Arrow: “What We Leave Behind”

Jim’s Thoughts

I think Arrow’s midseason finale did a little better than Flash’s. That’s not saying as much as I would like for it to, but it’s about as positive a spin as I can put on it.

For the most part, my complaints are the usual. Felicity. She’s awful, and managing to get worse all the time. In fact, as a writer, I hereby invoke my write to make up words. I declare Felicity to be a verb meaning to annoy with an affectation of awkwardness meant to be seen as endearing. That’s what Felicity does. She felicities all over the episode. I was also particularly annoyed by her consternation that her detective boyfriend refused to take her non-policeman orders to not do police work. That was maddeningly arrogant of her.

This episode would have been better without the recruits, but that’s true of every episode this season. Wild Dog’s insistence on not following directions is a nuisance, and repetitive. Artemis betrayed Oliver. Okay, but who cares? Was I supposed to care? What’s Artemis’ real name again? Meh, never mind. I like Curtis, but his marriage hasn’t been given much screen time, and we’ve seen that ultimatum from loved ones before. Are we going to have to see this scene play out every time someone on the team has a significant other?

Felicity’s throwaway boyfriend was thrown away. Again, this lacks much of an impact, and I get the feeling its just another excuse to show Felicity crying. We need much, much less of Felicity, and that’s not going to happen, so I’m bummed.

The less said about Laurel showing up for the big reveal, the better. Kyle and I have already mentioned the problems with taking the stakes out of death. It’s possible that Laurel coming back is an hallucination, or something like that, but I’m afraid to hope. You may remember my feelings toward Laurel were only slightly more congenial than those toward Felicity.

The bulk of what’s wrong with this show this season is demonstrated in this episode. First, the show has no idea where the real emotional weight is. We’re supposed to care about love interests who rarely show up and are replaced like coffee filters. The CW has a bad habit of thinking peoples’ love lives are the most interesting part of their characters. Second, we’re hearing all the same arguments over again. Oliver is a killer. No he’s not. Oliver’s problems are his own fault. He needs to quit blaming himself. Oliver needs to let people in. No, he’s a lonewolf. They need to quit recycling the tension, to create compelling villains and let the tension come from that.

Here’s hoping things with Prometheus aren’t what they appear. If so, a promising villain is gutted, and the prospects for the back half of season 5 are limited.

Kyle’s Take

I’m not sure I agree that Arrow’s midseason finale outdid Flash’s midseason finale. To be fair this choice is like the ones I received as a kid of would you rather I kick you in the balls or punch you in the throat? Do I have a third option?

At least Barry remained consistent with his love for Iris and Flash refrained from dragging down more characters than the lead and Joe with love interests. Most folks on Arrow have a love interest who serve as a rudder for everything they do. I’m not down with love; it’s not interesting when it’s overdone.

I’m also unsure if Laurel’s return will serve as her reinstatement as the love of Ollie’s life. Anyone who has watched Arrow for the past 5 years, can’t believe that, and this type of storytelling leads me back to something I spoke of last week: landfill writing.

Arrow was fantastic a few seasons ago. Deathstroke gave Ollie a delicious archvillain, and Arrow was appointment television. Since Slade Wilson’s exit, we’ve been treated—if you can call it treated—to variations of the same garbage that never worked or has ceased to work (namely flashbacks). People coming back from the dead every other week, marginalized villains, teamwork and trust monologues, and throw away romances became the norm. What do you throw away? Garbage. Where does garbage end up? A landfill. Arrow continues to dump the same garbage into its storylines.

I have no hope that Prometheus will get fixed; the CW has a knack for gutting compelling villains. The only hope I have for Arrow this season is that Flashpoint resolves soon and bails out the show. That’s not the best prospect, but hey, I heard a rumor that the real Deathstroke could return. That could make things interesting.

That’s all we have for this week. Thanks for reading.

The Flash: “The Present”

Jim’s Thoughts

“The Present” brought us to midseason, and while it was a typically watchable episode, it didn’t do what I expected it to do. For weeks now, Kyle and I have been waiting for the proverbial “other shoe” to drop. That’s to say, we’ve been waiting for Barry to go back in time again and restore the old status quo. Ordinarily, I’d be glad the show didn’t do what I expected, because predictability is dull. In this case, I think the predictability would have been a relief. At least then we could sit back and say, “That’s done, now let’s see where it goes from here.”

