Well, since it’s now Thursday, I suppose I can talk about what I’ve watched this week…which truly hasn’t been that much. But it will be a mix! A movie made it into my viewing queue this past Monday!
Read moreTV Recaps
Weekly TV in Review
Since I couldn’t manage to watch anything promptly this week, you all are getting a very brief recap of everything I watched below. Enjoy!
Read moreTV Rewind: Animal Kingdom, Seasons 1 & 2
So now that I’ve finally gotten into the swing of TNT’s drama, Animal Kingdom, based off of the Australian film of the same name, I figured I’m safe to finally write about it! I should also note that I’m doing the same thing I did with Gotham, in that I am watching the older seasons while also watching the newest episodes…not confusing at all.
Read moreSeason Finales: Brooklyn 99, Superstore
Due to my time at an all-weekend festival, I wasn’t able to watch the one-hour season finale episodes for both Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore until yesterday. Before I get into the recaps, I can say both were comedy gold!
Read moreTV Recap: Gotham
I believe I missed reviewing last week’s episode of Gotham, so I’m back! This week’s episode titled “Pena Dura” picked up right where last week left off. We learned that Ed remembered firing off the RPG that destroyed Haven and killed hundreds of Gothamites. Although, with the memory problems he’s been having recently, he decides he did not do it unprovoked, so he heads off to find out why.
While trying to figure out who destroyed Haven, Jim and Harvey run into some trouble but are saved by some military folk sent in by Walker (who Jim spoke with over radio last week), including Jim’s old army buddy, Eduardo. Ed is pursued by the two, but escapes only to be captured by some serious hillbillies hellbent on avenging their pooch who got fried in the bombing (not kidding). It was during this torture that Ed remembers Oswald/Penguin saying he was going to “fix” Ed.
After escaping the hillbillies, he makes his way over to city hall to have a stand-off with Penguin only to learn that Oswald was trying to SAVE Edward after being stabbed. Ed learns that he paid Dr. Strange (all hail BD Wong!) to fix him back up. Through a heated exchange we basically get their version of saying they love each other (Nygmobblepot for life), but then the cops show up as Ed escapes again.
Ed makes his way to Barbara’s club to get answers to where Strange is at, and end up forming a very loose alliance. After confronting Dr. Strange, Ed gets a paralytic sprayed in his face because Dr. Strange needs to fix the chip that was implanted in his brain. We learn that he’s being controlled, although not by Strange. At the end of the procedure, Jim and Eduardo bust in and we learn that EDUARDO is controlling Nygma! He tells Jim he needs to put a bullet in his head in order to prove his loyalty. Jim obviously can’t do that, escapes, so Eduardo orders Ed to go after Jim and kill him.
In the midst of all of that action, we see Bruce still struggling with the fact that Selina murdered Jeremiah and feels no remorse. In confronting her at the club, Selina hits Bruce with a harsh truth: she saw his parents get murdered and did nothing about it because she didn’t care. She’s not a hero like Bruce wants her to be. That’s got to be a tough pill to swallow.
All that celebrating is for not though, since at the end of the episode we see Ecco wake a SLEEPING Jeremiah. He is led out of his “tomb” to see the work of a surgeon who has apparently made Thomas and Martha Wayne replicas. Can’t wait to see Bruce freak out about that. Two weeks from now we should be getting some more answers, but in the meantime we must wait. Boo!
TV Show Recap: Splitting Up Together, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gotham
It was an awfully busy week for me this past one, so I got caught up this morning on what little shows have returned from their winter hiatus.
First on the docket was ABC’s half hour comedy, Splitting Up Together, starring Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson. Sometimes I love this show, and other times it’s just blah. I’m a little unsure if there’s enough meat and potatoes for this show to go on for too long, but perhaps I’ll be surprised in the future. This show last left off with Lena getting over her brief fling with foreign contractor, Vlad, and Martin getting cozy with a delightfully bitchy Ali Larter (Heroes R.I.P.). It only makes sense that this return episode would start off with a wet dream where Martin unsnaps Lena’s body suit. Lena is so moved by this dream that in an attempt to cover for starring she slams her face straight into the refrigerator. At the dentist to get her tooth fixed, she accepts an unknown pill (Mary Jane) from an unassuming old lady in the waiting room. The rest of the episode focuses on Martin trying to get his high ex-wife safely to parent night at the school. On a lame side story, Lena’s annoying sister Maya asks the most unfortunate waiter out for a date. The supporting cast for this show does absolutely nothing in terms of story line or plot, but maybe that’s intentional. Right now, both Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson are funny enough to keep me watching. Although I have a feeling this could be the next The Good Place for me.
Next up was the return of Brooklyn Nine-Nine! Praise the television gods that NBC picked this up. One of my favorite comedies on TV right now, this episode left off right where FOX ended it – on a cliffhanger! After Jake and Amy’s wedding at the bar, Captain Holt received word if he was going to be the new commissioner. He was!…until he read it back with the word “not” in there. Jake and Amy headed off for a very intimate and tropical honeymoon with some wedding insurance money. When they get there though, they run into the deeply depressed Captain Holt! In order to get him out of their hair they decide to include him in all of their activities so he’d cheer up and head home early. It worked in the only way this show would make it work – Captain Holt was going to quit the police department! Cue Santiago getting real PG angry at him, in which he then had a change of heart. Jake and Amy were then able to enjoy the rest of their honeymoon role playing at Melvil Dewey (creator of the Dewey Decimal System) and Holly Genero from Die Hard, respectively. Meanwhile in the office, Gina’s mom left Boyle’s dad, so naturally Boyle badgers Gina into getting to the bottom of it – her mom was cheating! Elsewhere, Sargent Jeffords was having difficulty helping Rosa with a dilemma. In searching for Holt’s handbook for if he became commissioner, he found out that there were no specific instructions since he trusts Jeffords completely. Chock full of jokes, this was a great premiere episode on a new network!
Like I promised, here is my review of Gotham’s second episode of the final season, “Trespassers”. Picking up almost essentially where last week left off, the orphan reveals there are other children being worked to the bone for a group called the Soothsayers who are powered by smoke (?). Jim and Harvey are off to find their whereabouts after bargaining with Barbara into borrowing a large truck. With a little scuffle, they find the kids and get them all loaded to head off to a safe location except for three of them. The kids along with Jim and Harvey find a sketchy house and head in for protection. They got more than they bargained for when they run into “the mother.” She was certainly creepy – and a cannibal! While trying to escape, Jim gets in the middle of the Soothsayers and another painted-up gang both bickering over who gets the kill shot for Penguin’s ransom on Jim’s head. Barbara steps in to end it, with Jim’s help, too, and all is fine in the world of the children and most of the remaining citizens of Gotham. Meanwhile, we revisit the Riddler who wakes up to find himself chained to a bed. Satisfied that he’s stopped Ed from taking over while he sleeps, he heads into the bathroom only to find a gang member tied up! That Street Demon gang member leads him back to his boss, who also happens to be killed. On the wall in spray paint says “Penguin was here,” which means Ed framed Penguin to start a gang war. The biggest revelation of this episode was Bruce finding “the witch” mentioned in last week’s episode. That witch ended up being Ivy, who gave Bruce a seed that would help cure Selina of her paralysis. Although Ivy warned that it will change her. After taking the seed, Selina is able to walk again, but we see her eyes shift to the legendary cat eyes. What happens next week remains to be seen, but I’m excited!