Young Justice: Outsiders: Season Three Part One Review (Spoilers)
Also reviews for the latest episodes of Teen Titans Go!, Supergirl, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow, Arrow, Mickey Mouse, Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers: Beast Morphers, American Dad!, Game Of Thrones, The Blacklist, and Blindspot.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Princes All"
I liked that. It wasn't as PG-13/R as I feared. Maybe the rest of the episodes will be tougher to watch, but I was able to stomach that.
I don't like M'Gann's new look, but frankly, that's the point. She's not hiding who she is, even if she is outwardly unattractive by human standards. I don't like the look, but the character stuff it says makes it worth it.
Batman's move as the beginning of the episode rhymed with slick. Totally. I get why Jefferson doesn't trust him.
Kal'dur being the leader of the League is a juicy twist, but I don't know how believable it is. Too soon if you ask me.
Roy, er, Will. Richard, er, Dick. I see what they did there.
G. Gordon Godfrey was my least favorite character on the old show, and somehow without Tim Curry, he's crazily even worse. And Tim Curry was freaking awful. I don't know how I'll stomach a season of this.
I didn't know Lynn was John Stewart's sister. Of course that would never come up on the Black Lightning TV show, but it was still something I was unaware of.
Promising opener. ****.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Royal We"
I love that so far there has been no swearing. It's early, and that could change, but I found the swears in Batman And Harley Quinn and Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five jarring. It's interesting I like this project so far better than those two movies. Because I didn't think the first season of this show was great (although it was good) and the second season outright sucked. It's amazing to me that this show's second chance is easier for me to enjoy that JLU's second chance. I never would have predicted that until this week and I saw them both.
To be honest, the episode wasn't great. But I felt the tone was consistent which is very important to me. I've giving it a good grade. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Eminent Threat"
Wow, things went bad for the Baron fast. And even if things went badly for the Prince too, they could have gone so much worse. The episode was a little gorier than I like, but it wasn't too bad.
I didn't exactly like this episode, but I didn't feel squeamish by it either. The show is being made carefully and in good taste. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Private Security"
That was SO much fun. Roy was the biggest drip on the old show. How did he get to be the most fun character? And there's three of them now? How did I miss that?
The stuff at the security company was so funny and Brick was so put-upon by the end of that. I'd feel bad for him if I weren't laughing so much at the Harper family antics.
The stuff with Zatanna didn't gel with the rest of the episode. And I'll tell you why I didn't like it: I think if Zatanna had a day or two a year with her father, things would be tolerable. They'd suck, but both her and her father could get by. An hour makes her feel even worse than before she sees him. It strikes me as not only cruel, but deliberately so. If Nabu isn't TRYING to cause Zatanna pain, I'd be surprised. If I were Zatarra, I'd never go along with it because of the mess it makes his daughter, but he probably cherishes that hour so much he isn't thinking straight about the subject. But an hour actually helps nobody. It's actually mean.
But I loved everything else. ****1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Away Mission"
I don't like this version of Mantis. We didn't get much from JLU's version (just a single scene) but he was far more memorable. This version of Forager's okay though.
I'm having a really hard time keeping the story of the Martians straight. There are Red Martians? Since when?
I didn't much care for this episode. **1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Rescue Op"
I'm glad they addressed the pronouns thing right away. Because it's annoying. But as long as it's justified I'll live with it.
Juicy stuff with Ra's and the guy he's holding captive. I love Tigress asking him if her father was in charge, him saying no, her asking if her sister was, and him telling her to get out.
Superboy doesn't actually expect Wolf to answer him, does he? Has Timmy fallen down a well, girl?
Venom is NOT Evil Spider-Man. Black-Spider is Evil Spider-Man the way he was intended.
The episode was diverting enough, but it didn't exactly wow me. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Evolution"
I have always thought Vandal Savage was a better and cooler villain than Ra's Al Ghul. This is why.
Love the Miguel Ferrer tribute card.
What a great origin story. Learning he's the father of Nabu, why he hooked up with Darkseid and when, and that he founded The Light after the first Starro invasion, these are all things that make the story rich. I feel like Justice League's Savage had the exact same potential, but they never got enough episodes to sit back and explore it. But this was the concept done how I always imagined the DCAU Savage to be.
Tigress is totally a stripper name. And I fully believe Dick chose Nightwing as a tribute to a mullet metal band. And if that isn't a well-deserved slam against the DCAU's Nightwing, I'll eat my hat. Because that mullet was freaking awful.
This was one of my favorite episodes of the season. 5 stars. *****.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Triptych"
Too much exposition. And any credit I would have given the show for the subtlety of the implied sex in the last episode is taken back at the beginning of this.
I think Batman is clearly thinking that Diana's diplomatic immunity will prevent her from having to get on the stand to lie under oath. But I realize that's an unreasonable ask of Kal'dur. He's the leader of the Justice League, and possibly even Atlantis. Has Batman thought of the messes he is placing him in?
Jervis Tetch is one of the skeeviest characters in DC Comics history, and this is a particularly loathsome interpretation.
I love Shade making the double entendres easy for Livewire.
I like Spoiler and Orphan, although I'm not familiar with them from elsewhere.
Tigress' kid is actually Cheshire's? Just when you thought Cheshire couldn't possibly be a worse family member.
So-so episode. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Home Fires"
Extremely clever to make Lobo's swearing part of his alien language. That way it doesn't violate the tone of the show, and it also doesn't water down the character. It was a nice touch.
I can't stand Godfrey. If he's Darkseid's shill why is he talking smack against Granny Goodness? The left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.
Speaking of which, Batman is super dumb if he's working with Granny.
Speaking of Granny, I find her voice underwhelming. Big step down from Ed Asner.
The Nuclear option freaked me out. That was a close call, and none of the heroes will ever know how close it was.
Good episode. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Exceptional Human Beings"
I like that in Victor Stone's first episode, they still found a way for Khary Payton to say "Booyah!" even if he doesn't voice Cyborg.
I also like Batman ragging on Bane for the people he's let slip by without his knowledge. And Metamorpho is a surprisingly tolerable character when he isn't voiced by Tom Sizemore.
Decent episode. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Another Freak"
Do you know what? I totally get Halo's appeal now. When Cyborg instantly decides to go with her I was like, "This is a person everyone who meets always unambiguously trusts." That would be a poor move for Victor under any other circumstance, considering Silas is the one guy who understands his condition, but Halo is the hero who doesn't just save bystanders. She literally makes people better. That's cool.
For the record, I found the Cyborg stuff too gory. Although I will concede since his entire origin IS gory, it was probably needed anyways.
I laughed at Lobo's finger decomposing in the end credits.
