Well, someone must have watched John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness recently...
This episode had more Dutch angles than a geometry textbook from the Netherlands.
After everything that's happened in this series, they've finally managed to offend me.
Why does Swamp Thing have a freakin' MAN-BUN?!?!?!
Ugh... Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger with a LOT of unresolved plot points.
Otherwise, it's a decent enough dramedy. Most people are going to know whether or not they like this after 2-3 episodes.
Overall, it's a ridiculous movie that knows it's ridiculous. I had fun with it, and got pretty much what I was expecting.
And then the end showed up. They try shoehorning in this layered conspiracy that really didn't work, and the whole two minutes with Susan Sarandon left such a bad taste in my mouth, I almost dropped the rating another star.
If a mashup of Crank, Atomic Blonde, and Adam Sandler's sports movies seems like something you'd want to watch, this fits the bill, otherwise don't even bother.
"Daisy Ex Machina" digs the writers out of their own hole once again. Pretty good episode otherwise.
Why is every extra-dimensional being from a dimension of fear, pain, and/or darkness?
Are there no dimensions of happiness, rainbows, and ice cream?
Shouldn't half the members be dust right now?
I guess they're no longer even trying to pretend they're part of the MCU any more.
Hashtags for this episode: #DirtyDan-ing #DiablosExMachina
This show is getting duller with each episode. I'm to the point where I'm not sure I even want to finish it...
That Graviton costume is almost spot-on. Regardless of the "heel turn" implications, it makes sense considering Talbot has been SHIELD's whipping boy for so long, that once he has the upper hand, he abuses it (complicated further by all the voices in his head).
Glenn Talbot may not be the hero we want, but he is the hero we need. :-D
Season 5A (5x01-5x10) thoughts: For a story with such a big, grandiose premise, I've had the most difficult time staying interested in this arc. I think I've narrowed it down to the following two reasons:
This has been an issue with this series from the start. In order for the "world saving" storylines to hold any weight, the viewer has to suspend his/her knowledge that the MCU movie heroes exist. When the catastrophe occurred, how could the Avengers and/or Dr. Strange not notice this happening and do something about it?
Ultimately, what was the point of sending the team into the future? Wouldn't it have made more sense to give them some video, visions, or whatever of what was to happen and let them prevent the catastrophe in the present? Why make them go through all of this? If the team does their job, then organizing a successful rebellion against the Kree isn't going to happen, so the entire struggle was completely meaningless and unnecessarily risked lives?
I'm beginning to wonder if the series is being considered for non-renewal so the writers want to go out on a bang.
Why O why couldn't they have killed off Winona instead of Samwise? Bob is infinitely more useful, likeable, and less annoying than Joyce. Seriously, I'd like this series more if she wasn't in it.
The premise is decent, and both the acting and the production is solid. The story really suffers from the old trope where you have the antagonist down, but don't take two seconds to verify she's actually dead.
Worth watching if you can ignore some glaring story problems.
I want to like this series more than I do. It's somehow coming across as feeling decompressed yet loaded with plot-driving exposition at the same time, which is a weird dynamic.
Gorgon feels like he's trying to keep a straight face when he delivers his lines.
Karnak's arc isn't working for me at all.
I realize Black Bolt can't speak, but his expressions are coming across as creepy and not stoic.
Maximus is coming across the best, playing the duality between sympathetic villain and master manipulator pretty well.
Crystal is a close second. Her teenager forced to grow up in a hurry is working well, too.
I don't know where I'm going to fall on this show. It's not the pile of garbage some folks are touting it as, but it's got a lot of problems as well. I honestly think it would have worked better as a two-hour movie versus an eight-hour miniseries, considering it's following a near-identical plot to the first Thor movie.
So she had blueprints for the house, but no mention of a basement, nor did anyone ever bother to look down there?
This movie had potential and was executed decently for what it was, but the above spoiler and a few other glaring plot holes/deus ex machina moments knocked it down considerably. The "stinger" at the end didn't help either.
Did I miss something? When did Arvid hook up with Hildur? That big announcement at the end really threw me off what was otherwise a satisfying end to the first season.
While I think people have been especially harsh on this series, there are a few problems (as I see them):
Pacing: I'd have to verify, but I was thinking the three previous series ran closer to 45 minutes per episode, while each Iron Fist episode ran around 55 minutes. Every episode had at least one point where I was checking the clock to see how much time was left. Tightening up the self-analyzing and philosophical debate sections would have helped everything flow better.
