"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" Season 3 (Part 4) Reviews (Spoilers)
Also reviews for the latest episodes of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Batwoman, Muppet Babies, Bless The Harts, The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, Power Rangers Dino Fury, and Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Graduation Day, Part 1"
I seem to recall Entertainment Weekly being a bit lukewarm on this finale back in the day, and I always thought that was a bit unfair. A little hindsight and my now better writing ability says it's not. Buffy talking about "watching my lover die" is truly emo and corny stuff, even as far as Buffy and Angel shipping stuff goes. "You killed me!" also seems like bad dialogue that belongs in a worse show. And yet all this was written by supposed dialogue genius Joss Whedon. I can't explain it either, and I'm not impressed.
I don't feel that bad for the professor Faith killed. Just because he's stupid. His attitude instantly turns amorous when Faith asks if he lives alone. He actually thinks he has a shot at getting laid then. With a woman who looks like Faith does while he looks like he does. Where did he get his degree? The University Of Being Unable To Read The Room? Unbelievable.
I talk smack about the episode but I cannot get over how great the Mayor's stuff is with Faith. He genuinely loves and cares about her, which is great. What's especially great is that she actually understands and appreciates it. I think he is the first man she has ever met that she doesn't believe has a larger sexual agenda for her in the back of their minds. And because of that he makes her feel safe. When she talks about her mother calling her "Firecracker" she is shocked the instant the story passes her lips. She never thought she'd trust ANYONE enough to let down her guard about that specific thing. But instead of shutting down (like she always did when Buffy got close to a breakthrough) she thinks it feels right, smiles, and continues. The reason I didn't totally object to a redemption arc for Faith the way I did Angel and Willow is because Faith always had the potential for good but never had the context for it that Angel or Willow did. I find her love for the Mayor enough of a reason to want to see her redeemed. And I especially love that during her redemption arc in season 7, just because she is trying to do good and the right thing, doesn't mean her love for Wilkins has lessened over time. Their loving relationship in the one decent thing in both of their lives. And like Spike and Drusilla, it's endearing and the reason I like them both, no matter what evil they do.
I think perhaps the reason Faith feels okay with expressing her feelings to Wilkins is that Wilkins is entirely confident that it's all right to, and gives her that permission. Whenever she is talking something delicate to Faith, Buffy is sheepish, and half-acts like letting down your guard is if not a bad thing, a hard and unusual thing. Wilkins is totally willing to hear her experiences out, and makes her BELIEVE it's okay and NORMAL for her to tell him. His confidence and assuredness in his belief in Faith's words mattering and being all right is worth a lot more than Buffy lowering her eyes and saying "I guess," all the time. And I love that about the character.
What's especially great to me, is that when she talks about her past, the Mayor is genuinely interested and supportive. She feels safe talking about it because he's not "Yeah, yeah, yeah"-ing her like most adults do. I think that is another commendable thing about Wilkins. He listens when Faith speaks. That's rare and cool.
The Mayor believes there is no point in becoming a demon if you can't be regular. That's hilarious. I feel the same way about being a guy in his 40's.
I don't know if anyone has ever brought this up yet. Possibly not because the feminist messages on the show are shaky, and that's what takes everyone's attention now that we know Whedon is a creep. But Anya's obsession with Xander is definitely stalkerish. Xander barely knows her, and she offering to run away with him and spend the rest of their lives together. The fact that Xander eventually falls for her and they make her weird forthrightness work anyways does not change the fact that her behavior towards him to start off with is pretty creepy.
Buffy quitting the Watcher's Council was long overdue. What kills me is that as petulant as Whedon tries to make Wesley sound, to sort of make the horrible things Buffy says to him seem justified, I don't think they are. The Council refusing to help was NOT Wesley's decision. I agree with her quitting the Council. But she doesn't need to treat Wesley like dirt to do that. He DID try. That's more than most people would do in his place. I don't like that Joss has him pout "This is mutiny," just to line up Buffy's nonsensical retort that it was Graduation. It's just all so unnecessary.
And you know what Whedon's excuse would be? Buffy is a teenage girl, and teenage girls don't always react to bad news appropriately. But the problem is that not only are the writers entirely selective about Buffy's immaturity, but they are having Giles feed into it here as well, and which suggests it's justified. And it's really not.
The Mayor entering the Library at the beginning strikes me as a far bigger violation than most of the other Big Bads ever did. And Wilkins is the Big Bad I personally like the most. But that was probably the dirtiest move. Even Angelus didn't do it again himself after he revealed himself in Season 2. More chutzpah than Angelus is not a brag.
"Our lives are different that other people's." Great Oz line. Also first mention of the world of shrimp with weirdly gets called back to more than once.
I like Harmony about as much as Willow does. It's weird how I sympathize with the character far more when she's an evil vampire.
Joyce accepting Buffy's order for her to leave town shows how far these two have come. I love that character. And Buffy saying that her staying could get Buffy killed was a great thing to say not only because it was the proper motivation, but also because it was true.
Xander saying he knows he's never making it out of this school alive works on every level.
Similarly great is the Mayor telling Snyder he is headed for his just reward. The viewer may see him being eaten by a snake coming, but Snyder sure doesn't. Can't say he wasn't warned here though.
So-so first part. We'll see if the conclusion is better. ***.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Graduation Day, Part 2"
That is certainly the most ambitious episode so far. Is it the best? Not even a little. It had a lot of problems. It's better than Part 1, but it's still a mess.
This episode was also held back because of Columbine. What's weird is that even if I don't agree with the decision to hold back "Earshot", I at least understood the rationale. There is not a single thing in this episode that brings to mind the circumstances of Columbine. Even sillier, there is nothing in the episode that is remotely imitable for a kid in 1999. WB was being TOO cautious here.
We'll get to the good things but I want to talk about some of the messes, because I notice them now and it's unacceptable. Why is this episode the first we are hearing about the Eclipse? Those things are newsworthy events and not information that comes up at the last minute. People sell special sunglasses for them and everything. It's a shared cultural event. Everyone should already know it's coming. It should not be a surprise.
Even dumber are the rows of kids with the bows and arrows. Have you ever tried firing a bow and arrow? It's HARD. If it goes any distance at all it won't hit the target without practice and skill. You can't ask me to believe that a dozen random kids who have never had reason to use them before can somehow accurately hit moving vampire targets on the first shot. What drives me nuts is that I am the first person I've ever seen mention this. If Buffy had aired today, people would have noticed and talked smack about that specific thing. What I especially don't like about it is that I might have shut my brain off and accepted accuracy from weapons novices if Whedon had given them crossbows. But because they couldn't use those with the striking fire imagery Whedon clearly wanted, he has to insult my intelligence instead. My intelligence feels especially sheepish because it didn't pick up how dumb this was before now.
Larry was robbed. That it is all.
I have to say Dream Faith's riddle about Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0 is a lot less fun now that I know it doesn't lead anywhere. It launched a thousand theories (mostly involving Dawn in hindsight) but none of them were ever satisfactorily paid off enough to make that remotely credible. Granted, David Lynch never answers his riddles either. But that's the point of David Lynch. Whedon always acts like his stuff is gonna pay off and this is an annoying loose end instead.
I checked online just to be sure. It supposedly references Buffy's upcoming death. Not remotely clear either before or after.
Buffy making peace with Faith in the dream and then kissing her forehead in real life also feels very unsatisfying, especially knowing what is coming in season 4. Not well thought out by Whedon there either.
Speaking of which, that was an embarrassing way for Wesley Wyndam-Pryce to exit Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I only notice how badly Whedon treats him because of what an awesome character he became on Angel. And the kiss with Cordelia was beyond creepy and anticlimactic too. It wasn't remotely funny.
