Parks and Rehabilitation - Initial Reactions

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen tonight's episode of Warehouse 13, please leave the blog and return later. The following Initial Reactions will contain spoilers.

There will be a Housekeeping section after the Initial Reactions, if you're interested.

Warehouse 13 - "Parks and Rehabilitation" - Initial Reactions

• Started after opening credits because of movie with the family.
• Oh yes, loads of fun...
• What gave off that impression?
• Lol, shut down.
• Fail, Pete.
• Because you didn't put on bug spray.
• Ouch. The poor phone.
• Of course the connection sucks, there's no wifi out there.
• Poor Artie...
• Lol, awkward Pete.
• That's usually what "He's dead" means.
• Suspiciously upset person.
• W00T Marijuana place.
• Grow house, not artifact.
• So why that symbol?
• Claud's not the only one with computer skills, though it's funny Claud still had to hack his account.
• "Gnarly" I love Pete.
• They're totally going to be there, too, that's the sad thing.
• That's kind of a cool place.
• Okay, that's really cool.
• Really, really cool.
• It never does, Jinksy.
• Okay, I was wrong.
• Theory: The ranger is behind the murder.
• Yeah... should have suspected "she of the suspicious crying."
• Lol, Pete.
• Stupidity does that to people.
• Well that sucks for Lockheart. (Or however you spell his name)
• Wrong place for the porthole. Chaos in the Warehouse.
• The Feng-shui spiral read Artie, not the porthole.
• Got to love the big business angry people.
• Ominus crashes are never good.
• Ha! It was the ranger!
• That's not good.
• That was kind of a horrible effect.
• Lol, Pete, focus on the important stuff.
• Claudia makes the coolest stuff.
• Gargoyles aren't good at the best of times... sort of.
• A heck of a lot of damage.
• People with vendettas never do.
• Seriously, big business people annoy me to no end.
• Right on cue.
• Monologue-ing gets no one anywhere.
• Lol, poor Jinks-y.
• Jinks-y screams like a girl.
• Love the design of that thing!
• Awww... they broke it.
• Is it weird that I find it strange that Pete wears Prada anything?
• Glad that's over.
• They're Artie's emotions.
• Hug time!
• Or not.
• Lol, Jinks.
• Yay, the porthole has a place!
• Same old story.
• Got to love the metaphors.
• Awkward time with Claud and Artie! With hug time!
• Mark Shepherd's voice!
• Good on you, Leena.

Housekeeping

It had been my intention to post reviews for the last episodes of The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time before I did Initial Reactions tonight. Obviously that didn't happen. However, I am still planning to post those at some point tonight, so keep an eye open.

Love ya, Jessie.

Second Star To The Right - Initial Reactions

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen tonight's episode of Once Upon a Time, please leave the blog and come back later. The following Initial Reactions will invariably contain spoilers.

Once Upon a Time - "Second Star to the Right" - Initial Reactions

• Well that was slightly unexpected. Straight from the recap into the episode.
• It's London.
• Victorian London, the only place a kid in his kind of outfit would more-or-less fit in.
• Nana! Wendy, too!
• Dang those marathons.
• Gotta say, that was really weird. Poor Frankenstein.
• Well there goes that ounce of hope for Rumple.
• So who stole the beans? Tamara?
• I kind of like Snow's coat.
• That you know of...
• There is more than one person in that room.
• The FBI is in on it?
• Hook doesn't trust anyone. He double crosses you when you betray him.
• That's a horrible joke.
• Torture is no fun.
• The crap is this?
• A horrible ad for Disney parks? Yup. Gonna stop talking about it, now.
• She hiding him away?
• Oh snap, caught in the act.
• Mrs. Darling is officially awesome.
• So does Bae think the shadow is his father?
• The better question is, how did he get it?
• Interesting spell.
• I don't think saving her is going to work, but you can give it a shot.
• Yeah... sometimes those "feel whatever she feels" spells aren't always what they're cracked up to be.
• That's creepy.
• Time for Tamara to lie through her teeth.
• It's about time they had that talk.
• So you think, Tamara.
• Because you're incredibly cock and ridiculous, Greg.
• Oh how wonderful, religious crazy people.
• Poor Snow.
• Wendy seems a little freaked out.
• Pan's shadow is keeping the Lost Boys there.
• Something's gonna happen to bring Belle back, me thinks.
• Family seems to be the only thing, though.
• Gots to love surveilance.
• Greg's gonna get caught.
• Regina's brain is gonna be fried.
• Yeah, don't believe the people you're torturing for information. That's a good plan.
• Battle time at the Darling residence.
• I figured Bae would go with The Shadow.
• Ick, that flying around is making me motion sick.
• Good job shooting the machine first!
• Except is totally was.
• Neil's amazingly calm.
• Go Emma!
• Random magic bean.
• Neil saves the day... until the floor falls through.
• Bye bye Neil.
• Sucks for Emma and Henry.
• Dig dig dig.
• Sucks for you, Greg/Owen.
• Neverland does not sound like a happy place.
• This is how Bae met Hook.
• And Smee!
• Where is Henry?
• Yeah, that's a giant problem.
• Dun dun dun.

