Review: Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 1.18 - The Frenemy of My Enemy

I was really backlogged on TV and Agents of SHIELD has been fairly low on my list of things to catch up on. But I'm glad I gave it a break, as it's nice to watch it in big chunks. Now successfully caught up I can tell you that this episode was a lot of fun. I knew I was going to enjoy it when Coulson calls Ward on his 'girlfriends' phone and calls him sweetie. There was a lot to like in this episode. I like Coulson being on the run and proving that he's a good guy when the rest of SHIELD is trying to catch him. It's a nice little shift in the slightly monotonous show. It also allows for some great misunderstandings.

The return of Ward, I know he's been hanging around in the background but this is the first episode he's had a lot to do. It allowed for a lot of cross purposes and miscommunication. I loved his interaction with Fitz.

Daddy's Day Out. Skye takes her Super-Psycho-Daddy out and plans to leave him at the behest of her mother (who she seems to of taken to her very quickly). This was the first time I actually liked Cal, who up to this point has been a bit weird.

Mike Peterson as Deathlok. It's nice to see him back even if his acting was slightly more robotic than feels necessary. I'm not 100% sold on the Inhumans in the show just yet. But I did enjoy the line 'oh yeah and I'm the hulk'.

It's a shame they didn't string out the whole Coulson looks to be working with Ward and therefore Hydra. That and the long daddy day out scenes were the only weak points for me. All in all it was well executed and kept me entertained.

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Score: 4/5

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Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 1.18 - "The Frenemy of My Enemy" New episodes of Marvel’s Agents of Shield – Tuesdays 9/8C

Review: Gotham 1.20 – Under The Knife

Did I actually enjoy an episode of Gotham? I think I did, the show is still jerky and confuses the DC/Batman mythology, but this episode had some really enjoyable set pieces. The show still had its concurrent story-lines (minus Fish Mooney) but this time they flowed together well. Usually the show feels like each storyline is written separately, filmed separately and then edited together by a third party. This week was a continuation of last week’s storyline, with Milo Ventimiglia as the Ogre. This is a better format for the show, frankly they should have had longer running stories instead of the villain of the week format. It allows you to actually become invested and wonder what’s going to happen next, there's no suspense when you know it will wrap up at the end of the episode (don't get me started on the lack of suspense involving any character we know grows into an established Batman icon #PrequelProblems).

Gordon is still tracking down the Ogre, a man who has gotten away with murder, he does this by killing the investigating police mans loved ones. Gordon gets worried about Dr Thompkins when he finds out about this and rushes over to find her perfectly okay (If The Rock is franchise-viagra then Morena Baccarin in a bathtub should be episode-saver). This is a great bit of misdirection as the Ogre is under the impression that Barbara Kean is still Gordon's one and only.

The nice thing about this episode is that the main storyline is exactly that, the main storyline. The side story-lines are shorter and because of that they say what they need to say quickly and then cut. That forces a few odd scenes like Batman and Catwoman discussing her decision to murder KHSDKGHSDHSK last week, in a crowded ballroom. What I learned from this is that Batman is growing his 'I don't kill' philosophy but he hasn't learned tact yet.

The other short asides were Penguin and Nigma. Again both of these work because they were shorter, punchier and had genuine stakes (though even when the Penguin’s stories are longer it's pretty great because of Robin's performance). Nigma is still hopelessly infatuated with Miss Kringle, who is dating a cop that is abusing her. Nigma is furious about this and when confronting the not-so-gentleman doesn't work, he stabs the crap out of him in an open road and thus we get our first look at the future Riddler. There weren't too many scenes leading up to this and so the escalation to a stabbing took me off guard.

The Penguin is planning to take out Maroni, but Maroni knows he's up to something and decides to mess with him. He does this by becoming very friendly with Penguin’s mother, of whom the Penguin is very close to. Maroni drops the bomb by telling Penguin’s mother that he's not exactly the angel she imagines, which forces a talk that alters their relationship (because Penguin still wants to pretend he is just a night-club owner). Which again led to a brutal scene of the Penguin killing a random person, it was weird and quirky but felt in place.