Speaking of creepy, the whole "Drink me," thing starts off as typical annoying Buffy and Angel emo and quickly devolves into something entirely gross and disturbing. What bothers me is the show NEVER shows blood when vamps feed so Angel seems unusually violent here by sloshing it everywhere. And he seem especially selfish and gross for feeding far longer than he should have. The worst thing is that Whedon also plays up eroticism in the moment which makes it no surprise it turns out he has the personal problems with women he does. Very weird things seem to arouse Joss Whedon. Legalized prostitution became his later obsession on Firefly and Dollhouse but this was his first example of finding a gross thing sexy rather than gross.
I very much like that Giles and Xander are properly disgusted with Angel. What I don't like (or get) is that this is Angel's last episode. Does Whedon truly think that's the best memory for the viewer to send him off with? Does he think people will be MORE eager to see his own show after he did that? There is just no part of that scene that wasn't ill-advised.
It's very interesting and cool at the beginning of the episode that at this point the Mayor clearly cares more about Faith than the Ascension. Didn't see that coming. Frankly, neither did he. Or Buffy for that matter.
The Mayor's rage is frightening. Him calling Buffy a whore is literally the first time he's ever used inappropriate language so it telegraphs how majorly and unusually upset he is.
Why do the nurses just let him walk out of the hospital after he tries to smother Buffy? Why weren't the police called?
"That's the craziest plan I've ever heard." / "We attack the Mayor with Hummus." / "I stand corrected." / "Just keeping things in perspective." Oz and Cordelia tend to always get the best lines, but they are rarely allowed to play off of each other. It's a shame it only really occurred this late in the game. That was phenomenal.
I like that the entire school was involved in the final battle. It was majorly empowering that Buffy armed all of the kids to protect themselves. Again, nobody should have been using flaming bows and arrows but the idea itself is sound.
Snyder tells the class it's a time for celebration so everyone should sit still and be quiet. Then he tells a kid to come see him after graduation. I was very glad to see him eaten by the snake. How dumb is he? He died remaining the character on the show with no redeeming virtues. Well, he thinks eating babies is wrong. But that's the only thing I can credit him with.
I thought Oz amending it was amazing they survived high school was cloying and cutesy. And yet, I still found the episode closing on the "The Future Is Ours" banner weirdly gratifying. It's sort of interesting (and admittedly kind of random and arbitrary) what I do and don't respond to decades later.
Cordelia says Wesley staying and offering to help was noble. She was right. Especially considering how unequipped to help he actually turned out to be.
Harmony being bitten here is the first clue she is a vampire in Season 4.
I was still majorly impressed by both parts of "Becoming" two decades later, with my tastes refined, my writing skills improved, and my eyes wide open about the show's many troubling subtexts. And yet "Graduation Day" doesn't hold up in hindsight at all. Although the second part is slightly better. ***1/2.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier "The Star-Spangled Man"
Okay, this confirms what I sort of suspected last week: Disney+ should have aired this show before WandaVision. It's a more clear-cut example of what the MCU TV shows want to be about. WandaVision was really great, but it was also super weird, and gave people a lot of wrong ideas about what to expect. This show should have aired first.
I was disgusted with the cop who finally recognized Sam. He expects an "Oopsie!" and "Aw, shucks..." smile will immediately get him into back into the Falcon's good graces. Sam's biggest adversary so far isn't Hydra, and it isn't even Flagsmasher. It appears to be white privilege.
Isiah's story was similarly shocking, but I think Carl Lumbly is too young to play a Korean War vet. True, he was given the super serum, but so was Cap, and he aged at the end of Endgame.
Sam's exchange with the little girl gives a pretty solid reason for why he shouldn't be called Black Falcon. It that a dig at Black Panther? Because the same is true there.
I am interested that Bucky blames Sam for giving up the shield because it means that Cap was wrong about him, and that would mean Cap might be wrong about him. While I think the logic of that actually tracks, if you ask me, that's an overly narcissistic interpretation of events. I get that part of Bucky's shtick is that he's annoying and emo, but that strikes me as petulant rather than moody.
I am trying very hard not to like John Walker. I am failing miserably. NOT a clear-cut issue.
Speaking of which, I love the political issues the show is dealing with from the fall-out from the Blip. It effects every part of the political situation, and the fact that Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. never brought it up once means that none of the Marvel Television stuff is canon. Seeing how cool and interesting the idea of the fall-out of people returning wound up being, it is to Jeph Loeb's eternal guilt that he didn't actually explore it.
I think Doctor Strange constitutes a wizard. But it feels weird to bring him up in a context that has nothing to do with him. It's a bit of shameless namedropping some fans will love. Me? I actually think it IS shameless. But maybe that's just me.
The fight on the moving trucks says Disney+ TV budgets are not like other TV budgets. I don't even think Game Of Thrones could have had the budget to do a similarly fast paced scene. This budgets for this show and the last episode of WandaVision are majorly unusual.
Do you know what's weird? All things considered, the Mandalorian is pretty low-tech and low budget. It leans into the Original Star Wars Trilogy aspect of the franchise in mostly using practical effects that could be done in the 1980's and 90's. But this show and WandaVision do stuff you could only previously see in a modern movie. It's pretty neat.
The therapy session was painful and not funny. And it's the sort of painful and not funny thing MCU stuff does all the time, so I can't even act surprised or disappointed. This was pretty much the entirety of Iron Man 2.
Should have aired this first. Solid. ****.
Batwoman "Rule Number 1"
Decent. The episode got off on the wrong foot. I knew Kate was coming back so it was a b.s. move to make the other characters grieve her. I'll tell you why I'm not as utterly infuriated as I usually am when Berlanti shows pull this d-word move (and they pull it A LOT). They revealed to the viewer Kate was alive at the end of the teaser. Doesn't make me forgive everything about it, but at least as far as jerking people around goes, I'm not one of them.
I like that Jordan isn't impressed with Batwoman, and when Ryan asks her how SHE would protect the city instead, Jordan already has her own plan written up. Which earns her a free drink.
I like the stand Mary took that she went through the kind of denial Ryan is experiencing with Angelique with Kate and Alice, and that ended badly. I like her ultimatum. I especially like that later on when she sees an opening to tell Sophie everything, Luke nixes the idea because it violates the ultimatum to let Ryan handle it. I don't actually agree that Ryan deserves that much at this point. But it's kind of nice Luke thinks she does.
Black Mask is okay. His voice is not unlike Ewan MacGregor's, which is not a pleasant thing to realize.
I don't care about Alice's stuff. See if this wasn't a television show, Alice would simply drop out of sight for a few weeks, until the writers actually had something for her to do. But because it's television, the contracted big TV stars need and demand to be in every episode. But Alice didn't need to be in the episode so her stuff was especially pointless. Have I mentioned I hate television? I like some TV shows. But television as a medium tends to do storytelling all wrong. Alice being in this episode because Rachel Skarsten is a series regular is a case in point.
The episode was all right though. ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "Kermit And Fozzie's Eggcellent Adventure / Animal And The Little Accident"
Kermit And Fozzie's Eggcellent Adventure:
Are you like me? Are you a Muppet nerd? Are you a Muppet purist? Take my advice. Anytime you see a Philistine argue this show is a remotely acceptable legacy for the Muppets, point out the scene where Statler and Waldorf say they are great at hiding things. Here is why the show sucks and nobody should take it seriously. Any halfway decent writer would have then had them say that they however weren't great at finding stuff they misplaced. They might have even used that as a fun excuse for the Babies to find the eggs. But something that relatable and funny for those characters, staring a halfway decent writer in the face, doesn't occur to this show. I have often been disappointed by the show, but I don't think I've ever truly believed it was truly worthless until I saw that simple missed opportunity.
