We get some back story on John and Jedekiah, Stephen has an unwelcome dinner guest, and a figure from John's past returns with vengeance in his heart...
Last week we learned about Cara and tonight we learned about John. Turns out that John was a foster child in an abusive home where the foster dad used the money to buy booze, so John was forced to steal to make sure that he and his foster siblings remained fed. That is, he did so until he was "rescued" by Jedekiah. I have to admit that I hesitated before using the quotes around rescued because in a very real way, Jedekiah did rescue John. He took John from an abusive situation into a more controlled situation. Alas, it was akin to going from the frying pan into the fire. The saddest part is that John genuinely loved Jedekiah until Jedekiah did something that destroyed that trust. More on that in a bit.
Around the same time that Jedekiah rescued John, he also acquired a young man named Killian McCrane. He then proceeded to use Killian (and other agents) in an experiment to see if he could get around the fact that the Tomorrow People cannot kill. Listening to Jedekiah's reasoning was bizarre. He said that this inability to kill was their one flaw and that by eliminating it, he was perfecting them. He also said that by creating the best soldier, he could then keep that soldier in his pocket and make sure he was used appropriately. It does make a certain amount of sense, but it is also seriously twisted. The inability to kill is only a flaw because Jedekiah sees the existence of the Tomorrow People as warfare. I think that John was right when he said that it was a good step.
Learning that John was experimented on and modified so that he could kill was a complete surprise. I was so not expecting that he would have been modified that way. It does make a certain amount of sense. After all, Killian is out there with the ability to kill and a serious grudge against Ultra, so creating a new version of him who could fight him was necessary. This was the incident that pushed John completely away from Ultra. I find it interesting that being altered seemed to have made Killian a psychopath whereas it hasn't done that to John. I would guess that it is a temperamental difference, but it could also be that the process was modified to prevent that sort of transformation. If Killian really absorbed Jedekiah's ideas, then it would make sense that he sees humans as lower life forms who need to be wiped out in order for the Tomorrow People to flourish.
I am glad that Stephen has finally made some headway where John is concerned. As I've said before, I get why John is so concerned about fighting Ultra openly, but there are times when it must be done. Killian was a danger to everyone and he needed to be dealt with appropriately. I can't say I was surprised that Jedekiah betrayed John even if I was disappointed in him. I get that he sees John as a threat, but he is also driving Stephen further and further away from Ultra. Stephen cares about normal humans and the Tomorrow People and will protect both. He also has an honorable streak that is extremely uncomfortable with what Jedekiah does. I suspect that what Jedekiah is doing is in part a test of Stephen and in part his SOP.
Watching that family dinner was sort of amusing. Stephen's mom does not like Jedekiah, but she is smart enough to realize that Stephen needs him (at least temporarily) and she isn't going to stand in their way. Smart woman. She also hinted at more secrets to come. I almost wonder if she is (or was) a Tomorrow Person herself or at least aware of their existence. That would be interesting.
Until next week!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
My Review of Arrow 2.04- Crucible
The Black Canary is unmasked and Oliver deals with the fallout, a new (yet not) villain is seen, and Laurel is digging herself into a deeper hole with no bottom in sight....
As announced over the summer, the Black Canary has been unmasked and she is Sarah Lance. I so wish they hadn't spoiled this because that would have been an awesome, jaw-dropping moment. However, they did spoil it, so we have to go with it. I still loved the moment however, if only for the pole-axed look on Oliver's face. He had problems when he revealed her identity to Felicity and Diggle. Remember, he said that she had died when the Queen's Gambit sunk. Turns out that she was on the ship that took Oliver hostage. Given the fact that we know (from last week) that she is in the League of Assassins, does this mean that the ship belongs to that group? Or did she connect with them later? My guess is that the ship is attacked (which is why Oliver assumed that Sarah was dead) and that this leads Oliver to the Russian mob (which you may remember he is/was affiliated with) and after that for some unknown reason, he returns to the island.
Having Sarah back is going to be uber-complicated for Oliver and the Lances. He believes that they will refuse to associate with him again when/if they find out and frankly I wouldn't blame them. I get that he didn't tell them that Sarah survived the sinking because he didn't want to spoil their memories of her anymore than he already did. But now that she is back, I am struggling to see how he can keep the information from them. The unfortunate thing is that the information may drive Laurel even further into the bottle and may also cause Officer Lance to relapse, both of which would be very bad.
