I'm going to put my Imdb comments on Superman and Lois, as well as any Flash or Smallville episodes down in one place. It's actually a good place for them because I intend to start writing fan-fiction that takes place in this other Earth and this will give me solid grounding from which to grow my stories and give everyone else a background of the world itself. I can't think of anywhere else to put my reviews where they can be accessed in one-click. -- Then I realized there are only 3 Internet Movie Database summaries/comments I made that aren't about Smallville, Superman and Lois or Flash shows. So I'm putting them here too.
Smallville (2001) 2 epically stupid seasons the rest are SUPER COOL
21 May 2023 - 1 out of 1 users found this review helpful.
Some of the innovations of the show like red Kryptonite having a consistent physical reaction and his pod landing obscured by a meteor shower were pretty inspired. Season four with awesome writing and character development, just seemed a little awkward. And rushed. It's like they didn't know if the show would keep going so they pushed ahead like a steam truck until they realized they were being renewed. Fortunately the show DID keep going because I LOVED Lionel's redemptive arc. At first Clark was understandably reluctant to trust him but came to the conclusion that they did need him. In season 7 the epically bad timing of a discovery from Lionel's past, something that happened before they even knew him much less from before he'd become an ally was enough to erase, in Clark's mind 3 years of his being lock-step and dedicated to helping him. Twice before Clark had his hand at Lionel's throat, trying to kill and Lionel still coming through for him. Also even though they mourned his sacrifice, they never actually admitted they'd been wrong, or how tragic it was that such a loyal friend died alone and friendless because they didn't believe in him anymore. Literally, he died protecting Clark's secret, murdered by his own son. Season 8 was horrible, contrived full of lies, betrayal and suspicions of infidelity. I don't know anyone who would watch a Superman show and want to see that. Season 10 was the other 'bad' season. That was because they were trying to fit every single bad guy from the DC animated universe in at once...into a show that was originally more about Clark than Kal'el at all. These were bad guys Justice League fans would love. But Superman never faced alone. I am a fan of Sueprman, I never saw Justice League, so I was completely lost. To sum up, seasons 4 and 8 are the stupid ones. Season 9 was awesome for so many reasons, most of them having to do with developing and humanizing both Olvier Queen and Jor'el as completely as they did. The one thing I want to cure everyone from thinking is "The last 2 seasons sucked." Season 8 was the Jimmy Olsen, Doomsday, Davis Bloom soap-opera disaster that had Oliver actually use kryptonite on Clark while in control of himself. And ended in Jimmy Olsen's death. Season 9 was everything fans of Batman or Superman would want. It even had Julian Sands beign Jor-el and the most awesome dark and broody General Zod one could hope for. I'm glad I stuck it out even after the abysmal season 8. I'm sure you will be too.
Smallville: Instinct (2008) Thank the Arrow-verse. No seriously!
Several unrelated notes from the episode: the Actress to play Maxima looks like Caity Lotz who plays Canary/White Canary Sarah Lance in the CW Arrow-verse. Two: I wholeheartedly agree with Chloe that Jimmy's jealously of Clark and constant insecure suspicions of Chloe's infidelity are getting tiresome and broken record. A perception and obsession that unfortunately would only get worse and more destructive (not to mention tiresome and exhausting for the viewer) as the season went on. Three, I assumed Maxima was a canonical DC character, she shows up again played by a different actress on Supergirl's Earth. She is one of very few examples where I can unequivocally say Smallville gave the same character far greater depth. Or at least, showed more than the stereotypical hot kick-ass female alien trope.
It is neat to see proof that Lois and Clark have a connection rather than just explosive chemistry. Ironically enough proved by literal chemistry and alien psychology. They'll doubt where to go and what to do about it for a while longer but this is the first time either of them have actually considered that, to quote a Disney classic 'there may be something there'. It's also nice to see that the line in Supergirl where Maxima says she once sought to make Kal'el her mate wasn't throw away line created by the Supergirl writers to create a connection to Superman out of thin air. But ultimately, if I hadn't already seen Supergirl and Arrow before going back to Smallville to watch season-8 for the very first time, I wouldn't have seen anything except cheap, tired attempts to hook viewers and keep the tension between characters alive alive...at the all-too-familiar expense of actually being an interesting or even watchable episode.
