Speedy Synopses:
Gotham 1x19: Beasts of Prey
Gotham welcomed us back (or vice versa) with an episode filled with new action
- Fish is still stuck on Dulmacher's island, but she has a plan to escape that involves using the biggest (and apparently most gullible) of the inmates as a distraction. She and a small group of her closest friends make it to a helicopter, and take off, but not before Fish gets hit with one of The Catcher's bullets.
- Jim begins an investigation into the serial killer The Ogre (So that's where you disappeared to, Jess Mariano! You are really not a nice dude.), but doesn't know who he's really investigating or what he's getting himself into until it's too late. Turns out, the Commissioner is still out to get Jim, but Jim is having NONE of his shizz.
- Penguin solves a case of unwanted (by the parents of the girl involved, at least) love, and it earns him a good price on the restaurant in which he will eventually kill Don Maroni.
- And Bruce goes looking for Reggie for payback for Alfred, and meets up with Selina on his search. When Bruce can't bring himself to exact revenge when Reggie threatens them, Selina does it for him. (Mandy C.)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2x17: Melinda
-Agent May HATES being called “The Cavalry”, and now we can see it’s with good reason. Seven years ago her life was good, she and her ridiculously handsome husband were planning on having kids and she loved her job. Then she and Coulson went on a mission to Bahrain with a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in order to approach/recruit an Inhuman named Eva Belyakov. Except that Eva wasn’t the only Inhuman on the scene; her young daughter Katya has the powers to absorb others’ emotions, making her more powerful. S.H.I.E.L.D. has no idea this is the case, believing Katya to be an innocent hostage. May goes in after her team when they don’t respond and can only save them by killing Katya. It breaks her, destroying her marriage and leading to several years of being a desk jockey instead of active in the field.
-Present-day May has been put in charge of her base by The Real S.H.I.E.L.D. after they explain to her all that Coulson has been keeping secret; something called the Theta Initiative which involves lots of cash, lots of bunk beds and recruiting an excellent psychologist who just so happens to be her Ex. Coulson’s mission seems to be one of setting up something similar to Afterlife (which I don’t believe he knows exists). May fills in Agent Simmons, telling her that Coulson had her working on equipment for Deathlok but told her it was something else entirely. We see Jemma and Melinda both cling to their trust in Coulson but also know that they need to find him. And Fitz. The Real S.H.I.E.L.D. (Billy Riggins!) is tailing Fitz because of COURSE they know he’s going straight to Coulson. Fitz is at least smart enough to KNOW he’s being tailed and manages to unlock Fury’s Magical McGuffin inside a cafe restroom, contacting Coulson and Hunter.
-Jiayang helps Skye learn to control her powers and Skye causes an avalanche, which is admittedly pretty damn cool. She’s having second thoughts about staying and trusting the people at Afterlife, prompting Jiayang to confess that she is her mother. Skye can’t let anyone know that she is Jiayang’s daughter because the last time an Inhuman mother and daughter were at the center it ended with a tragedy in Bahrain. Afterlife would never agree to Jiayang helping Skye transition. Skye links the story with May’s past and agrees to keep their relationship a secret. She agrees to one final dinner with her father (I’m sure he’s going to take that SO well) and while Lincoln helps serve he realizes that Raina’s dreams are actually predictions, another layer of her gift.
The Flash 1x18: All Star Team Up
-The crooks are busy in Central City tonight and Flash helps Joe and Eddie catch the bad guys, including a flasher (lulz). Joe loves having Barry tag along but even though Eddie is impressed with his skills we see that he’s starting to feel a bit useless while Barry is around.
-FELICITY AND RAY ARE HERE, YOU GUYS! Felicity gets all the good one-liners (“Yeah, it's kind of like I'm dating Barry but in Oliver's body. A sentence you will never repeat to anyone.”) as well as being the episode MVP; she helps Barry reconcile his feelings of doubt re Caitlyn and Cisco’s loyalty to him vs. Dr. Wells AND plays a huge part in the take-down of the Villain of the Week, Brie Larvin aka The Bug-Eyed Bandit:
(image courtesy of stevenrogered.tumblr.com)
-Larvin’s main purpose is to bring the team back to Mercury Labs, her former place of employment, and Dr. Tina McGee, who still chills over whenever Dr. Wells is in the room. Brie worked for McGee but was fired when she started to weaponize her robotic bees. She’s got hella resentment now and has been murdering her ex co-workers with her deadly swarm. (So very many bad bee puns that I felt like I was reading an old comic book, but props to The Walking Dead’s Emily Kinney for rocking that beehive ‘do!) After Team Flash save Dr. McGee she seeks Barry out to thank him, and he gets another clue about Dr. Wells’ mysterious origin: Tina and Harrison were close friends but after his fiance died “Harrison Wells became an entirely different person”. Dun dun DUNNNNN!
