Well, we all know tonight is supposed to be the climax of the 'Uprising' event. It will take the events of 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' front and center. But for now we know that Sam Jackson will be reprising his role as 'Nick Fury' in the season finale. This comes straight from the man himself. He confirmed he came back to film a scene or two for the season finale in a recent interview. The only question that arises from this is which Nick Fury will we get. The sunglasses or eyepatch?
SPOILERS AHEAD
We got one of the most creative episodes of Community this week. Before I start, my only complaint for this episode was that everything felt rushed to me. I wish that maybe it would've been a two-part episode with a bigger story. The episode starts out in the G.I. Joe cartoon, with the Joes being attacked by Cobra. Things go south when Wingman (Jeff) actually kills someone. This little bit actually made it one of the most meta episodes yet. That is because of the constant and hilarious references to shooting but not hitting for 20 years. The episode is propelled by a desire to destroy Cobra at a place called Greendale. Only problem is whenever Wingman hears Greendale he faints.This led to some interesting cutaways to older type TV commercials, which in turn added to the cartoon universe. I loved the little connection between this universes. The universe are explained by the aptly titled Fourth Wall (Abed). The most interesting thing about this episode is the problem it deals with. It deals with Jeff's fear of aging in a very dark way. Jeff celebrates his 40th birthday by drinking scotch and popping some suspicious pills, which puts him in the hospital. This was a dark way to go, and I found it very interesting. It kinda sorta had a payoff, but not really. Everyone rallied around Jeff, but other than that nothing. I hope they explore the after effects of this and don't just drop, like they did with Troy leaving (they haven't delved into a pool of stories relating to that much, if it all since it happened.). Overall, I really enjoyed this episode. I loved the G.I. Joe theme and hope they do more cartoon show semi-crossovers again...maybe a Scooby-Doo? I don't know, just spitballing. But this was one of the better episodes since Troy left, as I actually didn't feel like there was a gaping hole from his departure. Highlights:
8.5 out of 10 Stars SPOILERS AHEAD
This week on Parks and Rec we got Leslie and Ron locked in a battle for a girl's soul, Tom deals with aging, and Andy and April work through some problems. The episode basically begins with a meeting where a young girl has many ideas arranged in binders we have come to expect from Leslie. As we all know, Leslie gets attached to this girl and attempts to get her an internship over summer, which Ron disagrees with. I liked this story. It is starting to get bland to see Ron be a spirit guide, but not to bland. It is still darn good tv. I love Ron's anti-government stance and Leslie's entire love for the government. I absolutely love it when they clash. So many funny parts came from their interactions, such as Leslie's knock on Ron's phone and their trip to the principal's office at prom. Leslie goes super crazy over this girl, and Ron gives up on trying to make the decision for the girl, instead choosing to chill Leslie out. He even has a scoring system for her craziness. Her craziness was a bit more justified this time, as she was concerned about the state of the Parks dept. if she left so she wanted to find a good heir to the throne. I'm pretty sure we won't see this girl again, though, due to the fact she is dating GREG PIKITIS. As for Andy and April, Andy kinda makes April go to the prom. April doesn't like prom, because it gives her bad thoughts. With some help from Donna, she kinda tells Andy how it is and we actually see a serious Andy that only cares about what his wife wants. I would love to see more of this Andy. We don't get this version enough, due to him usually being goofy. Don't get me wrong, I love goofy Andy (there was plenty of that this episode. My personal favorites are him drowning the car trying to jump a lake and the brief scenes of him dancing.). I just want a more serious version just a bit more often. Meanwhile, Tom and Ben DJ for the dance. I loved the bit where Tom channeled his inner Daft Punk. That was pretty funny. In the end, Tom realized he didn't know what was "in" anymore, but he did attribute that to his business creations. This was a bit of an afterthought as far as story goes, though. Overall, it was a good episode. It was a classic Parks and Recreation episode that we have come to expect. One wish is for a few more outside-the-box episodes for the show to spice it up. Highlights:
8 out of 10 Stars SPOILERS AHEAD
Well holy canoli. Slade finally made his move on Oliver this episode, and boy was it big. It started out with last weeks kidnapping of Thea. That basically turned into a side note this episode, even though it was the driving force behind the events of the episode, because it focused on Oliver and his dealing with everything. Kudos to Stephen Amell. You can actually see the pain and desperation on his face in his search for Thea. Ollie was so caught up with Thea's kidnapping that he he briefly gave privileges of the CEO to Isabel Rochev, which she used to take control of Queen Consolidated. For a brief second I thought she may actually be helping Ollie (ridiculous right?), but this was her move on Ollie. And don't you know it, she is working with Slade, which is any interesting point to me. Is she a Shado doppelganger to him? Or is she merely a pawn in his game? I wonder if we will get an answer to that. Another development is the somewhat fixed relationship of Ollie and his mom, which takes the place of typical CW melodrama for this episode (it was kinda unbearable), but it was only for a fleeting minute. They only saw this crushed when Thea found out that Malcolm Merlyn is her father. I think this will be an interesting story to follow, and it may lead to the eventual reappearance of Merlyn. We also saw Roy call out Oliver. He felt Ollie was the reason Thea was kidnapped, which in a sense he is. I didn't like this bit, just because I felt like it took the focus off finding Thea. It just felt out there and throws Roy out the window a bit more, as he has barely been used during the second half of the season. The episode ended with Deathstroke gathering an army and Slade Wilson revealing to Laurel that Oliver is the Arrow. I wonder how she will react to this. On a brief side note, I must say the flashbacks were quite weak this week, only getting Ollie back on the island. It didn't really do much for any characters. It actually only showed a version of Shado directing Slade. I hope the flashbacks start to get back to season 1 quality, as they have been a bit lackluster this season. As for my thoughts, this is been one of the best episodes in the second half of the season. Most of them have been filler and preparation for the big showdown between Oliver and Slade, not that they have been bad. They have been great. But this one was so much better. It was still setting up a bit, but there was a lot of action and Stephen Amell's acting really elevated this episode. Plus that mic drop that Slade had on Laurel was pretty epic. I can't wait for the final stretch of this season. Highlights:
9 out of 10 Stars |
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