Character Development: When your title character seemingly grows the least over the season, there's a problem. I hate to blame Jones directly, as it could have been the directors and/or showrunners making some odd choices on the portrayals. I really feel by the end, Ward Meachum and Madame Gao were the most compelling of the cast. I was on board with Harold until the last two episodes, when he turned from background manipulator into one-dimensional, monologuing Bond villain. Likewise, Joy and Davos turning evil at the end... really? Davos I could buy since maybe if Danny dies, he'd be next in line for the Fist, but Joy seems like a major shift from how she was up to this point.
Fight Scenes: I hate the jump-cut, frenetic editing that seems to be the vogue these days. Since martial arts are the focus of the series, how about letting us actually see the fights instead of cutting the scene every 1/10th of a second?
I have a few more specific issues, but that jumps into major spoiler territory. Admittedly, I'll probably watch Season 2 when it comes out, but I'm hoping the creators saw some of the criticisms and make some positive changes.
Honestly, the entirety of Iron Fist Season 1 felt like the lackluster second halves of Daredevil Season 2 (Hand/Elektra) and Luke Cage Season 1 (Diamondback).
Well, that's one way to resolve your daddy issues...
I'm curious to see if Harold remains dead, since Hand resurrectees are notoriously difficult to kill (again).
This was a really good episode as a whole, but one thing bugged me when it happened and still boggles my mind:
So you're telling me that the father of HYDRA's Second-In-Command lives in a random suburb with no guards, no overhead drones, and no security system whatsoever? I know Jemma is smart and resourceful,
but there's no way someone on HYDRA's most wanted list should be able to just walk up to the front door (armed, no less) of one of HYDRA's elite and no one notices.
"It turns out, brother, I understand women better than you."
I'll miss Princess Ellisif. She was almost as pretty as Lagertha.
This might have had more impact had I not seen the "Hearts and Minds" episode of The Outer Limits almost twenty years ago, since it has almost exactly the same plot.
From Entertainment Weekly:
ABC is pulling the plug on the Hayley Atwell-starring legal drama Conviction.
EW has learned the network will produce and air the 13 episodes initially ordered, but will not move forward with additional episodes. The sixth episode is scheduled to air Monday at 10 p.m., but it remains to be seen if the show will remain in its current time slot.
This isn't too surprising. The cases are mundane at best, and every character that isn't in the Morrison family has zero personality, to the point I can't even tell you the character's name.
Can we get Agent Carter back now?
The Pilot is spent mainly establishing the characters, and there was a lot of jumping around as the showrunners are trying to set the theme of the series. Of course, all the team members have their own closet skeletons.
With all the focus being on setting up the series, the plot itself seemed almost an afterthought, The case resolution was no surprise as the victim's mother spouts out a name with zero context, and surprise that's the guilty party.
I'm hoping future episodes get more focused on the cases, as the pilot was pretty disjointed, and I'm worried people won't come back. Despite the script flaws, it was well-acted, and Hayley Atwell is absolutely gorgeous. I'll give this a few more episodes to develop, but the show is fighting an uphill battle at this point.
Just a few thoughts/observations:
While I don't mind the organization changes, and encourage the show shifting things around a bit to keep it fresh, the intentional obfuscation of the new director's identity seemed a bit heavy-handed. Although judging by 4x02's episode title, we'll meet him/her next week.
I'm not familiar with this incarnation of the Ghost Rider (although I read a ton of the motorcyle-era versions), but the effects looked great for a TV show, and Gabriel Luna did a good job with his limited on-screen time.
May is still a badass. I like how the Triad guys get infected/possessed, freak out, and kill each other, but Melinda is all "Huh... that's a bit unsettling."
Honestly, my only complaint is how everyone is still fixated on Skye/Daisy/Tremors/Quake. I've found the character dull since the first episode, and they've made her entirely too overpowered at this point. I kind of wish she had gotten shot into the sun with Ward/Hive instead of Lincoln.
Elektra is still the weakest part of this season, but more Punisher... oh heck yeah!
As terrible and inteptly-made as this movie is, it's never boring and infinitely entertaining.
"You're supposed to be blond."
"That's what everyone keeps telling me!"
I admit it -- I lol'ed.
The more "human" Lucifer gets, the less interesting.