I am interested to see how/if Sin is incorporated into Roy and Thea's lives. There is something there between Sin and Roy. Not sure if it is attraction or just friendship, but I so want to see. I hope they don't go the route of a love triangle (which annoy the bejeezus out of me), but I am afraid that they'll go there. I would like to see Roy and Sin continue to act as intermediaries between the Arrow and the Black Canary, but I sort of doubt that will continue since Oliver and Sarah know who the other is. I suspect that they'll have the two of them work together to collect information for their respective vigilantes. I am also a little worried about the possible strain that working for the Arrow will put on Roy and Thea's relationship. It will only get worse when Roy figures out who the Arrow really is.
The Mayor was an interesting villain. He was an ordinary man who used the opportunity presented by the quake to seize power. He reminds me of Neville in Revolution. Unfortunately for him, he attracted the attention of the Arrow and of Alderman Blood. Watching the Arrow and Black Canary working together to take down his soldiers was a thing of beauty. I loved the way that the two of them worked together really well and even used each other's weapons when needed. And dude, don't piss off a masked vigilante when she has a staff to your neck. Not a good idea.
Attracting the attention of Alderman Blood was an equally big blunder. Blood is apparently the new Big Bad. Not sure of his exact identity, but that mask was more than a little creepy. And was that Vertigo that he injected into the Mayor's arm? I knew that Blood was a bad person and now we are seeing how bad. It can only get worse from here.
Watching Laurel sink deeper into the bottle was a little depressing and it was made worse by the fact that her father can only stand by helplessly and watch. Lashing out at her father and Oliver was a classic reaction. Even if she has a point about the hypocrisy, when will people learn to listen to those who have made the mistakes and not repeat them? Sadly, Laurel is so wracked with guilt that she is blind to what she is doing. Hitting bottom is going to destroy her and her career methinks.
Until next week!
As announced over the summer, the Black Canary has been unmasked and she is Sarah Lance. I so wish they hadn't spoiled this because that would have been an awesome, jaw-dropping moment. However, they did spoil it, so we have to go with it. I still loved the moment however, if only for the pole-axed look on Oliver's face. He had problems when he revealed her identity to Felicity and Diggle. Remember, he said that she had died when the Queen's Gambit sunk. Turns out that she was on the ship that took Oliver hostage. Given the fact that we know (from last week) that she is in the League of Assassins, does this mean that the ship belongs to that group? Or did she connect with them later? My guess is that the ship is attacked (which is why Oliver assumed that Sarah was dead) and that this leads Oliver to the Russian mob (which you may remember he is/was affiliated with) and after that for some unknown reason, he returns to the island.
Having Sarah back is going to be uber-complicated for Oliver and the Lances. He believes that they will refuse to associate with him again when/if they find out and frankly I wouldn't blame them. I get that he didn't tell them that Sarah survived the sinking because he didn't want to spoil their memories of her anymore than he already did. But now that she is back, I am struggling to see how he can keep the information from them. The unfortunate thing is that the information may drive Laurel even further into the bottle and may also cause Officer Lance to relapse, both of which would be very bad.
I am interested to see how/if Sin is incorporated into Roy and Thea's lives. There is something there between Sin and Roy. Not sure if it is attraction or just friendship, but I so want to see. I hope they don't go the route of a love triangle (which annoy the bejeezus out of me), but I am afraid that they'll go there. I would like to see Roy and Sin continue to act as intermediaries between the Arrow and the Black Canary, but I sort of doubt that will continue since Oliver and Sarah know who the other is. I suspect that they'll have the two of them work together to collect information for their respective vigilantes. I am also a little worried about the possible strain that working for the Arrow will put on Roy and Thea's relationship. It will only get worse when Roy figures out who the Arrow really is.
The Mayor was an interesting villain. He was an ordinary man who used the opportunity presented by the quake to seize power. He reminds me of Neville in Revolution. Unfortunately for him, he attracted the attention of the Arrow and of Alderman Blood. Watching the Arrow and Black Canary working together to take down his soldiers was a thing of beauty. I loved the way that the two of them worked together really well and even used each other's weapons when needed. And dude, don't piss off a masked vigilante when she has a staff to your neck. Not a good idea.
Attracting the attention of Alderman Blood was an equally big blunder. Blood is apparently the new Big Bad. Not sure of his exact identity, but that mask was more than a little creepy. And was that Vertigo that he injected into the Mayor's arm? I knew that Blood was a bad person and now we are seeing how bad. It can only get worse from here.
Watching Laurel sink deeper into the bottle was a little depressing and it was made worse by the fact that her father can only stand by helplessly and watch. Lashing out at her father and Oliver was a classic reaction. Even if she has a point about the hypocrisy, when will people learn to listen to those who have made the mistakes and not repeat them? Sadly, Laurel is so wracked with guilt that she is blind to what she is doing. Hitting bottom is going to destroy her and her career methinks.
