Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ye Who Enter Here Review (Spoilers)

Ye Who Enter Here Helps Agents Finally Finds Balance with Penultimate Mid-Season Episode

Spoilers ahead. Go watch, then come back and read.



Agents of SHIELD's penultimate mid-season episode, "...Ye Who Enter Here" goes up against high stakes and delivers. There is much buzz on the internet about the potential tie-ins to the Inhumans on this season of Agents. Tonight's episode, the final episode before the winter finale, really sealed the deal. Raina, the on again, off again friend of Hydra, came into the foray thanks to Patton Oswald's impressive umbrella cloaking technology. (Seriously though, that scene was genuinely funny, impressive on the visuals, and surprising, all things that Agents needs much, much more of.) Skye was beset with the task of "interrogating" Raina in hopes Raina's connection to Skye's father would create an emotional connection. It works and Raina not only gushes about Skye's father, but reveals that.... wait for it.... drumroll please.... KREE TECHNOLOGY is involved. Yep, you heard me right. Agents of SHIELD has gone Kree official. Now there are many things left to fall in to place after this revelation, but its seems 99% sure that the second half of season two will be highly connected to the Inhumans.

Normally, at this point, I would do an episode recap, but considering the Spoiler warning at the top, I'm assuming you've watched the episode. So, instead of a shitty recap (seriously, just go watch the show), I'll go ahead and lay out my analysis.

The Good

OK, what's good about Agents of SHIELD this week? The character development is truly on point. I am really starting to care about all the characters again. And I must say that I think this is the case because the ensemble nature of the show has expanded quite a bit. With so many characters in the mix, I don't feel forced to care about characters that I just wasn't compelled to care about before now. On the flip side, we've watched our core characters long enough now that I'm actually starting to care about them. The newest auxiliary characters, à la Mac, Lance Hunter, Mockingbird (can I really call her auxiliary?) have added a new tier of characters that might just be more interesting than the original crew. With enough history and dynamic between them, it's hard to deny the strong family vibe going on between Coulson, May, Skye, Fitz and Simmons. On the evil end of the spectrum, Ward has really come into his own as a nasty villain. As an antagonist, Ward is easy to hate, and what else could you ask for from a villain? He is far better as a bad guy than he ever was as an agent.

The Bad

The really shitty side of all this is that it's quite clear that Agents is stretching things out. Maybe, just maybe, next week's winter finale will be as good as tonight, but I highly doubt it. It's pretty clear that the show runners are setting up next week for a solid cliffhanger before a long break when we can hope the show picks back up with some Inhuman madness. I'm excited to see what Agent Carter can bring to the Marvel TV pantheon, but at the same time, I don't like it when Agents of SHIELD strings us along. Its pretty much the major exercise of the entire show, stringing us along. This show, like many comic book inspired TV shows, are trying to exercise a careful balance of telling great stories and telling frequent stories. It's something that you'd think serialized storytelling would lend itself toward, but there is always the struggle of budgets that TV just can't keep up like illustrated stories can.

The Be-All and End-All

Agents of SHIELD continues to be a show with immense unrealized potential. The only thing that keeps me coming back for more is that they are slowly, very slowly capitalizing on the latent potential. This week was one of the best. I literally was freaking out when Mac fell down that deep ass after Mockingbird tased the shit out of him. The dynamic between Fitz and Simmons was pretty heartbreaking. The father-daughter dynamic of Skye and Coulson actually has me caring about them. Agent May continues to be badass, even when she is just being impersonated by Hydra Agent 33. Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse are staring to feel like real people with a believable post-divorce, working relationship. (I know a lot of people love their bickering, but I frankly found it obnoxious.) I don't have high hopes for next week's show, but as I find myself saying again and again, I'll keep watching.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Writing on the Wall Review (Spoilers)

The Writing on the Wall Gives Us What We've All Been Waiting On...

So after a week off for the mid-term elections and Marvel's 75th Anniversary special, Agents of SHIELD came back really strong this week. Spoilers ahead!



 

This episode was the end of the "writing" story arc as far as I can tell. After teasing us with the meaning of the alien writing since season 1, Agents of SHIELD actually gave us some answers this week. While there is still much left to be explained about the alien writing, what we did learn did not disappoint. It's pretty important for any ongoing medium that its answers be as exciting and compelling as its mysteries. If the mystery is too good and the answers do live up to the fun of speculation, the show is setting up it's viewers for major disappointment. *cough* Lost *cough* Agents of SHIELD has found a good balance with this story arc. The mystery was compelling, but not so much that we weren't ready for the answer. Now that the writing has turned out to be a map, or a blueprint rather, I think the reveals to come will be just as interesting if not more so than the mystery.

Recap

Let's briefly recap where we're at in Agents of SHIELD and what happened this week on "The Writing on the Wall." We had two major stories playing out in this episode. We saw one group chasing down Ward, while the other group is trying to catch a murdering who is scrawling the alien writing on his victim's bodies. May, Hunter, and Mockingbird are all on Ward's tail, but he continues to be a step ahead of them. He spots Bobbi Morse at the bus station before even boarding the bus with her. Carrying a bag of C4, Ward threatens to blow up everyone on the bus if she tries anything. He escapes and makes his way to a bar where he attempts to rejoin Hydra. Ward continues to elude our agents, but he does give Skye and/or Coulson a "gift" in the form of Hydra agent "Bakshi."

