Review: Suspects 1x01

Original Air date: February 12, 2014

I have seen my fair share of police procedurals (more than some could say).  It’s a tried and true story format.  Suspects, however, tries to do something a little different.  It attempts to present the information as organically as possible, "fly on the wall storytelling" was the way it was described.  The show takes on a documentary and semi-news footage feel to it.  This isn't a slick crime show, with fast talking detectives, who always know more than their audience members.  In fact, the actors were regularly told to use improvisation in their scenes, which in turn made for some clunky pieces of dialogue.    

Starring Fay Ripley, Clare-Hope Ashitey, and Damien Molony the premiere episode throws us right into the story already in progress.  There’s no introduction of our three detectives and we’re expected to just fall into step with the action.  The audience watches news-like footage and listen to a reporter’s voice over explaining the basics of the crime that has occurred.

Review: Supernatural 9x11 “First Born”

Original Air date: January 21, 2014

We find Dean sitting in a dinner by himself and Castiel feeding Sam angelic chicken noodle soup.  They have gone their separate ways for the time being.  Dean is holding to his “keep Sam out of it” plan and Sammy likewise is refusing to call Dean for help.  I can say though unlike in the past, a few days apart and no one has ended up tied to a tree… yet.  Perhaps its because they aren't completely on their own this time.  They've found new partners for the time being.  I don't think Dean is going to keep his partner longer than he really needs too.  He's not a big fan of his truth be told. 

Review: Arrow 2x10 “Blast Radius”

Original air date: January 15, 2014

It was fun to see Oliver running around town fighting crime in his brand new mask.  I have to admit, I think I might miss the black paint.  There was a nice look to it and I don’t care how impractical it was to have to paint that on every time when you're in a hurry to go save the city.  I just enjoyed the way it looked a little different from the classic superhero mask.  I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority on this one.

Anyway,

We open up on a borderline jealous Oliver, who is annoyed that Felicity is still visiting Barry.  He's sleeping because it sounds better than "he's in a coma."

Sidenote: If someone has not written the “While You Were Sleeping”-esque Barry x Felicityx Oliver fanfic yet, I am disappointed in all of y’all.   

Sean Maher makes his entrance by blowing up a building and declaring war on the city and all of its politicians.  He knows his bombs, owns a souvenir shop in Sterling City and is a member of “The Movement”, an anti-government terrorist group.  Ya know, your average Sterling City bad guy. Code Name: Shrapnel. I'm crossing my fingers this is not the last we see of him, because I love me some Sean Maher. 

Review: Supernatural 9x10 “Road Trip”

Original air date: January 14, 2014

We begin with a heartbroken Dean picking up the pieces of the midseason finale.  After watch Dean give Kevin a hunter’s funeral, if you thought this episode was going to end on any kind of slightly better note, you were wrong.

Gadreel is on a killing spree, crossing off the names that Metatron keeps assigning him.  His old prison guard, his best friend, and so on and on. 

Castiel (who is looking very Captain Sexy-esque in his new angel ware) suggests Dean uses Crowley to try and get through to Sam.  Crowley knows how to hack an angel and this might be their best bet.  As Sam is the only one who can press the eject button on Gadreel’s ass.  Crowley has a few condition first before he’ll agree to help, they have to essentially take him out for walk around the park. 

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: Elementary 2x12 "The Diabolical Kind"

Original air date: January 2, 2014

Do you hear that? That lovely sound of shows returning from their winter hiatuses? Ah, it’s my favorite time of year.  Okay, it’s a close second to the actual holiday season.  Which I hope everyone’s holidays were great.

Elementary makes its return with a familiar face from last season.  There’s been a kidnapping of a little girl and Jamie Moriarty’s men are behind it.  Sherlock convinced that she’s behind it, even from behind bars, goes to her for information.  He discovers she’s no longer in a traditional prison.  Ever since her arrest she’s been trading information for favors and lives more comfortably than one would assume a criminal mastermind in federal prison would.  Yet it is exactly how I would assume Jamie Moriarty would be living in federal prison.  She offers Sherlock her help as long as they continue to get her things from her Amazon wish list.

Review: Arrow 2x09 "Three Ghosts"

Original air date: Dec. 11, 2013

Alright, so here it goes.  As sophisticated a review as I can write while I am internally screaming about everything that happened this episode.  I’m going to take a deep breath and hope that fangirl feels don’t come tumbling out.  No promises.  Winter hiatus is going to be a bitch.  That I do know for sure.

