Doctor Who - "Robot of Sherwood" - Review

Intro/Spoiler Warning

Yeah so I completely forgot I hadn't done this review until I started listening to The Doctor Who Podcast's review. Whoops. Ah well. It's not going to be a proper review anyway... for reasons that will become apparent.

The following review is for Doctor Who, Series/Season 8, Episode 3: "Robot of Sherwood." If you have not seen it, don't read this review because there are spoilers.

Doctor Who - "Robot of Sherwood" - Review

I am normally one of those people who absolutely loves and adores the comedic episodes of Doctor Who. Normally. With "Robot of Sherwood" this was not the case. I did not enjoy the episode so much as I loved the one-liners and random lines that the episode seemed to be comprised of at times. But the episode didn't make much sense to me as a whole.

I think I've discovered another Doctor-like character in Robin Hood. He's been played by multiple actors over the years. He's largely mythologized. Pretty much everyone knows the story of Robin Hood. The last two points even made it into the episode there at the end. However, in my case, I discovered that I've chosen "my" Robin Hood and all others just make me cringe... sort of, anyway. In the same way that Sherlock from "Elementary" rubs me completely the wrong way, this Robin made me want to smack him. So that had some bearing on me not liking "Robot of Sherwood."

Clara was amazing. I loved the fangirling. I loved how she manipulated the Sheriff. I loved how she dealt with Robin and The Doctor. It was awesome. Also, I love that outfit. I do slightly wonder where she found those hair extensions, but I think that speaks more to how much I wasn't paying attention to much of anything else...

Miscellaneous Thoughts

• About the robots: If you need the gold to supposedly shield/power your ship, why are you letting the Sheriff use some of it to create a golden arrow for a petty trap? Also, what does the gold to anyway? Shield the engines or power the ship? That was contradictory. And why are we using peasants for labor when you have robots?
• The Doctor's stubbornness about Robin and the Merry Men was off-putting and rather annoying, actually. I don't get it. The arguing/banter between them was even more annoying, to be honest, even if it was amusing at points.
• Slightly refreshing to not have a ship from the 51st century.
• What is The Promised Land?

Plot Conveniences

• Tons of flat, shiny plate lying around where they're supposedly getting melted down in order to defeat the robots.
• Castle chooses to wait until a) the Robin/Sheriff duel is over and b) everyone is clear of it to fall down.
• Golden arrow shot randomly at the ship manages to boost the power even though it bounces off and is not shot at the engines at all.
• Peasant labor for defeating robots.

Quotes

"And do people ever punch you in the face when you do that?" - Doctor

"I have no sword. I don't need a sword because I am The Doctor and this is my spoon." - Doctor

"A Miniscope. Yes. Why not?" - Doctor

"I am totally against bantering!" - Doctor

"Guard, he's laughing again! You can't keep me locked up with a laughing person!" - Doctor

"Quickest way to find your enemy's plans: Get yourself captured." - Doctor

"Shut it, Hoodie." - Doctor

"It's not a competition about who can die slower." - Clara

"Thank you, Prince of Thieves. Last of the Time Lords?" - Clara

"Be safe, if you can be, but always be amazing." - Clara

"History is a burden. Stories can make us fly." - Robin

What's Up With Jessie

Uhm... so instead of a usual conclusion, I've decided to do a bit of updating.

I've been watching Xena: Warrior Princess lately. It's fun, though I check out during the fight scenes. They're kind of boring after a while.

I've been repainting some ponies, pictures of which I'll be posting over on my DeviantART... which you can find up there where it says "My Art" or just click the link I made just now. Feel free to look around at all my other stuff, while you're there.

Other than that, I've been working my butt off at this full-time job that's supposed to be part-time. I know I shouldn't complain because at least I have a job, but I'd like to go back to working part-time at my part-time job.

Love ya, Jessie

Doctor Who - "Robot of Sherwood" - Initial Reactions

Intro

There will be spoilers. That is all.

Doctor Who - "Robot of Sherwood" - Initial Reactions

• What's he licking off that spoon?
• Time to stop stalling, Doctor.
• Lights and spinning and that awesome, awesome sound of brakes being left on. :)
• Well you did land in the middle of a forest... you were expecting castles in the forest?
• God, these opening credits are awesome. I'm all mesmerized by them.
• The TARDIS is self-healing. Nice.
• Yeah... good luck with that, Robin.
• "And do people ever punch you in the face when you do that?" - Doctor
• Clara looks gorgeous in that outfit.
• Aw, but sword fighting Doctors are fun!
• Spoon!
• "I am The Doctor and this is my spoon." - Doctor
• Oh, now you've done it...
• Lol. Served you right, Doctor.
• And now you've done is, shout-y man. Shout-y Dead Man.
• The Doctor being wrong is hilarious.
• And we get to add something to the legend...
• "We might be inside a miniscope. Yes. A miniscope, why not?" - Doctor
• So... is Marion dead?
• "I am totally against bantering?" - Doctor
• He didn't even try to disguise himself...
• Did that arrow split?
• Ouch, Doctor.
• Well then. Let's keep having this ridiculous arrow fight...
• Well that was unexpected... Nice design, though.
• "Quickest way to find out the villain's plans. Get Captured." - Doctor (possibly misquoted)
• Yeah, why not just use the robots as labor?
• "Shut it, Hoodie." - Doctor
• "Guards, he's laughing again! I cannot stay locked up with a laughing person!" - Doctor
• Go Clara.
• "It's not a competition about who can die slower." - Clara
• "Thank you, Prince of Thieves. Last of the Time Lords?" - Clara
• Clara is going to get taken. Because Clara totally schooled you guys.
• Fighting Cybermen? Probably not.
• Building golden circuits? For what?
• "It's you plan. You moan." - Doctor
• Oh geez, Doctor.
• You have both managed to fail. And without a mangy dog...
• Way to fish, Clara.
• So slowly taking over the world, then. Joy. Why is it always the world?
• So yay, not 51st Century in origin.
• The Promised Land. W00T.
• The ship made up Robin Hood? That's just weird.
• Uhmmm... why knock in the door like that?
• Yay reflective surfaces.
• Arm everyone with reflective surfaces!
• That's a lot of collateral damage...
• Still with the pudding heads...
• No, really, it doesn't make sense. Why can't he be real? Why are you so dogged about that?
• Not a lovely epic sword fight without some high-up, low footing fighting...
• Goodbye, Sheriff.
• He's not still alive, is he?
• Goodbye, castle.
• Why is that one arrow the thing?
• Of course he cheated...
• That was some unconventional shooting... and what? How is that enough? What? I mean, yay for it blowing up out of the way and all but... what? Why?
• Marion's totally dead, isn't she?
• "Be safe, if you can be, but always be amazing." - Clara
• "Stories can make us fly." - Robin
• Go Clara.
• Well that's a nice sentiment.
• Well go figure that was the girl.

Doctor Who - "Into the Dalek" - Review

Intro

A little bit later than usual this week due to working for most of the day and then being up all night reading Paper Towns by John Green. But here it is, my review for Doctor Who: "Into the Dalek."

SPOILER WARNING

The following review contains spoilers for Doctor Who, Series/Season 8, Episode 2, "Into the Dalek." If you have not seen it, go away. Come back after you've seen the episode. It will do you some good.

Doctor Who - "Into the Dalek" - Review

I will be the first to outright say that I really don't like Daleks. After Series/Season 2 of the new series, Daleks just got annoying and boring. That said, it's probably no surprise I wasn't looking forward to "Into the Dalek." I was sort of wrong in my assumption that it wouldn't be a good episode. In fact, I mostly enjoyed it.

I'll just throw out the bad stuff first. The space battle at the beginning. Yeah, I have a thing about space battles. Don't like them. Get bored during them. The Dalek invasion party bit was definitely a thing that happened. Much exploding and exterminating and unnecessary slow-mo dying. While it was kind of realistic from a battle standpoint, it was where I disengaged from the episode. On second watch, I think I even paused it to go get snacks at the point...