Meanwhile, Coulson, Skye and Simmons are on the case for the murdering who is carving up his victims. This side of the episode was quite satisfying as it totally unfurled the story behind the Tahiti Project. SHIELD has been using the alien blood called GH-325 to save their critically injured agents, including Coulson and later Skye. GH-325 has some serious side effects, making the recipient basically lose their shit completely. In order to save them, SHIELD erased their memories and replaced them. All this because the alien blood was imprinting memories on the agents and their brains couldn't handle two set of memories. After having their brains reformatted, they were giving normal lives without any knowledge of their time at SHIELD. Except for Sebastian Derrick (played by Brian Van Holt). Derrick begins to remember his SHIELD days and continues to root out his old memories after learning that pain would trigger a relapse. Then after remembering everything that happened to him (which was all pretty effed up honestly, WTF SHIELD?) he targets all the other agents who underwent the alien blood transfusion. He wants them to remember as well,  but mostly just succeeds at killing them. This all culminates in a throwdown between Coulson and Derrick. Coulson finally realizes the meaning of the alien writing while choking out Derrick. Overlooking a sculpture by yet another agent from the Tahiti Project, Coulson puts everything together and then the crazy urges just stop. We find out in the end that the writing is a blueprint of a city and that SHIELD has to find it before Hydra.

 Review

While this episode was not as high paced or action packed as some of the past few episodes, it was still very good. Agents of SHIELD feels like it is on the verge of a huge revelation. The buzz all over the internet is that the alien writing is Kree and that the story is all leading toward an Inhuman connection. The city is rumored to be the great refuge of the Inhumans or possibly even Attilan. Personally, I really hope things pan out for the Inhumans coming to SHIELD. This would be a great injection of superhero powers to the TV show. Not to mention, this would be an unprecedented alignment of TV and movie storytelling. We know that Agents of SHIELD has a pivotal place in the MCU after The Winter Soldier, but this development could take that whole type of execution to the next level!



Brett Dalton is doing a great job as the skeezy bad guy creep so far this season. I find his performance to be much more compelling as an antagonist. His fixation on Skye is beyond creepy. (Side note: he kinda looks like a hunkier version of Mac from Always Sunny with a beard) The rest of the cast is also really gelling with the new additions of Hunter, Morse, and 'Mac.' Mac is one of my favorite supporting characters this season, but I feel the newly introduced dynamic of Simmons vs. Mac feels a little forced or just unnecessary. While the storytelling on this show has been elevated quite a bit this season, the set pieces are still dark, drab, and repetitive. I don't think I can stand to see another scene in the ominous, laser-beam-shielded prison cell in the basement. Even after letting Ward go, we end up back in that room again and again.

I still have to rank Agents of SHIELD somewhere on the lower end of comic book adaptations on TV, but the show is staying good. I'll definitely be watching next week.

GOTHAM: Penguin's Umbrella

Love Conquers All !

This week's episode is a bit twisty turny. Not a lot of good cop, bad cop crime solving, however it did bring the heat on Jim Gordon after Falcone realizes Penguin is still alive terroizing the city. In typical Falcone fashion, he has another man do his dirty work for him. This man is named Victor Zsasz who is a Batman character (serial killer) who prefers to use a blade, and then carves a tally mark on his body after each kill. Zsasz believes that life is pointless, and that he's freeing his victims from a meaningless existence by killing them. When this character came on screen tonight I was hoping he would live to see another episode and that happened indeed. Finally, a villain that doesn't die at the end.



Last week, Oswald Cobblepot revealed that he’s still alive, and this week, predictably, all hell breaks loose in Gotham. Harvey Bullock feels betrayed, Don Falcone realizes he’s been duped, and Fish Mooney sees blood. Everybody, it seems, wants Jim Gordon and Penguin dead, and no one in the Gotham Police Department has the balls to stand up to Don Falcone’s assassin when he shows up at Police Headquarters looking for Gordon’s head.  Gordon manages to buy himself a little time and gets his girlfriend Barbara out of town, but quickly winds up in the crosshairs between the Maroni and Falcone gangs. Penguin, meanwhile, manages to slither out of danger by playing up his value to Don Maroni.  When Falcone’s gang hijacks a truck full of cash from Maroni’s men, Penguin manages to manipulate Maroni into hitting back hard and killing everyone at Falcone’s drug warehouse (including Fish Mooney’s Russian-mob boyfriend.)

Meanwhile, Gordon hatches a bold plan to arrest the Mayor and Falcone for conspiracy in the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and nearly gets away with it. But Barbara foolishly returned to Gotham to plead for her boyfriend’s life, and Falcone holds her hostage to force Gordon to give up his plan. Throughout all this, Don Falcone has been acting oddly; as Fish Mooney observes, it’s almost like he knows something no one else knows.  At the end of the episode, we learn what that is: Falcone flipped Penguin into being his snitch, and Penguin let Falcone know that Fish and her Russian lover were plotting a takeover. When all the dust has cleared, Don Falcone remains in charge of the city, his biggest rival has been eliminated, and Don Maroni’s none the wiser that his right hand man is actually working for his arch enemy.



There’s one short scene where Gordon stops at Wayne Manor to say goodbye in case Falcone’s men get him, and again David Mazouz impresses as  the young Bruce Wayne. Even Sean Pertwee’s non-traditional Alfred Pennyworth is starting to grow on me. So with Oswald Penguin Cobblepot embedded with the Maroni mob (but secretly working for Don Falcone,) the stage is set for more mischief. Meanwhile, it’s all about real estate and land deals and whatever’s happening at Arkham Asylum, and that’s where we’ll be headed next week.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. A Fractured House Review (Spoilers)

Mockingbird Steps In to Step Up the Female Badass-ery on Agents of SHIELD: A Fractured House

As usual with my reviews, there will be spoilers ahead. Please stop now if you haven't watched this episode yet.



Agents of SHIELD continues to be good, not great, but still better than ever before. This week we saw Hydra lead an attack on the United Nations. The trouble is that they are impersonating SHIELD. So, all the nations of the world quickly jump on the hate train to put SHIELD down, led by Senator Christian Ward (Tim McKay), brother to former Agent turned Hydra, Grant Ward (Brett Dalton). Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to review last week's episode "A Hen in the Wolf House" for the début of Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki). But nonetheless, I have been watching with excitement as Bobbi Morse has quickly become a leading character. At the same time, so has Lance Hunter (Nick Blood)... Lance is a decent character, but he just seems like the bad boy replacement for Ward. He is a bit two-dimensional, constantly playing up his role as the mercenary whose only allegiance is to money. Add in the obnoxious grudge match dynamic between Bobbi and Lance and I pretty much have no desire to watch his character. He did slightly redeem himself at the end, busting in on Hydra with a six-pack as if everything is cool.