That Fred Bugg with 2 G's thing is going to get old real quick.
Cyborg is a bit too screechy and whiny for me, but Violet is a keeper. ****.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Nightmare Monkeys"
Most of the TV stuff was painful and lame, but sue me, because I found Doom Patrol Go! funny. Hilarious they got the Teen Titans cast for it too.
It strikes me that we haven't seen Gar much this season. Jaime or Virgil either. Hopefully those two will have bigger roles in the second half of the season.
Half-fun / half-dumb. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "True Heroes"
Calling it: So far, Young Justice's relaunch has been far more consistent and better than the DCAU's relaunch with Batman and Harley Quinn and Justice League Vs the Fatal Five. I'm just as shocked as anyone. I detested the second season of this show, but this has been really good. And I like it because it is far easier to stomach than the raunchy and / or too violent DCAU projects. This is just the right amount of adult for me from a former kiddie franchise. I don't much like the sex or the occasional gore, but they are usually understated, so I'll live with them.
Those masks remind me of the Court of Owls.
Terra? Uh oh. For that exact reason.
I sincerely hope Victor IS cured of the Father Box. If he isn't, he's a serious drag on the team. Halo is literally their biggest gun, and as long as Victor is around she has to stay back and babysit. I was a little miffed at that entire situation to be honest.
I like that she is uncomfortable uncovering her hair in front of a man. Gabrielle may be dead, but Violet's got some of her sensibilities hardwired into her.
Outsiders has turned out really enjoyable so far. ****.
Teen Titans Go! "TV Knight 4"
I've gotta say, outside of DCAU Batman, this is probably my favorite Batman ever. It doesn't matter if Catwoman is carrying a duffel bag of stolen goods. As long as she has a stolen TV, they're all good. I also love the idea that Batman stopped the ferocious bear by joyfully throwing pretzels in its mouth. I mentioned this was one of the best Batmans ever right?
For the record, Alfred is still no fun at all.
The TV segments were weak, except the first. The Challengers Of The Unknown thing was funny and reminded me of the YouTube responses of modern kids trying to work a rotary phone. I knew it was a staple remover, but I can't imagine kids today would.
And Beast Boy needs them space-times for existing, yo!
Not as good as the other TV Knights, but the wraparound segments were as funny as ever. ***1/2.
Supergirl "Crime And Punishment"
That was stupid. And I think the most annoying thing is that the producers were hoping I'd find something that stupid funny. I don't. The mistaken identity thing is so bad because that is the one aspect of the show it should never draw attention to. And they did it with a wink and nudge here as if it's adorable instead of something that hurts the credibility of the franchise. Supergirl was JUST talking to them both up close. NEITHER of them got what was going on? I get that Otis is dumb. What's the whistleblower's excuse?
I am amused at the complex reasons Otis hates the press. Which makes the stupidity of the Secret ID grate even more (if that's possible).
For the record, Brainy asking Dreamer to dream the answer for him was smart. And as she later said, she probably should have actually done it for real earlier.
I don't trust Hayley, and the writers are crazy to try to ask me to. She was ready to blackmail Supergirl if she didn't do exactly what she told her to. Alex may not remember that, but the audience does. It's a little late for the writers to be adding ambiguity to that equation. Yeah, she's not as crazy as Lockwood or Baker. But that should not be the freaking bar.
Sam Witwer proves week after week that he has one of the most punchable faces on television. And considering his entire job involves getting me to hate him, he's REALLY good at it.
I feel like Willie Garson's character was too schizo to sympathize with. He believes crazy and correct things in equal measure, depending on who he's talking to. Still it's gonna be fun to watch Kara Danvers save the world for awhile.
If I were a stupider person who demanded less from my television, I would have been satisfied with that. But here we are. **1/2.
DC's Legends Of Tomorrow "The Eggplant, The Witch, And The Wardrobe"
Ponders that. On paper, this is my kind of episode. The characters talk out their problems, while the show explores their psychologies and relationships. That's the entire reason I watch television at all. This is the specific kind of episode I usually love. Why didn't I?
I am a very unusual viewer in that I do not demand unpredictability from my television. I think that's an unreasonable ask for every TV show, and if it's something you demand, either you will never wind enjoying anything at all, or the show will go on twist blow-out after twist blow-out and wind up sucking. Speaking for me, there is something to be said for an hour of television shaking down exactly the way the story is supposed to.
But for me, there's a difference between me knowing how the familiar premise is going to resolve itself (in this case two characters trapped inside the purgatory of one their heads) and the premise being tired and overdone. I don't mind seeing stories I know what is likely to happen. What I mind is seeing stories that have been done so often they bore me. Where I sigh in resignation at every sappy line. I'm not sure anyone reading this review will get that distinction, but it is real, and I think this fell into the latter scenario.
If there was one thing I liked, it's the idea at the end that Ray is possessed by Nuron. Because if it had been Nora, you would have been dreading it, and Ray having to go up against the woman he loved as the Big Bad of the season. Since it's Ray, it's a fun problem to be fixed instead. Which will no doubt make next week easier to watch.
Speaking of both Ray, and overdone tropes I don't enjoy, there are few things more frustrating than watching heroes about to demolish the bad guy in a huge Crowning Moment Of Awesome, only for a bumbling naive goofball to clumsily mess everything up at the last second. Basically Ray's role in the climax is to be Shortround. And Shortround is the reason Temple of Doom is the worst Indiana Jones movie of all time, and makes Crystal Skull look like Citizen Kane. Basically the writers have Ray be a dope to add complications a competent hero or sidekick would never add. It's super annoying, and the frustrating thing is that I don't feel like this is the first time they've done that with Ray. It didn't feel that way at all.
I've been complaining the past few episodes about how Mona-obsessed the show has become, and now I feel the exact same way about Nate's Daddy issues. Get over it, man! Maybe Nate shouldn't have to grieve on the audience's time-table. But that's not what I object to. If it's "I hate my father and I suck because I don't miss him," or "I love my father and it sucks that I miss him," I would not not object to the series having Nate mope about these things. It's that he can't make up his mind. My investment in Hank being thought of as a good person and father or not is minuscule compared to Nate's. Maybe that should go without saying, but I think the show is again obsessing over something that nobody watching actually cares about. Which is a really bad sign.
Luckily, Constantine had a large presence after being sidelined for the past few weeks, although I want to see Rory more involved too. But I felt like this episode was less predictable comfort food television (which I DO approve of), and more like a below average take on something we've seen a million times before (which I don't). **1/2.
