Flash Review: “Back to Normal”

Jim’s Thoughts

To put it succinctly, this week’s episode of The Flash was an improvement. It was still far from perfect, or even the highs the show has reached in the past, but if nothing else, the plot didn’t feel quite as convoluted.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll say some of what rubbed me the wrong way this week may be DC’s creative direction of late. If you read DC comics, you know they’ve been on something of a “de-powering” kick. By that, I mean they’ve been telling stories about heroes losing their abilities. I’ve grown weary of it, and it’s not the first time Flash has done it, so I wasn’t all that interested in watching Barry flail around, trying to be a vulnerable hero.

This week’s villain of the week went a little deeper than past examples. Mostly it was just used to give a little emotional progress to Wells, and there was something worthwhile there. Jessie sharing a moment with her dad, explaining how Harrison killing to protect her made her feel, might have fleshed out both characters a little bit, even if was all a little too direct. Speaking of family moments, there was also an attempt to give the West family a bit of momentum, though Wally’s declaration that he won’t waste the chance The Flash gave him rang hollow. We don’t know him well enough for his change of heart to mean much.

I’m starting to feel like Zoom being unmasked as some version of Jay has gutted the character. His fixation on Caitlin makes him seem more like a run-of-the-mill headcase than a harbinger of death and despair. While there was something cool about Caitlin confronting her doppelganger, I couldn’t help but ask the same question Killer Frost did. Is she really that gullible?

The more I poke this episode with a stick, the worse it starts to smell. There were a lot of issues with it, but unlike last episode, where the plot became so nonsensical I wouldn’t follow it if I could, this week managed to hold my attention. Here’s hoping this is the start of a tighter focus returning to the show.

Kyle’s Take

I agree with Jim about DC de-powering its heroes in the comic books but I try to view the TV shows and comic books as separate entities. I’m not sure that Barry’s de-powering is as much of a crossover effect from the comics as much as it is a means with which to turn Jessie Quick and Wally West into speedsters and explain why the rest of The Flash’s rogues gallery didn’t change during the first particle accelerator explosion. Yeah. We’re getting a second explosion next week. Say hello to Mirror Master and all your Flash rogue pals.

The Flash presented the idea a few weeks ago that there’s no way a metahuman—to be fair it was specifically a speedster—could hide this long without revealing themselves. (This idea was presented during the episode that featured a lab tech who became a speedster by taking Velocity-9.) I thought this was a silly statement, and “Back to Normal” showed us a metahuman who hid this long without revealing himself. So in the episode The Flash set in motion a second explosion with which to gain more villains, because metahumans can run but they can’t hide, they feature a metahuman who was still in hiding. I don’t know if that makes sense.

I wish all family issues could be solved as quickly as the Wells family’s problems. I’m sorry I called you a murderer for killing someone, Dad. I’m sorry I stalked you, Jessie baby, but if you run again, I will hunt you down. That’s not creepy at all. Let’s hug. I don’t even know why Jessie was a necessity for Barry’s team. What happened to Pied Piper? Aren’t they besties now? Jessie only returned to Central City so she could become Jessie “Quick.” Harry name-dropped her superhero alter ego in a fashion as subtle as the Wells’ story.

Not only do we not know Wally well enough to care about him, he serves no purpose besides his inevitable turn as Kid-Flash or Impulse or whatever speedster name The Flash wants to give him after next week. Zolomon-Garrick isn’t Zoom, that’s why he’s a lesser villain. I don’t care if Zolomon was Zoom in the comics. Again, the TV shows are based on the comic books; they shouldn’t mirror them. Watch out because Earth-Prime Caitlin Snow may be the real Killer Frost. I’m sure she’ll be near Star Labs next week and she may have a change of heart.

I almost forgot about Zoom’s comment about controlling Earth-Two this episode. You can’t tease Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman on Earth-Two (this happened during Flash’s Earth-Two episodes), because Zoom wouldn’t control Earth-Two if these heroes existed in that reality. You aren’t all that, Zoom.

I agree that Flash has regained its focus, but there are plot holes the size of a particle accelerator explosion. Oh, wait, we’re getting one of those next week. Let’s see what happens.

Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers: “Pro Tiki/Con Tiki”

Kyle’s Thoughts

“Pro Tiki/Con Tiki” was a good—if uneventful—episode. Chris Parnell as Bob’s childhood friend served as a good guest star, and I wondered if Bob’s Burgers would change up the feel of Bob’s greasy spoon; they did here and Bob hated every minute of it. On the surface all this would equate to a great episode but the reason I’m hesitant to shower praise on this show is that we don’t learn something new about any of the characters.

Discovering new things about Bob’s Burgers characters separates the good from the great episodes, and “Pro Tiki/Con Tiki” was good. Bob likes his restaurant the way it is. No shock there. At first he appreciates his rich friend Warren’s help to improve his joint. That tracks. Linda gets dazzled by the eatery’s facelift and likes the pretty island decorations. That’s not a big surprise either. But then Bob resents the changes and he wants his restaurant back to the way it was and it returns to the way it was. Pretty standard sitcom fare.

I laughed. The show had its moments, but this episode makes me wonder what would happen if Bob’s Burgers borrowed a page from Archer and make the change last more than an episode. I don’t think the two shows should mirror each other but I can’t help thinking this way with Parnell taking over Bob’s business (when he’s done so in Archer) and I like having the danger of Bob’s restaurant changing for a chunk of time. It’s a missed opportunity that I wouldn’t have noticed had “Pro Tiki/Con Tiki” revealed something new about this show’s characters. So, it was good, maybe even very good, but not great.

Thanks for reading.

Flash Review: “Versus Zoom”

Jim’s Thoughts

With all these breaks Flash and Arrow are taking, then coming back from, it’s hard for me to tell how much of the loss in momentum is on the writing, and how much of it is on the scheduling. This week offered some interesting character moments. I like seeing Cisco continue his journey toward becoming Vibe. Barry getting a new gadget to boost his speed feels a little like a cheat, but I’m glad it moved things forward with Zoom.

There were a couple big problems with this episode. First, and probably most noticeable, the explanation of how Zoom has managed to be so many places, how he duped them with the “Jay” persona, all that highlighted the grievance Kyle has brought up a few times. Dopplegangers not only cast shadows on the prospect of death, but they muddy the waters, and make the story feel convoluted.

I continue to not care about the story with Wally. There’s nothing really wrong with the character, but we’re always hearing about what he’s doing off-screen, then getting nothing but forced family moments in the show. This week’s episode brought Wally into the main story, but it’d be more meaningful if I were more invested at this point.

The conclusion to the episode irked me. I’ve never bought into Jay and Caitlin. Caitlin’s mourning for her half of Firestorm and her love for Jay had no breathing room between them, but I could go on indefinitely about how poorly The CW handles romance. The real problem is that the obvious happened. Barry surrenders his speed, and now he can’t do anything to stop Zoom. What did he think would happen? How could he hope to hold Zoom to his end of the bargain? All of this is to say nothing of the fact that de-powered Barry has already been done. I wouldn’t swear to it, but I’m not even sure it’s the first time they’ve done it this season.

Kyle’s Take

Flash weakened Barry’s powers earlier this season with the same device Wells used to boost his speed during “Versus Zoom.” So, yeah. It’s been done.

It’s all been done before. Reverse-Flash needed Barry’s speed to return home last season; Zoom needs Barry’s speed to live. You could say that Flash raised the stakes by making Hunter Zolomon’s need life-and-death, but that’s if the show had developed Zolomon, and that didn’t happen. Seriously, this is a moment when the TV show shouldn’t have followed the comic book. There were a couple of other characters set up—somewhat—by the TV show who would’ve worked better as Zoom and what we got was a yawn.

Wally’s a yawn. The fact that all his development happens off-screen makes him an ineffective character. Flash may as well cast a different actor as Wally for each episode because Wally doesn’t behave the same from one episode to the next. We’re sounding like a broken record but so is Flash.

