#So funny how the episode reviews were longer this time

[unforeseen-idiot]

Shovelwarewolf Season 2 Review

Shovelwarewolf Season 2 Electric boogaloo, or the season where stuff finally goes down. I love that the story and production value jump in quality with each other in this season.

Sonic 06: Great episode to open with, we meet Susan (who definitely knows more than they're letting on), a cool season theme, acknowledgement (however brief) of the whole arm thing, and an Escape From the City parody, what's not to love.

Goldeneye: Solid episode, I think it has some of SWW's best one liners (Hell's Angels, The Mafia, GAMESTOP!). I learned to never insult Judy Dench, and that I should probably watch a James Bond movie.

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Another fine episode, Ivan mimicking the glitch was pretty funny. I don't have a whole lot to say about this episode so I'll just write here that Ivan and Susan have a great banter, and that Susan was just a great addition to begin with, but I'll get to that later. Oh and Test Your Patience was a good capper on the episode.

Duke Nukem: Just getting this out of the way, this game is pure trash but SWW's reactions are too funny. I also like the character development at the beginning with Ivan and Susan, she really was just the only one who was nice to him. Also I don't know why this occurs to me, but the company described the next game as, "A console with a Zelda game" I just remembered that the Switch came out with Breath of the Wild in the same year as this season, I don't know how that's relevant, I just thought it was cool.

Legend of Zelda Wand of Gamelon: Oho what an episode, great gameplay, great story, and great one liners. Susan got to be really cool in this episode, which leads me to believe that she definitely planned this in advance and the therapist bit was an act (she went from running from the room during a transformation to bursting in and rescuing Ivan/SWW without batting an eye in the same day, no way that just happened). I also just love this game's stupid clips and the SWW one liners to go with them: "(Recorder noise) THANKS, (same recorder noise) THANKS...FOR NOTHING" "You've killed me, GOOD. Dang, that's savage, who knew Zelda was such an OG" and "Link gave them to me. GASP! YOU KNOW LINK, LIKE OMG" such good writing. and The Shovelwarewolf's a Running is amazing.

Home Alone: Finally we've reached the finale, pretty great all things considered. First I just want to acknowledge this little scene from Death's narration, "With the help of his therapist" while panning on cool bada** Susan, just funny to me. I'd also like to acknowledge Ivan's TV playing AJ and Nate's weird Spider-Man and Batman Save Christmas Movie, wish they'd finish that someday it looked cool. I love the Home Alone parody for the cool ways it adapts the theme, like the Gamecube trap. Santa just having 180 in terms of character and going on a full fledged villain arc is so hilarious. The game itself is weirdly a cool take on a Home Alone game, like most licensed games at the time would take tons of liberties with the source material but this one was pretty accurate, even if it still sucked. Susan got to be cool again, but at the cost of a very forlorn scene. Oh boy now we get to meet our dude Biffalo Bub, simultaneously RE's most stupid but also most realistically scary villain. That silent clip montage at the end still unsettles me.

Music Rating:

Season 2 Opening: One of the best, that opening bass riff is still so mesmerizing. And the violins, and the soft piano, and the synth, oh so good. This opening feels a lot like a triumphant return for the character.

Season 2 Transformation: Conversely this variation of the transformation doesn't really do it for me. I like the way it closes I guess, but I just don't love it. It also has this weird repeating note that just bores into my skull.

SHOVELWAREWOLF! (Test Your Patience): Pretty good parody, I love the recap of the games he's played so far (except Goldeneye for some reason).

Shovelwarewolf's a-Runnin': Great parody, it introduced me to the Werewolves of London. I love it's use in the show and the vocals.

This is My Safehouse: Great composition for the Home Alone episode. Seriously AJ really flexed his composing powers here. The synth is really great, I love the little incorporation of the transformation theme.

Sleigh-Riding Sleazebag: Not much to say on the song other than the title, and it's use of random Christmas carols, but evil.

Couch Gag: I love this gag, Ivan dubbing over game footage is so funny. Like the last one it makes me think of him being so bored he just does stuff like this to pass the time. This time I'm happy he didn't have one for Wand of Gamelon, I feel like the dialogue in that game stand on its own.

The season is so good. It gave us a great SWW mask, a great character in the form of Susan, and excellent story development. And it only gets better from here. In addition, while others have described it better than me, this season has interesting symbolism in obsession and trauma.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 1 part 4

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1])

well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions

do you think it took Rio a long time to choose her revenge dress? did she agonize over every detail? I picture her process like, okay I need an outfit that says fuck you (threatening) but also fuck you (horny) and fuck me (very horny) and then circle all the way back to FUCK YOU THOUGH (VERY threatening)

as to why Rio goes from super soft to *that* - I see it as the equivalent of the TV trope where someone almost dies and their loved one is very concerned, but as soon as there's no danger they slap them around the head and call them a fucking idiot. this is Rio's WELCOME HOME, CHEATER moment (Agatha has been kiiiind of been cheating death, lbr)

this is the best way rio could choose to approach agatha too, and not only because it lets her express all that pent up anger. what would be the alternative? sit Agatha down and have a honest chat? Rio knows her too well, she knows it would be simply too much. Agatha *is* more comfortable with big bombastic scenes, with violence that is a lot like foreplay. Rio is looking out for her right now, she is making it as easier for Agatha as she can, while also not letting her get away with her bullshit any longer.

one little sentence, so many ways to read it

only physically. she's not letting you in. not anymore. you'll have to save her from herself kicking and screaming. dear god she's actually honestly crying. this is a WHOLE fucking deal. and it's also the first time she sees Rio while knowing WHO rio is. she's feeling all the feelings

girls. GIRLS. how am I supposed to take decent screenshots if you keep flinging each other at walls. keep STILL! (look at the furniture btw, isn't it a bit curved? I think they're still using a fisheye lens. reality is still shifting. almost as if we're in the presence of an otherworldly being)

oh the metaphor of it. sometimes you just have to reach out and connect, even if you get hurt in the process.

BECAUSE SHE'S BEEN SHIELDING FOR SO LONG TO HIDE FROM PAIN. OH MY GOD. did a 2000s emo kid write this

every other MCU fight wishes it were this perfect storm of hot and emotionally devastating

Rio cannot physically kill Agatha, it's not allowed, she's only the collector. So what is she trying to do, exactly? Has Agatha really been cheating death for so long that Rio has no choice but to bring her in? Or is she not here to collect at all and this is just her way to get back at her ex (and possibly win her back)? I adore both options, they're tragic in different ways.

time to bullshit! time to bolt! time to get to that escape route! this is what Agatha does best. anything but face the truth

funny how agatha usually has no problem looking undignified. it's almost like this is not the point at all. so let's review: wanda has stripped agatha of the powers that have been keeping her hidden from rio. rio comes over to confront her - and not kill her, she wouldn't be allowed anyway. she does it in a way that agatha would find less scary than having a mature convo. still, agatha has to face things she's been escaping for so long and it's simply too horrifying, too overwhelming. the fact that she's joking around so much (while her future conversations with rio will be sad, soft, dramatic) tells you just how scared and how miserable she is. She's begging rio to stop, because even fighting and flirting, which is their comfort zone, is proving too much. And what does rio do? She listens and goes away. only temporary, she won't let her off the hook now that she has found her. but she's still willing to go at Agatha's pace.

aubrey plaza I would die for your evil little face

can I just say that agatha trying to flirt right now is devastating? she is at the end of her rope. she does NOT want rio to stay, doesn't trust herself around her in so many ways. but she knows how much rio wants her and just... she tries to manipulate her with flirting. it's a desperate gamble, completely undignified, completely in character for agatha. she offers herself to rio, but only physically. when what they had was infinitely more than that, it was beautiful, it was sacred.

and rio... forgives her. she laughs another one of her little soft laughs and lowers the blade. plaza is so good here, the way she says "okay, agatha," is a perfect blend of resentment and tenderness. she knows agatha better than anyone ever had or ever will. she knows why she does everything she does. and she follows her lead. one last time.

agatha's relief. she's trembling, deflated but still on her guard. she looks completely traumatized. the masterpiece that this scene is: you feel smart when you realize that they're flirting rather than fighting. when it finally dawns on you the real weight of their encounter... it's too late.

"by the way there's a bunch of scary witches after you and I totally want them to kill you, that's why I'm telling you exactly who they are and when they're coming"

agatha tries with all her might to believe that rio is heartless. because anger is easier than sadness.

we're leaning, we're leaning, we're leaning!

rio licking agatha's wound to heal it perfectly encapsulates her feelings: anger, horniness, and infinite tenderness. what a power move. rio was the one in control this whole scene, and it wrecked agatha.

"te veo" (I'm gonna go scream in a pillow)

she's gone, honey, she's gone. breathe.

Billy walking on the two of them having sex would have been less awkward than this

she was a BIT preoccupied, kid

and episode 1 is in the bag!

next stop: IT'S LILIA TIME

go to episode 2 part 1

[all-pacas]

a list of all the times foreman and chase actively shaded one another in s1-3, because i think it's very funny,

histories:

PATIENT: [Foreman] doesn't like me. I can tell. CHASE: That's okay. He doesn't like me, either.

sports medicine:

CHASE: House says you were lying. I believe him. FOREMAN: …What’s that? You got a little wet smudge at the end of your nose!

control:

CAMERON [to Chase]: He’s not gonna fire you. FOREMAN: I’d fire you. Bye bye. CHASE: If I screw up, the patient dies… I’ll never get another job. FOREMAN: So go stick your head between your legs and lick your wounds in Gstaad.

mob rules:

CAMERON: Chase has a big mouth. FOREMAN: Yeah. He's probably the one who ratted to Vogler. [of note: Chase did obviously rat to Vogler, but Cameron spends these same episodes defending him and sure he isn't the rat; Foreman immediately jumps to "fire Chase"]

heavy:

PATIENT: I’m thirsty. CAMERON: Just a little bit longer [with this procedure], and you’ll be done. FOREMAN: Like Dr. Chase.

