it just me, or does Martha spend most of this season on the phone, running in and out of the house? It's not just me, is it. ***1/2.
Hydro: Hilarious scene of Jimmy and Lois sneaking around while trying not to arouse Chloe's suspicions. ****.
Labyrinth: Oh, snap! Clark and John Jones' first real face-to-face was going to occur in this episode! It's a mega-juicy scene too. *****.
Crimson: Sappy scene between Mrs. Kent and Lana. ***.
Freak: Scene adding clues to Chloe being meteor infected. It's neat but completely unnecessary. ***1/2.
Combat: Clark saving a REALLY cut guy's life by clocking him senseless. I'm kinda sad the episode lost this. ****.
Progeny: Sweet scene between Clark and Martha. But yeah, Martha's pretty much "to-and-fro" this season. ***.
Progeny (part 2): Sort of a dark scene that hints that Lana may be planning revenge on Lex. I can see why it was cut. Kristen Kreuk doesn't quite pull off the dastardly. ****.
Nemesis: Scene of Martha at Lionel's bedside. Interesting. ****.
Phantom: Lana confronting Lionel Luthor. ****1/2.
Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles:
This is a six part webisode cartoon series with REALLY horrible CGI animation detailing Oliver Queen's early life and origin story. It probably wouldn't have been as bad had they not gone for a realistic style but the animation is dreadful and obviously done on the cheap. The story fares better even though Green Arrow probably has the weakest origin story in comic book history. Take note continuity geeks: the producers of these webisodes didn't have the forsight to see the obvious: that someday the SHOW would probably want to tell Green Arrow's origin story itself. The fact that it is so different in season eight knocks these webisodes firmly out of Smallville canon. Overall: ***1/2.
Episode 1 - Broken Arrow: This starts of with Kid Ollie not getting along with his parents and hints at the Queens' connection to the Swanns. ****.
Episode 2 - Bon Voyage: Oliver's parents die and the story flashforwards a few years. ****.
Episode 3 - Betrayal: This is how Oliver was forced off the ship into a liferaft. ***1/2.
Episode 4 - Island: Oliver finds an island and meets monkeys and natives. ***1/2.
Episode 5 - Bow Hunters: The natives teach Oliver how to use a bow and arrow and hunt. Seeing the natives and Oliver dance a tribal dance was absolutely painful. **1/2.
Episode 6 - Mended: Oliver helps the natives, defeats his betrayers, goes home and becomes Green Arrow. ****.
The Making Of Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles:
Three mini featurettes about the making of the webisodes. Overall: ****.
Episode 1 - Pre-Production: Mostly about the story and voice-over work. ****.
Episode 2 - Production: Detailing how the animation will look. ****.
Episode 3 - The Animation Process: The final rendering process and seeing a scene in three stages of progress. ****.
Smallville Legends: Justice & Doom:
This was an awesome motion comic dealing with an early adventure of the Smallvilleverse's Justice League. My only complaint is that the words on the screen went by too fast. If they weren't going to be using voices, they needed to slow it down. Overall: *****.
Part One: About the beginning of the mission. *****.
Part Two: About the founding of Smallville and an intruiging shout-out to Virgil Swann. ****1/2.
Part Three: Another mission that goes global. ****1/2.
Part Four: Getting Lois into the mix and everybody getting ready to call Clark. ****1/2.
Part Five: The best of the parts, this threaded so much continuity from the show together it wasn't even funny. And some of it wouldn't even be explored until season seven with The Traveler. GREAT foreshadowing. *****.
Green Arrow: The Legend Of The Emerald Archer: Documentary narrated by Mark Hamill about Green Arrow's comic, cartoon and TV history. Loved the JLU clips. *****.
Smallville: Big Fans: I had two thoughts about this. The second was that John Glover is an awesome person. But mostly I was just thinking these people are nuts. ***.
Superman Doomsday: Trailer for the awful animated Superman Direct to Video movie. **1/2.
DVD Menus: More clips from season four this time featuring Jimmy Olsen and Oliver Queen / Green Arrow. The Justice League "power walk" is a thing of beauty. ****1/2.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold: Season Two, Part Two
This show is nuts! Seriously deranged episodes on this set which pretty much shows the producers knew the writing was on the wall and that the show wouldn't last much longer. They pretty much stopped writing the show for kids and even fanboys and pretty much just catered to their own childhoods. It REALLY worked in some instances and in some it really didn't.
I cannot imagine what an 8-year old Batman fan would possibly have thought of "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!" If I were little I would probably like the Scooby Doo segment and hate everything else. I happened to think this was a VERY strong episode but I think the writers were only able to get away with it because they stopped caring what the suits would think.
Best episodes on the set are the two-part The Siege Of Starro!, The Joker and Bat-Mite spotlight (Emperor Joker!), and the introduction (FINALLY!) of Superman on the series (Battle Of The Superheroes!) and the aforemention "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases". Worst episodes are the pandering Cry Freedom Fighters! and the episode that was a little TOO crazy for it's own good (The Malicious Mr. Mind!). Set overall: ****1/2.
The Siege Of Starro! Part One: The diaper truck gag slays me every time and Booster Gold pretty much stole the episode. It was a rare episode that was actually exciting. But I'll say it: this two-parter should have been on the last set. *****.
The Siege Of Starro! Part Two: I wasn't a fan of killing off B'Wana Beast but I don't mind it so much now. The episode was another nail-biter and pretty cool. ****. Two-Part Average: ****1/2.
Requiem For A Scarlet Speedster!: Eh. I am luke-warm about this version of the Flash and Jay and Kid Flash were acting too emo for my tastes. Good things? Flash's villains being SO excited and happy to see him alive. The Outsiders teaser didn't suck either. **1/2.
The Last Patrol!: I had been waiting a LONG time for Batgirl. She showed up in the teaser. Worth the wait. The rest of the episode? Eh. I have never been a fan of the unlikable Doom Patrol and their sacrifice meant nothing to me. Plus, it was kind of a bummer of an episode. **.
Menace Of The Madniks!: Haunted Tank? Terrible. Booster Gold and Ted Kord team-up? Excellent. One of the most disappointing things about the show using Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle is that we never got a proper Booster Gold / Blue Beetle team-up. This episode rectifies that injustice but unfortunately isn't quite as funny as it should be (probably because Batman is such a pill). I want to now see a cartoon where Booster and Beetle go it solo. ****.
