Monsters of Television

“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 »

“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 »

“You thought I was Kryptonian? Cool.”

Noel is still in Boston for SCMS so, in his stead, I’ll cover Young Justice this week. So, I guess what I’m saying is — I’m sorry?

Not as sorry as the grown-up Justice League, though. I understand that the Justice League is no joke, that there needs to be a governing body of an ever-expanding universe of terrestrial and comparatively near-terrestrial superhumans that Earth’s nations can contact in case of emergency (partially for the convenience of contacting all the greats at once and partially because Wonder Woman’s costume doesn’t really lend to pockets for a mobile). I mean, they have to protect the planet from things like the INjustice League. But does the induction of new members have to look like a bunch of catty country club moms considering the new single-mom in the cul-de-sac? Even Diana seemed like a baby.

Meanwhile, Superboy is on earth dealing with big boy problems like existential worth, raging against the machine, and tangling with Lex Luthor. ALL ON THANKSGIVING. So much for truth, justice, and the American way. Can’t Lex take a break and eat a turkey leg or something?

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“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 »

“You’re truly running circles around me. How will I cope?“

It’s as if the show is reading my reviews and then writing to address my problems with the show, and that the episodes haven’t been done for weeks or months in advance!

“Coldhearted” executes a serviceable episode that shows how generally entertaining the show can be when it narrows its focus and tells a straight-forward story. While I would’ve preferred that focus on someone other than Kid Flash, probably my least favorite of the characters, the character is written strongly enough that he can carry the episode on his own, even if he doesn’t learn too much, or that we don’t learn much about him (except that his favorite breakfast is, amusingly, “heaps of everything”). Read more »

“Billy Batson has the courage of…BILLY BATSON!“

As you may know, I have a pretty checkered history with Young Justice. I find its lack of perspective create a show that is overly generic, and when the show attempts to earn emotional moments, it cannot execute those moments very well (this episode is really no exception to the second point). As with “Targets” before, I rather liked “Misplaced,” but I’ve come to distrust my reaction to episode I like as I’m sure that I’ll get something truly horrible in a week or two.

But before allow myself to get too bogged down in dreading whatever may happen next, let’s talk about why I liked the episode. Read more »

“Stop those delinquents.“

Still with the kind of boringly generic stuff, but this time coupled with head-scratching plotting. Young Justice continues to be an adventure show that does not terribly interested in being much more than that, and I suppose it’s just time I accepted that.

But it’s hard to move out of that mindset. I think my problem with Young Justice boils down to a lack of personality. Say what you will about Teen Titans or Batman: The Brave and the Bold (and you should say good things about both, by the way), but at least they had (using past tense since Brave and the Bold is on its way out to make room for the CGI-styled Beware the Batman) style, verve, and made an attempt to do more than just standard heroes versus villains (with occasional dashes of romance mixed into Teen Titans).

So, if I judge from just that perspective, then I suppose “Revelation” is a fun episode with lots of fighting. But, really, I was just bored and kind of cringed at the less-than-inspired writing for the Joker (and Brent Spiner’s painfully pitchy performance). Read more »

“Try it. I hate monkeys.“

Well, they’re at least steadily moving away from seriously offensive back to blandly generic, I’ll give them that. Sadly, blandly generic is way less interesting to write about, which makes “Alpha Male” just kind of there, with a couple of bright spots thanks to Rob Lowe’s well-executed work with Captain Marvel.

The episode also picks up immediately after the events of “Homefront,” carrying through with the rest of the team reacting to the information about the mole (predictably poorly, petulantly, and unprofessionally) in a decent enough manner, but the show delays any direct development on that front by having the team go to India to investigate some vague attacks on Mayor Hamilton Hill in India.

Did I mention bland? Read more »

“Yes on the Red,  no on the Tornado!“

I don’t have too terrible much to say about “Homefront.”

It was a better episode than last week’s “Terror,” but there isn’t much about “Homefront” that is terribly remarkable either. It’s a pretty standard chase episode with two of the show’s more interesting characters, Robin and Artemis, at the center of it, which gives the episode stakes. As the only two non-super-powered members of the team, they are, as Artemis becomes fixated on, far more at-risk than the others.

But there’s also some a little bit of fleshing out of the characters, and I will say that the episode, at least, does a nice job of giving Artemis some development in a more organic way than what they attempted to do with Superboy last week. And that I can appreciate. Read more »

“Because we know you types are all about sincerity.”

One step forward, two steps back.

“Terrors” is one of those episodes that may have been better suited as a two-parter, especially given all the character beats it would like to address but decides not to so we can have a prison break episode that wasn’t really about a  prison break. Instead, it’s a dullard of an episode with bad writing and uninspired action that leads to it feel painfully generic.

On the upside, Amanda Waller is still The Wall and not The Rail, so I guess I should be thankful for small favors.
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