Smallville: Finale (2011) Not Such a Mystery 1 out of 1 found this helpful.
One of the most talked about and obvious errors in the episode is how Johnathan can be there, able to make physical contact with Martha who doesn't think anything of it. This is never addressed in the episode. But there is an explanation: Brainiac-5. Back in season 5 the evil Brainiac tried to convince Clark to kill Lionel by pretending to be Johnathan Kent. He could physically interact with everyone. Earlier in this season we saw Brainiac, the Brain Interactive Construct as he was intended to be: a much kinder, update of himself called Brainiac-5. In the episode Homecoming he taught Clark to stop being afraid, stop punishing himself and everyone around him for past mistakes and to embrace his future. And Martha doesn't say anything about it because she's used to the craziness by now. Everyone seems fixated on how Johnathan could be back from the dead and Clark's wedding and a room full of people not notice, but that's just it: there's nothing to say anyone except Clark and Martha can even see him. Martha is there and when 'Johnathan' interacts with them, you can kind of see that he's just being there for his friends and recognizing the importance of this moment...but not sharing it.
Anything I know about Brainiac-5 outside of Smallville is from Jesse Rath's Querl Dox, the Coluan Brainiac-5 from Supergirl. And 'Johnathan' actually reminds me a little bit of him. The hesitation in putting his hand on Martha's shoulder in the barn. Knowing it would be comforting but worried about over-stepping. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but I think Brainiac-5 was simply making the same move as his predecessor but with a far more benign purpose. He just wanted Clark to have Johnathan here in some form for a moment as important as either the wedding or finally becoming the Man of Steel, but the writers/producers had no screen time available to explain/display those feelings. Johnathan does seem to be talking about himself a step-removed, like he hesitates to refer to himself as Clark's father. And Johnathan himself never had so little reluctance in referring to Jor'el AS Clark's father. If he were someone who knew Jor'el, like J'onn J'onzz or someone from Krypton that would explain it.
Also Lex and Tess acting the way they do, Tess being all alone and never sharing screen time with anyone but Lex was inconvenient and trying, but unavoidable. Cassidy Freeman wasn't on set with anyone else. Everything felt if not particularly rushed, more grand, fantastical and sweeping than anything that had come before it. And everything did happen pretty much at once. Which jarred me a little but it was a pretty adrenaline-filled explosive season finale and that fast pace and 'no time' feeling probably was what they were actually going for. Annoying as it was, I think it kind of fit. Also I saw Crisis on Infinite Earths of the CW Arrow-verse, in which Tom Welling reprises this role before I actually saw this final season. I wondered why Clark seemed perfectly cool with Lex being president, given how much of a monster Lex has been since season 6. Clark was so cool with it because Lex didn't remember any of this. He was no longer the monster we've come to know over the past few seasons and might have been just a normal politician. He had truly been freed from the shackles of being raised, then confused and angered by Lionel as well as his feelings of betrayal with Clark. Which gives more weight and certainty to Tess' final act. Tess didn't exactly redeem him. But she gave Lex a second chance and the rest of the world (unbeknown to the world) a brighter future. Which apparently held 20 years later when Supergirl's Lex showed up.
Superman & Lois (2021) The biggest goof has a clear answer
14 May 2023 - 2 out of 4 users found this review helpful.
It isn't confirmed until the end of season 2 but this series takes place on another Earth in the multiverse. And at least 5 other Earths did survive Crisis. In the season 2 finale General Lane mentions that Clark ins the only Super-powered hero on this Earth. Meaning there is no native Flash either.
They kept a general continuity of things that could be read either way. John Diggle's comment about fighting alongside Superman could have been possible on Earth Prime since post-Crisis they have always lived on the same Earth. This Earth's Oliver Queen did know them, as is as dead as ours. But there is no native Supergirl on this Earth, anymore than there was on Earth-1. You'd actually have to watch the last episode of Arrow to see why some Earth's merged and others didn't. Tal-Rho and General Anderson are original characters...but Tal-Rho is unique. General Anderson is a proxy for any human authority-figure who doesn't understand that Superman is anything but Superman.
