Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D 1x12 “Seeds”

Original air date: January 14, 2014

After the big reveal of Coulson’s Tahiti secret, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wastes no time at all revealing another big secret this week.  I chuckled a bit as Coulson sat in Lola talking with May about just being finished with all the secrets.  We’re getting quite a few answers that I didn't think we’d get so quickly.  Of course the answers bring up quite a few more questions but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing the pay offs for those before the season is up too.

Meanwhile, at the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy a freshman prank has gone too far, a boy named Seth almost loses his leg to a pool instantly frozen.  Someone has built a freezing device and used it against fellow students.  Some of the components of the device can be traced to FitzSimmons’ work, so half the team sets out to figure this out and to give the responsibility talk. 

Review: Once Upon a Time 3x09 "Save Henry"

Original air date: Dec. 1, 2013

On one hand, okay I think we all pretty much saw most of this episode coming.  On the other hand, oh man next week is going to be fun.

When we left off with the show two weeks ago, Pan had just convinced Henry to give up his heart.  Even with his super awesome new heart Pan isn't all fixed quite yet he still needs some time to recharge.  So he runs away to his Thinking Tree in the Pixie Woods.  Instead of an extensive battle that could have spanned multiple episodes, Regina shrugged, claimed “NO REGRETS!” and ripped out Henry’s heart from Pan’s chest.  Done and done.  With the heart and Pandora’s Box everyone jumps aboard the Jolly Roger and set sail for home. 

Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D 1x08 "The Well"

Original air date: Nov. 19, 2013

Pretty much since Sunday all of my shows have been punching me in the gut with feelings and it’s only Tuesday.  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is no exception.  Oh man, team feelings, Ward feelings, May feelings, and then that last scene. 

“Did I fall asleep?” “For a little while.” I might have ran around the room, jumped on social media, texted a friend, and then rewound and watched that bit again. *screams**keyboard smash**shakes fist* WHEDON!

Anyway, this is the Thor tie-in episode.  The team starts out cleaning up the mess left by Thor in Thor: The Dark World.  We all saw that movie right? It was the greatest thing ever right? (OMG BROTHERS!) Anyway, the gang is there recovering all the alien tech left on earth.  Alien tech ending up in the wrong hands is never a good thing.  After the events of a few weeks ago, there’s no such thing as being too careful.  Also, Skye and May confirm for all of us that Thor is in fact dreamy.

Review: Once Upon a Time 3x08 "Think Lovely Thoughts"

Original air date: Nov. 17, 2013

So. Two weeks.  We’ll going to have to wait two weeks to find out just what kind of repercussions this episode has had on our characters.  For me, it’s going to be a tough two weeks full of nail biting and hair tugging.

The secret origin of Peter Pan is finally revealed and Henry’s family tree has gotten a whole lot stranger.

“Peter Pan destroyed my father.” *Obi-wan’s voice* "From a certain point of view."

(Did no one else hear that? Oh, just me then? Okay. Moving on.)

We start off with a young Rumplestiltskin being raised by his con man father.  His father, is a liar and a cheat and believes Rumple will be better off without him.  So he drops him off with two very nice ladies, who teach him how to spin.  In crazy similar parallel fashion Rumple gets a magic bean.  He takes this bean to his father and asks him to leave with him.  Together they can go away to a place where they can start all over.

Review: Once Upon a Time 3x07 "Dark Hollow"

Original air date: Nov. 10, 2013

We flashback five days earlier (FIVE DAYS! THEY'VE ONLY BEEN IN NEVERLAND FOR FIVE DAYS?!) *clears throat*, the day the gang left Storybrooke.  Belle casts a protection spell to keep anymore of Pan’s minions out of Storybrooke.  She’s too late, however, as a pair of snazzy dressed gentlemen are able to just barely make it in (hey there Hipster Glasses *wink wink*). 

First of all, I’m glad we got a glimpse of Storybrooke again.  I've missed them.  Even though I’m enjoying this season tremendously, I still felt like something was missing and now I realize it was Storybrooke.  The Once Upon a Time universe has so many wonderful characters and we were stuck with only a handful of them for the first six episodes or so.  So yeah! Glad to be back.  Also cracking up that a few of the citizens are breathing a sigh of relief that without Snow and Charming around things are kind of normal. *cue the mermaid*

Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D 1x06 "FZZT"

Original air date: Nov. 5, 2013

Now this is the kind of episode that will endear a show to me (Yes, I realize a main character almost died but … actually I have no good answer for that).  If you’re a big FitzSimmons fan (like myself) this is the episode for you.  By far I think this was my favorite episode so far and I’m so glad that we’re starting to see the relationships between these characters grow.