Now on to the better and good stuff of the episode. Let's start with Mr. Danny Pink. At first I thought Danny was a PE teacher. I clearly got the wrong. Not quite sure where they're going to take his character beyond being adorkable with Clara. He reminded me of Mickey Smith a few times there.

Jumping over to Ms. Journey Blue and the disposable babysitters now. Journey was interesting, I suppose. She managed to cover being both sensitive and soldier-y. I'm glad she didn't die or get to go with the Doctor. Of course, due to no casting information about adding her as a companion, we all knew that was going to happen. Also, she just didn't strike me as companion material. Disposable babysitter dude was disposable. I liked the last bit with slightly less disposable Gretchen Allison Carlyle. Not sure what her significance is to Missy, but then we know nothing about either of them so... there's that.

Rusty was alright for a Dalek. He reminded me both of Dalek Caan and the Dalek from "Dalek." Somewhat crazy but able to see the beauty in the universe. I was not at all surprised when Rusty called up The Doctor's hatred for the Daleks. Saw it coming from the moment The Doctor revealed his plan. Of course the creature who hates is going to zero in on the hatred. Not only that, but he's going to find the stuff about his race. Also, Rusty is at least the second Dalek to tell The Doctor he's be a good Dalek.

So while The Doctor is good at hating, I completely agree with Clara's assessment. The Doctor tries as hard as he can to be a good man. Whether or not he succeeds is another matter entirely and sometimes not his fault. No one is perfect.

Overall, I quite enjoyed "Into the Dalek." I've watched it twice before writing this and I have to reiterate that the commercials added in by BBC America throw off the flow of the episodes. Doctor Who wasn't built for commercial breaks. They work much better when not being constantly interrupted.

Favorite Moments

• Clara slapping The Doctor and the entire lead-up to the plan.
• Danny's recollection of his conversation with Clara. Gotta enjoy a good head-desk.
• The Doctor saving Journey in the beginning.
• The fake-out with Missy saving Gretchen.

Quotes!

"An anticlimax once in a while is good for my hearts." - The Doctor

"You asked me if you were a good man and the answer is: 'I don't know.' I think you try to be and I think that's probably the point." - Clara

"Do I pay you? I should give you a raise." - The Doctor

"I am a school teacher." - Clara

"I don't need armed babysitters." - The Doctor

"Don't be lasagna." - The Doctor

Love ya, Jessie

Doctor Who - "Into the Dalek" - Initial Reactions

Intro

First "proper" Peter Capaldi adventure. Annoying as all get-out Daleks to help welcome our new Doctor.  Not entirely looking forward to it.

SPOILER WARNING: Don't read if you haven't seen the episodes. Also don't expect to follow along... my thoughts are random.

Doctor Who - "Into the Dalek" - Initial Reactions

• Oh joy, crashing space ship...
• Hello Dalek mothership.
• Bye bye little ship.
• Oh look, you got rescued by the best ship in the universe.
• Gotta love being held at gun-point.
• Lol. Doctor gets to remind soldier of her manners.
• How nice of you, soldiers.
• And of course we gotta deal with a Dalek... So far, though, not bad.
• Hello PE teacher.
• You're creepy and annoying, Ms. Secretary person...
• Kids are dumb. That's clearly a "yes."
• Wow, Clara. Nice.
• Awkward...
• Also, Danny's not a PE teacher.
• And now Danny's reminding me of Mickey...
• Lol, Clara.
• Lol, I thought they were going out for coffee...
• Doctor, that's so weird... and there's the explanation.
• Of course that's unhelpful.
• A Dalek who wants to destroy the other Daleks. Sounds like Dalek Khan...
• "Do I pay you? I should give you a raise." - Doctor
• "I am a school teacher." - Clara
• "I don't need armed babysitters." - Doctor
• "Don't be lasagna." - Doctor
• Honey I Shrunk The Doctor
• So trippy.
• So nice of the Daleks to build their armor with corridors.
• So now we're naming it? Okay then... Rusty.
• Yeah, don't shoot the living thing. Bad plan.
• That was pragmatic of you, Doctor. I like that, actually.
• Down the LED slide.
• EWWWW
• Daleks eat people? Well then. That's kind of cool.
• So we get some quoting from the Dalek that's been re-purposed from Trek. Well then.
• Rusty is watching you and you have no idea...
• I think you've been played there, Doctor.
• You fixed the Dalek too much.
• Slow mo was not necessary there...
• I love it when things don't go right and people freak out when they were perfectly aware they might have gone wrong.
• So now what are we doing?
• Memory banks. W00T.
• You've gone and made me tear up, Gretchen Allison Carlyle.
• Oh look, TARDIS save once again... or else Missy the insane woman. Damn.
• I am generally unaffected by the Daleks massacring people... seen it fifteen jillion times too many.
• Science!
• Yup. Of course the Dalek would focus on that.
• Goodbye, Daleks...
• You turned the Dalek into a kind of Hitler...
• And that's at least the second time a Dalek has said that to him...
• She's going to try to go with them?
• And that's where he's saying "no."
• I'm slightly disappointed for her.
• "I think you try to be and I think that's kind of the point." - Clara
• Oh geez. That dress on Clara in the preview is awesome.

Doctor Who - "Deep Breath" - Review

Intro

I don't want to do any beating around the bush this morning so I'm just going to jump into doing spoiler warnings and my review. I didn't get much sleep last night, so please excuse any mistakes or whatever.

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen Doctor Who, Series 8, Episode 1: "Deep Breath", please do not spoil yourself by reading this review. It contains at least cursory discussion of plot elements and characters. If you have not seen the episode, go watch it and then come back. You'll be glad you did.

Doctor Who - "Deep Breath" - Review

My Viewing Experience

While I don't usually discuss such things, I think at least some of my thought processes and whatnot should be explained before I jump into actually reviewing the episode itself.

I spent most of yesterday immersed in Doctor Who. My best friend and I spent a good chunk of the day rewatching episodes on BBC America, starting with "Hide." She left around 4 to go to work and I watched "The Day of The Doctor" and "The Time of The Doctor" by myself. I still shed many a tear during these episodes even though I've seen both at least twice already.

Then came that blasted "pre-show" nonsense. I will commend BBC America for giving Doctor Who prime billing. However, there was next to no point in delaying the episode for 15 minutes just to have Chris Hardwick and Wil Wheaton chat a bit and feature random interviews with Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi. My Initial Reactions last night spent the first two entries being incredibly irate about the pre-show.

Finally "Deep Breath" was permitted to air. My cable had started to do that digital buffering issue thing it does probably during "Nightmare In Silver" and it did not let up during "Deep Breath." So, in addition to various commercial breaks that pretty much killed all the tension, I had to deal with choppy ridiculousness during the episode itself. I was fairly irate to say the least.

I did rewatch "Deep Breath" later in the night on my computer where I had none of these issues. My review was mostly written during and after watching it the second time.

Oh Hey, Here's The Actual Review

Alright, first and foremost, I have a gigantic problem with the way the post-regeneration was handled. But my problem does not rest with The Doctor. No, my problem is with Clara's reaction. Clara should not have had the reaction she did given her history with The Doctor. This is the Clara who knows The Doctor best. This is the Clara who jumped into The Doctor's time stream and met, or at least saw, all The Doctor's faces. This is the Clara who met two younger Doctors independent of her time stream journey. This is the Clara who, despite the repeated line "I don't know who The Doctor is anymore," should not have had such an extreme reaction to the older regeneration.

This is not to say that I don't understand the script/real life reasons for Clara's reaction. I completely understand that there are viewers new to Doctor Who who needed the hand-holding through the regeneration. I completely understand the confusion of The Doctor being "renewed" and yet having an older face. However, given Clara's recent history with The Doctor, she should not have completely rejected this new regeneration as she did before that phone call at the end. It just doesn't make sense from a character stand point.

On an almost complete side note, that phone call and subsequent aftermath was heart-wrenching. I loved it, despite how superfluous it felt. It made my all-day watching of Doctor Who worth the viewing issues. It also came as a surprise. That's never happened before and initially made me suspect shenanigans of some sort.

