What I’m Currently Watching #38

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. It is week 38, and today I’ll be giving you my thoughts on Big Mouth, Inhumans, Lucifer, and Star Wars Rebels. Be careful for spoilers! With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀

Big Mouth (Season 1)

So at the request of a mate from work, I decided to give this show a chance and its been an interesting watch. Big Mouth’s very bizarre, crass and overtly sexual, and sometimes you’ll be surprised by what the creators of this show were able to put into this cartoon. The style of humour which focuses on sex-related material has never been my cup of tea as it can sometimes feel juvenile, crude and over-the-top just for the sake of shock value, and while not every joke this show threw at me worked, there was something oddly captivating about this world, cast of characters, storylines and humour that kept me coming back, Big Mouth is surprisingly fun, creative and relatable in a strange and stupid kind of way. What I really liked about this show is the core concept of these main children hitting puberty and transitioning into teenagehood and having these physical manifestations of their hormones contribute to their real-life decisions. While episodes could be treated as singular episodic adventures, the plot points started in certain episodes continue throughout the season with some interesting and hilarious outcomes. It is a simple, smart and creative way of providing a fictional yet realistic way to why teenagers at that age would act in such an erratic, impulsive and bizarre manner. While some of these scenarios could only exist in the realm of fiction, the show presents os many real-life issues when it comes to relationships, friendship, being affected by physical body changes or problematic parent relationships. I could see some of the same anxiety and issues I experienced back in school in some of these situations. Visually the show’s solid, the animation is good, but it is the art that starts out the most. Like the show’s humour and the concept it is a bit odd, most characters have exaggerated body features especially when it comes the big heads and lips. The character designs are a tad simple not that appealing to the eye, however, they certainly are distinctive and if you don’t like it at first you’ll eventually adjust to it after a few episodes. Oh and the cast and characters are all good, but my favourites would be Nick Kroll as the creepy yet entertaining Maurice the Hormone Monster, Jordan Peele as The Ghost of Duke Ellington (he’s so weird and funny) and Maya Rudolph who kills it as the sassy and crazy Connie the Hormone Monstress.

Inhumans (Season 1) “… And Finally: Black Bolt”

And so after 8 weeks, Inhumans has ended its first season with episode 8, and all I can say is wow, what a waste. To talk about the recent episode briefly it ranged from okay to terrible, there were some decent parts here an there, but as a final episode, it left me wanting more. The fact that Gorgon was able to be “cured” of his madness from his resurrection via terrigenesis from having Karnak and Black Bolt talk to him was horrible, I wish it had been an issue that had taken longer to cure. I did enjoy seeing Triton fight some dudes and the final scenes with Black Bolt and Maximus was good, thanks mainly to Anson Mount’s body language and facial expressions, and while Black Bolt sealing his brother away on the moon alone instead of killing him is a plot element I have seen done before, it was one of the better moments in the series. Clearly, those markings on the chair in the throne room means something, but I doubt we’ll see a follow-up to that anytime soon. As for the Inhumans little triumphant moment on Earth where Medusa makes her speak about changing the status quo and making a new life, it felt so unearned and cheap.

As for the show on a whole. Everyone knew it’d be bad especially from the trailers, but it is sad that there weren’t any hidden redeeming qualities for the show beyond what the marketing shared. I thought that the first 3-4 episodes were underwhelming, but had some decent elements and showed promise for something decent. But annoyingly the issues that the show had from the beginning when it comes to bad dialogue, okay to weak action scenes, dull cinematography, basic visual effects and set design, unlikable characters and a painfully basic and unsatisfying story continued right into the end of the season. From the beginning, things are spelt out pretty clearly, the royal family are unlikable protagonists and Maximus is the antagonist who will rise up and overthrow them, and because of the bad writing, you’re on the side of the bad guy. Until later you see he’s a selfish asshole with an inferiority complex who will dispose of anyone who isn’t on his good side, so you want to see the heroes take him down even though seeing them in power wouldn’t rectify the issues that existed when the show started. However, because of their experiences on Earth, they’re changed people which means they’ll be better rulers. And by the end of the show it feels like they’ve learnt some life lessons, however, I don’t feel like these characters should have been like this in the first place. Most of the characters are boring, generic, selfish and cliché, lots of supporting cast members come and go whether they are human sidekicks or Maximus henchmen, none of them stand out in a significant or memorable way, at least not in a good way. The only good characters were Black Bolt and Karnak, the latter I liked because of his ability and character arc, but it was mainly Black Bolt I enjoyed. While his character doesn’t change much from episode 1-8, he has the best scenes, interactions and screen presence, and that’s thanks to Anson Mount who basically carries this show on his shoulders, without him the show would have been so much worse. And Iwan Rheon as Maximus, there was an inkling of a good villain, a tragic one that would have worked, but he was given such terrible material to work with that he became more of a nuisance than an engaging character. So after this, I doubt Inhumans will be back for another season unless it was extremely overhauled or rebooted, and as it stands while Iron Fist pissed me off with how boring it was, this show stands right next to it as an example of how to waste such good source material and turn it into a disappointing and meandering mess.

Lucifer (Season 3) “Off the Record“

This week’s episode of Lucifer was not only the best episode of the season but also one of, if not the strongest episodes of the show so far. I thought it was interesting to see Reese, a man who apparently escaped death on this path of revenge after finding out his wife had been cheating on him with Lucifer. That alone was an interesting story for an episode, but considering that all of the revelations that showed up as the episode went on was nothing short of brilliant. Firstly having Patrick Fabian from Better Call Saul in this show was awesome, he’s an incredibly talented actor and he plays crafty characters so well. Seeing him pretend to be friendly to Lucifer and Decker, but then plotting and scheming in the background was very engaging. At first, he’s just on this simple path of vengeance, but after he seeing Lucifer’s face he goes to great lengths to take him down and by the latter half of the episode he’s made so many mistakes and missteps that it’s no surprise that he met his end by his own doing. I also loved learning the reveal that Reese and Linda were married and he’s still trying to rekindle the marriage, this was the best material Linda’s had since season 2 as it gave Rachael Harris ample screen time to do some really lovely work opposite Fabian. I also liked the case with the mysterious serial killer and his eventual reveal as the guy Reese seeks out to get Lucifer, his turn while talking to a dying Reese in his office was so sinister and cool. Tom Welling as always has the right level of charm, wit and humour that makes Lucifer such a captivating character, Decker didn’t get as much screen time as usual but I enjoyed her as well as the appearances of Maze and Dan. Also having the ending play out the same as the beginning was a smart/intriguing ending. Now it makes me think if that’s happened in the real world already and if so when? Oh one more thing, Lucifer’s devil face, if the events of this episode happened recently does that mean he has the face back? Or did this happen prior to the events of season 3? I’m so curious! 😛

 

Star Wars Rebels (Season 4) “Rebel Assault”

