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Saturday, February 15, 2014

Last Week in Pop Culture #19

Around the Web
This week, I've got one review up for Sound on Sight, looking at All New X-Men #23, the third part of the "Trial of Jean Grey" crossover, as well as a feature on Cyclops and Jean Grey, part of February's "Best Comic Book Romances" theme. 

Once Upon a Time: The New Neverland


One of the benefits to moving the action back to Storybrooke, even though the whole Pan storyline hasn't completed, is that it gives us a chance to see the characters decompress while they think the threat is over, something that rarely happens.

It was genuinely kind of sad that nobody cared Regina came back, and I'm glad Snow wasn't a bitch about it and stuck up for her. 

I'm also glad Emma knew fairly early that something was wrong with Henry - obviously, with only two episodes left, they couldn't drag this out very long, but that works to the show's advantage.

I'm still confused about the Hipster Darlings...like, they were once younger than Wendy, right? So now they're older than her (since she's been in timeless Neverland), but they're not *that* much older. Why not? Whatever. That's probably the last we'll see of them. 

How awesome would it be if Henry had gotten stuck in Pan's body so that Jared Gilmore was done playing Henry? 

I've seen better animated figures than Medusa in video games. From 1995.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Party/Full Boyle
"The Party" was a fantastic showcase for the entire cast, with everyone getting a moment to shine. I particularly appreciated that at the party, everyone's insane behavior had little to do with them being cops. 

I don't know if Marilu Henner is just signed to the usual three episode guest star arc, or if she's planning on sticking around, but I hope she does - pairing off Boyle in a successful relationship is a story with tons of comedic potential.

Also, I wholeheartedly endorse the running gag that Holt is hilarious to everyone except us and the main characters.

Agents of SHIELD: T.R.A.C.K.S


This was one of the better episodes of the series so far, largely on the strength of its atypical, time-jumping structure and by taking a page out of Whedon's book and grounding the action in characterization (along with a good dose of humor).

That said, this wasn't a *great* episode, and it's kinda sad that fifteen episodes into the season, this represents one of the series high points - this is the kind of episode I'd have liked to see around the five episode mark, the first one showing the characters coming into their own, showing what the show is capable of before it enters a sustained stretch of goodness. Hopefully it still represents that, even if it's coming ten episodes later than it should have. 

Other Shows I Watched
Mom "Nietzsche And A Beer Run", New Girl "Exes", Suburgatory "The Birds and the Biederman", Modern Family "iSpy", Revolution "One Riot, One Ranger", The Big Bang Theory "The Locomotion Manipulation"

Quotable Quotes
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Terry: Now break it up. We look weird... Don't move as a group! You’re not gazelles!

Peralta: Gina has brought back all the silverware that she stole from your house.
Gina: Also this clock.
Holt: This isn't ours.

Boyle: He was Canadian, so he said was probably his fault he got robbed and apologized for wasting my time.
Peralta: Oh Canada. Truly Odie to America’s Garfield.

Agents of SHIELD
Simmons: You never made time for her. But you made time for your work! And your prostitutes!
Coulson: Prostitutes? Plural?

Revolution
Monroe: You remember South Bend?
Miles: That’ll work.
Charlie: You guys are just naming cities!

5 comments:

  1. My take on this week's the latest SHIELD: Did this show just get good?

    I'm still very much in wait and see mode -- and I share your frustration that it took so long to get here -- but I was very happy with "TRACKS."

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  2. @Michael: I'm still very much in wait and see mode ... but I was very happy with "TRACKS."

    I'm right there with you. Considering the previous episode with Blizzard was pretty solid as well, and I'm hearing good things about Bill Paxton, I'm hoping this is indicative of a sustained uptick in quality.

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  3. I did like the storytelling conceit of "TRACKS". Yeah, I've been disappointed in the series overall, but it is what it is and at least we seem to be on the right, um, you-know-what... Maybe.

    I had no idea that the kid in the SHIELD Academy episode was Blizzard, partly because I only have dim recollections of him from late-'70s Iron Man comics and I wouldn't have remembered his civilian name anyway — let alone the name of the less-familiar later Blizzard; I was likewise confused by the show making a present-day character Deathlok since the only version I knew of was Luther Manning from a post-apocalyptic future.

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  4. @Blam: I had no idea that the kid in the SHIELD Academy episode was Blizzard, partly because I only have dim recollections of him from late-'70s Iron Man comics and I wouldn't have remembered his civilian name anyway

    I picked up on the connection from the civilian name, only because Blizzard was a regular (and somewhat integral) member of one of the iterations of the Thunderbolts in the early 00s.

    I was likewise confused by the show making a present-day character Deathlok since the only version I knew of was Luther Manning from a post-apocalyptic future.

    There's actually been a few post-Manning Deathloks - one in the early 90s that I know from the trading cards of the time, who had his own series at a time when nearly every character at Marvel had their own series, and I think another one was part of the short-lived "M-Tech" line in the 90s (which also saw the New Mutants Warlock get his own series for awhile), and more recently, there was a Deathlok that hanging around the Wolverine-led X-Force for awhile.

    All of which is to say that while I don't know much more about of those iterations of the character than what I just wrote, the show is probably safe just using the name and general concept (cybernetics replacing/reviving dead tissue) however they like since there's so many iterations of the character these days.

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  5. @Teebore: // I picked up on the connection from the civilian name, only because Blizzard was a regular (and somewhat integral) member of one of the iterations of the Thunderbolts in the early 00s. //

    Ah. I'm pretty sure I made all the way through Busiek's run but I know I was out by then.

    @Teebore: // There's actually been a few post-Manning Deathloks //

    Yeah, I found that out with some quick Wikipedia'ing (if that isn't a redundancy) and it jogged my memory about M-Tech at least. I've always thought it was strange when features set in the future have present-day precursors retroactively established — Deathlok, the Legion/LEGION at DC, some group called the Guardians of the Galaxy…

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