Supernatural 9.08 Review: Back to Basics

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Supernatural, entitled ‘Rock and a Hard Place’, now would be a good time to go and do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

This season is definitely making up for the crap that was the combined seasons six, seven, and eight. Honestly, this season is just amazing. They’re finally getting this series back to the basics of hunting down monsters and facing foes in different cities. It’s not just all about angels and demons anymore (Thank God!), although they are still included, they’re just not as heavily involved as they were before. This season is just making me so utterly happy, it’s hard to believe. The only thing that would make this season better is if Sam would cut his unbelievably ridiculously long hair.

It’s been a while since this series has done an episode where the brothers haven’t figured out who the villain of the piece was before the halfway mark. It took until the last quarter of the episode for them – more like recurring character Jody Mills – to figure out that it was the goddess Vesta going after born-again virgins that broke their pledge. And in order for the boys to figure this out, they had to become – of all, laughable things – born-again virgins themselves so that they could infiltrate the purity group the missing people had been apart of. And while I’m not too keen on bringing Greek and Roman gods into the mix of this series, it was still a much more interesting breath of fresh air compared to the crap known as angels, as well as the seasons past villains Leviathons (ugh, so glad they’re dead). This is what I liked from the show I’ve loved for five years.

Honestly, this series is managing to get back into the days of Kripke greatness, and, while I don’t think it can legitimately go on much longer than a season or two more, I am much happier with the material they’re generating. They even managed to get back to his womanizing ways – something that hasn’t happened for the viewers’ eyes in a very long time. This season is definitely making me feel like the last three didn’t happen at all, to which I am utterly grateful to the showrunner for managing to do that. Thank you.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Dragons? Those are a thing?” – Jody Mills asks. “Yeah, too many things are things.” – Sam responds.

“I’m calling the cops.” – the poetry reading virgin exclaims. “I am the cops.” – Mills retorts.

“Because of that hippie from Bethlehem.” – the goddess Vesta sums up her lack of worship in a nutshell.

“What’d I miss?” – Dean mutters after popping up out of the ground.

In conclusion, this series needs more Jody Mills from those lines right there.

Alright, folks, I’m going to call it quits for the night. I may watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tonight, but I won’t be reviewing. Also, sorry for the break between reviews, I was getting my Christmas on by wrapping a couple of my roommate’s gifts – because I have none of my own to wrap yet – and watching Home Alone. But here this is, and don’t forget to tune in tomorrow night after midnight for my reviews of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., 

The Originals 1.08 Review: Fear is Not the Same Thing as Loyalty

For all those that have yet to watch tonight’s episode of The Originals, entitled ‘The River in Reverse’, here is where I suggest you go do that before proceeding ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

I’m not sure how to dictate my feelings towards this episode. It seems like all of this was culminating, but almost like we got to the end of the chapter far too quickly. Klaus gained control of the kingdom by having Marcel swear allegiance to him, but it seems like this has happened way too early in this series. I thought for sure that this would at least play out until the end of the season, but I suppose this and The Vampire Diaries are ones to have half-season arcs, rather than full season arcs that made Buffy the Vampire Slayer work so well. Yes, this episode had its moments, but it didn’t work quite as well as it could have, had it done a season long arc.

For the first five minutes of this episode, I blissfully forgot that Tyler had hopped over to this series. And then we came around to the scene of planning an attack against Klaus, and there he was, in all his terrible glory. At least Rebekah snapped his neck and he now appears to be in the garden for some time, at least I hope. They really didn’t need to keep Tyler around on this series passed that one episode he did two weeks ago; he doesn’t fit in this world, and he always manages to ruin Hayley’s character whenever they’re around one another. Plus he’s gone so far off the deep end that it would really be nice if he would go away, permanently.

Marcel and Bekah working together and being together is another little issue I had. It was easy to see their attraction towards each other, even with the obstacle of him having affection for Cami – which was terribly written out – but they got together far too quickly. While this series has managed to have its good moments, it seems to be wanting to progress things far too quickly than it should, and Marcel and Rebekah was one of those things.

There were a couple things I did like about this episode. One was definitely when Klaus wiped the floor with all those vampires, especially when he gave them his hybrid face. Another was when Rebekah told Marcel to take the coin. And the third was Hayley’s hair. That girl has some gorgeously maintained locks that I would desperately like to get my hands on.

