Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1.09 Review: How We Understand People

For all those that have yet to watch this last Tuesday’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., entitled ‘Repairs’, well then you’re even later to the show than I am so you should probably go watch it now. This isn’t a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed ahead at your own discretion.

This series seems to be coming together rather slowly. Even just with this week’s episode the characters seem mostly superficial, and in May’s case mostly rigid. There’s very little heart to this series on a consistent basis, it seems to peak out at times, but not quite often enough. I just don’t care enough about these people’s lives, and I think that the rest of the audience is feeling that way as well. These actors don’t seem to play off each other well enough and don’t seem to have enough good chemistry to keep this show up. Someone needs to throw them all in a cabin in the middle of a no-signal patch of deep woods and let them work together for a week and see how they come out after that.

More regarding this episode, while it was inferred to the last episode, I’m not getting Ward and May. They didn’t set that thing up anywhere near as well as they should have. Of all people, I’d expect May to gravitate towards Coulson more than Ward, despite her sharing more in common with Ward – job wise. They just, they don’t fit well enough at all. And the fact that they feel the need to hide it, I honestly don’t think anyone would care if they were getting their freak on together. And yes, I did just use freak on. Basically, for me, it didn’t feel natural to either the story or the characters themselves. I would feel differently if it had.

So basically this week’s episode, otherwise, was about this man who kept jumping between dimensions – or, at least, that’s the gist I got from it. This was a very confusing concept for me. Was the guy going to die? Or was he just holding on to this reality too grippingly that he wasn’t able to stick to the other dimension? They didn’t explain this nearly as well as they should have, so it kind of feels like unfinished business to me.

Up until that point, I was enjoying what was going on with this episode, very intriguing. I really liked the whole prank situation that went on, although it wasn’t done nearly as well in certain situations as it could have. Also, I’m kind of angry with Coulson for thinking that what May needed to hear at her ‘Cavalry’ moment was what she told the man clinging to a woman he liked. That was completely terrible, and not at all something anyone should tell another person. It kind of made me want to punch him out.

All in all, this series isn’t exactly moving in a way that makes sense. It feels like it’s jumping all over the place, and that it’s resolving certain storylines improperly. It’s like they don’t seem to know where they’re going, or even have some endgame in sight. The way that it is moving is rather sloppily done, and not at all something that will likely keep this series around longer than this season. Unless they really get their act together, I don’t have high hopes.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“No! You do not touch that!” – Fitz scolds Skye for touching the graphics.

“My boring, old, flat computer.” – Skye mutters, after being told not to touch the graphics.

My apologies for how late this is, although I did watch it two days ago, I’ve just not felt in the mood, I’ve been in the Christmas spirit – something that’s getting harder to ignore the closer we get to Christmas. But here you go. I’m probably not going to have the Dracula review up until tomorrow, alongside Once Upon A Time.

American Horror Story: Coven 3.07 Review: An Indifference to Suffering

For any that have yet to watch last night’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven, entitled ‘The Dead’, that is what I suggest you do now before reading ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

As opposed to last week’s terribly filmed episode, this one was much better. I feel like it’s a hit and miss every week with this series; one week it’s bad, the next it’s good. This episode would fall in the latter character. The cinematography was overall very well done, the story progressed immensely in numerous ways, and we got more insight on a fair amount of the characters. That is what I would call a job well done.

There were a lot moments that made me feel something in this episode. First off, I feel really bad for Tate – Kyle, I mean Kyle – who doesn’t feel like himself because he’s composed of different body parts, and is trying to work through those issues. Still, I would like it if he could be able to talk intelligently, at some point. Also, I really felt for Madison, for once, with her whole speech about being apart of the Y Generation and how she can no longer feel even if she wanted to. In life she took it for granted, and now half-dead she doesn’t have it. Except for, apparently, when she does another dead person (read: Kyle). Another thing is how expressive Jessica Lange is in her physical movements. Just the shots of her hands rubbing together were rather evocative and so very Lange; I can remember her doing the same thing in season one. And one more thing was the exquisite use of the saxophone. The sound it makes as it is expertly played is such a beautiful thing to behold.