Emperor Joker!: Can't believe they got away with all of those hilarious and gruesome Batman deaths. The episode was a keeper too. Only complaint is that I don't really care for this version of Harley Quinn. Other than that the episode was pretty much perfect. I love that the Joker's greatest fear is being ordinary. I don't think it's the idea of sanity that scares him so much, it's the idea of him not being great. The Rainbow Batman segment was neat too. *****.
The Criss Cross Conspiracy!: I had wanted a Bat-Family episode forever and this was pretty much the only time on the series we got one. It's pretty funny too even if Batwoman was a complete sexist stereotype. One of the things I loved best about Justice League Unlimited's Legion Of Doom story arc was that a LOT of the supervillains on the team weren't actually evil but simply thought of being a criminal as a legitimate career choice for people with superpowers. It involved a LOT of workplace comedy which I thought was a VERY interesting development. Felix Faust here reminded me of that dynamic. He isn't evil here and doesn't go to prison at the end of the episode. It's just that he's REALLY good at the disreputable and illegal stuff and tries to do his job well. I loved that. ****.
The Plague Of The Prototypes!: Y'know, I wasn't originally CRAZY about the bummer endings for the Starro and Doom Patrol episodes when I first saw them (I thought they weren't in the spirit of the show) but in retrospect they were genius. Because of them I was SURE they were gonna kill the lovable Proto off at the end (and he's voiced by Adam West!) and when they didn't I cheered. I like this episode a LOT more than most fans do. ****.
Cry Freedom Fighters!: Ugh. I had thought jingoistic Patriotic propaganda had gone out of fashion in 2005. I honestly didn't need to see it in one of my favorite cartoons. As a liberal I had to live through some VERY unpleasant situations where my Patriotism was constantly questioned because I disagreed with the war and I don't need a throw-back to that dark time via a kids show, which is almost even worse because of the target audience. 1/2.
The Knights Of Tomorrow!: I didn't care for the dream sequence alternate future of the episode. It seemed to be trying to be this show's Batman Beyond or "Artifacts". But I cannot give the episode anything less than four stars because of that teaser with The Question on Apokolips. It is simply the greatest teaser the show ever did and it's a shame it wasn't attached to an episode I actually liked. Still because of that it gets a ridiculously high grade. ****.
Darkseid Descending!: Not as bad as I remembered but I can see why this was polarizing. The reason I don't quite hate it is because the episode is smart enough to make it obvious to the audience that Batman and Darkseid's feud isn't personal which is what Superman and Darkseid are famous for. I would rather see Darkseid vs. Kal-El myself but the episode never made me feel as if Batman was stealing a Superman's thunder. The silly tone of the episode, however was a bit off-putting. WAAAYYY too cartoony for Darkseid. But it could have been MUCH worse. ***1/2.
Battle Of The Superheroes!: I am surprised this episode is so well-loved by fans. I think it's hilarious but frankly I would have thought it would have been even more controversial than the Darkseid outing. Still, this episode is a loving Valentine to the "Superman is a di----ifferent person" stories from the fifties. But there is NO question that this is completely unlike any modern Superman story I've seen animated recently. *****.
Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!: Weird Al Yankovic and Scooby Doo? SOLD! I wish they had gotten Casey Kasem to voice Robin but for once Jason Marsden was up to the voice acting challenge and managed to ape Kasem's mannerisms flawlessly. I guess they didn't bother getting Kasem because Matthew Lillard voiced Shaggy here. Seeing Scooby and Shaggy punching Joker and Penguin was worth the price of admission. Batboy and Rubin was WEIRD though and I thought whoever came up with the Bat-Manga on the show idea must have been on crack. But man, this episode was pretty wild even though I bet the kiddies hated it. ****1/2.
The Malicious Mr. Mind!: This was a bit TOO silly. Which is weird because Captain Marvel is such an inherently silly superhero. Mr. Mind was cool, it's just the Baby Batman stuff that I thought was a bit too much. *1/2.
Digital Comic: Three pages? Total rip-off. 1/2.
Upcoming reviews include Wallace & Gromit's World Of Invention, Stephen King's Bag Of Bones, The Muppets, Transformers Prime: Season 1, The Adventures Of Young Indiana Jones Vol. 2: The War Years, The Adventures Of Young Indiana Jones Vol. 3: The Years Of Changes and Heathcliff: Season 1, Volume 1.
DC Nation
Green Lantern: The Animated Series "Into The Abyss"
Not as great as the premiere or the second episode. It was passable but while last week WAS a filler episode too it happened to be a GREAT filler episode. This one, not so much. Kilowog's and Razer's conflict was done similarly on a million types of shows before and will be done on a million shows again.
It wasn't all bad though. I liked Aia helping out by becoming those little bug robots and the conversation at the end between her and the group about what exactly MADE a Green Lantern. I like her android form too.
I'm worried about Razer's ring running out of power soon. They need to be able to address this to keep him on the series.
A so-so episode. It doesn't change my opinion that the series has potential but it was definitely a wee bit of a misstep. ***.
Young Justice "Agenda"
That was really unfair of Wonder Woman to suggest kicking Captain Marvel out of the League because he was just a kid in his secret identity. I'm betting he's not the only hero on the team whose identity is a secret and as far as I'm concerned it's nobody's business. Captain Marvel has proved he can take care of himself. Kudos to Batman for standing up for him.
Loved Dr. Fate admitting Zatara wanted himself in the League because he didn't trust Nabu. That makes perfect sense.
Superboy at the lab was less successful but the revelation that half of his DNA came from Luthor was a great and welcome twist.
Best part of the episode was when John Stewart and Hal Jordan LOUDLY vetoed the idea of Guy Gardner in the League. NOBODY likes him. I also love that the show has made John as important of a Lantern as Hal. I had thought that DC had tried to recently bury the character and this is a very good thing that they didn't here.
I was ticked off we didn't actually get to see who made the cut at the end of the episode but we didn't get a vote count right away in Justice League's Starcrossed either. I can be patient.
An episode that was more interesting for once because of the adults instead of the kids. ****1/2.
Character Profile: Plastic Man
I'm glad they're doing character profiles now. I was kind of hoping we'd see footage of Plas from Batman: The Brave And The Bold though since that was his biggest exposure to this generation of kids. ***1/2.
DC's World's Funnest #3
This honestly felt a bit TOO short. If they ARE going to go the Creature Comforts route they need to stick with one segment per short. That may not be as superheroey but I think it would help. ***.
Plastic Man In... The Many And The Fowl
Well, this gave us some idea of how a superhero vs. villain scenario would work in these shorts. It wasn't as funny as the first short but I liked all of the crazy villains. The end gag of Plas forgetting the stamp was funny too. ****.
