Welcome to our newly revamped Boomb Tube! Here, we will be catching you up on the week in comics TV, both through micro-reviews, as well as links to our full-length TV reviews. We also tend to review series that are dropped all at once weekly, so there are a few ‘older’ shows mixed in for good measure. Are we missing your favorite show? Let us know in the comments!
Batwoman – “Toxic” (S3E10, The CW)
It seems that “Toxic” is continuing the cardinal sin of Batwoman’s third season, a failure to commit. In general, the season has continued to move the goalposts. As soon as the show became comfortable with a conflict, it just seemed to drop it. Again, this is true with Mary Hamilton ultimately reverting to her pre-Poison Ivy self and Pam and Renee getting safely to Coryana. It’s a real shame, too, because while the vines might have looked a little cheap, it was exciting to see what they were doing with both of the Poison Ivys.
Mary Hamilton’s transformation into her villainous persona was one of the most consistently interesting angles of the season, and “Toxic” really leaned into what made it work. Mary as Poison Ivy was ripe with contradictions, feeling more confident in her new skin and power, but still ultimately the same scared overlooked pushover that pushed her down this path in the first place. Nicole Kang brings a fun, campy energy to her performance, but you can still see the insecurities right under the surface. This is perfectly complemented by Bridget Reagan, who is cool, confident, and manipulative, all while sprouting platitudes about how her goals are ultimately to the benefit of all, even as she advocates for mass murder. When the two were on screen together, it was electric. It’s going to be a shame to lose that.
As far as the rest of the team goes, there continues to be more frustrating interpersonal conflict and a ticking clock to save Mary. The wrap-up sets up what is likely to be the next quickly abandoned plot point, Jada making Batwoman public enemy #1. “Toxic” had its moments but ultimately just highlighted the season’s biggest problem. – Joe Skonce
The Book of Boba Fett – “Chapter 5: The Return of the Mandalorian” (S1E5, Disney+)
Full review by Brian Salvatore.
Hit Monkey– “Home Sweet Home” (S1E8, Hulu)
This episode gives Monkey and Bryce some clarity about their pasts and how it shapes their present. At the very few minutes of the last episode, Monkey had trapped Bryce’s spirit in a salt circle and found a new tribe of monkeys in his old home. Trying to move forward from all of the killings he’s done, he puts away the suit and guns in hopes of going back to the simple life he had before. However, with the knowledge, he has now taken a young monkey under his wing and gets the tribe to fight back against a rival group. Through this failed attempt to stand up and lose the life of the young monkey, he realizes that he can no longer back but is accepting his role as a visitor to both humans and monkeys. Despite not having any captions for his interactions with humans, he has been the heart of the show and carries it well with his emotional responses to the killings he has to do. For him to come to this conclusion is challenging but helpful in still trying to do the right thing for the right reason rather than for any pleasure or payment.
The other storyline focuses on Bryce and his past, it doesn’t connect to how exactly he became a hired gun, but it does give a glimpse into his old life. Bryce was raised by his mom and a long list of “boyfriends,” which began to give him a bad outlook on life before finding a young woman and starting a family. He is then forced to leave them behind after killing his mom’s latest boyfriend, who stole money from the wrong people. Seeing Bryce as a young man making the hard decision to sacrifice his relationship and life for his new family is what I’ve been waiting to see. It seems like every episode, he’s on the verge of saying something significant to make the audience want to root for him more, but he just can’t. By seeing rather than telling, we can understand his fear of letting anyone get close and masking his pain with humor and killing. While we are waiting for what connects him to killing, this bit of information and glimpse is enough for now. Monkey goes back to release him from the salt circle and back to their mission for vengeance. -Alexander Manzo
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Legends of Tomorrow – “The Fixed Point” (S7E10, The CW)
Full review by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Naomi – “Zero to Sixty” (S1E3, The CW)
On one hand, Naomi accurately reflects the impulsivity and recklessness that can sometimes accompany youth. However, the show has taken great lengths to show us that its titular character has never been either of those things, and so there’s a push and pull present between who we’re told Naomi is and who she is becoming. Again, this can be an apt metaphor for growing up, but it is being handled a bit too clumsily for my taste. For instance, Naomi nonchalantly sneaks out of her house, seemingly without fear of her parents finding out, or trespassing into a university science lab to study her disc both seem like steps that are too bold for a kid who admits to never being in trouble ever would take, unprovoked.
