Monsters of Television

“I was arm wrestling Kevin Sorbo in a Canadian production of…”

Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23 is a painfully misleading title that really only applies to the pilot episode and is pretty much meaningless by the end of the second episode. This isn’t a criticism precisely, as lots of shows grow away from their premise, but the show’s title, like Cougar Town before it, will probably become a barrier in getting an audience to come to it.

And an audience should seek out Apt. 23. It’s not an absurdly funny show, but I find it rather likable, with a strong central performance from Krysten Ritter (who, I admit, I’ve always liked as a performer). It certainly isn’t going to light the sitcom world on fire, and there are little problems with it, but there’s enough in these first two episodes for a show to grow into something very pleasing. Read more »

“He didn’t know it was a state trooper. He just saw a man in a hat pointing a gun at Boyd.”

I fully intended to write about Justified on a week-to-week basis after I mainlined the series just before the season began. For one reason or another, I never got around to writing a post about it (though I think I started one or two). After a few stalled weeks, I simply decided to wait until the season ended and took it as  a whole.

A fair amount of digital ink has already been spilled about this season, and not just in weekly episode reviews. James Poniewozik at TIME, Todd VanDerWerff at the LA Times, and Ryan McGee have all chimed in about the quality of this season, noticeably focusing on the show’s odd qualities and the struggle to reach similar heights in season 2 linked to Margo Martindale’s Mags Bennett.

I think it’s fair to say that this episode allowed the full weight of the season’s thematic heft to land very soundly on us. Not only was the season concerned about filling vacuums and crossing lines, but it  became the paternal side of last season’s maternal emphasis: What does a father mean? Read more »

“Who knew a Martian would be susceptible to a human virus?”
“Um, H.G. Wells?”

Well, we needed a Robin-centric episode before the one-two punch of the season finale kicks off and we learn all about the mole on team (or at least that’s my prediction based on upcoming episode descriptions), and I wish it were a bit stronger, but perhaps this speaks to Robin’s rather immutable nature as an iconic character that the show can’t push him in the more interesting ways it has pushed M’gann, Konner, Artemis, and even Zatanna.

But the episode has little bits of fanservice with the inclusion of Haly’s Circus (the circus Robin belonged to prior to his parents’ death) and the sudden, but always welcomed, appearance of King Faraday (voiced by Clancy Brown!!!). And the central mystery has a rather solid conclusion, even if the overall episode felt a bit scattershot. Read more »

“Do you have a problem with you?”

And so we continue with a “Hasn’t this been done before?” approach to narrative on Green Lantern. I’m not saying this as a knock since this approach, like I said last week, can work just fine and help us think through our characters. Like the crime procedural and its formula, using tired-and-true story formats (in this episode an isolated planet with a group of not what they seem survivors), the pleasure comes from both knowing the narrative arc (though your mileage may vary on this point) and seeing how our characters interact in and with it. Read more »

“I was going to invest in IBM in 1952, but life is full of disappointments.”

This two-parter was a messy, not great thing.

Unsurprisingly at this point, I found “Digital Exploration of Interior Design” to be the stronger of the two episodes, and even that wasn’t a particularly strong episode of the series. “Pillows and Blankets” suffers from its homage to Ken Burns documentaries, not that it is poorly executed (it isn’t), but that it distances the audiences from what should be a very important episode in the story of Troy and Abed. Instead, it’s just a high-concept episode that undercuts the emotional impact of two people who are maturing and growing up and how this affects their relationship. Read more »

“Artemis to Arrow: Look out.”

Thanks again to Nick for covering for me last week. I was sad not to get write about the episode, as I rather liked it and would’ve liked to dig into a bit. That said, Nick did a really nice job considering he hadn’t seen the show before that episode, so I think it all works out.

But now that I’m back in the saddle, let’s see how the show’s recent trend of good episodes holds up with “Insecurity.” For the past few episodes now, arguably even with the Wally-centric episode, we’ve gotten gestures to, it not outright, character development in a show that very much needed it.

Similar to “Coldhearted” (the Wally-centric episode), “Insecurity” doesn’t offer a lot of new stuff (aside from a couple of reveals), and instead serves as a refresher on Artemis’ anxieties about being on the team, and whether or not she belongs in the first place. But there’s some stuff to like in the episode, particularly a really strong performance from Stephanie Lemelin, despite the lack of new ground covered. Read more »

“Yes, we’ll have a nice clear plummet into the pinhole.”