So far season 4 of Rebels has been pretty cool, the first two episodes “Heroes of Mandalore Part 1 & 2” and “In the Name of the Rebellion Part 1 & 2” have been great, and I enjoyed most of “Kindred” too. And “Rebel Assualt” is the first taste of the tone, atmosphere and seriousness that I’ve been hearing about and looking forward to before this season started. We’ve heard for a while now, that season 4 of Rebels was when the Empire was going to step up and become a real threat and the rebels would start feeling the pressure and be less successful than before and that was certainly felt here. Hera and her assault team were able to break through an Imperial blockade but were mostly taken out by the second legion of ships, and while Hera, Chopper and one other guy did well to fend off that assassin Rukh, but in the end, Hera was captured by the Empire. It’s been a while since the heroes faced a real danger, where the odds we staked against them and the bad guys have felt competent at stopping the rebels. While Rebels hasn’t been the best debut for Grand Admiral Thrawn, he has shown moments of strategic talent, and this episode was good because it showed that he had planned ahead, so even if the rebels got through the space battle, on the planet he had another wave of ships to take out the enemy with ease. Good stuff. Also, I loved how serious and urgent this episode felt, from the beginning, you’re thrown straight into the action and get all these cool moments of hand-to-hand combat, dogfights between X-wings and TIE fighters and some small moments of dialogue, heroism and sacrifice. I really liked the way this episode looked, some of the cinematogrphy during the action sceens were great, and the colour scheme on Lothal epsiecally when the rebel ships were falling out of the sky, beautiful. I am curious what the Loth-Wolf told Kanan to do, guess we’ll have to wait until later to find that out.

Well, that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of this show? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #37

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. It is week 37, and I’ll be going back to the old format of having mini-reviews for several shows in the week and today I’ll be giving you my thoughts on Inhumans, Lucifer and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀

Inhumans (Season 1) “Make Way for… Medusa”

So Inhumans episode 4, what can I say? This has to be the least engaging episode so far. While the plot of all the characters certainly advanced, most of it was very dull. I liked how things started off with Medusa and Louise on the hunt for Black Bolt in the helicopter, but their back and forth started to become tiresome, Louise was the character holding those scenes together because Medusa’s stubbornness and lack of knowledge for human-based rules became frustrating. Seeing Black Bolt and the other guy head to Declan’s facility only to find out it was dangerous after all was no big surprise, but what really bugged me was the fact that Declan was in contact with Maximus. I mean how many people does Maximus have in his pocket? It feels a little ridiculous that he knows so many people he’s in contact in Hawaii. The most interesting story was with Karnak and his new lady friend, I knew they’d end up together at this point, sure they had a relationship starting grow, but damn she got on him quickly and by the end of the episode she wants to shag the guy? That escalated quickly, maybe it’s Karnak’s tattoos? Haha. Crystal, the most boring of the main characters needed help with Lockjaw after he was hit by a vehicle at the end of the last episode, I’m glad he’s gotten medical attention, but unfortunately, it looks there may be a romance there for her character as well. Oh yeah and Gorgon, absolutely forgettable. The use of music in this show is really starting to feel like a CW show, they need to cut it out, it’s not cool it’s distracting.

Lucifer (Season 3) “Mr. & Mrs. Mazikeen Smith”

This week’s episode of Lucifer was really fun, as usual, there were some laughs, mystery, interesting revelations and good character development. This episode featured Maze wanting more out of life so she goes on the ultimate hunt for a fugitive, however, as the story progresses it seems like there is more to this case than she realised. It was great to see the return of Maze, after last season she really did become one of my favourite characters, and I loved how this episode focused on not only her bounty hunting adventures (which is always fun), but also how on her wanting more out of life to keep things fresh and exciting. I like how the creators behind the show have given Maze more layers, shown that for a demon with no soul, she does care about her friends, knows to do the right thing when the time comes, and doesn’t have to be isolated. I also liked how Decker and Lucifer were integrated into Maze’s story through their own sleuthing, I also loved the interaction between Maze, Trixie and Decker, Maze and her bounty Ben, and Daniel, Linda and Lucifer have some fun moments too. Also, the action in the episode was quite good, the hand-to-hand combat was done well, and because of the Canadian setting, it made for a nice change of scenery not only in the cabin/hotel room but also out in the snowy mountains too. The ending also was sweet and further illustrated the core connection that the main characters have with each other.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 4) “Heroes of Mandalore Part 1 & 2”

Man, it feels like the wait for season 4 of Rebels has been incredibly painful, especially after the awesome trailers came out showing off all that delicious footage. But somehow October arrived a lot sooner than I expected and the show’s back on the air. So the first two episodes, “Heroes of Mandalore Part 1 & 2” debuted this week and it was pretty good two-parter. Since last season I really started to get into the politics and drama surrounding Sabine and the Mandalorians, and this episode leans heavily on those plot elements from last season with Sabine and her crew attempting to save her father from the Empire while the Saxon worked from the shadows releasing the superweapon on the Mandalorians. It was interesting to see Sabine in such a tough situation, with her still trying to rise to the occasion as leader of her people, but how her past actions cost the lives of some of her people and lead several other Mandalorians to mistrust her or want her dead. Poor girl. Luckily she kept her head and had the right support to help make the right decisions, though, seeing Sabine get a little dark and want to make the Empire suffer was an intriguing and engaging turn for her. On top of that, there were some great interactions between Sabine and her father about art, Ezra had some fun moments here and there, and the appearance of Bo-Katan was cool too, I’ve still not got around to watching The Clone Wars, but even in this episode she came across as a capable fighter, a confident individual and someone who should be respected. But the main interaction that I liked was seeing the moment between Kanan and Hera, while it has never been made overly obvious, I always knew there was something between them and their exchange was swift, playful and yet totally realistic. After three seasons my suspicions/hopes about them being an item are finally coming to light haha. As usual, Rebels continues to be a beautiful-looking show, the lighting, colour scheme and overall cinematography is great. I also appreciated the sense of scale between the human-like characters and the ships and walkers was nice and the use of shadows during certain conversations was very effective as well. The only stuff I didn’t like related to some of the moments of humour which again is mainly for kids, but I don’t think it landed that well especially with Ezra’s silly jetpack shenanigans, the writers really should just make him mature a little more. Also, some of the situations where the heroes were surrounded by Stormtroopers didn’t look that dire and could have been fought through in my opinion. And finally, I was pretty disappointed that Sabine’s mother and brother weren’t among the casualties of the superweapon, while death isn’t a requirement for a show to be good, I wish the show had gone for it. For a few minutes, I really felt for Sabine and thought Rebels had gone to a dark place, and considering Sabine’s recent reconciliation with her family it would have made for some sad yet engaging story and character development.