[later, House asks who Foreman would fire:]

FOREMAN: Chase. HOUSE: What — because he screwed up an angio a month ago? FOREMAN: Anyone can make a mistake. HOUSE: Right, it’s the money. You resent it, but you’re going to tell me he doesn’t need the job. FOREMAN: He doesn’t appreciate the job. HOUSE: He was ready to go three rounds with Cameron for it. FOREMAN: He wants the job. He just doesn’t appreciate it. There’s nothing wrong with just wanting to hang out, but this is not the place to do it.

babies and bathwater:

FOREMAN: [under his breath] Here, pussy, pussy, pussy. CHASE: I didn’t do anything. FOREMAN: Exactly my point. CHASE: You wanted me to yell at him? What the hell would that have achieved? What, is he going to jump into his time machine and fix everything? FOREMAN: When a dog dumps on the floor, do you pat its head and call it a genius? No, you smack it in the nose with a newspaper! CHASE: Dogs can learn things, House can’t. FOREMAN: Coward. CHASE: Child.

acceptance:

FOREMAN: If someone asks you to describe me to them, what’s the first thing you’d tell them? CHASE: Insecure.

tb or not tb:

CAMERON: I wrote your people a check last month. PATIENT: Oh, well… write us another one. FOREMAN: Talk to Chase, he’s rich. CHASE: My dad, not me. [i think offering chase's money to a stranger counts as shade]

the mistake:

STACY: Why did Chase screw up? FOREMAN: Because he doesn't give a crap about patients. STACY: He always gets positive patient reviews. FOREMAN: Yeah. He smiles all 84 of his teeth, tells them his tonsil story. STACY: It's a nice story. FOREMAN: He still has his tonsils! As soon as he's out of the room, which is as soon as he can be out of the room, he starts in on the trash talk. Thinks not giving a crap makes him like House. Like it’s something to aspire to. Am I going to have to testify? STACY: I… won't be encouraging them to call you.

failure to communicate:

CHASE: Even if he fell, drug use is far more likely. I’m ordering a tox screen. FOREMAN: Chase, we're not done with the differential. CHASE: You're not my boss. FOREMAN: I'm House's boss, House is your boss. The math is pretty simple. CHASE: Are you signing my paychecks? Are you hiring or firing? FOREMAN: This is not about that. CHASE: The only thing you've been asked to do is supervise House in case he does something insane.

distractions:

FOREMAN: Plug it in. CHASE: You plug it in. FOREMAN: Fine, give me the cord. [under his breath:] Wuss.

who's your daddy?

[during a procedure] HOUSE: Chase, high right atrium, please. CHASE: Her heart’s fragile after that last attack. The chances of tachycardia – HOUSE: You have my permission to blame Foreman at any negligence trial. [chase does as he's told]

cane and able:

CHASE: How could I screw up a simple bleeding time test? FOREMAN: Maybe you were abducted; lost time. [later:] HOUSE: So you’re saying Chase did screw up. CHASE: Or Foreman screwed up. FOREMAN: Big hand points to minutes. Maybe you got them mixed up? [later:] CHASE: We’ve had three results that haven’t been consistent. One of them must be wrong. FOREMAN: Or two of them.

fools for love:

[house is trying to bet foreman on wilson's new girlfriend. foreman hasn't accepted the bet:]

HOUSE: We could spend all day arguing whether we bet or not. Give me the hundred bucks. CHASE: Come on Foreman, pay up. He won! Or we could just never finished the DDX.

[later:]

HOUSE: Aha! Brochure to a jazz festival in the Poconos this weekend. CHASE: Wilson likes jazz. Foreman, pay the man.

[later:] CHASE: If [the patients] can live here without killing each other, they must really be in love. It’s tiny. FOREMAN: Then how come it’s taking you so long to search it? CHASE: Box of condoms in his jacket. FOREMAN: I know you’re poor now, but buy your own.

[later:]

CHASE: Hey, Foreman, can you wear the beeper for a couple hours this weekend? [off his look:] What? FOREMAN: We just destroyed two peoples’ lives. CHASE: I’m not allowed to run errands any more? FOREMAN: I’d like to see some sign that it affects you, or that you recognize that it affects other people. CHASE: So are you going to wear the beeper or not?

finding judas:

CHASE: I wasn't kissing his ass. FOREMAN: It just looked that way from our angle. You on your knees, House bending over. CHASE: He predicted the pancreatitis. CAMERON: It's his dad's fault. CHASE: My dad was an ass. CAMERON: But you did everything he wanted you to and, in return, you got everything you wanted. CHASE: Yeah! It's that simple. CAMERON: His strategy worked. Dad got him a cushy job, paid for his cushy life. CHASE: Cut me out of his cushy will. [cameron looks surprised/apologetic here; foreman continues:] FOREMAN: I told you, just his nature. Poor guy's hardwired to kiss ass.

[later:]

CHASE: Tritter finally froze my accounts. FOREMAN: Really? CHASE: You surprised? Why wouldn't he? FOREMAN: I figured if he was singling you out, you must have done something different. CHASE: What? Like talking? FOREMAN: Yeah. And now that he's frozen your accounts, you probably will. You need the cash, right? CHASE: He doesn't freeze my accounts, I'm guilty. He does freeze my accounts, I'm guilty. [foreman shrugs]

top secret:

FOREMAN: House would do Wilson before you'd do Chase. CAMERON: No, you would do House and Wilson before I do Chase. Now can we get back to work? CHASE: She did me once! FOREMAN: [laughing] She was stoned!

act your age:

CHASE: For the record, Cameron's the one who broke it off. FOREMAN: Not interested. No masses in the hypothalamus. CHASE: I wanted more. She didn't share my feelings. FOREMAN: I feel like I'm in a similar position.

resignation:

CHASE: So, why are you leaving? Or is it just some sort of power play? FOREMAN: You can have my parking space. My locker. CHASE: Is it about House? FOREMAN: Let me get all sensitive and confide in you. CHASE: Why wouldn't you want to tell me? FOREMAN: I don't like you. Never have, never will. You want me to share some more?

the jerk:

FOREMAN: I'll do it. But I've got a job interview after work. Anything comes up later, you guys handle it. CAMERON: Need a peer recommendation? FOREMAN: Thanks. [he looks at chase, who sort of shrugs] CHASE: Cameron's should suffice.

[later:]

CAMERON: Foreman's interview in New York got screwed up. CHASE: I heard. CAMERON: Foreman thought it was House, House thought it was Cuddy. Cuddy thought it was Wilson, Wilson thought it was me. CHASE: And you think it was me? [chuckles] God… you think I… sabotaged Foreman? I don't even want him here. CAMERON: I know. CHASE: Then why would I do…? CAMERON: I think you sabotaged Foreman just to sabotage Foreman.

[hopepaigeturner]

Hope's Review of S3: Benedict Bridgerton

Again…a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. But first...

PANSEXUAL BENEDICT? WE GOT PANSEXUAL BENEDICT? (She screeches at her 2020 self who wrote an entire story around that premise then had to fundamentally rewrite it to make ‘canon’). They delivered?!?

And just as before, I liked moments:

“Love is not finite” speech from Eloise—finally some emotional labour from the boy.

His contribution in the club scenes with Will, Colin, and John Stirling.

I actually liked Tilley. The actress really sold their banter and her personality. Also it merely confirms once again that Benedict likes a bossy girl with convictions. *COUGH* Sophie Beckett*COUGH*

The dinner scene where he stumbled over the question about his art. I think all the acting worked really well.

Again Luke T’s acting is really nuanced and detailed with micro expressions and gestures. He really sold scenes, e.g. when he was talking to Tilley about Paul. Kissing Colin? Perfection! All his gestures and background acting once again were golden.

While I felt the swing scene was a little tacked on, I like when he said “There she is..” when Eloise said she wished to change the world. I think it’s a lovely moment to show how Benedict understands Eloise. He knows she just needed time and space to work it out and return.

However, I do feel that the writing this season, like Benedict himself, felt…lost. No real coherency, no real consistency from prior seasons.

While it was awesome to get pansexual Benedict, if that was the ending then why not have him build a relationship with another man rather than Tilley? While Benedict does sleep around his track record has not been casual--he typically takes one mistress each season, and one that he has a genuine connection with.

If you want to give a storyline justice, have more than one conversation with Paul to show why he’s attracted to Paul. Why stuff it all into one episode? Why make it focus solely on sex?

There are numerous hints about him being the next season. And from that perspective I don’t think this storyline really contributed to that.

E.g. I don’t think we’ve really explored the whole ‘second son thing’ at all.

For me there was a lack of consistency about him & emotional labour. Where was his relationship moments with his siblings? With Francesca?

Apart from one dinner scene we do not get any mention about art. No comment from family about it. No comment from himself. No deflection or even topic arising. And maybe people say the dinner scene is enough, but we literally see no reaction from Benedict after having his heart crushed last season.

All I’m worried about is that they might unveil all this complexity about Benedict (e.g. second son thing) and viewers are gonna be like. Where did that come from?

And it would have been so easy to add this stuff in-literally just an expression or a sentence.

E.g. Second son thing.