As for the rest of the plot, I was thrown by the droids. Thrown in the way The Doctor was thrown, except it didn't for a moment click on first watch until the S.S. Madame du Pompadour was mentioned. I'll admit some of that had to do with a rumor of something from "The Talons of Weng-Chaing" coming back this Season. That Chinese droid sent me down that path, to be honest. I was kicking myself on second watch for not realizing these droids were very similar to the ones in "The Girl in the Fireplace." I'm really pleased with this re-imagining of them.

I read a review by Tom Preston last night that sited a lack of horror reaction to the human-skin balloon. I only mention this because it got me thinking about my own reaction to the general gross-ness of what went on in the rest of the episode. I was honestly more grossed out and horrified by The Doctor wearing another person's face during Clara's interrogation scene than I was by the balloon. Honestly, after that, the balloon didn't come as a surprise. No one in the episode was focused on it. No one by the Paternoster Gang, Clara, or The Doctor knew what it was even made of. It was hard to tell from the ground anyway. Yes, it was gross. Yes, it was horrifying. But really, the zombie-droids were a lot worse.

On the subject of The Paternoster Gang, let's go ahead and switch gears to them for a bit. I really enjoyed seeing more of Vastra and Jenny's relationship. The way they work as a couple is so amusing and sweet. I'm not entirely sure why Vastra felt the need to test Clara... again, technically... but then I had a problem with that bit of storyline so... Strax. Strax was essentially relegated to comic relief. That's pretty much where he fits best so I don't have a problem with it. Just mentioning it for the sake of completion. I also enjoyed the brief bits we got the the inspector. He's both clueless and amusing, if superfluous.

Lastly, on the subject of Missy. I'm not entirely sure what to make of her except to say that she's clearly insane. The way she talks about The Doctor reminds me of the way some stalkers talk about their stalk-ees. I in no way think she actually has a relationship with The Doctor. She's there to shed more ambiguity on the "death" of the lead droid. Did he jump or was it The Doctor? I'm sure that will stay ambiguous for a very long time. Personally, I don't think The Doctor pushed the droid, but that's just me.

Also, just to get this out of the way: I don't believe for a second that Missy is either River or The Rani. She can't be River because A) we've said goodbye to River and B) River gave all her regenerations/regeneration energy to The Doctor in order to save him. Not to mention she never called The Doctor her boyfriend. I don't think Missy is The Rani because The Rani just doesn't strike me as the type to ever get herself involved with The Doctor unless she's using him for something. She'd also never refer to The Doctor as her boyfriend. So there's that done and dusted.

Overall, I thought "Deep Breath" did better on second watch without commercials and technical problems. The story hung together and flowed much better instead of coming across as incredibly choppy. I can't wait to see what we've go in store for the rest of the Season.

Independent Thoughts

• The Doctor wondering where he'd seen his face before was kind of cool. Acknowledging the past in at least two different ways with that. Caecilius from "Fires of Pompeii" and Commander Maxil from "Arc of Infinity" essentially referenced there.
• I'm sure The Doctor essentially forgetting "The Girl in the Fireplace" will throw many David Tennant fangirls into a tizzy. Though he never did know the name of the ship so... *shrug*

Favorite Lines

• "No dear, people are apes. Men are monkeys." - Vastra
• "I'm not sure you get a vote." - Clara
• "Still not sure you get a vote." - Clara

Love ya, Jessie

Doctor Who - "Deep Breath" - Initial Reactions

Intro

So... I seriously suck at keeping my blogging promises. Work and non-thinking online activities and chores and shopping keep doing that thing where I end up not wanting to, forgetting, or just not blogging.

However, today marks the return of Doctor Who to our television screens. So I'm doing an Initial Reactions post... which may or may not be the first of the season... meaning I want to do one every week, but I might have to work or something. So there's that...

Watching the final moments of "The Time of The Doctor" while I'm typing this. Probably gonna cry a little bit losing Matt again... because I've been watching BBC America all day. Really looking forward to Capaldi's take. From the small amount I've seen, he's awesome, which I never doubted for a moment. So on to the Initial Reactions! (There are spoilers)

Doctor Who - "Deep Breath" - Initial Reactions

• Ick, pre-show... which I was randomly hoping they'd decided to skip that... Let's just pretend we didn't watch that... because I don't wanna...
• I cannot express how much I am irritated by this pre-show. Good God, just give me my Doctor Who. >:(
• Dinosaur in London. Probably not a good thing.
• Oh hey, Paternosters!
• A choking dinosaur? Oh hey, TARDIS. Poor girl.
• Well who else would it be, Vastra?
• And of course The Doctor is really confused.
• Something always goes wrong with regeneration.
• Awwwwwwwww.... Handles... T_T
• The Paternosters don't know about regeneration? Or at least Jenny doesn't?
• Oooohhh!!! Shiny new titles! That's awesomesauce! New music, too. Awesome!
• Vastra is awesome in this scene. It's cute.
• "No dear, people are apes. Men are monkeys." - Vastra
• Poor Clara.
• And I just have the "Aw cute"s for Jenny and Vastra. ^_^
• Sleep translations. That's cool... unless it's not translations...
• Aw, Strax. Funny as ever misunderstanding humans.
• Well who's cyborg guy? Bad guy, obviously.
• Well go school Clara why don't you, Vastra?
• Now what are you smelling for, Doctor?
• I'm with Clara on this one. Shush, Vastra.
• Lol, Jenny. Good going with that. Vastra has horribly wicked tests for Clara.
• Why is the dinosaur on fire? Why? Poor thing!
• Ouch. Poor Doctor.
• Well okay then... that's one way to use a sonic.
• The carriage bleeps? Don't know how to feel about that.
• Ooh! Poor Clara.
• I imagine a Victorian household would be rather boring...
• What is his gadget?
• Well geez, Strax. Way to suck at pep talks.
• Interesting wandering down regeneration lane...
• Yay for the Scottish Doctor.
• I think Jenny looks rather amazing in that outfit.
• Ya know, for someone who's seen all the Doctor's faces, she's really judgmental of his behavior.
• Fancy schmancy restaurant. Hello Doctor.
• Oh well then. Neither of them placed the ad. How confusing... without time travel.
• Automatons!
• Evil automatons are incredibly creepy. Listen to them tick...
• Oh that's gross and creepy.
• You're in the only colored booth in the entire place, of course it's an elevator.
• He misses Amy. Lol.
• Hello creepy Asian Automaton...
• Oh crap, Clara's stuck... and The Doctor's just leaving her there. That's no good.
• And now she's got to hold her breath. This is a difficult one...
• Much tension on the getting out part... Poor, poor Clara...
• Shit that's a lot of robots.
• Still alive is a good sign.
• Clever Clara.
• Oh, that's disturbing...
• Still not the right person.
• Lovely Victorian Ninjas... with Strax... because the Paternosters are awesome.
• Commercials really kill the tension...
• Those poor policemen...
• Oh joy, a ship inside a building...
• Sounds very much like the clock-work droids...
• Well that's because you parked the TARDIS in front of the portrait and then failed to look at the outside of the S.S. Madame du Pompadour. That's a clever re-imagining.
• That's a clever way to get out of it, Clara.
• So... who was lying then? That's the question...
• No TARDIS. That's not good.
• I love Vastra's dress.
• Hooray, he's back. Which wasn't ever in question.
• Let's reference "Day of The Doctor."
• I LOVE IT!
• Wha?! Oh. Yay time travel...
• Oh geez. Much crying. And now Matt's making me miss him...
• That's a new one.
• Oh Doctor...
• Hug time!
• Well hello, Mr. Automaton. The frick is this nonsense?
• Okay... insane woman much? Missy?
• No really, WTF?

Uhm... Yeah... That Was A Thing... - A Guardians of the Galaxy Movie Review

Intro

Alrighty... so... I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy last night. I'm gonna say right off the bat that my opinion of it is probably controversial in that I wasn't all that impressed. I don't know what it was, but Guardians of the Galaxy just didn't hit me the way any of the other Marvel movies had. I've been attempting to piece together why this is but... yeah... I haven't figured it out yet.