Until next week!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
My Review of The Originals 1.05- Sinners and Saints
Lots of backstory about the vampire/witch situation, how Devinna came to be with Marcel, and the murdered seminarians. Nice....
Rather than go character by character as I normally do, I am going to take this episode storyline by storyline. All of the storylines are connected, so we'll start with Devinna, move onto the vampire/witch situation, and end with the seminarians. After that, I have a few character comments, so we'll address those.
In an earlier episode, Sophie (I think) mentioned that the witches in New Orleans derive their magical power by creating links with their ancestors. Turns out that once every 3 centuries, the witches need to go through a ceremony called the Reaping in which they channel their ancestors power into 4 girls and then kill the girls. As each girl is killed, the power is passed from one to another, so each witch gets more and more powerful. After they are all killed, there is a second ceremony called the Harvest where the power is redistributed and the girls come back to life. This time, there was a complication. Sophie didn't believe in the ceremony and her niece was one of the girls. She told Marcel (who she was sleeping with!) about the ceremony and he interrupted it in time to save Devinna from being killed (she was the fourth girl).
That is why Devinna is so freaking powerful. As the last girl, she is the receptacle of all of the power of the ancestors of the coven. That is also why she is working with Marcel. The girls were told that they would be bled a little and would be put into a limbolike state. They were also told that after the Harvest was performed, they would come back stronger than they were before. Naturally, when they were being killed via having their throats cut, the girls panicked. Devinna now hates the witches and is biding her time so that all of the power will vanish since the ceremony will not be completed.
This means that the vampire/witch situation is much more recent that had been implied earlier. From the pilot, it sounded like the situation with the witches being tracked was a long term thing, when in fact it has only been in place for a few months. The witches found out about Hayley and then used her to manipulate Klaus into coming back to New Orleans in order to find Devinna and complete the Reaping and the Harvest. This is the sort of thing guaranteed to make Klaus grumpy (to say the least!). If there is one thing Klaus hates, it is being manipulated by other people. Manipulating Klaus is like playing with fire. In other words, it is so not the right thing to do if you care about your long term health.
I will say that I thought that Devinna had been in Marcel's care for much longer than she actually was. I thought that he had raised her and that was why she hated witches. Having this new information makes her little rebellion last week make more sense. She is working with Marcel because she hates the witches and because Marcel saved her, but she does have her own agenda. Makes a difference....
It turns out that Cami and her brother are the niece and nephew to the priest who runs that church that Devinna is being kept in. When he sided with Sophie against the witches, one of the witches put a hex on Cami's brother in order to drive him insane and put the priest on the sidelines. As a result of the hex, he slaughtered the seminarians. Before he left town, the priest asked Marcel to save the girls. He only saved Devinna though. It also turns out that the priest occupies a very high place in the human hierarchy. He seems to be the spokesman (and possibly) leader of the humans who made an agreement with the witches and vampires to protect New Orleans in exchange for keeping their existence a secret.
One last plot thing. According to Sophie, the witches from last week are from an extreme group of the witches. Whether or not Sophie can be trusted is up for debate at this point. I do think that she did not sanction the attack because had Hayley died, Sophie would have died too (assuming she told the truth about the linking spell). If the attack was not meant to kill Hayley, but had some other (as yet unrevealed) purpose, then that could change things dramatically.
I am happy that Elijah is back. He's always been my favorite Original. I really hope that he can keep his word and get the grimoire to Devinna. I also think that, no matter how much he would like to punish Klaus, he is going to set what Klaus did aside in favor of working with him against the witches and Marcel. And what was up with the look that he and Hayley exchanged?
How long has Marcel actually been in control of New Orleans? Was he in charge before he saved Devinna or did he come to be in charge because he had Devinna and her power in his corner? If the latter, then he managed to impose order *VERY* quickly and I am highly impressed. My guess is that before he had Devinna, he was prima inter pares (first among equals) where the witches and humans were concerned. After he saved Devinna, I think he managed to gather enough power together to impose his will on the witches and the city. I could be wrong, but that is my guess.
Until next week!
Rather than go character by character as I normally do, I am going to take this episode storyline by storyline. All of the storylines are connected, so we'll start with Devinna, move onto the vampire/witch situation, and end with the seminarians. After that, I have a few character comments, so we'll address those.
In an earlier episode, Sophie (I think) mentioned that the witches in New Orleans derive their magical power by creating links with their ancestors. Turns out that once every 3 centuries, the witches need to go through a ceremony called the Reaping in which they channel their ancestors power into 4 girls and then kill the girls. As each girl is killed, the power is passed from one to another, so each witch gets more and more powerful. After they are all killed, there is a second ceremony called the Harvest where the power is redistributed and the girls come back to life. This time, there was a complication. Sophie didn't believe in the ceremony and her niece was one of the girls. She told Marcel (who she was sleeping with!) about the ceremony and he interrupted it in time to save Devinna from being killed (she was the fourth girl).