The Caitlin-Jay love story—we should call that relationship Cait-lie from now on—didn’t do anything for me either. Barry giving Zoom his speed was nonsensical (you can’t stop him without your powers, Barry, and nothing the gang knew about Zoom should lead Barry to believe he’d keep his word). Depowering Barry was predictable too. And this is before we get to doppelgangers and time remnants. Who does Earth-2 work for? Absolutely no one. Those last two sentences–a nod to 1997’s Austin Powers–were fresher than most of the Flash’s story arcs this season.

I guess Earth-2 works for Cisco. I like his development, too, but I could’ve done without the Star Wars midi-chlorians reference. And I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but the presence of Cait-lie has made Iris palatable. The CW still doesn’t know how to handle romances, but I welcome Iris’s reluctance to date after Eddie, even if I don’t buy her falling for Barry. All Flash is doing with Iris’s deep like of Barry is flipping Barry and Iris’s roles from last season.

It’s all been done and it’s only the second season. Flash needs a Speed Force injection.

Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers: The Hormone-iums

Kyle’s Thoughts

“The Hormone-iums” was a Tina episode, and it was a satisfying one. Bob’s Burgers mines teenage angst gold any time it features Tina. Butts were tossed for kisses and that was a welcome change, but invention of The Hormone-iums was contrived. Bob’s Burgers does an excellent job of call-backs to previous jokes—it did that well with week’s secondary story—and it’s developed rich Tina lore, but this episode didn’t tap into either of those particularly well as far as Tina is concerned.

That’s not to say that “The Hormone-iums” is a bad episode. It’s a good episode. The titular musical theater group is straight out of something Mr. Frond would create but Bob’s Burgers has hinted at Frond’s ABS (his conflict resolution system) on multiple occasions and The Hormone-iums appear to be an extension of Frond’s ABS and yet we haven’t seen The Hormone-iums before now. Gene and the rest of the Belcher kids have thrown countless musicals and this is the first time we’ve seen The Hormone-iums. I wouldn’t ding a comedy this hard but Bob’s Burgers has done a better job of incorporating ideas like this in the past. I’m a little disappointed.

The rest of the show was good to great. Tina stands up for herself and challenges Mr. Frond—for right and wrong reasons—and that was good to see. Most episodes that focus on Tina take a layered approach and “The Hormone-iums” was no different. And it was fun.

Since Tina took center stage, the other Belchers served as the secondary story, and we’re back to Bob’s Burgers’ usual formula. That was also nice to see. The story for Linda’s booze shoes was a little flat but watching Bob come out of his shell made it worth it. And that also led to a tender—and awkward—moment between Tina and her father. The Marshmallow, Gretchen, and Fishoeder call backs added some needed spice.

“The Hormone-iums” had enough zest for a Tina episode, and I had fun watching.

Thanks for reading.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review: “Paradise Lost”

Kyle’s Thoughts

“Paradise Lost” was heavy on Malick’s backstory. It was handled well—for the most part—but this week’s episode wasn’t as balanced as other recent ones. S.H.I.E.L.D. marked time. The gang reflected on their past with Agent Ward and tried to figure out how Ward was still alive or figure out what Ward has become. It was a slow episode, even if it was necessary.

The audience knew little to nothing about Malick, so it was nice to learn about his past. Malick’s flashback scenes worked to set current Hydra events, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. scenes didn’t jive. I don’t know if the S.H.I.E.L.D. scenes added anything besides giving Daisy the green light to mobilize her team inhumans—something we knew was coming for a while—so let’s concentrate on Malick’s past and modern-day Hydra.

I didn’t get the sense of who modern-day Hydra was. “Paradise Lost” was so steeped in Malick’s past that everyone at Hydra’s big table read like a one-for-one stand-in for the poignant flashbacks. I get why Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did this—they only have so many minutes in an episode—but it was lazy and it forced the bulk of the episode’s action to occur in the past. Malick betrayed his brother by using the same marked stone his father used (to avoid being It’s sacrifice), after Malick promised his brother he wouldn’t use the stone. He hid the stone in his father’s copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost, hence the episode’s name, and It-Ward gave the stone back to Malick. It was predictable but it worked.