So there's my non-spoiler-y review. The rest of the review is a little oddly structured but it's what I started coming up with at 1 AM this morning so... deal with it.

SPOILER WARNING

The following content is filled with spoilers for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. If you haven't seen it and are spoiler-phobic, you should stop reading right now and go watch it. If anything, you'll be giving Marvel some more money... and also Disney... but whatever. At least go watch it.

Almost Instant Thoughts - 1 AMish

• Uhm... yeah... that was definitely a thing.
• It was a great ride, but forgive me if I'm not singing the usual post-Marvel-movie praises.
• Lord knows I'm all for the lived-in, grungy feeling of my sci-fi stuff, but would a couple of light bulbs have killed them?
• This is probably the Marvel movie I'll go back and watch only once, if only to try and figure out what I'm not getting about the apparent brilliance.
• I laughed at the funny lines, I teared up at one point, I found the post-credits scene funny. But other than that... I'm clearly underwhelmed. My memory of Guardians of the Galaxy at this point is of space ships and shrapnel... okay, and baby Groot dancing. That was adorable.

I didn't do this. Showed up in my Facebook feed.

Even Later Thoughts - Somewhere between 1 and 3 AMish

• Gamora's speech patterns are now reminding me of Kida from Atlantis.
• I think I would have been happier with more Star Lord dancing around being a dork than the space battles.
• Ronan... yeah... I'd rather have had a villain I actually cared about than one who was essentially a big block of nothing. It wasn't even interesting watching him fight... like watching Superman... which I don't because it's boring. (Yes, I know, hate on me for hating on Supes. Go ahead. I don't care.)

Over 12 Hours Later Thoughts

This is where the review gets to be less random... or at least out of bullet points.

I went and read someone else's review of Guardians. It was actually more of a discussion about Guardians vs Avengers... or something. Anyway, you can look at it HERE. Anyway, there's a lot of gushing in it about the quote-ability of Guardians. I gotta say, I didn't find this to be the case. I can barely remember any lines from the movie proper. Seriously, the only line that comes to mind at the moment is Rocket saying "Oh Yeah." when getting his gun in the prison... which was in the trailers so... I don't count it.

Yondu and his crew were pretty forgettable as far as I'm concerned. I thought Yondu's whistle arrow thing was cool but that was pretty much the extent of my interest. I'm honestly more interested in the throw-away line at the end about having been hired to deliver Quill to his father. When was that? Why didn't it happen? Who the hell is actually Quill's father? I'd pick up a comic book or Wiki that to find out but at the same time, I honestly don't care that much.

Maybe that's what it comes down to with me. I just don't care enough about the Guardians of the Galaxy characters to have enjoyed the movie so much. Well... that and the shit ton of space battles. I don't really like those. I'm more invested in the other Marvel movies because I'm more familiar with the characters outside the movies... even if it's pretty much hating them for one reason or another... *cough*Spiderman*cough*

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Guardians of the Galaxy was a great ride. It's a ride I won't rewatch a hundred and five times, but it was fun. I don't regret watching it. I don't regret actually paying for it (I have some free movie tickets coming in the mail and I was gonna wait for those but didn't). I will cherish my memories of watching Star Lord dance around like a dork using a weird critter for a microphone and of baby Groot dancing adorably. But overall, Guardians of the Galaxy fell sort of flat for me.

Love ya, Jessie

On Maybe Starting Up Again

Introduction

Alrighty, it's been a really long time since I last blogged. I'd actually thought I'd gone on Hiatus in December, rather than November. Time flies when work is dragging you through the muck, I suppose.

But anyway, I'm not dead. Still alive, still kicking, still Netflixing the heck out of my evenings. Also reading a lot.

The Sort-Of-Plan

So, as I said in the intro, work has been kicking my butt. However, I'm now going to commit to blogging at least once a week from now on. The day in question won't be a regular day every week, but I'll fit it in where I can. Me not blogging has led to me annoying people at home and at work with incessant babbling about my shows and whatnot.

I will not be going back to reviewing every episode of every show I'm planning to watch, though. That just drained all the fun out of watching the shows when I had the time and then I didn't have time to review them so... yeah... not happening this season.

I might be reviewing some of shows in episode blocks or something. I might be going through the half a season I missed reviewing in half-season blocks. Maybe. I'm not entirely sure.

I might be posting some book reviews. I have been reading, after all. If you want to know what I have been reading, head over to Goodreads and find Jessica Patzer. That's me. Feel free to friend me or whatever.

Where I'm Active

When I'm not blogging, I'm usually much more active elsewhere. Twitter, Facebook, Gaiaonline, Goodreads, Neopets, DeviantART, heck, I'll even check up on Pottermore every once in a while. Find links to my social media stuff over in the "Miscellaneous"  section of the Lists page. I'll actually change that so it has links to my profiles...

The End

Yeah... that's pretty much all I've got for now. Gonna be working on some actual stuff for those of you who've followed along with my blog and have been waiting for an update... Sorry it's taken me so long to get off my butt and do this again.

Love ya, Jessie

The Day of The Doctor - Initial Reactions

Intro

I've used some personal abbreviations in these notes so here's what they mean:

10 - David Tennant

Doctor - Matt Smith

WD - John Hurt

SPOILER WARNING

The following Initial Reactions are for Doctor Who, "The Day of the Doctor." If you haven't seen it, please don't read these. Go watch it first.

Doctor Who - "The Day of the Doctor" - Initial Reactions

• Original titles! AWESOME!
• Teacher Clara at the school Suan went to. Interesting.
• Why is he reading Advanced Quantam Mechanics?
• Someone's airlifting the TARDIS. For why?
• Hello UNIT. Kate has the same ring tone I do.
• Why would you grab the TARDIS while he's not in there?
• Elizabeth the First gave him orders.

"Why shouldn't I have a job? I'd be brilliant at having a job." - Doctor

• It's kind of a gorgeous painting, despite the destruction. 3D oil painting of the last day of the Time War.
• W00t, Time War and Dalek music.
• Shooting a message in the wall while Arcadia falls? Okay then... Well now that makes a bit of sense.
• That is an awesome table.
• That's an interesting mostly destroyed building... Cool looking weapon, too. Very steam punk.

"Why is there never a big red button?" - WD

• Well hello Rose. She's being all weird... all Wolfy. She's the interface, so that makes sense.
• The suffering really, really bugs him.
• As a punishment, it kind of works. When I say kind of, I really mean great, as punishments go... painful.
• He married her, too? Alrighty then.
• Rather cool we get to see that bit with Elizabeth.
• She's not the real Elizabeth... weird.
• Zygon.

"Big red rubbery thing, covered in suckers." - 10

"Oh good lord, Doctor. Nice one." - 10

• Threatening a rabbit with that ridiculous speech. Lol.
• Why is he throwing fezzes at himself?
• Why is it all sandy?

• "Hey you. Are you sciencey?" - Doctor
• "Someday, you could just walk past a fez." - Clara

• Tennant does not look as good in a Fez.
• Oh God, this Sonic gag is going to annoy people.
• Okay, those two together is slightly amusing.
• The Fez helps figure that out then. Interesting.
• UNIT dating issue, solved by Dating Protocol.

"Why are you pointing your screwdrivers at me? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols." - WD

• Poor Clara.
• You big Liar, 10.
• Hello Weeping Zygons.
• Sucks for that chick, but at least she's a bit clever.
• Memory stuffage going on. TARDIS proof room.
• Captain Jack gave UNIT a vortex manipulator. Interesting.
• Yep, American time travel movies always end up horribly.
• Everyone's been taken over by Zygons. How rather sad.
• Clever Clara.

"The man who regrets and the man who forgets." - Rose Interface

"Sorry. It just occured to me. This is what I'm like when I'm alone." - Doctor

• No one actually locked the door. That's hilarious.
• Oh joy, more taking over the planet nonsense.
• So they essentially made Elizabeth a bit more awesome... and married The Doctor to her.
• He is such a liar. Hello coral TARDIS.