Since I said last week I was exhausted with alternate timelines and parallel universes, I can’t let it slip this week that the bulk of the episode hung on Barry paying a visit to Earth 3. Flash desperately needs to cut back on those story mechanics, but seeing Mark Hamill reprise his role as Trickster did give this episode a nice dose of fun.

I don’t know if Julian and the sorcerer’s/philosopher’s stone thing was a deliberate reference to Harry Potter (the actor played Draco Malfoy in the series), but I have a sinking feeling it was. Julian’s been an interesting character addition this season, and having him revealed as Alchemy, even an unwilling/unwitting Alchemy, cheapens him for me.

We’re in for my time-nonsense in the back half of the season, it would seem. With the reveal that Savitar is someone from Flash’s future, this is a lot more of exactly what the show doesn’t need. What’s worse is I have a sneaking suspicion Savitar might be Wally. It seems obvious, but so did Julian as Alchemy.

Kyle’s Take

Mark Hamill’s Trickster was fun but we got more of a half dose; he was in “The Present” for two minutes. By the way, why did an episode titled “The Present” start in the past and dip its toe into the future? That was a little silly. Anyway, I agree with Jim that Flash didn’t get to where it should’ve been by the midseason break—Barry fixing the past—and I’m tired of the alternate timelines, too. Some might argue Barry traveled to the future instead of the past, but that’s just another curious breeze from a familiar landfill.

Tom Felton as Alchemy (and his link to the sorcerer’s/philosopher’s stone) was a deliberate reference to Harry Potter for the same reason Mark Hamill made a brief appearance this week: marketing. The last time Hamill made an appearance on Flash was a week before Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ release. Guess what? “The Present” aired a week before Star Wars: Rogue One’s release, and Felton’s reveal (as Alchemy) occurred a week before Fantastic Beasts. If that isn’t a shrewd marketing technique, Flash knows where to find Fantastic Coincidences.

Even with that “The Present” was a watchable episode. I enjoyed it, but the show keeps running in place. Before it was revealed that Alchemy was a lackey for Savitar, he represented the first major Flash villain to not be a speedster. Now we’re stuck with another speedster who can’t kill Barry because his timeline will get messed up if he does, so all he does is make Barry’s life miserable. And unless someone else on Team Flash develops super speed, Wally is the most likely Savitar candidate. But I said Wally might’ve been Zoom last season, so what do I know?

This next part will be hard to do without a spoiler alert, so if you haven’t seen “The Present,” you may want to avert your eyes.

(Commence Spoiler)
I wanted more from “The Present.” Jay Garrick telling Barry to not mess with time (the past or the future) isn’t a good enough deterrent for Barry not to fix time, especially when Savitar kills Iris in the not-so-distant future. For all we know Savitar wouldn’t exist without Barry’s Flashpoint gaff, so he could fix the pains in the past and future with one trip. Seriously, Flash is sitting on the toilet with a Cling-On or dangler if you prefer dangler. Drop it the bowl already.
(End of Spoiler)

It’s easy to overlook most of “The Present’s” shortcomings. Sure, Alchemy was stripped of his cool factor, and Savitar is nothing more than a reworking of Zoom and Reverse-Flash, but the worst offense is how Flash’s midseason ended. Flash pressured us to care about one of its least interesting storylines: Iris and Barry’s romance. Flash needs to develop Baris more than just showing ubiquitous dates cut short by superhero work and mild disapproval from Joe. The wrinkle present at the midseason break is another comic book cliché. Hopefully, Flash will shake things up after the break.

Thanks for reading.

Arrow: “Invasion!”

Jim’s Thoughts

Arrow’s “Invasion!” aimed to move the CW crossover story forward toward its big Legends of Tomorrow finale, and to serve as a celebration of the series’ 100th episode. It satisfied in neither way.

To be fair, I’m exhausted with parallel universes and alternate timelines. I’ve been harping on that with Flash all season, and so having half this episode take place inside a forced dream sequence had me about as excited as I’d be for the world’s longest elevator ride.