The best part is that the case still hasn't been wrapped up and the end was left in a really cool, slightly ambiguous manner.

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Score: 4/5

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Gotham 1.20 – Under The Knife Watch Gotham Monday's on Fox.

Review: Gotham 1.19 - Beasts of Prey

Well Gotham came back with a bit of a whimper. It took me a while to get round to watching it (sorry). Here is a run down of some of the story-lines involved. Gordon

Gordon is tracking down a weirdo that is capturing and killing women. It's pretty creepy the more we see of this guy who forces women to be his idea of a perfect girlfriend (wife? Mother?).  They eventually find out that he is a serial killer nicknamed the Ogre.

There's a pretty on the nose scene where a girl comes up to 'the Ogre' and calls him moderately attractive. I guess the writers see this as clever foreshadowing, but it just seems to devalue the payoff.

Extra points for the super gravelly voice this episode. I wonder how many cough sweets McKenzie has on set. It seems like talking that way would tear your throat up.

Bruce Wayne

Bruce is tracking down Reggie, who is sleeping in a building with a bunch of homeless people. He gives a lot of information because he's worried about losing his bottle of medicine. Seems like he should of negotiated for better pay from his last job. Selina Kyle pushes him out of a window because Batman can't kill.

Fish

Fish is still trying to escape the Doll Maker. She gets caught trying to escape then goes back with a plan to take a boat that can only take six people. When confronted about taking a helicopter she asks if anyone can fly, "No? that's why", because she knows everyone so well.

One thing that was really nice was that she finally calls him "Doll Maker" instead of DolMacker (that's how it sounds to me when they say it).

The Misdirection is very easy to spot. Very strange that she would leave the Doll Maker alive.

Penguin

The penguin is off trying to be a mob boss.  He is trying to obtain a bar. Which he does by ordering the owners daughter's husbands fingers cut off, which was pretty cool. He wants the bar because he's going to kill Maroni there.

I really liked the Ogre stuff, Milo Ventimiglia is really good at putting out that creepy vibe.

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Score: 3/5

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Gotham 1.9 - Beasts of Prey Watch Gotham Monday's on Fox.

Review: Gotham 1.17 - Red Hood

Holy Shit, did I really just enjoy a whole episode of Gotham? This might be the first time I finished an episode and actually wanted another. James Gordon and The Red Hood Gang

This story-line is absolutely ridiculous and I loved it. A crew of bank thieves become enamored with a red sock with holes in it. They become superstitious about the hood and kill each other to be the one who gets to wear it. Eventually they all get killed, James picks up the hood and instead of shoving it in his pocket drops it on the floor. Where it teleports and gets picked up by a kid and DA-da-da there's our next Red Hood. Hilarious. The hood must be magical and in a future episode I'm sure (heavy sarcasm) we'll find out it's origins.

Loved the bit where Gordon asks Bullock "You see that?", then Bullock says "No, you took my glasses."

Bruce Wayne

Alfred's old friend turns up and Bruce Wayne allows him to stay. This creepy old weirdo see's Bruce training and lets Bruce punch him in the face numerous times, good way to pay rent I guess. Obviously this guy who turns up out of thin air has an ulterior motive and it's not to steal the silver-ware. He is in fact working for the board at Wayne Inc that Bruce accused last week.

Fish Mooney

Fish finds out it's not just eyes they take in the mansion basement prison. Although that is what they want from her. Finally Gotham does some show instead of tell, Fish grabs a spoon and digs out her own eye than stamps on it so they can't use them. Awesome.

Penguin

Now penguin is running a comedy club. He has no alcohol because of his beef with Maroni. He attempts to steal some from Maroni's warehouse, good long-term business strategy (again Penguin not so smart yet). Butch is one step ahead and uses the corrupt cops to shake down the warehouse.

Barbara Kean and her teenage house guests

Barbara likes having young girls stay in her house. She just wants some friends to play dress up with. Future-Catwoman rejects getting tarted up, pointing out that it's hardly working for Barbara.

