“Dot and Bubble” is maybe my favorite episode of the new season so far. Yes, it does rely on a tired critique of people overusing cell phones for its whole premise to work, I won’t deny that—but, if you can accept that slightly cringey idea, this is one of the most poignant, emotionally devastating, and interesting episodes we’ve gotten since “Wild Blue Yonder.”
“73 Yards” is a confusing episode. I’ll admit that immediately. I did not fully understand the plot of it. The inclusion of supernatural elements might have something to do with that, but the conclusion and middle section left me uncertain of even the magic’s rules.
“Boom” is an episode that is clearly trying to be as morbid and macabre as possible. The story’s insistence on bleak moments, casual character death, and tragedy is so frequent it’s almost overplayed. I can’t believe I’m calling for the horror to be toned down—but here we are.
“The Devil’s Chord” is too short of an episode. I mean this as a compliment—and a criticism of everything added to the episode that limits chances to tell more of this story. This should’ve been a two-parter. It needed to be a two-parter. It could’ve been a top-ten, all-time episode if only it had been a two-parter.
“Space Babies” doesn’t seem like an episode to start a season with. Doctor Who is no stranger to weirdness, not by a long shot—but this episode is not only weird, it’s also goofy.
I’m late to the Marvel’s What If…? party. But now that I’m here, it turns out I’ve been missing out. I love anthologies and especially considering some of the lackluster Marvel entries in the main canon lately, it’s a ton of fun to see the cast play out these alternative stories.
Much has been said, no doubt, about the social satire inherent to Severance. It’s the most immediate aspect of the show—and only continues to become more aggressive as the series continues. But I am not the reviewer to talk about its accuracy to either the feelings inherent to such a type of work or the setting’s accuracy.
Playing with Fire marks the last Marvel Rising entry. As far as I can tell, the series died with this one. It’s been years since the last one. But, against all odds, they managed to end with the best episode.
This review of X-Men ’97 has a caveat to it. This review is not intended for fans of the original series. I haven’t seen much of the original series, and it’s been a very long time since then. No, this review is for the people who are aware of the hype and want to watch X-Men ’97—but don’t know if they need the background context.
Operation Shuri is a fun idea for an episode, let down by the last few minutes. Up until a single baffling conversation, I was on board with the storyline. Wakanda being so far ahead of most places with their technology, culture, education, etc. is one of the reasons the Black Panther movies are so interesting.
Battle of the Bands is basically a standard cartoon episode. After the main antagonist left the planet in Heart of Iron, I suspected things would turn out like this. And, frankly, this is better. I like it a lot more.
Heart of Iron partially reverses the downward slide after the abysmal Chasing Ghosts. It’s not as good as Initiation, but at least the plot setups actually go somewhere. It doesn’t feel like scenes are wasting the viewer’s time.