Arrow "Spartan"
Ernie Hudson is a VERY interesting actor. He's one of those rare actors who makes every project he's in better by simply showing up. If the project is good, he makes it better. If it sucks, he makes it suck less. It is ironic to me that Winston Zeddmore is the least defined Ghostbuster. Because Hudson totally takes after Bill Murray in inevitably being the best thing in any project he's involved in.
The Stewart thing is another thing to say John is going to be Green Lantern someday.
For the record, as a judge of character, John absolutely sucks. It's bad enough he trusted Andy. The General is like one of the most likable and least pretentious authority figures I have seen in fiction. Only a completely blind person would describe someone like him as a hard@$$. He literally never stops smiling. My favorite thing about John revealing he learned the truth at the end is that the General tells him his father would be proud of him. Which is the correct message. It doesn't matter if his father was a bad soldier, it's that he loved him. And if he loved him, there was no reason for John to have to grow up believing he was a bad soldier. Dig seems to believe the unearned hatred he has spewed at this man is some great sacrifice on his end. In reality, it's a no-brainer. A GOOD step-father will let the kid hate them to protect the memory of the father. And the truth is very few stepfathers are actually good enough to be willing to do that. But for the General, it was the least he could do. Did I mention I love Ernie Hudson?
I am SO upset Emily Bett Rickards is leaving the show. The episode proves that she's not just indispensable to the team, she's indispensable to the show too. Seriously, Rickards? You could make it through ten more episodes? However the show ends, whether or not she come back for the finale, the last season will be much worse with her gone. And I'm kind of resigned to that fact now.
Doc Magnus? How would the Metal Men even work on a TV budget? I get the Doom Patrol TV show is a thing, but the Metal Men are a next level of weird.
Ernie Hudsom makes everything better. ****.
Mickey Mouse "Our Homespun Melody"
I liked the music in this a lot.
Also, Doctor Donald Duck was funny. ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Shadow Of Evil"
Holy cow! Splinter can actually fight after all! Whoa! Maybe this show isn't as outside of the box-turtle canon as we always thought.
Speaking of which, it was refreshing to go an entire season without Shredder. I am totally cool with them teasing him in the finale here.
"Hello, average teen. Nice kickies." The humans in this Universe are deeply stupid.
I love that the Turtles' first reaction to seeing April in that outfit is to think she's a villain. When she explains she's undercover they're all like, "Yeah, that makes more sense."
I love how thunderstruck the Turtles are that their hero and their father are the same guy. Great reaction shots all around.
Fabulous finale. ****1/2.
Power Rangers: Beast Morphers "A Friend Indeed"
Sniff sniff! Robots have feelings too!
Do you know what I like? These Rangers are jerks. Granted, they're jerks in the way toddlers are jerks rather than the way teenagers are jerks, but at least they're jerks. Every other iteration has Rangers that are bland, inoffensive, saintly Boy-Scouts. The "Teenagers with attitude" thing from the original show was the biggest pile of b.s. the series ever sold us. I like that I think these kids are stupid and insensitive. It makes them more interesting as characters. Granted, since there isn't much reality in their misbehavior, it doesn't make them THAT interesting, but it's a pretty low bar anyways.
Ben and Beth are the last two people I'd want to see pop out of cakes.
That was totally stupid, and I am deeply ashamed I enjoyed it. ***1/2.
American Dad! "I Am The Jeans: The Gina Lavetti Story"
Is it just me or has this show gone completely off the rails? It's one thing to have an off-beat plotline. It's even okay if it's far-fetched, and leads somewhere ridiculous. But it's like every recent scenario the show has posited has been absolutely bonkers, and just devolved from there. I don't miss the ham-fisted politics of the early seasons. But there's got to be a balance to the fact that the show is not beholden to the premise anymore. Things have just gotten out of control instead.
Tuttle is a lousy character. But I know why the writers keep bringing him back in bigger and bigger roles. Richard Kind is an amazing actor. It must be cool spending time with him, even if Tuttle sucks.
The one nuts plot I liked was the switched eyebrows thing. Yes, it was TOO ridiculous, but it's funny not just because it's a random ludicrous spin on Freaky Friday, but because the eyebrows look exactly the same on both characters. It's the show poking fun at the fact that Sethverse shows have generic character designs. That's clever and funny.
For the record, I didn't buy the central premise of the episode of Francine desperate to be Roger's friend. Because Roger sucks on every level.
"Ask me about how MY underwear got brown." To which Gina leans forward with interest. I mentioned Roger sucks, right?
I love the idea that the later at night for Home Shopping Networks, the better the viewership. You want a bad time slot because the people watching are desperate. Sunlight, and even primetime, give people hope. It's 3:00AM when people need to fill the hole in their lives with worthless stuff.
Klaus' speech to Francine about how he doesn't actually like or care about anything or anyone, but just desperately needs to be liked, and have a shred of human contact was a really fun moment, especially Francine leaving. The problem is that's basically all Klaus' behavior over the past few seasons has been saying. I don't know how funny it will remain in the future since he's just stated it so baldly and pathetically.
This show is too nuts for its own good. **1/2.
Game Of Thrones "A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms"
A tentatively positive review, but there were things I did not like. However, it did put into sharp relief something I suspected last week, but had no way of knowing. This will probably wind up the best season of the show, whether this episode made me unhappy in a few places or not. Because everyone is together and they can finally do juicy character moments we have been waiting for for seasons on end. I never pictured we'd see Jaime and Bran have a talking scene together. And because Bran isn't angry, it means I don't have to be anymore either, which is a bit of a relief considering what the series was asking me to forgive. If Bran can forgive him enough that he doesn't reveal what he did to spare his life, I can at least tolerate his existence. And that's only the kind of scene you can do when all of the characters are together. So basically this will wind up the best season by default.
Jaime is very lucky he survived that courtroom. The first luck had simply to do with the fact that Bran didn't want him dead. All other luck paled in comparison to the fact that he would have been strung up no matter WHAT Brienne said if the truth came out.
The second lucky thing is having Brienne of Tarth even present. She is literally the only person besides Tyrion who would stick out their neck to vouch for them, and she's crazily in the same freaking room. And her vouch is so strong, it immediately settles the matter with Sansa, and Daenyrus can't further object without looking like a schmuck. What amazes me about Brienne's vouch is that her esteem is so high with both Sansa and the rest of the people in Winterfell, she didn't expend very much political capital to go out on that limb. In fact it could be argued she spent none. And Jaime DID later knight her gaining her esteem to everyone present. It was literally the least freaking thing Jaime could do for the woman who was the rare enough Godsend to actually be in the same freaking room when he actually needed her, God bless her.