Here is a sad truth about the Muppets, and Statler and Waldorf in particular. The humor in the old-school Muppets (and on The Muppet Show especially), is not funny. It's broad, vaudeville stuff, using unearned puns and punchlines that don't entirely line-up with the set-up. Statler and Waldorf being dumb and unfunny is totally on-brand for those two. But they are supposed to at least make the jokes. The joke I'm suggesting isn't even that funny or clever. But it's Statler and Waldorf. It doesn't need to be. What is does need to do is exist. This nice, vanilla Statler and Waldorf pair are not cutting it. The show is not cutting it.
Also I realize that the show is geared for toddlers and the messages need to be simple. But does the show need to have a character like Fozzie act like such a stooge to impart that lesson? If it does, then that's a failing of the show. Full stop. 0.
Animal And The Little Accident:
The episode wanted me to be annoyed by Animal for refusing to take a potty break, but I'm annoyed at the other kids for not simply saying they'd take a break too and wait for him to come back. They kept inventing new and more exciting scenarios just as he was about to leave. One thing I remember about being a kid was that "Hold my place," and "Don't do anything while I'm gone" was a thing if one of us needed to briefly duck out for whatever reason. I don't care if they're 6-year-olds, all kids do it. I'm not saying the kids on this show are as ill-mannered as Caillou. But they are in the same bratty ballpark.
One thing I liked was all of the Babies sharing their experiences of accidents with Animal after he felt bad and embarrassed. But for some reason after all that I didn't find Gonzo's story of Potato's accident funny at all. To be honest, Potato is wearing pretty thin at this point.
Better than the first cartoon but so is directly inhaling a cat's fart. *.
Episode overall: 1/2.
Bless The Harts "Dance Dance Resolution"
This episode sort of made me have to take stock in myself a bit. And I came to an unpleasant realization. If you asked me what my worst written reviews were about, it would probably be the Bless The Harts. What I dislike about my reviews of this show (and it will probably be true for the one you are reading too) is that my likes and dislikes of the show seem utterly random, unpredictable, and inconsistent. I can rattle off reasons why a Simpsons or Family Guy episode doesn't work for those specific shows, but about the most in-depth I can get for a reason I didn't like a Bless the Harts episode is that I didn't enjoy it. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm usually better than that. And I've done some soul-searching after this episode (which, spoiler alert, was totally solid), and I think the reason my reviews are so random and inconsistent is because the show's quality is. Maybe my opinion doesn't match anyone else's because there isn't a specific thing in the show I'm either drawn towards or against. I still haven't made much of an investment in it, so I don't tend to judge an episode compared to the totality of the rest of the show. I judge it from episode to episode because I still don't know what to make of it. If you wind up liking this specific review, that's great, but like all my Bless The Harts reviews, I think it sucks quite a bit. I wish I had better ground to stand on when either complimenting or slamming the show. But the show being good or bad is a random happenstance. There is no quality control. The worst episode ever can be followed by the best episode ever a week later and there is no rhyme or reason to it. The show never gets better, and it never declines either. I said if the show makes a third season I won't watch it. But not because it's bad. I watch a lot of bad shows. It's because it's frustrating, and I don't know how to properly classify it. If I could always hate it I'd feel a lot more comfortable with it. That's just the way I'm wired. The fact that episodes like this are maddeningly and inexplicably decent drives me bonkers, and is not good for my mental health. I had similar feeling towards the early episodes of House (a show which I didn't ever bother to review) and I very much regret sticking through that entire series. I sense that if Bless the Harts miraculously made it for the long haul, I would be similarly disillusioned, but like House, I would have invested too much time and effort to stop watching it at the point I actually gave it up for utter cr*p.
Episodes this decent scare me because they make me want to continue watching the show, and that is not good for my mental health. I got out of Riverdale just in time, but I foolishly followed both House and The Office to their bitter ends, and I regret both things. I know the same would happen with Bless The Harts. If the show were improving that would be one thing. If the show were getting worse, I could even justify sticking around to MST3K it. While it's goodness or badness literally makes no sense and is completely arbitrary, it's better if I cut my losses.
Should I talk about the episode? This review, like all of my Bless the Hart reviews, is already terrible so far, and I haven't even done that yet. I thought Violet dancing to the music at the end was sweet and so was Betty finally being able to tell Wayne "Thank you." Both stories ended on rarely nice moments, which is something that would happen every week on a consistently good (or a consistently bad) show. The truth is Bless The Harts has not decided whether it is a Feel-Good Show or a Feel-Bad Show. Until it does, on some level I will always feel bad. Another good reason to duck out now.
Thank you for reading my nonsense. I can do better. But frankly so can the show, and it's not really, so forgive my reviews being unable to catch up to that. Good week though. ****.
The Simpsons "Uncut Femmes"
You're gonna hate me, but I liked that. I expect the episode to get nothing but grief, but I dug it.
Honestly, I think the jokes wore thin by the end, and whatever edge they thought they were going for was forced and lame. But I'll tell you, I liked the energy of the episode. Even before it became about Sarah Wiggum and that ridiculous heist it felt quite... rambunctious. That's the right word. None of it was great, but it popped along. That's not a usual feeling for the show, but whenever the show makes me feel it, I tend to like the episodes, no matter what they are.
Also want to point out this episode was written by a woman, and as such is one of the few times we got an episode from an actual female perspective, instead of what a male writer believes a female perspective should be. That actually matters.
What do I think about the show retconning Sarah Wiggum into Megan Mullally? It doesn't bug me TOO much, mostly because unlike most of their celebrity gets, Mullally does a lot of voicework for adult cartoons, and she won't be impossible to get back. It was good casting for that reason.
Is this really also the first time Nick Offerman has been on the show? That too feels like a ginormous oversight.
I love how much Fat Tony loves and dotes on Ralph. I love Ralph too.
Bob Seeger is no fun at all. It's funny he allowed himself to be portrayed that way when doing his own voice.
It would be a bigger surprise if it DIDN'T turn out Lindsay Naegle was a criminal mastermind. Perfect twist for that reason.
Manjula appearing suggests it's only a matter of time before Apu reappears too. I suspect (or rather have dim hope) that the character will not have the baggage attached to him he currently does if they find him an appropriate Indian actor to voice him. The problem is that Apu has SUCH a bad rap among Indians, that I fear any halfway decent Indian actor would balk at the role for fear of being labeled a sell-out by the Indian community. I'll guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
That episode wasn't great, but I liked it. It had a good vibe going for it. ****.
Bob's Burgers "Y Tu Tina Tambie'n'"
Tina falling for a voice on a language tape is why I hate the character with a passion. Here is to the episode's credit: They play Louise off her doing that rather than Bob or Linda. Consequently, Louise doesn't indulge her craziness. She is properly mad at how stupid her sister is and is unafraid of letting her know it. I didn't realize how much I needed that until I got it.
Put Louise in charge of all Tina nonsense from now on, producers. My blood pressure will thank you.
I have never enjoying seeing a dude dunked as much as I did Mr. Frond. And he's just a cartoon! But he was asking for it. I'm glad his phone was destroyed. I actually wouldn't have minded it if the other dude hadn't been able to save his computer before it was too late.
I hate the episode for Tina. I love the episode for the much needed and deserved shade Louise gives Tina for her utter loserdom. ***1/2.
Family Guy "Customer Of The Week"
Oh, my God! I really responded well to that. I think Family Guy occasionally does a majorly unusual episode and I seem to be the only fan who ever likes it. So I will probably be the only person you hear giving that a rave.
