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Agent Carter Review: “Monsters”

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Kyle’s Thoughts

“Monsters” was another solid episode of Agent Carter, but the show fell back into some bad habits.

I like it when Agent Carter shows us strong females (Peggy, Whitney, and Dottie), and how they must fight the system, instead of telling the audience about how tough this world is for women through lengthy dialogue. Whenever Agent Carter gets on its soapbox, it reads like the writer speaking through the character. Of course writers always speak through their characters but there’s a more artful way to do this. Show us. The second season has done a much better job of doing this than the first.

However, “Monsters” flirted with this pitfall when Whitney Frost fed us long explanations as to the real reason Peggy, Dottie, and Dr. Wilkes were employed by their respective agencies: they were minorities. I say the show flirted with this pitfall because these speeches were halfway between an after-school special and Frost trying to gain someone’s trust, sharing similar struggles. I’ll give Agent Carter the benefit of doubt and go with the latter but I could’ve done with one speech instead of two. Or better yet, the show could’ve reworded and shortened the speeches so it sounded less like a sermon.

The rest of the episode was well paced, complete with action, character development (we gained ground with Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis, Dr. Wilkes, and others this week), and some light comedy. I liked how we saw different combinations of characters and how they interacted with each other. It allowed the audience to see some of these characters through different lenses.

I’m still not invested in the romantic side of Agent Carter. It’s clear Sousa has always had eyes for Peggy, and Peggy, even though she’d deny it, has feelings for Sousa, but the two deliberately place roadblocks between each other like Ross and Rachel in Friends. You know the writers intend for them to get together, but it can’t happen until sometime in the third or fourth season. Why? Because the writers don’t want the relationship to happen until the third or fourth season. Until we reach the magic number of episodes, we’ll get nothing but a tease.

Despite a few bumps along the way, “Monsters” was a strong episode. It even ended with a touch of a cliffhanger. I won’t spoil it here, but it’s a satisfying, if not a little choreographed, one.

Agent Carter Review: “Life of the Party”

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Kyle’s Thoughts

Agent Carter dropped the bulk of last week’s silliness—it was too slap stick last episode—and focused on Whitney Frost. That wasn’t the only thing the show did well. It took Frost, a highlight of this season, and teamed her up with one of the strongest elements of last season, Dottie (the current Black Widow) Underwood. Hijinks ensued and there was plenty of action and intrigue.

Frost became the new leader of the secret organization. It was only a matter of time before she ditched her two-timing husband and ruled the group with an iron fist. The change may have taken place quickly but it was believable. Since Agent Carter took the time to develop Frost as a character, the actions she took this week weren’t out of character.

We haven’t seen Dottie since the season opener, but she dived right into “Life of the Party.” Sure, there were a few hokey scenes when she tried to escape, and Peggy and her crew subdued her, but those were short-lived and maintained the show’s light-hearted tone. The exchanges Dottie had with Jarvis, or as she calls him Jeeves, were priceless, and she added a needed shot of adrenaline.

I’m still not on board with Agent Carter’s love triangle, or love rhombus. Sousa’s fiancée dumped him, I suppose, and now, Dr. Wilkes has an idea that Sousa and Peggy might be more than colleagues. It’s obvious Peggy and Sousa care for each other, and while I like it when a man and woman can be friends without it leading to romance, the show wanted these two to be a couple, so these artificial obstacles are annoying.

One point of annoyance that I’m glad to see gone is the overuse of a woman in a man’s world. It’s still there—how could it not?—but Agent Carter has used a more gentle hand when showing us the uphill battle its heroine has to face. This isn’t always the case, but “Life of the Party” did a nice job of suggesting that Peggy isn’t afforded the same privileges.

“Life of the Party” also took big strides toward developing Doctor Strange’s background. The whole premise of this season is based on the darkforce and those who can manipulate it. The darkforce is also known as zero matter, and since Frost is attuned to zero matter/the darkforce, I wonder if she’ll play a role in the upcoming movie. Marvel continues to do a nice job of integrating its cinematic and TV universes, and I like the tact they’ve taken with Agent Carter: let the television show set up the film.

iZombie Review: “The Whopper”

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Kyle’s Thoughts

Story lines converged once again in the pressure cooker that is iZombie. You may need an organizational chart to depict how all the characters relate to one another and that’s a great thing. It allows the characters to grow, although some have grown more than others, and it leads to some entertaining on-screen combinations and surprises.