Tormund perving on her will never get old. Although I found Tormund's origin story not as amusing the writers did. I thought it was outright disgusting. That was supposedly the joke, but for me it's, "Now I can't ever like or take the character seriously again." It's tough because he's already murdered a kid onscreen, but after that I'm like, "Nah."
For the record, Maisie Williams' semi-nude sex scene squicks me out. Just ick.
It struck me as a bit badly written that we didn't hear Jon's response over Dany telling him he has a claim to the Iron Throne. Because I can guess his response. He probably doesn't care. I could be wrong, but Jon Snow is not a guy who likes complications. Which is why he told Dany the truth. But I also don't think he wants the crown. I could be made a liar next week. But if I'm right, the scene is badly written because he wouldn't be staying silent, he'd immediately deny it. Perhaps he hasn't made up his mind. But if that's true, it's the wrong time to tell Dany anyways.
For the record, Jorah is right to defend Tyrion to Daenyrus (and God bless Sansa for doing it too, which I also loved), but I think Sansa nailed it when she pointed out that Dany trusted Cersei too. Yeah, it was on his advice. But she's obviously his sister so he couldn't be properly impartial, and she took the bad advice anyways. That's her fault, not his, if she actually calls the shots. She needs to own her mistakes, and Sansa points out Tyrion learns from his. And do you what that means? Dany has no way of knowing this, but as a viewer, I am well aware Tyrion has made fewer mistakes in the Game of Thrones than Daenyrus has. Far fewer. And the mistakes Tyrion made mostly negatively impacted himself, whereas Daenyrus has started revolutions and mass killings over her bumblings. The only reason I think that Dany needs to hold onto Tyrion is because even with the Cersei snafu, he's still way better at this than she is.
Here's an example of a mistake Dany made. Pulling apart from the hand-holding of Sansa upon her claiming the North would never bow again. If Dany were smart, she'd let Sansa have this instead of pulling away. Because it's not actually up to Sansa. Sansa is afraid Dany only wants the throne and nothing else. Pulling away when she did confirmed that idea rather than lessened it.
For the record, I do not actually see the problem Dany does of keeping the North a separate Kingdom. If Dany wants to rule everything simply because she can, she's doing it for the wrong reasons.
The smart thing Daenyrus pointed out to Sansa is that there is an equal argument Jon manipulated her. Because her going to Winterfell was Not In The Freaking Plan. And this detour and war with the dead could stop her claim to the Kingdom before it even begins, and has already cost her a dragon. Who's actually benefiting more here, Sansa?
Lady Mormont is fighting. I expected nothing less. She puts Sansa at that age to utter shame.
I loved all of the relationship stuff and the characters finally getting together with each other, and saying the things they needed to. But I'm knocking off a star and a half because that nude sex scene with Maisie Williams squicked me out. Completely. ***1/2.
The Blacklist "The Third Estate"
First off. Great episode. Twisty plot and I got to see some old TV friends. But before I get into that, I want to reaffirm that Liz Keene is one of the most detestable characters on television. She sucks on every sucky level a sucky person can suckily suck.
She's all "So he has another mystery he can't solve!" Sure, Dembe has to live with Red killing innocent people on his conscience, but that's no big deal, right? Duh! Winning! Her asking him to keep that secret is getting people killed. The fact that she still thinks it's worth keeping knowing that is why she sucks.
Do you know why else she sucks? The entire premise of the episode was turned on its head by the end, but if Richard Thomas' son hadn't turned out to be a surprise perp instead of a murder victim, I believe him not trusting the team and thinking they got his son killed was exactly what happened. And Liz tells Aram that it's HIS fault for not paying the ransom. Except he's right if he's sincere about the reason he's not paying it: It's to protect the kid who comes next by going to the police. The longer this is a rich persons' secret, the more it will keep happening. It's at this point the team was obligated to step in and "rescue" his son and take down the the bad guys. They barely tried at all. Aram put his freaking skin in the game, but Ressler practically steps aside for the van, doesn't discharge his weapon at it, or can even bothered to look at the license plate. And Liz does the quickest of quick passes of the roof, and doesn't go all around looking into any hiding spaces the woman might be crawling in. If that kid HAD died, that would have been on Liz and Ressler for sucking at their jobs, not the father who called the police for help. She's a terrible person if she thinks otherwise.
It amazes me that I still see John Cullum in stuff. He was playing an old man on Northern Exposure back in 1990. For the record, I'm pretty sure Barry Corbin is kicking around out there too. Not Peg Philips though. We aren't that lucky.
I thank my television for letting my see Vicki Lewis on it again. I think the real value of her on NewsRadio is all of the solid work she did while the rest of the cast got the laurels. Even Andy Dick made it bigger than her for Pete's sake, and the less said about Joe Rogan's gross later career, the better. But I want to see Lewis in more stuff. Even if she's wearing a weirdly sexy eyepatch.
My favorite moment was Red telling the rude girl that he sincerely hope she wasn't Noel's girlfriend. And she says "Don't be perverse. I'm much too old for that. I'm his daughter." Is it wrong that I wanted to see the person who delivered that awesome line get away with it? It's not, is it?
I think Aram was the Third Estate's biggest problem in the episode. Because he actually cares, which is probably not even something that could be said for the parents who paid the ransom. Because he was willing to die for that supposedly innocent kid. And as far as I'm concerned, that goes far beyond his job. His job does not specify he has to die for strangers. He's a computer tech guy, not a bodyguard, or even a usual field agent. The fact that he was putting Tyler's safety before his own was the thing throwing these kids for a loop and messing up their entire plan. I mean, adults all suck, right? Why does this guy have to pop out of nowhere and prove our entire philosophy wrong? What's up with that?
That was a great episode, but I want to feed Liz Keene to a wheat-thresher. ****.
Blindspot "Everybody Hates Kathy"
There is a reason everybody hates Kathy.
I don't trust Weller's mother. I'm not saying she's just lying about her past, or that she is going to skip out and use drugs. I think she is an actual terrorist. Because it would be boring if she wasn't. For the record, I love that Weller doesn't buy her story for second. I think the series might want me to think Jane naive in hindsight, but I don't think that's what's going on, or why her judgment about bad people is so terrible. It's because deep down, Remy knows she's a terrible person, and if someone untrustworthy-seeming can actually be a good person, that means she can too. I sincerely doubt this need in her to believe psychopaths have changed will ever net her the responses she wants.
It's really cool Weller hates his father again. They patched things up before he died, but that deathbed confession says it meant nothing to Weller. He was a monster and a scumbag, and Weller has no love or regard for him. Good. He sucks.
Rich calls Patterson his work-wife. It's funny because it's true. Sparks are flying between these two more than usual this week.