That is why Devinna is so freaking powerful. As the last girl, she is the receptacle of all of the power of the ancestors of the coven. That is also why she is working with Marcel. The girls were told that they would be bled a little and would be put into a limbolike state. They were also told that after the Harvest was performed, they would come back stronger than they were before. Naturally, when they were being killed via having their throats cut, the girls panicked. Devinna now hates the witches and is biding her time so that all of the power will vanish since the ceremony will not be completed.
This means that the vampire/witch situation is much more recent that had been implied earlier. From the pilot, it sounded like the situation with the witches being tracked was a long term thing, when in fact it has only been in place for a few months. The witches found out about Hayley and then used her to manipulate Klaus into coming back to New Orleans in order to find Devinna and complete the Reaping and the Harvest. This is the sort of thing guaranteed to make Klaus grumpy (to say the least!). If there is one thing Klaus hates, it is being manipulated by other people. Manipulating Klaus is like playing with fire. In other words, it is so not the right thing to do if you care about your long term health.
I will say that I thought that Devinna had been in Marcel's care for much longer than she actually was. I thought that he had raised her and that was why she hated witches. Having this new information makes her little rebellion last week make more sense. She is working with Marcel because she hates the witches and because Marcel saved her, but she does have her own agenda. Makes a difference....
It turns out that Cami and her brother are the niece and nephew to the priest who runs that church that Devinna is being kept in. When he sided with Sophie against the witches, one of the witches put a hex on Cami's brother in order to drive him insane and put the priest on the sidelines. As a result of the hex, he slaughtered the seminarians. Before he left town, the priest asked Marcel to save the girls. He only saved Devinna though. It also turns out that the priest occupies a very high place in the human hierarchy. He seems to be the spokesman (and possibly) leader of the humans who made an agreement with the witches and vampires to protect New Orleans in exchange for keeping their existence a secret.
One last plot thing. According to Sophie, the witches from last week are from an extreme group of the witches. Whether or not Sophie can be trusted is up for debate at this point. I do think that she did not sanction the attack because had Hayley died, Sophie would have died too (assuming she told the truth about the linking spell). If the attack was not meant to kill Hayley, but had some other (as yet unrevealed) purpose, then that could change things dramatically.
I am happy that Elijah is back. He's always been my favorite Original. I really hope that he can keep his word and get the grimoire to Devinna. I also think that, no matter how much he would like to punish Klaus, he is going to set what Klaus did aside in favor of working with him against the witches and Marcel. And what was up with the look that he and Hayley exchanged?
How long has Marcel actually been in control of New Orleans? Was he in charge before he saved Devinna or did he come to be in charge because he had Devinna and her power in his corner? If the latter, then he managed to impose order *VERY* quickly and I am highly impressed. My guess is that before he had Devinna, he was prima inter pares (first among equals) where the witches and humans were concerned. After he saved Devinna, I think he managed to gather enough power together to impose his will on the witches and the city. I could be wrong, but that is my guess.
Until next week!
Friday, October 25, 2013
My Review of Vampire Diaries 5.04- For Whom the Bell Tolls
Stefan learns about his past, more than one truth comes to light, someone returns, and a major WTF moment ends the show....
Stefan spent most of the hour learning about the man he was from Elena, Caroline, and Damon. And he was not terribly impressed. There is obviously still some sparkage with Elena and it looked like there might be some with Caroline, but that is all pretty much over. Elena told Stefan about her and Damon which caused Stefan to decide that there was really no point in being the good guy. Not only did he attack Jesse, but he has chosen to leave the Salvatore house. I am not sure where he is planning on staying, but it does seem like Elena and Damon have lost whatever influence they may have on him. So not a good thing.
Listening to the running commentary when Elena and Damon were filling him in on his past life was quite funny, particularly when Damon went through the list of people they had killed (or not) in the crypt. When Stefan said that Damon was the boring one and he was the fun one, I practically fell over laughing. Paul is definitely having fun playing a different side of Stefan. This isn't the Ripper or St. Stefan. Rather it is just plain Stefan with no baggage. I must admit that I do like him.
Jeremy finally confessed to everyone that Bonnie is dead. His reasons for keeping it quiet were laudable, however once everyone starting putting things on hold because they were waiting for Bonnie's return, he had to tell the truth. I loved Damon's reaction when he figured out what Jeremy was hinting at. He didn't want Jeremy to say it because of how it would affect Elena, but after Jeremy did, he went in fairly quickly to give Jeremy a reassuring hug. Damon really is growing as a person and that is awesome to see. Not too long ago, he wouldn't have done that. Honestly, I thought (for a split second) that he was going to hit Jeremy or snap his neck or something like that. Instead Damon acted as a pillar of support for Elena and Jeremy.