I guess I buy how It-Ward functions too: he absorbs his victims’ memories and personalities. It reads like a cheat for the character, but it lead to this episode’s best moment. Malick spent the entire hour thinking It-Ward would kill him. He comes clean to his daughter about how he set up his brother to die. His daughter turns her back on him, and It-Ward absorbs Malick’s daughter’s essence. Ouch. It was a good moment but it wasn’t as powerful a moment as it could’ve been because Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did little to set up Malick’s daughter. We knew so little about their relationship and Malick already screwed over his brother, so I’m not sure how much this moment will affect him, but it was interesting.

Because of the story’s unevenness “Paradise Lost” was one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s weaker episodes this season, but it was still enjoyable.

Thanks for reading.

iZombie Review: “Salivation Army”

Kyle’s Thoughts

iZombie has proven time and time again that it’s not afraid to shake up things. “Salivation Army” started off slow but several story arcs were closed out in satisfying ways. I don’t know how to explain this without spoilers, so I’ll make a spoiler section. Let’s just say that fans of the show were treated to some old fashioned zombie goodness.

I’m liking the new dynamic of Detective Babineaux knowing about Liv, Major, and zombies. We didn’t get much detective work this episode, but you can see how he’s been doing his job with one hand tied behind his back up until this point. He needed to know, but I liked how iZombie took its time to let Babineaux know. The show waited until an opportune time to tell him. And the moment felt right.

The first half of this week’s episode showed the newly formed Zombie Mystery Team create a plan to free Max Rager’s zombie prisoners, and they worked well off each other. I hadn’t noticed how disjointed iZombie—in regards to its main cast—until saw Liv, Ravi, Babineaux, Major, and Peyton in the same space. Throw in an amnesic Blaine and you’ve got a party.

***Spoiler Zone***

Max Rager threw its own party this week. Rob Thomas (of Matchbox 20, not the show’s producer) was the headliner, and the Zombie Mystery Team used the manic energy to crash Max Rager headquarters. Oh, they found the surviving zombies, but not before all heck broke loose with Super Max. Utopium mixed with Super Max causes crazed zombies, and some teens learned that the hard way. It might get buried with weekly mysteries, comedy, and a web of backstabbing, but “Salivation Army” reminded us that iZombie is a zombie show. Several characters die. And not the undead kind of die.

Vaughn and his daughter are dead, and they died in satisfying fashion. Vaughn suffered and Gilda was put out of her misery. The big tear jerker—of sorts—was Drake’s death. He turned into a Romero zombie. He lost his mind, thought only of brains, and Liv had to put him down. Liv and Drake’s relationship was developed well and the two actors had okay chemistry, but he was a stand-in for Major, so I wasn’t too choked up about his end. iZombie has done a better than CW job of building romantic relationships, but Drake was more of a plot device.

The biggest reveal was that the defense contractors buying Super Max from Vaughn were turned into zombies. Liv zombies, not Romeros. We’re not sure if they knew what Super Max did before the party but they’re going to take advantage of it and that allowed the episode to end with a great chill.

“Salivation Army” is the perfect example of how iZombie can be goofy one moment and creepy the next. Rob Thomas was more than your standard musical guest. He died during the zombie attack and when Liv finds his corpse, she says, “This is how a skull breaks.” It’s okay to share an uncomfortable laugh with this play on a Matchbox 20 lyric. Vaughn also mentioned how Rob Thomas’s death would affect his company’s stock. And there was something unsettling hearing someone other than Rob Thomas singing “Unwell” at the end of episode. Viewers knew a zombie had eaten his brains and gained his memories and talent. Turns out the zombie feeding on Rob Thomas was one of the defense contractors. Creepy.

***End of Spoilers***

No one but Blaine returns from the dead, so I don’t expect any of the characters who died this week to return. It says something when a CW show about zombies resurrects fewer characters than non-zombie CW shows. I won’t get into any details there. Let’s just say that I’m enjoying iZombie and can’t wait to see the season finale.

Thanks for reading.

iZombie Review: “Dead Beat”

Kyle’s Thoughts

iZombie continues to set off fireworks every week or two and those explosions ripple through the ongoing arcs. “Dead Beat” had little to no weekly mystery. It focused on complicating iZombie’s world and that’s wonderful.