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Score: 4/5

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Gotham 1.17 - Red Hood

Review: Gotham 1.16 - The Blind Fortune Teller

Hey guys and gals, I'm sorry this review is late, I had Chinese New Year stuff to attend to. I finally got around to watching this episode of Gotham. The one that supposedly offers us the origin of the Joker. If this is the origin they're giving us. I've gotta say I wasn't that impressed. The kid did a good joker style laugh, but that still doesn't excuse the fact that Gotham was supposed to be a show without Batman (See: Fox Gets To Make A Show About Gotham). I'm sure that the rest of the crew of Bastards here would agree that if there's no Batman there should be no Joker.

James Gordon and Haly's Circus

This story line was yet another way for Fox to name drop characters from the Batman mythos. Here we get to meet the Flying Graysons, Robin's parents. Gordon helps the two sort things out and Richard Grayson says if they have a son they'll name him after James Gordon. We know that he'll eventually pass his own name onto the Boy Wonder. Only, Robin is way younger than Batman, so they're going to be trying for a kid for quite a while right?

The show reveals the very hidden identity of the Joker, and his real name is *Drum roll*, Jerome (with a J, like Joker see). Then again this kid could just be a weird psycho, who killed his mum because he didn't want to wash the dishes. To be fair I haven't parsed any of Gotham into my personal canon. So this version of the Joker is about as real to me as the versions me and my friends discussed in school.

Penguin

Penguin is having a tough time trying to decide exactly what the hell type of club he is running. This really detracts from the 'he's weak but is so intelligent he is playing everyone' motif. He has punks, people in old-timey attire and drunk businessmen. I guess he should be commended, how the hell do you get those various groups to enter and stay to watch an old lady sing old songs?

I did enjoy Victor Zsaz's laugh when he brings in Fish Mooney’s right-hand man, Butch. Butch has had his brain re-calibrated by Victor. Who wants to bet he's just faking?

Fish Mooney

Fish takes her stuck in a sewer prison crazy to a new level. Now they are family, why? Because she says so. She convinces them that it would be a good idea to kill off the next person who’s going to get taken away. So she can set up a meeting with the guy who's running the place. That ridiculous plan actually works. One of the 'guards?' has to stay with her 'family' until she gets back. Surely they'd shoot her in the face and then get back to business.

Bruce Wayne

Baby Batman goes to a meeting and accuses the board of corrupt individuals of being corrupt. Nice move, I really see detective potential in you, Not! Why doesn't Alfred sit him down and try to teach him some shit instead of constantly let him make dumb mistakes.

Barbara

Everyone’s favorite character returns to Gotham, Barbara Kean/Gordon (Because this vapid character steals Jim's heart somehow). She's not phased by the two kids rooming in her house, what? She allows them to stay, asks them for clothing advice, again what? Then she catches Jim making out with Dr. Thompkins, who cares?

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Score: 2/5

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Gotham 1.16 - The Blind Fortune Teller

Review: The Walking Dead 5.11 - The Distance

I asked last week why there are no happy jokey people in The Walking Dead. This week we find out why. It's because our group, the one that is deemed to have the best story to tell in the Apocalypse (Surely they would base the show on the best story?) are grumpy bastards. Now obviously they've been taken for a few rides, lost some dear friends and that’s bound to make anyone a bit crotchety. But at some point you'd have to ask yourself 'is being alive worth it if I have to spend the whole time with these miserable fucks?'. We get a little ray of sunshine in the form of Aaron (who we all know from the books right?). It was good to see him maintain his happy attitude, even after Rick punching him for absolutely no reason. I loved the part where he offers apple sauce for Judith and Rick demands he taste tests it. Why, if you know your not allergic to it, wouldn't you just suck it up immediately. You know this beard-y weird-y is a psycho, he just punched you for no reason. The script tries to make Aaron look smart but then also takes away from it with stupid decisions like that.

If you read the comics, as I do, then you know that Aaron is a good guy. Maybe that taints my opinion of Rick. I don't like the way they dangled that he might be a bad guy (I really hope that they are just trying to mislead the non-comic readers). I mean they have altered things from the comics and right now they are trying to burn through a bunch of arcs to get to where we are in the books.