Lana Lang Cushing is the single most annoying character in the show to me personally. So I won't waste time talking about her. The big thing is Superman can have kids. Traditionally Superman cannot procreate with humans. What we think of as Kryptonian physiology is incompatible with an Earth humans for making offspring. In the show Supergirl Lois and Clark could have a kid because they were on the asteroid of Argo City when Lois became pregnant. No yellow sun means no powers, no powers means Clark is essentially human and they can get pregnant. I bet a lot of people were wondering how Lois and Clark could have had kids if there was no mention they'd ever gone to Ago City. But it's never actually stated this rule is even a thing here. Maybe Generals Lane and Anderson wouldn't actually be surprised that Superman can biologically have kids. Anderson was just surprised that Superman had a human Life...at all. Ultimately this show draws that fine distinction between being part of the Arrowverse and being part of the multiverse. Diggle mentions having fought alongside Superman which actually still works because Team Arrow is almost completely self-made heroes without superpowers anyway. This is not Clark and Lois from Supergirl now living on Earth-prime. It's thier dopplegangers on one the very few Earths we KNOW survived Crisis. Earth 12, 19, 21, or Earth-9. Which explains Why Sam and Lucy Lane are such completely different characters from who we saw on Earth-38. Although again, the old world-new world differences could have explained that.
Postscript: almost everyone goes over the top in both drama and emotion in season 3. Far more real-world problems. Tension/dissension that feels like it's mostly there to make something of the production. Most of it actually NOT coming from Lana Cushing, but from practically everyone else.
Superman & Lois: Complications (2023)
Bizzaro's cure is set up - 2 out of 3 users found this review helpful.
A pun I guess. Because it is set up very well and thoughtfully, but it is also set up to fail. And if you're paying attention you can actually see why. Superman's blood is restorative. In season 3 of Smallville, Clark learns that his blood can cure severe liver disease and even cancer. Bruno stole a little bit of Superman's blood to start his cure and it seemed to work. But Bizzaro's world isn't just a world with a red sun. It is an inverted world. Even the physical laws are opposite. He grows weak from XK, uses Green K like a drug. He's weakened by the Earth's yellow sun because he was raised under square Earth's red sun. Most of the characters other than Superman himself who learned about this are either dead like Anderson or living on Square Earth like Tal-Rho. But you can actually see, and more importantly there actually is an established reason that makes sense in context for why the miracle cure doesn't work. And I don' think that happens too often.
Superman & Lois: Injustice (2023) Jordan is not his father: He's Jon-El
22 June 2023 - 6 out of 8 users found this review helpful.
Seriously if Jordan Kent was real and I met him on the street, I'd walk up to him and say 'Hello Jon-el". It's the only reference he would get. But he doesn't have Jon-el's history. He didn't have an attention grabbing, only interested in your son once he has powers Kal'el for a father. He has a father who cares about him, who actually did raise him right. And somehow he's managing to push EVERYONE away while still claiming that everyone else is making everything about them. Johnathan and Sarah's self-interest is normal and realistic for thier age and actually a perfectly understandable reaction to thier unusual lives. I don't like seeing it, but it makes sense.
The reason I rate this episode as high as I do is because everything else about it is stellar. Seeing Luthor again, for the first time. Sam Lane being an involved family member who is as hurt as Clark and Lois to see Jordan becoming the attention grabber that he is. Wally West over in CW Central City was never this much of a showboat but even when he was a little bit he wised up pretty fast. And to have Jordan basically oozing disdain and callousness seems... like Jordan isn't the person on drugs to have taken the show down this particularly dark rabbit hole. I say it that way because he's giving a more convincing portrayal of being 'on drugs' than Tom Welling's Clark Kent did when he discovered Red Kryptonite. A substance that by its nature removes Kryptonian inhibitions and promotes aggressiveness.
"Mr. And Mrs. Kent are calling my house. They're really worried. It's like, they think he's on drugs or something." "Clark would have to BE on drugs to be on drugs." ...Chloe and Pete in a season 2 episode Smallville noticing Clark on Red-K. The class ring that was supposedly a ruby was a red meteor rock. It was a pretty cool way for Tom Welling to shed Clark's upstanding morality for an episode. This is 4 episodes in a row without any apparent explanation whatsoever. It's exhausting.