Take the scene in Will's club when they're passing around the drink. And Colin says "Are you not the happiest you've been [being adrift]". While Benedict's reaction is funny, I would have loved the camera to linger just a moment longer and show the smile slip. He says this is the happiest, but in actuality?

A couple sentences, even a joke from him or a family member, about him handling the estates. Being the ‘backup’ while Kanthony goes on holiday.

In that convo with Paul and Tilley in bed, why not have Paul crack a joke about second sons?

E.g. Emotional labour.

Why not have him have a chat with Francesca about John. Or a chat with Francesca before her debut. Or hey? Maybe just actually have him interact with his family? The moments when he did were so good!

E.g. Art & Art School

Have Anthony ask about art school, have someone make a comment. And have Benedict just brush it off—his smile a little larger than his usual ones… (and have it in an early episode). Not only would this show how Benedict does not like getting into conflict. Not only does it hint at the pain about art school that will be delved into during his season. But it also shows the front he puts up with his family.

Literally. One. line. One extra exchange.

If you’ve got time for countless other subplots, you’ve got time for a small exchange to help set up your next lead.

But all in all, I’m not fully despairing. I’m just wary for next season. And in the meantime? I've got two years to finish An Offer from an Avid Reader so I'll just lose myself in that.

And do you know what pansexual Benedict also means? A bonus?

Solidifies my head canon of Sophie and Benedict being the artsy, bohemian couple that hosts soirees for all their friends of varying classes and sexualities. Using all that privilege and hoarded Bridgerton wealth to create a refuge for their friends.

[starlightseraph]

doctor who series/season review that no one asked for!

overall this series was an 7/10 for me. the plots were mostly good, the characters were lovely. the dialogue was occasion corny, but this is doctor who we’re taking about.

- the special was alright, not great but still enjoyable.

- “space babies” was weird as hell, but not terrible.

- “the devil’s chord” was good, funny, and with a compelling villain. i think it might’ve been resolved a bit too easily, but still, i really liked it.

- “boom” was great, i have like two very minor quibbles with the pacing but they’re so tiny that it’s easy to ignore.

- “73 yards” was amazing, but i do feel like they set up a lot of plot threads that never came to much later in the series.

- “dot and bubble” was also amazing, very well done.

- “rogue” was great, basically the only issue i had with it was that one line. you know the one i’m taking about. i need rogue to come back, he and the doctor have amazing chemistry. as someone who’s not a fan, the incessant bridgerton references were mildly annoying, but i know that many of my fellow gen z people love it, so i’ll give ruby a pass for that.

- “the legend of ruby sunday” was so good, i was incredibly excited to see how all the overarching mysteries throughout the season would connect. it was probably because that episode was so good that “the empire of death” was so disappointing. the pacing was off, the resolution was odd, and so much was left unexplained (assuming, of course, that there isn’t some larger, longer-running conspiracy that we have yet to see the full picture of, but that seems unlikely atm, except for more involvement of mrs flood).

i only have one issue with the series as a whole, which was that we didn’t see much relationship development. i guess there wasn’t time because this series was so short, but i go crazy for doctor-companion bonding. scenes where they’re just sitting around, talking about life and the universe and everything are my favourites. i recently rewatched “the impossible planet” and “the satan pit”, and the doctor/rose dynamic is wonderful when they just talk. the six month time gap from the special to the first episode is probably when the doctor and ruby got to know each other, and i would have loved to see it.

[mx-piggy]

I really missed writing Hulurama reviews. I had no idea that a new episode was out until Wednesday, and I was too sick to want to watch and review it until today. I'm really looking forward to writing these reviews again, and I'm hoping to start working on my Hulurama review and ranking that I'll post to my website at some point. For now, here's my review for The One Amigo. Spoilers ahead!

I think it worked well enough as a season premier. I definitely preferred The Impossible Stream as an episode and as a season premier, because I found Impossible Stream a lot funnier overall. But, I think I preferred this episode's social commentary a lot more just because I found it funny, whilst with Impossible Stream it was the same old tired commentary about streaming services, from what I can remember. I'm not overly knowledgeable about NFTs, but I did find most of the episode's jokes about them to be quite funny

I think my enjoyment of this episode exceeded its objective quality.

I found it to be quite sweet, with Bender getting to spend time with his family and with the Planet Express crew caring enough about him to do a museum heist to steal back his NFT and hopefully make him feel better.

The solid humour elevated this episode enough for me to make me like it.

That said, I do think that narratively it was kind of a mess. As far as Bender has a crisis episodes go, this one is probably one of the weakest. The set-up of Bender's crisis felt quite poorly justified, and overall the Bender's family plotline and NFT plotline, for me at least, didn't link very well together. I understood what they were going for. That said, I think a 'Bender finds his family' story should have been set up with a more explicit 'Bender wishes he has a family' set up. I'm glad they didn't just abandon the NFT thing once Bender went to Mexico and that they actually did more with it throughout the episode, but, again, I think that there must have been a better way to set up this Bender story. At the very least, I think that having the NFT story actually carry on throughout the episode was better than doing the Family Guy thing where there'll be 7 minutes of Peter having a falcon or something, and it sets up the rest of the episode but has no actual significance to the story.

Additionally, I didn't think the story was given the weight it warranted. Bender finding his family is so significant, but it never felt like that the episode understood that. I was fully expecting the reveal that this wasn't Bender's actual family with how little weight this was treated with, but nope. It struck me as odd that Bender was so emotionally unaffected by his cousin's betrayal. I think that the only way they can salvage this is to do a follow-up episode, but, at the same time, I think it'd be a bit weird for them to follow up this episode when a lot of us are expecting follow ups to episodes earlier in the show (like how Children of a Lesser Bog followed up Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch).

I think that this had the opportunity to be a good Bender crisis episode, but it missed the mark for me. Fry's family stories and Leela's family stories are typically really emotionally effective (Luck of the Fryrish, Leela's Homeworld), but this one just wasn't, when I think it really should have been. For what it is, though, I think it's alright, a solid 6 or 6.5/10 episode.

There were things about this episode I appreciated. The setting was interesting, and I like that Hulurama is giving us new and unique settings for episodes. Despite thinking that the NFT story and the Bender's family story didn't connect well, I did enjoy the museum heist as a fun little subplot. Seeing more of Amy's kids was really fun, and I hope to see more of them this season. I loved that Fry was at the table drawing with the kids. Leela's line 'thanks for springing us from the joint, kids' was so fucking funny to me. The return of the Fing-Longer was fun. I loved that we saw iterations of Bender from episodes past in the gallery of NFTs, like the gold version of him we see in the Farnsworth Parabox, or the knight version we see of him in Bender's Game.

I wouldn't say I was disappointed by this episode. I enjoyed it for what it was (i.e. a fun little Bender episode with a fun little subplot with the other guys), but I am a little frustrated about how it wasn't what it could have been (i.e. an emotionally resonant character episode). With this episode falling flat in that respect, I'm hoping that we end up getting some emotionally resonant episodes this season like we did last season, and that we get some good character episodes like we did last season. Honestly, though, this is a pretty mid episode and I still had a good time with it overall, so suffice it to say it takes a lot for me to dislike a Futurama episode. I just like seeing more of my little guys, I guess. But, I'm also prepared to find out that I'm the one person who liked this episode (it's a familiar experience for me lmao).

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts about the episode, so feel free to comment or reblog with your opinion!

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Ep. 10 "Identity Crisis" and Ep. 11 "Point of No Return" Review

Oh wow guys, those two episodes were rough. Definitely went places I didn't expect, but I was overall satisfied. It makes me hate the Empire and Hemlock even more though. Hemlock is such a twisted and sick man. He's right up there with Tarkin and Palpatine for most disturbing Imperial imo.

Anyways, let's dive in! Per usual, spoilers below

I wasn't expecting Emerie as a focus tbh. However, it was actually pretty interesting. Ever since we met her in season 2, the mystery around her and her purpose have been kept in the background. But I must say, getting to see her POV and her conflict between her loyalties to Hemlock and compassion for others was neat. The way she clearly connects to children and thinks back to her own childhood definitely raises questions for the future. I strongly believe that Emerie is going turn against Hemlock in a final act to save Omega at the cost of her own life. After seeing the children being experimented upon, she was clearly horrified. Emerie also has shown concern for both Crosshair and Omega, with the latter being extra special to her.

Speaking of the children, that was absolutely sickening and heartbreaking to watch. Cad Bane is back in his abduction era, oh yes. (He and Todo act like an old married couple and it’ll never not be funny to me). My heart shattered when both Eva and Jax stated all they wanted to go home. The dark truth is that they never will. Unless Omega and the boys successfully free everyone from Tantiss, then those kids will forever remain prisoners. It just makes me hate Hemlock even more. The children are definitely instrumental in Emerie's change of heart and I think she was meant to be created for the same reason Omega was. However, she failed for some reason. We'll get more lore soon no doubt.

I also found Tarkin's line about Hemlock stealing all the funding to be humorous. It'd be so funny if Hemlock just made the Empire flat out broke.

And yes, it was finally Pabuover. We all knew it was coming, even the Marauder's destruction. However, I do understand some people not feeling as impacted by it because it was in the trailer. Nevertheless, it was still hard to watch. Freaking Cid once again sold the Batch out. That woman better be stuck in a deep, dark hole for all the trouble she caused. Because of her, a beautiful, little family and a lovely island were destroyed. That being said, I'm glad the way they found Pabu was through looking at Phee's recent travel history instead of the "Crosshair sleeper agent" theory. It would've made no sense if that theory was correct because the Empire took their sweet time tracking him if that was the case.