I'm not buying the idea that either Zapata or Reade snore. That is never a defect that hits trim, good-looking people. Zapata especially made me say "You've got to be kidding me."
Pretty good episode. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Princes All"
I liked that. It wasn't as PG-13/R as I feared. Maybe the rest of the episodes will be tougher to watch, but I was able to stomach that.
I don't like M'Gann's new look, but frankly, that's the point. She's not hiding who she is, even if she is outwardly unattractive by human standards. I don't like the look, but the character stuff it says makes it worth it.
Batman's move as the beginning of the episode rhymed with slick. Totally. I get why Jefferson doesn't trust him.
Kal'dur being the leader of the League is a juicy twist, but I don't know how believable it is. Too soon if you ask me.
Roy, er, Will. Richard, er, Dick. I see what they did there.
G. Gordon Godfrey was my least favorite character on the old show, and somehow without Tim Curry, he's crazily even worse. And Tim Curry was freaking awful. I don't know how I'll stomach a season of this.
I didn't know Lynn was John Stewart's sister. Of course that would never come up on the Black Lightning TV show, but it was still something I was unaware of.
Promising opener. ****.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Royal We"
I love that so far there has been no swearing. It's early, and that could change, but I found the swears in Batman And Harley Quinn and Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five jarring. It's interesting I like this project so far better than those two movies. Because I didn't think the first season of this show was great (although it was good) and the second season outright sucked. It's amazing to me that this show's second chance is easier for me to enjoy that JLU's second chance. I never would have predicted that until this week and I saw them both.
To be honest, the episode wasn't great. But I felt the tone was consistent which is very important to me. I've giving it a good grade. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Eminent Threat"
Wow, things went bad for the Baron fast. And even if things went badly for the Prince too, they could have gone so much worse. The episode was a little gorier than I like, but it wasn't too bad.
I didn't exactly like this episode, but I didn't feel squeamish by it either. The show is being made carefully and in good taste. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Private Security"
That was SO much fun. Roy was the biggest drip on the old show. How did he get to be the most fun character? And there's three of them now? How did I miss that?
The stuff at the security company was so funny and Brick was so put-upon by the end of that. I'd feel bad for him if I weren't laughing so much at the Harper family antics.
The stuff with Zatanna didn't gel with the rest of the episode. And I'll tell you why I didn't like it: I think if Zatanna had a day or two a year with her father, things would be tolerable. They'd suck, but both her and her father could get by. An hour makes her feel even worse than before she sees him. It strikes me as not only cruel, but deliberately so. If Nabu isn't TRYING to cause Zatanna pain, I'd be surprised. If I were Zatarra, I'd never go along with it because of the mess it makes his daughter, but he probably cherishes that hour so much he isn't thinking straight about the subject. But an hour actually helps nobody. It's actually mean.
But I loved everything else. ****1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Away Mission"
I don't like this version of Mantis. We didn't get much from JLU's version (just a single scene) but he was far more memorable. This version of Forager's okay though.
I'm having a really hard time keeping the story of the Martians straight. There are Red Martians? Since when?
I didn't much care for this episode. **1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Rescue Op"
I'm glad they addressed the pronouns thing right away. Because it's annoying. But as long as it's justified I'll live with it.
Juicy stuff with Ra's and the guy he's holding captive. I love Tigress asking him if her father was in charge, him saying no, her asking if her sister was, and him telling her to get out.
Superboy doesn't actually expect Wolf to answer him, does he? Has Timmy fallen down a well, girl?
Venom is NOT Evil Spider-Man. Black-Spider is Evil Spider-Man the way he was intended.
The episode was diverting enough, but it didn't exactly wow me. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Evolution"
I have always thought Vandal Savage was a better and cooler villain than Ra's Al Ghul. This is why.
Love the Miguel Ferrer tribute card.
What a great origin story. Learning he's the father of Nabu, why he hooked up with Darkseid and when, and that he founded The Light after the first Starro invasion, these are all things that make the story rich. I feel like Justice League's Savage had the exact same potential, but they never got enough episodes to sit back and explore it. But this was the concept done how I always imagined the DCAU Savage to be.
Tigress is totally a stripper name. And I fully believe Dick chose Nightwing as a tribute to a mullet metal band. And if that isn't a well-deserved slam against the DCAU's Nightwing, I'll eat my hat. Because that mullet was freaking awful.
This was one of my favorite episodes of the season. 5 stars. *****.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Triptych"
Too much exposition. And any credit I would have given the show for the subtlety of the implied sex in the last episode is taken back at the beginning of this.
I think Batman is clearly thinking that Diana's diplomatic immunity will prevent her from having to get on the stand to lie under oath. But I realize that's an unreasonable ask of Kal'dur. He's the leader of the Justice League, and possibly even Atlantis. Has Batman thought of the messes he is placing him in?
Jervis Tetch is one of the skeeviest characters in DC Comics history, and this is a particularly loathsome interpretation.
I love Shade making the double entendres easy for Livewire.
I like Spoiler and Orphan, although I'm not familiar with them from elsewhere.
Tigress' kid is actually Cheshire's? Just when you thought Cheshire couldn't possibly be a worse family member.
So-so episode. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Home Fires"
Extremely clever to make Lobo's swearing part of his alien language. That way it doesn't violate the tone of the show, and it also doesn't water down the character. It was a nice touch.
I can't stand Godfrey. If he's Darkseid's shill why is he talking smack against Granny Goodness? The left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.
Speaking of which, Batman is super dumb if he's working with Granny.
Speaking of Granny, I find her voice underwhelming. Big step down from Ed Asner.
The Nuclear option freaked me out. That was a close call, and none of the heroes will ever know how close it was.
Good episode. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Exceptional Human Beings"
I like that in Victor Stone's first episode, they still found a way for Khary Payton to say "Booyah!" even if he doesn't voice Cyborg.
I also like Batman ragging on Bane for the people he's let slip by without his knowledge. And Metamorpho is a surprisingly tolerable character when he isn't voiced by Tom Sizemore.
Decent episode. ***1/2.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Another Freak"
Do you know what? I totally get Halo's appeal now. When Cyborg instantly decides to go with her I was like, "This is a person everyone who meets always unambiguously trusts." That would be a poor move for Victor under any other circumstance, considering Silas is the one guy who understands his condition, but Halo is the hero who doesn't just save bystanders. She literally makes people better. That's cool.
For the record, I found the Cyborg stuff too gory. Although I will concede since his entire origin IS gory, it was probably needed anyways.
I laughed at Lobo's finger decomposing in the end credits.
That Fred Bugg with 2 G's thing is going to get old real quick.
Cyborg is a bit too screechy and whiny for me, but Violet is a keeper. ****.