Superman & Lois: The Dress (2023)
Episode 9, Season 3
Passionate and Obstinate...but troubling
26 May 2023 - 1 out of 7 users found this review helpful.
Being the fan of Arrow and Flash that I am I feel like I just saw Malcolm Merlyn or Harry Wells ask Barry to be more like Oliver Queen. Not only ask it, it was like John somehow expected Clark Kent to be fully Kryptonian or to be more like Batman. And the only person who has greater proof and deeper experience of who Superman truly is as a hero is Ben Affleck's Batman. John Henry took some serious walks on the dark-side here. And I hope he sees these people, Bruno and Matteo for who they truly are...not what he imagines them to be. Or to put it another way, if General Anderson hadn't realized exactly how badly he'd screwed up, I wouldn't have been able to stomach some of the things he did. But when shown the truth he accepted and owned how wrong he was. Even if John never admits he was wrong, I hope he at least learns the truth.
Okay sometimes the thoughts and perspectives I was raised with come out instead of what I actually believe. The minimalist and hyper-focused attitude I took before was wrong. This actually is an awesome, dramatic and emotionally charged episode. Well written, compared to most others of this season surely, and bold. But I just have trouble getting through when one character dominates the episode in a bad way. Like in a way contrary to what we know of the character. So please ignore anything I said before. And John Henry as a character seemed seriously weird in this episode. Asking Superman *not to care for people, even criminals and enemies is like asking the sky not to be blue. And it was a low blow on his part to say Superman was only being this way because of what Lois was going through. The fact that Lois and Peia are going through the same thing means Clark knows what he is talking about. Means Clark knows how to approach or deal with Bruno. John Henry was not only too emotionally involved in this, he was adding fuel to the fire and on a one man mission to get rid of the poison to this city that was attracting his daughter. Matteo was attractive to his daughter. Bruno was being a freaking human being. A reality John exploits and somehow ignores at the same time. But more to the point, John had a spear of kryptonite against his throat and Superman still tried to help him. I'm pretty sure Lois wasn't sick then. So Superman being Superman isn't because of Lois' illness. Superman is better than other superheroes, he is the icon he is because, as Lois says in the episode, he is far more human than you would think of to look at him. He leans into compassion and empathy. And John Henry had more reason than most to know that.
Superman & Lois: Head On (2023) I Miss Tal-Rho
25 April 2023 - 3 out of 4 users found this review helpful.
In season 2 there was a driving plot of the story other than either Lana or Clark's family. Superman had a brother he was learning to trust and rely on, who like Magneto or even Malcom Merlyn on Arrow was shown as nothing but bad and then gradually humanized. Clark also had someone who should have been a friend and an ally who didn't trust him. Lt. General Anderson. Superman didn't talk to his -the corollary to Director J'onn J'onzz in Supergirl- any more than needed and actually did keep a lot of things from until it was almost too late. I think mistakes and misjudgments happened on both sides and LOVE that Anderson got a chance to apologize before the end.
But Tal Rho and the actor that plays him was the most compelling and enticing part of the entire season. And certainly what drew me back for more. His accent, his past, his pragmatism, his acerbic attitude and his DESIRE for redemption in his brother's eyes. Like season 1 Wells in Flash he didn't care about people, he cared about his family. He was what Black Siren was for the last 3 seasons of Arrow. And I'm starting to think we'll never see him again.
I mean we know where he is but I want him back as much as his brother does. He would bring a balance and an objectivity back to the shows dynamic the lack of which makes this show a daytime drama. And if we don't either bring him back or give him some kind of send off it would be disappointing to an epic degree. I guess objectively speaking his run was done for a while. They can bring him back once more a changed man or with the proverbial 'harbinger of things to come' right?