Seeing the Batch say goodbye to Pabu was sad. Omega putting Lula and Tech's goggles in the Archium symbolizes her leaving her childhood behind imo. She can no longer truly be a kid anymore. Pabu was that safe space. However, it is no longer.

It's truly the Batch's darkest hour aside from "Plan 99." Their ship is gone, Wrecker was knocked out, Hunter had a rough landing, Omega is captured, and Crosshair missed...

I had a feeling Omega was going to give herself up, but to see Crosshair miss such a crucial shot, a shot which would've led the Batch straight to Tantiss, was brutal. He's never going to forgive himself. And how will he explain this to Hunter and Wrecker? Cross went along with Omega's plan and now there trust in him will waver. And the look on his face when he pleads with her to not go through with the plan broke me. That man loves her with every fiber of his being. I swear, Jennifer will be hearing from me soon. Omega doesn’t even know he missed which will also be devastating (but it opens the door for Emerie to save the day).

I knew a moment like that could happen, but to see it hit different. Crosshair had no choice. He was being shot at and out of time. It was now or never. I sincerely hope that he and Hunter don’t argue for the majority of the next episode. Ideally, Hunter will recognize that Cross was backed into a corner and that he what he needs is therapy and hugs, not more yelling.

(Also, why did Crosshair’s imperial theme play for like two seconds? Was it warning us about the shot?)

And then there’s CX-2. Man he’s hard to get rid of, isn’t he? I am so convinced he’s Tech at this point. It was his word choice that clued me in. But with 4 episodes to go, I wonder how they’re going to pull this reveal off, especially if it is Tech. We’ll see.

Btw, I’m so glad they didn’t kill Batcher. The dog is very important you know.

That’s all for now! See yall next week and we can cry some more!

[thecomicsnexus]

SWAMP THING #69-75

FEB - AUG 1988 By Rick Veitch , Brett Ewins, Alfredo Alcala, Tatjana Wood, John Costanza, Dave McKean, Tom Yeates, John Totleben, and Mike Kaluta.

After refusing to destroy his successor, Swamp Thing accidentally puts his world at risk. Now with the help of John Constantine, he will need to find a new soul for the sprout, and finally retire to live with Abby.

SCORE: 9

The only thing stopping this review from being a 10 is the very complex lore that is starting to make the book very dense. Especially if you come back to the back after a long break. And it's not just the lore, it's also how long these stories are running.

In any case, reading these issues was very refreshing. It was back when stories, no matter how serialized they were, still had a good sense of pacing. And Rick Veitch made sure to give you something back for your money every month.

To me the best episode of this batch was the one with the plane accidents. Looking for a successor for Swampy, John Constantine does all kinds of risky things, just to be able to single out a person who was about to die who was somewhat related to Alec Holland.

But this Gary Holland immediately realizes he is about to die, and every single moment of his last day is plagues with bad omens. Still, John has no other choice but to get in the plane that was about to crash, just to save the world. John survives the plane crash, but then find out that Swampy found the souls of the plane crash and helped move on to the afterlife (he was unaware of John's plan). It was so dark and funny, that it really reminded me of Vertigo comics (or perhaps the average Alan Grant story).

The next episode had also a very creative narrative device. With the panel orientation being taken over by the line of captions, making every page with the character, technically a maze.

These are all very thought-provoking stories with a lot of poetry in the art itself.

But I have to repeat myself here. The great moments were possible thanks to the super long arc, which doesn't even end with issue #75. However, I felt it was the right time to finish the binge. I already knew that Abby was going to try to be a mother, so it didn't come as a surprise.

And here's another thing that's going to make this story even longer. It will crossover with Hellblazer. And I am not sure how much it will matter for the book, but Invasion will also tie in with this book.

Nevertheless, I'll take that small flaw (same problem the Legion books always have), in favor of stories like these.

[tacharie]

VERY LATE REVIEW ON EPISODE 8 WOW.

HEY GUYS SO SO SORRY IVE BEEN LATE BUT IM HERE… ROGHT BEFORE EPISODE 9 😭😭😭. guys but for realsies I don’t really have much to say for episode 8 cause I mostly forgot what happened. TIME TO BRING OUT THE SCREENSHOTS. As always, spoilers ahead of you have not already read Tokyo Debunker Episode 8, and these were written in the order of my reactions, so you will be seeing how my reactions progress. There will be no more spoiler warning ahead of this soooo pls don’t blame me DANKE :3

ohhhhhh ok ok I see this and I’m kinda not liking it!! They’re pretty and all but like… I hate auctions cause it’s like geez louise. I’ve read so many zombie manwhas where they start selling people at auctions and it makes me so uncomfortable now that I see auctions.

ANYWAYS staring off strong with my boy RITSU!! I haven’t seen you in forever my lizard looking friend what’s happening !!!

this bitch is no longer my friend. WHAT ARE YOU BEING SO MEAN FOR DO YOU NOT REMEMBER THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF US TURNING INTO AN ANOMALY LIKE DANG. Like Ik you’re all head first into work or whatever but geez Louise, part of being a lawyer is being empathetic to understand how to get evidence from witnesses dumb dumb.

why is this LOSER. Not listening to my glorious queen. Just because it don’t follow the charts does NOT mean that it isn’t plausible like cmon think logical here. Also, when he’s like getting mad at Taiga without actually talking to him, I can just see him shaking his fist in the air lmao. Moving on from him… ROMEO CALLED US :3!!

HAIIII ROMEO MY NEW FAVORITE OF SINOSTRA WHATS POPPING!!! Also, NEW FACE!! NEW FACE FROM ROMEO I THINK. He has an angry one all the time last time, but now this one is more like… concerned?? Idk MOVING ON!! Also, I’m starting to like Romeo and I really want to know his lore for now. Cause look at this:

Like who is doing this to you BBG!!! I kinda feel bad for him he’s js a lil guy sometimes :(

(NOT IN LIKE THE FANON MIDORIYA WAY BUT IN LIKE A he’s very pitiful sometimes)

Also dang what is with this tension between Taiga and Romeo bruh. Like they’re legit acting like exes. I DONT SHIP THEM DONT GET ME WRONG. But like… there was DEFINITELY SOMETHING. Especially since Taiga remembers his name/nickname.

Yuri and Jiro :(!!! I MISSED YOU TWOO HAIIIII!!! Guys they’re so cute lmao Yuri getting worried like a friend awwwwww… though I’m pretty sure it’s because Jiro is still his subject. ARGHH OMG 😭💕 “I was only there cause I was looking for you” AWWWWWWW THATS SO SWEET!! The whole vomiting scene was so funny and silly and cute of them I hope we see them more!!

WOAHHHHHHHHHH!!! AWOOGA HELLO 😍😍😍!!! GUYS THEY LOOK SO PRETTAYYYYY!! Dang Romeo hand selected them, no surprise there. They’re sooooo cute AND THE MC AHHHHHH SHES SO SILLY 😭😭💕💕💕!!!

“try not to be discreet” immediately grabs Taiga’s ear. Oh wow. Also Imma need Taiga to STOP WOTH THE KITTEN TALK. IVE HAD IT 😡😡. ITS NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!

WHAT. NO. NONONONONONONONONO PLEASEEEEEEE SPARE ME WHY ME 😭😭😭. WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO SHARE A ROOM WITH THESE THREE LUNATICS. BRUH TAIGA’S PROBABLY LIKE A SLEEP BITER. UH UH I REFUSE 😡. You guys are rich aren’t you?? Can’t we have separate rooms pretty please. Also besides from sharing, I don’t like the idea of staying overnight. Cause they told us nothing!! We ain’t got toothbrush, deodorant, NADA. It’s gotta REEK in there.

Ok so… Romeo knowing the password is not rubbing me the right way. I hate it actually. Romeo please don’t be TOO sketch!!! Please please please I BEGGGG!! Also woah… I don’t like how it looks!! Like the AI is so obvious with this one PLEASEEE INVEST IN A BACKGROUND ARTIST. It’s not that difficult I promise you. The music is hella nice tho MEAH MWAH LOVELYYYY!! Also if you screen record a video with the background, you can see they added a shaky effect which was cool!!

alright Romeo. How’s you come up with the name. Guys he might actually be in some dark shit uh oh. Chat I think my fav sinostra character is cooked. Taiga pointing that out makes js confirms my suspicions. Like guys. Sighs. Also, I highly doubt Gojo teacher is gonna bail us out of this one taiga 🙁… he’s … NOT THAT GREAT!!

Ok so we split up anddddd… Taiga went to a bar. Naturally. RITSU, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM. Like, I know he’s not personally insulting anyone, but like getting compared to Romeo is bad?? I mean, I guess they’re kinda opposites so IG!! Gulping down Taiga’s drink is WILD LMAOOO 😭😭.

ok moving onto their little exploration, Taiga, leaves his three blind mice looking glasses alone. It’s actually kinda cute that Ritsu is so sweet for his mom. ALSO HOURS??? FOR GLASSES?? I thought I was indecisive geez man. And oh!! They found the mask right? NOT TAIGA SUGGESTING THEY GANK THEM WHAT 😭 WHY IS HE SHOOTONG THE PLACE UP HELLO?? WHY DID HE SHOW RITSU TO WHACK THINGS WITH HIS BOOK OMG 😭.. IM DEADDDD.

alrighty now our side. Romeo and queeny let’s gooo!!! Romeo scamming some guy is actually crazy lmao. But like, he knew this guy?? Then why is this guy acting like he doesn’t know Romeo? That’s … STRANGE!! Anyways, AHHHH THAT ONE ART OF HIM HOLDING THE PAINTING WAS EVERYTHING :(!! So sweet so cute!! Other than the fact he scammed someone but I digress!!!