But that was a great psychological study about what a broken person Lois is. There is no B story to even things out, and make the viewer feel better. We simply are forced to suffer through her descent into madness and repulsiveness. To be blunt, many viewers will hate the show for asking them to do that while giving them so few laughs in return. That's why I admired and loved the episode. I encourage and love whenever Family Guy tries and does new things. And often Family Guy mistakes doing a Sherlock Holmes parody or doing an Emmy gimmick episode as a new thing. It's not. A new thing is telling a different kind of story. And the story here, as unfunny as it was, was pretty darn solid the entire way through.
I love how often Lois says she is a good person. She says it far more often than a good person ever should. I'm not suggesting a good person NEVER says that. But they don't need to keep saying it to justify them doing bad things.
One of the things I liked is that the episode brutally demonstrated how much Lois's life sucks and how unhappy she is. How mad can I get at this character for obsessing over this stupid thing that doesn't matter when she literally has nothing else going on? As Stewie is doing the runner in the car contradicting her, she claims she does not want much and he says she does. I think she is way more right about that one thing than Stewie is. I agree with Stewie that she's not a good person and that people don't like her. But truthfully, the character doesn't ever want much, and seeing her being beaten into the ground finally leading to this is in no way satisfying to me as a person who hates the character. I take no pleasure in how bad Lois feels and her getting in trouble for her stupidity. I feel bad instead. Which is amazing and not something I pictured ever feeling for Lois, who is a character that would be indefensible on any other show, but is actually tolerable only because she's on the same show as Peter, Brian, and Quagmire. I like feeling bad for a character while I am despising them.
The episode felt very assured in its storytelling. The actual stories to the show used to be the weak link of the entire series, so it's very pleasurable seeing a proper cautionary tale play out the way it is supposed to. It's apparently a spoof of something I don't recognize off the top of my head, but it's a solid story by itself, which makes the origin of the spoof irrelevant to me.
I haven't enjoyed an episode of Family Guy this much in a good long time. The last truly great episode before this was "You Can't Handle The Booth". I think "You Can't Handle The Booth" is actually the best episode Family Guy has done so far, but that's how long it's been since I loved an episode that much, or at least that I REMEMBERED loving an episode that much. Family Guy won the week of Fox toons, although everybody else also had a good night. *****.
Power Rangers Dino Fury "Winning Attitude"
My opinion of the season so far is favorable. And I will make a bold prediction here. My opinion of the entire season is going to be favorable. Crazy prediction, right? Especially considering the quality control problems the franchise suffers from.
Here is why I think that: I believe that the last five episodes of this season will need to be worse than any previous Power Rangers episode I've ever seen to lose me after this episode. And if I may be blunt. That might not even lose me. This episode amazed me and I am willing to forgive almost any bad thing that comes next because of it.
I love what they did with Lily. I have never seen a kids show treat a mentally disabled character this way and I loved it. The first thing I loved is that Lily tells everyone she's intellectually disabled and nobody bats an eye. I love that because one of the things I noticed about mentally challenged people growing up is that they refused to admit they were slow, because of the stigma attached to it. They were actually ashamed of that aspect of themselves. And considering that is the aspect most people notice first, that is not an inconsiderable chip on their shoulders. Lily stating that as if she's discussing the weather, and everyone listening acting like it is no big deal and doesn't matter, hit me like a ton of bricks for how awesome it is.
What I especially love is that when Lily walks off, none of the other Rangers tell Izzy what a great friend and cousin she is to give Lily the position of coach. See, Lily's actually earned that, and none of the Rangers are treating Izzy like some kind of saint or martyr for having her play such a big role in her life. The fact that Lily is disabled doesn't come up again with the Rangers. It is unimportant and doesn't matter.
The third thing the episode did that I loved is something that will bother some people, but I think people need to think a little better about it. Izzy is unfairly berating Lilly for not coming through for her. On the surface that is an appalling way to treat a disabled person.
But what it also is, is a normal and relatable way to poorly treat a supposedly "normal" person who is your friend and peer. The lesson isn't that Izzy is a monster for speaking to a mentally challenged person that way. It's that she's being a bad friend for speaking to her normal friend that way. The optics are terrible on the surface, but the subtext is majorly healthy for kids to see and absorb.
Some other nonsense happened in the episode that I didn't give a fig about. But the stuff with Lily knocked my socks off and I will almost assuredly be giving the thumbs up to this season, which is not something I've really done since the Mighty Morphin era. We'll see, but they would have to blow things beyond all reason to lose me after that. *****.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "Bot Blog"
It is very difficult to understand why this specific toddler show is SO bad at its job. It's inexplicable. I think Muppet Babies is a bad toddler show too. But I think that as an adult. Toddlers would probably dig it. I think this is a bad toddler show for toddlers. Even if they somehow dug it, its messaging is harmful.
Elephant in the room: The subject matter was all wrong for the show. While I do agree that on some level it is good to get kids to understand you have to be careful what you post on the internet as young as possible, this show is geared to four-year-olds. Literally people who can't read or use a computer. This is not speaking to any experiences they have or are going through. If the show was aimed at kids between the ages of 8-11 that's a perfect lesson to impart. While half the audience is still using sippy cups and is in didies, it makes no sense.
Worse yet, the episode makes it so that Hot Shot isn't mad to force a happy ending instead of Whirl having to face negative consequences for what she did. But you know what? I could have lived with that neutered kiddie moral, as lame and unrealistic as it is. No, what the show does absolutely wrong is have Ratchet say the footage never left the Academy, and basically gives Whirl a do-over. Which is the absolute worst message you can give a kid about the internet. There is no Ratchet policing the real internet, and giving kids free do-overs for posting stupid and harmful things. That's a bad lesson to teach a kid, which is why I hate this show more than I ever could a mediocre show like Muppet Babies. Muppet Babies is obvious and dumb, but despite the lessons being about dumb things handled in dumb ways, the morals taught are actually sound. Rescue Bots Academy always somehow manages to misinform children and teach them the wrong moral. What's especially dangerous and unforgivable about that fact is that the show SHOULD be geared towards protecting kids by teaching them safety tips! While the things they are teaching them are wrong, they are working against the very safety moral that is supposed to be what the franchise is about! I have no idea why parents aren't in conniptions over this show. In its own way, the show is more damaging to kids than Caillou. Caillou may encourage tantrums and bad behavior. But those bad behaviors don't often put the kid's life at risk. And yes, Caillou sucks because it HAS had a few dangerous imitable episodes. But those were actually banned because parents complained. Where are the parents complaining about a show that give their children inaccurate safety tips? Where is the outrage?
Do ypu know what the worst thing about the show having Ratchet "Save the day" is? If he hadn't done that, none of the rest of the episode would have had to have been changed at all. What's wrong with Hotshot being a little embarrassed for awhile, or even being proud of his newfound notoriety? It screws up the entire message and give the kids dangerous, wrong information. For literally no good storytelling reason at all. I and the kids at home could have lived with Hotshot being embarrassed OR happy. Neither one would have changed anything about the show, or changed my opinion about either him or Whirl. So the shows basically destroyed the moral and gave bad and dagerous information to children for no good reason at all. And I'm sorry, that's unforgivable. 0.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "The Icebot Cometh"
Another clear reason to hate the show: The show uses dangerous rescue missions to work out toddler social issues. These are lessons that real rescue workers already know ahead of time, and that includes people in training. Rescues and life and death situations aren't about what Wedge's growth and development should be. They are about saving innocent people. That's it. Wedge's psyche is irrelevant to that. They are about the people being saved, not Wedge. The show using Wedge botching missions as a growth experience for him is the show not understanding how serious rescue missions are, or how seriously the heroes who do them take them. It's actually quite insulting to real life first-responders.