Superman & Lois: In Cold Blood (2023)
Not a Superman show, not with this much family drama
15 April 2023 - 2 out of 4 users found this review helpful.
Lana Cushing having judgment on speed-dial, assuming she has everything figured out and the judgments she makes based on those assumptions has been getting worse since the second half of last season. But this is a new low. Assuming her ex husband thinks she's having an affair, just because he's concerned she actually can trust the stranger? Berating and then slapping her daughter for being 'ungrateful' for everything she does for the town and her responsibilities as mayor? If Bizzaro Superman proved one thing it's that when anything becomes more important to a parent than their family, the failure belongs to the parent. And everyone else usually suffers right along with them.
Also Clark is barely in the picture. Lois is going through something I can't connect to, although I know a lot of people can. But as of this episode even John Henry is being a self-righteous idiot to his daughter and holding on to something I honestly thought he'd let go of. Having a main character always assuming she knows not only what is right, but what other people want, what they think, what they mean, what thier intentions are, if that character is supposed to be someone we agree with and root for, is never 'superhero' material and certainly not Superman specific brand of superheroing superman is supposed to remind us of. I know I sound superficial but Lana Cushing is the selfish brat that hurts everyone around her and thinks herself unappreciated. Again, I'm taking this so personally because of my own history but does this not belong in a Superman show, it barely belongs in any superhero television show. This is not Law and Order SVU. WA season 5 episode of that show titled 'Home' is the only other episode of anything that actually gave me flashbacks. I miss Smallville's 'hope for tomorrow' attitude and hope someone pulls this back onto the rails and back on track.
Superman & Lois: Uncontrollable Forces (2023) A lot fewer distractions
25 April 2023 - 1 out of 1 users found this review helpful.
Family stuff is more on point. Because it focuses at least a little bit on John and Natalie, each hanging out with people thier own age. There are two continuing plots: Bruno Manheim and Lois' condition. I couldn't say much and I'll try not to say anything about Lois' condition going forward but Manheim is played by Tobias Church (first part of Arrow season 5) and it really does work. It's a very similar character. There is one moment where you see something akin to uncertainty in the assassin's eyes. For a second I didn't understand why.
In the season nine episode of Smallville called Absolute Justice, a criminal called Icicle having put on Dr. Fate's helmet wipes the floor with Hawkman, Stargirl, Green Arrow and Superman. Then J'onn Jo'nzz phases in and the villain is like "I killed you." J'onn Jo'nzz, played by Phil Morris says "I'm Mars sole survivor. There's a reason for that." It's a total badass moment that in some way seems called back to life in this episode...for a brief moment. Because John Henry Irons on this Earth is dead so seeing him helping Lois out would have been a similar moment.
Superman & Lois: Waiting for Superman (2022) Everything did come full circle
The last couple of scenes were pretty boring but almost everything else about this was stellar. Tal Rho's comment that no other hero was capable of what Superman could do hinted at something that was later confirmed by General Lane: This Earth has no other super-powered heroes. Which means it's not Earth prime. It's either Earth-2, Earth-12, E-19 or E-9. (The Earth's that we as the audience know survived the merging of the Multiverse in Crisis, minus Brandon Routh's Superman's Earth) Which would explain the lack of Supergirl or Argo City references anywhere in the series.
There's a nod to the Smallville series premiere also. Tal Rho is known by the general public as Morgan Edge, a Lex Luthor type character, right? Does anyone else here like Smallville enough to remember the second thing Lex did for Clark after thanking him for saving his life? He bought Clark a truck that Johnathan wouldn't let him keep. So having 'Uncle Tal' buy the Kent twins trucks that Clark at first didn't want them to keep brought a smile to my face that was as wide as a door. And now he's off doing his own thing on Square Earth. Still I hope that's not the last we'll see of him. He was at his core a very cool guy...just troubled.