“The Whopper” illustrated how most characters on iZombie tell lies of various degrees. Liv is on the brains of a pathological liar, dubiously known as Big Fish (because of his penchant for tall tales). It makes sense that she’s on these brains, since she doesn’t lie or keep secrets too much beyond the fact that she’s a zombie. This episode presents one of the few times she has a need to mislead Major; she doesn’t want Major to know that she has a new boyfriend. I like how the liar brains caused her to look at things differently. She noticed other folks, notably her new zombie beau, withholding the truth. Even Major has had reason to fib. He’s lying to both Liv, about being the Chaos Killer, and to Max Rager, because he’s not actually killing. But the king of lies has to be Blaine.

Blaine is an affable villain. You almost want to root for him as he deceives someone with a smile and once the person commits to an action, he lets them know he’s pulling their leg. He may be the king of lies, but he came by that title honestly. “The Whopper” delved into his tortured past and in an odd way, his actions against his not-so-dead father are clap worthy. He also feeds the growing population of Seattle zombies, a group he had a hand in building, so he remains an integral part of the story. Even Liv admits that Blaine serves a purpose.

As far as Liv is concerned, iZombie has a tendency to lean too much on the brains she eats as a means of building her character. It wasn’t a huge issue with “The Whopper,” but the show needs to be careful not to make her character a series of whoever she’s eating. Sure, we’ve seen the most of Liv, but no other zombie character is defined as much by what they eat as Liv.

iZombie has found fertile ground for characterization. The show keeps its off-beat sense of humor, while the characters bubble and broil.

Thanks for reading.

The Flash Review: “Escape from Earth-2”

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Jim’s Thoughts

The second part of the Earth-2 expedition wasn’t as successful as the first. Some of that had to do with the show playing its doppleganger cards last week, but I’d say more of it was due to the Earth-1 subplots.

I continue to not really care about Iris, and her exchange with the new editor felt out of place, like the show wanted its own J. Jonah Jameson without any context. The Velocity-9 story was interesting enough, but it all happened pretty fast, and that undermines Jay and Harrison who’ve supposedly put a lot into the problem. I realize the show’s scientific aspects never offer more than some empty jargon, and I’m not saying they need to, but Velocity-6 was presented as Harrison’s baby, and Caitlyn has put out three successive versions of it in a matter of hours. That’s some one-up-manship right there.

Speaking of things that happened too easily, there’s just about everything that took place in Zoom’s lair. How long has our helmet-ed hero been tapping away at that glass, and two geniuses took that long to even consider there was a code to it? Barry phasing out of the cell was equally unsatisfying. Yes, he needed to know about Earth-2 having a different vibrational frequency, but it felt like a flimsy out.

Jay getting snagged by Zoom was a very telegraphed punch. He spent so long hanging around in front of the breach that I was waiting for them to start playing the theme from “Jaws.”

There’s clearly a lot to pick on this week, but it was a mostly entertaining episode. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Jay or Zoom, and I hope not. Just closing the breach and leaving Earth-2 to Zoom is not only anti-climactic, it’s precisely what Barry swore he wouldn’t do before he went through the breach at the start of all this. Despite the gripes I’ve got here, I am optimistic. Cisco is really starting to shine as a character, and I can’t wait for him to tap into his potential and really become Vibe. Even in the way he spoke to Killer Caitlin, we’re seeing Cisco change, and that’s good storytelling.

Kyle’s Take

“Escape from Earth-2” captured the same fun of last week’s episode and it had a lot of eye candy, but the story fell flat.

I agree with Jim that Cisco’s transformation is good storytelling, and that’s an important component of good storytelling, but there are more components. This season The Flash isn’t set in the right location; one that is the right place and size. The characters must be placed in enough of a confined space in order to stoke the flames of conflict. The Flash has two different Earths that are part of an infinite number of Earths. That sounds like a small enough space with which to serve as the conflict’s crucible: all creation.