The Crimson Horror - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen last night's episode of Doctor Who, please leave the blog and return later. The following review will contain spoilers.

Doctor Who - "The Crimson Horror" - Review

Anyone else think the leech, Mr. Sweet, was kind of cute? Like, seriously gross, but also kind of cute? Kind of?

*Cough* Anyway... I really, really enjoyed this episode. I thought it was both awesome and properly creepy at the same time. Definitely a lot creepier than "Hide." The pacing was wonderful, the one-liners amused me to no end, and the mix of horror and humor was wonderfully balanced.

I know there are some Whovians who might have a problem with The Doctor not showing up immediately, but I thought it was brilliant the way that was done. It was quite nice to see The Paternoster Gang going about their business on their own, without The Doctor around. I thought Jenny was especially wonderful, having to go undercover because she's the only human of the bunch. She was also quite savvy when it came to fighting off the "army of supermodels." I had not been expecting her to essentially rip off the Victorian dress and have a ninja suit beneath it. It made sense, I just hadn't been expecting that nice surprise.

I also really enjoyed the flashback of The Doctor and Clara getting involved in the mystery before The Paternoster Gang ever heard of it. They worked quite well while they investigated things, though I was surprised The Doctor decided to present them as husband and wife to Mrs Gillyflower. I think the best part of that flashback was the "old time film" overlay thing they did. Something similar was done with a flashback in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "A Friend In Deed."

Anyway... Mrs. Gillyflower really creeped me out, especially after she revealed that Mr. Sweet was attached to her. I thought it was interesting that she was working under some religious fervor, which I hate with a fiery passion. I did not like how she treated Aida at all. That's another thing I fervently dislike: parents treating a "different" child as though they're trash. I did enjoy that Aida got her revenge on her mother, both in Mrs. Gillyflower's death and then her own destruction of Mr. Sweet.

Now for some references. I caught a reference to a Fifth Doctor Companion, Tegan Jovanka, while The Doctor was talking to Clara about a "gobby Australian." I quite liked Tegan so that was a nice surprise. There was also a reference to "The Snowmen" at the end of "The Crimson Horror." A photograph of the governess Clara appeared on the children's computer, to which Clara objects. Clara herself obviously doesn't remember the conversation she and The Doctor had last episode, due to wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey reset buttons. That she discovered a previous Clara so soon is interesting, thought she might largely forget about it due to the blackmail going on.

Speaking of blackmail, I'm not sure how I feel about Clara's charges knowing about her time-traveling. I'm also not sure how I feel about there being pictures of her during her adventures so readily available. I can't wait to see how this mess is resolved next week. From the looks of the trailer, it's going to be some weirder than usual Cyberman stuff.

Housekeeping

Tonight, I am planning on watching Once Upon a Time. If everything goes according to plan, the Initial Reactions post will be up immediately after Once Upon a Time.

As for The Vampire Diaries... due to the shenanigans of my life, I haven't gotten around to watching it yet. My plan is to watch it tonight and get a review up with my Once Upon a Time review tomorrow.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Crimson Horror - Initial Reactions

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen tonight's episode of Doctor Who, please leave the blog and return later. The following Initial Reactions will invariably contain spoilers.