In the world of the first season cast, we see Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) still struggling to deal with his brain damage. Things have gotten slightly more complicated since Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) has arrived back at the SHIELD HQ. Fitz feels that Simmons abandoned him when he needed her most.  He tries to open up to her and she only scoffs and walks away. Mack, ironically played by Henry Simmons, has become the new Simmons in the Fitz-Simmons duo. Over the last few episodes, Mack has made an effort to befriend Fitz and help him deal with fallout from his brain damage. He has been a true friend. Simmons is confronted by Mack and he tries to set her straight. It's a pretty touching scene where Mack tells Simmons he never knew the Fitz she knew, and this new guy is kinda weird, but he likes him. I enjoy the dynamic between the new Fitz-Simmons a bit more than I enjoy watching the old Fitz-Simmons work through their issues. I appreciate that the show runners wanted to set the stakes high and actually let us see a character (Fitz) truly get hurt, but the fallout is starting to drag on a bit. There was a good twist when we first realized that Fitz was imagining that Simmons was there. But then they let Fitz work through that and start to open up to his teammates. I think it's time to let the brain damage run its course and make Fitz useful or bench him.




The Skye/Ward mind fuck games continue in the basement as Skye (Chloe Bennett) is tasked with getting any intel on Ward's brother Christian. Ward is just truly creepy this season. Not only does everything about him feel skeezy, but he is literally a creep at this point. He uses his every interaction with Skye to try to woo her back to him, saying weird ex-boyfriend shit like, "I'll never lie to you." Look, dude, you were a covert Hydra operative. I don't think that line is going to fly, like EVER. Director Coulson (Clark Gregg) finally tells him as much after striking a deal with Ward's brother. Sen. Christian Ward gets custody of his brother in exchange for calling the nations of the world off SHIELD's back. Seems legit.... NOT. How do you go from being attacked by supposed SHIELD agents one day to a week later being like "ok, they're cool." You don't. I don't think this episode weighed the gravity of this particular plot point very well.



Speaking of shitty plot points, we later see Bobbi Morse going "undercover" back into the confines of a Hydra held science lab. She is tasked with getting her hands on the latest Hydra weapon, which is something like a throwing star that causes your body to disintegrate once it hits you. She gets into the lab no problem and begins talking to Toshiro Mori, who created the weapons... in Japanese. Surprise! Oh and another surprise, Bobbi kisses the dude. How convenient since your ex-husband is watching this whole thing. Then, the two settle down for tea and decide to start talking in English. This whole scene felt forced and stupid. Bobbi waits all of three minutes before she tries to get Mori to give her some weapons. Sorry, Adrianne Palicki is smoking hot as Mockingbird, but I don't believe for a second any dude with some wits about him would fall for this. And it seems Mori doesn't as a huge fight ensues and the Agents come out on top.

The episode wraps up with a big Hydra/SHIELD throw down in a SHIELD safe house in Belgium. This scene is pretty awesome. We get to see May and Bobbi kicking a lot of ass, but Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) steals the show again here with her fight against Marcus Scarlotti, Whiplash in Marvel comics. Scarlotti (Falk Hentschel) wields a chain with a knife on the end for some pretty exciting fight choreography. In the end, the Agents defeat Hydra, but only after they lose 6 of their own red shirt, faceless agents. General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) seems to be coming around to SHIELD, offering a handshake and condolences to Agent May at the scene of the fight.

One last stinger scene teases more mystery surrounding the alien writing that is clearly the central theme of this season. A new and unknown character (Brian Van Holt) shows up at a tattoo parlor and removes his shirt to reveal the alien writing all over his torso. I'm sure we'll be learning more about this guy next week.

Overall, A Fractured House demonstrates how this show is still on the come up. The fight scenes, the character development, and the choice of new Marvel c-listers added to the cast are helping to make this show more of what comic book fans want. The failings of this show could be summed up in criticism any bad comic book would receive. Stop talking so much. I'm tired of watching guys in suits standing around giving big speeches about how SHIELD isn't going to let this or that happen. It's like who wants to read a comic book with hundreds of speech bubbles all over the page? Most people don't. Not because we don't like to read, but because that is not what the medium is best suited for. You have to strike the right balance between showing and telling. I think Agents of SHIELD still has some work to do to get there. I only say this because I find myself waiting for the episode to be over. Whereas with The Flash and even Gotham, I'm pretty hooked until the end of the episode. Agents of SHIELD has made good on its second chance, bouncing back from a lackluster season one and winning back critics and fans. Now it's time to see if they can kick that same process up a notch to make this show something GREAT.

GOTHAM: Spirit of the Goat

Holy Ghost on a Bicycle !

This week's episode of Gotham opens 10 years back with the boy scout of a police officer, Harvey Bullock, hunting down a serial killer named Randall Milky, aka "Spirit of the Goat". Before Bullock takes him down, the Spirit of the Goat shoots his partner Det. Dicks. I think the reason Bullock is a rusty angry cop is all laid out in this opening scene. Cutting back to the present, Nygma and Bullock are investigating a murder that strikes back dark memories of the Goat hanging girls as a sacrifice. The girl that was murdered that night was named Amanda Hastings and Bullock takes it upon himself to find her father to ask questions.