Unlike the rest of the gang, Jeremy has had a while to come to grips with Bonnie's death. Besides, she's not really dead to him because he can still talk with her if needed. I loved the scene where he was doing push-ups and Bonnie appeared. Of course, the being shirtless was (as always) wonderful to see, but Bonnie's line about her (and others') enjoying his working out was completely hilarious. And I can tell her that there are many of us watching who enjoy it as well. :-)
The reactions to Bonnie's death were about what would be expected. Elena had a minor meltdown, Caroline is trying to hold it together and not talk about it, and Matt is heartbroken. Having Bonnie speak to the gang through Jeremy was a really nice touch and it was something that the gang really needed. While she may not be able to help out magically, she may still have knowledge that can be helpful. The one good thing about her death is that Tyler came back for Caroline (at last!). While he is not my favorite character, he can be a good support for Caroline when he is around.
When Stefan and Caroline were talking, was I the only one to sense some possible sparkage? Nothing really serious, but there was definitely something there. I don't know if he is actually attracted to her or what was going on, but there was something. I am not sure if it is a good thing or not. Because of my dislike for Tyler, I am not unfond of the possible pairing, but I am not overly fond of it either. But if it happens, it happens.
Watching alternaMatt deliver that video message to Matt was a little freaky. What is so important about that particular knife that alternaMatt would threaten to cut Matt's throat (thus killing them both) if Matt didn't deliver it to the friends who are coming? And what exactly is alternaMatt doing when he takes over Matt's body? A little freaked out, but glad they're finally giving Zach a decent storyline.
I have to admit that I was shocked when the doctor killed Jesse. I assumed that the doctor was fighting vampires or acting like the Council and covering up their existence. But instead, he appears to be creating vampires. This cannot be a good thing at all.
Until next week!
Stefan spent most of the hour learning about the man he was from Elena, Caroline, and Damon. And he was not terribly impressed. There is obviously still some sparkage with Elena and it looked like there might be some with Caroline, but that is all pretty much over. Elena told Stefan about her and Damon which caused Stefan to decide that there was really no point in being the good guy. Not only did he attack Jesse, but he has chosen to leave the Salvatore house. I am not sure where he is planning on staying, but it does seem like Elena and Damon have lost whatever influence they may have on him. So not a good thing.
Listening to the running commentary when Elena and Damon were filling him in on his past life was quite funny, particularly when Damon went through the list of people they had killed (or not) in the crypt. When Stefan said that Damon was the boring one and he was the fun one, I practically fell over laughing. Paul is definitely having fun playing a different side of Stefan. This isn't the Ripper or St. Stefan. Rather it is just plain Stefan with no baggage. I must admit that I do like him.
Jeremy finally confessed to everyone that Bonnie is dead. His reasons for keeping it quiet were laudable, however once everyone starting putting things on hold because they were waiting for Bonnie's return, he had to tell the truth. I loved Damon's reaction when he figured out what Jeremy was hinting at. He didn't want Jeremy to say it because of how it would affect Elena, but after Jeremy did, he went in fairly quickly to give Jeremy a reassuring hug. Damon really is growing as a person and that is awesome to see. Not too long ago, he wouldn't have done that. Honestly, I thought (for a split second) that he was going to hit Jeremy or snap his neck or something like that. Instead Damon acted as a pillar of support for Elena and Jeremy.
Unlike the rest of the gang, Jeremy has had a while to come to grips with Bonnie's death. Besides, she's not really dead to him because he can still talk with her if needed. I loved the scene where he was doing push-ups and Bonnie appeared. Of course, the being shirtless was (as always) wonderful to see, but Bonnie's line about her (and others') enjoying his working out was completely hilarious. And I can tell her that there are many of us watching who enjoy it as well. :-)
The reactions to Bonnie's death were about what would be expected. Elena had a minor meltdown, Caroline is trying to hold it together and not talk about it, and Matt is heartbroken. Having Bonnie speak to the gang through Jeremy was a really nice touch and it was something that the gang really needed. While she may not be able to help out magically, she may still have knowledge that can be helpful. The one good thing about her death is that Tyler came back for Caroline (at last!). While he is not my favorite character, he can be a good support for Caroline when he is around.