"Hey look. The round things."
"I love the round things."
"What are the round things?"
"I have no idea." - Doctor and 10

• Kate vs Kate

"Cup o Soup. What is Cup o Soup?" - WD

• Hero shot of Doctors. Brilliant.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor. Sorry about the Dalek." - WD, 10, Doctor

• That's a very clever solution. Except inhalers are helpful.
• The weapon turned into a bit of TARDIS console... or at least looks like that... and a flower.
• THE COAT!!! I miss that coat!

"You were The Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right." - Doctor

• T_T

"Never cruel or cowardly."
"Never give up. Never give in." - 10, WD

"Bad Wolf Girl. I could kiss you."
"Yup, that's gonna happen." - WD, Rose

• ALL OF THEM! ^_^
• That's brilliant! ^_^ T_T
• Hello Capaldi!
• No catch phrase for WD, then.
• I'm so crying right now.

"And if I grow up to be half the man you are, Clara Oswald..." - WD

• Regeneration into 9 now. W00T.

"Oh, never say nothing." - 10

• Frigging again with you?! Seriously, 10? Slightly better than last time, but really?
• TOM BAKER!!!! That was unexpected. XD
• Roundels on the wall of that room. Yup, I noticed.

Housekeeping

Reviews will be forthcoming... hopefully. My brain's kind of on: THAT WAS AWESOME right now.

Love ya, Jessie

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - Princess Twilight Sparkle - Initial Reactions

Intro

I know I said I wasn't gonna do these anymore, but... circumstances of excitement and art projects made me want to put up my notes. So... here ya go!

SPOILER WARNING

The following Initial Reactions are for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 4, Episodes 1 and 2: "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1" and "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2". If you have not seen the episodes, please go watch them before reading through these. There are spoilers.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1" - Initial Reactions

• Figured the flying lessons were at the beginning of the episode.
• Are they in Canterlot?
• Oh gosh, that was an epic crash and burn.
• Oh the shadows! I love that hallway thingy. And hey, highlights!
• Pinkie Pie is so amusing... and Pinkie Promise! Oh, Pinkie Pie.
• What is Twilight goes nuts without her friends?
• I enjoy Spike face-planting into the floor.
• Luna!
• Celestia's face looks weird for some reason. Probably the angle.
• I love how Pinkie Pie is sending party letters to Twilight.
• Oh noes, dark snakey vine...
• NOOOOO! They can't be gone!!!!!
• I love the overly dramatic guards.
• Hey look, there's a brown guard! That was unexpected.
• Poor Fluttershy's animals.
• Of course the apples would be all no-nonsense about the invasion. And Big Mac! That's so amusing.
• Oh, Rarity... And oh gosh! It's messing up magic. And then you blame is on Sweetie Belle. Bad big sister.
• Weaken all the ponies' abilities!
• Random seatbelts on Twilight. Poor Spike, smashing into a window.
• Pinkie sense in action!
• GAAAASP!!!
• When in doubt, blame Discord.
• Discord singing Winter Wrap Up!!!!
• So far, this episode is AWESOME!!

"Would I lie to you?" - Discord
"YES!" - Twi, Rarity, Dash, Pinkie, AJ
"Uhm, maybe." - Fluttershy

• Don't steal AJ's hat!
• Her magic is all Darkside now? Wha huh?
• "Doesn't seem to be working then suddenly working" cliche
• So why is Luna suddenly going all Dark Side again?
• Hello Nightmare Moon.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2" - Initial Reactions

• Okay, but what are you doing back in the first place?
• Epic Nightmare Moon kills everything thingy... and seriously injures Celestia.
• OOOOOHHHHHH FLASHBACK! That's a relief.
• TO THE MOON!!!
• Oh, Discord. How amusing.
• So... we're doing a big flashback episode? Yay world building.
• The Tree of Harmony. Taking the elements ended up weakening the tree?
• Did she stutter, Dashie?
• Call backs to the first Season! W00T!
• Except it's a rather awesome looking croc. Teamwork FTW!
• No, dude. Just because Twilight's a princess doesn't mean she can't help. This is super sad!
• Poor cherry Berry and Cosmic! Was that Cosmic? Either him or Comet Tail.
• Way to twist that, Discord. Why are you messing with her so much?
• Stop doubting Twilight, RD. Seriously?
• Fall down a flight of Sombra-esque stairs...
• Dude, did you guys learn nothing about teamwork?
• Way for AJ to be a badass.
• Oh, now we do the teamwork thing.
• No crap, dude. You guys are ridiculous sometimes.
• No, that's your friendship, AJ. And I'm right!
• Yup, that rainbow is the most powerful thing ever.
• Why does Celestia walk with her wings outstretched but Luna doesn't?
• Keys? Season 4 Quest?
• Discord's lovely banners are lovely.
• Go Fluttershy. And Discord in a maid uniform! Lol.
• Last bit of flashback potion... Plunder Seeds? Huh.
• OOOOO!!! Twilight has a new crown!
• Yay Luna! T_T
• Well that was cool! And she stuck the landing!

Housekeeping

I am currently working on an art project I've had sitting around so... my review is gonna have to wait. I'll also be posting my notes/Initial Reactions to the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary episode after it airs... along with a review... I'm so excited!!!!

Love ya, Jessie

Hiatus Announcement

Alright, my plans for reviewing everything this Season have come crashing down around my ears completely, especially given this week. I've decided that it's in my best interests to take a break from reviewing things. I'm tired of apologizing for it, and yes, I know I don't have to, but there it is. Due to work and laziness and tiredness and general brain-not-wanting-to-function, reviewing episodes has become a bit of a chore. I'm going to take this break and recharge. Hopefully I'll come back with better reviews and whatnot.

That said, this Saturday I will most likely be putting up reviews for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Doctor Who. Season 4 of MLP starts Saturday morning and the 50th Anniversary Episode of Doctor Who airs Saturday as well. I have the great fortune of being off on Saturday so I'll be able to watch both of these things. I also have very few people with which to express my excitement/views on things so... reviews will probably happen despite my being largely on hiatus.

Also, if I feel like reviewing something, I will. If not, I'm not apologizing for it. I'm currently at least a week behind on a lot of things and I've also got podcasts to listen to. When I say things are crashing around my ears, I really mean it.

Thank you very much for reading my reviews and more blog-y blog posts. I hope you continue on with me, despite my lack of current-ness with my reviews.

Trailers (Because I Feel Like It)

Love ya, Jessie

Arrow - League of Assassins - Review

Intro

Took a short break from reviewing things yesterday and found out, annoyingly, that my internet or computer hates me. I managed to watch last week's episode of The Originals, with many stops for loading and things. When I went to watch Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, I was too annoyed to wait while it did much the same. It even stopped an annoyingly long time to load while I was watching Once Upon a Time last night, luckily, though, I was able to watch most of that episode unhindered.

Today I had better luck watching Once Upon a Time in Wonderland on Chrome so I think I'll just use that to watch everything else I have to. However, I do have to work today so I've just got this one review for you.

If you actually read that little rant, thanks. If not, well, it was rather inconsequential so... meh.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Arrow, Season 2, Episode 5: "League of Assassins." If you have not seen the episode, you should go do that before reading this review. Even my character lists contain spoilers.

Arrow - "League of Assassins" - Review

Characters:

• Oliver Queen - Played by Stephen Amell. Main character. Also known as "The Hood" or "The Vigilante" or "The Arrow."
• John "Dig" Diggle - Played by David Ramsey. Oliver's bodyguard/driver.
• Felicity Smoak - Played by Emily Bett Rickards. Oliver's Executive Secretary/techie.
• Thea Queen - Played by Willa Holland. Oliver's younger sister. Roy's girlfriend. Runs Verdant.
• Moira Queen - Played by Susanna Thompson. Olly and Thea's mother. Currently in jail.
• Dinah "Laurel" Lance - Played by Katie Cassidy. Oliver's ex-girlfriend. Works for the DA.
• Sara Lance/Black Canary - Played by Caity Lotz. Laurel's sister. Olly's ex. Currently vigilante-ing around Starling City.
• Officer Quentin Lance - Played by Paul Blackthorne. Laurel's father.
• Adam Donner - Played by Dylan Bruce. The District Attorney. Laurel's boss.
• Jean Loring - Played by Teryl Rothery. Old friend of Moira's and her attorney.
• Al Ow-Al - Played by Navid Negahban. League of Assassins member. Trained Malcolm Merlyn. Deceased.
• Dr. Anthony Ivo - Played by Dylan Neal. Runs the boat off the Island.