Review: Once Upon a Time 3x06 "Ariel"

Original Air date: Nov. 3, 2013

I can always tell I've enjoyed an episode when the margins on my notebook are filled with haphazard scribbles.  Tonight I sit here trying to decipher three pages of notes that I seem to have written left handed, whist blindfolded, during an earthquake. 

We pick this episode up maybe five minutes after last week's.  Now, let’s talk about this for a second.  Immediately upon hearing that Neal is alive Hook tells Snow and Charming.  He doesn't go straight to Emma, but to her parents.  He’s worried about getting her hopes up for nothing, but also doesn't hesitate telling the people closest to her.  They should have a better idea of what to do. The plan was always to rescue Neal.  Not to mention, Hook is a lot of things, but he is not stupid.  The worst people to ask to lie and/or withhold the truth is Snow and Charming so… he knew Emma was going to find out sooner rather than later.  Oh and, Hook and Charming’s little nod to each other was cute.  You could see them thinking “we've been on a quest together.  We know how to tell a convincing lie. We got this.  We are pros.”  Only to completely blow it upon their first test.  They be cute. 

Review: Once Upon a Time 3x05 "Good Form"

Original Air date: Oct. 27, 2013

If y’all thought last week’s recap/review was a mess of shipper feelings ye be ware.  I have no idea how I’m going to get my thoughts organized and in order. If you continue to read beyond this point… well whatever happens that’s on you because this is your only warning.  I’m kidding there are no capslock and keyboard smashing (though I wanted to).  I have had like 6 cookies tonight though so I’m kind of hopped up on sugar which I give as excuse as to why I’m being such a goof right now.

The promo for this episode and even the sneak peek released did not prepare me for what was going to go down in tonight’s episode.  Immediately after I finished watching (which took longer than normal because I kept rewinding to watch scenes multiple times) I texted my friend in all caps and exclamation marks.  I was a mess of feelings. 

Review: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland 1x03 "Forget Me Not"

Original air date: Oct. 24, 2013

So first things first I guess.  Alice and Knave go in search of a magic rope called the “forget me not”.  Or is it knot?  Anyway.  They track the knot down to the Caterpillar who is the Jabba the Hutt of Wonderland/Underland.   Knave has a bounty on his head (wait, does this make him Han Solo?), but is able to make a deal with him.  Since the Caterpillar no longer has the knot, Knave will get it back for him and then his debt will be paid.  Easy peasy, right? Right?! No. The monster Grendel has the knot and so there go Alice and Knave off to fight a monster.  PS. Underland looks very much like a steam punk convention. 

Knave’s past is revealed through their journey.  He’s actually Will Scarlett of Robin Hood’s Merry Men.  Which has me wondering… Robin Hood has become a reoccurring character within OUAT, so are we setting up a crossover soon? Or do they just really like Sean Maguire? Things to ponder on.  In the flashback we see Will’s induction into the Merry Men, his betrayal of the Merry Man as he tricks them into stealing from Maleficent so he and his true love Anastasia can leave the Enchanted Forest. 

Review: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1x05 "Girl in the Flower Dress"

Original Air Date: Oct. 22, 2013

This was a good episode.  I enjoyed this episode.  Despite the fuzzy Skyeward clip that opens up the show this is not an episode in which leaves you with warm fuzzy “aww they’re a family” kind feelings. 

The show opens up with a street magician in Hong Kong (as played by Louis Ozawa Chanchien), who is more than he seems.  All seems fine when he is approached by a girl in a flower dress, Raina.  Raina promises Chan Ho Yin he’ll be famous, he’ll be known all over the world as "Scorch" and he’ll be a hero.  In the end it turns out that Raina works for Centipede and needs Chan’s platelets in order to stabilize Extremis.  This was nice return to the storyline started in the pilot episode (which also connects the series to the Marvel verse movies).  Especially if that means that Ruth Negga will be an occurring guest star on the show as Raina.  I’ve been hearing the internet buzz for Ruth Negga joining the cast for a while now and I have to say I’m not disappointed.  I loved her in Misfits and she’s already shaping up as an excellent foe to Coulson’s team.