Barbara is back into the show, still nagging at Jim Gordon to tell her everything that he knows about crime, murderers and everything that an officer of the law needs to keep private. Barbara (my least favorite character) gets Jim to agree with her and promise to be more open with her about what goes on at work. Barbara then goes and finds Montoya trying to get her to back off Jim, saying that she will tell Montoya everything Jim tells her. Montoya not wanting to have anything to do with Barbara's arrangements, admits to Barbara there's a warrant for Jim Gordon's arrest. Meanwhile, my favorite part of this episode is there is a whole lot of riddles from Edward Nygma as we find out about his crush on a girl named Kringle. As Nygma researches the Spirit of the Goat case, he takes it upon himself to make an impression on Kringle by organizing her files lateral like. Kringle gets frustrated and tells him to take a hike. Although he doesn't get the lady, we do notice a black question mark on Nygma's white coffee cup. Gotham is still doing a great job planting the easter egg like clues on their characters.



The Penguin takes a quick break from his conniving to visit his mother.  Back at the nest, Oswald lets his mother dote on him as he claims that he will someday rule Gotham. He feels so good about it, he even lets his Mom give him a sponge bath. Forget the Spirit of the Goat—Oswald and his Mother’s relationship are by far the creepiest part of tonight’s episode. In the next scene we learn Det. Dicks now lives in a retirement home, bound to a wheelchair and a grudge against Bullock. Bullock and Dicks surmise that Milky could not have been the only Goat killer, and that he was just one member in a larger conspiracy. Bullock and Gordon find the new Goat Killer and arrest him. As they are watching the creep in the interrogation room, Bullock notices his hand twitch real fast and starts to put the pieces together, Robert Hastings, who was the father of Amanda Hastings, sees a female psychiatrist to help cope with his daughters death. As Bullock is questioning the psychiatrist, he notices Mr. Hastings hand start to twitch really fast. The psychiatrist admitted being the Spirit of the Goat and using the Hastings' maintenance crew as means of murder. Hypnotized Mr. Hastings attacks Bullock while the psychiatrist tries to escape. Bullock knocks out Mr. Hastings and shoots the psychiatrist in the back of the leg.

While young Bruce Wayne is working late nights, Selina Kyle is still purring around Wayne manor (which since episode one I still don't understand). Back at the GPD, Gordan is cuffed with Montoya and Allen accused of the murder of Cobblepot. As Bullock cuts in and screams Gordon's innocence, enter the Penguin. Walking into the police department Cobblepot looks right at Jim saying "Hello Jim, old friend." Although this was not my favorite episode, I am still convinced that Gotham is taking very small steps in the right direction.

The Flash - Things You Can't Outrun Review (Spoilers)

Things You Can't Outrun i.e. Poison Gas and Emotional Baggage

This week, The Flash returned for its third installment, "Things You Can't Outrun." The title is a not-so-overt nod to our antagonist, The Mist (guest star Anthony Carrigan), as well as our cast of protagonists' emotional baggage. Barry faces off against a new meta-human. (Noticing a pattern here?) Kyle Nimbus was a criminal on death row. While he was literally being executed for his crimes, he went through the meta-human transition. As a result of his exposure to deadly gas during the STAR Labs "accident," he gains superpowers which enable him to become poison gas. And what does a homicidal maniac do with poison gas powers you ask? Revenge? Give this reader a cookie! So, surprise, surprise, the former death row convict is on a mission to kill everyone who put him away, including Barry's father figure, Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin). Joe was the arresting officer on the Nimbus case, so naturally, he becomes the final kill on The Mist's death list. This story also dealt heavily with the fallout from the particle accelerator accident, focusing on Caitlin's (Danielle Panabaker) loss of her fiancé Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell, cousin to the Amell of Arrow fame).

The action in this episode centered around the first super power foil that we've seen on the show so far (don't worry, I'm sure there are plenty more to come). Barry found himself useless to fight The Mist in his gaseous state and nearly dies when Nimbus "gasses"  him for the first time. But thanks to a scene worthy of Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, Caitlin takes a serious needle to Barry's chest to avert certain death. While the super power foil is an overly used trope, it works well on this episode to set up an excellent super-powered battle as the climax. We see The Flash and The Mist pushing the limits of their powers against each other. This is a result of Caitlin and Dr. Well's advice for Barry to push The Mist to exhaust himself. They claim that since gas is the least stable state of matter, it will be very difficult for Nimbus to keep it up. So Barry runs. And The Mist goes all green smoke monster on him for a while. Somehow, even on a TV budget, this fight was really enthralling. In a superhero storyline what else do you want to see more than large volumes of super powers? Nothing, I tell you. NOTHING!



At the onset of the last fight, Nimbus gasses Joe and for a minute there, I thought they might actually let him die. NOPE! The Flash delivers the one and only dose of "poison gas antidote" just in the nick of time to save Det. West. After pushing Nimbus to stay gaseous for sometime, The Mist runs out of steam leaving himself open for a concussion-inducing slug from The Flash. So, what does one do with a meta-human after besting him in physical combat you ask? Good question! This week's meta-human villain opened up a new aspect to the operations of STAR Labs. To incarcerate The Mist (and presumably a number of future baddies to come), STAR Labs opts to turn their ruined particle accelerator into a subterranean high-tech version of Arkham Asylum. A super villain prison buried underneath STAR Labs, what could go wrong? Meanwhile, Cisco (Carlos Valdes) continued to please as the comic book fan analogue, giving Nimbus his super-villain namesake without missing a beat.

All of our protagonist characters (except for the two-dimensional Iris and Eddie) faced the darkness in their past head on in this episode. Joe finally owns up to the fact that Barry's father has been wrongfully accused and incarcerated for 14 years. Caitlin and Cisco deal with what seems to be a mild case of PTSD from the night of the accident at STAR Labs. Barry continues to wrestle with the murder of his mother. And later in the episode we see Barry's father commiserate with him for the first time. The character development here is thoughtful and heartfelt, but beginning to wear thin. The Flash has gotten us to care about the characters, so hopefully in episode four and beyond we will see the balance shift to less character development. It's time to let some of the sob stories go to the back burner or they may begin to feel forced or tired. The Flash has proven to have a handle on its pacing so far, but the emotional back stories are the first sign of stumbling, although a minor one. With Arrow team-ups coming just around the bend, a shift to more action-based and world-building storylines will be a welcome injection of excitement after this week's episode.