Now that the group has arrived at Alexandria we know pretty much what the rest of the season has in store and that next season is going to be building into the 'All Out War' arc. Hopefully they can catch up and then diverge from the comics. Let the show have some more creative input instead of rehashing things badly.

Still not stunning but heading in the right direction.

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Score: 3/5

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The Walking Dead 5.11 - The Distance

Review: The Walking Dead 5.10 - Them

I raved about the way season five started. The first half of this season came in with a bang and had some of the best episodes. This second half is slow. Yeah they killed off another main character but it was a slow death that took the whole episode. Now we have to deal with the emotional turmoil of the group. The title of the episode is 'Them' it should have been 'giving up' or 'feeling sorry for ourselves'. The characters have lost all zest for life stumbling along just like the zombies, hungry and thirsty. They barely communicate with the one or two people they can tolerate in the group.

Sasha is going slightly off the rails now that she's lost Bob and Tyrese. She has gone into rage mode (or stupid mode, depending on how you look at it). It's sad to see someone turn inwards and embrace violence. Oh no, wait it isn't. She had some of the best moments this episode. The first is when everyone is deciding what to do about a pack of feral dogs, she shoots them all without giving it a second thought. I remember a rule of American media, if a character kills a dog they are a bad guy. Does that mean she's turning to the dark side? (I sure hope so). The second moment is when she rightfully tells Noah that he sucks and should prepare to die (I'm extrapolating, but that's what she implied).

Daryl deals with the loss of Beth, he does this by wandering into the woods alone to have a smoke and a cry. Doesn't seem like a good idea to split up all the time. Yet he does it many times (I guess they really want to hammer home that he's a bad ass). He's so strong and sensitive too, doesn't everyone just love him. Oh yeah and he eats worms.

Maggie has given up the will to kill zombies. She still does, but is very resigned while doing it. She resolves to feel better at the end of the episode when she realizes people still care about her (I guess). Carl gives her a music box and Daryl fixes/cleans it. Which leads to the slightly creepy ending which was really good.

Rick finally says the line 'we are the walking dead'. It's yet another slow moment in this episode that gets drawn out so long just to get that line some emphasis. They get attacked by strobe-light-zombies (okay it happens in a lightning storm, hope no one has epilepsy).

The end of the episode brings a new character, one from the comics, into the show. Aaron wanders up while Maggie is cheering up Sasha. They respond the only way this group knows how, pointing a gun at him. Why is it that most people our group bumps into seems happier than they are, even the bad ones. Why is there no one telling stories or cracking jokes, yeah it's the end of the world, but surely there's some fun people left.

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Score: 3/5

Extra point for the scene with the dogs and everyone unhappily eating the meat.

Review: Constantine 1.13 - Waiting For The Man

As always this contains some spoilers, so watch it first or don't complain. If that was the final then I will have a very similar reaction to the finale of Reaper (did anyone else watch that). The show dangles ever more plot threads. Leaving us with many questions for season two. In one way I respect the idea, give something for people to yearn for. On the other hand, FUCK.

This episodes main plot was very creepy. Young girls, creepy dude wanting to marry them, it definitely pumped the squirm factor. The way this plot played out was a little strange though. The girl seemed to like the idea of marrying some random dude she'd never met. I guess there must of been magic involved but it never felt like she was under a spell. I did like the way it resolved at the end with Constantine convincing Jim to kill him. It illustrates how John won't stand for any kind of evil being allowed to exist.

The other main plot involves Papa Midnite (Michael James Shaw is so good). There is a bounty on Johns head and Midnite wants it. So much so that he finds a guy that murdered his wife, kills him, then reanimates him to kill Constantine. The makeup on the reanimation is awesome and creepy. But that plan is useless, just hold a gun to his head and tell him to kill Constantine or you'll kill him. Why bring him back as a 'zombie', especially if he can still die by being shot. Also don't monologue, just kill (obviously they can't kill Constantine, but they can kill the stupidity).

Later when Midnite tracks Constantine down, Constantine uses a glamor spell to fool Midnite into shooting a reanimated corpse. It was a pretty good misdirect, well played out. Especially in the 'Finale', I genuinely wondered if they would kill him off then have him in hell or limbo in season 2 trying to return.