When Stefan and Caroline were talking, was I the only one to sense some possible sparkage? Nothing really serious, but there was definitely something there. I don't know if he is actually attracted to her or what was going on, but there was something. I am not sure if it is a good thing or not. Because of my dislike for Tyler, I am not unfond of the possible pairing, but I am not overly fond of it either. But if it happens, it happens.
Watching alternaMatt deliver that video message to Matt was a little freaky. What is so important about that particular knife that alternaMatt would threaten to cut Matt's throat (thus killing them both) if Matt didn't deliver it to the friends who are coming? And what exactly is alternaMatt doing when he takes over Matt's body? A little freaked out, but glad they're finally giving Zach a decent storyline.
I have to admit that I was shocked when the doctor killed Jesse. I assumed that the doctor was fighting vampires or acting like the Council and covering up their existence. But instead, he appears to be creating vampires. This cannot be a good thing at all.
Until next week!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
My Review of The Tomorrow People 1.03- Girl, Interrupted
We get some background on Cara, Stephen continues to play both sides, someone learns Stephens secret, and we learn about another rule of the Tomorrow People.
I was very surprised to learn that Cara was born deaf. Presumably she is still deaf, but it is possible that when her powers manifested she somehow gained the ability to hear. The more likely possibility is that she "hears" using her telepathy which would explain why she is so damned good at it. She can also read lips (as would be expected) very well. We also learned the circumstances surrounding the manifestation of her powers. Turns out that she was with a boy who was ready to rape her when she used her telekinesis in self-defense and killed him. Consequently, after she escaped custody (courtesy of teleportation) she had to run in order to stay free. Is it any wonder that she doesn't entirely trust humans?
Stephen, on the other hand, can be entirely too trusting. While I can appreciate the rule of not helping humans for fear of revealing the existence of the Tomorrow People on a purely pragmatic level, it is not the best rule. As Stephen pointed out, using their powers to help people is a very human thing to do. As long as they are careful about using their powers in public, they should be able to help people if needed. Unfortunately, Stephen teleported directly in front of Astrid, who now knows that everything Stephen told her in the pilot is not entirely untrue. He is going to have some serious explaining to do.
He also has some serious explaining to do to Jedekiah. I admire his skill at breaking into the level in order to plant the device so that TIM could get info on potential break-outs. Unfortunately, he was not nearly stealthy enough and Jedekiah used the device in order to set a trap for Cara, John and Russell. His actions to save Cara, on the other hand, were inspired. Using his unique ability to stop time so that he could inject her with a saline solution instead of the ability blocking drug was an awesome idea. I do wonder if Jedekiah will see through it though.
I so cannot wait to see what Astrid does. Investigating Stephen is a bad idea, because I doubt that Jedekiah will hesitate before killing her if he feels threatened or if he thinks she'll uncover the truth. Unfortunately, I don't the the Tomorrow People will react much better. I also doubt that she'll listen to Stephen for a while unless he saves her or something. This could be very interesting.
Everyone else really played supporting roles tonight. Russell and John helped out in the fight on the docks, but didn't do much else.
Until next week!
I was very surprised to learn that Cara was born deaf. Presumably she is still deaf, but it is possible that when her powers manifested she somehow gained the ability to hear. The more likely possibility is that she "hears" using her telepathy which would explain why she is so damned good at it. She can also read lips (as would be expected) very well. We also learned the circumstances surrounding the manifestation of her powers. Turns out that she was with a boy who was ready to rape her when she used her telekinesis in self-defense and killed him. Consequently, after she escaped custody (courtesy of teleportation) she had to run in order to stay free. Is it any wonder that she doesn't entirely trust humans?
Stephen, on the other hand, can be entirely too trusting. While I can appreciate the rule of not helping humans for fear of revealing the existence of the Tomorrow People on a purely pragmatic level, it is not the best rule. As Stephen pointed out, using their powers to help people is a very human thing to do. As long as they are careful about using their powers in public, they should be able to help people if needed. Unfortunately, Stephen teleported directly in front of Astrid, who now knows that everything Stephen told her in the pilot is not entirely untrue. He is going to have some serious explaining to do.
He also has some serious explaining to do to Jedekiah. I admire his skill at breaking into the level in order to plant the device so that TIM could get info on potential break-outs. Unfortunately, he was not nearly stealthy enough and Jedekiah used the device in order to set a trap for Cara, John and Russell. His actions to save Cara, on the other hand, were inspired. Using his unique ability to stop time so that he could inject her with a saline solution instead of the ability blocking drug was an awesome idea. I do wonder if Jedekiah will see through it though.
I so cannot wait to see what Astrid does. Investigating Stephen is a bad idea, because I doubt that Jedekiah will hesitate before killing her if he feels threatened or if he thinks she'll uncover the truth. Unfortunately, I don't the the Tomorrow People will react much better. I also doubt that she'll listen to Stephen for a while unless he saves her or something. This could be very interesting.