“There’s only a handful of people in this world that know the true vale of things.” Such an odd sentence to add, that’s more of an inner dialogue thing but he said it aloud. Maybe he meant smth else by it but like IM NOT THAT DETECTIVY GUYS!!

Romeo please leave my Boy Yuri alone 😭😭. They got that little man stressing fr. But I wanted to point out a few things from their conversation:

-“ Someone’s gotten cocky” (Romeo to Yuri) The word gotten changed the entire meaning of THSI sentence. They knew each other before… from Frostheim maybe?? Cause we know both of them have personal beef from frost heim, maybe they both transferred but were once close back then. Sounds kinda cliche but. Further evidence: “I remember when you ran off crying to the grubby old lab, now you’re playing king of the castle?” So maybe not together, but just what kind of connection did they have? Maybe Romeo was a bully :(

BUT WAIT !! THERES MORE!!! “ha ha. Fine words coming from a has-been like you. Why, I hardly hear anyone speak of you these days. I suppose your accomplishments were only possible before you relinquished your brand name. Oh, I suppose it’s more accurate ‘before it was stolen from you?’ “. … WOW!! Ok!!! So yeah Romeo was popular, he was .. maybe forced out of Frostheim because of his family situation… or maybe bullied out of it. With Romeo, a lot of times someone mentions something being stolen from him, which is probably why he’s so obsessed with wealth. Their relationship is so strange, I need to raise their affinities to see more lore.

Aw yeah, my queen got the lobster and pasta she deserved for her dinner!! I’m so glad that we don’t have to sleep with each other bro like legit JUMPING FOR JOY 😆😆😆!!!

Aw shucks Romeo is being shady once more ; “ Just relax by your little fireplace and I’ll bring you a nice souvenir. I’ll bring you back that mask so don’t forget our deal.” PROFESSOR HYDE. IK ITS YOU. WTF ARE YOU UP TO. Why does he want that mask, why does he need a mask, is he doing this against Darkwick or for them? Guys I need answers like urgently.

Oh no. It’s Taiga. Everyone smile and wave. Bruh why is he talking to us like he don’t know us m. It’s us, your kitty patootie. YEAHHHH HE RECOGNIZED US!! PROGRESS GUYS!! Omg wait he might actually remember the train… HE DID !! HE DID YES 😭😭!! TAIGA YOU ARE THE GOAT MY GLORIOUS KING TAIGA. Wait but he forgot where the monster went. Man… can’t do nothing fr 🙁. Uh oh :3 Romeo caught us!! DAMN TAIGA BEING SO MEAN FOR WHAT. “We were just talking about how gross you sound buttering someone up” like dang. We think that, not say that. What power does Gojo teacher hold to control Romeo so easily… I don’t get it :(.

phew day 2, auction day!! Taiga sleeping in the ceremony is so real. WHY IS HE SO READY TO SHOOT EVERYBODY GEEZ. Oh!! Romeo comes busting in… AHHHHHH MY GLORIOUS QUEEN MC IN THE BACKGROUND SUCH A CUTIE. Oh he actually started shooting ok!!! Awesome!!! OH WHAT THE… THEYRE ALL GLITCHING. RUN MC TUN. DONT LET THE OTHERS SLACK YOU!!

Ok so they got to the exit, and they won’t let us out… AWESOME. JUST AWESOME. Bruh Taiga is going on some riddle shit JS TELL US PLEASEEEEE. Bruh. Romeo. My guy. My pall. WHY TF DID YOU HAVE SO MUCH TREASURE 😭😭😭. WHY WOULD YOU THROW IT RIGHT AT RITSU. RITSUUUUU GET YO ASS HOME!! Oh wait his stigma nvm. He’s chilling. That panel of Ritsu saying his stigma goes hard though.

AWWWWW THEIR DIRT COVERED FACES ARE SO CUTE!!! AHHH I LOVE IT!! Too bad about the mask and Romeo’s treasure but we chilling. OH WAIT NVM TAIGA GOT THE MASK!! YAYAYYAYAY!! Romeo looks so happy aw 😭. Oh.. OH!!! ARE THEY ABOUT TO KISS?? WHAT HAOPENED IT ZOOMED IN ONTO ROMEO’S LIPS WHAT HAPPENDD.

Oh we’re back at the Diner with Ritsu. WAIT CAN WE SEE OUR BOY REN :3??? BRUH WHAT. TAIGA ATE THE FUCKING MASK??? HUH??? Another probation is actually crazy dang…

Oh shit Taiga and Hyde. “Lay off Lulu” AWWWWWW HE CARES ABOUT HIS FRIEND. AWWWWW!!! Bruh Hyde is actually pissing me off bro tf you mean “The stage is nearly set” FOR WHAT??? FOR WHAT PURPOSE??? Guys 😭

ok so that’s that. Uhhhhh I might have skipped a few parts but this is merely going off on the deleted screenshots I took the time I read it. The only thing I do remember is what I was thinking on each scene. Honestly, not much was given in this one for like DARKWICK lore, except for the fact they work with underground connections as well as governmental. That’s actually so wild how powerful they are. I’m actually so excited to see more of Ritsu’s emotional side, and Romeo/ Taiga’s backstory, not just tightened but their personal ones too. Still don’t have Taiga’s unique magic womp womp :(. Hyde… is freaking me out a bit too. And nothing has been explained about why Hyde called Sho for a “special mission”. It doesn’t look like he’s gonna be a part of the next chapter too, so it’s making sho SUPPERRRR SUS rn. But anyways I hoped you enjoyed and I will make another one of these VERY soon for Episode 9 :3!! Ciao , until next chapter!!

[thatseventiesbitch]

That '90s Show Part 2 Review

Overall, I'm giving Part 2 4.5 Stars out of 5!!!! I completely loved it, and thought it was an improvement from last season. I am now all the more excited for part 3, given what I know is still coming. 😜

If you're interested, here's my real-time reactions thread from Twitter (pinned to the top of my bio).

Stay tuned for my breakdown (warning: there be spoilers here):

The Good

The H U M O R continues to be the brightest spot for me. This is a genuinely funny show - I laughed out loud (okay, closer to howled if we're being honest) several times. It feels similar (though not identical) to T70S' brand of humor. I can tell it was made by the same people. This season, like last, Ozzie was my main man and had the one-liners that sent me the most but I can say the same for Jay, Gwen, Nate, and Leia too. And Bob. Oh hell, all of them! I'm sure I'll be reblogging my favorite moments for months to come while we wait for part 3!

The C H A R A C T E R D E V E L O P M E N T is the other shining star for me. The first season was limited (disappointing?) in this regard - to be fair, they only had 10 episodes to introduce us to a whole new handful of characters and make us care about them, and they mostly did. But this season brought the depth I was looking for - and we're only halfway through! 🤯 We learn more about Jay's playboy past, and see how he's actively working to grow and change and do his relationship with Leia differently. Ozzie is humanized when he has his heart broken - and his friends are there to pick up the pieces 💔. Nate struggles with his feelings and relationship with Nikki all season, and by the end of episode 8 he seems to be grappling with still having real feelings for her that he can't move on from. Nikki's pregnancy scare really affected her, and not in the way one would necessarily expect. She ended part 2 feeling lost and unsure of her direction, or what she truly wants (and not her parents), for the first time in her life. Gwen's storylines were perhaps my favorite of all (I'm a big Gwen stan, okay?). I was impressed that they decided to 'go there' with the racism plot, and even more impressed at the frank conversation she had at the end of the episode with her white (and well-intentioned, but bumbling) mom. Was it perfect and resolved? No. I think that was kind of the point. Not to mention her navigating her first real feelings and her relationship (?) with Cole. And Leia, my lovely Leia - she is learning about communication, forgiveness, honesty - all with the gentle guidance of her family and her friends. And that's not to mention Red and Kitty, who had sweet, plot-driving storylines of their own. I loved their realization that they like their rut - but loved even more when Red was inspired to live every day like it's his last and pushed through his fears to go to Paris with Kitty 🥰. This longer season has afforded more 'filler-like' episodes for us to just hang out with the characters, and get to know them more intimately. What are their wants, fears, insecurities, innermost thoughts? We are getting there. We are really getting there. Let's see what 8 more episodes will bring!

BOB! Bob gets his own point, because I enjoyed him so much (and seeing him and Red eventually come together to be overprotective grandpas 🤣. I laughed so much at his relationship with Leia, how they were just chilling in the basement, how he wanted all the teen gos. And Gwen's "What the heck, do you tell your grandpas everything?" 😂

DONNA! I adore Donna Pinciotti (Forman?), always have, and I adore her even more in the '90s than I thought possible. I love seeing her as a mom and her relationship with Leia. More pls.

This season felt more '90s to me! They incorporated more '90s references and brought back the regular fantasy sequences that always set the original apart. Off the top of my head, I loved: Kitty's Carmen Electra fantasy/nightmare (😂), Leia's Lisa Loeb fantasy (🤣), the Macarena (that shit was e v e r y w h e r e in the mid-90s, man), the Mentos commercial, Jay and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith cameo!!! also, Leo's son???) and all of Kitty's '90s slang that she picked up from the kids at school 😂👏🏻

The guest stars! Mitch and The Angel returned from T70S, and I am a big Will Forte/that era of SNL stan so I thoroughly enjoyed his appearance, too (and know he's been involved on the OG series on the writing/production side).