ThunderCats "New Alliances"
The Lion-O/Tygra/Cheetara triangle is really trying my patience. Which is too bad because the episode introduced Monkian and Jackalman finally (they should have been in season one) and made them particularly bada** too especially compared to Slithe.
Like the twist that Jackalman is now insane. Being a duplicitous traitor was what made him so uninteresting on the old show. Having Monkian being so savage was also a nice upgrade for the character.
Panthro, Snarf and the Berbils were cute. The show is doing something else right: making the Berbils recurring allies. I had feared that the Elephants would have taken the Berbils' rightful place as their main allies on Third Earth but that luckily didn't happen. I'm not a fan of the new Thundertank though. It's too big.
I'm REALLY sick of eno Lion-O and his whining and the fact that he is SUCH a baby about the Cheetara situation that he has no trouble putting Tygra in danger because of it. Lion-O may have been a square on the old show but he at least had some integrity. He was actually pretty stupid and childlike but he wasn't such a brat.
I loved Monkian and Jackalman (excuse me, Atticus and Ka-Nar) but because of Lion-O the episode is getting a lower grade than it otherwise would have deserved. ***1/2.
MAD "Garfield Of Dreams / I Hate My Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
MAD went there. Not that Family Guy is a rip-off of The Simpsons (it isn't really) but that every single Seth MacFarlane show has the exact same premise. The Sethverse shows don't rip off Matt Groening and Al Jean. They rip off each other. I have NEVER seen that acknowledged on a TV show before. Every swipe South Park and The Simpsons take at Family Guy is so frelling personal and unpleasant that they never bother stating what the REAL problem with the Sethverse shows is. And it's not that it hurt Trey Parker and Al Jean's fee-fees. For people who dismiss Family Guy's importance so much Parker and Jean seem to take it REALLY personally.
The Ninja Turtles parody made me sad. Because I learned yesterday that the new Micheal Bay movie reboot will make the Turtles space aliens. That's just crazy. I hope the new cartoon show is good enough to make up for Bay ruining another franchise. He's even worse than Tim Burton (although his hands are admittedly nowhere NEAR as dirty).
Man, this review wasn't much about the MAD episode was it? ****.
Fringe "A Short Story About Love"
Just as I suspected: there IS no "home" universe for Peter to get back to. The rebooted universe is permanent. I just hope they can somehow give Walter his memories of his life with Peter.
SO glad they managed to bring August back to life. I suspected they would but it was a rough few weeks worrying about him.
I felt so bad for Nina. That has GOT to be a terrible situation for any mother. Gosh.
The main plot of the episode was nothing special. But it's the Peter and Olivia stuff that really caught my interest. ****.
Once Upon A Time "Hat Trick"
I cry foul! Mad Hatter isn't a fairy tale character! Still made a great episode out of him.
Was I the only one disappointed that Emma didn't believe him? He's not the first person to relate this story to her and he won't be the last.
Gold and Regina are worrying me. I don't like to see them on the same page on ANYTHING.
This was a really fun episode. ****1/2.
Alcatraz "Garrett Stillman"
I'm disappointed Stillman wound up dead. He was SUCH a clever villain that I was almost hoping he'd either get away and be a recurring bad guy or turn into a Hannibal Lector type character that would help the team find other 63's from time to time.
Cobb's meeting with Lucy gave me the creeps, especially learning that she WAS the target after all. I want to know why whoever is in charge wants her dead.
Great episode. ****1/2.
Alcatraz "Tommy Madsen"
I was convinced the episode they went after Tommy would be the series finale but they surprised me. I feel a little cheated that he got away after all that but that's season ending cliffhangers for you.
Will that silver blood heal Rebecca? Who was the crazy guy inside the Warden's safe? Will Doc Soto get more screentime next year? Will there even BE a next year?
I'm dying to find out. *****.
The Cleveland Show "The Men In Me"
I am uncomfortable about a show about a black character trying to come to grips with his racial identity being written by an almost all-white writing staff. REALLY uncomfortable. Still, Florence Henderson is ALWAYS awesome especially since we learned her character had a lesbian affair with Cookie. But this episode felt wrong on so many levels. **1/2.
American Dad "Less Money, Mo' Problems"
This was one of the sickest American Dad's in years and I almost mean that as a compliment. The show has gotten a WEE bit too safe for the past two or three years and this (and last week's episode) were just about as disgusting as the show was in season two, in it's sick heyday. It was a bit of an unpleasant experience but it was certainly audacious and daring. Not to mention quite funny. ***1/2.
Bob's Burgers "Syncronized Swimming"
Linda is a MUCH less annoying character this season than she was last year. Her doofishness is actually a bit endearing rather than Peggy Hill obnoxious. Tina and Louise as usual stole the episode. I'm a bit creeped out by Tina to be honest. I can't recall a character I like this much that I've simultaniously been repulsed by. Maybe, the Borg Queen?
Funny episode. ****.
Ringer "That Woman's Never Been A Victim Her Entire Life"
Surprised it was Henry who killed Tyler. I'm glad Juliet finally told the truth to Bridget about the rape. This sick subplot looks to be winding down and in my mind that can't happen fast enough. Glad Andrew's okay and that we learned he DOESN'T want Shiobhan dead.
Not much else to report this week. ***1/2.
Community "Contemporary Impressionists"
I am REALLY worried about Abed. I'm sort of surprised the show is taking the tack that Abed's sense of whimsy is something to be alarmed by. I think it could turn out to be a really interesting development. I just never thought they'd do that and that the writers though Abed was untouchable.
Jeff stole the episode. He's a handsome as the guy famous for being handsome. You could TELL Joel MacHale was having a blast this episode. The weird thing is that an egomaniacal Jeff is even more likable than regular Jeff. I've never seen narciscism portrayed in that manner before.
And I never realized how little they gave Chang to do this season until he finally got a subplot for the first time in ages.
I think they should have had THIS be the first episode back. ****1/2.
30 Rock "Grandmentor"
I think it's possible Hazel may be the most insane character on the show, and for a show with Jenna in it, that says something. Kenneth was actually likable for once here too. As for Jenna playing Avery? Well, if they can get Mary Steenburgen to play Elizabeth Banks' mother NOTHING is unbelievable. ****.
30 Rock "Kidnapped By Danger"
I hate Jack's relationship drama so much I'm not even amused when it's satirized. I'm pretty much just bored. But casting Billy Baldwin as the Jack stand-in? Brilliant! ***.
Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season
I had actually missed the majority of this season when it aired so I enjoyed watching a "lost" season of Smallville for the first time. I liked it a lot too, although I have to confess I would have been frustrated beyond belief watching this over the air because of the holding pattern the show did for the second half of the season.