Midnite later gets caught by police only to be released by Manny. He explains that John is off limits and that the Brujeria work for him. Does that mean he's evil? that he's the one behind the rising darkness?

I really enjoyed this episode, especially the return of Gary Lester warning John about the bounty on his head. Also when John asks Manny to 'be an angel' and to ' hold it for me' (cheap but funny). If this turns out to be the last outing of this incarnation of Constantine it will be very sad.

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Score: 3/5 (the episode was good but if this is the way the show goes out, it leaves too much on the table)

Review: Gotham 1.15 - The Scarecrow

I got round to watching this weeks Gotham a little late. I'm gonna have to tackle this review by doing a  mini-review of each storyline, seeing as the show refuses to focus itself. James Gordan and the adrenal gland thief:

Following on from last week, Detective Gordon continues to track down daddy Scarecrow. Crane's motive is to cure fear by extracting adrenal glands, mash them in a garlic press and then inject the funky cocktail into himself (there might of been some other stuff but it was less than scientific). If he's going to inject the adrenal-cocktail into himself surely he would want people who didn't get scared (then again he is fruit-loops).

This story plays out fairly predictably. The fear-curing experiment gets interrupted and Crane Sr injects all of the 'protocol' into his son. Which obviously messes him up and puts him into a permanent state of fear. He latches onto the first thing he sees which is the scarecrow they've conveniently stopped by. Just as well he didn't treat him in the kitchen otherwise batman’s future villain might of been 'The Toaster'.

In a ridiculous shoot out Crane Sr claims he has no fear of being shot and walks out in the open. he also has no fear of running out of bullets. I get the whole I'm not afraid of bullets thing, but shouldn't he still understand that bullets kill and I assume he doesn't want to die (otherwise what's the point in curing yourself). Also why don't Gordon or Bullock shoot him in the leg, seemed a little excessive. Then again this is Gotham and all the police are corrupt so I guess they won't care.

Fish becomes queen of a shitty prison:

After last weeks Injustice Clash with a pirate, Fish wakes up in a random prison. The prison is run by the one guy with a knife (not the biggest or strongest, because he never sleeps and drops the knife). Fish seduces him with nicknames, steals the knife and then kills him. She then claims she's in charge, yeah cos holding a knife and saying it makes it so. Then some woman gets thrown back into the prison with her eyes taken out, it's just as well she tells us 'they took my eyes', god forbid the audience use their own eyes to see that.

Bruce Wayne's solo trip:

Bruce has decided to go on a hike that he and his father used to go on. He decides he will go alone, which Alfred allows, seems ever so slightly irresponsible. Bruce gets to the end of the trail and places a rock on a pile marked with BW, then sweetly places a rock on his father's TW pile. He then ruins the tender moment and has a hissy fit throwing away all his fathers rocks. I know kids are dicks, and he lost his dad so he's angry, but how does this endear us to baby batman?

After his temper tantrum he loses his footing, falls down a hill and hurts his leg. After laying there, for what must be the whole day (he set out in the morning when we come back to him it's night), he finds a branch and uses a strap from his bag to tie it to his leg (this is to show us how resourceful he is, right?). Alfred realizes maybe he made a mistake and tracks him down. He finds him but lets him crawl up the hill without helping (I actually quite liked that).

Penguin gets a club:

Falcone Shmoozes Maroni into not killing the penguin. He also gives the club to the penguin and tells him to redecorate it so that it can make money, because with 'money comes power'. That club never seemed to be filled when fish ran it so how much money did it really make. The penguin re-brands the club as 'Oswalds' and fills it with punks. Don't really understand that, nor do I understand the clubs logo of an umbrella. Yeah I know it's his signature from the comics but the show has in no way layered in his love for umbrellas. if anything he should hate them as he was the bitch-boy made to carry one for Fish.

The best thing this episode was when Penguin goes to the GCPD to give James Gordon an invitation (It seems less like he's trying to use Gordon and more like he's infatuated with him) and meets Edward Nigma. Their interaction was pretty good, I liked how they both try to intimidate each other.

Again the show is not amazing but there's enough happening in every episode to make the ADD audience feel good.