Young Justice: Outsiders "Nightmare Monkeys"
Most of the TV stuff was painful and lame, but sue me, because I found Doom Patrol Go! funny. Hilarious they got the Teen Titans cast for it too.
It strikes me that we haven't seen Gar much this season. Jaime or Virgil either. Hopefully those two will have bigger roles in the second half of the season.
Half-fun / half-dumb. ***.
Young Justice: Outsiders "True Heroes"
Calling it: So far, Young Justice's relaunch has been far more consistent and better than the DCAU's relaunch with Batman and Harley Quinn and Justice League Vs the Fatal Five. I'm just as shocked as anyone. I detested the second season of this show, but this has been really good. And I like it because it is far easier to stomach than the raunchy and / or too violent DCAU projects. This is just the right amount of adult for me from a former kiddie franchise. I don't much like the sex or the occasional gore, but they are usually understated, so I'll live with them.
Those masks remind me of the Court of Owls.
Terra? Uh oh. For that exact reason.
I sincerely hope Victor IS cured of the Father Box. If he isn't, he's a serious drag on the team. Halo is literally their biggest gun, and as long as Victor is around she has to stay back and babysit. I was a little miffed at that entire situation to be honest.
I like that she is uncomfortable uncovering her hair in front of a man. Gabrielle may be dead, but Violet's got some of her sensibilities hardwired into her.
Outsiders has turned out really enjoyable so far. ****.
Teen Titans Go! "TV Knight 4"
I've gotta say, outside of DCAU Batman, this is probably my favorite Batman ever. It doesn't matter if Catwoman is carrying a duffel bag of stolen goods. As long as she has a stolen TV, they're all good. I also love the idea that Batman stopped the ferocious bear by joyfully throwing pretzels in its mouth. I mentioned this was one of the best Batmans ever right?
For the record, Alfred is still no fun at all.
The TV segments were weak, except the first. The Challengers Of The Unknown thing was funny and reminded me of the YouTube responses of modern kids trying to work a rotary phone. I knew it was a staple remover, but I can't imagine kids today would.
And Beast Boy needs them space-times for existing, yo!
Not as good as the other TV Knights, but the wraparound segments were as funny as ever. ***1/2.
Supergirl "Crime And Punishment"
That was stupid. And I think the most annoying thing is that the producers were hoping I'd find something that stupid funny. I don't. The mistaken identity thing is so bad because that is the one aspect of the show it should never draw attention to. And they did it with a wink and nudge here as if it's adorable instead of something that hurts the credibility of the franchise. Supergirl was JUST talking to them both up close. NEITHER of them got what was going on? I get that Otis is dumb. What's the whistleblower's excuse?
I am amused at the complex reasons Otis hates the press. Which makes the stupidity of the Secret ID grate even more (if that's possible).
For the record, Brainy asking Dreamer to dream the answer for him was smart. And as she later said, she probably should have actually done it for real earlier.
I don't trust Hayley, and the writers are crazy to try to ask me to. She was ready to blackmail Supergirl if she didn't do exactly what she told her to. Alex may not remember that, but the audience does. It's a little late for the writers to be adding ambiguity to that equation. Yeah, she's not as crazy as Lockwood or Baker. But that should not be the freaking bar.
Sam Witwer proves week after week that he has one of the most punchable faces on television. And considering his entire job involves getting me to hate him, he's REALLY good at it.
I feel like Willie Garson's character was too schizo to sympathize with. He believes crazy and correct things in equal measure, depending on who he's talking to. Still it's gonna be fun to watch Kara Danvers save the world for awhile.
If I were a stupider person who demanded less from my television, I would have been satisfied with that. But here we are. **1/2.
DC's Legends Of Tomorrow "The Eggplant, The Witch, And The Wardrobe"
Ponders that. On paper, this is my kind of episode. The characters talk out their problems, while the show explores their psychologies and relationships. That's the entire reason I watch television at all. This is the specific kind of episode I usually love. Why didn't I?
I am a very unusual viewer in that I do not demand unpredictability from my television. I think that's an unreasonable ask for every TV show, and if it's something you demand, either you will never wind enjoying anything at all, or the show will go on twist blow-out after twist blow-out and wind up sucking. Speaking for me, there is something to be said for an hour of television shaking down exactly the way the story is supposed to.
But for me, there's a difference between me knowing how the familiar premise is going to resolve itself (in this case two characters trapped inside the purgatory of one their heads) and the premise being tired and overdone. I don't mind seeing stories I know what is likely to happen. What I mind is seeing stories that have been done so often they bore me. Where I sigh in resignation at every sappy line. I'm not sure anyone reading this review will get that distinction, but it is real, and I think this fell into the latter scenario.
If there was one thing I liked, it's the idea at the end that Ray is possessed by Nuron. Because if it had been Nora, you would have been dreading it, and Ray having to go up against the woman he loved as the Big Bad of the season. Since it's Ray, it's a fun problem to be fixed instead. Which will no doubt make next week easier to watch.
Speaking of both Ray, and overdone tropes I don't enjoy, there are few things more frustrating than watching heroes about to demolish the bad guy in a huge Crowning Moment Of Awesome, only for a bumbling naive goofball to clumsily mess everything up at the last second. Basically Ray's role in the climax is to be Shortround. And Shortround is the reason Temple of Doom is the worst Indiana Jones movie of all time, and makes Crystal Skull look like Citizen Kane. Basically the writers have Ray be a dope to add complications a competent hero or sidekick would never add. It's super annoying, and the frustrating thing is that I don't feel like this is the first time they've done that with Ray. It didn't feel that way at all.
I've been complaining the past few episodes about how Mona-obsessed the show has become, and now I feel the exact same way about Nate's Daddy issues. Get over it, man! Maybe Nate shouldn't have to grieve on the audience's time-table. But that's not what I object to. If it's "I hate my father and I suck because I don't miss him," or "I love my father and it sucks that I miss him," I would not not object to the series having Nate mope about these things. It's that he can't make up his mind. My investment in Hank being thought of as a good person and father or not is minuscule compared to Nate's. Maybe that should go without saying, but I think the show is again obsessing over something that nobody watching actually cares about. Which is a really bad sign.
Luckily, Constantine had a large presence after being sidelined for the past few weeks, although I want to see Rory more involved too. But I felt like this episode was less predictable comfort food television (which I DO approve of), and more like a below average take on something we've seen a million times before (which I don't). **1/2.
Arrow "Spartan"
Ernie Hudson is a VERY interesting actor. He's one of those rare actors who makes every project he's in better by simply showing up. If the project is good, he makes it better. If it sucks, he makes it suck less. It is ironic to me that Winston Zeddmore is the least defined Ghostbuster. Because Hudson totally takes after Bill Murray in inevitably being the best thing in any project he's involved in.