To added insult to injury, Wedge is awarded a trophy at the end for screwing everything up. The Mayor could have simply said, "Good job, Caillou!" and the message would be exactly as harmful and wrong. 0.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Graduation Day, Part 1"
I seem to recall Entertainment Weekly being a bit lukewarm on this finale back in the day, and I always thought that was a bit unfair. A little hindsight and my now better writing ability says it's not. Buffy talking about "watching my lover die" is truly emo and corny stuff, even as far as Buffy and Angel shipping stuff goes. "You killed me!" also seems like bad dialogue that belongs in a worse show. And yet all this was written by supposed dialogue genius Joss Whedon. I can't explain it either, and I'm not impressed.
I don't feel that bad for the professor Faith killed. Just because he's stupid. His attitude instantly turns amorous when Faith asks if he lives alone. He actually thinks he has a shot at getting laid then. With a woman who looks like Faith does while he looks like he does. Where did he get his degree? The University Of Being Unable To Read The Room? Unbelievable.
I talk smack about the episode but I cannot get over how great the Mayor's stuff is with Faith. He genuinely loves and cares about her, which is great. What's especially great is that she actually understands and appreciates it. I think he is the first man she has ever met that she doesn't believe has a larger sexual agenda for her in the back of their minds. And because of that he makes her feel safe. When she talks about her mother calling her "Firecracker" she is shocked the instant the story passes her lips. She never thought she'd trust ANYONE enough to let down her guard about that specific thing. But instead of shutting down (like she always did when Buffy got close to a breakthrough) she thinks it feels right, smiles, and continues. The reason I didn't totally object to a redemption arc for Faith the way I did Angel and Willow is because Faith always had the potential for good but never had the context for it that Angel or Willow did. I find her love for the Mayor enough of a reason to want to see her redeemed. And I especially love that during her redemption arc in season 7, just because she is trying to do good and the right thing, doesn't mean her love for Wilkins has lessened over time. Their loving relationship in the one decent thing in both of their lives. And like Spike and Drusilla, it's endearing and the reason I like them both, no matter what evil they do.
I think perhaps the reason Faith feels okay with expressing her feelings to Wilkins is that Wilkins is entirely confident that it's all right to, and gives her that permission. Whenever she is talking something delicate to Faith, Buffy is sheepish, and half-acts like letting down your guard is if not a bad thing, a hard and unusual thing. Wilkins is totally willing to hear her experiences out, and makes her BELIEVE it's okay and NORMAL for her to tell him. His confidence and assuredness in his belief in Faith's words mattering and being all right is worth a lot more than Buffy lowering her eyes and saying "I guess," all the time. And I love that about the character.
What's especially great to me, is that when she talks about her past, the Mayor is genuinely interested and supportive. She feels safe talking about it because he's not "Yeah, yeah, yeah"-ing her like most adults do. I think that is another commendable thing about Wilkins. He listens when Faith speaks. That's rare and cool.
The Mayor believes there is no point in becoming a demon if you can't be regular. That's hilarious. I feel the same way about being a guy in his 40's.
I don't know if anyone has ever brought this up yet. Possibly not because the feminist messages on the show are shaky, and that's what takes everyone's attention now that we know Whedon is a creep. But Anya's obsession with Xander is definitely stalkerish. Xander barely knows her, and she offering to run away with him and spend the rest of their lives together. The fact that Xander eventually falls for her and they make her weird forthrightness work anyways does not change the fact that her behavior towards him to start off with is pretty creepy.
Buffy quitting the Watcher's Council was long overdue. What kills me is that as petulant as Whedon tries to make Wesley sound, to sort of make the horrible things Buffy says to him seem justified, I don't think they are. The Council refusing to help was NOT Wesley's decision. I agree with her quitting the Council. But she doesn't need to treat Wesley like dirt to do that. He DID try. That's more than most people would do in his place. I don't like that Joss has him pout "This is mutiny," just to line up Buffy's nonsensical retort that it was Graduation. It's just all so unnecessary.
And you know what Whedon's excuse would be? Buffy is a teenage girl, and teenage girls don't always react to bad news appropriately. But the problem is that not only are the writers entirely selective about Buffy's immaturity, but they are having Giles feed into it here as well, and which suggests it's justified. And it's really not.
The Mayor entering the Library at the beginning strikes me as a far bigger violation than most of the other Big Bads ever did. And Wilkins is the Big Bad I personally like the most. But that was probably the dirtiest move. Even Angelus didn't do it again himself after he revealed himself in Season 2. More chutzpah than Angelus is not a brag.
"Our lives are different that other people's." Great Oz line. Also first mention of the world of shrimp with weirdly gets called back to more than once.
I like Harmony about as much as Willow does. It's weird how I sympathize with the character far more when she's an evil vampire.
Joyce accepting Buffy's order for her to leave town shows how far these two have come. I love that character. And Buffy saying that her staying could get Buffy killed was a great thing to say not only because it was the proper motivation, but also because it was true.
Xander saying he knows he's never making it out of this school alive works on every level.
Similarly great is the Mayor telling Snyder he is headed for his just reward. The viewer may see him being eaten by a snake coming, but Snyder sure doesn't. Can't say he wasn't warned here though.
So-so first part. We'll see if the conclusion is better. ***.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Graduation Day, Part 2"
That is certainly the most ambitious episode so far. Is it the best? Not even a little. It had a lot of problems. It's better than Part 1, but it's still a mess.
This episode was also held back because of Columbine. What's weird is that even if I don't agree with the decision to hold back "Earshot", I at least understood the rationale. There is not a single thing in this episode that brings to mind the circumstances of Columbine. Even sillier, there is nothing in the episode that is remotely imitable for a kid in 1999. WB was being TOO cautious here.
We'll get to the good things but I want to talk about some of the messes, because I notice them now and it's unacceptable. Why is this episode the first we are hearing about the Eclipse? Those things are newsworthy events and not information that comes up at the last minute. People sell special sunglasses for them and everything. It's a shared cultural event. Everyone should already know it's coming. It should not be a surprise.
Even dumber are the rows of kids with the bows and arrows. Have you ever tried firing a bow and arrow? It's HARD. If it goes any distance at all it won't hit the target without practice and skill. You can't ask me to believe that a dozen random kids who have never had reason to use them before can somehow accurately hit moving vampire targets on the first shot. What drives me nuts is that I am the first person I've ever seen mention this. If Buffy had aired today, people would have noticed and talked smack about that specific thing. What I especially don't like about it is that I might have shut my brain off and accepted accuracy from weapons novices if Whedon had given them crossbows. But because they couldn't use those with the striking fire imagery Whedon clearly wanted, he has to insult my intelligence instead. My intelligence feels especially sheepish because it didn't pick up how dumb this was before now.
Larry was robbed. That it is all.
I have to say Dream Faith's riddle about Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0 is a lot less fun now that I know it doesn't lead anywhere. It launched a thousand theories (mostly involving Dawn in hindsight) but none of them were ever satisfactorily paid off enough to make that remotely credible. Granted, David Lynch never answers his riddles either. But that's the point of David Lynch. Whedon always acts like his stuff is gonna pay off and this is an annoying loose end instead.
I checked online just to be sure. It supposedly references Buffy's upcoming death. Not remotely clear either before or after.
Buffy making peace with Faith in the dream and then kissing her forehead in real life also feels very unsatisfying, especially knowing what is coming in season 4. Not well thought out by Whedon there either.
Speaking of which, that was an embarrassing way for Wesley Wyndam-Pryce to exit Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I only notice how badly Whedon treats him because of what an awesome character he became on Angel. And the kiss with Cordelia was beyond creepy and anticlimactic too. It wasn't remotely funny.