Case and point, I don’t question Earth-Prime Barry’s decision to abandon Earth-2. When a character has too many options, because there’s too much space, character goals get muddy. The Flash’s speed and the Wells family were Zoom’s two targets, and Barry deprived Zoom of both of them through his actions. It may not be the most heroic act, but Earth-2 can’t get any worse with Barry and the Wells family gone. This large of a stage also invites outside elements.

Jay Garrick is friends with someone from Atlantis, and Atlantis has come up multiple times these past two episodes. Who do we know who lives in Atlantis? Aquaman. Despite being the butt of a lot of jokes, Aquaman is one of the DC Universe’s most powerful characters. Since he knows his buddy lost his powers, why doesn’t Aquaman take ten minutes to stop Zoom? Last week The Flash teased that Earth-2 Barry knows Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—nudge, nudge, wink, wink. If that’s the case, why doesn’t other Barry call them, and the Justice Society can stop Zoom in one second? Let’s not forget that Supergirl will have a crossover episode with The Flash and that opens the door to yet another potential Earth. The conflict is set on too large a stage that it doesn’t have the right setting.

I don’t care about anything that happened on Earth-Prime (A.K.A. Earth-One) this week. The Geomancer storyline was like Arrow’s Brick last season. Barry was away, so the gang has to fight random villain number 4-385. Iris’s boss is contrived. The development of Velocity-9 these past two weeks is faster than Zoom. And I won’t touch the Jay Garrick ending with a Sharknado, but Cisco’s development is wonderful and Flash kept a nice balance between light and dark tones.

“Escape from Earth-2” was easy on the eyes, but Flash needs to nail down some of its story elements as it approaches the season finale.

Want more Flash? Zoom to our Flash secrets page. Thanks for reading.

The Flash Secrets: “Escape from Earth-2”

EscapeFromNewYork

EscapeFromLA

Escape From…

The “Escape from…” opening to this week’s Flash title has to be a reference to the classic Kurt Russell films Escape from New York and Escape from LA.

Henry Hewitt Earth 2 The Flash

Henry Hewitt

Last week we saw that Hewitt, Tokomak on Earth-1, was one of Wells’s lab assistants on Earth-2. He returned this week and flashed some loyalty for Wells in the face of danger. Not many people would’ve hung around with Zoom in the building.

McFly Doc Brown Heavy

Heavy

Whenever things became dangerous on Earth-2, Cisco would say, “Whoa, this is heavy.”

This must be a nod to Marty McFly, who said the same thing a few times in the first Back to the Future movie, and his favorite time to say the phrase was when time-travel paradoxes confused him.

The Flash Earth-2 Wanted Posters

Wanted Posters

Barry had some sweet wanted posters hanging on his office wall, and we got a good look at some metahumans we’ve seen already. Doctor Light, Atom-Smasher, Zoom, Killer Frost, Deathstorm, and Reverb all had their mugs on the wall.

The Flash Patty Spivot

Patty Spivot

On Earth-2, Patty never got sidetracked by her father’s murder and is a successful CSI.

Geomancer

Geomancer

We saw Geomancer again this week, during the Earth-1 storyline. Geomancer kept things interesting for Jay Garrick and Caitlin Snow.

In the comics, Geomancer is a Justice Society foe, so he’d be an Earth-2 villain. He was co-created by DC Chief Creative Officer and The Flash executive producer Geoff Johns.

Frozen

Elsa

After Killer Frost mocked Cisco for not being able to use his powers to their full potential, Cisco responded with, “It’s a work in progress, Elsa.”

It’s easy to make the comparison between Killer Frost and Elsa (from Frozen) when Caitlin sports hair that bleach blonde.

Princess Bride Cliffs of Insanity

Cliff of Insanity

Leave it to Cisco to drop another pop-culture reference. When the gang got to Zoom’s lair, he calls the place, “The Cliffs of Insanity.”

Cisco must love The Princess Bride because this is at least his fourth or fifth reference. The Cliffs of Insanity were the first location we meet Wesley and the rest of the gang. Above is a picture of Fezzik (André the Giant) scaling the cliff with Buttercup (Robin Wright) in tow.