Back on the bus, the team is able to trace the leaked information on Chan to a hacker from the Rising Tide.  The source of the information turning out to be an extremely old friend/boyfriend of Skye’s, Miles.  She makes an error in judgment as she attempts to warn him before he’s found, only to be found with him by her own team.  In the end the team is too late to save Scorch from himself and are forced to neutralize him.  Skye is offered a last chance to come clean about everything, which she takes, but it’s obvious that they no longer trust her.

New Clip Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Just in case you haven't seen it yet.  A brand new sneak peak from Tuesday's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

(psst. click the pic to take you to the video. Couldn't embed)

The short clip offers a relaxed Agent Ward and Skye taking a break from training and having a little bit of fun.  It's always nice to see Agent Ward not the robot-super-spy all the time, wouldn't you say?

Plus, I don't know about y'all, but I do enjoy the SkyeWard they've been serving up recently on MAoS.  They're no FitzSimmons but they are cute.

Don't miss this week's all new episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tomorrow night on abc.

Review: Once Upon A Time 3x04 "Nasty Habits"

Original Air Date: Oct. 20, 2013

Wow. Okay, I’m not even sure where to start.  On one hand I want to talk about this week’s episode on the other hand… I just saw the promo for next week.  For starters: I confess. I AM A GIANT CAPTAIN SWAN CRAZY SHIPPER! AND I AM FREAKING OUT ABOUT NEXT WEEK!  There, you happy? Okay. Now that that’s out of the way let’s see if I can get my words out.

This show just recently came back into my life.  I started watching it with season 1, but when it went on winter hiatus I just never picked it back up.  That is until a week and a half ago.  Friends were still really into it and I won’t deny the gifsets of Killian Jones/Captain Hook (as played by Colin O’ Donoghue) played a small part in me deciding to do a 24 hour catch up marathon.  Once I caught up I chastised myself for ever falling behind in the first place. 

Review: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland 1x02 "Trust Me"

Original Air date: Oct. 17, 2013

As much as I want to like this show, I think it still has a few kinks to iron out before I can truly love it.

In this second episode Alice and Knave set out to retrieve Cyrus’ bottle from where Alice and Cyrus buried it long ago. Alice tells everyone they meet exactly where they are headed knowing that in Wonderland word of their destination is sure to find the ears of whomever is holding Cyrus hostage.

While on their trek Alice thinks back on when she and Cyrus first fell in love, his gift of three wishes, her learning to swordfight and their first kiss. We also get a brief glimpse at Knave’s sordid past (he gets the bejesus slapped out of him by a very angry fairy). This is where I’m going to try to keep my overactive shipper heart at bay… I find the AlicexCyrus love story while sweet not enough to carry an entire show. Which is kind of how this show is set up. Alice loves him so much that she is willing to tear Wonderland apart to get to him – that’s a story I should love, but I don’t. I find Cyrus a little boring. I want to hear about Knave and Anastasia. I want to see how he and Alice met and what else he’s gotten up to that there’s a bounty on his head (which full disclosure: I’m a fan of Michael Socha’s after Being Human UK. So there’s that).

Review: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D 1x01: Pilot

Original Air Date: Sept. 24, 2013

So first let me put a disclaimer here: I thoroughly enjoy all the Marvel movies (some more the others), but I have not read ANY of the comics.  Therefore I only know movie verse and now TV verse I guess you could say.  Which I don’t think affects my feelings on this new series but I figured I’d make that short disclaimer. I know a lot of y'all do read the comics.

Anyway, moving on.  The tone of the show, especially in the beginning wasn’t what I was expecting.  Did anyone else not realize it was going to be so superhero campy?  It really caught me off guard in the beginning and it just seemed like a revamp of Heroes (which, okay only watched s1 and bits of s2&3 out of the corner of my eye).  After finishing the episode I’m not completely convinced that it’s not.  Which is not a problem considering I always thought Heroes had so much potential that was squandered.  I guess I had not expected the big sweeping heroic music right off the bat.  That said, I laughed like an idiot when Coulson walked around that dark corner and acknowledged how dramatic that entrance was.

“Sorry. The corner was really dark and I couldn’t help myself. I think there’s a bulb out.” 

Which actually brings me to my next point.  This seems like an early draft of a Joss Whedon script.  I could plainly see Whedon’s humor and influence but it all just seemed so… big. I mean the “little poop with knives” it was funny but also felt a little forced.  Which just means that I think in their attempts to get this show on television as quickly as possible in order to capitalize on the novelty of the Avengers’ movie is really apparent.