Speedy Synopses:
Gotham 1x18: Everyone Has a Cobblepot
Jim visits Alfred and Bruce in the hospital—where Alfred is alive and healing, thank goodness—but his phone keeps ringing. It's the Captain, and she has bad news: Detective Flass (the drug dealing and murdering cop) has been released thanks to a new witness' testimony. Jim knows there couldn't be a witness, but when he confronts Commissioner Loeb about the situation, Loeb shows him the witness' testimony ... and it's Harvey on the tape. Turns out that Loeb's got dirt on Harvey, and pretty much every copy and politician and anyone of importance in Gotham.
Jim teams up with the other Harvey (Dent) to try to find Loeb's secret stash of secrets, but instead, the two nearly get themselves killed. Harvey (Bullock) rejoins the investigation, and he and Jim find out that Loeb's in Falcone's pocket. They turn to their friendly neighborhood Penguin, and head to where they think Loeb’s hiding his dirt, but instead find his crazypants daughter locked up in an attic. At first, it seems like Loeb's hidden her away from the world because she saw him kill her mother, but after she tells Jim and Harvey a disturbing fact about her new hobby—killing birds to make jewelry out of their bones—the detectives realize that Loeb's hiding her to keep her out of Arkham (or worse.)
Jim cuts a deal with Loeb: Put Flass back in jail, back me for union president, and give me Harvey's file, and I won't tell anyone about your daughter. Unsurprisingly, Loeb goes along with the idea.
Meanwhile, Fish wakes up and meets Dr. Francis "Dollmaker" Dulmacher, the head of the bizarre hospital she's trapped in. He's given her a new eye, but, as it's Fish, she wants more. She promises him to reopen the basement in return for more power and a place in his team. When she proves good on her side of the deal, Dulmacher does as well, but with a side of "Hey, we're on an island on a frozen sea, so, hahaha, any idea you had of escaping is screwed." (But seriously, WHERE are they?)
Oh, and Oswald tricked the wife of the older couple who were guarding Loeb's daughter into killing her husband, then killed her. I don't really know what that was all about, but I'm sure it means something. (Mandy C.)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2x11: Aftershocks
Tripp is still dead. Now that's out of the way, at least hooray - Adrianne Palicki joins the show as a series regular! The mid-season return of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. written by co-creators/showrunners Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon deals with the resulting effects (dare I say, aftershocks?) of the events of the mid-season finale. We open with a flashback to 1983 with a teenaged Gordon (the eyeless man briefly introduced at the mid-season finale) and Skye's mom (who I'm inferring, her power seems to be aging super slow) counseling Gordon after his post-terrigenesis exposure.
Skye is in S.H.I.E.L.D. quarantine post terrigenesis-exposure, and rocks a gnarly grief, a pretzel logic and a tautology of trying to trace whose fault was Tripp died in the temple. The rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. is broken up over Tripp's death (and an outburst by Mack, still weary from the alien possession and Tripp's death) calls Coulson and Skye out on following his own alien visions. Coulson wants to strike fast at the HYDRA power vacuum. Despite Coulson's demand for blood for blood, he pulls off his own Ocean's Eleven styled con on Bakshi involving Lance's bad accent, blood squibs, and Coulson proclaiming they'll never take us alive. Coulson's plan works well, a little too well, and the rest of the surviving HYDRA leadership (the banker, the baroness, the sheik) slaughters each other, while Lance and Bobbi retake Bakshi to Talbot (the original plot point). With this, HYDRA has been feeling like a nuance rather than a bonafide menace.
Meanwhile Raina, whose whole aspiration was to transform into a divine angel ends up looking like a mutated Kerrigan from Starcraft crossed with someone who pays for plastic surgery to look like a cat confronts Cal in Puerto Rico, incensed that Skye still got the blessing, but still came out looking like she always does. Cal is overjoyed that Skye got the blessing, and mentions The Index, and how he should reconnect with them. Raina is confronted with a S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical team who is about to get suicide by S.H.I.E.L.D. when Gordon teleports to the rescue, taking her away in a blue flash.
In the episode's weightiest moment, Fitz uncovers the mystery of Skye - that she is an Inhuman, and with Simmons on a new anti-Inhuman/alien power crusade and May about to uncover the truth about her, Fitz decides to cover for Skye because he's different too. (Paolo S.)
Hero of the Week: Leo Fitz, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I've always liked Fitz, even Season 1 Fitz with his snark and his overwhelming smugness, but ever since his brush with death and subsequent brain trauma Fitz has become a character whose development I look forward to seeing each week. His ability to push through any fears about Skye's newly revealed powers and be the friend that she needed speaks volumes about his compassion, loyalty and steadfastness.
Villain of the Week: Dr. Francis Dulmacher (The Dollmaker), Gotham
This guy is Dr. Frankenstein only with any sense of morality completely absent from his person. Harvesting organs from the poor/discarded for the desperate and uber wealthy? And body parts from live humans for personal experimentation? The posh surgical resort with a basement full of specimens on a remote island in the middle of God-knows-where is just the cherry on that shit sundae.