The first part of this week’s double-header did a great job of maintaining the slow boil that was Major’s future. He had already reverted back to zombie state, was imprisoned as the Chaos Killer this week, and something had to give. Would he find a way to get the brains he needed on the inside? Would Liv break him out of prison? Would Liv have to give him the zombie cure and wipe his memory like Blaine’s? Or would Major turn feral and start the zombie apocalypse? Even with knowing that iZombie wouldn’t opt for the final option, the threat was real and that was welcome.

Liv tried to sneak brains into Major’s hands multiple times but every attempt failed. She struggled with giving him the cure. iZombie had taken a gentle hand to romance—unlike most other CW shows—and you could see Liv struggle with this option because Major was a close friend and represented her life before becoming a zombie. So Liv treated the cure as a last resort and that forced her to choose breaking Major out of prison.

While all of that was happening, iZombie did a great job of building up how circumstantial the state’s case against Major was. Even though it was unlikely they’d get a conviction, the police did have enough evidence to keep Major in jail, and the only one who could get Major out in time—before he started the aforementioned zombie apocalypse—was Detective Babineux. He’d have to admit how circumstantial the case was and Liv used this knowledge to her advantage, coming clean about being a zombie.

It was a long time coming, but Detective Babineux knows the truth. His ignorance didn’t bother me as much as a loved one not knowing about someone’s otherworldliness (superpowers or supernatural abilities) but it was time. And iZombie had a great moment with Babineux learning the truth.

Babineaux dropped the charges against Major and this led to some issues with his personal life. The woman he has been sweet on (Dale Bozzio) dumped him as a partner and curse his name on the way out the door. iZombie has done a good job of sprinkling these two’s deep like for one another. I’m not sure if they’ve slept together, an oddity for a CW show, but they enjoyed each other’s company and Bozzio lightened up Babineaux as a character. It’ll be interesting to see how these characters change.

And that’s what I like the most about this season of iZombie: change. The characters are allowed to grow and change organically. “Dead Beat” dropped some bombshells and I can’t wait to see what the show has in store next.

Thanks for reading.

Grimm Review: “The Believer”

Kyle’s Thoughts

I liked the direction Grimm took with “The Believer” and it’s weekly wesen. Too often we see a crime perpetrated by a wesen and Nick has to figure out which wesen he encounters this week was responsible. In this episode a wesen’s bodyguard is killed and a normal human’s to blame.

I always wondered if there was a wesen who could or would feign miracles by transforming into their beastly state and this episode answered that question. Yes. A demonic-looking wesen pretends to do God’s work by absorbing his audience’s sins. He does so for selfish reasons, but the events he puts on help people. That begs the question, is what he’s doing wrong? Thankfully, Grimm doesn’t answer that question, it leaves the answer to the viewer, but the weekly wesen is a victim instead of the guilty party, so that’s a nice change.

The ongoing story arcs didn’t fare as well as the weekly wesen. They went in bizarre directions. I had forgotten there was a stick that could heal all wounds. The gang had the cloth that held the healing stick examined for hidden writing and the hidden text read, Danger. That’s nice and vague. I guess I’d be more invested in the story line if it hadn’t been dropped for a month and reintroduced. Now, I may have missed a line of dialogue or something, but it would’ve been nice if Grimm had said that Nick sent the cloth in for tests or if the gang had picked up the stick in the last month. We needed something to remind us that the healing stick exists.

Eve as Renard worked until she/he ran into Renard’s new lover. How many times will Grimm use the so-and-so slept with so-and-so because they cast a particular spell to look like someone else? And this week’s episode was made doubly pandering because it was Eve, a female transformed into a male, sleeping with another female. I liked the scenes with Eve as Renard leading up to the gratuitous sex scene. Grimm managed to sell me on Eve as a separate character from Juliette for the first time and that got dashed as Eve-Renard made it to the bedroom. Groan.

The third and final ongoing arc presented this week has been handled the best. I said it before that I buy Adalind’s desire to reunite with her firstborn child Diana, but I’m miffed by Grimm dropping the storyline in the first place. She approaches Nick for news about her other child and that tracks given how this season has unfolded. Everything’s running smoothly as far as the Adalind-Nick-Diana story’s concerned, except that I’m not quite sold on Adalind’s mistrust of Nick. Sure, she’s worried she’ll revert back to her hexenbeist self, but her reluctance to tell Nick is forced.