Review:

I was actually really happy with this episode. It had a lot of what I was expecting and some things I wasn't. I enjoyed getting some Sara back story, but I'm glad we didn't get everything all at once. In my opinion, Caity Lotz did a better job portraying her younger counterpart than Stephen Amell does. That's also really saying something since Stephen does an awesome job portraying young Olly. I honestly can't wait to see what happens/happened to Sara down the line.

Speaking of which, I really ended up liking Sara. I've heard people talk about how Caity Lotz's portrayal is rather wooden, but it works for me. I figure Sara's been through some really horrible stuff and been trained as a warrior so her emotions had to get buried deep. Olly, in comparison, hasn't been through as much, or at least not the same level of stuff, and is better at playing up his "civilian" persona when need be. He's also got Dig and Felicity to help soften him. The place where both Olly and Sara allow their true emotions to be seen is around their families, which Sara did.

"League of Assassins" was lousy with fight scenes. When I say that, I don't mean that the fight scenes were horrible, I just mean there were a lot of them. As usual, the fighting was very well done and showcased the skills of each character without going over the top. I felt like the fights carried more weight this time around, mostly because we could worry about Sara or Officer Lance getting killed. I'm pretty sure Olly's not gonna get killed any time soon as he's the title character so... that always takes a bit out of the suspense for me.

I'm back to being really annoyed with Laurel. It's great she's mostly off The Arrow's case, but this grief/guilt kick she's on isn't doing her any favors. The fact that she's ended up on Moira's case is annoying. Apparently there wasn't really another way to keep her relevant to the story. I honestly don't have anything more than that to say about Laurel.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Sara being at Olly's was initially weird. Can't wait to see how he explains the destruction.
• I love that Felicity is awkward around more than just Olly.
• I'm glad Lance had a conflict of emotions over Sara leaving.

Favorite Lines:

"She always did have the worst taste in friends." - Lance

"Guns are a coward's weapon. What are you without your side arm?"
"A guy with a spare." - Al Ow-Al and Lance

"Who do you think you raised." - Thea

Housekeeping

Uh... I'm only really putting this here because I need a breaker-thing before I sign off.

Love ya, Jessie

Grimm - "One Night Stand" - Review

Intro

Alrighty then, after a nice refreshing lunch, I'm ready to launch into my second Grimm review of the day. And this one's on time! Yay!

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Grimm, Season 3, Episode 4: "One Night Stand." If you haven't seen the episode, I suggest you do so before reading my review. Even my characters lists contain spoilers.

Grimm - "One Night Stand" - Review

Characters:

• Detective Nick Burkhardt - Played by David Giuntoli. Grimm. Juliette's boyfriend. Hank's partner.
• Juliette Silverton - Played by Bitsie Tulloch. Human. Nick's girlfriend.
• Monroe - Played by Silas Weir Mitchell - Wieder Blutbad. Rosalee's boyfriend.
• Rosalee Calvert - Played by Bree Turner. Fuchsbau. Monroe's girlfriend.
• Captain Sean Renard - Played by Sasha Roiz. Hexenbiest. Royal.
• Detective Hank Griffin - Played by Russell Hornsby. Human. Nick's partner.
• Sergeant Wu - Played by Reggie Lee. Human.
• Adalind Schade - Played by Claire Coffee. Former Hexenbiest.
• Sebastien - Played by Christian Lagadec. Renard's spy.
• Daniel Hopkins - Played by Pritesh Shah. Human. Deceased.
• Jake Barnes - Played by Michael Welch. Human. Love interest of Elly.
• Sarah Mahario - Played by Sara Fletcher. Naiad.
• Anna Mahario - Played by Lauren Luiz. Naiad.
• Elly Mahario - Played by Stephanie Nogueras. Naiad. Deaf.
• Abel Mahario - Played by Brian McNamara. Naiad. Father of Sarah, Anna, and Elly.
• Dominic - Played by Derek Ray. Naiad. Engaged to either Sarah or Anna.
• Jesse - Played by Coltron James. Naiad. Engaged to either Sarah or Anna.

Review:

I was incredibly impressed with this episode of Grimm. We got an interesting mix of Mythology and Fairy Tale with the Naiads. The story very much reminded me of a modern retelling of The Little Mermaid. I enjoyed the look of the Naiads and the bit of their culture we got to learn in this episode. I found it interesting that they could die pretty quickly from dehydration and the makeup showing that was awesome. My arms started to itch just looking at those girls.

The Naiad culture surrounding mating and whatnot was infuriating. It's completely believable that archaic traditions would still hold in certain regions, as we've seen before with the Coyotl Wesen. I seriously wanted to beat Dominic and Jesse up myself for the way they treated Elly and her sisters. I thought the concept of "cutting" Naiad webbing was reminiscent of any kind of mutilation, especially female genital mutilation, in this context.

The parts of the episode detailing Rosalee moving in with Monroe were super adorable. My favorite parts there were Rosalee shoving Monroe out the door with Hank and Nick and the scene with the ugly rabbit. Rosalee essentially shoving Monroe out the door was hilarious. I feel like they're almost married already. I thought it was completely realistic that Monroe would both try too hard and also be a bit afraid of sharing bits of himself he didn't before.

Lastly in the review section, I'd like to talk a bit about Nick's abilities. We got to see him display his super-hearing almost on purpose. We saw his fighting skills, which I'm gonna assume included some level of extra strength, by the looks of things. We saw some enhanced sight underwater when Nick went to rescue Elly. And then we saw that he was underwater for a lot longer than he should have been and Hank saw some death-palor or something. I didn't really notice, though I looked for it after Hank mentioned it. Nick's definitely moving down the road of being more super-human than before. I'm liking the slow transition there.

Overall, "One Night Stand" was an impressive episode. I very much enjoyed all the effect, the makeup, the dialogue, and the story. It was a fun ride and I can't wait to see what's coming next week. Looks like something suitably creepy.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Everyone got to be super cute today.
• Renard knows about Adalind now. Yay.
• Love the underwater stuff, especially the lack of other noise. Didn't even notice if there was music during that bit.
• Juliette doesn't know about Nick's mom and is now gonna suspect him of having an affair or something. This is why Juliette checking Nick's email is a bad thing.

Favorite Lines:

"Let's round up the unusual suspects." - Renard

"No one is [normal], Jake. It's Portland." - Nick

Housekeeping

Let me know what you thought of the episode or my thoughts on it in the comments below, if you would. I'm curious.

As I did not get very far at all into my catching up yesterday, I'm going to go attempt to do that. Again I've got my nephew this evening so I've got a limited amount of time to actually do much. I'll catch up with things eventually.

Love ya, Jessie

Grimm - "A Dish Best Served Cold" - Review

Intro

This review will be done entirely in note-form. I watched the episode, but hadn't actually taken notes on it, so I jotted down some notes later that night. They're longer than my usual "Miscellaneous Notes," but if you were expecting a full review for this episode... I'm sorry to disappoint. My head just wants to get on with the review for this week's Grimm instead.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Grimm, Season 3, Episode 3: "A Dish Best Served Cold." If you haven't seen the episode, please do so before reading my notes/review. Even my character lists contain spoilers.

