Aniela Krajewska

VIP

8

Man, as much as I love the show, I really don't like that the writers seem to keep coming up with new ways to make the characters miserable. I know that season 1 is generally considered the weakest, and story-wise season 3 is a lot better, but I'm one of those people who care more about the characters than the plot. Remember when those guys used to laugh and prank each other? Good times. I just want them to be happy for 5 minutes, without some big threat of someone dying and the world ending constantly hanging over their heads. Couldn't they at least brighten things up a bit? Why are the lights in the base so dim? Why do the characters only own black, dark blue or grey clothes?

Let's start with the good stuff: Lincoln's not as stupid as I thought he was. The plan was awesome, I didn't see it coming (mostly because I was sure that Lincoln was really that naive). Daisy's back, which is great, but let's face it, this is AoS, she'll probably suffer and feel guilty. I just want to wrap her in cozy blankets and keep her safe. Fitzsimmons working together is always nice. I can't wait for the rest of the team to find out that they are a couple. Lash vs. Hive was epic. I expected it to happen at some point (why else would the showrunners keep Lash around?). I'm kind of disappointed they didn't save it for the finale, though. Mack and Elena are adorable. I really like her character.

Now the slightly less good stuff: stop foreshadowing with that goddamn cross! And you let James kill Lash? Really? You have a super powerful Inhuman who's immune to Hive, and he gets killed by some dude with a chain? Are you kidding me?

The stakes on this show are ridiculously high. An evil, ancient being is about to turn half of the population into zombies whose only purpose is to serve him, and he's planning to use a warhead to do it, and yet the only people fighting to stop him are about a dozen Shield agents. I know they can't get all the movie stars to appear on the show, but that's some Avengers-level crap. Their little feud in Civil War seems a little irrelevant in comparison. Then again, the movies seem to pretend that this show doesn't exist, so I don't know why I even expect some acknowledgment from them anymore.

2 more episodes to go. I'm not ready for the finale. I should probably start meditating or something, because this show stresses me out more than school, and that's saying something.

Wow, they couldn't possibly have squeezed more Civil War references in there, could they?

Lincoln is so useless, oh my God. Watching him mope around and disobey orders is so annoying. I get that he wants to help, and he's desperate to get Daisy back, but he only causes more trouble and screws things up in the process. The actor also seems to be the weak link among otherwise talented cast. I find his performance really unconvincing.

The Kree looked underwhelming. I guess even a high-budget show like Agents of SHIELD has to cut the expenses somewhere, with SHIELD's tech and Inhuman powers being as visually cool as they are.

Oh, and disposable background SHIELD agents finally had a bigger role to play. They even had lines! What a surprise!

Undercover May was hilarious. Mack and Coulson's commentary as she was charming James made me cackle.

Daisy and Mack, holy shit. Chloe Bennet and Henry Simmons really brought their A game in those scenes. I'm so sad for both characters. Daisy is going to feel so guilty when she's not controlled by Hive anymore.

Alisha's dead. Or is she? Who the hell knows? Assuming she is, I feel like they could've done so much more with her character. What a waste of potential.

For a second there I thought we were going to get unnecessary FitzSimmons drama, but no. What a relief. Salty Fitz was great. Poor Milton and his cabbage/brussel sprout head.

The big reveal at the end of the episode actually surprised me. It really shouldn't have, since it was such a big deal in season 1. I need to rewatch seasons 1 and 2 ASAP. Looking back on them, I realise that I've forgotten a lot of important storylines and characters.

Anyway, two weeks to go. I'm getting nervous. An obligatory season finale death is coming. I swear to God, if they touch FitzSimmons, I'm going to lose my mind. They've been through enough already. Fitz almost drowned at the end of season 1, and Jemma was swallowed by the Monolith at the end of season 2. Just give these two a break and kill someone else. Or don't kill anyone at all because guess what? Character deaths are such an overused plot device. I get it. They're spies. No one's safe. But killing people off just for the sake of killing them off is not innovative, and it's not shocking. It doesn't make your show better, it just pisses off the audience. It would be nice not to suffer after the season finale for once.

This was a pretty strong episode. Yeah, Maggie wasn't there and Alex only showed up for a moment, and I love them both so much, but I'm glad that Kara had so much storyline. And Mon-El only appeared in like two scenes, which is a win in my book.

At this point I'm almost convinced that Lena knows about Kara being Supergirl. This whole "What's your Kryptonite?" shit is unbelievable. Lena's a smart cookie, I wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out by herself, especially since Kara's not exactly that subtle when it comes to hiding her identity. Anyone remember "I flew here... on a bus."? Because I do. And it still makes me cackle.
(Also, the couch scene? GAY.)

Look at that, the writers remembered that James exists! I really like his friendship with Winn, and their scenes with Lyra were funny. It kind of balanced the more serious stuff that happened in the episode.

I thought it was a pretty clever twist that the CFO was the real bad guy. It was also fun to see Rahul Kohli. I like him a lot on iZombie.

Snapper hired Kara back! Thank Rao! This whole blogging thing wasn't good for her and I'm glad it's over. He has great timing too. With Calista confirmed to return for the final two episodes of the season, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Cat's wrath if she came back and found out that her favorite employee had been fired. Heads would roll.

What does Queen Bitch want to do with Lena? What could she possibly need from a human that she doesn't already have on her giant ship? And why choose Lena of all people? Unless she wants her to seduce Kara and get her to dump Mon-El, this doesn't make sense to me at all.

I think I should start by saying that I loved the books as a kid. I first got my hands on them when I was like 9 years old and they were unlike anything I'd read before: dark, a little creepy, sometimes hilarious in the most absurd way and wonderfully, deliciously weird. I haven't read them for years, but they still hold a very special place in my heart, so I was extremely excited for this show. And boy, the first episode definitely didn't disappoint.

The visuals are great. They look obviously fake, but they capture the atmosphere of the books really well. I loved the juxtaposition of the grey, gloomy beach and the children's brightly-colored clothes, as well as the obvious contrast between Justice Strauss and Count Olaf's houses.

The opening theme is fantastic. And the fact that Neil Patrick Harris is the one singing it just makes it better.

The cast is a big plus too. I was a little worried how the child actors would handle such big roles, but Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes are very talented. And Neil Patrick Harris is the perfect choice for Count Olaf. I enjoyed Patrick Warburton's narration as well.

Overall, this was an amazing first episode. And I expect the show to only get better from here, since The Bad Beginning is actually my least favorite book of all.