That said, her parents eventually come clean with her about her adoption, and seem to be aware of her background more than they’ve let on. This preserves their family dynamic, gives her some cover, and allows the show to be less sneaking around, which is an absolutely good thing. Those scenes have been the least natural on a show that has been surprisingly effective at pulling off naturalistic dialogue about weird shit like aliens.
And hey, we got a Captain Comet appearance! It’s been a minute since he’s been an active member of the DCU in the comics, but Adam Blake can be a fun character, even if Naomi has decided he’s sort of a surfer bro. Why not? – Brian Salvatore
Peacemaker – “Monkey Dory” (S1E5, HBO Max)
With most of its members firmly in the midst of an emotional crisis, the Project Butterfly team heads back into the field to investigate a shipping hub that is bottling the strange goo that all Butterflies need to eat. The result of the mission is far more positive than the previous one, with the dysfunctional squad coming together and working as one to shut down the plant and take down an endless wave of Butterflies (and a super gorilla). As the team finds common ground and gets closer, Adebayo digs herself deeper into her mother’s clutches, planting a diary in Peacemaker’s house to frame him for something down the line. Stressed by her deception, she heads into the office late, stumbling on the discovery that Murn is a Butterfly himself. Meanwhile, the cops inch closer to connecting Peacemaker to the parking lot bombing.
The word of the day for Peacemaker’s internal growth in this episode is “bullying,” as he slowly starts to take to heart that his repeated casual cruelty is neither funny nor charming. Peacemaker walks an interesting bittersweet tightrope, reveling in the title character’s antics (or, similarly, in Vigilante’s delightful sociopathy) while also underlining his toxicity. This episode mostly settled into the sweetness, bonding the characters with their successes and giving them an earnest beat of joy. The newly dubbed 11th Street Kids are unprofessional goofballs, and their newfound solidarity seems to be somewhat healing for Peacemaker. That might not hold when Adebayo and Waller’s scheme inevitably comes to light, whatever it may be. Assuming Adebayo survives her Butterfly encounter, of course. – Reid Carter
Resident Alien – “Old Friends” (S2E1, Syfy)
Full review by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Snowpiercer – “The Tortoise and the Hare” (S3e1, TNT)
Full review by Corrina Lawson.
Star Trek: Prodigy – “A Moral Star, Part 1” (S1E9, Paramount+)
Reunited after their journey through separate time-lines, the crew discuss their current situation when a recording from The Diviner starts to play from the remnants of the Drednok copy’s skull. He threatens the lives of everyone at Tars Lamora unless Gwyn returns to him and brings the Protostar with her. It’s a tough ultimatum, but the crew sees this as something they can take on. Everyone, but Dal who sees this as their Kobayashi Maru – an absolute no win scenario. It’s with this that he knows the crew need to finally act like Starfleet and come up with a plan to come up against The Diviner. They won’t lose the ship and their found family and they aren’t going to let him harm all of the prisoners or employees at Tars Lamora.
Continued belowWe’ve seen the crew come together a few times already this season, but this did feel bigger and more important. New Starfleet equipment, uniforms, and badges get busted out and an incredibly layered plan goes into effect. Even Holo-Janeway dons the new fit as she commends the crew for their selflessness in the face of insurmountable danger. “There’s nothing more Starfleet than that.” The scope and visuals of this episode slingshot back and forth to tight and intimate to grand and epic – in the original meaning of the word.
