Warning Spoilers for the most recent episodes of :Legend of Korra,Young Justice,Ultimate Spider-Man,Avengers:EMH,Game of Thrones,Sherlock. You have been warned.
This post is sponsored by Cabbage Corp., Republic Cities trusted name in technology for over 50 years.
Saturday
The Legend of Korra S1 Ep06 “And the Winner Is...”
Well we are halfway through the first season of Legend of Korra and if you didn’t know that you definitely felt it. Creators and season 1 writers Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have wasted little time making the main trio better realized in 3 hours than they did the cast in the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I wasn’t entirely sold on the “metal bending police” that were added to the show. All we had seen of them is shooting metal cables that didn’t look like bending, it looked more like techno-bending. Consider me sold thanks to Chief Lin Bei Fong, who completely shined this episode. She’d been mainly in the background after the first episode appearing to be the antithesis of her mother. The abrasiveness might not have been solely a rebellion against Toph and more with her being the spurned former lover of Tenzin. The thought had popped in my head when Pema brought up her homewrecker past. The glee drawn on Korras face as she figured it out reminded me of those troll images. Her and Korra forming a tag team of awesome, taking on Amon and his thugs was probably one of the best action sequences across both shows. Seeing Lin go from Omega Red to Spider-Man was great.
Amon reminded us all that he is still around by crashing the tournament finals and (possibly) energy bended away the champion Wolfbats bending. He once again gave an ominous speech preaching equality but the more he talks the less I see him as a interesting possibly sympathetic character and more like a supervillain. Talking about wanting to “cleanse them(benders) of their impurities” sounds like something X-Men villains Reverend William Stryker and his Friends of Humanit/Purifiers would say. He isn’t like another X-Men villian, Magneto,while his methods were villainous, he was a minority and saw mutants simply as the superior species not as impure people like Stryker.
The reveal of his followers donning masks and electric gauntlets was handled perfectly lasting just long enough for you to realize it’s about to get real but not too long that you're just staring at slow moving images. And then as long as that felt two of the major side characters are incapacitated quicker. These electric gauntlets (that look a lot like Iron Man armor) are basically guns. Guns change the game since now you can kill someone without getting very close or expending a lot of energy. It’s all over in a second. Adding such a weapon to a martial arts based show will be interesting perhaps they can work in some samurai film references. Amon mentions that now you can hold the power of a chi blocker in the palm of your hand. With Republic City at war, will people just start blasting people away in the streets? These weapons further de-emphasize the spirituality of bending or the skill needed to do it replacing it with easy to use power.
We have definitely started a new chapter with the ending of pro-bending. The amount of stuff they are able to put into 22 minutes is astounding sometimes. Also that elbow Korra through at the Lieutenant was a total reference to Anderson Silvas KO of Tony Fryklund at Cage Rage 16.
Young Justice: Invasion S2 Ep03 “Alienated”
If there is one definite upside from Season 1 to 2 is the continuity from episode to episode. Season 1 might of had the overarching Light story but it was pieced together slowly with villains of the week. So far in season 2 the effects from episode 1 and 2 are clearly effecting episode 3. This might lead to some episodes being the “blow off” action heavy episode but if it can keep up a healthy mix of action and character it will be great.
The League and the Team work together to finally mop up the remaining Krolotean “invaders” who have a nice secret base in a volcano. They are renting the space from Black Manta and his son Kaldur'ahm formerly known as Aqualad. Him seeming to go to the darkside isn’t too surprising and has plenty of story possibilities. His changing sides seems to be fueled by the death of his love Tula and Aquaman, his King, not telling him the fact that his dad is Black Manta. This has turned the normally calm former Aqualad into and emotionally driven angry person, who just feels betrayed.
Now this is where I put on the wild internet speculation hat. Batman found out the League had been infiltrated by Savage and his Light so he would want the same. Maybe he convinced Aqualad to become a double agent and had him “kill’ Artemis (who’s voiced by the same person as the secretary Catherine Cobert but with a terrible french accent) to get in good with his father, who has now replaced Ocean Master as a member of the Light. Of any of the original team members he has the best chances of getting in with the bad guys and pull it off.
Neptunes Beard Lagoon Boy!! You ruined a scene with your terrible catchphrase and overacting. It isn’t all his fault though Superboys reunion quip was also terribly forced and comically bad. It bumms me out when the normally half decent dialog is just ruined by crap like this.
It was really cool seeing the various super families working together. You had all of Batmans Protégé working one route while Aquaman and Lagoon Boy took another followed by Superman and Wonderwoman and their family. Seeing this type of logical crossover continues to make me facepalm at Ultimate Spider-Man.
Pushing the majority of the League off world for hopefully 2 or more episodes should be good for the show. I like seeing everyone on screen together but this isn’t a JL cartoon and sometimes they can take away from the main characters.
Black Manta needs to be voiced by Billy Dee Williams just think about it.
Sunday
Ultimate Spider-Man S1 Ep08 “Back in Black”
Another episode that was actually ok, color me surprised. Make it two episodes in a row without the SHIELD Scooby Doo squad playing a major role it almost feels like a Spider-Man cartoon.
Using Venom as a way to contrast Harry and Peter further was ok. It would of worked 1000x better if Osborn jr was actually characterized and given screen time instead of having Peter tell us about his daddy issues. Go watch the Venom storyline in Spectacular Spider-Man to see it done right.