Well, that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of this show? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #31

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 31st week, and today I’ll be talking about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Lucifer, Grimm and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for spoilers especially for Star Wars Rebels…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “The Patriot”

Now this was a good episode and probably my favourite since the origin of Ghost Rider in “The Good Samaritan” last year. Sometimes AoS fluctuates with the amount of engaging material in the overall story arcs with some episodes being really good, average or dull, but this episode was on the better end of the spectrum and had a lot of the key aspects that make this show worth watching. Straight from the beginning with Mace holding the press conference for Daisy I loved it, the way it was set up and framed with Coulson and Mac undercover, you knew something would go down, you just weren’t shure as to how it’d happen. It felt like a spy thriller set up from a film and more in line with the kind of material I wish this show would do more. Anyway, I enjoyed pretty much everything about this episode, it had action, suspense, mystery, cool reveals and moved at swift pace. There was a lot of really good material in this episode, but the main plot point with Mace and Colonel Talbot was great. Learning about the origin of Mace’s abilities and how Talbot not only had a hand in it, but also that the serum was a modified version of what Daisy’s dad used back in season 2? That was a crazy callback! I liked Talbot’s reasoning for why he did what he did even if his actions resulted in deception, being discovered and heated exchanges with FitzSimmons and Coulson. Plus it was great to get some insight into who Mace is, how he is good guy and has a moral code, but stumbled into a situation which he couldn’t escape from, this episode made me more relatable and human for sure. It was also great to learn more about Dr. Radcliffe and his plans for LMD May, Aida and normal May, oh and seeing Fitz still wanting to fix the other Aida was intriguing but bad as his secret will surely spell the end of the relationship with Simmons, I’m calling it right now (though I hate to). Also the humour was great, AoS has sometimes been hit and miss with its humour, though season 4 has been solid and this episode had some great one-liners from Coulson, Mace, Fitz and Simmons, and of course Colonel Talbot who had some great lines especially with the coffee.

Lucifer (Season 2) “Stewardess Interruptus”

So Lucifer returned this week and it was another really good episode, I’m continuously surprised by how much love this show and its ability to create depth and development for all of the key characters while still offering fun and interesting episodic cases. This episode dealt with some really interesting things like: 1) The people that Lucifer’s slept with: It was funny and interesting to learn of the people that Lucifer bedded and their varying experiences of pleasure but also see that it was just sex for them and witness Lucifer’s happiness turn to sadness because their lack of emotional attachment to him. 2) The killer may return: I found it interesting that the victims were used for drug smuggling and when we were finally introduced to the bad guy, we never see their face and they were able to get away. I’m sure this can’t be over. 3) Seeing Lucifer’s mum and Amenadiel actively try help Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship was fun especially the conversation between Chloe and Lucifer’s mum. And 4) Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship: We almost had a kiss at the end of last episode/this episode yet it was offset by an unexpected guest, and from there Lucifer and Chloe had hilarious/troubled conversations about their “moment” and the state of their relationship. Towards the end of the episode it looked like the people behind this show was gonna put a reset on the Chloe and Lucifer’s relationship, even though these two cared for each other but just weren’t emotionally sure about committing to it. But after Lucifer’s heartfelt speech on the beach Chloe went for the kill, and man it felt nice! I’m curious to see where their relationship goes from next week onwards. Oh and the humour, so much of it was great including stuff with Maze, Dan and of course Lucifer, that “Booties call me” line was frigging awesome! XD

Grimm (Season 6) “Oh Captain, My Captain”

So this is my first Grimm review for a while it feels and it feels good to finally be talking about the show again even though this is the final season 😦 But anyway let’s talk about episode 3 and man it was a doozy. Grimm always finds ways to create interesting storylines, and some of the creative and impossible tasks the creators find for our heroes to try and overcome is fascinating and fun to watch. So this episode dealt with the manhunt for Nick and any of his associates while our heroes tried to come up with a way to stop him and good gravy they came up with a dangerous plan; to turn Nick into Renard with magic and make a public announcement to renounce his candidacy as Mayor and clear Nick as a uncover agent. That was a crazy plan with a lot of humourous and dangerous moments not only with the media attention, but also with the real Renard once he found out as well. Doppelganger episodes are always tricky to pull off because of the stakes and story involved, but I think this was done well and Sasha Roiz did a great job playing himself and Nick. Also I knew that once Nick got stuck in Renard’s body, it would somehow fall to Diana to be the one to turn him back to normal, the moment she saw Nick (as Renard) I knew she’d probably see through it, so yeah Nick’s back to normal again, yay! But that look on Diana’s face was worrisome, she’s had no reason to mistrust Nick before but she does now, oh dear. But that was not the only surprise of this episode, as soon as Renard got home we saw Meisner again, now clearly this must be one of Renard’s visions, however, if that’s not the case then how is he still alive?

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Trials of the Darksaber”

Well I’m calling it now, this might be the best episode of Rebels to date, talk about drama! This kind of emotional depth has been missing from this show for a while now, and when I go on about how great this show is I am talking about episodes like this, where the stories transcend just kid-friendly material, and dive deep into mythology but also present you with character-driven material that older audiences can appreciate as well. Straight from the beginning of the episode this episode felt different with a more somber and serious atmosphere, and that carried on through to the end of the episode. It was fascinating learning about the history of the Darksaber and how it tied into Mandalorian history and the significance/weight it put on Sabine. Since season 2 Sabine became one of my top 3 characters, but this episode really gave us our best look at her when it comes to inner conflict, combat abilities and backstory with the Empire and the Mandalorians. Seeing her train and get frustrated with not only her technique, but also with Kanan’s training methods and dealing with Ezra as a training partner/teacher was interesting and showed her at her most vulnerable. I loved seeing Kanan as the stern master and Sabine as his capable yet unbalanced student, it was handled wonderfully with the dialogue and sword fighting, and it felt like the kind of material you’d see in a classic film (like a martial arts film).

The visual material was superb with great sword stances, fight choreography, rich colours and wonderfully framed shots. I also loved the music as it had such a great sense of presence, drama and had an oriental feel during the training moments. I also liked seeing how everyone reacted to Sabine’s situation with Kanan being frustrated with her because of her Mandalorian tendencies and inner conflict, how Hera could relate to Sabine because of the family issues, and how Ezra, even though he was quite annoying, had a moment to remind Sabine that she at least had family to go back to. And of course I can’t talk about this episode without mentioning Sabine’s heartfelt speech while fighting Kanan, I love how Kana pushed her to the point of an emotional outburst which was raw and intense, and I got flashbacks to Return of the Jedi (Luke vs. Vader). Just hearing Sabine’s lament about how she was responsible for what happened to her people and tried to speak out, but was abandoned by the people she wanted to protect, its gut-punching stuff. And finally to see Fen Rau, Ezra and Kanan kneeling and saying they’d follow Sabine as a leader was beautiful, I really want know where this storyline goes.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #30

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 30th week, and the first set of TV reviews for 2017. I’m hoping I’ll be able to do these reviews a lot more as opposed to last year where things got a little too complicated/busy towards Christmas. Today I’ll be talking about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “Broken Promises”