Honorary Mention: Dr. Zabo, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
All I can say is POOR RAINA. Dr. Zabo bascially told her, "OH WELL" when she pleaded with him for help after her transformation into a human hedgehog. She was his protege, she looked up to him as a father figure and he couldn't care less about her. She was a means to an end. I mean, we ALL already knew this but seeing him discard her like that was pretty damn harsh. Here's hoping she stays alive long enough for some karmic justice.
Troy Barnes Award for Evoking The Feelz:
Images courtesy of marvelshieldagents.tumblr.com
It was tough to choose between this moment and the one where Coulson is delivering Tripp's affects to his poor mother, but MAN. It just socked me right in the gut. I hope for Skye's sake that the team finds out about (and accepts) her newly awakened powers, otherwise her need for answers and support will lead her right back to her crazy daddy.
Ab-tastic:
The lack of abs. It makes me weary. ABC and FOX aren't really cutting it in the shirtlessness department. The CW has spoiled us rotten:
Shirtlessness is next to godliness.
Right in the Kisser:
No real developments in the romance department this week, except for poor Edward Nygma getting left in the cold for one of the GPD officers. I can not WAIT to see how things play out between Felicity and Ray tho. GAH.
Biff! Bam! Pow!
I mean, if you COULD cartwheel off the hood of a car, why wouldn't you? (image courtesy of cavalrywearsblack/tumblr.com)
Comic Pages:
Pick of the Week:
Spider-Woman #5, written by Dennis Hopeless, illustrated by Javier Rodriguez
FINALLY, Spider-Woman is DONE with that damned multi-verse arc and is back in NYC (and her own storyline). Jessica Drew has decided to call it quits with The Avengers and strike out on her own; she's got a sweet new costume that's more practical for crime-fighting instead of her sex-onesie she's had since FOREVER. Her new career as a solo hero is off to a really bumpy (but hilarious) start until an old friend from The Bugle asks for her help finding missing loved ones of known villains.
The writing is tight and funny and the new costume is a WELCOME CHANGE. Seems like drawing for the male gaze is finally starting to wither and die in favor of a more varied style of drawing women in comics. *childish fistpump*
Honorary Mention:
Hawkeye #1, written by Jeff Lemire, illustrated by Ramon Perez
I admit to being really scared that this new team would not live up to Matt Fraction's legendary run at the Hawkeye helm, but it turns out that all of my fears were for naught! Perez is sticking to the iconic style created by David Aja, adding in dreamy watercolors for Clint's flashback scenes.
Clint and Kate are Hawkeye'ing it up all over the place, this time on a special mission for Maria Hill, and the story is interspersed with Clint's painful childhood in and out of foster homes with his brother Barney, who recently came back into Clint's life. Oh, and he's also a badass archer.
-It was only a matter time; everyone's favorite alien tree monster is getting his own book! This should be interesting since the only creature who can understand Groot is Rocket but hey, I'm all in. Keep an eye out for Issue 1 this July!
-ZOMG. Babs Tarr (Batgirl) is involved with Gotham Academy #6 and Joy Ang (Adventure Time) is involved with a special Gotham Academy one-shot and WE SHOULD ALL BE CELEBRATING:
News and Notes:
-We got our first shot of the new Supergirl in her costume this week and it's...fine? Looks like they're keeping it classic. I know it's sacrilege but the cape is so impractical. Other than that I'm just really glad that she isn't wearing a halter top or has a boob window:
-In other DC Comics TV news, actor Chris Chalk (The Newsroom, Homeland) will be playing Lucius Fox on Gotham while Jada Pinkett Smith is confirmed to NOT be returning for season two. I always figured she was a one season character with a name like Fish Mooney. (Penguins EAT fish...get it?)
-I really miss Agent Carter, y'all. The showrunners discuss some potential ideas for season two - new locations, most likely set in the same time period. Hey, whatever keeps Peggy in her awesome red lipstick.
-Katheryn Winnick (Vikings) is my new the new fan favorite to play Captain Marvel in the upcoming 2018 film and she's totally onboard.
-It's official: Hawkeye will be in Captain America 3: Civil War. BUT WHERE IS KATE BISHOP, MARVEL. Just kidding - in my fantasy mind Hawkeye and Kate Bishop will get their own TV show and it will be HILARS. (Also, the Tumblr memes for this movie are usually the best part of my day when they pop up in my Twitter feed.)
-Once more, with feeling! The FINAL trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron has us all DYING for it to be May already:
Alright guys, what did you think of S.H.I.E.L.D. this week? Is Jemma going to turn on Skye when she realizes she's Inhuman? What's the REAL secret that Mack and Bobbi are keeping from the group? And how the HELL is Fish going to get off of that island?