Grimm

Kyle’s Review

This week’s episode of Grimm had to be the strongest of the year. Like the couple wesen that came before it, this wesen of the week wasn’t malevolent, he was sick.

Grimm tapped into the Ebola crisis of western Africa and added a wesen only illness to the mix. Like Ebola this wesen-centric disease works fast and is usually fatal. The Grimm crew only has enough ingredients for one vaccination –similar to the experimental Ebola vaccine of which there were only two made – and when the wesen-gone-wild finds out he infected his wife, he sacrifices himself to save her.

Not only was this episode topical, it reached a level of depth that Grimm hasn’t seen since its second season. We also get an idea of how the Austrian royals fit into the Portland side of the house. It’s nice to see Adalind strike an uncomfortable alliance with them. She certainly wouldn’t hide her disdain for them – it’s just not her style – and Renard’s alliance with the resistance proves just as shaky.

I’m even warming up to the Sergeant Wu storyline. He sees definitive proof of the otherworldly wesen this week, and unlike others before him, he doesn’t handle the information well. It’s unbelievable when everyone either is a wesen or Grimm, or they accept this other world. Let’s hope for more Wu freak outs.

Grimm has always had pretty good cliffhangers, but they must’ve taken a note from the DC Comics TV shows. This year’s mid-season finale had some key figures getting kidnapped and revealed the repercussions of Nick getting his Grimm back: Juliette may be a hexenbeast—Yikes!

Verdict: A strong showing for Grimm’s mid-season finale that leaves plenty to work with after the hiatus.

Constantine

Kyle’s Review

Constantine took another big step forward this week. John runs into another one of his former mates which built up his past and added weight to the character, and I liked how we got two dueling stories this week: John and Zed.

Zed got the shorter end of the stick. She faced her dark past, but her half of things wasn’t as well developed. You have to buy her leaving headquarters to get some random art supplies. Then, she investigates two – count them one, two – places in the vast confines of the magic shack and those two places just happen to help her evade her pursuers. She still gets captured with a syringe to the neck, but the guy with the needle must have been made of vapor to get that good of a drop on her. It was all too convenient.

But John had another great outing. He heads to Mexico and meets up with Anne-Marie from his past. She’s since gone to a convent and became a nun, but there have been some strange dealings with babies disappearing. Anne-Marie contacts John via astral plane radio, and John comes running. The ensuing confrontation reveals a heap of information about the characters’ tangled past, what’s been going on behind the scenes thus far, and saw several elements from the Hellblazer and even the Swamp Thing comics leap onto the small screen.

I won’t spoil it here, but John gets a taste of his own medicine with the end’s cliffhanger.

Verdict: The narrative may have had its ups and downs this season, but Constantine goes into its midseason hiatus on a high note.

Check out our Constantine spoilers page here.

Bob’s Burgers

Kyle’s Review

This week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers is titled “Tina, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” and as the name implies, Tina goes undercover. Deep undercover.

At the beginning of the episode, Tina has to quit Thundergirls because she turned thirteen, and thirteen is forty in Thundergirl years. Unfortunately, Tina’s ex-Thundergirl troop has a mole in their ranks, and Tina’s former troop master enlists Tina to uncover the culprit.

The two other stories braid into this main storyline: Linda feels old and dyes her hair blonde, while Gene wants to help Tina by checking Thundergirl trash only to find trash fashion or as he likes to call it trashion. Louise complicates matters more by forming the Mole Patrol. She joins Tina’s troop and when that doesn’t lead to results, she joins the rival troop 257, but it’s Tina who solves the mystery. She might not want to admit it, but Louise looks up to her awkward, older sister.

As far as the Thundergirl sting is concerned, let’s just say that a pinky swear of eternal friendship was broken, and the episode turns nuttier than a Banana nut-fudge cookie with macadamia nuts. And it’s just as delicious.

Verdict: Tina makes a great spy and Louise reveals her humanity in this solid episode.

Read more about Bob’s Burgers with our spoiler page.