Doctor Who - "The Crimson Horror" - Initial Reactions

• Nice placement of the place and date, there.
• No, that's not utterly creepy.
• He's super red.
• That's a super creepy coroner.
• Yay Vastra and Jenny!
• Lol, that guy.
• He saw The Doctor? Ooookay...
• "According to my research." - Reminds me of Dorothy Ann from The Magic School Bus.
• Lol, Strax.
• She's not that bad looking, still.
• This is rather church-like, this scene.
• Of course, that would be the usual strategy.
• They're keeping a prisoner?
• With the fainting this episode.
• Sweetville is certainly forboding.
• A bunch of phonographs? That's seriously suspicious.
• I don't like that coroner.
• So it's something to do with the Silurians, then?
• Uh... that's really weird.
• That was weird.
• Okay what?!
• That looks like a seriously painful sunburn, that.
• So essentially he survived a dip in that stuff.
• He's going to fix himself via sonic.
• Lol, Doctor.
• And of course he gets slapped.
• So... something happened to Clara.
• This is a cute way to do a flashback.
• Tegan reference!
• Is that the dead guy from the beginning of the episode.
• Well there's that explained.
• Decided to pretend to be married. Interesting choice.
• Oookay... that was weird.
• Clara survived being dipped.
• Why preserve people, though?
• Gotta not forget to explain that bit of things to the people helping you.
• A kid talking like a GPS. Very weird.
• That's really intensely creepy and weird and just all kinds of wrong.
• She's seriously messed up.
• Lol, "attack of the supermodels."
• Jenny is officially more awesome than before.
• Well at least Strax is having fun.
• Poor Strax.
• Lol, that was amusing.
• Dude, listen to Clara.
• With a giant steam-punk rocket.
• Another not-an-organ.
• Agreed.
• I quite like the one-liners in this episode.
• EWWWWWWWWWW
• He's kind of cute, though.
• Yup, totally nutso.
• It's creepy as fuck. And didn't they try that in "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"?
• Like mother, like daughter.
• Good job, Clara.
• And the world is saved again! By a chair.
• Gotta love a chase up some stairs.
• That's really very not good.
• ROFL, The Doctor's face.
• She didn't die from that fall?!
• The soundtrack for this episode reminds me a lot of "Blink."
• Good girl, Aida.
• He's not going to, either.
• They have a vault?
• Another fainting moment for that dude.
• Uh oh...
• Smart kids are smart.
• Lol, caught by randomness.
• Dun dun dun.

The Great Escapist - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen this week's episode of Supernatural, please leave the blog and return later. The following review will contain spoilers. I'm also going to be discussing a little bit about The Originals and then will be my usual "Housekeeping" section.

Supernatural - "The Great Escapist" - Review

I admit it, I was wrong. Kevin did not go crazy and just up and leave his boat. Crowley somehow managed to break the windows, steal Kevin, and fix everything before Sam and Dean got there.

This week, we had a lot of Crowley "directing" a pair of demons to play Sam and Dean in order to fool Kevin into giving up the location of the second half of the demon tablet. I will admit, I found it amusing when the demons were attempting to play Sam and Dean. They weren't horrible, but, as Crowley put it, they were too polite. Also, Sam and Dean haven't hung out at the boat hardly at all. Why they'd just decide to camp out there would have been beyond me, if I were Kevin. I did think it was quite clever the way Kevin tricked the "Sam" and "Dean" demons into a trap. I think it might have been interesting if, in fact, that's where he hid his half of the tablet. But since that half is pretty superfluous as of right now, we probably won't find out.

I thought Jared did a wonderful job acting sick and delirious. Sam was pretty hilarious in his weakened state. I'm not sure why exactly he'd "resonate" with "The Word" or whatever, but that was interesting, too. The resonating needed to be better explained. That said, I also really loved Metatron. I think it's weird that his name sounds like a Transformer, but he amused me. Yeah, Dean had some good points when he was yelling at Metatron about the hiding thing, but the way Metatron described storytelling was right up there with how I tend to think about it.

Naomi is making me hate her more and more. I would like to better understand her motivations, though. In my mind, there has to be something more to her wanting the tablet than just "Daddy Issues." That said, I thought it was horrifying, but clever, how she got Cas to stop hopping restaurants. It was nice having him back, too. I also thought where he hid the tablet was a) gross, b) clever, and c) uncomfortable.

I'm glad we're jumping back into plot-mode now. I can't wait to see how this "cure a demon" thing works out. It promises to be interesting.

The Vampire Diaries - The Originals Spinoff

Yes, I know, you probably already knew about this. I had no clue "The Originals" was a back-door pilot for The Originals, a Vampire Diaries spin-off. Frankly... I'm not interested.

The Originals is set to feature Klaus as the main character rather than a side character. I hate Klaus. I think I've made this hate pretty darn obvious. I also believe I made my hate for "The Originals" pretty darn obvious.

That said, I'll still probably tune in to watch a few episodes of The Originals before giving it the boot from my watch-list. Ya never know, I might end up liking it. After all, I did enjoy seeing Klaus put in his place by the witches last week. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes, through reviews or comments or something.

Housekeeping

I might or might not get last night's episode of The Vampire Diaries watched and review tonight. My possible babysitting thing might get in the way or I might just decide it can wait till tomorrow. If I do get it done tonight, it'll show up in it's own post.