The Flash is riding high as The CW just order an additional nine episodes bring the show's first season to a full 22 episodes. The Flash airs Tuesday Nights on The CW.

Side notes:

Did anyone else notice the 52 placards on the walls at STAR Labs this week?

Also, Dr. Wells continues to increase the sci-fi creepy factor week after week.

What do you think it's like to crop dust someone as the Flash? Do you think they would even smell your fart? Or do you just crop dust 3 square miles of the city because you can cover so much ground with a single SPD?

GOTHAM: Viper

Do Not Breathe The Green Pollution!

GOTHAM has finally got a good steady fight in process. Opening the show is Alfred being frustrated at young Bruce for spending so much time on files and folders to try and solve his parents murder. Our villain this week is a man that has a couple of screws loose. Carrying around a small vile of green liquid that says "Breath Me." Once this green liquid is inhaled it causes you to lose your mind and become super strong and crazy. Stan Topolski is a super smart scientist, an ex employer at Welzyne labs. Edward Nigma (the Riddler) cracks the case on Viper, stating that the drug uses DNA and breaks down calcium in your body causing you to go insane, and soon after your skeleton crumbles and you suffocate to death. (Talk about a bad trip).



Maroni finds out about The Penguin's and Gordon's secret and is now using the Penguin as bait towards Falcone. Maroni and Jim Gordon speaking to each other was interesting because the story he had to tell had to match up with the Penguins to see if he was telling the truth. Maroni takes out a hit on a casino owned by Falcone with the help of Penguin. Maroni is bringing Penguin closer and closer into his mob.



Fish Mooney is still training Liza as her weapon towards Falcone by teaching her how to speak sexy and like the music Falcone does. Mooney is having a romance with a Russian mob leader that Falcone knows nothing about. This was interesting because as a viewer I am unsure how serious that romance is or if she is just sneaking her way more into being the Queen of Gotham. At the end of the episode Liza is listening to the song getting Falcone interested as they sit and listen to the song together. Liza and Falcone's relationship is going to be fun to watch as the series goes on.

Gordon and Harvey are working better as a team and I like what the writers are doing putting in fun scenes between the two. For example, the two buying hamburgers on the street and having fun conversations. With the drug named Viper, Batman fans can't help to think about Bane with the Venom injection. Stan tries poisoning the Bruce Wayne foundation at a dinner part but is quickly shot down by Gordon and Harvey.

This episode, Gotham really started to gel. The lack of Barbara was a plus. But the character development of Gordon and Harvey is finally starting work. The impending gang war is heating up and actually starting to have some interesting pieces in play. A young Bruce finally came out of his shell (or his manor rather) and became worth watching for the first time. And Alfred getting on board with Bruce at the end of the episode was pretty priceless.

 

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Face My Enemies Review

Episode 4 of Season 2, "Face My Enemies" Proves This Show Can Be Good

Spoilers ahead. Stop now if you haven't watched yet!

My Tuesday afternoons are getting a bit difficult for decision making. Before the Fall TV season began, I would just turn on Chopped re-runs and zone out. But with Agents of SHIELD and The Flash both airing at the same time in my market, I'm having a hard time choosing what to watch. After The Flash premiered, I was hooked. I thought, "Sorry, Marvel, but DC wins this one." Then I watch episode 4 of Agents and I almost changed my mind... (not quite though).



This week's episode brought A LOT of ass whooping, and it was truly great. Director Coulson has been drawing crazy alien (presumed Kree) writings. We don't know why he is doing this, but apparently he can't help himself. At the top of the episode we learn of a prized painting that was the one remaining item that survived a burning church. The painting also happens to have this alien writing on the back. So, of course, the Agents of SHIELD are on a mission to scoop it. A nice little spy caper kicks off the first part of the episode. The team works together to get Coulson and May access to a fancy charity event where the painting is being auctioned. They run into General Talbot pretty quickly, blowing their cover. And then they find out that he's not actually Garrett at all, but a Hydra stand-in. Here's where the "face" my enemies part comes into play. The Hydra agents have some unexplained tech that they stick to their face and take on the identities of Garrett and later Agent May. The special effects are pretty decent this episode. Especially the climatic fight scene between May and her doppelganger. Who am I kidding, that shit was AWESOME. This fight scene has really raised the bar for this show. As you might guess, after a lot of ass kicking, the Agents recover the painting and some team bonding ensues in the final piece of the episode. Fitz, who has been struggling with brain damage and seeing hallucinations of Simmons, finally comes around and has a beer with the guys. It was pretty touching.

The character development on Agents has really come a long way. I'm actually starting to care about these characters as people. And with special effects and fight choreography that went into this episode, Agents of SHIELD is looking a real winner for the first time. I have to admit, The Flash will get my viewership in Tuesday nights, but I'm going to be damn sure to watch Agents on Demand as soon as possible on Wednesday.

GOTHAM Arkham Review

War Is Just Politicians By Other Means

Gotham picks up right where it left off from last weeks episode with Cobblepot at the front door step of Jim and Barbara's home. Jim decides not to offer Cobblepot a drink and it cuts quickly to the back allies of Gotham. Jim has to do everything in his power to keep calm knowing that if Falcone sees the two together, it will be the end of their lives. After convincing Jim that he is a good man and that there is going to be a war coming to Gotham, Cobblepot walks off unharmed. Cutting to our villain for the week, we see a man approach two councilmen in the street. He tells them he is a supporter of their work and asked them to take look into this flute like scope. One councilman looks into the object and it quickly shoots a spike out, killing the councilman. The villain is a new character named Gladwell that was hired to take out the Councilman who are in the pockets of Falcone and Maroni.