The Stewart thing is another thing to say John is going to be Green Lantern someday.
For the record, as a judge of character, John absolutely sucks. It's bad enough he trusted Andy. The General is like one of the most likable and least pretentious authority figures I have seen in fiction. Only a completely blind person would describe someone like him as a hard@$$. He literally never stops smiling. My favorite thing about John revealing he learned the truth at the end is that the General tells him his father would be proud of him. Which is the correct message. It doesn't matter if his father was a bad soldier, it's that he loved him. And if he loved him, there was no reason for John to have to grow up believing he was a bad soldier. Dig seems to believe the unearned hatred he has spewed at this man is some great sacrifice on his end. In reality, it's a no-brainer. A GOOD step-father will let the kid hate them to protect the memory of the father. And the truth is very few stepfathers are actually good enough to be willing to do that. But for the General, it was the least he could do. Did I mention I love Ernie Hudson?
I am SO upset Emily Bett Rickards is leaving the show. The episode proves that she's not just indispensable to the team, she's indispensable to the show too. Seriously, Rickards? You could make it through ten more episodes? However the show ends, whether or not she come back for the finale, the last season will be much worse with her gone. And I'm kind of resigned to that fact now.
Doc Magnus? How would the Metal Men even work on a TV budget? I get the Doom Patrol TV show is a thing, but the Metal Men are a next level of weird.
Ernie Hudsom makes everything better. ****.
Mickey Mouse "Our Homespun Melody"
I liked the music in this a lot.
Also, Doctor Donald Duck was funny. ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Shadow Of Evil"
Holy cow! Splinter can actually fight after all! Whoa! Maybe this show isn't as outside of the box-turtle canon as we always thought.
Speaking of which, it was refreshing to go an entire season without Shredder. I am totally cool with them teasing him in the finale here.
"Hello, average teen. Nice kickies." The humans in this Universe are deeply stupid.
I love that the Turtles' first reaction to seeing April in that outfit is to think she's a villain. When she explains she's undercover they're all like, "Yeah, that makes more sense."
I love how thunderstruck the Turtles are that their hero and their father are the same guy. Great reaction shots all around.
Fabulous finale. ****1/2.
Power Rangers: Beast Morphers "A Friend Indeed"
Sniff sniff! Robots have feelings too!
Do you know what I like? These Rangers are jerks. Granted, they're jerks in the way toddlers are jerks rather than the way teenagers are jerks, but at least they're jerks. Every other iteration has Rangers that are bland, inoffensive, saintly Boy-Scouts. The "Teenagers with attitude" thing from the original show was the biggest pile of b.s. the series ever sold us. I like that I think these kids are stupid and insensitive. It makes them more interesting as characters. Granted, since there isn't much reality in their misbehavior, it doesn't make them THAT interesting, but it's a pretty low bar anyways.
Ben and Beth are the last two people I'd want to see pop out of cakes.
That was totally stupid, and I am deeply ashamed I enjoyed it. ***1/2.
American Dad! "I Am The Jeans: The Gina Lavetti Story"
Is it just me or has this show gone completely off the rails? It's one thing to have an off-beat plotline. It's even okay if it's far-fetched, and leads somewhere ridiculous. But it's like every recent scenario the show has posited has been absolutely bonkers, and just devolved from there. I don't miss the ham-fisted politics of the early seasons. But there's got to be a balance to the fact that the show is not beholden to the premise anymore. Things have just gotten out of control instead.
Tuttle is a lousy character. But I know why the writers keep bringing him back in bigger and bigger roles. Richard Kind is an amazing actor. It must be cool spending time with him, even if Tuttle sucks.
The one nuts plot I liked was the switched eyebrows thing. Yes, it was TOO ridiculous, but it's funny not just because it's a random ludicrous spin on Freaky Friday, but because the eyebrows look exactly the same on both characters. It's the show poking fun at the fact that Sethverse shows have generic character designs. That's clever and funny.
For the record, I didn't buy the central premise of the episode of Francine desperate to be Roger's friend. Because Roger sucks on every level.
"Ask me about how MY underwear got brown." To which Gina leans forward with interest. I mentioned Roger sucks, right?
I love the idea that the later at night for Home Shopping Networks, the better the viewership. You want a bad time slot because the people watching are desperate. Sunlight, and even primetime, give people hope. It's 3:00AM when people need to fill the hole in their lives with worthless stuff.
Klaus' speech to Francine about how he doesn't actually like or care about anything or anyone, but just desperately needs to be liked, and have a shred of human contact was a really fun moment, especially Francine leaving. The problem is that's basically all Klaus' behavior over the past few seasons has been saying. I don't know how funny it will remain in the future since he's just stated it so baldly and pathetically.
This show is too nuts for its own good. **1/2.
Game Of Thrones "A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms"
A tentatively positive review, but there were things I did not like. However, it did put into sharp relief something I suspected last week, but had no way of knowing. This will probably wind up the best season of the show, whether this episode made me unhappy in a few places or not. Because everyone is together and they can finally do juicy character moments we have been waiting for for seasons on end. I never pictured we'd see Jaime and Bran have a talking scene together. And because Bran isn't angry, it means I don't have to be anymore either, which is a bit of a relief considering what the series was asking me to forgive. If Bran can forgive him enough that he doesn't reveal what he did to spare his life, I can at least tolerate his existence. And that's only the kind of scene you can do when all of the characters are together. So basically this will wind up the best season by default.
Jaime is very lucky he survived that courtroom. The first luck had simply to do with the fact that Bran didn't want him dead. All other luck paled in comparison to the fact that he would have been strung up no matter WHAT Brienne said if the truth came out.
The second lucky thing is having Brienne of Tarth even present. She is literally the only person besides Tyrion who would stick out their neck to vouch for them, and she's crazily in the same freaking room. And her vouch is so strong, it immediately settles the matter with Sansa, and Daenyrus can't further object without looking like a schmuck. What amazes me about Brienne's vouch is that her esteem is so high with both Sansa and the rest of the people in Winterfell, she didn't expend very much political capital to go out on that limb. In fact it could be argued she spent none. And Jaime DID later knight her gaining her esteem to everyone present. It was literally the least freaking thing Jaime could do for the woman who was the rare enough Godsend to actually be in the same freaking room when he actually needed her, God bless her.
Tormund perving on her will never get old. Although I found Tormund's origin story not as amusing the writers did. I thought it was outright disgusting. That was supposedly the joke, but for me it's, "Now I can't ever like or take the character seriously again." It's tough because he's already murdered a kid onscreen, but after that I'm like, "Nah."