I think the best performances this season came from Allison Mack as Chloe. There weren't a ton of episodes that really stretched the actors' muscles but of the few there were, they all involved Chloe and Mack was masterful at them.
I also enjoyed the debuts of Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen, Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and Phil Morris as Martian Manhunter. I wish Green Arrow had stuck around for the entire season but knowing he eventually came back made his disappearance midway through tolerable.
My biggest complaint of the season goes to the series as a whole: I REALLY think it was a mistake to make the legendary emnity between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor turn out to have been started by a love triangle with Lana Lang. That's almost as bad as how they resolved the Lana / Clark relationship in season eight.
The best episodes of the year were the hilarious episode where Clark gets a cold (Sneeze), the watershed debut of the JLA which was beyond awesome (Justice), the dark episode that threw everything at the audience (Crimson), Lana and Lex's wedding day (Promise), the Allison Mack tour de force (Progeny) and the season finale that introduced Bizarro (Phantom).
A few stinkers this year though. Worst episodes were the gross Wither, the preachy Rage, the derivative Combat, and the completely lame Noir. Season Overall: ****.
Zod: Like all Smallville season premieres this was a bit of a disappointment. I loved the shot of Clark and Lex/Zod struggling while flying through the air. That was a great effect. And Lana is pretty stupid. I loved the debut of Jimmy Olsen too. Aaron Ashmore is very cute and funny. My biggest complaint is that Clark is M.I.A. during most of the important stuff in the episode. I know they were setting up the Phantom Zone prisoner escape but it hurt the episode a bit. ***1/2.
Sneeze: A blast (literally). I loved Oliver Queen, and Lex getting kidnapped, and I loved Clark discovering he had super-breath. Him sneezing the barn door off was absolutely hilarious. I haven't had this much fun watching the show in a while. The last shot of Oliver making that arrow target on the Daily Planet globe was awesome too. ****1/2.
Wither: Lex and Lana having sex made me gag but the rest of the episode was passable. Not great though. **1/2.
Arrow: Green Arrow's debut episode was a good one and a season highlight for Lois. I like that the show hasn't completely made Lionel a good guy even though he's now on Clark's side. However I'm knocking off an entire star of Lana "holding her own" in the art of manipulation against the Luthors. The writers weren't building Lana up like they were trying to do, but tearing Lex down. The fact that he said he was "impressed" with her was absolutely terrible writing. Lana ruins everything she touches but she's maing Lex suck this year. LEX! There was a highlight to the plot point however. At the end when Lionel asks Lex what makes him think he won't tell Lana about his manipulations Lex has a great response: "Because you've spent so much time tricking the Kents into thinking you're a good person you've started to believe it yourself." ****.
Reunion: This episode was surprising, dark, and VERY watchable. Not exactly a pleasant experience but I learned a lot about Lex and Oliver that I never would have guessed. Powerful. ****.
Fallout: Raya has always been a cool character and I loved seeing her and Clark team up. Predictable that she died at the end of the episode though so I'm taking off points for that. ***1/2.
Rage: Total Afterschool Special. I was annoyed throughout. By the way Clark trying to get Lois to stay away from Oliver because he was on drugs was the stupidest tactic EVER. Lois was completely right that you don't just abandon a person when they need help the most and Clark of all people should have not only realized that, but known that Lois would have felt the same way. *1/2.
Static: Martian Manhunter? Awesome. Everything else? Not so much. And from the episode title I was disappointed this wasn't a trip to the Dakotaverse. **1/2.
Subterranean: All right but nothing special. Clark is great with kids though and that's always fun to see. ***.
Hydro: Hate Tori Spelling and thought the episode was only so-so becaused they didn't actually have the budget to use the water effects to their fullest. However I'm giving the episode a passing grade for the scene at the end of a delighted, smirking Chloe having Lois tell Clark that Green Arrow was an even better kisser than Oliver. The looks on Chloe and Clark's faces were priceless. ***.
Justice: If you want to get technical about it, this episode isn't REALLY great but merely good. But I'm giving it five stars because it was such a crowd pleaser and filled with so much fanservice. Bart is MUCH cuter in this episode than in his debut in season four and when A.C. and Victor Stone showed up I cheered. And the end "power walk" of the Justice League as they walked away from the blown up lab was admittedly cheesey but I loved every second of it. *****.
Labyrinth: I usually hate these types of stories for personal reasons but I have to admit this was a good take on the "trapped in a sanitarium thinking your entire life is a delusion" episodes of genre shows. Part of that was because of Phil Morris' debut as The Martian Manhunter and that the episode kept throwing twist after twist at you. By the way, the episode needed a scene at the end of John Jones properly introducing himself to Clark and sure enough there was a deleted scene on the DVD showing exactly that. I wish they had included it in the episode itself even though they portrayed John in it a bit darker than he ultimately wound up being. ****.
Crimson: This was a dark episode done right. It pulled out all of the stops and completely up-ended things that were starting to settle into a nice little rut. And it was even funny in places (I LOVED Lois making Clark a mix CD). Great episode. ****1/2.
Trepass: I was sick of the Lana stalker episodes by season two. Did they really need to give us one this late in the game? Lex was right though. It was REALLY weird that Lana felt safe at the Kents' farm after Clark kidnapped her last episode. It was still a bit better than I expected though. ***.
Freak: The revelation that Chloe was meteor infected was genius especially because they tricked you into thinking Tobias was gonna rat out Clark. The scene of Clark using his heat vision to cut into Chloe's shoulder to remove the tracking device was something they would have pulled on a gory J.J. Abrams show so I loved it. I really enjoyed this one. ****.
Promise: Best episode of the year. The scene where Lana listens to Clark tell Chloe every one of his secrets reminded me of The Prince's Tale chapter from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I think Lana was put in a similar position as Harry in hearing an unexpected story that explained ALL of the weird stuff about Clark, and making her reevaluate everything she had ever known about him. The difference here is that the audience already knew this stuff but I couldn't help noticing the similarities. And even though it turned out he had a good reason for doing it, Lionel threatening to kill Clark if Lana didn't marry Lex was despicable and an alarming plot twist. Speaking of alarming plot twists, Lex commiting his first outright murder on the day of his wedding was chilling especially because he was actually able to enjoy the ceremony afterwards. Yikes! *****.
Combat: I hate Fight Club genre episodes and this one sucked too. The only thing I enjoyed was the smackdown between Clark and Titan at the end and Clark's realization that to stop the Zoners who escaped to Earth he was going to have to kill them all. **.