Also, I made an update to the "Welcome/Mission Statement" post. If you'd like to read it, click "Read First" over in the sidebar.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Undertaking - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen last night's Arrow, please leave the blog and return later. The following review will undoubtedly contain spoilers.

Arrow - "The Undertaking" - Review

After an entire season of mostly lack-luster flashbacks, we actually get something interesting and relevant to the episode! And yes, I'll be starting with the flashbacks. I think the events leading up to the wreck of The Queen's Gambit really highlight just how evil and desperate Malcolm Merlyn really is. I think listening to his wife dying over and over broke him. He blames everyone in The Glades and himself for her death. I thought that was necessary insight into his character because he was coming off as rather one-note. The revelation of his motivation and his part in the sinking of The Queen's Gambit gave him more than that one-note thing.

Moira also got some character development through the flashbacks. I was surprised to see that she wasn't originally in on the planning of The Undertaking. I do wonder what exactly happened between her begging Robert to stop it and Olly's return to make her support The Undertaking. Perhaps we'll get more on that next week. I thought it was very true to her current character to immediately run to Malcolm when Olly brings her the news of Walter's supposed death. She's gone back to ultimately caring about her family, even if that means screaming at the most dangerous man in her life.

I thought Olly and Laurel during the flashbacks were amazing. Kind of creepy how a wardrobe change, some makeup, and some stellar acting can de-age the characters we know and love in their current state. I do have to say, though, the last part of the flashbacks had me cringing. It's nice to see tangible change in Olly's character. Though I was initially for seeing how the change came about, the previous flashbacks have left me wanting for more than just day-by-agonizing-day of boring island crap.

This brings me... in a somewhat convoluted and nonsensical fashion that only makes sense to me... to Felicity. She is really the most adorkable thing. Her going undercover was a nice touch, since neither Olly nor Diggle could do it. I think she did an excellent job at portraying a card-counting gambler, up until she got caught. Her return to babbling was, well, a little over the top. I wonder how exactly the casino-owner didn't notice her placing the bug. It was really obvious she was doing it. Other than that, though, I enjoyed how Felicity played "relationship counselor," as Diggle put it. She also did the most amusing babbling in her scene interrupting Olly and Laurel and the scene in the hospital at the end.

Now on to the last part of the episode. I thought Walter's rescue was really well done, though it was somewhat convenient for Olly to just have a plane to jump out of. I thought the sort-of confrontation between Malcolm and Olly was interesting. Malcolm clearly has no idea that Olly is the vigilante and so that conversation must have seemed very different. I thought it was nice that Laurel finally got a confession of love out of Olly, though that seemed kind of squeezed in. Last, but not least, I like that Olly now knows for sure that his mother is working with Malcolm. It should create more tension between the two leading up to the season finale.

Let me know what you thought in the comments below, if you would. I'd love to get some dialogue going about this.

Housekeeping

So... my nephew is officially sick. I just not got finished watching Arrow and typing this up so I could get this out before midnight. I did not get to watch The Vampire Diaries or Supernatural today. I'm not sure when that's gonna be happening exactly, but it should be sometime this weekend... I hope, anyway.

Love ya, Jessie.

Grimm - Endangered - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen yesterday's episode of Grimm, please leave the blog and come back later. the following review will contain spoilers. Also, feel free to jump down to the Housekeeping section below the review.

Grimm - "Endangered" - Review

As usual, the Grimm team has turned in a great looking episode. However, it was filled with a lot of convenient bits that made it feel... not so stellar.

First, we got a bit more back story on "The Key." Turns out, even Renard doesn't know exactly what the keys are keys too. It's the usual "Alchemy, everlasting life, untold riches" kind of thing. Uhm... yeah... that wasn't what I was expecting.

Next, we got a little bit of development on Juliette's retrieved memories. I was actually really surprised how upfront Monroe was about the Grimm thing. Mind you, he basically echoed what Nick said about it. Juliette still has yet to learn about Wesen, but at least she's rediscovered her lover for Nick.

The rest of the story with the glowing Wesen was really... weird. I wasn't a fan of it. It hinged on a lot of coincidence. People showing up in the right place at the right time with some mysterious black market selling of Wesen. I did like Monroe going all Blutbat on the bird-guy.

I'm really hoping next week's offering is better than this was.

Housekeeping

I will not be doing Initial Reactions for Arrow this evening. Odds are, I also won't do Initial Reactions for The Vampire Diaries tomorrow either. I've got some babysitting issues going on.

That's about it for me this evening.

Love ya, Jessie.