In those intimate moments we get some great character growth. Most notably Dal finally knowing he’s ready for the Captain’s chair, Jankom Pog’s realization that he wants to be a member of Starfleet, and Rok’s new found bravery. Gwyn makes major decisions that will color her path and the path of the season moving forward. “A Moral Star, Part 1” is a stirring story with deeply emotional moments and a cliffhanger that will keep viewers guessing as to how it will be resolved with the number of double-crosses from both sides of the equation. – Christopher Egan
Super Crooks – “The Supermax” (S1E7, Netflix)
I just don’t understand why Super Crooks keeps making the same mistakes. They’ve had seven episodes to get the pacing issues and awkward dialogue out of the way. And yet, still, the team behind this show turns in episodes that are nothing but exposition and team-building and meaningless, pointless flashbacks. There’s simply no excuse for doing this when you’re two-thirds of the way through the show. Instead of building to a climax, we’re still gathering the team and setting up the heist. It’s bad pacing and it makes what could be a serviceable show into a bad one.
The first part of “The Supermax” deals with the aborted plane crash that appeared imminent in the last episode. I’d thought Johnny’s plan was to crash the planes into each other but instead, he simply planned to make it look like the transport plane carrying T.K. was going to crash so that the guard was compelled to give up the code. That seems super weak to me, but whatever, the sequence is over within minutes and we’ve moved on to T.K. stopping the plane in mid-air somewhere that looks like Joshua Tree National Park even though that makes literally no sense. Then we’re back to New York, I guess, where Carmine is telling the newly reunited gang about the next part of the gig. Since we literally just did this two episodes ago, there’s no stakes or reason to believe the villains won’t agree to the heist. The Heat reveals that the target is the Union of Justice building and their last team member can control the weather but was delayed because (checks notes) the trains weren’t running. That is both narratively weak and just…dumb.
The other thread running through this episode is the reminder of our supposed big bad, Mr. Matts, head of the villain Network. He has a retirement party at the supermax prison, because, well, honestly who cares, because it doesn’t matter. He’s a stock bad guy and anyone who has ever seen even one anime knows he won’t be in the ultimate showdown due to a reveal sometime in the final set of episodes. I’m looking forward to it because the final showdown might finally provide some action amid the otherwise lackluster storytelling this show has to offer. –Mel Lake
Superman and Lois – “The Thing in the Mine” (S2E3, The CW)
Full review by august (in the wake of) dawn.
The Wheel of Time – “The Eye of the World” (S1E8, Amazon Prime Video)
Full review by Gregory Ellner.
The Witcher – “Redanian Intelligence” (S2E4, Netflix)
Ciri continues her training at Kaer Morhen, and is joined by Triss, who helps to discover two important things: the leshen that killed Eskel and the giant bug that killed the leshen both come from the same mysterious monoliths, and Ciri is a descendant of the Elder Blood, a magical Elven bloodline that was thought to have ended. To learn more about the monoliths, Geralt goes to see Istredd, who just so happens to be an expert on the monoliths, and who also just so happens to be Yennefer’s ex. Because of Geralt’s taciturn nature, he fails to learn from Triss that Yennefer is in fact alive before he leaves.
Meanwhile, Yennefer and Cahir are attempting to flee to Cintra. They find out about The Sandpiper, someone helping smuggle Elves on a boat from Oxenfurt, who turns out to be our old friend Jaskier, who provides us with yet another bop, this one a break-up song about Geralt called “Burn, Butcher, Burn.” On the boat to Cintra they meet our other old friend Dara, who unbeknownst to them is now a spy for Redania, chosen by the seemingly unhinged advisor to King Vizimir, Djikstra. This is the first episode of The Witcher that strays far from the monster-of-the-week format. The show is becoming much more plot-focused, more interested in political intrigue and personal drama than metaphorical monsters. The Witcher proves to be a loving and joyful show in and between both of these structures, maintaining its uniquely defiant earnestness throughout. –Laura Merrill