Superman & Lois: Bizarros in a Bizarro World (2022)
Scales are torn from everyone's eyes - including ours
One thing a lot of people didn't seem to get about General Anderson is that he was thrown into a situation he didn't understand and was doing the best job he knew how to do, with a superman who clearly didn't trust him. But he was military. Anderson is classic military: As honorable as he is hard-nosed. He holds himself to the same high standard he has for everyone else and when he fails he's as hard on himself as anyone. When he realizes he is wrong about people or a situation, or in this case both, he owns up to it. And he's the CW version of DCEU Batman. All he sees, all he has reason to see is an alien with powers who happens to be our ally. Superman holding so much back from Anderson, clearly not trusting him, and then suddenly protecting 'that thing' that killed his men bred distrust and suspicion. Maybe one reason Superman forgives him so easily is he realized that even with a good reason his holding Anderson at arms length for so long actually played a part in the man going so far over the edge. So I'm glad Anderson had a chance to admit he was wrong and make things right with Superman. It was a touching and well deserved moment. And when Anderson sees the photo and realizes exactly how badly he screwed up it crushes him and we as the audience feel that with him. He was never as much of a jerk as we assumed. He was misguided and hard, but not heartless. And as a bonus it's shown that even Bizzaro Tal-Rho has a sense of honor and family.
Superman & Lois: The Ties That Bind (2022) A Classic Episode With a Good Story
Also we see a hurt and wounded Tal-Rho who really is just there to help Clark. He has no interest in delusions about a reunion with his mom but he knows she can help Clark and that's why he invited his brother to his fortress. The pain and acceptance Tal displays is beautiful and eye opening for Clark. Not just that Tal is capable of it, but the rest of his story. I think Clark had assumed Tal would have at least met his mother before Lara ended her relationship with Zeta. After all, he only has human family relations and biological ability to go on. Turns out all children were genetically engineered except for him. Lara in Lana Cushing had told him about genetic matching, that's how unions were formed on Krypton and that once she fell in love with Jor'el, she gave birth to him. Turns out that was super unique, no pun intended. So learning that Lara never even knew? And exactly how alone and helpless Tal had felt under Zeta? It opened Clark's eyes a lot. The, I think next to last scene with Superman dropping Tal back off in his cell, was absolutely golden. Superman hears what is basically Zeta's attitude coming out of his brother mouth and considers maybe Tal never did have a choice. Sure Tal never had anyone like Johnathan and Martha Kent in his life. But he never had anyone like Jor'el in his life either. Zeta was not a very 'free-will forward' individual. And having him as a father would have wrecked a person. Having Zeta, in his own words 'mold him into proper greatness'. Without Zeta dictating his life anymore,. Tal Rho would choose the only family he has left, who he clearly Does care for. And there is at least the possibility that Clark would accept it.
Superman & Lois: Anti-Hero (2022) Episode 7, Season 2
Awesomeness with one splinter 5 September 2023
This episode is chock mostly full of awesome things. Beautiful moments like hearing so much actual Kryptonian. I think it sounds a lot like Hebrew. Shuster and Sigel were both Jewish so it makes sense. Not that I'm a fan of it but seeing Anderson in this state makes a lot of sense. He sees things so perfectly clearly and is so completely sure of what he knows. Thankfully he learns the truth in a later episode. And just how wrong he was. Then again, Superman is harboring the man who killed his men and has been keeping things from him forever. The scenes at Tal's Fortress are the highlight of the episode. Especially that brief little smile on Bizzaro's face. The only real drawback is the brief scenes with Johnathan being basically punished for being honorable. And feeling so completely stuck. He's alone and scared that he won't be able to win his family back...and he literally did nothing wrong. I'm not saying those are weak scenes just...kind of sad.
The splinter that is digging into my head are the coordinates. 76.2 North Longitude 100.4 West Latitude. Generally you indicate north or west in negative numbers, rather than saying north or west. But also type in the actual coordinates you don't get anywhere near Baffin Island. You get Indonesia.
Success Is Assured (12 May 2020)
The Nash 'goof' makes no sense
I mean what is listed on Imdb as well as everyone pointing it out on youtube or whatever. Imdb cites Thawne turning himself in for crimes like the particle accelerator and killing Barry's mother. The possibility Barry might have explained away the resemblance. It was never proven he did the accelerator thing on purpose and was never charged with it as a crime. But far more to the point it was Barry's mother he admitted to killing and Barry is standing next to Wells perfectly at peace. If Nora Allen's murderer was there, Barry would have been losing it....on him. Barry works at the CCPD and they trust his judgment. I mean come on we've seen how much Barry loses it on Thawne right? And these cops are his coworkers who would understand the human impulse. Nash has a physical resemblance to Thawne but that is all. Everything that would keep everyday civilians walking down the street from pointing at Harry, Sherloque or Nash and saying “season 1 Harrison Wells you jerk” is still true. Nash is walking, doesn't act like the professionally restrained and subdued man season 1 Harrison Wells was. Not to mention he's a team player and talks with a slur compared to the man in a wheelchair. And probably most cops who are there now, weren't around in season 1 to begin with. So they never actually saw him.