Speaking of creepy, the whole "Drink me," thing starts off as typical annoying Buffy and Angel emo and quickly devolves into something entirely gross and disturbing. What bothers me is the show NEVER shows blood when vamps feed so Angel seems unusually violent here by sloshing it everywhere. And he seem especially selfish and gross for feeding far longer than he should have. The worst thing is that Whedon also plays up eroticism in the moment which makes it no surprise it turns out he has the personal problems with women he does. Very weird things seem to arouse Joss Whedon. Legalized prostitution became his later obsession on Firefly and Dollhouse but this was his first example of finding a gross thing sexy rather than gross.
I very much like that Giles and Xander are properly disgusted with Angel. What I don't like (or get) is that this is Angel's last episode. Does Whedon truly think that's the best memory for the viewer to send him off with? Does he think people will be MORE eager to see his own show after he did that? There is just no part of that scene that wasn't ill-advised.
It's very interesting and cool at the beginning of the episode that at this point the Mayor clearly cares more about Faith than the Ascension. Didn't see that coming. Frankly, neither did he. Or Buffy for that matter.
The Mayor's rage is frightening. Him calling Buffy a whore is literally the first time he's ever used inappropriate language so it telegraphs how majorly and unusually upset he is.
Why do the nurses just let him walk out of the hospital after he tries to smother Buffy? Why weren't the police called?
"That's the craziest plan I've ever heard." / "We attack the Mayor with Hummus." / "I stand corrected." / "Just keeping things in perspective." Oz and Cordelia tend to always get the best lines, but they are rarely allowed to play off of each other. It's a shame it only really occurred this late in the game. That was phenomenal.
I like that the entire school was involved in the final battle. It was majorly empowering that Buffy armed all of the kids to protect themselves. Again, nobody should have been using flaming bows and arrows but the idea itself is sound.
Snyder tells the class it's a time for celebration so everyone should sit still and be quiet. Then he tells a kid to come see him after graduation. I was very glad to see him eaten by the snake. How dumb is he? He died remaining the character on the show with no redeeming virtues. Well, he thinks eating babies is wrong. But that's the only thing I can credit him with.
I thought Oz amending it was amazing they survived high school was cloying and cutesy. And yet, I still found the episode closing on the "The Future Is Ours" banner weirdly gratifying. It's sort of interesting (and admittedly kind of random and arbitrary) what I do and don't respond to decades later.
Cordelia says Wesley staying and offering to help was noble. She was right. Especially considering how unequipped to help he actually turned out to be.
Harmony being bitten here is the first clue she is a vampire in Season 4.
I was still majorly impressed by both parts of "Becoming" two decades later, with my tastes refined, my writing skills improved, and my eyes wide open about the show's many troubling subtexts. And yet "Graduation Day" doesn't hold up in hindsight at all. Although the second part is slightly better. ***1/2.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier "The Star-Spangled Man"
Okay, this confirms what I sort of suspected last week: Disney+ should have aired this show before WandaVision. It's a more clear-cut example of what the MCU TV shows want to be about. WandaVision was really great, but it was also super weird, and gave people a lot of wrong ideas about what to expect. This show should have aired first.
I was disgusted with the cop who finally recognized Sam. He expects an "Oopsie!" and "Aw, shucks..." smile will immediately get him into back into the Falcon's good graces. Sam's biggest adversary so far isn't Hydra, and it isn't even Flagsmasher. It appears to be white privilege.
Isiah's story was similarly shocking, but I think Carl Lumbly is too young to play a Korean War vet. True, he was given the super serum, but so was Cap, and he aged at the end of Endgame.
Sam's exchange with the little girl gives a pretty solid reason for why he shouldn't be called Black Falcon. It that a dig at Black Panther? Because the same is true there.
I am interested that Bucky blames Sam for giving up the shield because it means that Cap was wrong about him, and that would mean Cap might be wrong about him. While I think the logic of that actually tracks, if you ask me, that's an overly narcissistic interpretation of events. I get that part of Bucky's shtick is that he's annoying and emo, but that strikes me as petulant rather than moody.
I am trying very hard not to like John Walker. I am failing miserably. NOT a clear-cut issue.
Speaking of which, I love the political issues the show is dealing with from the fall-out from the Blip. It effects every part of the political situation, and the fact that Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. never brought it up once means that none of the Marvel Television stuff is canon. Seeing how cool and interesting the idea of the fall-out of people returning wound up being, it is to Jeph Loeb's eternal guilt that he didn't actually explore it.
I think Doctor Strange constitutes a wizard. But it feels weird to bring him up in a context that has nothing to do with him. It's a bit of shameless namedropping some fans will love. Me? I actually think it IS shameless. But maybe that's just me.
The fight on the moving trucks says Disney+ TV budgets are not like other TV budgets. I don't even think Game Of Thrones could have had the budget to do a similarly fast paced scene. This budgets for this show and the last episode of WandaVision are majorly unusual.
Do you know what's weird? All things considered, the Mandalorian is pretty low-tech and low budget. It leans into the Original Star Wars Trilogy aspect of the franchise in mostly using practical effects that could be done in the 1980's and 90's. But this show and WandaVision do stuff you could only previously see in a modern movie. It's pretty neat.
The therapy session was painful and not funny. And it's the sort of painful and not funny thing MCU stuff does all the time, so I can't even act surprised or disappointed. This was pretty much the entirety of Iron Man 2.
Should have aired this first. Solid. ****.
Batwoman "Rule Number 1"
Decent. The episode got off on the wrong foot. I knew Kate was coming back so it was a b.s. move to make the other characters grieve her. I'll tell you why I'm not as utterly infuriated as I usually am when Berlanti shows pull this d-word move (and they pull it A LOT). They revealed to the viewer Kate was alive at the end of the teaser. Doesn't make me forgive everything about it, but at least as far as jerking people around goes, I'm not one of them.
I like that Jordan isn't impressed with Batwoman, and when Ryan asks her how SHE would protect the city instead, Jordan already has her own plan written up. Which earns her a free drink.
I like the stand Mary took that she went through the kind of denial Ryan is experiencing with Angelique with Kate and Alice, and that ended badly. I like her ultimatum. I especially like that later on when she sees an opening to tell Sophie everything, Luke nixes the idea because it violates the ultimatum to let Ryan handle it. I don't actually agree that Ryan deserves that much at this point. But it's kind of nice Luke thinks she does.
Black Mask is okay. His voice is not unlike Ewan MacGregor's, which is not a pleasant thing to realize.
I don't care about Alice's stuff. See if this wasn't a television show, Alice would simply drop out of sight for a few weeks, until the writers actually had something for her to do. But because it's television, the contracted big TV stars need and demand to be in every episode. But Alice didn't need to be in the episode so her stuff was especially pointless. Have I mentioned I hate television? I like some TV shows. But television as a medium tends to do storytelling all wrong. Alice being in this episode because Rachel Skarsten is a series regular is a case in point.
The episode was all right though. ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "Kermit And Fozzie's Eggcellent Adventure / Animal And The Little Accident"
Kermit And Fozzie's Eggcellent Adventure:
Are you like me? Are you a Muppet nerd? Are you a Muppet purist? Take my advice. Anytime you see a Philistine argue this show is a remotely acceptable legacy for the Muppets, point out the scene where Statler and Waldorf say they are great at hiding things. Here is why the show sucks and nobody should take it seriously. Any halfway decent writer would have then had them say that they however weren't great at finding stuff they misplaced. They might have even used that as a fun excuse for the Babies to find the eggs. But something that relatable and funny for those characters, staring a halfway decent writer in the face, doesn't occur to this show. I have often been disappointed by the show, but I don't think I've ever truly believed it was truly worthless until I saw that simple missed opportunity.