Red's trains (callback to season 1 of T70S - whoa!!) 🥰

I thought they struck a good balance this season between those heartfelt, 'very special episode'-type moments that '90s sitcoms were infamous for, without actually being too sickly-sweet, ala a Full House or Girl Meets World type moment. Donna and Leia's interaction in Nikki's bedroom regarding the voicemail comes to mind, as well as the is-Nikki-pregnant storyline and Nikki and Nate's celebratory dance at the end 🤣.

Which reminds me - I thought Nikki and Nate's storyline was intriguing. I have always been sort of a fan of their relationship - I don't think it's as bad as some others seem to - but remain unconvinced that they're 'meant to be' or endgame or whatever. But I enjoyed watching them navigate their break-up this season and then reluctantly find their ways back to each other, though. We'll see where it goes in part 3!

I immediately noted (and was pleased!) that there was a Laurie mention and a Midge mention this season. Both very off-hand, but it was something I was curious about. Who will be next? Betsy Kelso? 😮

The Bad

For me, ngl, Topher Grace's (Eric) absence was really felt. It is definitely the kids' show now and a substantial storyline isn't one I'd ever expect, but gosh I missed him from the family scenes at the beginning (both those with Red & Kitty, and those with Donna & Leia). The silver lining is how the other characters continue to reference him - almost in every episode, really - and so we still learn things about him and his relationships to his wife, daughter, and parents through these mentions from other characters. There will always be a part of me that is crossing my fingers for another Eric appearance, though, and I think there always will be.

Kitty's characterization as an overbearing mother was overdone. To be fair, this isn't a deviation from the original show. This is how she was often written towards the end of T70S - overbearing, possessive of Eric, lashing out at Donna or feeling in competition with her. It was done for laughs, but it wasn't particularly funny to me (and never was) 🤷‍♀️.

Not enough Geia content for my 'shipper heart 😩. We got one boob touch 😂, and it is clear that Leia still prioritizes her friendship with Gwen above all else (I lol'ed when she worried Gwen was in jail and that she would have to commit a crime to join her) but I want more, damn it! Part 2 solidified for me that Geia is never going to be anything more than a crack!ship. 😰

Which reminds me - Jay and Leia are kind of 'meh' for me. They're fine, I don't dislike them together, and I do like how we're seeing them both learn and grow through their relationship but... it just inspires kind of lukewarm feelings, I guess.

There wasn't a lot of Sherri in part 2. I love Sherri. Hope to see more of her in the next part.

The Ugly

I am pleased to say that I can't think of anything!!! Fez was absent (although they didn't directly reference their break-up, Sherri is clearly single and on the prowl all season) but I didn't miss him (🤭). Ditto to Kelso and Jackie - although we did get one reference to Jay's dad and the Kelso family heirloom (aka porn). I would say the ugliest part is that I now have to wait until October for part 3!!!

[forktutwtt]

How tf is Futurama literally exactly the same in every conceivable way after 10 years. EXACTLY the same. Like no time has passed at all. It’s insanely impressive how consistent this show is.

Here’s my longer review:

LIGHT SPOILERS

It’s amazing. I would not notice a shred of difference without the knowledge this is 10 years later (beside the fact they reference the show being cancelled like they always do). Nothing has changed.

Legitimately the most notable change was that Hermes voice sounds slightly off (still obviously the same guy but he’s probably just older). He had like 4 lines though so it’s hard to say it’s really a change.

I loved the way the episode acknowledges the time passing and the previous episode in terms of overall status quo changing plot. It makes sense while still placing it in July 3023 and that’s cool. Although the episode’s plot was resolved in a very silly way that makes it kinda hard to buy, the jokes were consistently funny (especially the professor), the events were creative and escalated well, and plots concluding oddly is pretty on track for this show. Which leads to my last point.

Literally all my problems with the episode are the same I have with the rest of the series. For example, although they explicitly show the events of the previous finale, after the reset they do not acknowledge Fry and Leela’s relationship directly. Other characters still act as though they’re dating though. I’d say that’s weird and disappointing but frankly that’s what the show’s been doing for 26 years: barely focusing on the relationship and keeping in the background unless it’s the focus. They seriously dedicated themselves to making it EXACTLY the same. No improvements and no losses in quality of any kind.

Amy even had all the bad jokes! That’s how you know it’s the same old Futurama.

Overall, I’m shocked this exists and I love the comeback so far.

[radioluminescentoblivion]

Hazbin Hotel: The Corruption of Creativity. Part 1

1. Introduction

Hello everyone, I normally don’t make huge posts like these, but I thought it would be important to make this review and discussion about the latest animated show on Amazon Prime, Hazbin Hotel, and the people behind the scenes who worked on the show, mostly the show creator Vivziepop. Back in 2019 when I first watched the animated pilot of Hazbin Hotel, I was interested to see how this show, if picked up, would go about with its story. Like many people who were still fans of Vivziepop’s work, I wanted to see this show become a good adult animated series. In fact, as the production was going on behind closed doors, I supported viv and her work via Patreon for a time and bought some merch from Sharkrobot.com to help fund her endeavors—I even still have my Angel Dust t-shirt and Hazbin Hotel poster in a black picture frame. 

2. Personal Fan Origins

Though I wasn’t an og follower of viv back in her older days on DeviantArt, I was introduced to her work around 2014-2015, that’s when I originally saw her fan-animated Kesha Die Young music video and since then I became a fan of her work and was obsessed with her means of creating very expressive and stylistic characters. Vivziepop was the artist who not only introduced me to the furry community, she was also a big inspiration for my artwork and still is to some extent now, had it not been for her, I don’t think I would’ve been in the position I’m in now to make art or it would’ve taken me much longer than where I started. 

But as much as I was a casual fan of her work, I was also a skeptic of her as a person over time. Primarily due to how she would be overly defensive towards criticism, radiate a toxic personality on others and friends of hers, and how she would intentionally and unintentionally weaponize her audience against those that landed on her blacklist. These traits would only become more apparent over time, but I like many others had the mindset of “separating the art from the artist” And while there is some validity to be made on that notion, it makes it all the harder when the person intentionally makes the art inseparable from who they are or they’re still active or alive and will constantly change their position or view on things. I know there’s a much deeper discussion to be had about this notion and how relevant it actually is, but for the sake of this post, I won’t dive into it that much. 

Watching Helluva Boss in 2019 onward would prove to be a conflicting experience since the first time watching the first season wasn’t as bad, some episodes had some strong character development, decent action scenes, and enjoyable songs. 2, 5, and 6 were some of my favorites in the series, but around season 2 episode 4, I was losing interest and I began to see the cracks in the show and noticed that the charm had dwindled going into the second season. Episode 6 was where I stopped which is funny because the last episode (at least currently) was episode 7 which I didn’t even bother to give any attention to because I didn’t like the show much anymore: The characters were losing whatever charm they had originally, making the characters I did like lose that vibe I enjoyed and those I didn’t like before I just didn’t care or it made it all the worse, the pacing didn’t get any better as the show was always going so quickly but rarely having time to sit down and digest even when there were scenes that had those moments, and for a show that would have differing times from 10-30 minutes, it made it all the more rushed, the stories were all over the place in a way I had no fun engaging with or could get behind, sometimes plot points like D.H.O.R.K.S’s evidence of demons would be revealed but never brought up again or have the same impact on the show, and some of the songs were forgettable (though I did enjoy Cotton Candy).

After I stopped giving HB a watch I decided to be patient and wait for when Hazbin Hotel would drop, and on January 18th, 2024, the first episode would drop to present the new show to the world.

3. Hazbin Hotel Review (Spoilers, Obviously)

Summary - 

Hazbin Hotel is an adult animated series about the daughter of Lucifer named Charlie Morning Star, a demon princess seeking to rehabilitate sinners in a less violent way to combat overpopulation in hell. Along the way, she manages to get support from the enigmatic radio demon named Alastor who helps Charlie and Vaggie bring in sinners in an attempt to redeem their souls for a price while trying to be as cooperative as she can with the odds stacked against her. 

When I first watched the premiere of the show, I wasn’t really blown away or impressed by it, which isn’t a bad thing since not a lot of shows have a strong start with their early episodes in the season. Where it did get interesting however was around 4-6 when it started to focus more on character development and give some time for the main cast to shine and maintain some consistency with the story, though this has its limits. There were also some decent songs, some funny dialogue, and even some sprinkling of action around the end. Unfortunately, in the later episodes, it started to fall back to where the show lost its touch. So let me get around to the pros and cons of Hazbin Hotel:

The Good -

As someone who felt burnt out from Helluva Boss, this is an improvement as far as comparing viv’s older work goes, which is a slight benefit. 

Performances are great as far as voices go, especially when you have people like Keith Davids in your line up, though I would be a little more positive on the casting choices if it didn’t also come at the cost of the old cast, I genuinely believe they should’ve been given additional voice roles if not main ones for the show, so that sucks. 

Songs can be hit or miss in this show, with More Than Anything (both the first and reprise) and Loser Baby being the better examples and the rest not sticking out to me as much, either because I don’t think they had as much impact or they felt out of left field. I think it would’ve been better to not have every episode with a song number unless it was a grand introduction to something (i.e. Poison, Loser Baby, More Than Anything). Though I don’t expect this to be a popular opinion so whatever

The visuals are fairly competent with few to no issues that caught my eye, my only critique would be that due to how fast everything feels it can be hard to follow what's all happening, not to mention having the background and background characters look as eye-catching as the main cast can throw people off of where they should put their focus on. It's not as terrible enough where I loathe it, but it could make some contrast of who/what you should pay more attention to. 

