Blindspot Review: “Eight Slim Grins”

Kyle’s Review

Blindspot plugged along with “Eight Slim Grins.” The cast are sliding into their roles, the story solidified Jane Doe’s connection with Agent Weller, and the secret organization gets bigger, while remaining secret.

Is it just me or has Weller had more of a response to Jane Doe, and the fact that she is the lady he thought she was, than he has to his own family? I kind of hoped Weller was wrong because I don’t see how ruining Weller’s father could possibly fit into the new world order’s plans. That’s what we’re dealing with here, right? Some uber-secret organization, pulling everyone’s strings, purposefully dropped Jane Doe into Weller’s lap. Actually, Weller’s name is tattooed on Jane Doe’s back, so this group is taunting Agent Weller.

I have to be honest and say that this week’s baddie faded in my memory. I had to watch parts of “Eight Slim Grins” a second time to recall that Team Jane Doe was tailing a crew of jewel thieves. The focus was less on these jewel thieves and more about people from Jane Doe’s past. The guy who trained Jane was shot and killed, and the guy from the jewel heist crew, who Team Jane Doe caught, had a link to Jane’s past and died by the end of the episode. At this rate, Jane will never find out who she is, or will she? She is the girl from Agent Weller’s childhood.

I’m sure Blindspot will add some more folks from Jane’s past to fill the void between now and when she was ten. Until then, I’ll keep watching this guilty pleasure. The action should intensify, now that Jane won’t be shackled to Agent Weller’s car, and Weller isn’t as wooden as he was in the first two episodes.

Verdict:

Blindspot continues to improve but it severed the only link to Jane’s past—that Jane knows of—and I hope the show doesn’t devolve into Jane learning one face or name and then that person dies as soon as she encounters them. I’ll give Blindspot a chance because it can be a lot of fun.

Heroes Reborn Review: “Under the Mask”

Kyle’s Review

The thick plottens with Heroes Reborn’s latest episode “Under the Mask.”

This entire episode spent its time trying to tie together the disparate parts to Heroes Reborn’s story in a slip knot. I don’t know if it succeeded at doing even that. I’m sure there’s plenty more going on behind the scenes but here’s what we know so far. (These might be slight spoilers for those of you behind in the mini-series but I don’t think they’re too big. Heroes Reborn is holding back a lot so little makes much sense.) Molly, the young lady who can locate other evolved humans, gets kidnapped and a mysterious corporation jacks into her mind so that anyone who owns a pair of computer glasses can spot an Evo from a mile away. Claire might be dead or in hiding or dead and in hiding. Somehow the high school boy plays a role in saving humanity but it isn’t as simple as “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” The Latino superhero runs into more Evos—both enemies and friendlies. And Zachary Levi portrays the new burning man—er, the guy who can explode. Maybe.

“Under the Mask” ended with so many cliffhangers that I’m not sure which threads—if any—I need to hold and I know I missed at least a few more like the Japanese lady wielding Hiro Nakamura’s katana. The sad thing is that most of these threads would make a decent story if only two or three were used but I’m left drinking a carton of milk in two seconds flat, and the majority of the story’s curdling on my shirt. You’d have to watch “Under the Mask” a few times to catch everything and I don’t think there’s that many people who’d take the time.

If Heroes Reborn can’t clean up this mess in a timely fashion, I may have to stop watching and reviewing it. The solution doesn’t have to be a simple slogan like “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” but something needs to tie these characters together and soon.

Verdict:

Heroes Reborn “Under the Mask” ended with one mell of a hess. Viewers should question where characters’ loyalties lie but they shouldn’t question what’s going on in every other scene.

The Awesomes Review: “The Dames of Danger”

Kyle’s Review

The Awesomes paused the main story arc this week—as they’re oft to do this time of the season—and also split up the boys and girls. Even though Mr. Awesome and Dr. Malocchio didn’t make physical appearances in “The Dames of Danger,” they were present because this episode was all about the relationships parents and children share.

Livewire misses her father, Dr. Malocchio, and learns that her mother is one of the episode’s titular Dames of Danger. Livewire’s pregnant with Prock’s child—yet another level of parenthood explored—and reluctantly joins her mother and her cronies on a secret mission to stop Backstory. Yes. The villain of the week’s name is Backstory and we get a long, drawn out backstory for our villain. That’s so meta.

I love that “The Dames of Danger” receive their orders from a shrouded man a la Charlie’s Angels but The Awesomes give that formula a twist by having the mysterious man wire every women’s room in the world. In true Awesomes style, the Dames of Danger’s leader gets apprehended for installing cameras in every ladies’ room in the world.

“The Dames of Danger” didn’t add much to the main story arc this week but we’re left with some pretty big revelations that should ripple through the team in the coming weeks.

