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