Everyone else really played supporting roles tonight. Russell and John helped out in the fight on the docks, but didn't do much else.
Until next week!
My Review of Arrow 2.03- Broken Dolls
Oliver gets some help from one not entirely unexpected source and one surprising source, Laurel admits the truth, Roy gets his first job, and two names get dropped....
Oliver managed to get away from the police surrounding him thanks to some intervention from the Black Canary and her nifty sonic device. That was pretty cool. Honestly, I thought he might use an arrow with a rope to escape, but this was more fun. It also got Oliver to give Roy his first assignment: find the Black Canary. Roy managed to do so, but not entirely on his own or in the way he expected. After bribing someone to get some info, he finds the Black Canary's contact and gets himself knocked out after a pretty cool chase. She looked like she was going to kill him until Thea texted. I think that, given the ending, she thought that Roy worked for R'as al Ghul and spared him when she realized that he did not. And yes, that was the second name dropped. We'll get to the first in a sec.
Seeing Officer Lance and Laurel trading places in regards to the Arrow (first name drop!) this year has been interesting. He has had his eyes opened and realized that justice is not limited strictly to the law. For those who are too powerful for the law to affect directly, sometimes justice must take a different form. Is it ideal? No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it can be necessary. Also, since Oliver is determined to not kill now, he is not as far away as he once was. Not that Lance approves of everything the Arrow does (see his reaction to the Arrow shooting the lawyer!), but he seems to accept them as a necessary evil.
Laurel, on the other hand, is feeling so freaking guilty about what happened to Tommy (see my review from last week). As she said tonight, she feels responsible for what happened to Tommy and to cope with the feelings of guilt, she set her sights on taking the Arrow down. Now that he has saved her life (again!), she'll hopefully lay off a little bit. Is he the perfect hero that people need? No, but he is definitely what is needed right now.
It was nice to see Thea and Moira getting along. When Thea brought the clothing, it was amusing. Understandable, but still amusing. I do get why the DA is going for the death penalty, but he is neglecting to consider that Moira did warn the city about what was going to happen and did save some lives. Also, there is no way this trial would take place anywhere near Starling City. Any lawyer worth their salt would get the venue changed due to the intense feelings that are present in Starling City. There is no way that a jury from the area would be anything even approaching unbiased.
I found it very interesting that the messenger sent by R'as al Ghul was wearing the same outfit that Malcolm Merlyn wore. Does that mean that Malcolm Merlyn was a member of whatever organization R'as al Ghul is the head of? That would definitely explain his fighting skill and his singular focus on avenging wrongs and "justice".
On the island, we got to see the possible transformation of Slade Wilson into Deathstroke. If you remember from last week, Shado, Oliver, and Slade found the bodies of some Japanese soldiers in a place which some people were looking for. This week, the people used a ship to attack the area where the plane was (with Shado inside). Oliver went back for Shado and Slade followed. During the bombardment, Oliver was knocked down and in the background, you could see Slade and it looked like he was on fire. In addition, Oliver has been captured. He had mentioned that he spent some time off the island and we know that he has ties to the Russian mob, so I wonder if this is where those come into play.
In a bit, The Tomorrow People.
Oliver managed to get away from the police surrounding him thanks to some intervention from the Black Canary and her nifty sonic device. That was pretty cool. Honestly, I thought he might use an arrow with a rope to escape, but this was more fun. It also got Oliver to give Roy his first assignment: find the Black Canary. Roy managed to do so, but not entirely on his own or in the way he expected. After bribing someone to get some info, he finds the Black Canary's contact and gets himself knocked out after a pretty cool chase. She looked like she was going to kill him until Thea texted. I think that, given the ending, she thought that Roy worked for R'as al Ghul and spared him when she realized that he did not. And yes, that was the second name dropped. We'll get to the first in a sec.
Seeing Officer Lance and Laurel trading places in regards to the Arrow (first name drop!) this year has been interesting. He has had his eyes opened and realized that justice is not limited strictly to the law. For those who are too powerful for the law to affect directly, sometimes justice must take a different form. Is it ideal? No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it can be necessary. Also, since Oliver is determined to not kill now, he is not as far away as he once was. Not that Lance approves of everything the Arrow does (see his reaction to the Arrow shooting the lawyer!), but he seems to accept them as a necessary evil.
Laurel, on the other hand, is feeling so freaking guilty about what happened to Tommy (see my review from last week). As she said tonight, she feels responsible for what happened to Tommy and to cope with the feelings of guilt, she set her sights on taking the Arrow down. Now that he has saved her life (again!), she'll hopefully lay off a little bit. Is he the perfect hero that people need? No, but he is definitely what is needed right now.