So AoS returned last week and after a fairly entertaining first few episodes with Ghost Rider and some interesting developments with the story and characters, the show is moving in the direction I expected it to from the time Aida came to the forefront of season 4, and that is focus on robots turning evil and having Life Model Decoys becoming the next phase of the show. I knew that Aida wouldn’t stay on the side of our heroes for long and I was hoping Mac’s rightful skepticism wouldn’t come to pass, but of course it did as we learnt that Aida has become self-aware, wants the Darkhold and has caused issues for our team. But what I didn’t fully expect was after Aida was beheaded, that it was Dr. Radcliffe behind everything, that he sent that Aida model to retrieve the book for him as a test, but had the May LMD as a back-up to get close to Coulson to eventually get the book later on. I had a feeling that might have some questionable motives, but for him to be lying to the team in quest for ultimate knowledge was pretty intriguing. The other key element of this episode that I enjoyed was seeing Senator Nadeer, I knew she’d be a character to look out for and she’s become more and more intriguing as time has progressed, but this material with her brother has given her the most depth and development so far. It was great to see Vijay out his cocoon and interacting with his sister in a nostalgic manner, but it was also interesting to see her betray him and get the Watchdogs to kill him. I thought it was cool to see him convince her to keep him alive, but once he started showing off those powers I knew his days were numbered. But to see Nadeer shoot her brother and through him from that helicopter really reinforced her resolve about taking out Inhumans even with her brother. Now I’m curious to see how 1) Things play out with Vijay now that he’s in his cocoon again in the ocean. 2) What’ll happen between Coulson and LMD May (I have a feeling and I’m troubled). And 3) How Nadeer and the Watchdogs will advance with their Inhuman plans.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Ghosts of Geonosis Part 1 & 2”

This was pretty solid two-parter and was more in line with what I expect from Rebels on a weekly basis; here we had a story that was unique and intriguing, tied into the live-action films and Clone Wars and but also stood on its own. These episodes had a good balance of adventure, seriousness and humour, darker moments and laid the foundation for interesting things to come in the future. As someone who doesn’t know much about Saw Gerrera beyond what I saw in Rogue One, it was cool get some additional info on him when comes to the people he’s lost, his tactics and the kind of person he was before the events of Rogue One. Saw was a much more interesting and layered character than he was in Rogue One, he’s got not a bad guy, but his life experiences have shaped into being quite ruthless and unpredictable which I liked. Oh and I loved Sabine’s line about sand, I’m sure that must be a reference to Anakin’s now infamous dialogue from Attack of the Clones haha.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #29

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 29th week, and I have to apologise for not being around last week but work got messy, anyway I’ve got a good few shows to cover but it’ll be less than most of the show’s that I’ve watched recently. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “The Good Samaritan”

AoS continues to deliver some really good TV as we dive deeper into this season’s main plots involving Ghost Rider, the true mystery surrounding the scientists using the Darkhold and the power struggle between Jeffrey Mace and our heroes at SHIELD. I loved that we finally got to see the backstory about not only how Robbie and Gabe got into the accident that left Gabe without the use of his legs, but also find how Robbie got his powers and holy crap was that one heck of a reveal. While not specifically mentioned by name, it pretty much looked like Johnny Blaze was the one who gave Robbie his abilities and I couldn’t help but get really giddy about it, to have what looks like the classic Rider in the MCU was quite a wonderful revelation and I hope this isn’t the last time we see him in this season or on another TV show. This backstory also allowed us to see the guilt Robbie carries with him, but also allowed him to tell Gabe the truth (which he wasn’t too keen on at all). I like how everything is connected like how the Lacos who attacked Robbie and Gabe were because of Joseph trying to stop Eli’s work with the Darkhold or how the Darkhold not only had ties to Agent Carter with Roxxon and Zero Matter. Seems like the knowledge from the Darkhold has corrupted everyone that’s read it including Eli who we learn was the one who actually caused the creation of the ghosts and now has powers of his own too. Plus it was interesting to see Jeffrey use his authority as director to attempt to take in Daisy and Robbie, this definitely created friction between him and our team especially Coulson, and I liked how Jeffrey was no fool and knew about the secret spot where Robbie and Daisy were being held. But to then see Ghost Rider not only break out of the cell, but then see him fight and almost knock out Jeffrey was badass! Ghost Rider don’t play around. All I’m curious about now is 1) Where Simmons was sent off to and what she’ll find. 2) What Senator Nadeer will do once she finds out what happened with Mace’s failure to stop Robbie/Ghost Rider. And 3) How will Robbie and Gabe’s relationship advance in the future now that the truth is out, something tells me Gabe will be Robbie’s tether to his human form when he gets lost in the Rider’s anger.

The Flash (Season 3) “Monster”

This week’s episode of The Flash was pretty decent, not great, but certainly had some good and memorable moments. There were a lot of things of note so let’s go through them point by point. Firstly there’s the new Harrison Wells who is funny, charismatic and totally different from the previous incarnations and he’s a little weird and doesn’t completely click with the Flash team, but to later find out he’s not smart and just an ideas man was surprising, but also quite funny too so I’m curious to see where his story goes. 2) Finally seeing Caitlin explore the nature of her abilities and turning to her mother for help gave us some pretty interesting results learning more about Caitlin’s complicated family history, and seeing a bit of her Killer Frost side when she froze that guy’s arm, and then learning that her power become permanent the more she uses it. 3) Seeing Julian at the forefront of the action with the main plot and then finally change his mind about Barry/Flash and open up about his past was nice and its cool to have him finally bury the beef with Barry and become friendly.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Imperial Supercommandos”

To put it simply, this week’s episode of Rebels was awesome, I really enjoyed this episode. Even though it didn’t connect to the main storyline of season 3 with Thrawn, Maul and the Empire, it was still a really good episode because of the story and character development. So this was another episode that focused on Sabine and the Mandalorians which was great because as a casual fan I’ve only heard about how cool Mandalorians are, so when I see episodes focused on Sabine’s race, backstory and interactions with other Mandalorians I find it fascinating, insightful and just really good material for Rebels. It was great to see Fenn Rau’s arc in this episode from being a man who has no interest in joining the rebel alliance, to wanting to join after seeing the strength and loyalty of Sabine. Also Gar Saxon was a really great threat for our heroes to overcome, and I love that he was left alive, I hope returns later on in this season. I also love these Sabine and Ezra missions, they are a nice pairing because of their not only their skills but their personality differences too. As usual this show’s presentation was on-point, visually the show’s stunning with its use of colour, lighting and overall detail and feels miles ahead of Rebels season 1 and the music was also really good and I definitely got some John Williams prequel vibes (which is a good thing in my book but I feel like those film scores are  bit underappreciated). If I had one negative to put against this episode it would be the handling of Ezra’s abilities. Just at the start of the season we saw that this dude has gotten a heck of a lot stronger and more dangerous, so how comes in this episode he felt so weak and useful as season 2? One could argue that he’s weaker/back to normal because since he’s no longer using the Sith Holocron and tapping into the dark side or the people behind the show wanted to power him down so that the Imperial Mandalorians would be more of a threat, either way it felt inconsistent with what’s come before and I felt like Ezra could have done more considering how far he’s come since last season.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #27

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 27th week and I’ve got a good few shows to cover,  but since I’m feeling a little tired this week I’ll be focusing on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The  Flash, Arrow, South Park and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “Uprising”