The Bad -

The story loses track of the main premise of Charlie trying to redeem sinners and her relationship with Vaggie. The side plots don’t interest me as much aside from Angel Dust and Husk having some empathy for each other slowly through the series, and the other main cast aren’t nearly explored as much. Idk the best way to describe it, but it seems that most of the focus of the side characters isn’t where it should be (the hotel’s residents) and more so on those outside the hotel, which I think would’ve worked better in the second season rather than just the first. If season one was just focusing on the residents, Charlie and Vaggie more than the other characters, I wouldn’t mind that. I think the only exceptions to this would be the hell overlords discovery of how to fight back and Lucifer helping Charlie with the hotel. But back to the main cast, Charlie and Vaggie’s moments of romance and bonding seem few and far between, which sucks since this is supposed to be about them right? RIGHT?! The potential is just wasted.

Not every song is needed or has a place in every episode, though that could be because I wasn’t feeling them as strongly compared to the ones mentioned. Not much else to say there that hasn’t already been said.

Characters don’t appeal to me as much aside from Niffty and Sir Pentious (they’re the best) and unfortunately, the characters I should care about don’t get enough time to shine due to how this show is hastily paced—which leads me to my next negative.

Pacing is absolutely atrocious, for episodes that last 30 minutes, it feels like everything has happened yet also little has happened in such a short period of time (which is insane to me) Viv has had pacing issues in the past with her work which is concerning to me, mostly because she wasn’t always this speedy with her series, there were times she had more breathing room for her older works for instances like the Son of 666 and Timber, even the short Bad Luck Jack (which I liked) suffered from this in ways. Idk what exactly happened, but it seems like viv’s workflow has just gotten worse over time, and her artistic magic, patience, etc has just vanished.

Jokes? For what attempt of humor was there, it was very little. Once in a while, there was a joke that stuck the landing or made me chuckle, such as Charlie and Alastor swearing unexpectedly, only because it’s so out of left-field you wouldn’t expect it, so the joke works. Or when Niffty and Sir Pentious act their usual awkward selves in front of others. But everything else is just not funny to me because the majority of the humor is either sex or profanity jokes that don’t have that great of build-up or go for something more than just “haha adult words” which ironically makes it more juvenile than adult. I don’t mind stupid humor, but make it funny and not because you want to say “fuck” for the sake of it. Even if it’s just for casual talk, it's overly excessive. It doesn’t hurt to find humor in other ways even if those don’t land either, it's better than just resorting to profanity and sex.

Additional Comments -

When it comes to Vivziepop’s older works, it’s better than Helluva Boss but weaker than her shorts or animated music videos (fan-made or original), the strongest elements within the series lie within the hump of the season and fall short from the beginning and end. Though as annoying as that is, it pales in comparison to the other elements in the show. 

Heaven’s methods of carrying out exterminations every year to dissuade the populace of hell from rebelling is just a very dumb thing to do when there are so many other ways to shatter the morale of a persecuted people or nation without lifting a single sword that would’ve been better implemented and create a larger divide between heaven and hell and less costly as well. Perhaps this is just to further showcase how arrogant and incompetent Heaven is, but I have my doubts on that. 

Alastor as a manipulative radio host works well between Charlie and Vaggie, though I wish they wouldn’t have explained his ties to the disappearances of hell’s overlords so soon, it just takes away from his mysterious nature as this eldritch being. That part to me would’ve worked later on. (Yeah, I’m also aware they did something similar in the pilot too, which brings up another issue I have) 

Continuity between the pilot and the first episode is pretty murky, it doesn’t help matters when the plot of the pilot and the series episodes get collaged in so haphazardly. If I never heard of Hazbin Hotel or Vivziepop’s work before, I’d kinda be thrown off a bit and try my best to catch up on what’s going on. I don’t expect an expose of how everything works, but an organic flow of how things come together would’ve been nice. For instance: the pilot itself feels more like an episode one than the actual episode 1 of the first season. I know the point of the pilot isn’t as strict in its rules, since it's supposed to sell an idea to a network or distributor. Hell, The Amazing Digital Circus does something similar to how Hazbin Hotel does with presenting a first-episode introduction into the world and characters, only it does it far better and it hasn’t even gotten its first episode out yet, but I don’t want to compare apples to oranges on two different shows. The point is, the first episode should’ve had a better flow to it or at least maintained something more consistent like the pilot did. 

But by far the most glaring problem in the show isn’t part of the show itself believe it or not. But to keep this short, I’ll leave that for part 2. 

4. End of Part 1 

Originally when I watched the series I gave this a 7/10 on IMDB because I came at this from a perspective of how I would judge the work based on viv’s prior craft, this gave it a point above Helluva Boss, primarily with pacing, and direction of what it should be about and where to focus the story and characters. That being said, I was being very generous and didn’t also factor in on how it stood on its own two feet, and to be honest? It's not that good. For the first season of a new adult animated show, it’s too rushed, and not fleshed out enough in areas where it needs to be, The majority of the characters I have little interest or investment in, and despite having its moments, it's not enough to keep me hooked to know what happens within the next season. 

This would bring it down to 1 point for that to a 6/10, I know some fans would put the blame on Amazon, A24, or Bento, but here’s the thing, other shows have had episodes with similar limited space and time to tell their stories yet do a far more superior job in doing so than this, from what I understand, Amazon seems pretty open for a studio big or small to do as they please with what resources they have to get out what they can regardless of the restraint of episodes to be made, thereby making studios try their best to work harder on making a show work with such little episodes, so I see this mostly as a personal thing with viv and her team than just amazon. 

Now I would just leave it at that and move on, but I’m afraid this is where things get more muddy and grim.

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Do you guys have podcast recommendations? I'm caught up on everything I listen to, but you guys are my favorite podcast, so I assume we have similar tastes

AWWW i'm so honored that we're your faves! grey is no longer a podcast listener so i (crystal) shall be the only answerer

in terms of people-watching-a-thing podcasts, i've enjoyed:

doctor huh- two brothers, one a former doctor who watcher and one who... only knows about it from social media... watch nuwho eps in a random order

zero to zero- three friends watch dc/marvel properties and respond w fun and funny levels of haterism. i have enjoyed ALL of this despite never once touching something they reviewed. on maybe-permanent hiatus

LMNOP- the only good cbs elementary podcast. also on maybe-permanent hiatus

i've been meaning to watch that- i've listened to less of this one, but it's hosted by manika dulcio, who we had on our s4 wrapped, so if you liked her there check her out on her home base!

as for fiction podcasts, listing my fave subscribeds below! for some of these, the first few eps are kinda rough but i've found them all resoundingly Worth It eventually! also if you, babpod listener, care about this, all of these have queer main characters and i'll bold the ones where the main char is explicitly a poc:

hi nay- "a supernatural horror fictional podcast about Filipina immigrant Mari Datuin, whose babaylan (shaman) family background accidentally gets her involved in stopping dangerous supernatural events in Toronto." v rich lore v good at being creepy! (ongoing)

the silt verses- what if every single folk deity was real and hungry and society ran on ppl being sacrificed on telephone poles? incredibly sexy writing like SO sexy (ongoing)

midnight burger- space diner adventures and friendships! they recently dropped a 3-hour beautifully audio-engineered season finale they've grown so much since the beginning. great cast and fills you w so much wonder about The Universe (ongoing)

greater boston- an expanding cast of chars tell the story of the forming of a new city on the boston red line train cars. makes u wild about community and interconnectedness and local politics and how no one is beyond compassion while also having like. cheese robots (ongoing)

within the wires- what if a world war led to a worldwide cultural shift that decried all tribalism starting at the family unit and babies were separated from their parents at birth? extremely interesting world and formats though i do think it's kinda tired after s4. i think listening to s1 then reading the companion novel might be the Move (ongoing)

unwell, a midwestern gothic mystery- what it says on the tin! lily returns to the fading small town she grew up in to care for her mom. there are ghosts and town history and wolves in the woods. some rlly beautiful and complex family relationships and friendships, great vibe and sound design (complete)

parkdale haunt- p classic haunted house horror (well i say classic. there's also an influencers cult) which i also consider a Top Friendship-Focused Media (complete)

alice isn't dead- usamerican road trip show about the horrors of freedom. spn wishes. love jasika nicole as a VA (complete)

the pasithea powder- epistolary space bisexuals after a war that left them on opposite sides. excellent interpersonal drama and aliens (complete)

wooden overcoats- v funny british funeral home rivalry show antigone funn is the weirdgirl extraordinaire (complete)

monstrous agonies- nice soothing ten-minute segments of a supernatural advice show. i think i've mentioned it as being the anti-spn in terms of the monster rights and monster-human cohabitation background of the world (complete)

midnight radio- ten-episode small town radio show ghost romance. it's an excellent annual fall listen if you have a saturday free (complete)

mabel podcast- ONE OF THE PODCASTS OF ALL TIME. if you care about women you will like this podcast. i've always found anna and mabel so revolutionary and freeing to listen to. horror podcast about fairies and a house that loves (creepy edition?) you (long hiatus)

brimstone valley mall- silly delightful y2k demons in a mall (long hiatus)

the far meridian- magical realism story about a girl living in a teleporting lighthouse. sweet and melancholic (long hiatus)

khôra podcast- greek myths in space. i need to hug all the characters (long hiatus)

ty for this ask i love podcasts i need to catch up on them!

- Crystal :)

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I find myself questioning why I'm still bothered and how I let it get to me the lack of nuance in fandom discourse. Especially with K-Pop and everything I've witnessed in the last 3 years. The bigger the fandom, the less chances for it to be cohesive and attract a specific demographic able to participate in a certain high level of discourse.