Every Batman fan geeks out about Arkham, not just because it is the home of our favorite villains in Gotham, but because we don't know how it came to be... until this episode. Gotham did a great job with keeping the Arkham sign and gates old and creepy much like in the comics. Respect. The focus of the episode is, naturally, what to do with the Arkham section of Gotham. Falcone wants to build low-cost housing and retrofit the asylum into a state-of-the-art mental health facility. Incidentally, this was what the Waynes had been working towards. Maroni wants to use it as a dump. It is a huge chunk of property, and would be a huge win for whichever gang gets the bid.

Back to our creepy friend Oswald, he is gaining trust in the Maroni organization. He stages a robbery in the restaurant he works in, which is owned by Maroni. The robbers kill Lou (restaurant manager) and steal one of two sacks of money Maroni’s men are counting in the back room. Oswald sets it up so that Maroni’s goons find him hiding in the refrigerator, clutching the remaining sack of money. Maroni is so grateful he promotes Oswald to restaurant manager.



Fish auditions a couple of stage singers for her club, but really wants them as some kind of secret weapon, the details of which she does not elaborate on. She can’t decide between the two, so she lets them fight it out. Liza is the winner. And Barbara finally comes clean to Jim the relationship she had with Montoya. He is pissed, but not about the lesbianism; but because she kept the relationship a secret for so long. She, in turn, is pissed that he won’t be honest with her about who Oswald is. “Let me in or let me go,” she implores. Jim says nothing so I assume they are broken up (at least temporarily). Finally, Bruce, having nightmare about his parents death, starts to go through their old files, thinking that their murders are related to the war brewing over Arkham.

Jim cracks the case and knows that the next target for Gladwell's killing is the Mayor. Gladwell is then shot down by Jim and Bullock in the Mayor's house. Jim and Bullock are working better as a team but still clash from time to time. Oswald Cobblepot ends the episode by going to the robbers house and thanking them with a poisoned cannoli.

The Flash Fastest Man Alive Review - Spoilers

Fastest Man Alive Keeps Flash on Hot Streak

First up, don't read if you haven't watched the episode yet! Spoilers ahead as I rehash the entire episode 2 of The Flash, "Fastest Man Alive" in this review.



Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) returns for another mega dose of Flash madness this week. This show has been particularly enjoyable because the writers really didn't hold back with any of the superhero goodness on this show. All within the pilot episode we had Barry Allen make a full transition into The Flash. This week picks up right where it left off with Barry zooming around the city, but also learning some of his limitations for the first time. Apparently, Barry is going to have to keep up his blood glucose level if he wants to keep moving at the speed of light. This seemed a little silly to me, only because I really hope we don't have to see The Flash taking snack breaks in between fight scenes. It makes sense that the writers had to set some limitations for Barry. I truly just hope they don't use that whole plot device in all the terrible ways I can imagine.

That little caveat aside, I think the writers for this show are doing an EXCELLENT job. The pacing, the dialogue, the characters set-ups and dynamics are all very well written and more importantly believable. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the relationship between Barry and his father figure sit-in Joe (Jesse L. Martin). The story breaks the mold of classic TV devices with Joe learning about Barry's abilities in the very first episode. While we do get the cat and mouse game of Barry hiding his superhero identity from Joe's daughter Iris (more on that later), Joe and Barry get to be real with each other. By putting the whole superhero identity question out of the equation here, I think the writers have created beaucoup opportunities for realistic, human interactions between the characters. And these are opportunities they really capitalized on in episode two. We see Joe and Barry evolve from a place of understanding in episode one to a place of heated conflict and finally to a new, deeper understanding and support for each other. For review, in the pilot episode, we saw Joe break down at the end of the episode and admit he was wrong. He tells Barry that he believes him, about everything. When watching this, I thought, "My God, this is great! Has any show ever done this before?" It's like the writers said "Fuck it" to playing games and decided to just get down to brass tax. Picking up that dynamic in episode two, we see Joe develop a more protective perspective on Barry. Joe and Barry share many different dynamics as father and son and then co-workers. Things get really emotional when Joe confronts Barry at Star Labs. He tries to tell Barry that even though he's fast, that's not enough. But Barry doesn't hesitate to shut him down and give him a taste of "you can't stop me" mixed with a nasty "you aren't my father" tirade. At this point, Joe leaves, hurt and The Flash continues his crime fighting.



Enough on the mushy stuff for now, let's get to the action. This episode we see The Flash face off against Multiplex or Captain Clone as Cisco (Carlos Valdes), our comic book reader analogue, initially names him. The overall story arc with Danton Black aka Multiplex (guest star Michael Christopher Smith) is pretty cut and dry. Danton is yet another of many more meta-humans at play in this universe. The whole gist of Danton's main malfunction is that he was a scientist trying to save his wife and then his boss stole his research and fired him. His wife died, and thus: revenge. You get it. Danton gains his powers the same way Barry did. He was doing research on his organ cloning project with the lightning bolt struck and he was instilled with the ability to duplicate himself. While I'm ready to laud praise on the writers for a lot of things about this show, I think this story arc was pretty vanilla. Barry faces off with Danton three separate times, the last of which is the most epic.

The episode opens with Barry's first meet with Multiplex, which is just a chance encounter. Barry saves a security officer's life, but no further conflict ensues. After Joe and Barry have their little father/son tiff, Barry gains the upper hand in their argument by conveniently saving Joe at the last minute in the second encounter with Multiplex. BUT Barry then proceeds to have his ass handed to him by several of Danton's clones and has to high-tail it to survive.

The last fight between Danton and The Flash really ups the ante. Multiplex basically clones himself hundreds of times in the climax of the episode and Barry finds himself overwhelmed and unable to go on. Luckily by now Joe has come around to supporting Barry's superhero endeavors (after having his ass saved). Joe and the rest of the STAR Labs pep team cheer Barry on and within less than a minute Barry's all like, "OK, I got this!" And then we see a scene that I'm pretty sure was plucked right out of the Matrix. A super fast guy whoops hundred of the same guy's ass and manages to take out the prime. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), the mother hen of the STAR Labs crew, tells Barry to find the "prime" by looking for evidence of stress. Barry is able to spot a single drop of sweat on the guy's brow and BOOM he takes them all out. I think there are probably a hundred better ways they could have shown this guy showing evidence of stress than a single CGI drop of sweat, but I digress.