-Eddie REALLY wants to tell Iris about The Flash but Joe is adamant she stay in the dark. I love you Joe West, but your daughter is GROWN and you are destroying a relationship with a man she loves and who wants to do right by her. Iris further endears herself to the fanbase by making a lovely dinner SUPER AWKWARD by discussing private couple-y stuff in front of Ray, Felicity and Barry. Good job, writers.
-Ray is in Central City to get some help with his ATOM suit, so of course he and Cisco become instant geek bros. Cisco even “takes a bee” for Ray, prompting Barry to use his crackling body energy as an impromptu defibrillator, saving Cisco’s life.
-The end of the episode has Barry give Iris really good relationship advice and Iris ignore said advice, give Eddie an ultimatum and move out of his apartment. Barry finally brings Caitlyn and Cisco into the Wells-is-the-Reverse-Flash fold, prompting Cisco to share his hallucinations/alternate timeline memories; “Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash...and he kills me.”
Arrow 3x19: Broken Arrow
-This week is all about Roy (FINALLY) but sadly it's because he's leaving the show. In summary: Roy is in prison for claiming to be the Arrow and Laurel manages to spring Oliver from the police station on all kinds of technicalities. She DARES her father to defy the D.A.'s office. Thea visits Roy against his wishes and it's all kinds of sad. Lance tries to convince Roy to tell the truth and Roy spills the beans about the cop he killed while on the Mirakuru, but Lance doesn't care - he wants Oliver Queen in prison. Roy ends up getting shivved while shuffling along, cuffed, to his cell except he didn't really; it was all a set-up by Felicity and Diggle who got an ARGUS agent to stab him with a knife laced with something that would slow his heartbeat. Roy gets zipped into a body bag, is taken out of the prison and somehow gets to the Arrow Lair. Oliver believes that Roy really is dead right up until the end and they all say their tearful goodbyes; Roy can't stay in Starling if he's supposed to be dead. Roy is good enough to ask Oliver to tell Thea that he's not really dead. (That's some Jess Mariano-level bullshit right there, Roy.)
-There's a meta-human (Deathbolt) that's sort of like Cyclops from The X-Men in Starling, and since Oliver is supposed to be staying out of sight Ray volunteers for a team up. It's all very Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and kind of fun, even if Oliver is a giant grump about it. Merlyn tries to convince Oliver to take up Ra's al Ghul's mantle but he's still resisting and it feels super pointless. To drive the point home Ra's breaks into Thea's apartment, attacks her and leaves her for dead. Next week - Lazarus Pit! All in all this episode should have moved more than it did; Arrow seems to have lost its way a bit this season and I'm left feeling like Oliver Queen needs to go on sabbatical.
Daredevil 1x3: Rabbit In a Snow Storm
-Thug-for-Hire John Healy is Nelson and Murdock’s newest client, at the request of Wesley (Fisk’s creepy right-hand man). Even though a case of Murder-By-Bowling Ball should be open and shut, Matt agrees to defend Healy so that he can get closer to his world, a world where jurors are bribed and verdicts secured. Not only does Wesley want to hire their firm, he wants to put them on retainer (you could practically see Foggy’s eyes turn to $$$). This is our first time seeing Matt’s legal eagle skills, and they are mighty impressive. He tries to safely release the bribed juror by beating the tar out of her handler, but the results still end up in Healy’s favor.
-Meanwhile Karen is being bribed / asked to sign a NDA by her former employer, Union Allied. Instead of asking for legal advice from Matt and Foggy she shows up on the doorstep of her dead co-worker’s widow. They’ve already gotten to her and she’s taking the money and leaving town with her kids. Karen is a brave soul and enlists the help of Ben Urich, a journalist for The New York Bulletin who is trying to continue his story on the corruption of Union Allied but has zero support from his boss.
-Healy is free but not completely, not without a visit from the Man in the Black Mask. Matt wants a name, the name of the puppetmaster and after Healy finally utters Wilson Fisk he’s so horrified at what Fisk will do to him that he IMPALES HIS FACE ON A SPIKE. Surely Fisk can’t be that terrifying...right?