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Score: 2/5

Review: The Walking Dead 5.09 - What Happened and What's Going On

This Review CONTAINS SPOILERS (so watch it first or don't complain). Well here it is, the mid-season premiere. Oh how I have waited for your return my shambling friends. You too zombies (I'm implying the survivors are the shambling ones, in case you didn't get that). I have been running over the numerous scenarios they could have begun this arc with. I did not think they would kill another main character.

I get that they were trying to do something a little more artsy with the direction in this episode. I guess it was to highlight Tyrese's moral stance (by basically underlining everything we know about him). It's kind of sweet that the show runners liked Chad Coleman (and who couldn't with that last name like that) so much that they use a whole episode to say goodbye to his character. Unfortunately, for me at least, the things they did pulled me out of the moment.

Separately these ideas might be okay but together felt like going overboard. I liked the misdirection at the beginning, obviously we're all going to believe they were burying Beth. I also liked the whole chop his arm off misdirection, he might survive. Oh damn, no he won't.

Now for the things I didn't like (feel free to disagree). I understand that in the post-apocalypse world lot's of things are dangerous even tiny kiddie zombies. But our guys have been out in the world for a long time now and dealt with a lot. So not being covered up against bites seems dumb. Also wouldn't he be more aware, shouldn't they all be hyper-aware of shuffling and groaning? I mean he saw and heard the zombie in the other room, ignores it and then doesn't hear it enter the room (he's not sneaking in, the zombies don't have that ability right?) because he's looking at some photos on the wall. It felt hollow to me. which according to Gale Anne Hurd, means I have a heart of stone.

How about maybe not killing a character that we've seen take out numerous zombies even when frequently out-numbered, in such a F***ING stupid way.

Also his zombiefication happened a tad quickly, didn't it? He gets the cold shiver sweats, turns pale and starts hallucinating. At that point I was certain he was going to die. If he's gone mad and hallucinating from one bite then chopping his arm off isn't going to help, it's gone too deep. I know they've shown characters after they've died like Lori (and those scenes were always good weren't they? *heavy sarcasm) but Rick was mentally tortured to his limit when he went crazy-banana-nuts (they dropped it way too early in the show, it was handled much better in the comic). Tyrese however wasn't mentally drained to the point of being bonkers, in fact he was together enough that he could be the moral compass and say killing just to kill is bad (duh!).

Then the fact that he didn't even kill the little zombie and Noah (the walking catastrophe) takes it out with a toy plane, what the ever-loving F***. Then They chop his arm off with no way to cauterize the wound, I know they can't just leave it because the infection will get in, but they could at least tie it off so he doesn't leak all his precious blood. Noah gets a number of moments to show how bloody useless he is, Rick asks if he can hold Tyrese to which he says yes, then proceeds to drop him as they almost get munched again. Luckily Rick takes it out, but now you have loads of zombie blood on a massive open wound, he's gotta die now.

I also didn't feel anywhere near as emotional with the death of TV Tyrese as I did with the Comic Book Tyrese. Rick and Tyrese's friendship didn't feel as strong and Tyrese didn't really have any character that would be distraught by his passing (everyone will be upset but not distraught). Even Sasha has been hardened to the deaths now after Bob's passing. People are still mourning Beth so Tyrese's death just get's amalgamated into her loss. So if none of the characters are super-upset that Tyrese is dead, why should I be?

I'm glad the show is back (otherwise I wouldn't of written this much) But come on guys step it up. Don't do an art-film, this is The Walking Dead, I watch for a semi-realistic take on a zombie apocalypse. When you go all arty it ruins the realism. If you kill Glen or Daryl in such a stupid way I imagine fans will go crazy-banana-nuts.

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Score: 2/5

Review: TMNT 3.10 – Serpent Hunt

My hopes were at an all-time high after the last two episodes. I thought that with the return to the familiar surroundings of New York that things might be okay. I was psyched to see Bebop and Rocksteady in the intro (I paused the video so much to get a better look but couldn't). I spent a couple hours falling down the wikipedia (and numerous Turtle wikias) rabbit hole to refresh my very sketchy memories of the classic cartoon, it's amazing what you forget after more than twenty years (side note: my five year old self would be very disappointed in me). I remember being plugged into the TV when I was young, with the Turtles on a constant stream. However it has become clear to me that I did not watch all the 193 episodes (has anyone here watched all of them?). I can't believe I forgot Michealangelo's best friend Mondo Gecko (you'd think with a name like that I wouldn't have). So that's who the skating gecko kid I asked about last time is (and he will make an appearance in episode 17).