“For future reference, when in my physical form, I prefer not to be pushed into the dirt.”

Apologies for no review last week. Nick didn’t have time to get to it, but I’m glad he managed to tackle last week’s Young Justice for me. As a result, this will be a 2-for-1 post, with thoughts on both “Into the Abyss” and “Heir Apparent.” (Sadly, I have nothing to offer about the DC Nation Short that aired with “Into the Abyss” since I cannot seem to find them online.)

Of the two, “Into the Abyss” is a snappier, more engaging episode than the paint-by-numbers predictability (and lousy action beats) of “Heir Apparent.” Both trade in space opera plots — ship stuck in a black hole and engaging in gladiatorial/knightly combat for the sake of a princess — and that makes it difficult to keep those ideas fresh and interesting for a season viewer.

But seasoned viewer doesn’t necessarily mean me. How often have these two plots been recycled in other shows? Ben 10 or Star Wars: The Clone Wars, for instance? Those are two other space-based shows that I imagine have (or will at some point) do plots rather similar to both of these here with Green Lantern. Did a kid, while watching either of these episodes, say, “Man. They totally copied Ben 10!”

I wonder. Read more »

“We must have missed the memo. Apparently, we’re now Stalin and associates.”

No time, I’m afraid, for a full review this week. Just too much going on, so I’ll do kind of a highlight reel of the episode, blatantly stealing the idea from Todd VanDerWerff’s most recent Archer review.

The struggles at Lockhart & Associates: Really great stuff here as the in-fighting amongst the equity partners is reaching a boiling point, and the battle involved in keeping everyone not only under control, but also from totally rearranging the firm. People shouting and talking over each other is always fun, and it’s even more fun on The Good Wife because of Alan Cumming, Michael Boatman, and Zach Grenier going whole hog in the scenes. Which leads us to…

Diane (and, by extension, Christine Baranski) being pretty much the bestest: Diane’s character has struggled a bit to stay in mix on the show sometimes, but with Will unable to directly help (“Consulting.”) she’s been pushed to the forefront in all sorts of wonderful ways. The calm center of the raging boardroom fights has to be let out in places, whether it be her exasperated sigh as Alicia grabs her before the elevator (I loved that face!) or the decision that she needs a booty call with long-missing Kurt after getting stood up.

I loved all of this because Diane is rich character for the show to mine portrayed by a very talented actress, and the episode delivers a really strong episode for her (it has “Emmy submission” written all over it right now). And I like how it gets Diane a little into the muck here as well, unilaterally approving a bonus (not a full raise) for Alicia over the objections of (at the very least) David Lee. She’s going on a limb to keep Alicia around (even if Julius and Eli agree), using some political capital on a 3rd year associate, and it may not help Alicia’s standing at the firm to be seen as getting help from the managing partners. Read more »

“It just means I have more people to hate.”

“Razer’s Edge” isn’t so much a fresh new episode as it the epilogue to the 2-parter that the show premiered with. We get Razer’s backstory, and Aya is given something to do besides steer the ship. It’s actually not a bad epilogue, but I’m eager to see where the show intends to go from here, now that we’ve established the team (a team without, thankfully, Goggin, or whatever that one-eyed mynock was named).

It’s another episode, like part 2 of “Beware My Power” that says more the show’s potential than it does about the show itself. But like that episode, there are promising signs of a good show here. Read more »

“This is myself! This is who I am!“

So when I wrote last week that I was hoping “Image” would “…push [M’gann] in a good direction” I wasn’t expecting, well, this. The episode, as a whole, is a little uneven, but there’s just so much good in it that I don’t care, and I feel like, for once, the show has had a legitimate breakthrough in terms of character and plotting. It just took 21 episodes.

Of course, now, comes the follow through, and whether the show can properly pay off what it has done in this episode (including set up a potential new team member, however covertly and cleverly). While I’m not sure the show has demonstrated that skill (remember that mole hunt?), the last three episodes have all been decent to good, so I’m feeling cautiously optimistic. Read more »