This episode was pretty intense, for the first time in a while this show presented a threat that had a some stakes, danger and potential no-win scenarios for everyone involved. This revolved around the Watchdogs attempt to create chaos and control by posing as Inhumans, creating blackouts and taking over several key locations across the world in a short space of time. For the first time in a while the Watchdogs felt like a threat, for a while now we’ve known they’ve existed, but they’re primarily a faceless enemy that felt was all talk and no action, but this episode did well to illustrate how formidable, strategic and dangerous they can be when required. I also loved how the blackout created several interesting scenarios like: 1) Yo-Yo being at her friend’s party and being forced to use her powers. 2) Coulson, Mac and Fitz attempting to stop the Watchdogs without their convention electronic equipment. 3) Having Simmons and Radcliffe attempt to save May without electricity to power the defibrillator. All of these situations were pretty handled well and required the characters to make think on-the-spot and make tough decisions. I really enjoyed how this episode addressed the prejudice towards Inhumans, how it was still very fresh in the minds of many humans and how some just weren’t ready to trust those who were different, and this created some create/uncomfortable moments between Yo-Yo and her friend and Daisy and Gabe. The action in this episode was also pretty good with two especially fun sequences involving Mac, Coulson and Yo-Yo taking out the bad guys. But my favourite sequence was when they went into that one room, Yo-Yo took all the weapons and everyone just wrecked shop on those Watchdogs dudes, it was wonderfully choreographed and the lights going on and off in between the action scenes was great. Finally it was also great to see Radcliffe and Simmons bring May back to normal (though I thought that AIDA may have been discovered by Simmons) and seeing SHIELD finally back in an official capacity makes me happy and intrigued for what comes next for the organisation especially considering the reveal Senator Parminder Nagra been in cahoots with the Watchdogs (she’s gonna be someone to look out for).

The Flash (Season 3) “Paradox”

This week The Flash kept its momentum going, and this whole tampering with the timeline stuff created some really interesting changes for what both Barry and us as the viewers know to be reality, all this crazy stuff with Cisco mourning the loss of his brother, Iris being at odds with Joe because the situation with her mother and other minor/notable characters either being alive or totally new altogether makes me say “Huh?” in the best and most curious of ways. And I liked how things started with Barry talking to Felicity about what he did in the timeline and what’s changed for him in this variation of his normal reality, that was fun and quirky and just highlights how important their connection still is. And I couldn’t help but shake my head at Barry’s poor attempts at understanding what’s changed in his life and how he interacted with those close to him with the worst kind of responses. That conversation Barry had with Earth-2 Flash was very important and beautifully worded as it not only gave a good account about what happens when you tamper with time travel but also how in life certain things happen that can’t/shouldn’t be changed and one can only learn from the experience rather than trying to go back and fix them. I also enjoyed seeing Tom Felton as Julian Albert, this guy is a bit of a snobby douche, but in some ways I like his attitude and distrust of Barry, feels like he’ll discover Barry’s secrets if he gets too sloppy. And while it was nice how Barry’s close friends and family forgave him, at the same time I felt like some of the issues in this world were resolved in too much a happy-go-lucky neat bow. But hell it doesn’t matter as the action was solid with the return of Clarence, plus Alchemy seems to be setting up some interesting events for the future which I’m down for.

Arrow (Season 5) “The Recruits”

Arrow was. As the title of this episode suggested it was all about Oliver getting his new crew together and having a new threat in Star City which causes some trouble for Oliver not only as the mayor but also as Arrow too. The episode wasn’t even 10 minutes in and Oliver as his alter-ego was schooling the new recruits, beating them up as they tried to ring the bell behind him. I can see how some would view his methods as harsh/unfair, but this is classic training 101; train your newbies by dishing out the pain in the most brutal way without killing them to toughen them up for the road ahead. But it was interesting to see Felicity and Oliver butt heads over his training methods, and it really came to a head when Curt gave that tough yet truth about Oliver’s trust and leadership skills, it was a good scene, and then it led to another great scene about why Oliver acts like he does, because of his training in Russia and the losses he’s had over the last few seasons of the show. I love this retrospective/personal material, it really hammers home how difficult it can be to be hero, to build a crew and have trust, and have them follow you with death being a possibility at any point. But I was happy that Oliver revealed himself to the team and that we’re getting the origins of the new team Arrow! And there’s a few other things of note like: 1) I also liked how the flashbacks were relevant to what was happening in the present. 2) While Diggle’s side mission got interest towards the end, I wasn’t overly engaged since he’s not longer part of the Arrow crew, so whatever’s going on with him felt irrelevant. 3) The introduction of the dark archer known as Prometheus attacking Church was cool and I’m curious to see how close he gets to killing Arrow himself.

South Park (Season 20) “Wieners Out”

This week’s episode was decent one, nothing overly hilarious, but it certainly had its moments. So this episode was all about the uprising of Butters and his campaign to make boys to pride in their manhood, while Gerald felt the pressure and paranoia of his online trolling as he was contacted by a fellow troll about the upcoming plans coming from the Danish to take out trolls permanently. I liked how this episode focus on gender equality, the complications/loopholes in modern political correctness and trolling and internet anonymity. Can I just say that I love how this episode opened with the narration, wonderful cinematic visuals and the Danish views on traditional trolls and how they basically became questionable human beings behind computer screens. I also loved seeing the progression of Cartman and Heidi, how they’re going out and show all the horribly cheesy elements of a modern PC relationship and I didn’t expect to see Butters start a revolution in school but that was pretty funny/amazing. Oh and seeing the mess Gerald had to go through trying to distance himself from the troll stocking him, then trying to stay away from electronics and then lying to his wife about porn that lead him to get peed on, that was some bizarre/funny stuff too. I think my only major gripe with this episode was the lack of super funny jokes, I don’t mind smiling or chuckling at stuff in South Park, but I do miss laughing my ass off on a consistent basis or at least having one major LOL moment.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Hera’s Heroes”

So this episode dealt with Hera teaming up with her father and the Ghost team to go back to her home world to save her family heirloom. I like how this episode started out with an action scene, it was pretty cool to see the Stormtroopers chasing after Cham Syndulla and his companion across the lovely desert scenery. Just like with season 2 it was nice to have another character-driven episode where the Jedi and Sith weren’t the primary storyline. And then bloody Grand Admiral Thrawn comes into play and that’s when things got really interesting. I liked how in this episode was got to see much more of him in terms of his overall demeanour and learning about how dangerous a man like him can be to the Rebel Alliance. Thrawn was calculated, classy and chilled out, but how he was also was a good few steps ahead of our heroes and knew who Hera was and the significance of her family heirloom too. You don’t mess around with this guy. I also enjoyed how he let the heroes escape saying that he found the overall experience enlightening, so this clearly shows that 1) He learns from the people he encounters. And more importantly 2) He’s playing the long game so he’ll probably come back a lot harder down the road. Now I will admit that I though more would have been done on this mission, there could have been more than Hera and crew could have taken maybe with supplies or maybe take down a calculated amount of the Empire’s forces on the planet, but alas that wasn’t the case. Even though in the grand scheme of things the episode felt a little inconsequential by the end, the episode had some good character moments and Thrawn’s appearance definitely made this episode more a highlight than I expected.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #26.5