This episode was so disappointing as a season finale because it wasn't supposed to be. The season was cut short because everyone had to shelter in place and quarantine themselves for co-vid. The first 3 episodes of season 7 were intended to be the last 3 episodes of this season. They just literally never had a chance to get there because the freaking country shut down. I'd say they did a pretty good job ending on a high note without trying to wrap things up. They lived in hope that once co-vid passed they could bring a proper conclusion to this arc. And by the way...they did. At the beginning of season 7.
Another cool thing in the episode is Nash doing his second best channeling of Harry Wells. His best being getting a rise out of Barry then tryign to convince him to forgive himself in the previous episode. When they're back in STAR Labs Nash calls him out on his behavior, even considering the deal fake-Singh offered and then gives him some much needed perspective on what the result would be if he DID take the deal. Helping him avoid an extremely natural and understandable mistake based on emotions. “I understand where you're coming from. But if you go *this* far to bring her back, Iris won't forgive you. And you will have gained nothing."
Continuity error intentional...Again The Flash 8x01 Armageddon part One
I'm starting to think people are idiots. The history of the Royal Flush gang doesn't line up with season one, because it's not supposed to. It's a hint or a fore-shadowing that the timeline is different. And not just that Joe is dead and the Reverse-Flashpoint is going on. In the next episode after Armageddon Bart and XS go back in time and change the history of the Royal Flush gang so that they showed up when Barry was still in his coma. In this episode people are already living in that altered timeline. Season by season continuity is 'insufferably inconsistent'...because the timeline and undergone two major overhauls and been mildly changed twice. Ray Palmer sticks around mostly to show that Brandon Routh didn't completely fall off the Arrow-verse map. Which is nice to know. When Sarah and Ray left Arrow during season 4 I had no idea they'd gone anywhere, until the Waverider showed up at the end of Arrow Invasion a year later. It's nice to know leaving the show isn't leaving the franchise. And for never having been a member of Team Flash Ray and Barry have always been Super close friends. Ultimately this entire arc proves one thing: that the Arrow-verse shrank...but it's not gone.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Awesome and timely...my second favorite movie
Everything is set up right out of the gate: the world they live in, what happened in the decade since the outbreak and the chaos the human colony must have clawed thier way out from. This is a movie that's done so differently than any post-civilization film and better than most remakes or sequels in sci-fi. Despite being completely blinded by his hatred for humans and letting his people fall apart, well killing and imprisoning his own kinds simply because they were loyal to their old leader in whose name Koba is supposedly doing any of this, Koba is up there on the list of villains with justifiable motives. He has some motivation for his hate of humans and he honestly believes Caesar has weakened thier people the Apes by choosing humans over his own kind....or even by letting humans grow strong in the first place. One thing from the first movie sheds enormous amounts of light on the characters motivations: Alz 113, which Will's boss was testing and Patient Zero was exposed to brought on the simian flu. But Koba was the only ape exposed to it. When Caesar gave the apes at the sanctuary the drug to make them smarter, he gave them Alz112. Will's original drug, The one Will's father Charles and Caesar both took for 3 years. So Koba has the dangerous drug in his system, the one that actually killed off half the planet. No wonder he goes, pardon the expression, ape-s--t. I saw this movie for the first time 3 days Before everyone was 'shelter in place' ordered from the covid pandemic. So this was like the most appropriate timing ever.
The Flash: A New World: Part 4: Finale (2023) Some one Finally called him on it
16 out of 21 found this helpful.
Iris and Barry both sanctimoniously saying "We don't have a choice, Thawne isn't giving us one." early in season 8 was the first intimation of this. Here it came to a head.