Here is a sad truth about the Muppets, and Statler and Waldorf in particular. The humor in the old-school Muppets (and on The Muppet Show especially), is not funny. It's broad, vaudeville stuff, using unearned puns and punchlines that don't entirely line-up with the set-up. Statler and Waldorf being dumb and unfunny is totally on-brand for those two. But they are supposed to at least make the jokes. The joke I'm suggesting isn't even that funny or clever. But it's Statler and Waldorf. It doesn't need to be. What is does need to do is exist. This nice, vanilla Statler and Waldorf pair are not cutting it. The show is not cutting it.
Also I realize that the show is geared for toddlers and the messages need to be simple. But does the show need to have a character like Fozzie act like such a stooge to impart that lesson? If it does, then that's a failing of the show. Full stop. 0.
Animal And The Little Accident:
The episode wanted me to be annoyed by Animal for refusing to take a potty break, but I'm annoyed at the other kids for not simply saying they'd take a break too and wait for him to come back. They kept inventing new and more exciting scenarios just as he was about to leave. One thing I remember about being a kid was that "Hold my place," and "Don't do anything while I'm gone" was a thing if one of us needed to briefly duck out for whatever reason. I don't care if they're 6-year-olds, all kids do it. I'm not saying the kids on this show are as ill-mannered as Caillou. But they are in the same bratty ballpark.
One thing I liked was all of the Babies sharing their experiences of accidents with Animal after he felt bad and embarrassed. But for some reason after all that I didn't find Gonzo's story of Potato's accident funny at all. To be honest, Potato is wearing pretty thin at this point.
Better than the first cartoon but so is directly inhaling a cat's fart. *.
Episode overall: 1/2.
Bless The Harts "Dance Dance Resolution"
This episode sort of made me have to take stock in myself a bit. And I came to an unpleasant realization. If you asked me what my worst written reviews were about, it would probably be the Bless The Harts. What I dislike about my reviews of this show (and it will probably be true for the one you are reading too) is that my likes and dislikes of the show seem utterly random, unpredictable, and inconsistent. I can rattle off reasons why a Simpsons or Family Guy episode doesn't work for those specific shows, but about the most in-depth I can get for a reason I didn't like a Bless the Harts episode is that I didn't enjoy it. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm usually better than that. And I've done some soul-searching after this episode (which, spoiler alert, was totally solid), and I think the reason my reviews are so random and inconsistent is because the show's quality is. Maybe my opinion doesn't match anyone else's because there isn't a specific thing in the show I'm either drawn towards or against. I still haven't made much of an investment in it, so I don't tend to judge an episode compared to the totality of the rest of the show. I judge it from episode to episode because I still don't know what to make of it. If you wind up liking this specific review, that's great, but like all my Bless The Harts reviews, I think it sucks quite a bit. I wish I had better ground to stand on when either complimenting or slamming the show. But the show being good or bad is a random happenstance. There is no quality control. The worst episode ever can be followed by the best episode ever a week later and there is no rhyme or reason to it. The show never gets better, and it never declines either. I said if the show makes a third season I won't watch it. But not because it's bad. I watch a lot of bad shows. It's because it's frustrating, and I don't know how to properly classify it. If I could always hate it I'd feel a lot more comfortable with it. That's just the way I'm wired. The fact that episodes like this are maddeningly and inexplicably decent drives me bonkers, and is not good for my mental health. I had similar feeling towards the early episodes of House (a show which I didn't ever bother to review) and I very much regret sticking through that entire series. I sense that if Bless the Harts miraculously made it for the long haul, I would be similarly disillusioned, but like House, I would have invested too much time and effort to stop watching it at the point I actually gave it up for utter cr*p.
Episodes this decent scare me because they make me want to continue watching the show, and that is not good for my mental health. I got out of Riverdale just in time, but I foolishly followed both House and The Office to their bitter ends, and I regret both things. I know the same would happen with Bless The Harts. If the show were improving that would be one thing. If the show were getting worse, I could even justify sticking around to MST3K it. While it's goodness or badness literally makes no sense and is completely arbitrary, it's better if I cut my losses.
Should I talk about the episode? This review, like all of my Bless the Hart reviews, is already terrible so far, and I haven't even done that yet. I thought Violet dancing to the music at the end was sweet and so was Betty finally being able to tell Wayne "Thank you." Both stories ended on rarely nice moments, which is something that would happen every week on a consistently good (or a consistently bad) show. The truth is Bless The Harts has not decided whether it is a Feel-Good Show or a Feel-Bad Show. Until it does, on some level I will always feel bad. Another good reason to duck out now.
Thank you for reading my nonsense. I can do better. But frankly so can the show, and it's not really, so forgive my reviews being unable to catch up to that. Good week though. ****.
The Simpsons "Uncut Femmes"
You're gonna hate me, but I liked that. I expect the episode to get nothing but grief, but I dug it.
Honestly, I think the jokes wore thin by the end, and whatever edge they thought they were going for was forced and lame. But I'll tell you, I liked the energy of the episode. Even before it became about Sarah Wiggum and that ridiculous heist it felt quite... rambunctious. That's the right word. None of it was great, but it popped along. That's not a usual feeling for the show, but whenever the show makes me feel it, I tend to like the episodes, no matter what they are.
Also want to point out this episode was written by a woman, and as such is one of the few times we got an episode from an actual female perspective, instead of what a male writer believes a female perspective should be. That actually matters.
What do I think about the show retconning Sarah Wiggum into Megan Mullally? It doesn't bug me TOO much, mostly because unlike most of their celebrity gets, Mullally does a lot of voicework for adult cartoons, and she won't be impossible to get back. It was good casting for that reason.
Is this really also the first time Nick Offerman has been on the show? That too feels like a ginormous oversight.
I love how much Fat Tony loves and dotes on Ralph. I love Ralph too.
Bob Seeger is no fun at all. It's funny he allowed himself to be portrayed that way when doing his own voice.
It would be a bigger surprise if it DIDN'T turn out Lindsay Naegle was a criminal mastermind. Perfect twist for that reason.
Manjula appearing suggests it's only a matter of time before Apu reappears too. I suspect (or rather have dim hope) that the character will not have the baggage attached to him he currently does if they find him an appropriate Indian actor to voice him. The problem is that Apu has SUCH a bad rap among Indians, that I fear any halfway decent Indian actor would balk at the role for fear of being labeled a sell-out by the Indian community. I'll guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
That episode wasn't great, but I liked it. It had a good vibe going for it. ****.
Bob's Burgers "Y Tu Tina Tambie'n'"
Tina falling for a voice on a language tape is why I hate the character with a passion. Here is to the episode's credit: They play Louise off her doing that rather than Bob or Linda. Consequently, Louise doesn't indulge her craziness. She is properly mad at how stupid her sister is and is unafraid of letting her know it. I didn't realize how much I needed that until I got it.
Put Louise in charge of all Tina nonsense from now on, producers. My blood pressure will thank you.
I have never enjoying seeing a dude dunked as much as I did Mr. Frond. And he's just a cartoon! But he was asking for it. I'm glad his phone was destroyed. I actually wouldn't have minded it if the other dude hadn't been able to save his computer before it was too late.
I hate the episode for Tina. I love the episode for the much needed and deserved shade Louise gives Tina for her utter loserdom. ***1/2.
Family Guy "Customer Of The Week"
Oh, my God! I really responded well to that. I think Family Guy occasionally does a majorly unusual episode and I seem to be the only fan who ever likes it. So I will probably be the only person you hear giving that a rave.