“The Believer” was a very good episode. If it wasn’t for the awkward Eve-Renard bedroom scene, it might’ve been a great episode. Even so, I’ve enjoyed this season of Grimm more than the last.

Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers: “Wag the Hog”

Kyle’s Thoughts

“Wag the Hog” was a solid episode. In terms of last week’s Bob’s Burgers, it was better than “House of 1000 Bounces” and not as good as “Stand by Gene.” But this episode did something the other one haven’t done in a long time: split up the parents.

Granted, it didn’t split up the kids. Bob joined the kids with trying to sell Critter’s bike, while Linda was on her own with babysitting Critter’s critter, Side Car. As you can imagine there wasn’t as much of a dynamic change in cast coupling as I would have liked but it worked well enough. The events didn’t scrape too deep beneath the surface like “Stand by Gene,” although it did reintroduce Critter, the leader of the biker gang Bob and Linda have served the last couple of seasons. Critter’s okay. I like him well enough but the episode’s highlight was Tom Lennon and Joe Lo Truglio playing two yuppies who are wannabe bikers.

Linda out on her own means that there was a lot of Linda, but her annoying presence was undercut with Side Car. When Side Car misses his nap, he turns full on biker toddler and watching Linda try to explain why the child she’s caring for is throwing toys at other toddlers’ heads was chuckle-inducing.

This week’s episode may not have been another slam dunk, but “Wag the Hog” was a solid episode.

Thanks for reading.

Archer Review: “The Handoff”

Kyle’s Thoughts

While I had fun watching the first episode of Archer’s seventh season “The Figgis Agency,” I was left with a lot of questions and they were answered, for the most part, during “The Handoff.” Since most of the loose ends were tied up, I’ll reveal some of the things I held back in my thoughts last week.

Sterling was floating—presumably dead—in a swimming pool at the beginning of last week. This hasn’t happened yet. We just caught a glimpse of the season finale most likely. The Figgis Agency were duped into stealing a computer disc—who uses floppy discs anymore?—from the Hollywood starlet Veronica Deane, and this week they stole it back for the real Veronica Deane. These events explained how The Figgis Agency remains afloat financially. There were times I wondered if the Deane story would be an ongoing one but even if it doesn’t, Archer did a great job of showing the team’s transition into PI work. But a comedy doesn’t need to explain itself as much as a drama. A comedy needs laughs, and Archer continues to deliver.

The standout scene this week was when Malory refused to call Sterling’s phone, because Sterling uses his patented outgoing messages that sound like he answered. Hello. Yes, it’s me, Sterling. Yep. Yeah. My thoughts exactly. Just kidding. I’m off saving the world, leave a message. What’s even better is that Sterling began one of these outgoing messages with “yes, Mother, it’s me,” which was how he answered the phone when Malory called this week. Mallory called at the worst moment. Her call was how Sterling was discovered by a gang of thugs. He fought for his life but all we saw was Mallory and the rest of the agency listening to Sterling’s fight, expecting Sterling to say, just kidding. I waited for a minute, thinking they’d shift back to Sterling at some point, but I’m glad they didn’t. I laughed and didn’t quit after the third punch—at least I thought it was a punch—and by the time we see Sterling, he’s bloody and naked.

Fake outgoing messages wasn’t the only old joke that returned. Phrasing made a couple of appearances. Pam tried to supplant it with “Politics,” but Sterling rejected that joke. I liked the nod to this election year but I’m also glad Archer won’t pander to the upcoming election: it gets enough coverage. Lana mentioned her and Sterling’s child, so I’m glad they haven’t dropped that side story like so many wee-baby Shamuses. And Krieger made his triumphant return. I can’t wait to see his next invention.

“The Handoff” worked on many levels. It set up The Figgis Agency for future PI work, while keeping the pool scene hanging over the season’s head. And I love the bit of fashion advice Sterling gave this week. When asked why he was naked (after his fight for life), Sterling answered, “It’s after Labor Day.” Excellent.

Thanks for reading.