This week we got to see how the TMNT 2012 versions of Bebop and Rocksteady get made/mutated. They were both introduced previously in their human forms. Ivan Steranko, who mutates into Rocksteady, is a Russian arms dealer. He hired Anton Zeck, who mutates into Bebop, to steal Shredders helmet. At the conclusion of that episode Ivan said he would pop Anton's head 'like blueberry!'

I dig the redesign of Rocksteady except the Russian accent, I still have fond memories of Rocksteady sounding dumb (now if they make him dumb it'll seem like they're poking fun at Russians). The design of Bebop is way different than the classic version. Instead of being similar in size/shape as Rocksteady, Bebop is still as slim as he was in human form, only his head is massive. Still one out of two ain't bad.

There was a lot of action in this episode, most of it fun and well-choreographed. A lot of dancing from Anton in his Tron-like, light-cable beam shooting suit (really what the heck is that thing). The Turtles don't seem to be as terrified of Shredder as they used to be.

I really liked when the Turtles track Ivan and Anton to the docks and appear on some shipping containers in a flash of lightning.

All-in-all it was an okay episode, though for the reveal of two of the most memorable Turtles bad guys, I was expecting more. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great either.

Score: 2/5

Review: Gotham 1.14 – The Fearsome Dr. Crane

I've been watching Gotham since it started (if it's got something to do with comics I'll watch it). That being said it is usually the last thing in my list to get watched. I don't hate it (I know a lot of people do). Branding it on Gotham city and then taking time to show Bruce Wayne, and the rest of his villains pre-vigilante, weakens the show. For me personally it works best when they don't show everyone’s story-lines and try to focus on the crime of the week. I think they could have lost all the Bruce Wayne scenes and the show wouldn't feel much different. Except you'd have to lose Catwoman (or at least think of another reason to have involved) which would be a shame as her scenes are usually entertaining. Oh wait, they almost phased her out of the show by having her deny that she saw the murder (goodbye only reason to be around). Also you could lose Poison Ivy, really what has her appearance added to the show.

This weeks episode did a little step in that direction, with less Bruce and Selina. There was more focus on the crime of the week. Penguin and Maroni's situation came to a head, as Fish rats Penguin out. The thing that made this episode for me though is Bullock getting more screen time (Donal Logue is one of my favorite character actors and I will watch pretty much anything he's in).

The crime of the week shows the foreshadowing of yet another Batman villain, the Scarecrow. Only the Dr. Crane that is doing the kidnapping and murdering is Gerard Crane, Jonathon Crane's (the Scarecrow that fights with Batman) daddy. He finds his victims in a fear/phobia support group. Which gives us a great scene of a man being scared by a teacup piglet then captured. He is later saved by Gordon and Bullock who shoot Crane's henchman who was scaring the man by wearing a pig mask and surrounding him with pigs (okay three pigs isn't really surrounding).

Gordon makes the biggest mistake in the episode by screwing up a date with Morena Baccarin, sorry I mean Dr. Thompkins. Silly detective, very silly. At least he gets to smooch her a couple of time this episode (lucky Ben McKenzie).

The best thing in this episode though is Penguin and Maroni. It's always good seeing Penguin trying to squirm and lie his way through conversations. Also nice to see Maroni being kind of smart (even if it took a tip from Fish first). It would have been nice to see Penguin actually open the gun check to see the bullets, that would have made the scene pay off a little better (I hope you saw that coming a mile away).

I wasn't blown away by this episode but I did enjoy it.