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. It is week 26.5 and I’ve decided to do another TV post this week because of the extra shows that have started and some of the episodes of current Tv that’s gone down this week too. So today I’ll be talking about Blindspot, The Flash, Arrow, Star Wars Rebels and South Park. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Blindspot (Season 2) “If Beth”

Seems like a lot has happened in this episode with Roman trying to help Jane fight for Sandstorm’s cause, Reade trying to process his repressed memories, the animosity between Weller and Nas continued. The main story surrounding the ex-CIA agent was pretty interesting, though not as engaging as last week’s episode, the material surrounding the main characters’ personal struggles was much better. One thing I really liked was when the team went undercover to that fancy charity event, I love when a team have to infiltrate an event by dressing up, but covertly looking for a dangerous suspect in various locations of the location. There was some nice moments of humour, tension and action especially with Patterson, Jane, Weller and Nas. Oh and by the way everyone looked so smart and beautiful especially Jane, Zapata and Patterson. 🙂 We also learnt two major things about Sandstorm this week, 1) Shepard and Roman really wanted Jane emotionally invested to the point where they revealed history not only about themselves but also their ties to Jane. And 2) The revelation that Sandstorm have been watching Weller for over 20 years (even having his old cadet ceremony video), that was creepy and surprising and it makes me wonder just how much does he factor into Sandstorm’s plans.

The Flash (Season 3) “Flashpoint”

Yay The Flash is back with the first episode of season 3 and so far I’m liking it. I’ve never read the comics or seen the animated versions of the Flashpoint Paradox but this episode seemed to deliver on what I’ve heard about the source material online. So this episode basically dealt with Barry living in this new version of reality where both of his parents are alive, Wally is The Flash, Cisco is a billionaire, Joe is a drunk and a good few other things have changed too. It was intriguing and fun to see Barry interact with this world which was familiar and yet different, but as Eobard Thawne stated time was gonna catch up with Barry and soon it did. Seeing a rich Cisco, a super confident Kid Flash and drunk/lazy Joe was interesting, but it was the Barry and Iris stuff that worked the most for me, I’ve never loved Iris, but I never liked her that much either, but here she was the most likeable she’s ever been for me and I’m not sure why. I loved how there were consequences for time travel for Barry, living in the new timeline was all and well, but because of his speed and new interactions with the people he knew, he was erasing his original memories which made me have to team up with Thawne to correct the original timeline, only problem now is that Iris is no longer part of the picture, so one can only wonder what the hell happened in this version of the prime universe.

Arrow (Season 5) “Legacy”

After an up and down 4th season, Arrow‘s back again with its 5TH SEASON! Just thinking about how far this show’s come since its inception is crazy. I said after I finished the last season that was done with this show, but I knew I wouldn’t stay away for too long and this first episode wasn’t half bad. It was nice to see how things had changed from last season with Oliver being mayor, but still being the Arrow by night, except now he’s back to killing and brutally hurting his enemies again. 😛 I also liked seeing how tough life’s been for Quentin after Laurel’s death and how Thea didn’t want to go back to the vigilante lifestyle after leaving that part of herself in the past. Straight from the beginning the episode started with the action and it was on-point, it was filmed well, nicely choreographed and was solid throughout the episode. Some of the CGI was a little blurry and didn’t blend too well with the live-action stuff, but it was decent enough. I liked seeing Chad L. Coleman as Tobias Church, he was fun and cheesy (in a good way) and I’ll be curious to see what he brings as the main villain in future episodes. It did feel weird that Team Arrow only consisted of Oliver and Felicity, but its nice how by the end of the episode Oliver was persuaded to assemble a new crew. Even the flashbacks weren’t that offense and might offer up something I may actually be interested in, but we’ll see if I’m still feeling that way halfway through the season haha.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “The Antilles Extraction”

This week’s episode of Rebels was another enjoyable episode with the focus being on Sabine as she infiltrated Empire to help recruit some of the pilots that wanted to defect to the Rebel Alliance. Firstly I wanted to say that it was great to see Sabine front and center, getting to go on a tough mission and show off her skills. As for Wedge he’s been one of those minor character characters who I’ve always liked seeing in the main films, so seeing him at an earlier point before A New Hope was cool, though not as exciting for me because I’m not overly invested in him as hardcore fans are. I liked how Sabine’s mission wasn’t easy whether it be her questioning the orders given during the training simulation, to her escape with Wedge and the others being sabotaged which lead to them being captured or how Sabine had to fight Governor Pryce in hand-to-hand combat. And speaking of Pryce, it was great to see more of her personality and get directly involved with the Rebels (seeing her fight was awesome), but it was Agent Kallus who surprised me, once again he showed a lot of development and more so than before he definitely seems conflicted, helping Sabine escape and seeming dissatisfied with his treatment in the Empire at the moment (at least that’s how I saw it). And once again I had to comment on how great this show looks with the art direction, use of colour and lighting, on the planet where the Empire were based, it looked gorgeous.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #26

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 26th week and I’m a little late with some of these reviews due to my bnge session with Luke Cage over the weeked (review available here), but with that out of the way I can finally get back to some of these TV episodes from last week. Today I’ll be talking about Blindspot, Regular Show, Lucifer, Star Wars Rebels and South Park. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Blindspot (Season 2) Episodes 2 & 3

I’ve been a little behind with Blindspot, but I’ve been catching up on my days off. There’s been a lot going on with this show over the last few episodes. In “Heave Fiery Knot” there was trust issues going on being Weller’s team, Jane and the NSA, more revelations leant about Jane’s history and crazy action scenes with firefights and a missile that almost hit a plane! That was some intense shit! I’m enjoying the ties to last season when it came to Reade following up his case from last season and Weller dealing with the memory of his father, but there were a lot of new and interesting elements Sandstorm and the tension between Shepard and Roman. As for “Hero Fears Imminent Rot“, bloody hell, that episode had one heck of an opening, I’m never gonna trust a random bag in cab ever again. It looks like Jane’s had the worst of luck with Sandstorm clearly aware about Jane’s lies in relation to her captivity, then they sent her on a mission to an innocent man just to see if she was still loyal to the cause, which she couldn’t do and then after going out on field operation almost got herself killed and lost the guy she was originally following. As for the main case of the week with the bomb guys that stuff was crazy, I hate it when there’s insane people wanting to kill innocent people because of a personal loss because it’s emotionally fueled, and it makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable because one wrong move during a diffusion or saying the wrong thing to a bomber while he’s got a trigger in his hand can spell game over, luckily our protagonists got out of it okay. Some other things I wanted to cover briefly were: 1) Looks like Patterson and Dr. Borden are a thing now, after being initially hesitant, Patterson went in for that kiss and I’m curious to see where that relationship goes. 2) Reade telling Zapata about him potentially being molested by his former coach was pretty significant and I’m curious if we’ll see him unlock those memories. And 3) I was surprised Roman covered for Jane which shows that he really cares for her, but knowing that he can’t cover for her again means Jane will have to get with the program or risk further danger in the future.