Verdict:

“The Dames of Danger” was a solid episode but it didn’t add much to the main story arc. We’ll have to wait another week or two for Mr. Awesome and Dr. Malocchio to make their moves but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the ride.

The Muppets Review: “Hostile Makeover” and “Bear Left Then Bear Write”

Kyle’s Review

Technical difficulties and Nuke-Con have put me behind on reviews but I did have a chance to catch up with The Muppets. I wasn’t impressed with “Hostile Makeover” or “Bear Left Then Bear Write.” The pilot showcased some classic Muppet jokes and delivered some self-referential humor but the second and third episodes tried to fast-forward the show from a new sit-com to one that’s been on for many seasons.

Sit-coms typically start off with broad, one-note and over-the-top characters and over time, the characters grow so that the situations the characters find themselves in amplify the humor because of the particular character(s) placed in those situation. As I mentioned before, The Muppet Show was a sketch comedy so there isn’t any history with which to build these connections. I liked how the pilot focused on Kermit and Miss Piggy’s relationship because they’re the closest characters to having more than one level.

The next two episodes stray from the Kermit/Miss Piggy dynamic somewhat and we’re given some hollow stories as a result. In fact, The Muppets are so deprived of deep characters that they had to invent two new characters, Chip the IT guy and a random second bear, so the show could explore certain topics. Chip and the other bear aren’t winners.

I don’t want to be too judgmental so I’ll probably stop reviewing The Muppets until it improves. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the show venture into the abuse Dr. Teeth experienced as a child. Some stories don’t need to be told.

Verdict:

I had high hopes but I can’t recommend The Muppets at this time. The show needs to figure out what it wants its characters to be and then commit to them, while trying to keep the elements that made the Muppets the Muppets. This will be a tall order.

Bob’s Burgers Review: “How I Met Your Mother”

Kyle’s Review

It took Bob’s Burgers long enough but they finally unveiled how Bob met Linda. The setup for “How I Met Your Mother” was a typical one for Bob’s Burgers. Bob and Linda reminisce about the day they met. Linda tells the kids that it was Bob’s manly stache that caught her eye – and the engagement ring Hugo gave her – and then the kids wonder what would’ve happened if Bob didn’t have his mustache.

We were treated to three alternate time lines and the kids’ stories matched their personalities: Gene had Bob getting a robostache (in a Robocop knock off), Louise turned Bob into a werewolf via a tip of the hat to the movie Big, and Tina kept trying to keep her parents together at every turn. While Gene and Louise tried to pry their parents apart in their stories, they ultimately had Bob and Linda ending up as a couple. Tina was the only one who succeeded in splitting up her parents and she hated every minute of it.

Robostache

Despite the look into Bob and Linda’s past, we didn’t get too many revelations in “How I Met Your Mother,” but the show’s title begs the question, Why did it take 9 seasons to explain how someone’s parents met in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother? We found out how Bob and Linda met in 10 seconds.

“How I Met Your Mother” – the TV episode, not the series – was funny in parts: mostly with Gene’s Robostache story. We had some weird moments – thank you, Louise – and Tina, as usual, went for our heartstrings. In short, Bob’s Burgers had a solid season 6 premiere.

Verdict:

“How I Met Your Mother” was a strong start to Bob’s Burgers’ sixth season.

Blindspot Review: “A Stray Howl”

Kyle’s Review

The encryption of Jane Doe’s tattoos leads to some interesting clues. That was true of Blindspot’s pilot and stays true with “A Stray Howl,” but unlike the pilot, “A Stray Howl” added flavor to the supporting cast. Thank goodness. Sullivan Stapleton, who plays Agent Kurt Weller, is still stiff with his delivery but we saw that he has another side to contrast the hard-nosed special agent—he may even have a personal connection with Jane Doe. But despite these nice developments, we don’t get to know too many of the other characters. I said that the supporting cast has flavor but they’re still broad characters. It says something when you look up Blindspot on IMDB and find that most of the characters – even characters who are part of the immediate investigative team – are known simply as “FBI Agent.” We need more character development with these guys, as well as some names.

The weekly mystery involved a rogue Air Force drone pilot and how you can’t escape your past. Bringing the rogue to justice paralleled Jane Doe’s search to discover herself. She ponders what would happen if she didn’t like who she was and she experienced a memory that might suggest that she wasn’t a good person. On a personal note, “A Stray Howl’s” subject matter hit a little close to home, so it took a lot for me to get through this episode. Even so, “A Stray Howl” was a good episode. I had to fight back a laugh at points because of the absurdity of what Blindspot got wrong in terms of the Air Force and intelligence work, but this show introduced more elements that Blindspot could and should exploit. The characters are developing, not at the pace I’d like them to, but they are moving in the right direction and Blindspot looks like it might be something more than just an excuse to flash some half naked pics of a celebrity. The show also ended with a pretty good cliffhanger and looking forward to next week.