I remember a few years back I was lurking in the Black Sails community here on tumblr. I was usually someone who would read the weekly reviews to tv episodes and that would be enough. In the case of that series, it didn't feel enough because to me, the reviewers were missing or ignoring the complexity of that show. And to my surprise (although it shouldn't), the fandom on tumblr was one of the best I had the chance to observe. There was dedication, yes, but more than that, smart people were writing these amazing essays and analysis worth of getting published in established journals. Well beyond a simple review. They were media literate, which is something that gets lost more and more as time passes.

Of course I don't expect that same thing in a fandom like Army. They can barely be compared. Army is way, way larger. It covers a wide demographic which is good and bad simultaneously. Theoretically, there's a place for everyone, regardless of their identity/background. So in cases like that, people tend to choose their own corner, subsection depending on where they fit and their interest. Perhaps a teenager is more likely to spend time on tiktok making edits and looking at clips, without following each and every type of content out there. Because they don't have to. Fans using weverse are also their own category that exhibit a specific type of mentality. Twitter and tumblr are places that offer the platform for a more discussion-type of engagement, with twitter taking the first place.

So, we find our community and that's supposed to allow fans to live in harmony. I know, funny. It's never like that because we like to peak and invite ourselves in other spaces. And the places can easily become echo chambers. But what is interesting to note is observing what the fandom deems as an echo chamber. A solo stan account or a shipper is an echo chamber, but an account focused on the group as a whole and only their achievements and updates is not. It doesn't matter that the user feigns ignorance when confronted with weird hashtags trending because they had no idea. They curate their experience. It's perfectly valid, but the danger of creating/becoming part of echo chambers happens to all of us, regardless of our type of engagement. The longer we sit comfortably in our corner, talking to people who are of the same opinion as ours, the greater the risk.

Nevertheless, there is still this need of showing one's superiority based on the type of subsection of the fandom we are part of. Which automatically fails because it shows our ignorance and getting to what I wanted to talk about, the incapability of engaging in a nuanced discussion. Of course this is not something that we should expect from everyone. Like I said, we need to know our "audience". I won't go to the weverse/IG pages wanting to talk about Asian fetishization in kpop fandoms. It would be pointless. But we do touch on those types of topics on twitter and tumblr. Which is why I don't find it completely absurd to have expectations.

Shipping within the fandom has once again been under fire today, more than usual. And it showed, as each and every time, that there is simply no bridge, no way of finding a common language, of willingness to have that nuanced conversation without resorting to generalized statements. The result of that usually creates more harm, divides the communities even more and sweeps under the rug the normalization of a specific type of shippers who transform mentions of sexual assault into a weapon to attack and offend. As serious as this is for people who are not online 24/7 in fandoms, it has indeed become the norm for those who are part of it. So then why we ignore it? Why do we generalize it instead of addressing the exact person or community who does it regularly? Because it's the crazy part of the fandom and those who are not part of it consider themselves to be better than others. Feeling superior is the ultimate goal. In a fandom of millions, we all try to differentiate ourselves in one way or another. And that leads to our fandom identity and automatically our position towards issues within the larger community. Being for or against, wanting to engage or not, is sending a message. It's always more about us than the people or content we talk about.

I know I haven't touched on 1% of what this topic should cover, but these are just some thoughts. We can't all be the smartest and better than everyone else when we are completely fixated in some beliefs that come to exist based on how much we want to use our intelectual abilities or simply refuse to.

[romancomicsblog]

Harley Quinn adjusts to the status quo while still maintaining most of its charm - REVIEW Season 4 Ep 1-3

*Spoilers for all of the Harley Quinn show*

Harley Quinn is a show that continues to impress me with its swings and devotion to beloved characters. I would say this is one of if not my favorite DC Universe. You can have fun portrayals of classic characters that feel authentic, and you can have the Joker become the Mayor.

Going into season 4, I was a bit skeptical about the idea of Harley joining the Bat-Family. The concept itself is fun, but the Bat Family, particularly Barbara and Nightwing, have not been my favorite interpretations of the characters.

Don't get me wrong, I love Harvey Guillén, but this Nightwing is too uptight. And Batgirl remains too fangirly for my taste. Nonetheless, having Harley trying to figure out Batting and having a day out with Alfred was probably my favorite episode.

"I wish a bitch would try" from Alfred likely got the biggest laugh from me. It is rather unfortunate to me that Alfred will not be a part of that story any longer, as he get imprisoned at the end of episode 2.

So far the Bat Fam/Harley parts of each episode has been the main draw for me. Harley trying to figure out the superhero game while likely making fun of superheroes has comedic potential.

I really like that the central struggle of the season is Harley & Ivy needing to figure out the new work life balance. I think a lesser show would've had them break up for Harley even considering being a hero, or have both of them become heroes.

Now we have two coinciding stories that will eventually have to come to a head: The Bat Family vs The Legion of Doom.

While many of the Ivy jokes in the workplace were funny, I do think Ivy needed more characters to bounce off of. I think pairing Ivy with Nora Fries is an excellent choice. While it took me a while, I have taken a liking to Nora. The idea of Mr. Freeze's beloved wife being a real asshole and incredibly obnoxious gets funnier and funnier to me by the season.

Bringing in King Shark in IT and doing more with Bane to flesh out her entourage seems like a winning strategy. I'm sure in time the Ivy storyline will draw me in more.

Also introduced in these episodes is Talia Al Ghul, who I assume will be the big bad of the season. I like her having a foot in both Ivy and Harley's world, manipulating both the Bat Family and Ivy for her own ends.

Also just the bit of her not knowing how old her son is or how to raise a child kills me.

While some fan favorites are missed for me, like Batman and Joker, what I really miss is the group dynamic. King Shark is off having kids, Clayface is now working in Vegas, and with Harley and Ivy both working their new jobs, the show feels very split.

I fell in love with the show due to these unlikeable secondary characters becoming a villainous crew. I hope the all join forces once again somehow. But narratively, I understand why there's a split.

Overall, I think this season has a lot of potential and had a solid start. While I wasn't as drawn in as I have been before, I think there's definitely a lot of room for this to wow me. And if there's anything I've learned from three seasons and a Valentine's Day special of Harley Quinn, it's trust the writers, sit back and relax. The show is in good hands.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to support me, you can follow me on my socials here!

[agentnico]

Ted - Season 1 (2024) review

Look, it’s a live-action Family Guy. Let’s not even sugarcoat that fact.

Plot: It's 1993, and Ted the bear's moment of fame has passed. He's living back home with his best friend, John Bennett, and his family. While Ted may be a lousy influence on John, he's a loyal pal who will go out on a limb for friendship.

The Ted movies are enjoyable if a tad forgettable pieces of comedic crudeness. Also they haven’t aged the best, so I was quite apprehensive when I heard that they were making a prequel streaming series based on the property. Originally I was not even planning on watching it, however upon its release on the streaming service Peacock, which by the way has anyone even heard of Peacock?? I swear there are so many streaming services around now that it’s hard to keep up with them all. That Weird Al movie that came out a year ago was on something called Roku. Still have no clue what the fudge is Roku! Can’t we just get these streaming companies to bundle up into one and give us all the content on one singular platform? Now is that too much to ask!? Apparently so. Regardless, with that rant aside, let’s talk about the Ted show.

Indeed it’s a surprise that the Ted series is actually kind of good! It’s a throwback to the 90s American sitcoms, with the show focusing on not only the bear but also on his family living in the suburbs. And each family members gets up to their amusing antics every episode, and though none of it breaks any new comedic ground, I must say this was a very enjoyable and easy watch. For one, this show is actually funny. From the ridiculous scenarios that occur, with Ted and John smoking weed for the first time, to their dad wishing upon a star and bringing his toy truck to life who becomes a Republican racist, to John going to buy a condom at a supermarket where an overly nice shop assistant helps him to pick what kind only to turn out to be a creep who runs away as soon as another shop assistant appears. Look, it’s all ridiculous and stupid, but for the most part a lot of the jokes land.

Also, it’s so easy for the teddy bear to steal the show, and of course Seth Macfarlane is on top form riffing and throwing insulting one-liners left and right, and there’s also so much physical and slapstick comedy that comes from the bear’s movements, from how he runs to the way he stares at people with emotionless eyes. The teddy is great, and also even though he’s crude, he never became tiresome or annoying, whereas in the movies he did get a tad repetitive. However the human characters also get enough development and focus that you warm up to the entire family. The kid that plays John was actually spot on with his Mark Wahlberg impression, nailing the accent, but also as a whole he did a great job having to act mostly next to CGI character. His chemistry with the bear was very good, and you felt their friendly camaraderie. As for the parents, the mum was hilarious as the innocently nice housekeeper who was super naive about everything, and the dad at first came off annoying and selfish, but as the show progressed you warmed up to him too due to the solid writing. Then Giorgia Whigham rounds up the cast as the rebellious cousin who disagrees with the old-school beliefs of the family, but also ends up being a key support to each character.

In terms of the negatives, for a show that’s billed as a sitcom, the episodes were way too long. The premiere alone was 50 mins, and then rest ranged around the 40 minute mark, and so pacing did drag at times. Especially when certain jokes were stretched out longer than they should be, they really should have been kept to around 20 mins. Aside of the pacing issues, this was a solid comedy show.

Ted by no means reinvents the comedic genre, however it’s truly an amusing show that will have you smiling throughout, and turns out to be way better than it had any right to be. Also the special effects on the bear are also really impressive. He really does look like a real talking bear, and the movements were all fluid and well done. So yep, Ted is a win. Here’s hoping for a second season!

Overall score: 7/10