For the record, Maisie Williams' semi-nude sex scene squicks me out. Just ick.
It struck me as a bit badly written that we didn't hear Jon's response over Dany telling him he has a claim to the Iron Throne. Because I can guess his response. He probably doesn't care. I could be wrong, but Jon Snow is not a guy who likes complications. Which is why he told Dany the truth. But I also don't think he wants the crown. I could be made a liar next week. But if I'm right, the scene is badly written because he wouldn't be staying silent, he'd immediately deny it. Perhaps he hasn't made up his mind. But if that's true, it's the wrong time to tell Dany anyways.
For the record, Jorah is right to defend Tyrion to Daenyrus (and God bless Sansa for doing it too, which I also loved), but I think Sansa nailed it when she pointed out that Dany trusted Cersei too. Yeah, it was on his advice. But she's obviously his sister so he couldn't be properly impartial, and she took the bad advice anyways. That's her fault, not his, if she actually calls the shots. She needs to own her mistakes, and Sansa points out Tyrion learns from his. And do you what that means? Dany has no way of knowing this, but as a viewer, I am well aware Tyrion has made fewer mistakes in the Game of Thrones than Daenyrus has. Far fewer. And the mistakes Tyrion made mostly negatively impacted himself, whereas Daenyrus has started revolutions and mass killings over her bumblings. The only reason I think that Dany needs to hold onto Tyrion is because even with the Cersei snafu, he's still way better at this than she is.
Here's an example of a mistake Dany made. Pulling apart from the hand-holding of Sansa upon her claiming the North would never bow again. If Dany were smart, she'd let Sansa have this instead of pulling away. Because it's not actually up to Sansa. Sansa is afraid Dany only wants the throne and nothing else. Pulling away when she did confirmed that idea rather than lessened it.
For the record, I do not actually see the problem Dany does of keeping the North a separate Kingdom. If Dany wants to rule everything simply because she can, she's doing it for the wrong reasons.
The smart thing Daenyrus pointed out to Sansa is that there is an equal argument Jon manipulated her. Because her going to Winterfell was Not In The Freaking Plan. And this detour and war with the dead could stop her claim to the Kingdom before it even begins, and has already cost her a dragon. Who's actually benefiting more here, Sansa?
Lady Mormont is fighting. I expected nothing less. She puts Sansa at that age to utter shame.
I loved all of the relationship stuff and the characters finally getting together with each other, and saying the things they needed to. But I'm knocking off a star and a half because that nude sex scene with Maisie Williams squicked me out. Completely. ***1/2.
The Blacklist "The Third Estate"
First off. Great episode. Twisty plot and I got to see some old TV friends. But before I get into that, I want to reaffirm that Liz Keene is one of the most detestable characters on television. She sucks on every sucky level a sucky person can suckily suck.
She's all "So he has another mystery he can't solve!" Sure, Dembe has to live with Red killing innocent people on his conscience, but that's no big deal, right? Duh! Winning! Her asking him to keep that secret is getting people killed. The fact that she still thinks it's worth keeping knowing that is why she sucks.
Do you know why else she sucks? The entire premise of the episode was turned on its head by the end, but if Richard Thomas' son hadn't turned out to be a surprise perp instead of a murder victim, I believe him not trusting the team and thinking they got his son killed was exactly what happened. And Liz tells Aram that it's HIS fault for not paying the ransom. Except he's right if he's sincere about the reason he's not paying it: It's to protect the kid who comes next by going to the police. The longer this is a rich persons' secret, the more it will keep happening. It's at this point the team was obligated to step in and "rescue" his son and take down the the bad guys. They barely tried at all. Aram put his freaking skin in the game, but Ressler practically steps aside for the van, doesn't discharge his weapon at it, or can even bothered to look at the license plate. And Liz does the quickest of quick passes of the roof, and doesn't go all around looking into any hiding spaces the woman might be crawling in. If that kid HAD died, that would have been on Liz and Ressler for sucking at their jobs, not the father who called the police for help. She's a terrible person if she thinks otherwise.
It amazes me that I still see John Cullum in stuff. He was playing an old man on Northern Exposure back in 1990. For the record, I'm pretty sure Barry Corbin is kicking around out there too. Not Peg Philips though. We aren't that lucky.
I thank my television for letting my see Vicki Lewis on it again. I think the real value of her on NewsRadio is all of the solid work she did while the rest of the cast got the laurels. Even Andy Dick made it bigger than her for Pete's sake, and the less said about Joe Rogan's gross later career, the better. But I want to see Lewis in more stuff. Even if she's wearing a weirdly sexy eyepatch.
My favorite moment was Red telling the rude girl that he sincerely hope she wasn't Noel's girlfriend. And she says "Don't be perverse. I'm much too old for that. I'm his daughter." Is it wrong that I wanted to see the person who delivered that awesome line get away with it? It's not, is it?
I think Aram was the Third Estate's biggest problem in the episode. Because he actually cares, which is probably not even something that could be said for the parents who paid the ransom. Because he was willing to die for that supposedly innocent kid. And as far as I'm concerned, that goes far beyond his job. His job does not specify he has to die for strangers. He's a computer tech guy, not a bodyguard, or even a usual field agent. The fact that he was putting Tyler's safety before his own was the thing throwing these kids for a loop and messing up their entire plan. I mean, adults all suck, right? Why does this guy have to pop out of nowhere and prove our entire philosophy wrong? What's up with that?
That was a great episode, but I want to feed Liz Keene to a wheat-thresher. ****.
Blindspot "Everybody Hates Kathy"
There is a reason everybody hates Kathy.
I don't trust Weller's mother. I'm not saying she's just lying about her past, or that she is going to skip out and use drugs. I think she is an actual terrorist. Because it would be boring if she wasn't. For the record, I love that Weller doesn't buy her story for second. I think the series might want me to think Jane naive in hindsight, but I don't think that's what's going on, or why her judgment about bad people is so terrible. It's because deep down, Remy knows she's a terrible person, and if someone untrustworthy-seeming can actually be a good person, that means she can too. I sincerely doubt this need in her to believe psychopaths have changed will ever net her the responses she wants.
It's really cool Weller hates his father again. They patched things up before he died, but that deathbed confession says it meant nothing to Weller. He was a monster and a scumbag, and Weller has no love or regard for him. Good. He sucks.
Rich calls Patterson his work-wife. It's funny because it's true. Sparks are flying between these two more than usual this week.
I'm not buying the idea that either Zapata or Reade snore. That is never a defect that hits trim, good-looking people. Zapata especially made me say "You've got to be kidding me."
Pretty good episode. ***1/2.