Progeny: Ever wonder why Chloe is so hot? It's because her mom is Lynda Carter who is still gorgeous and looks like a million bucks. I understand completely now why they didn't show Chloe's mom's face last season (although it doesn't explain why she was blonde). This episode was very moving too and I had to suppress tears by the end. Allison Mack did a GREAT job here. I loved this one. ****1/2.
Nemesis: I was surprised when Lex left Clark under that rubble but I was even more surprised when he went back for him. I can't explain that. And at the end of the episode Clark stated something that was obvious to the audience: he gave up on Lex too soon and was driving him to his dark place because of that. I'm glad that was finally addressed. By the way, the revelation that Lionel threatened to kill Clark to protect him was genius and completely unexpected. But they made it make sense in the season finale. ****.
Noir: A dud. Serious drivel. It's always a jump the shark moment when ANY TV show (and not just genre ones) do period dream sequences (see Moonlighting). It also doesn't help that this was done on the cheap and a great deal of the action sequences were actually footage stolen from old movies and obviously so at that. I'm giving the episode two and a half stars though because the non-dream stuff was good and it wasn't an insignificant part of the episode. **1/2.
Prototype: Helo! The last moment of the room lined up with supersoldiers reminded me of Justice League Unlimited's Flashpoint and the Ultimen. I liked the ep a lot. ****.
Phantom: Most Smallville season finales are good but the conclusions wind up disappointing. This was no exception. This episode had everything. Every single character except Clark, Lex and Martha's life was a question mark at the end, Martian Manhunter returned, and it was revealed that Lionel was Jor-El's emmisary and on Clark's side all along. I also liked Clark telling Lana he was an alien. Lex smacking Lana was terrible and I loved Lana throwing the faked pregnancy in Lex's face. Lex was such a coward he couldn't even fess up to it. I knew right away that Lana faked her own death though. And Bizarro making his debut at the end of the episode rocked! ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes:
REALLY great batch this year. Best scene was the one from Labyrinth that properly introduced John Jones. That should have been in the episode. Overall: ****1/2.
Sneeze: This scene of Martha and Clark inviting Lionel to dinner was excellent and it's clear it was only cut for time. For a "filler" the episode was jam-packed with material already and this scene was really long. *****.
Wither: The scene where Clark and Lana act like teenage drama queens: unneeded. The scene where Clark explains the Phantom Zone to Chloe: needed. ***.
Arrow: This expositiony scene starts with Chloe teasing Clark that he has feelings for Lois. ****1/2.
Fallout: Is it just me, or does Martha spend most of this season on the phone, running in and out of the house? It's not just me, is it. ***1/2.
Hydro: Hilarious scene of Jimmy and Lois sneaking around while trying not to arouse Chloe's suspicions. ****.
Labyrinth: Oh, snap! Clark and John Jones' first real face-to-face was going to occur in this episode! It's a mega-juicy scene too. *****.
Crimson: Sappy scene between Mrs. Kent and Lana. ***.
Freak: Scene adding clues to Chloe being meteor infected. It's neat but completely unnecessary. ***1/2.
Combat: Clark saving a REALLY cut guy's life by clocking him senseless. I'm kinda sad the episode lost this. ****.
Progeny: Sweet scene between Clark and Martha. But yeah, Martha's pretty much "to-and-fro" this season. ***.
Progeny (part 2): Sort of a dark scene that hints that Lana may be planning revenge on Lex. I can see why it was cut. Kristen Kreuk doesn't quite pull off the dastardly. ****.
Nemesis: Scene of Martha at Lionel's bedside. Interesting. ****.
Phantom: Lana confronting Lionel Luthor. ****1/2.
Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles:
This is a six part webisode cartoon series with REALLY horrible CGI animation detailing Oliver Queen's early life and origin story. It probably wouldn't have been as bad had they not gone for a realistic style but the animation is dreadful and obviously done on the cheap. The story fares better even though Green Arrow probably has the weakest origin story in comic book history. Take note continuity geeks: the producers of these webisodes didn't have the forsight to see the obvious: that someday the SHOW would probably want to tell Green Arrow's origin story itself. The fact that it is so different in season eight knocks these webisodes firmly out of Smallville canon. Overall: ***1/2.
Episode 1 - Broken Arrow: This starts of with Kid Ollie not getting along with his parents and hints at the Queens' connection to the Swanns. ****.
Episode 2 - Bon Voyage: Oliver's parents die and the story flashforwards a few years. ****.
Episode 3 - Betrayal: This is how Oliver was forced off the ship into a liferaft. ***1/2.
Episode 4 - Island: Oliver finds an island and meets monkeys and natives. ***1/2.
Episode 5 - Bow Hunters: The natives teach Oliver how to use a bow and arrow and hunt. Seeing the natives and Oliver dance a tribal dance was absolutely painful. **1/2.
Episode 6 - Mended: Oliver helps the natives, defeats his betrayers, goes home and becomes Green Arrow. ****.
The Making Of Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles:
Three mini featurettes about the making of the webisodes. Overall: ****.
Episode 1 - Pre-Production: Mostly about the story and voice-over work. ****.
Episode 2 - Production: Detailing how the animation will look. ****.
Episode 3 - The Animation Process: The final rendering process and seeing a scene in three stages of progress. ****.
Smallville Legends: Justice & Doom:
This was an awesome motion comic dealing with an early adventure of the Smallvilleverse's Justice League. My only complaint is that the words on the screen went by too fast. If they weren't going to be using voices, they needed to slow it down. Overall: *****.
Part One: About the beginning of the mission. *****.
Part Two: About the founding of Smallville and an intruiging shout-out to Virgil Swann. ****1/2.
Part Three: Another mission that goes global. ****1/2.
Part Four: Getting Lois into the mix and everybody getting ready to call Clark. ****1/2.
Part Five: The best of the parts, this threaded so much continuity from the show together it wasn't even funny. And some of it wouldn't even be explored until season seven with The Traveler. GREAT foreshadowing. *****.
Green Arrow: The Legend Of The Emerald Archer: Documentary narrated by Mark Hamill about Green Arrow's comic, cartoon and TV history. Loved the JLU clips. *****.
Smallville: Big Fans: I had two thoughts about this. The second was that John Glover is an awesome person. But mostly I was just thinking these people are nuts. ***.
Superman Doomsday: Trailer for the awful animated Superman Direct to Video movie. **1/2.