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Score: 3/5

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Gotham airs Monday's on Fox

Review: TMNT 3.09 - Return to New York

Hell yeah, this new incarnation of the Turtles is quickly over-whelming my love for the classic versions. After last week’s episode 'Vision Quest' I was impressed with the new gear the turtles were sporting. Seems like we'll only be seeing these cool battle duds in the new intro. Speaking of which, Is that Bebop and Rocksteady in the new intro? I'm so *insert swear word* excited. I'm so pumped for the rest of this season now. (Who’s the skating gecko kid? I'm sure we'll find out soon) Let's get into this week’s ep then. I don't know about you, but I got the same feeling I did at the end of 'The walking dead' season 2. Thank god, they finally left the farm. There were a few good episodes here, I just prefer New York. Some of the episodes felt like anime filler. Though it did give us time to get used to Seth Green as Leo.

So they’ve decided to leave the farm and go take back New York from the Kraang. But first they need a new vehicle, enter Donnie's blueprints for 'Shellraiser 2'. Which gets dubbed the 'Party Wagon' with licence plate 'LUVDCTR'. I dig that Raph is the artistic turtle (seems like something they'd of assigned to Mikey in the classic cartoon). Raph's painting of Venus looks like a sexy female version of himself given the red bandanna she's sporting.

Once the 'Party Wagon' is built they pack they stuff and go. Which includes Mikey packing Ice-Cream Kitty (every episode is better with Ice-cream kitty). Donnie says goodbye to Dr. Cluckingsworth (which is a bit sad, why couldn't he go to New York? Won't Donnie need his help?)

They arrive at New York, which is now walled off and patrolled by Kraang controlled humans. Casey drives straight through them and they start exploring the empty city. April uses her mind powers to scan for people and says she can only feel about a hundred. Not much later they bump into some Kraang bots, which they dispose of using the Party Wagons weapons, one of which uses Soda and Mentos.

They escape into the underground tracks via one of their many secret entrances. Once back underground they decide to go check their old home, which is being patrolled by a floating sphere Kraang droid. April uses her mind powers to sense Splinter and the team races off to find the Father/Master. F*** Yeah Splinters back (well not quite yet, His mind is all messed up and now he's more rat than human). Splinter attacks everything in sight including Casey. One of Baxter Stockman's mouser-bots reboots and sends out a call which brings in the foot-clan. Shredder races off but is captured and taken to Shredder.

Shredder commands Baxter Stockman to fix Splinters mind, So that he will know who he is before he finishes him (very James Bond evil genius kind of a plan, I like it).

The turtles track down Splinter finding the entrance to Baxter's lair. On the way they bump into a mini-tentacled Shredder, which prompts a big laugh from the gang before they climb down he hatch and lock it out.

The turtles infiltrate Baxter's lair and open Splinters cage (which has a very large Mouse-wheel inside, looks like they planned to capture Splinter for a long time). They fight with Baxter to prevent him from setting off an alarm. Realizing he can't fight all four turtles he calls in his mutant shredders. Three off them all crustacean like versions of Shred-head, complete with helmets and armour of their original. The turtles have a tough time dealing with these new foes. Raph comments that 'This guy is like fighting a four-armed dump truck'

Mikey takes out Baxter with one of his disappearing-smoke eggs, and celebrates with a slow Booya-Kasha. You know something bad is about to happen when Mikey shows off. Sure enough he leans on the alarm button he was just preventing Baxter from using (you're so dumb Mikey. Cute but dumb)

Meanwhile April once again uses her mind powers to snap Splinters mind back into focus. He sees his boys in trouble and proceeds to open a can of whoop-ass on those mutant Shredders. Okay, now he's back. Shredder and Tiger Claw arrive with some foot-clan, but our boys are done with fighting and decide to scarper.

Back in the Party Wagon they lament not having a home any more (who guessed what was coming up next? I know I did). Mikey figures out a great place for their new home or at least temporary base (any guesses?). You bet he picked the now empty Antoino's Pizza-rama restaurant. Genius.

The episode ends with April sensing her father close by. Unfortunately it seems like he's in a parallel dimension (or something).

This is the episode I've been waiting for. It had everything I wanted and more. What did you guys think?

If you didn't see it tune in next week as hopefully we'll see Bebop and Rocksteady

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Score: 4/5

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Check out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Nickelodeon