-We get our first glimpse of Fisk standing in front of a painting in an art gallery. D’onofrio makes for an imposing character for sure and, let’s be honest, the bald head always adds a touch of menace to ANY villain. A beautiful woman approaches him, waxing lyrical about the true importance of art is in how it makes you feel, and Fisk turns to her saying it makes him feel...alone. It’s incredible how one line of dialogue can instantly humanize a villain and create interest in his character.
Daredevil 1x4: In the Blood
-Brothers Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov are being wooed by Wilson Fisk to become a larger part of his evil empire. Henchman Wesley gives them a taxi company as their front and insists that they take care of The Man in Black because he's eating into Fisk's profits. Vlad and Anatoly, being Russian, are of course hot-headed and don't like being bossed around. They spent three years in a Siberian gulag and escaped by creating knives from the rib bones of their dead cellmate. NO REALLY. They decide to pay their comrade Semyon in the hospital and wake him up with a shot of adrenaline. I raise my eyebrow at the serious lack of security in this hospital. They need info on The Man in Black who pushed Semyon off of a roof, and he gives them Claire's info. CRAP.
-Claire's new part-time job is apparently stitching up Matt Murdock. Not bad work if you can get it, girl. She's still hiding out at her friend's apartment, cat-sitting, sneezing and suffering from serious cabin fever. Matt pleads with her for just a couple more days while he makes sure the Russians aren't after her and gives her a burner phone in case he needs to contact her.
-The Ranskahov Brothers bully and threaten Santino, the poor kid in Claire's building, into giving up her location. They kidnap her and throw her in the back of their taxi, but not before she manages to dial Matt's number and alert him to the current sitch. Claire is one tough cookie; she's completely terrified yet doesn't give them Matt's name (even if she DOES think it's Mike). The cackle she unleashes as the lights go dark and the Russian henchmen think it's a dead fuse is AMAZING. She knows what's coming, and Matt does indeed arrive and kick the everliving shite out of all of them. Claire is rescued and Matt feels an enormous guilt for all she's suffered for him.
-Meanwhile Karen Page is still trying to get in cahoots with Ben Urich, and she reminds him of just how badass he used to be back in the day. He's older now, and has a very sick wife, but she manages to get a fire lit in his belly and he agrees to help her try to bring down Union Allied. I'm already loving this team-up.
-Wilson Fisk nervously asks the lovely art gallery director, Vanessa Mariana, out to dinner and she agrees. Already she is the light to his darkness, entirely dressed in white while he's all in black and the scene of them against a backdrop of an entirely RED painting is very foreboding. Wilson is a total gentleman and not at all arrogant as he shares memories of his happy childhood. He started to lose me when he claims that he returned to Hell's Kitchen to make it a better place. So gentrification paid for by drug money and sex trafficking is ok because now they have nice restaurants. RIGHT. Anatoly makes an incredibly stupid mistake of trying to approach Wilson while he's at dinner to tell him that they agree to his business proposition, and an embarrassed Fisk and mortified Mariana are forced to end their date abruptly. Fisk agrees to see Anatoly later (and honestly, how stupid can one Russian gangster be?) but it's only to kill him by bashing his head in his car door while Henchman Wesley calmly looks on.
Hero of the Week: Agent Melinda May, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I was never one to complain about how stonefaced May is most of the time but those who DID now can see WHY she holds her cards so close to her chest. She disobeyed orders in an attempt to save her fellow soldiers and it cost her almost everything; her marriage, her mental health, her sense of purpose and trust in herself. She did what she had to do, and it was merciful and devastating.
Honorary Mention: Ray Palmer, The Flash/Arrow
I'm fond of calling Ray Palmer a human golden retriever. Everybody loves a bouncy, happy golden, right? Whether it was geeking out with Cisco, teaming up with the ever-reluctant-to-play-with-others Oliver Queen or saving Central City from a robotic bee swarm, Ray did nothing but brighten up our screens all week.
Honorary Mention, Roy Harper, Arrow
Roy took the fall for Ollie and then Team Arrow faked his death so Colton Haynes could leave yet another show before his character got any juicy plot development he could escape Starling City . I hate to say it but since the writers knew that Haynes was leaving it explains his serious lack of ANYTHING this season. Arsenal, you were always loyal to Ollie and Thea and so I begrudingly give you a mention.
Villain of the Week: Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, Daredevil
Fisk is proving to be a very interesting villain. I was starting to think that he was the type of boss to sit back and let his henchmen do his dirty work for him. HOW WRONG I WAS.
Honorary Mention: Eva Belyakov, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Seldom do I feel like a Villain of the Week on any show is worth a mention, but any mother who would exploit her gifted daughter for her own gain GETS A MENTION. Poor Katye.