The Flash Iron Mask

The Man in the Iron Mask

Okay. Here’s some more conjecture. The hero in the iron mask fed Barry and Jessie “Jay Garrick” through code. Could it be that the masked hero is Jay Garrick? No one can collaborate Jay’s story; he could be an evil twin. It wouldn’t be the first time this happened. We’ll have to wait and see.

Did you miss our Flash “Escape from Earth-2” review? Here’s a link. Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers Review: “The Gene and Courtney Show”

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Kyle’s Thoughts

“The Gene and Courtney Show” aired on Valentine’s Day, so Cupid’s arrow struck at least one person. Holiday episodes can either be good or cliché, and while “The Gene and Courtney Show” was one of the good ones, it proved why Bob’s Burgers is as successful as it is: the characters.

Tina and Louise are fan favorites because they’ve been developed over time. Tina epitomizes teenage angst. She’s caught between wanting to please her parents and friends, while suffering through puberty. Louise is the bad girl with a heart of gold, so she’s usually cast against kids and adults, basically, she’s the little voice telling you to let your freak flag fly. But Gene is the lost child. He doesn’t have a foil outside of Bob, and not knowing how to communicate with his father. Gene needed character development, and this week’s episode had Gene as its focus.

Courtney’s return to the series wasn’t welcome, at first. (She was the girl who Gene dated for an episode because he wanted access to her father’s musical equipment.) Honestly, I had forgotten about her and cringed as soon as I saw her shove her locket into her mouth. I knew we’d see sparks, of some kind, between her and Gene, but Bob’s Burgers let it happen organically. Gene didn’t care for Courtney. He even cringed at her during their first scene together but they got discovered (by one of the school faculty) for the school’s morning announcements, became friends, and that grew into the two like-liking each other. Even though that was a huge shift for both characters, it wasn’t rushed. It’s a wonder what you can do with small beats leading to a big revelation.

Of course you can’t have a Bob’s Burgers episode about love without adding Tina and Jimmy Junior. They were present, but they didn’t steal focus, and Tina spent most of her time freaking out about whether or not she got a Valentine. Because she was responsible Tina was in charge of the school’s Valentines box, and Louise, that little voice, nudged Tina into compromising the box. Actually, Louise offered to discretely open the envelopes, but she couldn’t help but smile when she had seen her older sister break the rules. Even though this was the lesser of the two main story threads, you could see the layered approach Bob’s Burgers uses with its characters. And it looks as if Gene may have gained a few layers.

“The Gene and Courtney’s Show” was a solid episode. I can’t wait to see what the second half of the season has in store for Bob’s Burgers.

Thanks for reading.

Grimm Review “Star-Crossed”

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Kyle’s Thoughts

Even though “Star-Crossed” is the title for this week’s Grimm and Valentine’s Day was in the same week, the show had nothing to do with star-crossed lovers. While I appreciated the fact that Grimm didn’t fall into a Valentine’s cliché, and there were plenty of things Grimm did well, that doesn’t mean “Star-Crossed” didn’t have its issues.

I liked Grimm’s return to the police procedural. In fact, there were stretches this week where someone could’ve walked into the show in progress and mistake Grimm for an NCIS clone. Unfortunately, Grimm borrowed everything from police procedural shows. The killer leaves a series of clues the team must deduce. Check. Research leads to one a few (or one) suspects in which to narrow the search. Check. A couple of red herrings are introduced to keep viewers guessing until the end. Check. The final solution tricks most people. Yeah, but the worst part about the show was that it threw in the killer as an afterthought.

Okay, the worst part may be the dialogue or the manner in which it was delivered, specifically Juliette/Eve. The dialogue was atrocious during Eve’s interrogation scene. First, you see no evil. Then, you speak no evil. And what comes next? Groan, that’s what comes next. The delivery was just as bad as the words spoken. Eve is supposed to be a new soul, or something, but she comes off as robotic.