After the cliff hanger from last week we find a dying Oliver and a very surprised and confused Barry.  Being able to think quick on his feet (was that a pun?) Barry uses rat poison to return Oliver to normal.  Well as normal as Oliver can be, he seems to be having a little bit of issues with some hallucinations.

This episode was very much about Oliver dealing with his inner demons, actually more like ghosts.  Three ghosts to be exact.

Three ghosts at Christmas? That’s crazy talk for sure, but just like Ebenezer Scrooge, Oliver finds himself visited by three ghosts.  Except instead of asking him to visit past, present and future Christmases they instead have very different messages for Oliver.  Shado asks Oliver to give up his fight before he loses those he cares most about.  Slade accuses Oliver of causing death and destruction in his wake.  Then Tommy (and no I was NOT crying.  I just had a best friend caught in my eye) tells Oliver to get up and fight because that is who he is, he is a hero.

Review: Supernatural 9x09 "Holy Terror"

Original air date: Dec. 3, 2013

I was instructed to text my friend as soon as I finished watching this episode.  She was a miserable mess of feelings and wanted to make sure I was right there with her.  As she predicted, I was.  Now I think most of us all expected that Ezekiel wasn’t who he said he was.  I was still clinging on to the hope that he was Lucifer and we were going to get a glimpse of Endverse.  A fallen angel was using Sam as a meatsuit, Cas was human… all we needed was Detroit and we were in business, but I guess that was just wishful thinking on my end.

The angels are engaged in yet ANOTHER civil war.  Can’t we all just get along? I swear sometimes I think the demons get along better than the angels do.  So we’ve got Bart and his followers battling Malachi, a new up and comer, for power.  His name being Malachi reminds me of the evil kid from Children of the Corn, which probably means he’s seriously bad news and a little bit out of his mind. 

Sam and Dean jump on the case to see what’s going on and meet up with Castiel.  He’s playing human FBI agent and it was the best thing ever.  I had to press pause because I was giggling like a school girl, dancing in my chair, and basically missing everything that happened after Sam patted Cas on the shoulder and called him Agent.  

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: Misfits 5x05

Original air date: Nov. 20, 2013

I’m going to be completely honest with y’all right now.  An action by Alex towards the end of the episode has me so incredibly angry I’m not sure I can even write this review.  I’m not sure if I even want to. 

Trigger Warning for mentions of rape. 

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: Hart of Dixie 3x07 "I Run to You"

Original air date: Nov. 18, 2013

Picking up where we left off with George and Lynly last week, the two of them are going strong.  Are they a couple? Are they just hanging out? No one knows.  Yet, with the cross-country relay race on the line they need to figure out what they should tell Lavon, if anything at all. 

Lavon throws himself into coaching the Bluebell cross-country team and Lynly is his star runner.  He’s determined not to lose this year and it also gives him a perfect excuse to absolutely avoid Annabeth.  Likewise, Annabeth is making enough jam to feed the entirety of Alabama. 

Zoe worries about Joel.  He’s blowing off his writing and spending perhaps a little too much time with Wade.  Joel admires Wade’s carefree attitude and when we all discover that Joel is suffering from a terrible case of writers block it makes sense.  Zoe and Wade, of course, clash over the proper ways to help Joel with his creative troubles.

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: Almost Human 1x01 Pilot

Original air date: Nov. 17, 2013

When I first saw the trailer for Almost Human I was super excited.  From what I could tell it was going to be an I, Robot x Common Law mash-up and I was up for it (it helped that it had Michael Ealy).  Having watched the pilot, I can say that is basically what you are going to get when you watch this show.  It’s a show that knows what it needs to do and say to get the audience it wants.  Fans of police procedural? Check. Science fiction fans? Check. Bromance fangirls? Present.  I see nothing wrong with this, to be quite honest.  Just as long as it can deliver on what it promises.  

Review: Supernatural 9x06 "Heaven Can’t Wait"

Original air date: Nov. 12, 2013

What does it mean to be human?  Human beings have complex emotions and yet pain is pain.  Castiel feels are my pain at the moment to be honest.  