Grimm - "A Dish Best Served Cold" - Review

Characters:

• Detective Nick Burkhardt - Played by David Giuntoli. Grimm. Juliette's boyfriend. Hank's partner.
• Juliette Silverton - Played by Bitsie Tulloch. Human. Nick's girlfriend.
• Monroe - Played by Silas Weir Mitchell - Wieder Blutbad. Rosalee's boyfriend.
• Rosalee Calvert - Played by Bree Turner. Fuchsbau. Monroe's girlfriend.
• Captain Sean Renard - Played by Sasha Roiz. Hexenbiest. Royal.
• Detective Hank Griffin - Played by Russell Hornsby. Human. Nick's partner.
• Sergeant Wu - Played by Reggie Lee. Human.
• Adalind Schade - Played by Claire Coffee. Former Hexenbiest.
• Graydon Ostler - Played by Dan Bakkedahl. Bauerschwein. Chef.
• Bud - Played by Danny Bruno. Eisbiber. Refrigerator repair man. One of Nick's friends.
• Sebastien - Played by Christian Lagadec. Renard's spy.

Notes/Review:

• Interesting mystery on both sides of the Atlantic. Renard will soon know that Adalind was working with Frau Pech.
• I liked the solution to the Blutbad poisoning. I figured it was a ruse when Hank poked Monroe, though. Nick's reaction to accidentally killing his friend would have been much worse than it was if he'd actually done it. I do kind of wonder where they got all the Blutbaden to pull that off, but it was cool.
• Nick's zombie side-effects seem to be medically unexplainable.
• Loved the little Scoobie party over Nick moving out of Monroe's. Was not expecting that. Monroe covered surprisingly well.

Housekeeping

Okay, now on to the review for last night's Grimm, since I have time. W00T for unexpected days off.

Love ya, Jessie

Supernatural - "Dog Dean Afternoon" - Review

Intro

This is probably the shortest review I've done in a long time, that might tell you something about the episode. However, what it tells you is up to your interpretation.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Supernatural, Season 9, Episode 5: "Dog Dean Afternoon." If you haven't seen this episode, do so before reading my really short review. It might be short, but it contains spoilers.

Supernatural - "Dog Dean Afternoon" - Review

Characters:

• Sam Winchester/Ezekiel - Played by Jared Padalecki. Younger Winchester with an Angel healing him from the inside.
• Dean Winchester - Played by Jensen Ackles. Older Winchester.
• Dave Stephens - Played by Brock Johnson. Colonel's owner. Deceased.
• Colonel - Voiced by Al Rodrigo. German Shepherd. Only witness to his owner's death.
• Chef Leo - Played by Steve Valentine. Villain.

Review:

Well that was certainly a comedy episode, wasn't it? I don't really have much to say about this episode. Jensen did an excellent job doing dog stuff without going over-the-top... except for the poodle bit, but let's not go there. The villain was... weird. I didn't mind the weirdness of it, really, he was just strange. The concept of eating animal parts to get their abilities was interesting. The only other show I can think of that's done something akin to this is Inuyasha. Some of the demons will eat other demons' hearts to gain their strength/powers. Which, come to think of it, really has nothing to do with this so... meh.

Yeah... I'm annoyed Ezekiel showed up again. There wasn't really much point to it and I'm tired of him showing up.

Favorite Line:

"Always knew I'd find the source of all evil inside a vegan bakery." - Dean

Housekeeping

That's probably going to be my last review for today. I have to go watch stuff now and I've got my nephew to babysit later this evening. So yeah... gonna be getting reviews up slowly but surely.

Love ya, Jessie

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - "FZZT" - Review

Intro

Okay, I'm just gonna stop apologizing for late posts. This is, after all, the era of watching TV whenever we want so... if you're reading this review, I'll assume you're interested in my views and we'll just forget the fact that I'm really behind and getting even more behind as I type.

Life sucks, people.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Season 1, Episode 6: "FZZT." If you have not seen this episode, I highly recommend doing so before reading this review. Spoilers are imminent.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - "FZZT" - Review

Characters:

• Agent Phil Coulson - Played by Clark Gregg. Not dead. Leader of Level 7.
• Agent Melinda May - Played by Ming-Na Wen. Pilot of the Bus. "The Cavalry."
• Agent Grant Ward - Played by Brett Dalton. Black Ops Specialist.
• Skye - Played by Chloe Bennet. Computer hacker. Member of Rising Tide.
• Agent Leo Fitz - Played by Iain De Caestecker. Engineering.
• Agent Jemma Simmons - Played by Elizabeth Henstridge. Biochem.
• Tony Diaz - Played by Vincent Laresca. Victim of the Chitauri virus.
• Agent Blake - Played by Titus Welliver. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.

Review:

Although I hadn't yet gotten around to reviewing this episode, I listened to some podcasts about it. I mention this because I was somewhat amused by the inability of people to pronounce this episode's title. I was less amused when I went on IMDB today and found the title included periods between the letters, like it was an acronym... which it's not. "FZZT" is a visual sound effect like the ones used in the comics. This particular sound effect describes the sound electricity makes when moving from one object to another. I thought this was obvious, but apparently I was wrong.

Now that the title's been discussed/explained in entirely too much detail, we can get into the meat of "FZZT." We got a very interesting Avengers tie-in via the Chitauri helmet and virus. While I didn't know about the virus at first, I quickly figured out that whatever was going on with the floating guys was going to affect Simmons. After all, there was obviously something wrong with her in the previews and she got obviously shocked by the first floating guy. I'd originally suspected mind control of some sort, but AoS continues to disappoint on that front. I did, however, enjoy the virus aspect. To make matters worse, we had the added tension of Joss Whedon's tendency to kill off characters so there was no guarantee Simmons was going to live through this.

That said, I had a lot of fun watching Fitz and Simmons struggle working apart and then excel working together. I thought how they dealt with Simmons' possible death was pretty realistic. It was also heartbreaking to watch. I cried. It was also touching to see the rest of the team caring for Simmons in their own ways. Their relief after Ward saved Simmons was pretty darn awesome.

I thought the parts with Coulson were interesting. He's really not feeling himself and feeling the weight of his death. I'm happy he's trying to figure out what's wrong with himself, even if it didn't yield the results anyone was expecting. I especially enjoyed the scene between Coulson and May at the end of the episode. Her advice to him was incredibly poignant.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Making fun of ward is hilarious.
• The Dwarf drones are back!
• Damn you, Whedon! You can't kill her off now!
• Was not expecting Ward to make fun of Gemma making fun of him.
• That's a pretty awesome scar there, Coulson.

Favorite Lines:

"I don't sweat. I glisten." - Coulson

"Whether it was eight seconds or forty, you can't go through a trauma like that and not come out changed." - May

Housekeeping

I've got my review of last week's Supernatural ready to go next to me so... I'll be posting that very soon after posting this.

Love ya, Jessie

Sleepy Hollow - "The Sin Eater" - Review

Intro

Again, sorry very much for the long delays. I've honestly been too tired to even think about doing anything writing related. It's really not good and I should do something about it, but I doubt that will happen. For now, you'll just have to deal with my horribly late reviews for things.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Sleepy Hollow, Season 1, Episode 6: "The Sin Eater." If you haven't seen this episode, I would recommend doing so before reading this review. There are spoilers.

Sleepy Hollow - "The Sin Eater" - Review

Characters:

• Lieutenant Abigail "Abbie" Mills - Played by Nicole Beharie. The "Second Witness." Saw the Four Trees as a child with her sister.
• Ichabod Crane - Played by Tom Mison. The "First Witness." Sort of time traveled from the Revolutionary War to the present because of his magical blood connection with the Headless Horseman.
• Captain Frank Irving - Played by Orlando Jones. Sleepy Hollow's Police Captain.
• Katrina Crane - Played by Katia Winter. Ichabod's wife. Trapped in a purgatory run by Moloch.
• The Headless Horseman - Played by Richard Cetrone. Death incarnate.
• Jennifer "Jenny" Mills - Played by Lyndie Greenwood. Abbie's sister. Saw the Four Trees as a child with her sister.
• J. Rutledge - Played by James Frain. Member of the Free Masons.
• Arthur Bernard - Played by Tongayi Chirisa. Member of the Colonial Resistance.
• Colonel Tarleton - Played by Craig Parker. Demon. Ichabod's former commander.
• Henry Parrish - Played by John Noble. The Sin Eater

Review:

I'm probably in the minority on this episode. I didn't enjoy it as much as I have the others. I'm not sure what cause it, but it probably had something to do with too much exposition and the inclusion of the Freemasons.