Verdict:

“A Stray Howl” did enough to keep me watching Blindspot. Hopefully, the show will continue to find its feet and make strides with the characters not named Jane Doe.

The Awesomes Review: “Indiana Johnson and the Nazi Granddaughters”

Kyle’s Review

“Indiana Johnson and the Nazi Granddaughters” was an interesting episode of The Awesomes. From a main narrative perspective, The Awesomes threw in a few things that will slow the big reveal of Mr. Awesome as the main villain the season, while also furthering Mr. Awesome’s candidacy for U.S. president. We even see Dr. Malocchio get integrated into main narrative and he’s on his way back to Earth. The Awesomes have great pacing this season. I could see these threads playing out and then tying up within the final three episodes, where we’ll see Prock take on his dad. But before that happens, we’ll encounter a villain a week over the next month. This week’s villain was the granddaughters of Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, and Adolph Hitler.

Everything’s better with Nazis as a villain and you can’t have a parody of Indiana Jones without including them. We got some slams against bigotry and racism but millennials as a generation suffered the worst blows. The Nazi granddaughters wanted to reanimate their Pappies with the Weeping Angel’s Stone because they were their grandfathers and they couldn’t be bad. Also, they fell asleep in History class. Who cares about old people anyway?

The Nazis were a sidebar to The Awesomes taking down the trio of teenage girls by sowing the seeds of mistrust. Once the girls were dispatched, the Nazis disappeared, but the girls didn’t stop with reanimating their grandfathers. Dinosaurs, mammoths, and other ancient creatures made appearances. You could say that there was an abundance of awesome on The Awesomes this week. My favorite ongoing gag was Sumo being treated as Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but there were some others. “Snacks! Why does there always have to be snacks?”

Verdict:

“Indiana Johnson and the Nazi Granddaughter” allowed The Awesomes to flex their pun muscles. The season has a great pace to it and we can see the pieces fall into place for the finale.

Heroes Reborn Review: “Brave New World/Odessa”

Kyle’s Review

I don’t know who – if anyone – asked for a Heroes reboot, and still, NBC has given us Heroes Reborn. There was no way the new miniseries could live up to the spectacle that was Heroes’ first season, but the first two episodes (they aired on the same night) weren’t as bad as the woeful third and fourth seasons. After Heroes “saved the cheerleader, saved the world” – that’s a play on the first season’s tagline – its quality deteriorated with each subsequent season. So you could rate Heroes Reborn by how it falls on the Heroes grading scale: it’s better than the second season and therefore watchable.

I have a confession to make. I stopped watching Heroes after the first few episodes of season three, but once the show made it to Netflix, I binged on the remaining episodes. Even though the fourth season was lacking in many areas, it was interesting and I liked how the final show ended: Claire exposed the existence of supers to the world. Those final two minutes of Heroes made me a little curious about what would – or could – happen next. Heroes Reborn fast forwards the story to a world fully aware of evolved humans.

“Brave New World” and “Odessa,” the two episodes of Heroes Reborn that debuted on the September 24^th, introduced us to a heap of characters. Both episodes felt rushed when compared to the original series’ first season. That could be because many characters in the first series were related to one another and they had a lot of scenes together. As far as I can tell through the first two episodes, most of Heroes Reborn’s characters don’t have the same connective tissue, so we’re left with several disparate story threads.

I can’t remember when we were first introduced to the tagline, “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” but it felt like that line was uttered within the first four episodes of Heroes’ first season. Granted, we aren’t to the fourth episode of Heroes Reborn but Heroes’ first season lasted for 20 episodes, while Heroes Reborn is a 13 episode miniseries and we only caught a glimpse of the over-arching threat that should bind the heroes together. I won’t spoil it – because I don’t know enough about it to spoil it – but the big threat looks like the eye of Sauron.

In fact, we saw so little of this threat and the hero protecting the world from it that when I saw a promo picture of the cast, I didn’t recognize the blonde girl. It took me a minute to remember that she’s the one keeping an eye on the eye of Sauron. Speaking of the cast, the new cast works well enough. Heroes Reborn didn’t include too many members of the original cast – Jack Coleman as Noah Bennet and Jimmy Jean-Louis as The Haitian are the only main cast member we saw in the first two episodes – but they rehashed many of the same character types. Tommy is the new Claire. Miko is the new Hiro. Molly returns but with a new actress, Francesca Eastwood, portraying her. The only characters I found new were the two grieving parents/bounty hunters Luke and Joanne Collins, played by Zachary Levi and Judith Shekoni, and the Mexican superhero who wears a luchador mask.