But that was a great psychological study about what a broken person Lois is. There is no B story to even things out, and make the viewer feel better. We simply are forced to suffer through her descent into madness and repulsiveness. To be blunt, many viewers will hate the show for asking them to do that while giving them so few laughs in return. That's why I admired and loved the episode. I encourage and love whenever Family Guy tries and does new things. And often Family Guy mistakes doing a Sherlock Holmes parody or doing an Emmy gimmick episode as a new thing. It's not. A new thing is telling a different kind of story. And the story here, as unfunny as it was, was pretty darn solid the entire way through.
I love how often Lois says she is a good person. She says it far more often than a good person ever should. I'm not suggesting a good person NEVER says that. But they don't need to keep saying it to justify them doing bad things.
One of the things I liked is that the episode brutally demonstrated how much Lois's life sucks and how unhappy she is. How mad can I get at this character for obsessing over this stupid thing that doesn't matter when she literally has nothing else going on? As Stewie is doing the runner in the car contradicting her, she claims she does not want much and he says she does. I think she is way more right about that one thing than Stewie is. I agree with Stewie that she's not a good person and that people don't like her. But truthfully, the character doesn't ever want much, and seeing her being beaten into the ground finally leading to this is in no way satisfying to me as a person who hates the character. I take no pleasure in how bad Lois feels and her getting in trouble for her stupidity. I feel bad instead. Which is amazing and not something I pictured ever feeling for Lois, who is a character that would be indefensible on any other show, but is actually tolerable only because she's on the same show as Peter, Brian, and Quagmire. I like feeling bad for a character while I am despising them.
The episode felt very assured in its storytelling. The actual stories to the show used to be the weak link of the entire series, so it's very pleasurable seeing a proper cautionary tale play out the way it is supposed to. It's apparently a spoof of something I don't recognize off the top of my head, but it's a solid story by itself, which makes the origin of the spoof irrelevant to me.
I haven't enjoyed an episode of Family Guy this much in a good long time. The last truly great episode before this was "You Can't Handle The Booth". I think "You Can't Handle The Booth" is actually the best episode Family Guy has done so far, but that's how long it's been since I loved an episode that much, or at least that I REMEMBERED loving an episode that much. Family Guy won the week of Fox toons, although everybody else also had a good night. *****.
Power Rangers Dino Fury "Winning Attitude"
My opinion of the season so far is favorable. And I will make a bold prediction here. My opinion of the entire season is going to be favorable. Crazy prediction, right? Especially considering the quality control problems the franchise suffers from.
Here is why I think that: I believe that the last five episodes of this season will need to be worse than any previous Power Rangers episode I've ever seen to lose me after this episode. And if I may be blunt. That might not even lose me. This episode amazed me and I am willing to forgive almost any bad thing that comes next because of it.
I love what they did with Lily. I have never seen a kids show treat a mentally disabled character this way and I loved it. The first thing I loved is that Lily tells everyone she's intellectually disabled and nobody bats an eye. I love that because one of the things I noticed about mentally challenged people growing up is that they refused to admit they were slow, because of the stigma attached to it. They were actually ashamed of that aspect of themselves. And considering that is the aspect most people notice first, that is not an inconsiderable chip on their shoulders. Lily stating that as if she's discussing the weather, and everyone listening acting like it is no big deal and doesn't matter, hit me like a ton of bricks for how awesome it is.
What I especially love is that when Lily walks off, none of the other Rangers tell Izzy what a great friend and cousin she is to give Lily the position of coach. See, Lily's actually earned that, and none of the Rangers are treating Izzy like some kind of saint or martyr for having her play such a big role in her life. The fact that Lily is disabled doesn't come up again with the Rangers. It is unimportant and doesn't matter.
The third thing the episode did that I loved is something that will bother some people, but I think people need to think a little better about it. Izzy is unfairly berating Lilly for not coming through for her. On the surface that is an appalling way to treat a disabled person.
But what it also is, is a normal and relatable way to poorly treat a supposedly "normal" person who is your friend and peer. The lesson isn't that Izzy is a monster for speaking to a mentally challenged person that way. It's that she's being a bad friend for speaking to her normal friend that way. The optics are terrible on the surface, but the subtext is majorly healthy for kids to see and absorb.
Some other nonsense happened in the episode that I didn't give a fig about. But the stuff with Lily knocked my socks off and I will almost assuredly be giving the thumbs up to this season, which is not something I've really done since the Mighty Morphin era. We'll see, but they would have to blow things beyond all reason to lose me after that. *****.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "Bot Blog"
It is very difficult to understand why this specific toddler show is SO bad at its job. It's inexplicable. I think Muppet Babies is a bad toddler show too. But I think that as an adult. Toddlers would probably dig it. I think this is a bad toddler show for toddlers. Even if they somehow dug it, its messaging is harmful.
Elephant in the room: The subject matter was all wrong for the show. While I do agree that on some level it is good to get kids to understand you have to be careful what you post on the internet as young as possible, this show is geared to four-year-olds. Literally people who can't read or use a computer. This is not speaking to any experiences they have or are going through. If the show was aimed at kids between the ages of 8-11 that's a perfect lesson to impart. While half the audience is still using sippy cups and is in didies, it makes no sense.
Worse yet, the episode makes it so that Hot Shot isn't mad to force a happy ending instead of Whirl having to face negative consequences for what she did. But you know what? I could have lived with that neutered kiddie moral, as lame and unrealistic as it is. No, what the show does absolutely wrong is have Ratchet say the footage never left the Academy, and basically gives Whirl a do-over. Which is the absolute worst message you can give a kid about the internet. There is no Ratchet policing the real internet, and giving kids free do-overs for posting stupid and harmful things. That's a bad lesson to teach a kid, which is why I hate this show more than I ever could a mediocre show like Muppet Babies. Muppet Babies is obvious and dumb, but despite the lessons being about dumb things handled in dumb ways, the morals taught are actually sound. Rescue Bots Academy always somehow manages to misinform children and teach them the wrong moral. What's especially dangerous and unforgivable about that fact is that the show SHOULD be geared towards protecting kids by teaching them safety tips! While the things they are teaching them are wrong, they are working against the very safety moral that is supposed to be what the franchise is about! I have no idea why parents aren't in conniptions over this show. In its own way, the show is more damaging to kids than Caillou. Caillou may encourage tantrums and bad behavior. But those bad behaviors don't often put the kid's life at risk. And yes, Caillou sucks because it HAS had a few dangerous imitable episodes. But those were actually banned because parents complained. Where are the parents complaining about a show that give their children inaccurate safety tips? Where is the outrage?
Do ypu know what the worst thing about the show having Ratchet "Save the day" is? If he hadn't done that, none of the rest of the episode would have had to have been changed at all. What's wrong with Hotshot being a little embarrassed for awhile, or even being proud of his newfound notoriety? It screws up the entire message and give the kids dangerous, wrong information. For literally no good storytelling reason at all. I and the kids at home could have lived with Hotshot being embarrassed OR happy. Neither one would have changed anything about the show, or changed my opinion about either him or Whirl. So the shows basically destroyed the moral and gave bad and dagerous information to children for no good reason at all. And I'm sorry, that's unforgivable. 0.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "The Icebot Cometh"
Another clear reason to hate the show: The show uses dangerous rescue missions to work out toddler social issues. These are lessons that real rescue workers already know ahead of time, and that includes people in training. Rescues and life and death situations aren't about what Wedge's growth and development should be. They are about saving innocent people. That's it. Wedge's psyche is irrelevant to that. They are about the people being saved, not Wedge. The show using Wedge botching missions as a growth experience for him is the show not understanding how serious rescue missions are, or how seriously the heroes who do them take them. It's actually quite insulting to real life first-responders.
To added insult to injury, Wedge is awarded a trophy at the end for screwing everything up. The Mayor could have simply said, "Good job, Caillou!" and the message would be exactly as harmful and wrong. 0.