All things considered, this scene was a bit predictable, but the special effects on this show continue to impress. I was blown away with the effects on pilot episode, but I had to keep reminding myself, "this is the pilot, they're going to go big here." (The LOST pilot, anyone?) But Fastest Man Alive proved that the effects are a crucial part of the show and that the show runners aren't skimping on anything.

There are many other things going on in this episode that I will only touch on briefly. With the meta-human conflicts behind them, Joe and Barry reunite in an even bigger way this episode. Joe earlier in the episode discovered Barry's secret wall of news clippings about his father. Joe instead of busting him out, tells him that he will help him catch him. And in other developments, we see a rivalry of sorts arise between Simon Stagg (guest star William Sadler) and Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanagh). The rivalry is short-lived as Dr. Wells shanks Simon in the gut during the last scene of the episode. Dr. Wells continues to increase his creepiness with his on-again off-again paraplegia and knowledge of the future.

Overall, I really love The Flash. I think this show is possibly the most successful superhero franchise conversion to the small screen. I'm still watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D with high hopes, but my Tuesday nights go to The Flash.

Side observations:

I'm not loving the Barry/Iris relationship dynamic. Barry loves her, but he's totally in the friendzone. Then he has to keep the secret that Iris is dating her dad's partner... barf. Either way I just don't find their relationship as believable as Joe and Barry.

Cisco might be my favorite character on this show with his constant pseudo-forth wall breaking commentary. His character is a great way to do fan service without cheesing the show up.

 

Gotham: "The Balloonman" Review

The Balloonman, the Vigilante Gotham Neither Needs Nor Deserves...

Just when I was getting excited about the great episode "Selina Kyle," this weeks episode of Gotham "The Balloonman" took a small step back. Opening up with a stick/sword fight between Alfred and young Bruce, the two seem to be having a heated battle until Bruce loses his temper. To me, this is the beginning of Alfred starting his training, really letting Bruce show his attitude and emotion. With Selina Kyle keeping her word on helping Jim Gordon crack the snatchers case, she makes a cat like getaway, un-handcuffing herself from a ladder while Jim was looking for evidence. Not to mention with a pen she stole from Harvey to crack the lock. All of this is good character development.



The idea of a vigilante tying up crooked cops, twisted priests and evil politicians to weather balloons was a ghoulish take on The Balloonman. It was a new take on killing someone off by letting them float up into the air, letting them think about what they have done and once the helium gets cold the balloon pops dropping them to their deaths. Harvey does what the bad cop does best to crack the case by sweet talking hookers, beats up a snitch and eats free street cart food. However, detectives Allen and Montoya get word from Fish that Jim Gordon might have murdered Cobblepot. Cobblepot is alive and well becoming creepier and creepier by killing people for weird strange reasons, like for shoes to get a job at a restaurant.



Here is where the episode gets interesting. Barbara Gordon (Jim's Wife) and detective Montoya have been having this secret between each other. As Montoya tells Barb about her suspecions of Jim's murdering Cobblepot ,making it sound like he is working for Falcone, she say's she can't stand seeing her with this man. Montoya goes in for a kiss and we finally without a doubt realize there is a love story going on between these two . Depending on what comics you have read, you know Barb was either shot and paralyzed by the Joker or the mother of Batgirl. This story for me is making wonder where they are going to take this.

Gotham is doing a fantastic job on showing Batman fans little hidden eggs in each episode-like a mask reminiscent of Professor Pyg and a guy named Lamont killing a guy named Cranston (Lamont Cranston was The Shadow). With the episode winding down and Jim and Harvey capturing The Balloonman, Jim vents to Barbara about how Gotham is a sick and twisted place (I typed that better than the actual dialogue because Jim and Barbs dialogue together needs some work). The apartment door starts knocking and as Barbara answers the door, we see Cobblepot saying hello to Jim Gordon.

Writer Blocks - Twin Peaks and the World of David Lynch

“Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They’re huge and abstract. And they’re very beautiful.”- David Lynch, Catching the Big Fish  

David Lynch was the first film maker whose work I sought out.  Of course I was familiar with Lucas and Spielberg and was starting to appreciate Coppola and Scorsese, but there was something about Lynch’s visual style that made me crave more.  And my introduction to Lynch was in April of 1990 - the pilot episode of Twin Peaks.



No other television show captured my imagination like Twin Peaks.  The mystery of Who Killed Laura Palmer?, the mystical and magical subplots, the quirky characters, and the “damn good coffee” all added up to an immersive viewing experience I have sought to emulate in my own writing since I was 14.  The first comic book script I ever wrote was an overt homage to my fascination with Twin Peaks, and I would often lie on my floor staring at a ceiling fan, a motif throughout the show, for inspiration.

Then there was the Red Room and the Black Lodge.  I lack the capacity to do this justice, so here’s a picture:



Once I was fully immersed into Lynch-land, I began to watch his films. The opening scene of Blue Velvet, Kyle MacLachlan finding an ant covered ear in a field of green grass, is one of the best “hooks” I have ever seen, but it was Wild at Heart, or as I call it “Elvis Goes to Oz”, that opened my eyes to what can be done in film, and by default comic books.  The straight forward narrative of two lovers on the run from a domineering mother, coupled with the pure weirdness that is Lynch imagery, forced me to realize that there are other ways to show, rather than tell, what a character was feeling.

That’s why it won Best Picture and Cannes.



The news of Twin Peaks return came at the perfect point of synchronicity.  As Special Agent Dale Cooper said:

"When two separate events occur simultaneously pertaining to the same object of inquiry we must always pay strict attention."  

Not only have I been re-watching the series, but I am also reading David Lynch’s book on meditation and creativity, Catching the Big Fish.