It was nice to see Thea and Moira getting along. When Thea brought the clothing, it was amusing. Understandable, but still amusing. I do get why the DA is going for the death penalty, but he is neglecting to consider that Moira did warn the city about what was going to happen and did save some lives. Also, there is no way this trial would take place anywhere near Starling City. Any lawyer worth their salt would get the venue changed due to the intense feelings that are present in Starling City. There is no way that a jury from the area would be anything even approaching unbiased.
I found it very interesting that the messenger sent by R'as al Ghul was wearing the same outfit that Malcolm Merlyn wore. Does that mean that Malcolm Merlyn was a member of whatever organization R'as al Ghul is the head of? That would definitely explain his fighting skill and his singular focus on avenging wrongs and "justice".
On the island, we got to see the possible transformation of Slade Wilson into Deathstroke. If you remember from last week, Shado, Oliver, and Slade found the bodies of some Japanese soldiers in a place which some people were looking for. This week, the people used a ship to attack the area where the plane was (with Shado inside). Oliver went back for Shado and Slade followed. During the bombardment, Oliver was knocked down and in the background, you could see Slade and it looked like he was on fire. In addition, Oliver has been captured. He had mentioned that he spent some time off the island and we know that he has ties to the Russian mob, so I wonder if this is where those come into play.
In a bit, The Tomorrow People.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
On why I may not watch Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for much longer....
One of the shows I was the most excited for this season was Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I was excited for 2 main reasons. First off, it is a spin off of comic books and a great set of movies. Secondly, it is a Joss Whedon show and Joss Whedon; for those who may not know; has history of doing awesome, incredible shows. He created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse all of which I loved. Sadly, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has seriously failed to deliver on much.
Going in, I knew that the show wasn't about superheroes, so that didn't shock me. What did what the almost complete lack of Jossness in the show. In BtVS, Joss took stereotypes and completely turned them on their head. He made one blonde cheerleader into his hero, a second into a major villain, and killed what looked like a major character in the pilot episode. As the show went on, it became famous for the banter, quips, and twists, much of which we now take for granted. Joss also excelled at teaching moral lessons while not seeming to teach anything and without being preachy.
Unfortunately, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't deliver anything remotely close to this. The characters and banter are incredibly mundane and bland. It's like someone decided that they wanted to try and imitate Joss, but lacked his deft hand and failed miserably. All of the characters are cookie cutter and (frankly) boring. Ming-Na's Melinda is the most interesting character, mainly because she is an incredibly bad-ass fighter. The rest of the cast is a fairly cookie cutter collection of a special agent, a hacker, and two tech geeks, none of whom are particularly interesting.
All of this I could forgive and I could hold out for more characterization later if the stories were interesting, but frankly, they are not. They are ok and the action scenes are not bad, but overall it doesn't deliver anything that makes me want to come back. I am honestly at the point where I am saying that if I miss an episode and tape it, I am not in a hurry to watch it again. Not a good thing. I want to love this show and I want to get lost in it, but sadly that is not happening. I have decided that I am giving the show two more episodes (last nights and next week's) to impress me. If it doesn't, then I am dropping it.
Going in, I knew that the show wasn't about superheroes, so that didn't shock me. What did what the almost complete lack of Jossness in the show. In BtVS, Joss took stereotypes and completely turned them on their head. He made one blonde cheerleader into his hero, a second into a major villain, and killed what looked like a major character in the pilot episode. As the show went on, it became famous for the banter, quips, and twists, much of which we now take for granted. Joss also excelled at teaching moral lessons while not seeming to teach anything and without being preachy.
Unfortunately, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't deliver anything remotely close to this. The characters and banter are incredibly mundane and bland. It's like someone decided that they wanted to try and imitate Joss, but lacked his deft hand and failed miserably. All of the characters are cookie cutter and (frankly) boring. Ming-Na's Melinda is the most interesting character, mainly because she is an incredibly bad-ass fighter. The rest of the cast is a fairly cookie cutter collection of a special agent, a hacker, and two tech geeks, none of whom are particularly interesting.
All of this I could forgive and I could hold out for more characterization later if the stories were interesting, but frankly, they are not. They are ok and the action scenes are not bad, but overall it doesn't deliver anything that makes me want to come back. I am honestly at the point where I am saying that if I miss an episode and tape it, I am not in a hurry to watch it again. Not a good thing. I want to love this show and I want to get lost in it, but sadly that is not happening. I have decided that I am giving the show two more episodes (last nights and next week's) to impress me. If it doesn't, then I am dropping it.
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