I’ve realized it’s not the way Ultimate Spider-Man does comedy that irks me (most of the time). The timing for this show is utter shit. Parker imagining Venom in a call back to the Super Friends made me laugh. Than seeing him see it again with 2 other trailers not so much. You told the joke not stop trying to tell it over and over.
Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes S2 Ep06 “Who Do You Trust?”
Avengers: EMH now adds the Secret Invasion to the list of storylines that will hopefully be explored this season. Even though Invasion had its problems it’s still one of my favorite Marvel events in recent years. This love mainly comes from my love of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and to a lesser degree The Thing. Who do you trust when anyone could be the enemy and they aren’t going to tell you? Now just imagine if its the people with superpowers. Black Panther made a good point about how none of them trust each other THAT much in the end they are still all in masks calling each other by code names. They are hardly shown out of costume which made the pizza scene even more weird.
Kind of bummed Queen Veranke isn’t posing as Spider-Woman but Mockingbird works. Also them saying “as it is written” was nice nod to their motivations. During the Secret Invasion the Skrull invade Earth because of the need to fulfill a prophecy win or lose.
Game of Thrones S2 Ep06 “A Man Without Honor”
Honor is a tricky thing. Do you give yourself honor? Is it bestowed upon you by vowing to be a Man of something? Are you honroable if other people despise you? Eddard Stark, the most honorable man in the show, shed some of his honor when he came back to Winterfell with a bastard son. Would it have been more honorable to simply leave baby Jon Snow and return to court? Or is it more honorable to admit your mistakes and take the child with you? Maybe honor is something only rich people get to care about since they can play with their swords and plan the wars while the little guy gets shit on.
One man's quest for honor could be going better, Theon always looking to impress has lost his two most valuable captives,a wildling and a Hodor. Maybe he knows he is utterly screwed now, saying “Don’t look so grim.” to Maester Luwin that “It’s all just a game”. He is going to lose it all if he can’t find Bran and Rickon Stark. All Theon wants is to be accepted, maybe even loved. It doesn't matter by who. He offered to go to his father in an attempt to get Robbs love. Than betrayed him to get his fathers. It certainly isn’t going to be coming from his crew.
When they grabbed Maester Luwin for a split second I was certain they were going to kill him. Forcing him to see the charred bodies of two young boys though, probably just as bad. I have since confirmed from a friend that those aren’t the Stark boys but it’s pretty obvious they aren’t. It’s a desperate play from Theon even for someone so utterly stupid killing them would definitely piss his father and everyone off. The fact we don’t see them get captured adds to the uncertainty. If movies and comics have taught me anything it’s that unless you see their heads role and identify the body there is still a good chance they live.
Another less than honorable man returned tonight, Jamie Lannister certainly has been getting those mud facials. He really stole the show with his chat locked up next to a distant relative. It struck me that why am I watching this rather long borish scene about family memories but it slowly sucked me in. The pair slowly growing together exchanging family stories only for it to end with Jamie bashing his relatives head in. Jamie always had a sharp tongue but him bringing up “honorable Eddard Stark” and his bastard to Catelyn was too much for his own good. He doesn't have honor. He is too smart to be trapped by its rules. He realized the hypocrisy of it all “What if your father hates the king who kills innocent people?” he wonders. No matter who he stabs in service of whoever he breaks some vow and loses his honor.
Charles Dance and Maisie Williams have been killing it. Even though their scenes are the fathest away from a battle seeing Arya try to entertain Lord Tywin but keep him off her trail have been great. This man has done some (most likely) very bad things but he has done it all for his family. Now he is fighting a war his stupid children started in order to secure their safety and his legacy.
It’s easy to just say f*ck the Lannisters and paint them all as evil conniving scumbags (which they are). When you look at them it's hard to really hate them all individually. Ok it’s very easy to hate Joffery, even his mother admits to his madness now. Tyrion is conniving and a schemer but his wit makes him enjoyable. Jamie may have stabbed Ned in the back but was just protecting his family. Cerci well she screwed up and knew it now she is paying the price.
Jon Snow should have lopped the redheads head off when he had the chance. Now he is getting a one on one with the “King Beyond the Wall”. Her teasing him about his blue balls was funn though.
I said Xaro Xhoan Daxos was probably the least squeezy of the 13 rulling memebers of Qarth. He freely admits to Daenerys that he has done bad things but they justified the ends. He continues this by offing 11 of the rulling members allying himself with that vulture man. Now I guess he will take Dany prisoner and keep her locked up with her dragons. At least he is honest about it all.
Crap only 3 more episodes before its back to waiting for Game of Thrones to start up again.
Sherlock S2 Ep02 “The Hounds of Baskerville”
Both times the second episode of Sherlock has managed to leave me wanting. The second episode of series 1 was “The Blind Banker”, the inclusion of the triads just seemed kind of forced. Now for series 2 they did “The Hounds of the Baskerville”, one of my personal favorite Holmes stories.
It was all just kinda boring and a bit confusing. Holmes reaoning for going to investigate the “crime” was just quickly spoken forcing me to rewind it to figure out his resoning. Once in Dartmoor it all just slows down and nothing really happens. Sure Holmes and Watson see the sights which are bleak but beautiful but other than a trip to Baskerville nothing seems to be pushing it all forward. The revelation about Frankland seemed like an attempt to bring the “hound” all back to the realm of science.
It should get props with trying to make this into a psychological horror episode. The finale is rather good though so I can’t complain to much.