DVD Menus: More clips from season four this time featuring Jimmy Olsen and Oliver Queen / Green Arrow. The Justice League "power walk" is a thing of beauty. ****1/2.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold: Season Two, Part Two
This show is nuts! Seriously deranged episodes on this set which pretty much shows the producers knew the writing was on the wall and that the show wouldn't last much longer. They pretty much stopped writing the show for kids and even fanboys and pretty much just catered to their own childhoods. It REALLY worked in some instances and in some it really didn't.
I cannot imagine what an 8-year old Batman fan would possibly have thought of "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!" If I were little I would probably like the Scooby Doo segment and hate everything else. I happened to think this was a VERY strong episode but I think the writers were only able to get away with it because they stopped caring what the suits would think.
Best episodes on the set are the two-part The Siege Of Starro!, The Joker and Bat-Mite spotlight (Emperor Joker!), and the introduction (FINALLY!) of Superman on the series (Battle Of The Superheroes!) and the aforemention "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases". Worst episodes are the pandering Cry Freedom Fighters! and the episode that was a little TOO crazy for it's own good (The Malicious Mr. Mind!). Set overall: ****1/2.
The Siege Of Starro! Part One: The diaper truck gag slays me every time and Booster Gold pretty much stole the episode. It was a rare episode that was actually exciting. But I'll say it: this two-parter should have been on the last set. *****.
The Siege Of Starro! Part Two: I wasn't a fan of killing off B'Wana Beast but I don't mind it so much now. The episode was another nail-biter and pretty cool. ****. Two-Part Average: ****1/2.
Requiem For A Scarlet Speedster!: Eh. I am luke-warm about this version of the Flash and Jay and Kid Flash were acting too emo for my tastes. Good things? Flash's villains being SO excited and happy to see him alive. The Outsiders teaser didn't suck either. **1/2.
The Last Patrol!: I had been waiting a LONG time for Batgirl. She showed up in the teaser. Worth the wait. The rest of the episode? Eh. I have never been a fan of the unlikable Doom Patrol and their sacrifice meant nothing to me. Plus, it was kind of a bummer of an episode. **.
Menace Of The Madniks!: Haunted Tank? Terrible. Booster Gold and Ted Kord team-up? Excellent. One of the most disappointing things about the show using Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle is that we never got a proper Booster Gold / Blue Beetle team-up. This episode rectifies that injustice but unfortunately isn't quite as funny as it should be (probably because Batman is such a pill). I want to now see a cartoon where Booster and Beetle go it solo. ****.
Emperor Joker!: Can't believe they got away with all of those hilarious and gruesome Batman deaths. The episode was a keeper too. Only complaint is that I don't really care for this version of Harley Quinn. Other than that the episode was pretty much perfect. I love that the Joker's greatest fear is being ordinary. I don't think it's the idea of sanity that scares him so much, it's the idea of him not being great. The Rainbow Batman segment was neat too. *****.
The Criss Cross Conspiracy!: I had wanted a Bat-Family episode forever and this was pretty much the only time on the series we got one. It's pretty funny too even if Batwoman was a complete sexist stereotype. One of the things I loved best about Justice League Unlimited's Legion Of Doom story arc was that a LOT of the supervillains on the team weren't actually evil but simply thought of being a criminal as a legitimate career choice for people with superpowers. It involved a LOT of workplace comedy which I thought was a VERY interesting development. Felix Faust here reminded me of that dynamic. He isn't evil here and doesn't go to prison at the end of the episode. It's just that he's REALLY good at the disreputable and illegal stuff and tries to do his job well. I loved that. ****.
The Plague Of The Prototypes!: Y'know, I wasn't originally CRAZY about the bummer endings for the Starro and Doom Patrol episodes when I first saw them (I thought they weren't in the spirit of the show) but in retrospect they were genius. Because of them I was SURE they were gonna kill the lovable Proto off at the end (and he's voiced by Adam West!) and when they didn't I cheered. I like this episode a LOT more than most fans do. ****.
Cry Freedom Fighters!: Ugh. I had thought jingoistic Patriotic propaganda had gone out of fashion in 2005. I honestly didn't need to see it in one of my favorite cartoons. As a liberal I had to live through some VERY unpleasant situations where my Patriotism was constantly questioned because I disagreed with the war and I don't need a throw-back to that dark time via a kids show, which is almost even worse because of the target audience. 1/2.
The Knights Of Tomorrow!: I didn't care for the dream sequence alternate future of the episode. It seemed to be trying to be this show's Batman Beyond or "Artifacts". But I cannot give the episode anything less than four stars because of that teaser with The Question on Apokolips. It is simply the greatest teaser the show ever did and it's a shame it wasn't attached to an episode I actually liked. Still because of that it gets a ridiculously high grade. ****.
Darkseid Descending!: Not as bad as I remembered but I can see why this was polarizing. The reason I don't quite hate it is because the episode is smart enough to make it obvious to the audience that Batman and Darkseid's feud isn't personal which is what Superman and Darkseid are famous for. I would rather see Darkseid vs. Kal-El myself but the episode never made me feel as if Batman was stealing a Superman's thunder. The silly tone of the episode, however was a bit off-putting. WAAAYYY too cartoony for Darkseid. But it could have been MUCH worse. ***1/2.
Battle Of The Superheroes!: I am surprised this episode is so well-loved by fans. I think it's hilarious but frankly I would have thought it would have been even more controversial than the Darkseid outing. Still, this episode is a loving Valentine to the "Superman is a di----ifferent person" stories from the fifties. But there is NO question that this is completely unlike any modern Superman story I've seen animated recently. *****.
Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!: Weird Al Yankovic and Scooby Doo? SOLD! I wish they had gotten Casey Kasem to voice Robin but for once Jason Marsden was up to the voice acting challenge and managed to ape Kasem's mannerisms flawlessly. I guess they didn't bother getting Kasem because Matthew Lillard voiced Shaggy here. Seeing Scooby and Shaggy punching Joker and Penguin was worth the price of admission. Batboy and Rubin was WEIRD though and I thought whoever came up with the Bat-Manga on the show idea must have been on crack. But man, this episode was pretty wild even though I bet the kiddies hated it. ****1/2.
The Malicious Mr. Mind!: This was a bit TOO silly. Which is weird because Captain Marvel is such an inherently silly superhero. Mr. Mind was cool, it's just the Baby Batman stuff that I thought was a bit too much. *1/2.
Digital Comic: Three pages? Total rip-off. 1/2.
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Date: 2012-03-28 08:55 am (UTC)Razer did say as long as he feels rage, his ring will have power even if it technically runs out of energy itself.
