Welcome back to 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!
Echo – “Taloa” (E4, Disney+)
Read our full review by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Echo – “Maya” (E5, Disney+)
Tune in tomorrow to read our full review of the series finale by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Hilda – “Strange Frequencies” (S3E7, Netflix)
Late at night, a mysterious signal flies across the airwaves, a distant call that may or may not be a lost soul shouting from the void.
Over the last few weeks, Hilda has been on the lookout for any news about her father, who vanished. Unlike Johanna, Hilda is convinced something odd happened to him, rather than him just getting distracted and leaving. That strange radio static shakes her awake and she falls into a hole of conspiracy theories, searching for tenuous connections that make those around her start to worry.
You can be forgiven for thinking this is the main story for “Strange Frequencies.” In reality, this barely qualifies as a B-plot. It serves as more of a character detail. Instead, this episode focuses on the nisse, the small creatures who live in the folded spaces of your home and borrow your things. For some unknown reason, they have extended their stealing from people’s forgotten items to each other’s things.
“Strange Frequencies” is not only a rough episode of Hilda, but it may stand as the weakest episode of the entire series. The storylines fail to converge, nor do they make much traction on their own. David, Hilda, and Frida spend most of their time standing around and whining at each other, about snacks, about not having a radio, about failed impromptu town halls. The nisse are not as interesting or cuddly to warrant this much attention lavished on them, and jokes that do work, like the train nisse, get stretched beyond reason. I’m also certain the creatures and the creators both forget the central mystery of why the nisse are suddenly “borrowing” from each other, which leaves the final resolution empty and hollow. Not that the episode gives much time to dwell on that because the writers have to rush toward the setup for the finale.
As with any show, Hilda was not without weak episodes, but at least there was some measure of joy or beauty or creativity in those. This feels like the studio demanded a specific episode count and the creators threw whatever idea or doodle or note scattered around onto their boards and prayed they stuck.
They did not. –Matthew Garcia
Masters of the Universe: Revolution – “Even For Kings” (S1E1, Netflix)
In case you missed it, read our full review of the series premiere by Ramon Piña.
Masters of the Universe: Revolution – “Ascension” (S1E2, Netflix)
After the death of King Randor, we left Prince Adam with an important desicion to make, will he be a champion of a king? Fortunately for him, his long-lost uncle reappeared, ready to take the “burden” of the throne.
We have a brief but painful flashback, where the old king and queen discuss about the future of Keldor and he don’t belonging in Eternia, but the two kids were hiding in the same room and heard everything.
Suddendly, the cyborg-ized Skeletor attacks the kingdom, throwing gas-bombs with nanobots that infected a big portion of the peasants, he also awoke a Techno-Titan that started destroying everything and fled. He-Man had a choice, to stop either the giant robot or stop the newly named SkeleTek.
While that is happening, Teela visits an old and dying dragon that can grant the power of Ka, he doesn’t want to give his power to humans again, but is ultimately convinced by none other than Evil-Lyn, and now Teela is a snake-woman. This subplot is very interesting, it seems that we will be developing in future episodes the theme of redemption, and what it means in terms of salvation.
Continued belowAt the end, Keldor and Andra saved the day while He-Man only saves one kid, this is another example of the main problem that is affecting He-Man in this season, he is making the wrong choices, he went after the main villain instead of protecting people, and he is relinquishing his right to the throne to be only a champion. And these choices will surely mean the downfall of Eternia, because it is revealed that Keldor is none other than Skeletor in disguise. –Ramon Piña
Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur – “The Great Beyond-er” (S2E1, Disney Channel)
Read our full review by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur – “Suit Up!” (S2E2, Disney Channel)
Lunella has a panic attack watching a monster movie with her family, so Mimi puts together an escape to the desert, where Lu meets two of her old colleagues, Merle (Jackée Harry) and Matsuye (Ann Harada), aka the Hot Tomatoes. (Poor Devil has to use a pump trolley to join them on their retreat.) The Hot Tomatoes work with Lu to design a new suit for her, but she insists on making it bulky and armored, a thoughtful metaphor for symptoms of PTSD like depression and agoraphobia. When Lu accidentally exposes a scorpion to Matsuye’s growth ray, turning it into a giant monster, she’s forced to realize she’s hindering herself, and finds the strength to overcome the flashbacks she’s experiencing to subdue the beast.
This was another really lovely episode, a lesson in how your mental strength is as important as protecting your physical health, already all but guaranteeing another award for the show. It’s also a demonstration of why the Hulkbuster is the exception rather than the rule with Iron Man’s armor, and boy is it fun how this episode explores themes from Iron Man and Ant-Man stories (especially Iron Man 3) without using those characters. Lu’s new suit and braided ponytail are great, and the mechanical arms Devil receives are pretty cool too. It’s a shame we won’t see Merle and Matsuye for a while, since Lu and Mimi can’t tell their family who they are without, well, telling them who they are, but it was great to hear Harry and Harada’s voices regardless (those women are hilarious – truly, hotcha hotcha woo woo woo!) – Christopher Chiu-Tabet
Quantum Leap – “Off the Cuff” (S2E9, NBC)
While the overall Quantum Leap story has gotten much more interesting with the introduction of Hannah as Ben’s star time-crossed lover has made the series as a whole more compelling, this leap suffers from afterthought syndrome. Until we realize that Hannah is Kevin’s sister-in-law, this feels like a pretty standard leap that doesn’t check too many of the boxes that makes leaps memorable. Sure, David Clayton Rogers plays a decent slime-ball, but there’s just not much here to sink your teeth into, leap-wise.
That’s a real bummer because the last few Hannah episodes have been so successful because the leap has felt almost as important as the fact that the universe clearly wants Ben and Hannah to keep meeting. Is the secret ingredient love? It sure seems like it!
But it is clear that this episode is meant to give more depth to both Hannah and Ben’s relationship, including maybe the strongest case for polyamory ever presented on network television, and Addison and Tom’s, which has thankfully continued to have more chemistry than Addison and Ben. I am truly curious if the creators of the show are going to try to bring Addison and Ben back together, but I hope they don’t. Ben’s romance with Hannah has so many potential pitfalls, but it seems like there’s some sort of Avengers Endgame-like way to wrap up their story at the conclusion of the series, whenever that is.
But for real, make these leaps more fun. – Brian Salvatore
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – “The World vs. Scott Pilgrim” (E8, Netflix)
In case you missed it, read our full review of the series finale by James Dowling.