Despite those shortcomings, “Star-Crossed” had a satisfying final scene between Nick and Hank. I won’t spoil it here, but it worked with the show’s theme and put a nice bow on it. If it wasn’t for the other groan-inducing moments of the episode, the scene may have even given me goosebumps. And the show’s doing a great job of setting up how deep the Black Claw goes in wesen culture; this week’s killer adheres to ancient wesen practices, so even though this was just a mystery of the week, the continuing story had a chance to develop. I’m sure we’ll see a big payoff.

“Star-Crossed” had its share of hiccups but nothing that would deter me from watching Grimm. Let’s hope the good out-numbers the not-so-good in the coming episodes as the show works towards a strong finale.

Thanks for reading.

DC Comics Legends of Tomorrow Review: “White Knights”

DC Comics Legends of Tomorrow

Jim’s Thoughts

Kyle and I talk quite a bit about suspending disbelief when it comes to shows like these. Legends of Tomorrow asks quite a bit of that. As long as it entertains me, I’m willing to play along. I won’t ask why they don’t just hop in their time machine and go back to the moment where Malcolm scooped Vandal Savage ooze up off the ground and stop him. I’ll just enjoy the adventures. I won’t ask what the problem is if they fail a mission when they can just go back in time and try again. I’ll just buy into the moment and roll with it. I can do that, but when the show takes it upon itself to point out its own foibles, it gets hard to keep with it. Specifically, I’m referring to Roy’s moment where he pointed out that their elaborate Ocean’s Eleven-style heist at the Pentagon was unnecessary. He could have just shrunk down in the ATOM suit and infiltrated alone. It’s hard enough not nitpicking these things, but when they point it out, it becomes impossible.

This episode suffered from what happens with a lot of team-up stories, be it in Arrow/Flash crossovers or comics themselves. By that I mean that there’s just never enough to do to go around. Legends‘ answer to that has been for characters to “hang back,” and this week that meant these forced character moments between Canary and Hawkgirl, or Professor Stein (though that ended up being put into the plot). What bothered me with the Canary/Hawkgirl bit was the mention of Sarah’s bloodlust, because, well, she shouldn’t have any. She was “cured” of the effects of the Lazarus Pit by Constantine, and maybe I could overlook that, but that very point was just raised on last night’s Arrow. An inconsistency like that makes it look like the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing. These shows air a day apart on the same network.

The idea that Savage is trying to build the ultimate cold war weapon, and that it’s Commie Firestorm seemed odd. On the one hand, this show acknowledges these characters as the “castoffs” of their time, but now one of them is the ultimate weapon? It’s more than likely that I’m missing something, but that’s really just because this show is too inconsistent to hold my attention. Some of these are neat characters, and I hope the show gets its feet under itself, but for the time being, it’s like Doctor Who with way too many companions.

Arrow Review: “Sins of the Father”

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Jim’s Thoughts

I was pretty gratified by the amount of things that happened on this week’s episode. If nothing else, this episode did significantly change the dynamic of the series, and moves like that allow for bolder writing.

Going off what I said last week, I was really hoping the internal strife with the League of Assassins/Thea’s illness/Darhk would all coincide. Kyle seemed to feel they were going more in the direction of making Nyssa and League a subplot, similar to what was done last season with Brick, and it looks like Kyle was likely right.

Once again, I didn’t care about Felicity or her dad. That story just bounces off me, so it’d be hypocritical of me to complain that Felicity turning her dad in was a strangely fast turn, but I think it’s pretty clear there will be more to come for her and daddy Calculator.

I guess it’s hard to avoid this spoiler and still talk about the episode in full, so consider this your spoiler alert… … Still reading? Okay, good. I find the dissolution of the League of Assassins an interesting turn of events. It changes the dynamic of show, and it deprives Oliver of one of the more effective foils they’ve produces, but Nyssa’s decision was another way-too-easy turn of events. A moment ago, she was willing to die for the ring on Malcolm’s finger, then she tosses it because her heart grew three sizes that day? I didn’t buy it. I also don’t really see how her facing Malcolm was supposed to be certain death. Am I wrong, or as Nyssa proven more than a couple times she can hold her own?