Plus, they're still in Frontier Space. They could easily ambush a Red Lantern and steal their battery.
Young Justice
I'm not liking belligerent Wonder Woman. There was a similar scene in Justice League: Doom just recently. And she's sorta being a hypocrite. Captain Marvel may be only 10 years old, but if there's an age rule, it should apply to her and Martian Manhunter, too. She's 85 years old and Manhunter is 135 Earth years old.
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Date: 2012-03-28 01:30 pm (UTC)Young Justice: Could you remind me of the similar scene from Justice League: Doom?
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Date: 2012-03-29 03:28 am (UTC)Young Justice: Towards the end of the movie when they all reconvene at the Watchtower once Superman is saved. Batman admits those were his plans except they were modified to kill. Wonder Woman snipes he still betrayed their trust. But Batman brings up the point something like they needed to be secret in case anyone succumbed to mind control... like how Wonder Woman just was by those nanites.
What rubs me the wrong way is Wonder Woman being the one. I always felt Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman should be the closest of friends. They get each other and don't have to question the other's actions. Sure, the JL has only been around for 10 years on the Young Justice show, but of all the other 15 members present - I wish they threw that line to someone else, like Hawkman. The way Wonder Woman put it about Robin being indoctrinated at age nine... the same thing happened with her basically, she was indoctrinated in the Amazon way at a young age as well.
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Date: 2012-03-29 07:19 pm (UTC)Young Justice: That was a great scene in the movie. I personally don't much care for the Young Justice version of Wonder Woman.
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Date: 2012-03-30 02:38 am (UTC)Ha! We just might. Hal's already proven to have a penchant for sneaking around - in the first episode he sneaked into the Liberator's bay and in "Razer's Edge" sneaked back into the Spider Guild Prison.
Young Justice
They haven't given us much to go on about Wonder Woman. If you look back, only towards the end of the season have we seen less that half of the Justice League get decent screen time and development.
BTW, did you get the first trade collection of the YJ tie-in comic?
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Date: 2012-03-28 12:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-28 01:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-03 10:46 am (UTC)I'd watch it.
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Date: 2012-04-03 11:52 am (UTC)I've thought this ever since I was a kid and a fan of Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures and Wizards. He is the one guy who could really pull it off.
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Date: 2012-04-09 12:51 pm (UTC)In terms of directors who actually stand a chance of making a TMNT film, I'd go for Guilliamaro del Toro. He did a good job on Hellboy, which is in much the same comedy/monster/superhero genre.
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Date: 2012-04-01 12:38 am (UTC)Young Justice "Agenda" - Secret identities are nobody's business, but child endangerment is...well, it's a tricky area. Captain Marvel's 10 years old, that's too young to really make a decision like risking his life constantly. But where does the Wisdom of Solomon fit in? Tricky. I loved the League debate more than Superboy's story. John was handled great in the 00's, would suck if they didn't do the same for him in the New52. As for finding the new member, I like the suspense (the comic actually did something similar when they didn't reveal who the leader was for like 3 or 4 issues, and it was kind of funny the way they'd hide it).
ThunderCats "New Alliances" - At least Lion-O TRIED to be okay with Cheetarah and Tygra, he wasn't all emo at first...then it just kept bugging him. Those new villains are so VICIOUS, it's unsettling...but cool! And it makes sense for Berbils to be recurring allies, they can create more vehicles and equipment for toys.
Once Upon A Time "Hat Trick" - Well, they're making it more like STORY characters, not just fairy tale. Peter Pan and Oz would fit right in. I think Emma started to believe at the end of the episode with Jefferson's daughter and the book. I don't think for her it'll just be one event that makes her believe, it has to be a series of events. Gold agreeing with someone just means he's manipulating them.
American Dad "Less Money, Mo' Problems" - I liked seeing the sick stuff too.
Community "Contemporary Impressionists" - Hopefully Abed will stay sane, but I guess they just felt this would be an interesting direction to take the character.
30 Rock - I liked Jack's reasoning for why Jenna could play Avery. And I do kind of like Liz sticking it to him that how he handled himself in his romantic relationships make him a bad person.
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Date: 2012-04-01 07:30 pm (UTC)Once Upon A Time: Good call on Gold.
30 Rock: Jack really IS a horrible person when you come right down to it. Liz's love-life is a mess too but she rarely is as manipulative or horrible to her significant others as Jack is. The fact that Jack is almost always right about everything is kind of sickening.
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Date: 2012-04-03 03:43 am (UTC)30 Rock: Yeah, under any other circumstance, I'd hate Jack with a passion, but I'm willing to forgive 30 Rock because I love the show so much, and he does get humiliated sometimes.
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Date: 2012-04-03 11:59 am (UTC)30 Rock: Jack doesn't get humiliated nearly enough especially compared to Liz. And he's a MUCH worse person than her. By far.
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Date: 2012-04-05 03:45 am (UTC)30 Rock: Agreed and agreed (but it's more in tune with the show to humiliate Liz).
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Date: 2012-04-01 06:09 am (UTC)Sneeze: I liked how fun this episode was too. Close to Lois and Clark's level of fun, actually.
Arrow: I hate them making Lex suck...I love Lex!
Hydro: Was that the one where Clark dresses as Green Arrow?
Justice: I'm actually not as keen on the episode as you. I mean, yeah, I loved it, but I wouldn't call it great OR give it five stars. It's no "Absolute Justice", which was definitely for the fans.
Labyrinth: The Jor-El reference made it work, and dang! I need to see that deleted scene. Perhaps over some Oreos.
Freak: It's stuff like Clark using his heat vision on Chloe that makes Smallville so significant in the grand scheme of live action superheroes. Effects have come so far, it puts to shame any TV show before it, and even some movies need to prove they're better than Smallville to be worthy of being a movie (I'm looking at you, Superman Returns).
Nemesis: I didn't like the feud being over Lana, but I DID love how Clark and Lex interacted in this ep.
Phantom: Honestly, I was never a fan of the Lionel as Jor-El's emissary plot.
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Date: 2012-04-01 07:36 pm (UTC)Justice: Absolute Justice was better but this was pretty great for what we got. It was cheesy but it was a lot of fun.
Labyrinth: The scene was excellent. Rent or buy the DVDs.
Freak: You're right about Superman Returns. It's special effects weren't really any better than Smallville's and it's budget was ridiculous. I don't know if that's a credit to Smallville or a knock on Bryan Singer.
Nemesis: Me too.
Phantom: I loved the plot because it was setting Lionel and Lex in a completely different direction and a surprising one at that. Instead of just making Lex evil, they decided to reform Lionel too. It was really unexpected and worked because they were on opposite trajectories.