What’s just as bad, if not worse, is the decision to base so much of the emotional appeal for the story on Laurel. First, I’m tired of the revisionist history here. Laurel cannot be the love of Oliver’s life, or vice versa. He put the shoes to her sister, and at the time of Laurel’s death, he was putting said shoes to Felicity. There’s not enough whitewash in any Home Depot to cover the writing on those walls. Second, they haven’t shut up about Laurel all season. Ordinarily, I’d say that’s good because characters on this show “get over” emotional trauma faster than I get over a sneezing fit, but there’s no payoff to the audience. The audience hasn’t been given time to miss Laurel, even if we were inclined to, which I, personally, am not.

The less said about the cringeworthy tongue-in-cheek dialogue, the better. I’ll just draw your attention to Sara saying, “You’re lucky I’m not a trained assassin,” during their shared dream, and trust that my point is made.

The other half of the story wasn’t any better. I’ve never cared about Ollie’s recruits, and having Supergirl and Flash tag along isn’t enough to make me start. This should, and could, have been the part of the episode that carried things forward, but all it did was end with what we already could have guessed. The space ship Oliver and company are on is in space.

How bad was this episode? Bad enough I won’t bother with Legends of Tomorrow’s episode to finish it. Can we get back to what made these shows good now? Seeing Tommy, Malcolm, and Deathstroke (even recast) made me miss the good old days.

Kyle’s Take

Jim said it. “I’m exhausted with parallel universes and alternate timelines.” We—not just Jim—have been harping on Flash about doing this for longer than a season, and it’s made its way to Arrow. I’m tired of harping on it. Some of you may not know why I dislike these shows’ use of alternative timelines, so I’ll take a moment to put a finer point on why the Arrowverse should drop them: accretion.

Accretion isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it can be a great thing. Adding layers to something over time, when each layer works individually and part of a whole, can lead to fantastic writing. Unfortunately, the individual parts of Flash and Arrow don’t work well on their own or as part of a whole for the moment, that’s why we get so many parallel universes and alternate timelines. It’s landfill writing.

The writers gave us garbage and it’s starting to stink—as garbage tends to do—so they dump more garbage with a slightly different scent on top of the original garbage. Before long that second layer will begin to smell, so they’ll have to add another layer of garbage until they have a landfill.

This same landfill approach can be seen in game design. Have you ever played a (free-to-play) video game with ten or fifteen types of currency? The most likely reason those different types of currency exist is that the designers screwed up the first nine or fourteen currencies and instead of fixing the underlying problem, they added a new currency. Use Foney. It’s like Money but it’s spelled with an “F,” and it’s purple. A dream sequence of an alternate reality is a parallel universe with a fancy odor. If Flash and Arrow continue to use alternative timelines and parallel universes, they’re telling their viewers they know they’re messing up and they have no intention of fixing the shows’ baseline problems.

Okay. That’s my take on alternate timelines. Let’s get to “Invasion!” specifics. I couldn’t care less about the crossover villains. They’re little, green aliens who won’t have any lasting impact on these shows or characters.

Having Laurel return in a dreamlike sequence and all the revisionist history presented in “Invasion!” made me wonder if Ollie’s love life played out the same way on Arrow after Barry changed time. Except for the Diggle baby’s gender-bender, the Arrowverse has been coy with how Flash has affected Arrow. The last I checked Ollie’s bed buddy list reads as follows: Laurel, the mother of his child, Laurel again, a stewardess, Sara, a reporter after he returned home from the island, Laurel a third time, another random woman, Huntress, Laurel a fourth time, Sara again, and then Felicity.

I don’t know what to believe. Let’s get to the other side of this Flashpoint nightmare and hope the shows return to what made them good.

Thanks for reading.

The Flash: “Invasion!”

Jim’s Thoughts

In case you ever wonder why I never have a take on Supergirl, it’s because I don’t watch it. Unfortunately, that means I also missed the first part of this big four-part-crossover story between Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. You may remember Kyle and I gave up on LoT too, so it’s hard to get too excited about an event I’m only halfway invested in, and if you want to call foul on me reviewing this episode having missed last night’s, I can’t argue.