In this wonderful book, which I cannot recommend enough to anyone interested in expanding their creative consciousness, Lynch discusses the “ongoing narrative”, which he applied to Twin Peaks but can also apply to comic books, some of the longest ongoing narratives in our culture.  He believes the ongoing narrative, with its almost infinite timeline, allows the artist can go deeper in their exploration of character, and that is what he and Mark Frost will do in 2016 when we return to a town in the Pacific Northwest called Twin Peaks.

Next week – back to our regularly scheduled blog with Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Volume 1

Gotham: Selina Kyle

With the episode named Selina Kyle, we assumed that we would be getting a catwoman back story. Julie Newmar was a great catwoman in the 1960's television series Batman however the new actress Camren Bicondova transforms an edgy troubled young girl from the streets into the feline villain us Batman fans enjoy.



Ten minutes watching this episode was more pleasant than the first episode pilot, however I am now just looking at the pilot as a good plot/character introduction. Opening into the dark and rainy streets of Gotham we see Selina Kyle who refers to herself as "Cat". With Cat and her street friends around a burning barrel of trash, a bus pulls up with our villains named Patti and Doug. They call themselves "Gotham Homeless Street Shelter." After feeding the kids with lies on what they can offer the children, Patti then starts stabbing the kids with a pen laced with a knock out drug called ATP. Selina making the escape, the rest of the kids get captured.

Cutting to Wayne manor, we see young Bruce Wayne sitting by a candle flame slowly putting his hand on top of the candle causing his hand to burn. Alfred then walks in and sees what Bruce is doing and gets highly frustrated. What I mean by that is he yelled at Bruce then brought it in for a hug, tough love from Alfred. Later in the episode we see Bruce drawing a dark picture, listening to heavy metal and finding out that he has been cutting himself. Later in the episode he explains to Gordon that he is training himself. Confused by this I just assumed he is already trying to find a way to seek justice and find revenge for his parents murder. Falcone and Mooney are still in the battle for Gotham, in this episode Falcone sends a face to face message to Mooney by having his men rough up one of Mooney's boy toys. This scene was excellent in the fact that Falcone is not messing around nor is he the type to be messed with.



Gordon and Harvey are still playing their good cop bad cop show, trying to crack the case of the street kid snatchers. With Doug and Patti hijacking a bus that was suppose to transport the street kids to juvenile hall, the two mention that their leader "Doll Maker" will be pleased with their accomplishment. This makes me wonder if we will see the villain Doll Maker in the TV show? This villain was a very dark and disturbed character that used the skin and limbs from his victims to make dolls. Speaking of dark and disturbed, Oswald (Penguin)  has made a friend by capturing him, killing his friend with a beer bottle, taking him hostage and calling his mom for a bounty. Also, we do get to see Oswald's mother who is just as creepy as he is.

Gotham is still doing a great job in planting hidden facts about the character's back stories. For example Selina Kyle tells another foster kid the best way to take down a prey is to scratch out their eyes (seems like something a crazy cat would do). I am so relieved that the show is picking up in dialogue and cinematography, maybe someone over at DC or Fox read my post? Please let me know your thoughts on the show or your opinion on where the show might be going.

 

GOTHAM "Pilot"

If you are expecting great Batman writing from Frank Miller or cinematic directing from Christopher Nolan, the new television show Gotham may not be the show for you. With that said if you are however a Batman fan like myself, you tuned into watch.



Gotham is the story before Bruce Wayne becoming the caped crusader. Opening the show with panning shots of Gotham the show flies off with a more in depth feel of how Bruce Wayne's family was murdered and Jim Gordon was introduced. Selina Kyle aka Catwoman being on top of the building witnessing the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne was an interesting take, why she is purring around Wayne manor in the show is beyond me but I am sure they will get into that later. With Jim Gordon letting young Bruce Wayne know he will find the man that did this terrible tragedy, we are introduced to Alfred Pennyworth, the english butler in the Wayne family. In the show he seems to be a more rustic butler. I was thrown off by this but then I remembered reading Batman: Year One, Alfred took a big part in training young Bruce Wayne since Alfred was ex military so I like the route this is going. From there the show just seems like a good cop bad cop routine (yes I thought of Heath Ledger after typing that) between Jim Gordon and his dirty partner Harvey Bullock. While watching I found in some parts the dialogue felt like terrible one liners you would try on a girl. Keeping in mind this is the first episode pilot and 75% of TV shows start out edgy, however this is Batman and should be taken seriously. Staying on the negative topics, some of the shots used were not very well planned out. A couple shots looked liked extreme close ups used with a GoPro camera and had no purpose.



With my negative criticism aside, the writers did get creative in the character development. With Gordon and Bullock on the case, Gotham Police Department evidence room worker kept spitting out riddles about the bullet and gun used, Bullock then says quiet Nygma, which hints that being Edward Nygma "The Riddler." As Gordon and Bullock continue on we see a little girl enjoying plants named "Ivy" who's dad is framed for the murder of the Wayne's cause the pearl necklace of Martha's was planted into his house. Fish Mooney is a new character that has Oswald Cobblepot as her assistant who we know as "Penguin". Oswald is my favorite character in this because his acting is creepy and haunting yet he does it with class. Keeping to the character, Oswald tells the team of Carmine Falcone (classic character who runs Gotham in a mob fashion) that the pearls were planted. Fish Mooney finding out beats up Oswald causing him to have his classic penguin limp. The show boils down with Bullock making Gordon put a bullet into Oswalds head and having him fall into sea. Bullock wants nothing to do with the Mooney/Falcone battle and thats the reason he makes Gordon do it. Gordon then whispers into Oswalds ear "Don't come back to Gotham," fires a bullet by his head and shoves him into the sea.

Aside from the dialogue needing much work and some of the shots adjusted, this is a great show for comic book lovers or just fans of the Dark Knight. While watching keep your eyes open for hidden pieces that connect with the Batman story. For example, the picture up above and how the bodies are laid out resemble a bat, coincidence?