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Date: 2012-04-03 03:48 am (UTC)Labyrinth: Still debating the whole "complete series" thing.
Freak: It's a credit to Smallville. Singer did have a few superior shots, like Superman with the airplane.
Phantom: I feel like it was inconsistent with Lionel's behavior. I do like the idea of opposite trajectories, and made sense when Lex ultimately offed him.
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Date: 2012-04-03 12:06 pm (UTC)Phantom: They explained it really well though. The few times he was touched by the goodness of Clark and then Jor-El he had revelations. It was also awesome because by the end he was considering Clark more of a son than Lex and that not only fueled the wedge between Clark and Lex but made Lex's reasons for killing him make perfect sense.
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Date: 2012-04-05 03:47 am (UTC)Phantom: I loved him considering Clark more a son than Lex, and moving in on Martha, but come on...it's Lionel flippin' Luthor! He can't just turn good like that!
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Date: 2012-04-01 08:03 am (UTC)Requiem For A Scarlet Speedster!: Wally West is one of my favorite fictional characters, and honestly, he NEEDS that emo period to become the hero he's meant to be. Young Justice still has him as a teenager, and JL/U made him a clown, but it was through Barry's death that he matured, and this was the only show that's even touched on it.
The Last Patrol!: Think of the Doom Patrol as DC's X-Men, they ALWAYS get the short end of the stick, so even though they die and end their story on a down-note, at least they go out as heroes.
Menace Of The Madniks!: Agreed. It's a shame we've had Booster Gold twice and no team-ups with Ted.
Emperor Joker!:Considering the permanent deaths they already did, I'm not surprised. I didn't like Harley Quinn either, her name didn't even make any sense.
The Plague Of The Prototypes!: Eh, between the Christmas episode and "Chill of the Night", the spirit of the show doesn't always mean lighthearted.
Cry Freedom Fighters!: It's the Freedom Fighters, it'd be a disservice to them if they didn't act all patriotic. By war you mean the Iraq War? I think this episode throws back a little further than that.
The Knights Of Tomorrow!: I was relieved it was an Alfred fanfic story, and that's actually something that used to happen in the comics. I thought it was a great episode, and hey, we get a TRUE vision of Batman's future later, and it's much brighter.
Darkseid Descending!: I didn't think it was that silly, it still managed to be suspenseful. I don't think Batman stole Superman's thunder, but I've always thought that because of STAS, Superman stole Orion's thunder.
Battle Of The Superheroes!: This gets a pass because of red kryptonite, so it's not like it was doing a disservice to Superman as a character. It was a TON of fun, and ya know, despite the fact that the legitimate businessman Lex Luthor works so well, it was kind of refreshing to see the straight up mad scientist criminal Lex Luthor here.
Bat-Mite Presents: I think whoever started the idea of dubbing/censoring anime for American audiences was on crack.
The Malicious Mr. Mind!: I actually really liked this episode. Maybe because Tara Strong got to voice Baby Batman, but also because of how depressing the first Captain Marvel episode was, it was great to see him have a family here.
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Date: 2012-04-01 07:46 pm (UTC)Requiem For A Scarlet Speedster: I've never read Wally in the comics so I only know him from Young Justice, JLU and Teen Titans. All of those versions were superior to this one.
Menace Of The Madniks: We've had Booster MANY more times than twice.
Cry Freedom Fighters: If that's the case they shouldn't have bothered using them at all. It might have been tolerable in a teaser but the whole episode left me cold. And yes, I mean the Iraq War.
The Knights Of Tomorrow: I forgot about that! That was the Trinity episode, correct?
Darkseid Descending: About Superman and Orion? You nailed it!
Battle Of The Superheroes: It may not have been doing a disservice to Superman but it REALLY made Lois Lane and ESPECIALLY Jimmy Olsen look bad. And I find that hilarious as the old comics used to routinely do that.
The Malicious Mr. Mind: You thought Captain Marvel's first episode was depressing? I can't help but disagree. I thought it was a wonderful introduction to Captain Marvel and his two biggest rogues as well as giving us a hopeful ending for the future. This was just bizarre.
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Date: 2012-04-03 03:53 am (UTC)Requiem For A Scarlet Speedster: Wally is very much like his later DCAU personality (the common guy conscience who will give hugs), but to get there, he had to be the brash-but-smart learner he is in Young Justice, then following Barry's death the emo kid unsure about his place that he was in BTBATB, then the impulsive womanizer from the first season of Justice League, and finally the true hero in the later seasons of Justice League. I just like his development, is all (his Teen Titans one was fun too).
Menace of the Madniks: I meant in two different continuities, DCAU and BTATB (3 if you count LOSH, but I don't, 4 if you count Smallville, but I was only talking animated...although that episode DID rob us of Booster and Ted again!)
The Knights of Tomorrow: Indeed it was.
Battle of the Superheroes: The Silver Age in general DID make Lois and Jimmy look bad, and it was hilarious, especially considering they've had longer runs as normal people in a superhero world with a solo title than anyone else. I guess I can appreciate the throwback.
The Malicious Mr. Mind: You're right, it had a great ending. Before that, though, I felt SO bad Billy was an orphan without a family. This episode made me happy to see him with Mary and Freddy.
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Date: 2012-04-03 12:19 pm (UTC)Menace of the Madniks: Gotcha.
Battle Of The Superheroes: I think it's even more hilarious how badly Superman came across on the actual covers to his own book. I don't think the publishers realized how badly Supes would wind up looking if you saw all of those "Superman is a d***" covers back to back like that. Sure, the covers sold comics. But they REALLY made Superman look bad if you viewed them one right after another (thank you internet!)
The Malicious Mr. Mind: But isn't that Billy Batson's whole schtick? The family doesn't come right away. I was glad to see the Marvel family in this episode too but that doesn't mean the episode itself didn't suck, especially compared to the first one.
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Date: 2012-04-05 03:51 am (UTC)Battle Of The Superheroes: It's so weird to read about the history of comic books and how different it was between then and now. I mean, there was no internet and NO BACK ISSUES! It was just "How are we going to get kids to pick this comic off the rack? Put Superman in an outrageous situation that'll make them wonder who he's doing that and buy it to read the story!" Kids can't remember that far back between issues, and they probably didn't keep the comics, so it's incredibly unlikely that they looked at all the covers back to back like that...and the writers and editors didn't even consider it as a possibility!
The Malicious Mr. Mind: Hm, I guess it is true to his origins, and I will admit the first episode was better, but I still liked this one.
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