Lucifer (Season 2) “Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire”

After a week off Lucifer came back with its second episode and this one was more entertaining than the last with better jokes, more character development and new character/story elements which will probably arc across the season. I liked the introduction of Lucifer’s mother, how she hoped from dead body to dead body to find her son and finally settled on woman who just happened to be part of the key investigation for this episode. Tricia Helfer is awesome as Lucifer’s mother, she’s complicated, sassy, fun and not fully aware of human customs, plus her and Tom Welling have great banter. It was interesting to see Lucifer angry at his mother for abandoning him and trying to figure out what his mother was up to, when in fact there was a lot more to the story with his mum explaining the situation and history surrounding his and her events. And while they made up at the end of the episode, that smile she gave to the sky indicates that she’s up to something for sure.

South Park (Season 20) “The Damned”

So here we are with se. I once again adored this show’s approach to social media, and how obsessed the world can be with technology and the use of Twitter. I love how everyone treated Twitter like the be all and end all of life, whether it was the police officers talking about Twitter suicide or homicide or all of the boys freaking out about the police looking into Cartman’s disappearance because of what they did, that material fabulous. I haven’t found too much of Mr. Garrison’s material too entertaining so far, but this episode was solid because it highlighted the real life madness going on with Donald Trump’s campaign where the man spouts nonsense and everyone’s down with it because he speaks his mind and doesn’t say the same usual political material. But that ending was what got me. Having Cartman and Heidi hanging out as two lost souls left to hang out in the real world was strange/cute enough, but that part when Heidi asks Cartman if he’d like to see her vagina took me by surprise, but it was Cartman’s “Holy shit” line that killed me. BEST. REACTION. EVER!

Regular Show (Show Season 8) Episodes 1-4

When I found out about Regular Show‘s return last week I freaked out, I knew it’d be back for another season but I just didn’t know when. So firstly there’s “One Space Day at a Time” this episode basically dealt with the Park crew and Eileen adjusting to their new situation in space, while “Cool Bro Bots” introduced our heroes to a new set of helpful robots that came across as friendly individuals that Mordecai and Rigby were skeptical of. With the crazy/unexpected ending of season 7, RS had a lot of places it could go with the new setting and larger-than-life possibilities of space, and these two episode did some interesting things with the Park crew trying to get a phone signal, checking food supplies and almost getting sucked into space, and then having to deal with robots that secretly harvested plants for money and  getting into a laser gun battle alongside hardcore human resistant fighters. “Welcome to Space” expanded the mythology behind the park being in a dome and gave reasoning for the dome coming into play in the past, it was a bizarre yet interesting/funny way to propel this show into new situations and I loved the concept of the Spark Initiative and the fact that all of the Park crew were on board besides Benson, and speaking of Benson, while I understood his pessimistic attitude at the same time he was be being a right party pooper and he started to annoy me. Bt it was awesome that he had a hilariously horrible life on earth, decided he’d made a mistake and came back around on the idea of living in space, even if it was due to being a hologram room haha. And finally “Space Creds” felt like a normal episode of the show with Mordecai and Rigby wanting something dangerous/cool and needing to do something ridiculous to get it, in this case it was hover boots. I loved the random nature of the relationship between the doctor and her husband, their backstory and their interaction with Mordecai and Rigby. There was so much over-the-top foolishness, humour and random material, but it came together well.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “The Holocrons of Fate”

So how do you follow-up a great season premiere? You bring in Darth Maul that’s how! 😀 Now I know there are previews of upcoming episodes, but I never watch them so I didn’t know the guy would be showing up so soon in season 3 and man this episode was awesome because of it. I love how Maul was able to capture the Ghost team and force Kanan and Ezra to give both the Sith and Jedi Holocrons. And even after getting what he wanted he was willing to kill Kanan and try to influence Ezra. It was interesting to see Kanan and Ezra not only interact with the Bendu, but also how to work together inside that cave to obtain the Holocron, that was good character development for those two. But what was my favourite aspects of the episode was when the Holocrons combined, I assumed the locations that Ezra saw must be tied to various places in the Star Wars films, but the “two moons” comment must have been in relation to Tatooine because when Maul left in his ship and was frazzled/angry saying “he” was still alive he must have been talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi which just makes me all the more excited to see those two have rematch.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #25

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 25th week and I’m a little behind with a few episodes, but I’m getting there. This week I’ll be covering Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., South Park and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Agents of SHIELD (Season 4) “Meet the New Boss”

So we’re back with AoS and the follow-up episode to the great season premiere was pretty damn solid. This episode did a good job of answering a goof few questions presented in the previous episode regarding: 1) Seeing the new director of SHIELD in the flesh, 2) Finding out what was going on with the ghost woman and 3) Seeing how integral Ghost Rider would be to the plot going forward. I really enjoyed the scenes between Daisy and Robbie with Daisy being pushy and trying to get information from Robbie, and Robbie being uncooperative/hostile. I’m also just loving how much Ghost Rider we’re getting at the moment whether Robbie’s getting into scuffles with Daisy or transforming and burning his enemies to the ground (which was awesome by the way), it’s always fun when he’s on-screen. It was also interesting to learn about the ghost lady and how she and her other colleagues were part of some incident that was her fault, I’m curious to see where their story goes whether we’ll learn what happened to them in flashbacks and whether it was science-based or something supernatural, I’m hoping for the latter or possibly a but of both if compromise is required. There were some nice moments with Mac and Fitz, Coulson and May too, but the most intriguing element of the show was the new director of SHIELD, Jeffrey. Finally we got to see this guy in the flesh and he was so nice, friendly and upbeat, but we also learnt that he’s not only got plans to bring SHIELD back into the public eye, but also to keep Coulson away from people he can’t be objective about. Oh, and he’s an Inhuman! That was totally unexpected, and to see him take all that damage from May and shut her down so quickly was cold and badass. Oh and Melinda May had one heck of a day, feeling uneasy and delusional because of the touch of the ghost lady, to see her being paranoid and attacking everyone,it was fascinating to see her outside of her normal demeanour and with her left strapped down all panicky it makes me wonder what Jeffrey’s people will do to May to make her “better”.

South Park (Season 20) “Skank Hunt”

I always love how South Park can take something so simple in its plot, blow it out proportion and make it funny and that’s what happened in this episode. Seeing more of Kyle’s work as Skankhunt42 was funny during his trolling montages, but to find out his reasoning being why he does what he does was interesting; he just thought being a troll was funny and he wanted to cause chaos just because he could. I also loved how everyone reacted to Heidi Turner leaving Twitter, it was hilarious how everyone treated her like she was dead and the kids started writing nice memories about her in class even though she was still right there. Oh and when the boys tricked Cartman into coming into the woods and then smashed his electronics, only to find out that he wasn’t Skankhunt42, that stuff was funny too. But the icing on the cake was when all the girls broke up with the guys in that awesome sequence towards the end, it was so dramatic, over-the-top and it was interesting to learn how many guys in that school actually had girlfriends haha.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Steps Into Shadow”