"You, new girl, want co-existence, I want that to. But I have the experience to realize that it's impossible. I've learned to live with that.
"Then maybe just this once, you can learn to believe in the impossible!" Khoine says back. Subtext: Like you've been trying to convince everyone to do for the last nine-plus years."
I knew Mack was self-rightous and a little tunnel-visoned. But back in the day he was focused on what was right in-front of his face and he did everything he did because he cared about his team and his friends. Now he spends the entire time preaching about not losing yourself and how far gone these people are. And when Tess does something incredibly selfless taking the blame for them and Yo-yo protects the team by framing someone else. All he can see for the next 3 episodes is that these people are monsters and it is quickly turning the woman he loves into a monster. His preachiness has officially reached blind self-righteousness. He literally does not know what or who he is talking about. And doesn't care that anyone might see the situation differently. I am a Christian who was raised to see the humanity that is the compassion and failibity of others not thier failings and not on just 'what they did'. Mack's take from his 'I was taught do unto others', is actually offensive. And his attitude of we have to be better than them' is insulting. Given these guys have lived like this for years and know nothing else, its amazing they've held on to thier humanity as much as as completely as they have! They are better than You. These people and definitely the rest of your team are better than you. They have been through hell. They are living in hell right now. And all you can see is 'that wasn't okay' And what you mean by it is 'that wasn't okay with me. I have a problem with that'. I can't even focus on the issues this episode raised, I mean like fear from attacking a superior and Tess going out on a limb for strangers, doing quite an honorable thing actually given how scared she usually was, which are defiantly valid, beautiful star among ashes moments because it's drowned in Mack's affrontedness. and skewing with statistics. Seriously in that entire scene all Mack focused on was that his girlfriend framed someone. Not that Elana and Tess both saved the entire team.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Honeymoon (2018) Episode 17, Season 5
Surprising Cons, Expected Pros 31 July 2023
Pro: Coulson and General Tallbot, as always they rock pretty much any scene they are in. Now they are literally and figuratively in it alone together. Con: Daisy. I swear she is getting more and more full of herself. Coulson hasn't even made her team leader yet and seeing her treating someone they rescued form a bad future, ordering him around like he literally applied to be a shield agent. Lincoln was a new guy but he at least asked to join up. Daisy ripping him a new one for his 'screw up back there' when he did his job as well as any trained shield agent would have, without having had any training himself is deplorable and is one of the two man reasons I actually hate this show now.
May is the heart of the team, as much as Coulson and they keep each-other's heads on. They both care almost an insane amount for thier team and when Phil needs some perspective, of course Melinda May is the one to give it. This is actually the most human I've seen May in a long time that didn't feel at least slightly forced or out of place. Stuff before always felt either scripted or so obviously for the sake of making her more human. I kinda had suspected Coulson's deal. What I don't get is why everyone is so ticked at him, and maybe this was more in a later episode for keeping it from them 'this long'. Mentally I'm like "Okay, when in the weeks we spent trying to survive and make sense of a broken future did I have the time to tell you I might be dying soon?"
Merlin: The Darkest Hour (2011) Episode 1, Season 4
Awesome episode just a lot of it is missing
I imagine some of these were simply cut for time constraint purposes. But this episode is pretty awesome all on its own. Everyone is growing up or has grown up and everyone is far more serious and dedicated. Also Aggrivane may not be well named for Camelot lore (that was the name of one of Gawaine/Gwaines brothers) but it is a perfect name for the character himself. So aggravating and duplicitous.
What I mean is this episode is stylistic, cool, well-thought out and with a very plot driven cohesive story. But the deleted scenes would have made it stellar, awesome, and soar high above the rest. Morgouse wants a return to the old ways, the old religion at the height of its peace and prosperity. At least 2 of the deleted scenes would have proven how much all of the characters had meant to each-other. And maybe given a little too much away about what would have happened in the end, but that wasn't exactly the greatest secret in the universe. There is one deleted scene in particular, set up completely differently than in this episode Arthur and Merlin at a campfire discussing how exactly to get out of this and Arthur actually gives Merlin a gift with his mother's crest on it. One of the only references to Arthur's mother since halfway through season two.
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