The first two episodes of Heroes Reborn were good but they didn’t blow me away like the first season of Heroes. But then again, I didn’t expect Heroes Reborn to be as good as the first season of Heroes. I’m concerned that we don’t know enough about the main narrative with only 11 episodes remaining. Heroes Reborn better hit the gas on bringing these characters together soon. A catchy slogan wouldn’t hurt either.

Verdict:

The first two episodes of Heroes Reborn weren’t the first two episodes of the original Heroes, but “Brave New World” and “Odessa” weren’t as bad as Heroes seasons 2-4 either. There’s enough to the first two episodes to keep me watching for a while.

The Muppets Review: “Pig Girls Don’t Cry”

Kyle’s Review

Rejoice! The Muppets have returned. The creative team behind the new Muppets packed plenty of material into 20 minutes. Love or hate the separate cameras for each character approach – which apes Modern Family – you have to admit that the Muppets were made to break the fourth wall. Heck, they had the two curmudgeons in the audience from the original show.

As you would expect, we got a healthy dose of Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie. The first episode, “Pig Girls Don’t Cry,” revolved around Kermit and Piggy’s break up and Fozzie meeting his human girlfriend’s parents. Even if you don’t know who these characters are, The Muppets gave us some nice background. We saw their history play out—and the Muppets have a lot of history. The fourth wall breaks worked for the most part. Gonzo actually had a chance to poke fun at Modern Family’s storytelling device of individual cameras for each character. Fozzie had as many one liners and puns with his girlfriend’s parents than he did during his standup. And while I didn’t know whether or not I’d like Kermit moving on from Miss Piggy when I first heard of this series, their breakup made sense and we could see those two getting back together at some point. Kermit does have a type.

A variety show, like the Muppet’s former show within their show, doesn’t translate in today’s market, and the switch to Miss Piggy fronting a late night show in The Muppets is a good compromise. Like the original Muppet Show, we had guest stars Elizabeth Banks and Tom Bergeron, and musical guests Imagine Dragons. If you’re not a huge Imagine Dragons fan, that’s okay. They played with Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem as the credits rolled. I thought that was a nice touch.

If you’re expecting sketch comedy like the original, don’t. The Muppets all but abandon their original format. They’re still the characters you love but this show’s gone in a different direction, and as if there was any doubt, I’ll keep watching.

Verdict:

The Muppets tip their hat to their original Muppet Show but it isn’t a complete retread. As a result, it’ll turn away some viewers but it’s a good show in its own right.

Blindspot Review: “Series Premiere”

Kyle’s Review

We open on Time’s Square. An NYPD officer spots a duffle bag, large enough to hold a human, with a tag that reads, Call the FBI. We jump cut to a bomb disposal unit approaching the mysterious bag and the oddest thing up to this point is seeing an empty Time’s Square. If you’ve caught any of Blindspot’s previews, you’ll know that a woman, played by Jaimie Alexander (Thor’s Lady Sif), is inside the duffle bag. She’s naked and covered head to toe in tattoos that could lead the feds to a killer.

We’ve seen, or heard, a lot about this opening sequence, but it does its job: it thrusts the viewer into the action, in medias res. I’m a fan of beginning a story in the middle of narrative, so long as we get enough of the story’s background (i.e. the original Star Wars trilogy). Blindspot chose to jump from NYC to Kentucky and the effect jarred me. I wondered what made the Kentucky agent Kurt Weller so important and then I saw Weller’s name tattooed on the unknown woman’s back.

The rest of the show played out like a hyper-stylized mix of mystery, thriller, and police procedural. I connected more with Alexander’s Jane Doe – and I think that’s the point – but Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) kept Jane Doe and the audience at arm’s length. In fact, most of the cast comes off as wooden and the dialogue is clipped, stilted and Alexander carries Blindspot.

Despite her strong performance, Alexander’s Jane Doe flies a little close to Sif (Thor), but there may be enough of a Black Widow vibe to counterbalance any similarities and Blindspot weaves enough webs that more than one season will be needed to trace them all. I’m sure that the person(s) behind Doe’s tattoos and mind wipe has the prerequisite twists and turns needed to fuel Blindspot’s narrative, but at this point, Blindspot doesn’t spend as much time developing any character besides Jane Doe and that’s only because she has a mysterious past and her tats reveal the weekly and series’ puzzle.

I may watch for a while longer but Blindspot will need to branch out from Jane Doe.

Verdict:

Jaimie Alexander gives a great performance but the rest of the cast, and the writers room, need to step up to make Blindspot something sustainable. It needs to be something more than an excuse for a half-naked Alexander.