With that said, I disliked “Invasion,” and that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Maybe I didn’t give it a fair chance, but it bored me. If this was part 2 of the series, I can only imagine how slow last night’s episode of Supergirl ran. Here, on Flash, we had three-quarters of the episode making winking references, like Barry saying Supergirl was more powerful than a locomotive (which is actually from Superman, but we’re used to this sort of misappropriation of big screen material), and the rest of it a large, nonsensical brawl in the spirit of Batman v Superman. Far too much of the episode was composed of clunky dialogue reminding us of who everyone is, and why each person is holding a grudge against someone else (mostly why everyone’s mad at Barry). There really should have been a flashing red light accompanied by a robotic voice announcing, “exposition alert” for the first three-quarters of the show.

While Flash/Arrow crossovers were all the rage last year while Legends of Tomorrow was being set up, I’ve never liked the dynamic. All these events do is grind each show’s separate momentum to a halt in favor of manufacturing some passing tension for them to work through.

As I’ve been saying, I’m ready for Barry to go back and undo all of this. We know it’s coming. Let the shoe drop already.

Kyle’s Take

Well, I’ve been yelling at the bridge Barry must cross (reversing time again) for the entire season, and all “Invasion!” showed us were billboards every inch of the road, telling us the bridge was ahead. It was excruciating.

Everyone’s mad at Barry (for changing the timeline). Barry must reverse time. Barry sulks in front of the future news article that doesn’t have Iris Allen-West on its byline. Barry must reverse time. The gang listens to future Barry—other Barry for Archer fans—tell them he made a mistake and must fix the timeline. Barry must reverse time. “Invasion!” reminds me of another Victor Garber (one half of Firestorm) project, Titanic, when we hear some variant of the Titanic being unsinkable fifty or more times in the first half hour. We get it; the Titanic will sink.

I’m three-quarters invested in this crossover instead of Jim’s half. Jim was right that we gave up on Legends of Tomorrow—that show revolves around doing the time warp every episode—but Geekly readers know that I watch Supergirl, and “Medusa” was a solid episode. But that’s because the minute and a half it took for Barry and Cisco to find Kara in “Invasion!” was all there was to her leg of the crossover. “Medusa” didn’t waste time with this crossover nonsense.

And it was nonsense. Like Jim, I never liked the crossover dynamic. Setting up Legends of Tomorrow last season all but killed Flash and Arrow, and we’ve seen a villain mind control heroes to extend a crossover (Rainbow Raider during the first Flash–Arrow). The Dominators are non-descript, little green men from outer space trying to take over the world. Their story could resolve in less than one episode, and the Arrowverse will tack on two extra hours.

I haven’t given up hope, but this season (for Flash and Arrow) needs to take a bigger step forward after the mid-season break.

Thanks for reading.

Supergirl: “Medusa”

Kyle’s Thoughts

Halfway through “Medusa” I wondered if this was the week for the massive Arrowverse crossover. Most of this week’s Supergirl tied up loose ends—perhaps too well in typical CW fashion—and that was fun to watch. Supergirl continues to be the best of the CW superhero shows this year.

Cadmus eradicating aliens, Martian Manhunter turning into a white Martian, and Cyborg Superman converged and resolved in “Medusa.” I’m not sure if Cadmus will cease to be a threat now that Lillian Luthor (Lex and Lena’s mother) is behind bars. I’d hate to see her and Cadmus used as a mid-season threat and dropped. Everything I’ve said about Supergirl so far this season would lead you to believe that Cadmus won’t disappear, but I’ll give a quick spoiler to explain why we could’ve seen the last of Cadmus.

(Commence spoiler)

“Medusa” introduced a new alien race bent on finding and killing Mon-El. While this would be a great side-story, I’m not sure it can carry the second half of the season. Hopefully, we’ll see more Cadmus, Cyborg Superman, and Dr. Danvers (Alex’s dad).