We find Castiel working as a sales associate in a convenience store.  Last time we saw him, he had nothing.  He was living on the streets and going by Clarence.   Now as Steve, he seems happy enough.  He’s watching and learning human interactions and he has a job to do.  He might even have a date with his pretty manager, Nora, who seems pretty cool.

Castiel, still a hunter in training, notices something in the newspaper and calls Dean.  He think he might have a case for him.  So far there have been four unexplained deaths.  People who were depressed are suddenly exploding violently in a pink flash.  Dean drops everything to go check it out.  He says it’s to get out of the piles of research that Kevin and Sam have waiting for him, but I think it was more visiting Castiel.

Review: Arrow 2x06 "Keep Your Enemies Closer"

Original air date: Nov. 13, 2013

Group field trip to Russia this week.  Layla Michaels, an agent for A.R.G.U.S. was captured as she was sneaking into a Russian prison.  She was there investigating Deadshot, who if you remember is the assassin who killed Diggle’s brother.  They need the Arrow to orchestrate a rescue plan.  This is when we learn that Layla isn't just an old friend of Diggle’s but actually his ex-wife. 

The group decides to use business as a cover story, but with that means that Isabel Rochev has to tag along.  Her job means everything to her and she’s not going to be left at home when she believes Oliver is meeting with their overseas holdings without her.  Or maybe she thinks that Oliver is having a weekend of fun with his assistant and wants to make sure he gets some work completed.

With the help of Oliver’s Russian mob contacts, Diggle pulls a Prison Break and gets himself locked up in the same prison as Layla.  While inside he’s supposed to make contact with a guard, find Layla, and then the gang picks them both up outside the prison.  Easy peasy right?  Of course, it’s not.  If Diggle wants to escape, he has to trust the man he wants to kill the most, Deadshot.  In the end Diggle, being the honorable man he is, lets Deadshot go.  That’s when he learns that his brother wasn't who he always thought he was.  We learn the name H.I.V.E. and that’s going to be another story that will definitely unfold later.

Review: Misfits 5x04

Original air date Nov. 13, 2013

You never appreciate what you have till it’s gone or suddenly aged 60+ years.  That’s what Rudy learns on this week of Misfits.

We begin with Rudy realizing that he hasn't seen Rudy Too for a few days (A FEW DAYS?! IT TOOK YOU A FEW DAYS AND RUNNING OUT OF MILK AND CLEAN CLOTHES BEFORE YOU BEGAN TO WORRY ABOUT RUDY TOO?!)  When Rudy Too finally does appear he’s about 80 years old and unable to recall where he’s been or what has happened to him.

Rudy goes undercover as Rudy Too retracing his steps in hopes of figuring out who did this to him.  In the beginning all he hears is how frustrated Rudy Too is with him.  Frustrated and angry for the way Rudy One has treated him.  Rudy gets all offended because he doesn't think it’s fair for Rudy Too to be saying terrible (but true) things about him.  And to be honest, locking Rudy Too up in a cupboard is not really helping Rudy One’s case.  I guess we should just be glad that there weren't any dead bodies in the coffin freezer with the Cornettos this time around. 

Review: Hart of Dixie 3x06 "Family Tradition"

Original air date: Nov. 11, 2013

Hart of Dixie is one of those shows I watch because it makes my fluffy heart happy.  There are adorable shipper moments and just plain good ole fashion shenanigans to keep a person grinning. This week I sit here cradling my mug of peach tea frowning because things didn't end up all sunshine and rainbows for a few of the citizens in Bluebell.

Zoe and Joel decide it may be time to go searching for a house to rent.  A few too many Dash interruptions have got them a little anxious to find a place.  The search leads Zoe to wonder if she should try to connect to the Wilkes family.  Her last encounter in season one didn't go over so smoothly and since then she’s ignored and blown them off. 

Review: Ripper Street 2x03 "Become Man"

Original air date: Nov. 11, 2013

I didn't write a review last week, but it was because I really enjoyed the episode.  Last week’s episode has probably been one of my favorites of the series thus far (this week’s episode maybe having surpassed it), but every time I sat down to write all that came out was Damien Molony.  So I figured it was just best not to write anything if I wasn't going to do the episode justice. 

Long Susan has been a favorite character of mine for awhile now and this was a big episode for her.  Things that happened in this episode are going to set off a chain reaction for the rest of the season, that’s for sure.   

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*