Honorary Mention: Iris West, The Flash
Can you hear me sighing? It's become a reflex now whenever anyone mentions poor Iris West. Meredith over at Badass Digest does a bang-up job collectively ranting for all of us who are so tired of Iris being reduced to a plot device. Example: Barry gave her that awesome talk about Eddie and then she STILL gives him an ultimatum because we need Eddie to end up blaming Barry for Iris inevitably dumping him. GREAT.
Honorary Mention: R'as al Ghul, Arrow
The Demon's Head ruined The Arrow's anonymity (along with any sense of camraderie Captain Lance had for him) because...he wants to retire. People have been killed all in the name of R'as wanting to go sip mai tais on a beach somewhere, and this week Team Arrow lost Roy, AND Thea is close to death thanks to R'as.
Troy Barnes Award for Evoking The Feelz:
I'm sorry y'all, but I couldn't pick just one this week:
(image courtesy of crazyintheeast.tumblr.com)
(images courtesy of olicity-sitting-in-a-tree.tumblr.com)
Ab-tastic:
Charlie Cox continues to be a gift to us all.
Right in the Kisser:
-The less said about any "romance" on this week's Gotham the better.
-May and her husband were planning on starting a family right before that fateful day in Morocco. I'm not sure how many episodes Blair Underwood has signed on for but I'd love to see him and May giving it another try after she lectures him for not telling her about Coulson's Theta Initiative.
-Ray and Felicity are adorable but we all know it's going to end. Ray will zoom off into his new spinoff show when he finally allows himself to admit that Felicity isn't in love with him. Love's a bitch, guys. Love's a bitch. Eddie and Iris are on the outs because the writers don't care if we hate her she knows he's hiding something from her.
-Oliver is awkward around Ray and Felicity and Felicity seems to merely exist to give Oliver pep talks in this episode. I'm sad that I liked her more in Central City. Ray sees the closeness between them and does a bit of an awkward foot shuffle.
-I've yet to get to the hot and heavy of Daredevil but I'm totally fine with them giving us the slow burn between Matt and Claire.
Biff! Bam! Pow!
(images courtesy of oliverssqueen.tumblr.com)
Comic Pages:
Pick of the Week: Giant Days #2, written by John Allison, illustrated by Lissa Treiman
Really enjoying this new series, and not just because my college years were super fun. Susan, Esther and Daisy are all first-year uni students in England and already the best of chums. In this issue a nasty flu strikes the campus, affecting all three girls in different but equally hilarious ways. Note to self: never take off-brand Eastern European cold medicine, no matter how broke you are.
Honorary Mention: Ms. Marvel #14, written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa
MAN. I am so bummed. The end of the last issue had my heart soaring for Kamala and her new crush, Kamran. Let's just say that OPINIONS HAVE CHANGED. (No spoilers, promise!) The exchange between Kamala's older brother Amir and her BFF (who's in love with her) Bruno is some excellent, excellent stuff.
-Best Wonder Woman stories, broken down by decade (THE 60’s…!):
-Eisner Award-winning illustrator Janet K. Lee is bringing us a new illustrated Pride and Prejudice. There can never be too many Austen adaptations as far as I’m concerned:
News and Notes:
-Hurrah, new Ant-Man trailer!
-Olivia Munn will play Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse.
-John Ridley, the Oscar-winning writer of 12 Years A Slave, will be penning the new secret Marvel TV series.
-First looks of Mike Colter as Luke Cage and David Tennant as Purple Man in AKA Jessica Jones.
-Comics, Everybody brings us a Daredevil primer:
-Deborah Ann Woll (Daredevil’s Karen Page) talks up strong complex women in our Marvel stories.
-Already binge-watched all of Daredevil? Here are some Easter Eggs!
-Scarlet Witch Funko POP is adorable:
-Captain Marvel possibly has a screenwriting team, and it’s Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out).
-ScarJo says that her contract with Marvel is “mutating”. #AllTheBlackWidowPls
-Michelle MacLaren is no longer directing Wonder Woman, citing creative differences, and now Patty Jenkins (Monster) has signed on to direct instead. Whatever gets this movie made, people.
-Constantine is pretty much dead in the water. We stopped reviewing it by the third episode sooooo….
-Batman v Superman’s first trailer has dropped. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I definitely didn’t anticipate A - a Batman with a more ridiculous voice than Christian Bale’s, or B - GOLEM BATMAN. I need a drink:
I'm ready for all of your feelings below in the comments section. Are you sad to see Roy go? Felicity Smoak - better in Central or Starling? What were your favorite comic reads this week?