Overall, I’m becoming more iffy on this series. I expected more from Elijah’s fever dreams, as well as more about Hayley’s lineage that we did get. The girl’s supposed to descend from some royal werewolf line, but her family lives in a bayou? I get that they were driven out by Marcel, but why stay near there? They’re not the witches; they don’t depend on ancestral magic to stay werewolves. But still, I am enjoying parts of this series, I just desperately wish that Caroline was here already. I don’t like the way their writing Cami, at all, even if the actress does the part well, I just want Caroline.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Remind me to annihilate your brother when you get healthy.” – Hayley says. “Yes, remind me to remind you to get in line.” – Elijah replies.

“I doubt you’d trust your own reflection.” – Cami tells Klaus, hitting it right on the nail.

“It’s an ancient mystical plot I’m using to destroy you.” – Cami informs Klaus, dryly, before revealing it to be doodles for a tattoo idea.

“Yes, it is ironic discussing freewill with a mind-controlling vampire.” – Father Kieran mutters.

Okay, I’m off to watch Supernatural now, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. afterwards. Stay tuned.

The Blacklist 1.09 Review: Allies Today, Enemies Tomorrow

Anyone that has yet to watch yesterday’s episode of The Blacklist, entitled ‘Anslo Garrick (No. 16)’, now would be a good time to go and do that. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Now, wasn’t that just an intense hour of television? That’s two Monday night series that involved hostage-like situations (the other being Almost Human). Except, this one gets carried over to next week, something I’m not so sure I care about. I understand doing a two-part episode, but I’m not sure they couldn’t have wrapped this up well in this one episode. Or, at least, this episode could’ve ended a little differently. I get that cliffhangers are an exciting endeavor, but it feels a little cheap the way they did it on this series.

So, with this week’s episode we lost at least one character. One of Red’s bodyguards was killed and another possibly killed as well. I’m really hoping Dembe isn’t dead because, while I hadn’t grown attached to Luli, I have grown to like Dembe, so I’m really hopeful that that was someone else getting shot, not him.

Also, Ressler’s leg was shot, and there was a whole mess of having to cauterize his artery, which knocked him right out from the pain. Now, I know – or at least desperately hope – that they won’t kill him, there’s too much chemistry between him and Keen, but there is a chance he could lose his leg. I really hope that he doesn’t because that means desk job for him most likely and no more fieldwork. I think that would honestly be sad and wrong of the series not to use his untapped potential.

By the end of it, it seems as though Keen has also been caught. You’d think she’d have been smart enough not to leave her back open to multiple entry points. And while I do agree that splitting up does make things faster, it also makes this more dangerous. Now all there seems to be is Aram to save the day and take out the other devices blocking out calls. While I love Aram, and am so glad he also hasn’t been killed yet, him being their only hope does bode well, even if the other men hadn’t seen him and may stop searching after grabbing Keen.

All in all, this was a great episode intensity wise, but not exactly up to par with how the rest of this series has been going. What I’m trying to say is, this was a good episode of television, just not necessarily a good episode of this series. It was a little too all in one place, and not exactly fitting the tone of this show. That being said, I am excited to see how it goes next week.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Allies today, enemies tomorrow; the world is a complex place.” – Red explains to Ressler.

“I’ve only shot at paper.” – Aram states. “Pretend their paper.” – Keen shoots back.

“Kay, I think we’re cool.” – Keen mutters after throwing the device on the ground.

Okay, apologies for not posting this yesterday, but my sister need some help editing an assignment she was writing and it took longer than I expected. So here this is. Check back soon for reviews of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Originals, and Supernatural – not necessarily in that order.

Sleepy Hollow 1.09 Review: Family Lineage

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Sleepy Hollow, entitled ‘Sanctuary’, this is your last chance to do so before proceeding ahead into spoiler territory. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Now that was an hour chock full of tantalizing and exciting new information. So, Ichabod and Katrina had a son; now that is an intriguingly surprising turn of events that I’m quite happy with. Knowing that now, I’m actually starting to wish we were getting a full twenty-two episode season, rather than the guaranteed thirteen and thirteen. Still, I look forward to how the end of this season is written.