The show’s big ending lacked much of a punch. Well, I should say it was a telegraphed punch. It also highlights a nasty habit this show has of doing that. Let’s face it, from the moment Barry reversed time in the crossover episode, we knew Oliver’s decision to keep withholding his son’s existence from Felicity was going to bite him. Well, guess what bill is coming due for dear Ollie?

I like that the show closes with Darhk, because, as I said, he’s been the strength of the season, and they’ve neglected him too much. Oliver’s speech, though, where he notes to Felicity that “things are quiet with Darhk,” points to something Kyle and I were discussing just today, actually. Here’s what I’m driving at: things aren’t all that quiet. Darhk made it clear he’s not done. He’s giving you a grace period. So, with that in mind, why aren’t you trying to find a way to beat him? Why are you whispering sweet nothings in Felicity’s ear when you should be looking for a way to neutralize the guy who’s proven several times he can kill you at will? Not to change the subject to videogames, but it reminds me of an RPG, where you’re tasked to save the universe, but you stop first for a side quest involving rescuing a little girl’s cat. It’s immersion breaking, and that’s where this show is at the moment.

Kyle’s Take

I like that RPG allusion. While you’re at it, a random quest giver wants three saber cat pelts. Why don’t you run along and procure those. We’ll wait.

“Sins of the Father” teased that it’d resolve the conflict between Nyssa and Malcolm. It hinted at it a few times and then the two would backstab each other and drag out the story thread. Jim had mentioned last week, off-line, that the League could help Ollie fight Darhk, and I was skeptical, citing A.R.G.U.S. and Lyla’s new role in that group as the help Team Arrow would get. But I liked Jim’s idea that they could use both A.R.G.U.S. and the League to take down H.I.V.E., and that’s why I was hopeful for a better, faster resolution. And that didn’t happen.

I had forgotten about Ollie’s son. This story thread smells like Thea’s “blood lust.” Ollie cares about his son so much that we haven’t seen him visit his son or call him since the mid-season break. Oh, and it’s real convenient that the Green Arrow would have to visit Central City during the weeks the Flash is on Earth-2. That’s right. Ollie’s son lives in Central City. It irks me that Arrow treats more than one character as a plot device instead of a full-fledged, rounded character. They missed an opportunity.

Ending with Darhk was a good choice, he’s the strength of the show, but I’m getting tired of Darhk being treated as an also-ran. He shouldn’t bring up the rear. He should be front and center, and everything Team Arrow does should be in preparation for their final showdown. Or at least we shouldn’t see so many detours.

Hopefully, things will get back on the Darhk track. Malcolm helping Darhk should add gasoline to the fire.

Do you want more Arrow? Check out our Arrow secrets page. Thanks for reading.

Arrow Secrets: “Sins of the Father”

There weren’t too many secrets in this week’s Arrow, Flash took most of them, but there were a few.

 Arrow Vs Merlin

Sins of the Father

This week’s title is a common one and a common theme. There were plenty of DC stories that used this title and here are a few.

The first story arc of James Robinson’s 1990s Starman was title “Sins of the Father.”

Batman the Animated Series had an episode that used this title. The episode in question featured Two-Face as the villain and it also marked the first appearance of Robin.

Man, the 90s loved “Sins of the Father” because an episode of the original Flash TV series used the title.

T-Sphere

T-Sphere

We’ve seen the T-sphere show up more often than the man who made it famous. While it is a communications device, as mentioned in this week’s episode, it does so much more. We may not have to wait too long for the T-Sphere’s creator Mr. Terrific.

Nyssa Raatko

7th & Rucka

Arrow and Flash love to honor comic creators with their own street corners and 7th & Rucka is no different. Greg Rucka is a longtime Batman writer. If you’re wondering why a Batman writer would get a mention on Arrow, you’d be happy to know that Rucka co-created Nyssa.

One-Armed Oliver Queen

One Armed Merlyn

The Green Arrow comic features a lot of severed arms. Ollie will even sport one soon on Legends of Tomorrow.

Since Malcolm is an older, darker reflection of Ollie, these turn of events could be a nod to The Dark Knight Returns (pictured above), where an older, darker Oliver has the same thing happen.

Did you miss our Arrow “Sins of the Father” review? Here’s a link. Thanks for reading.