(End spoiler)

The titular Medusa Project, designed by Kara’s father, gave Supergirl a way to connect with Lena Luthor (their parents are capable of mass destruction), but it did so well of a job of connecting these two that I never questioned Lena’s loyalty, despite her complicated mother-daughter relationship with Lillian. Supergirl could’ve played with this more but like most Arrowverse shows it hit warp drive.

Martian Manhunter benefited from the Medusa Project. The virus to end all aliens gave Alex’s mom the means with which to rid J’onn J’onnz of his white Martian blood. Again, this was rushed, but to be fair, J’onn turning into a white Martian was a plot device for him figuring out Miss Martian was a white Martian, so losing J’onn’s transformation to refocus on the two surviving Martians is a good trade.

I hope we haven’t seen the last of Cyborg Superman. The real Hank Henshaw makes a great foil for Kara and her team. Fortunately, I don’t think we have seen the last of him.

Supergirl toyed with Jimmy coming out as The Guardian. The show dropping it was a small mercy. I’ve been on record as saying Supergirl doesn’t need a huge team of heroes. The struggling sidekick has been done to death.

Romance has also been done to death on CW shows, but I don’t mind it as much on Supergirl. Maggie and Alex are officially together. I’m glad Supergirl continues to handle this relationship with class, but I’m also glad we’ve moved pass the will they or won’t they part of the story. The only potential hiccup with Magex—I’m not sure if they have a couple name or if I’m qualified to give them one, but I’m going with Magex—is whether their relationship will put the buddy-cop angle, which I enjoyed, in jeopardy. I’m not sure, but I’ll sit down and enjoy the ride while it lasts.

The Mon-El-Kara connection happened—sort of—and I liked the moment they shared when Mon-El was in quarantine. I was on the fence about these two getting together but I’m okay with it if Supergirl gives us more touching moments like the ones in “Medusa” before they become official. If Magex is any indication, Supergirl will develop these two as a couple, so I’m not too scared we’ll get a CW bed hopping scenario.

Oh, yeah, “Medusa” was the first leg of the Arrowverse crossover. Barry was teased in the episode, but he didn’t show up in earnest until the closing minutes. It was a fun moment. Cisco makes a quip about hoping he and Barry found the right reality or there’d be some confused people, when Kara comes home with groceries. She welcomes her old friend—or at least the friend she met last season—and shares a hug.

I’m sure the Arrowverse will thicken on the upcoming Flash, but “Medusa” was a fun episode that barely qualifies as a crossover, and that’s a breath of fresh air.

Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers: “The Last Gingerbread House on the Left”

Kyle’s Thoughts

“The Last Gingerbread House on the Left” fell flat. All the parts of a good Bob’s Burgers episode were there, but the execution was off this week.

Mr. Fischoeder and Felix’s presence adds spice to the titular gingerbread house building contest and the rest of the rich folk (in that thread) play off each other well. There’s something about watching Fischoeder suffer and asking Bob for help that’s satisfying (Fischoeder wants Bob to finish last in the contest, so he won’t finish last another year) and every time Fischoeder tempts Bob with free rent makes for great motivation for Bob. “The Last Gingerbread House on the Left” even gives Bob a good alternative to following Fischoeder’s plan, and the result is a great character moment for Bob.

Throw in some over-the-top gun play and the gingerbread house building contest is intense. Where “The Last Gingerbread House on the Left” falls short is on the caroling side of its story. It was old hat and frankly, boring. If you’ve ever seen a sitcom, you knew the carolers (Linda, the kids, and Teddy) would end up at the creepy house, they’d be spooked by the owner, and the owner would turn out to be a great guy, the person who epitomizes Linda’s (the head caroler’s) vision. It added little.

If you looked at only the gingerbread house building portion, “The Last Gingerbread House on the Left” was a riot, but the other half drags down an otherwise solid episode. Still, Bob’s Burgers maintains its place as one of the better sitcoms on TV.

Thanks for reading.

The Flash: “Killer Frost”

Kyle’s Thoughts

For everyone in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving. For everyone else, happy Thursday. I figured I’d write a quick review on this week’s Flash before I carbo-load and slip into a food coma.