This episode definitely had it’s good and it’s bad. Bad was definitely the shaky, uneven cinematography as well as the terrible lighting that made it far too difficult to orient where everything was. Also, I kind of liked the bodyguard, so it’d have been nice if he hadn’t died, although that’s more my disagreeance with the writing rather than the overall episode. Good was both the segue into the title sequence with Abby’s statement about being in a haunted house, and the perfection that was emotional Crane.

Tom Mison was beyond brilliant in this episode. I mean, honestly, for the tearing up and catching in his stance upon hearing Katrina had been pregnant was absolutely phenomenal. The man made me feel for him in such a real, gritty kind of way. And then to tack on his anger towards the creature that had threatened his wife and child was fantastic, although it could’ve used some instrumentals behind it, little, or some type of noise. Then for him to come out covered in blood was just the cherry on top of the cake, so magnificent. This man deserves an award for merely that emotional moment inside the house as they looked for Lena. Honestly, it was so wonderful.

Otherwise, I am curious to learn more about Irving and his daughter. I’m guessing it has something to do with her being in that wheelchair, but that’s just me assuming. Maybe it was because of a car accident, or the man had someone come after him and his daughter got in the crossfire, I don’t know. The young actress does seem to make the character interesting, so I would like to see her around some more. Also, I find it very interesting that they seem to be pushing Irving and Jenny towards each other. Jenny may not like the guy now, but it’s cliché how often that leads to eventual romance. While she seems like she’s young enough to be his daughter, it might be an interesting pair. But then, any pair is more interesting than those that are delusional enough to think Abby and Ichabod are anything more than just partners. The man is married, for Christ’s sake, stop acting like that doesn’t mean anything, especially now that there was a child involved.

Anyways, for the most part this was a good episode. This series certainly has its pitfalls, but what show doesn’t? I do feel like this series does, at times, take itself too seriously, and also the young woman that plays Abby (whose name currently escapes me, and I don’t feel the need to look up) over exaggerates her expressions, as well as when she speaks, but otherwise this series can be good. For the first two minutes, though, I did think Lena and her bodyguard were better than the leads, but I still love Ichabod.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Line:

“You’ve surely come to realize by now, lieutenant, that when the two of us are involved, rarely is a coincidence, a coincidence.” – Ichabod shares his wisdom with Abby.

Okay, I’m off to watch The Blacklist in a minute, so stay tuned.

Almost Human 1.03 Review: No One Wants to Die

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Almost Human, titled ‘Are You Receiving?’, now would be a good time to go and do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Well, that was a jam-packed hour of entertainment (okay, so really between 40 and 45 minutes, discounting commercials). Only three episodes in and I’m already loving this series. It may even be the best new series of this season, even ahead of The Blacklist… But don’t quote me on that, because it’s still pretty early on.

This week’s episode was about a hostage situation that turned out to be a decoy for a precious metal heist. All of the characters really worked well in this high-pressure situation, and we got a lot of nice moments between Kennex and Dorian. These two work really well together. The mix of tension and new partner type reliability on each other is done astoundingly well.

There were a lot of wonderful moments to this episode. Dorian smiling after Kennex tells the one hostage he has on the phone that everything will okay. Also, Kennex chewing the used gum so he can fix Dorian. Kennex wearing the face disrupter and then saving Dorian’s life. And, obviously, the Benny and the Jets song, which Dorian sang along to. These were all just a few of my favourite moments of this episode. Also, the fact that they basically only included Kennex and Dorian goes to show just how much I love these two partners.

All in all, this series is really shaping up to be something special. The special effects are fantastic, I almost feel like I’m actually watching a basic cop show in the year 2048. The acting is also great, something rather abundant in our two leading males. And this episode just fit well into the last episode’s timeline, while the pilot may not have worked as well as this series is working after it. Suffice to say, if you’re not watching this show, you really should be.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“There’s- I can’t- Do you- Christmas.” – John pretends his call is breaking up with the Captain so he can ignore her order. Also, nice to know someone other than myself that uses the word Christmas randomly to get someone’s attention.

“Hello, I’m Detective John Kennex. I’m an automated police officer with a very difficult personality.” – Dorian mocks John by using his voice to answer a 911 call.

“There’s fifty shades of purple in there.” – John exasperates to Dorian, after he touches the wrong tendon in the AI’s wound.

Okay, I’m off to watch Sleepy Hollow now, and The Blacklist right after that. Check back soon.