Star Wars Rebels has come back and I loved the first episode of season 3. It had some minor tonal and story issues, but overall it did ell to show how much had changed since last season with the Ghost team, and what’s been going on with the Empire. I like how we got to see the new Ghost team with Ezra as the leader, clearly they’ve been working this way for a while and have an efficient dynamic with their different skills. Clearly Ezra a lot stronger, more confident and reckless, but in an exciting and captivating way, his lightsaber and Force abilities are miles beyond what they were before, but it was that scene when he controlled that Imperial walker, shot down those Stormtroopers and then made the Walker go off the edge, I was like “Damn, this dude ain’t playing around!” Clearly the time he sent with that Sith Holocron has taught him a lot, but has been corrupting him. I also loved seeing Kanan’s arc in this episode, he’s still been deeply affected by the events of the season 2’s finale and he’s separated himself from the Ghost team, but he at least got to confront Ezra about the Holocron and then go on a journey himself with the Bendu teaching him about his own fear and how to use the Force to see without his sight. That was some thought-provoking and beautiful material. Plus the addition of Grand Admiral Thrawn was very enticing to me, I only know of the character’s significance through fan discussion online, but from what I’ve seen so far is that he comes across as very smart, methodical and cool character, clearly he’s got long-term plans for the Rebels. The overall tone of the show was a little darker and more serious than before (probably thanks to the new later time slot) and I’m liking where this show is heading so far.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

Fall/Autumn TV I’m Gonna Be Watching!

Howdy people of the internet and fellow subscribers, its September and TV season is starting up again soon and I just wanted to update y’all on the stuff I’ll be checking out. Now for those who have been following me since last year you’ll know I started up a series called “What I’ve Been Watching” where I reviewed the TV I’d watched during that week, and while I wasn’t always consistent from week to week, it was a lot of fun to talk about TV and get some responses. Now there are some shows I’ve dropped or don’t care for as much as I used like The Walking Dead, Gotham and possibly some others, so yeah just thought I’d put that out there.

Anyway with all that out of the way here’s me preview:

Luke Cage (Season 1)

This show is just shy of two weeks away and I swear this wait has been almost as difficult as Daredevil season 2. Luke Cage went from being a show I was intrigued about to being something I was super hyped for, I think its been thanks to the great trailers and interviews about the way the showrunner and actors approached this show that got me so giddy. I’ve never been a big Luke Cage fan, but Marvel’s Netflix shows have made care for characters in an in-depth manner and I assume that’ll be the case for this show too. I want this show to be badass, I need to be, if it isn’t then I’ll be gutted. But I hope the show will work out.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4)

I know a lot of people have given up on this show, but there’s a still a good few people that have a lot of love for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and that’s one of the key reasons it’s survived despite the low viewership and less than stellar perception from an outsiders perspective. AoS has been improving with each season and while not all of the stories and characters are great, it can definitely make for some entertaining TV. So now we have season 4 with a totally different landscape for all of our main characters and the introduction of frigging GHOST RIDER! Something I thought would never happen, and while it’s not the OG Johnny Blaze incarnation, I’m still hyped to see what they do with the character, and where things will go with the use of Inhumans, Coulson and company and Quake on her own solo adventures.

South Park (Season 20)

It is crazy to think that South Park is in its 20th season, man, just thinking about it makes me feel a lot older that I am. Anyway, even though the show’s already started, I haven’t checked out the first episode yet. I am curious to see what Matt Stone and Try Parker bring to the show this time around as season 19 had so many intriguing and refreshing changes to the basic formula to the show while still being as funny and as relevant as ever. So here’s hoping season 20 is a good one.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3)

I love how Star Wars Rebels went from being a show I liked watched to being quintessential TV. Season 1 introduced some great new characters, story and mythology, while season 2 built upon that foundation and expanded it to a whole new level with more episodes, more character-driven stories, darker elements and ties to previous Star Wars film and TV material. And after the conclusion of season 2, I am more hyped than ever to see how this season unfolds with the introduction of Grand Admiral Thrawn into the world SW canon, getting more Maul, seeing more of Sabine and the Mandalorians and discovering what will become of Ezra as his Force abilities grow stronger.

The Flash (Season 3)

The Flash has been on of the most consistent TV shows in the superhero genre in recent memory and it went from strength to strength from season 1 to 2 to give audiences compelling and intriguing stories, characters, action and drama that was easily accessible and yet true to its source material. Season 2 was certainly more ambitious with the time travel material, doppelgänger characters and supernatural elements with the Speed Force and Zoom. And while The Flash some weak episodes around 2/3’s of the way into the show overall it was a stronger season and because of the way it ended, The Flash can now go anywhere and I’m curious to se if this show’s season 3 will be good or will be the start of a decline in quality like with what happened to Arrow‘s third season.

Lucifer (Season 2)

Ah Lucifer, what a crazy journey we went on last year. It is crazy how this show went from something I had no interest in, to being around 3 to 5 episodes in and really getting into. The show had an interesting balance of supernatural material mixed in with the standard police procedural genre, and while seeing certain common elements of the police drama side of things got a little tiresome, there was enough unique material to keep me watching. Plus it was the characters that was the main selling point of this show and the cast all did very well with a fabulous central performance from Tom Ellis as the charismatic and ever so charming title character. I’m really hyped to see where this next season goes especially with the introduction of Lucifer’s mother played by Tricia Helfer.

Blindspot (Season 2)

Blindspot ended up being one of my favourite new shows of last year and while each weekly episode was not always as captivating as it could be, it had an interesting story with characters I liked and a level of mystery, intrigue and surprise that made the show worth watching. I’ve just seen the first episode of season 2 and I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.

Arrow (Season 5)

With Arrow I’m almost ready to say taht I’m done with it considering how questionable the show’s gotten over the last two seasons with all the inconsistent, dull and uninteresting storylines, flashbacks and new characters I’ve had to endure. But it hasn’t been all bad and since I started thisshow back when it was good, I feel compelled to see it through to the end. I just hope that the showrunners can some new life into this show, but also get back to the core elements which made the show entertaining the first two seasons, because I do want to see this show bounce back.

Supergirl (Season 2)

At this point in time I haven’t finished Supergirl‘s first season because it was constantly a mixed bag of stuff I liked and things that irritated me. I found the show too similar to The Flash in tone, use of the soundtrack and overall format (probably the Greg Berlanti touch) but in addition to that the CGI was choppy, the fight scenes had no oomph or good choreography and the stories weren’t always too engaging. That being said I loved Melissa Benoist as Supergirl, most of the main cast are good, thee’s good world building and some cool reveals and the world the show inhabits has potential to grow and become even better. Season 2 seems to be delivering a lot of new material, most notably including Superman, so I’ll be curious to see how this show moves forward but also ties into the other CW DC shows.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 2)

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t love this show, but there’s enough redeeming qualities about it that makes me want to keep watching. While some of the repetition in the story and character relationships and personalities got a little annoying, I did really get attached to the characters (mainly the already established ones) and it was the actors/actresses that kept me coming back more than the stories. I hope that season 2 will have a more compelling central story, less annoying character and better fight scenes too.

So that’s my list, expect the reviews to start coming in as of next week I think possibly on Wednesdays or Fridays. I’d love to know what TV you’ll be watching from now until Christmas and if you have shows you’d like to recommend me then be sure comment below and let me know okay? Until next time, laters! 😀