With an episode name like “Killer Frost” Flash had to focus on the sometimes villain and it’s what we’d expect. Unfortunately, everything about this episode was what we’d come to expect. Remember two months ago, when I projected who Alchemy was? Yep, I called it. (To avoid spoilers in this review I’ve added a link to the previous review with Alchemy’s identity; check it out here.) The reveal was anticlimactic.

And that’s been the problem with Flash this season. It hasn’t been bad—it’s been mostly watchable, unlike Arrow last season—but it plays everything safe. The show hasn’t risked or changed anything: the big bad villain is a speedster (Savitar), a different flavor of Harrison Wells aids the group, each year adds a sidekick speedster, and Barry must go back in time and change the past. It’s not bad. Okay, time-traveling is old and lazy writing, but it’s not horrible; it’s just yawn-inducing.

While I like the nod to Barry’s true power being hope (when Barry turns Lantern in the comics, he’s part of the Blue Lantern Corps fueled by hope), Killer Frost’s arc was rushed. She turns evil in a jiff and jumps back just as fast because Barry hopes the person she was is still inside. I’m not sure if we’ve seen this sequence of events before, but we’ve seen Barry put his faith in people and have it work out. This is keeping with his character but I’m not sure Killer Frost would’ve turned back to “good” so quickly, especially since she’s been wearing power dampening handcuffs for weeks, because she feared she’ll lose control. It’s very convenient.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Barry will go back in time and erase this story thread from existence. Jim and I have mentioned time-travel as Flash’s reset or easy button, but the problem with hitting this button is that you can’t build characters. How will we know which parts of this timeline should make it to the new timeline or which parts of previous timelines should carry over? Will it make sense that Wally still has powers and Killer Frost doesn’t? Flash can justify anything by its time-travel effect without having to put much thought into a cohesive narrative. Like Jim and I have said, it’s lazy.

Flash continues to be watchable, but I’d like to see it make more progress with its characters by dumping Barry’s time warps. I believe Flash will increase the dangers of time-travel, so things could get interesting after the break.

Thanks for reading.

Supergirl: “The Darkest Places”

Kyle’s Thoughts

Supergirl’s season gained a lot of clarity in “The Darkest Places,” and that’s a good thing. The bombshells that fell this week should have lasting repercussions, unless Supergirl is subject to Flashpoint. This is the week before a Flash–Supergirl crossover, so you never know. Still, it’s unlikely Flashpoint will affect Supergirl in the same way as Arrow. I reserve the right to change my opinion of “The Darkest Places” if Flashpoint does a number on Supergirl. That said, “The Darkest Places” was solid.

“The Darkest Places” handled Supergirl’s romantic storylines well. The restraint from showing people jumping into bed with anyone in which they are in deep like has the series building relationships. Mon-El expressed an interest in Kara. I’m not sure if his feelings will be returned, but with the exception that it was obvious Mon-El and Kara would tempt romance, I like how Supergirl has handled this so far. The potential Alex-Maggie love story is back on the table. Again, Supergirl is handling this story well; it refrains from showing gratuitous sex. J’onn and M’gann may have a romantic entanglement too, but M’Gann’s origin is one of the major bombshells. Or should I say truth bombs?

J’onn finds out that M’Gann is a white Martian instead of a green Martian. Her survivor’s guilt should have legs. It also keeps J’onn relevant. Lillian Luthor (Lena and Lex’s mom) reveals to Kara that she’s the head of Cadmus. Kara must consider how she’ll handle this information; Lena could side with her mother. Kara and the Luthors just got more interesting. Jimmy’s secret identity is also spilled to Alex by way of Winn. Jimmy doesn’t know Alex knows his secret. We’ll have to see how long she can keep this secret from everyone. I hope Supergirl takes its time building this tension. These three bombs made “The Darkest Places” a jam-packed episode, but there’s more.

Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain) returned. He helped Mon-El and Kara escape from Cadmus. Of course, Kara let Alex know she saw her father and that he was well. The fact she shared this information should eat away at Alex until she lets Kara know Jimmy’s secret. If Danvers’ return wasn’t enough, Cyborg Superman made his debut. He’s the real Hank Henshaw—or a Cadmus upgrade from the original—and comic fans should enjoy that pay off.