I really enjoyed the way this started off with a flashback of Kyle and his frat brothers and there tattoos, including a hint of the situation with his mother in that broken look he briefly had. Then to fold that into the next scene where he cries over having the tattoos on his body, such a masterfully done technique used. My one issue with Kyle this episode is that there hasn’t been quite enough movement with his character. We can see he cares for Zoe, and that he’s still working through all the things with his mom and frat brothers, but then to go and have sex with Madison was a little iffy. Not that I’m against the use of it, I just found his fondness for Zoe, despite the bond that they shared that Madison seemed to manipulate, it didn’t quite fit in right there. But then it, of course, led to what I can only say must be a threesome. I’m really not sure where they’re going with this now. Was that all just because Evan Peters and Emma Roberts are dating? It kind of felt that way to me.

Elsewhere, it seems that Queenie has joined Marie Laveau (who, can I just say, is being played brilliantly by Angela Bassett) over on the Voodoo side. How was this not obvious that it would happen? Isn’t her witch power a Voodoo power? I could’ve sworn she descended from the same line as Laveau. Plus Queenie was just getting annoyingly stupid. Not feeling apart of the coven and everything when really she was the one keeping the coven at arms length because she didn’t feel like she belonged. It’s not their fault they weren’t trying to include her, she never even acted like she wanted to be there, and sometimes you just have to take the initiative – and not blame everyone else. I think that’s the main reason I can’t stand her character; I just really wish she would die soon. She’s grotesquely overweight, and that’s just not okay.

So all in all, this was a good episode. Despite the pervy Axeman, who watched Fiona grow up into a woman and his feelings changed from fatherly to manly, this was a good episode. There was a little too much focus on Fiona and the Axeman, but that could just be me feeling that way because her character is kind of getting on my nerves. I did enjoy the one-on-one between Cordelia and Zoe, and Zoe’s initiative with Spalding – although I will miss O’Hare dancing with the dolls. Also, I can’t finish without commenting on that beautiful arsenal Cordelia’s – unbeknownst to her – witch hunter husband. That was a nice display. Otherwise, I enjoyed this week’s episode, now let’s just see about next week.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“You can’t drink or fight, you’re a little bitch.” – Kyle tells his frat brother who just got an Irish-related tattoo, in a flashback.

“A wounded animal will rip you apart if it’s cornered.” – Cordelia explains to Zoe, regarding Fiona.

Alright, folks, that’s all for tonight. Check back in tomorrow night for my reviews of The Vampire Diaries, Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Crazy Ones – not necessarily in that order.

Supernatural 9.07 Review: Family Loyalty

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Supernatural, entitled ‘Bad Boys’, this is your last chance to do so without possible spoilers. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

This is exactly what I’ve been missing about this series! This is the best episode they’ve had in seasons. It was just such a true return to form for this series: monsters, being on the road, a few guest stars, some flashbacks from the past, and a whole lot of salt. Honestly, the way this season is going, I’m going to call it right now and say it’s consistently the best season since Kripke left.

Even remembering Sam had an angel in his body didn’t stop this from being anything less than about a ghost and how to stop it. That is exactly what this series started out as. The family business, going on the road to towns to stop monsters and all that entails. Sure they know a lot more than they did back then, but this still made for a great episode.

Everything about this episode was great – except for maybe how cheesy the ghost mother looked – and made me think I could stick around for this entire season. I still think this series needs to end soon, but it’s good to know that it will hopefully end on a note where it’s back to true form. Let’s be real, the only thing that could’ve made this episode better was if Sam had cut his damn hair, and even that was fixed in a few shots by the use of lighting. I can almost forget about the ridiculousness that was the Leviathons, purgatory, and all that entailed. I’m really proud of where this show is getting.

All in all, from about five minutes into this episode I was happy with it. This week was actually about something other than angels, and the fact that we got to see some flashbacks to a young Dean. That being said, while the kid was pretty talented at playing a young Winchester, he didn’t exactly look anything like the last actor that played a young Dean around seventeen. That was about one issue in this episode that I did have, although I was able to get passed it. I’m honestly getting excited about this series again.
EDIT: Also, they remembered the necklace. I miss the necklace.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Line:

“I’m gonna go all Guantanamo on you.” – Dean tells the other kids that were bullying Timmy.

All right, that’s all for tonight, I’m off to bed now. Check back in tomorrow night for reviews of Nashville, Revolution (with it’s last new episode before it’s Winter hiatus), and American Horror Story: Coven. Otherwise, goodnight.