Most of Ichabod's story was told to us and not shown satisfactorily. Mind you, a lot of what was going on was going on in his head, but still. I think the looks on his face and his conversations with Bernard and Katrina along with the fact that he saw Tarleton's demonic face should have been enough without all the voice over. Also, I was confused by Katrina in the flashbacks. Considering we know she's a witch, I'm assuming she was posing as a Quaker nurse, but I'm not entirely sure so... that was weird. The reveal of Colonel Tarleton as a demon was pretty cool. I especially liked that Ichabod saw his demonic face and was really disturbed by it. The flashback story was important in explaining what guilt ("sin") Ichabod was carrying around with him, but I think it could have been done better.

Abbie's section of the story should have been more interesting than it was, especially with the inclusion of Jenny. Don't get me wrong, I found Abbie's vision to be cool and her dedication to find Ichabod endearing, but I wasn't blow away by it. There was also a serious lack of anything for Jenny to do. She essentially turned into a version of first Season Giles from Buffy in this episode, except without the Britishness or demonology books. For all there was to do, she probably could have done it from her cell/hospital room.

As for the Freemason stuff, I'm tired of them popping up everywhere. Their role in shaping the US is constantly scrutinized by everyone and their mother, especially on the History and Discovery channels. Which I watch a lot of. Their inclusion here served only to get background on Ichabod. They didn't do anything but stand around making idle threats and being ineffective. The whole thing reminded me, retrospectively, of The Order of the Dragon from Dracula.

Lastly, I can't wait to see what John Noble does with the Sin Eater character. I loved him in Fringe and he was awesome in his limited role here. The rest of the episode clearly annoyed me so... sorry for the largely negative review, I guess. I can't be Sally Sunshine all the time.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Oh joy, baseball = America. Not impressed.
• Katrina-Bird is back.
• The Sin Eater is a cool concept.
• Okay, but seriously, they weren't going to kill off Ichabod. Get real.
• What was the significance of Ol' Headless finding Ichabod's grave?

Favorite Lines:

"What is the point of baseball?
"Please. Enlighten me." - Abbie and Ichabod

"You know, there are two things in life I believe a person should hold onto for as long as possible: virginity and skepticism." - Captain Irving

Housekeeping

Let me know what you thought of the episode, what your thoughts are on the Freemasons, or even what you've thought of the series so far in the comments. Please and thank you.

Again, sorry for the long delays in getting these reviews up. It's probably going to keep happening, especially as I'm now working and the holidays are fast approaching. Glad my Christmas shopping is already done.

Love ya, Jessie

Once Upon a Time - "Dark Hollow" - Review

Intro

Making a slight change in at least the order I do my reviews in. Since I watched Once Upon a Time last night, I might as well do the review that's technically scheduled for today instead of waiting until I can do it chronologically.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Once Upon a Time, Season 3, Episode 7: "Dark Hollow." If you haven't seen the episode, I would watch it before reading this review. Even my character lists contain spoilers.

Once Upon a Time - "Dark Hollow" - Review

Characters:

• Emma Swan - Played by Jennifer Morrison. Daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. Birth Mother of Henry Mills. Product of True Love. "The Savior."
• Regina Mills - Played by Lana Parrilla. Mother of Henry Mills. Step-Mother of Snow White. The Evil Queen.
• Prince Charming/David Nolan - Played by Josh Dallas. Father of Emma Swan. Husband of Snow White.
• Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard - Played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Mother of Emma Swan. Wife of Prince Charming. Step-Daughter of Regina Mills.
• Henry Mills - Played by Jared Gilmore. Son of Emma Swan, Baelfire, and Regina Mills. The Truest Believer.
• Captain Killian "Hook" Jones - Played by Colin O'Donoghue. Pirate.
• Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold - Played by Robert Carlyle. Father of Baelfire. Grandfather of Henry Mills. The Dark One. Regina's mentor.
• Neal Cassady/Baelfire - Played by Michael Raymond-James and Dylan Schmid. Son of Rumplestiltskin. Father of Henry Mills.
• Peter Pan - Played by Robbie Kay. Big Bad of Wonderland.
• Felix - Played by Parker Croft. Peter's messenger... or something.
• Ariel - Played by JoAnna Garcia Swisher. Mermaid.
• Belle - Played by Emilie de Ravin. Rumple's True Love. Storybrooke Librarian.
• Archie Hopper/The Cricket - Played by Raphael Sbarge. Storybrooke's resident Psychiatrist.
• Blue Fairy/Mother Superior - Played by Keegan Connor Tracy.
• Grumpy/Leroy - Played by Lee Arenberg. One of the Seven Dwarves.
• Michael Darling - Played by James Immekus. Youngest of the Darling children. Kept alive by Pan.
• John Darling - Played by Matt Kane. Middle Darling child. Kept alive by Pan.
• Wendy Darling - Played by Freya Tingley. Eldest Darling child. Captive of Pan.
• Granny - Played by Beverley Elliott.
• Tinker Bell - Played by Rose McIver. Yup, that Tinkerbell.

Review:

We got to go back to Storybrooke today! That was a giant breath of fresh air, I have to say. Like, I love the Neverland stuff, but there's only so much jungle I can take. It was nice to be in a lighter area for once. Also, all the magic in this episode was awesome. I'm a sucker for the sparkles and the lava-y effects.

I very much enjoyed seeing everyone in Storybrooke. It was cool to see how Granny and Archie are attempting to take care of Belle, even if she's being Mopey-pants. I was also glad to see Belle and Ariel hit it off right away. They're one of those pairs I never thought I'd see put together. They made a great team, even if Ariel was incredibly distracted.

Jumping back a bit, I thought the cloaking spell was pretty cool. I was surprised to see John and Michael's car actually make it through, mostly, before it slammed down. Actually, I didn't think they'd made it into Storybrooke. I thought they'd somehow ended up on the other side or something. I don't know why I thought that, but the reveal of who they were later was actually a giant surprise to me... as I was putting the pieces together anyway. I figured out who they were before it was revealed on the show.

Speaking of, we finally found out who the other person in the cages was. Of course it would be Wendy. I was surprised to see her still a young Wendy, instead of grown up more, like her brothers. It was also interesting to see her sort of working with Pan. I think he's holding her brothers' lives over her head, like he's doing to them with hers. Also, that entire thing with Henry was obviously a manipulation of him. He's being played like a fiddle and doesn't even realize it. I wanted to smack him again.

I wasn't at all impressed with the "Dark Hollow." It wasn't very dark at all, just very red. Like a dark room, but brighter. I figured Neal and Hook would fight over whatever they had to do there, because fighting over things that aren't Emma but are stand-ins for Emma in front of Emma is such a good plan. That was dumb, but gave Emma a chance to use her one magic lesson. I think Emma learning magic is going to throw a wrench into her and Neal's relationship. However, I'm very glad Emma put her foot down with the boys. Henry is her priority and them fucking things up is unhelpful and annoying.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Regina honor her bargain with Ariel at the end of the episode. I didn't really think she'd reneg on that, but it was still nice to see. Uhmm... also, Pandora's Box? Really? How did Belle even know what that was on sight? That bugs me. A lot.

As I said in my last review, we're definitely getting toward the mid-season finale. All the pieces are falling into place. I like that we don't really know what Pan's goal is here, though watching the preview for next week seriously spoils that. Don't do it, if you haven't already. I can't wait to see what happens next week.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Time in Neverland: 5 days... presumably.
• Hook actually annoyed me this episode with his telling Neal and messing with Emma. I dislike obvious love triangles.
• Using Ariel's tail to get free was very clever. I missed Belle.
• Skull Rock actually exists. Why am I not surprised.

Housekeeping

Let me know what you thought of the episode in the comments. Follow me on Twitter!

Also, that's gonna be it from me today. I've got some stuff to do before work... and then work... and sleep.

Love ya, Jessie