Even with all these positives, “The Darkest Places” had some hiccups. There might be too much going on. I’m still not sold on Jimmy as a vigilante. He logged the most superhero work by tracking down a serial killer, but he was a stand-in for Kara, while she was captured. This week marks another episode without much mention of Kara’s journalist career. Kara’s role as a journalist grounds her, and Supergirl loses something when it’s not present; Jimmy as a superhero continues to detract from this storyline.

Why must Arrowverse shows recycle plot devices? Supergirl ends with Cyborg Superman retrieving data about last year’s Undertaking of a plot device Medusa. While I like how Supergirl uses vernacular its TV viewers would understand (other Arrowverse shows might pull an obscure comic reference never touched on in the show), it might be too soon to bring back Medusa.

Overall, “The Darkest Places” was a solid episode. I have misgivings about a Flash-Supergirl crossover but they stem more from the Flash. Supergirl continues to outshine the other CW superhero shows. Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers: “The Quirkducers”

Kyle’s Thoughts

“The Quirkducers” does a good job of integrating multiple Bob’s Burgers characters, both main and extended cast. Most characters had a want and distinct arc in this spoof of The Producers. While I wouldn’t place “The Quirkducers” as one of the best Tina-driven episodes of all time, it explores the character more than the past three or four episodes and that’s a step in the right direction.

Bob’s Burgers is at its best when it incorporates music and does in “The Quirkducers” to great effect. The Belcher kids put on a school musical, “The Quirky Turkey,” based on Tina’s erotic holiday fiction—love that this is a thing now. Similar to Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom (gotta love a Gene Wilder homage: The Producers) Louise and Gene want the play to flop so they can get a half day before their Thanksgiving break, but Tina isn’t aware of any shenanigans during most of the preparations. This fuels a fire between Tina who wants the play to be great and her classmates. Tina, being who she is, goes along with the plan and mayhem ensues.

The plays about turkeys who don’t know they’re on the dinner menu and Louise gets graphic with how they die. The moment her plan goes off leads to a nice character moment for Louise. She wonders if flying turkey guts and giblets were too much and she’d scar someone. The planning also lead to one of the funniest lines, delivered by Gene. “It’ll be Carrie meets Gallagher meets Top Chef meets Double Dare.” It’s an apt description and classic Gene.

Bob doesn’t have much to work with besides allowing Linda to treat a misshapen potato as her dead grandpa, but since so many characters are invested in the musical’s success or failure (seven by my count), it’s understandable that Bob’s arc takes a backseat. I’d still like to have seen Linda struggle with the potato-grandpa more or have Bob put up more of a fight, but the thread tied into the play in a satisfying way.

“The Quirkducers” may be one of the strongest episodes so far this season. It gives me hope that Bob’s Burgers will continue its upward swing.

Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers: “Large Brother, Where Fart Thou?”

Kyle’s Thoughts

“Large Brother, Where Fart Thou?” was an episode cut into three unbalanced threads. Bob’s Burgers has a knack for making each thread matter but the first half of this week’s double-header was disjointed.

I’m growing tired of Tina’s love interests. I get that she’s a teenage girl and she’s dealing with hormones spiking, but there was a time when the writers would center a story around different facets of her character. She loves horses, authors erotic friend fiction, works too hard (at times) at the restaurant, and wants to please her parents. That’s a lot of fertile ground—the same traits that make her one of the best animated characters on TV—and it’s being neglected. The ubiquity of the Tina love story made this thread miss its mark.

Bob and Linda getting high from butterscotch cookies was hilarious. It doesn’t add much to the strong character moment (to come) but did a great job of offsetting the waters explored by Gene.

Speaking of Gene, he’s the titular large brother, and he has a moment where he stands up for his baby sister Louise. As the middle child Gene has never needed or wanted to protect his little sister—it doesn’t help that Louise acts like she doesn’t need anyone to help her—and yet we see his struggle as he ultimately assumes that role of big, rather than just large brother. It’s a goofy and heart-warming moment that only a show like Bob’s Burgers can deliver, and it’s one of this young season’s best.

Tired Tina love story aside, “Large Brother, Where Fart Thou?” was a solid episode, and Bob’s Burgers continues a strong seventh season.