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!
Big Nate – “The Legend of the Gunting” (S1E1, Paramount+)
Full review by the Salvatores.
Big Nate – “Go Nate, It’s Your Birthday” (S1E2, Paramount+)
The second episode of Big Nate continues its surprisingly adult themes, adding credit card debt, anxiety, and disappointment into the mix. Nate’s birthday is a huge let down due to the people in his life being ignorant of his needs, until his father has a vision of himself from the future (naked, wearing a barrel) and decides to let Nate use his credit card. Nate promptly maxes it out, and then goes through a series of schemes to attempt to rectify the situation.
The show continues to be legitimately funny; Amelia’s favorite part was the dog Spitzy that Nate adopts, who, you guessed it, spits a lot. He also falls in love with a wooden dog statue. Ben enjoyed the conversation between Martin and future Martin, even if the idea of wearing a barrel had no historical context for his five year old (six on Thursday!) brain. My personal favorite part was the totally innocent circumstances that led to Martin telling Ellen “I’m looking at you through the butthole [of the wooden dog statue] and I’m very proud of you!” – The Salvatores
Hit Monkey – “The End: Part Two” (S1E10, Hulu)
Peacemaker – “It’s Cow or Never” (S1E8, HBO Max)
Read our full review of the Peacemaker finale tomorrow at Multiversity Comics.
Raising Dion – “Issue #204: With Friends Like These” (S2E4, Netflix)
The school is closed while BIONA sterilizes the sinkhole, and Nicole has Dion stay home with Kat while she checks out what’s going on at the facility. Brayden comes over to “play,” and encourages him to be disobedient and go outside, while using his powers to erase Kat’s memories of him. While outside, Dion grows disturbed by Brayden’s cavalier approach to his powers, as well as his violent tendencies, and distances himself from him. Brayden, who realized the Crooked Man killed his father by reading Dion’s mind, confronts him over that later at night; the malevolent spirit responds that Pat was responsible, because Pat was “weak.”
At BIONA, Nicole witnesses an altercation between troubled teen Janelle and her trainer, Alonso (Fernando’s father), who orders the guards to confine her without calling her mom first, forcing her and Tevin to intervene. It was really thought-provoking to see Alonso, who is Latino, have an overreaction, reminding us it’s not just white people who can engage in anti-Black behavior; likewise, the subsequent conversation between Nicole and Janelle’s mother, Simone (Tracey Bonner), made me reflect on the way the angry Black woman stereotype deprives Black women of the very right to be angry and upset.
Afterwards, Nicole speaks to Pat at his cell, and they come to an agreement that Dion’s DNA could cure him of his remaining Crooked Man energy, and Gary; she convinces Suzanne to let him work in the lab under heavy armed guard, because of his familiarity with Mark’s research. Nicole’s injury also worsens, reacting to the energy in Pat, and she’s forced to stay overnight for medical tests; she asks Tevin to take Dion and Kat to the cabin, ostensibly so he can train outdoors. Meanwhile, the spores spread by Gary begin infecting people throughout Atlanta, ending season two’s halfway point on a suitably ominous note. – Christopher Chiu-Tabet
Resident Alien – “Radio Harry” (S2E4, Syfy)
Full review by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Snowpiercer – “Bound By One Track” (S3E4, TNT)
Melanie Cavill makes her expected re-appearance in “Bound by One Track” but only as a manifestation of the imaginations of her daughter Alex and her enemy, Wilford. Still, Jennifer Connolly lends weight to an episode that is about the trauma of surviving the end of the world. It’s an episode with little action but intense emotion.
Continued belowThe main plot follows Ben and Alex entering a deserted section of cars that once belonged to the Big Alice train. Wilford had cut it off years before to cull his passengers and save resources. That means he murdered people to supposedly save supplies for others he deemed more valuable. Alex, one of the chosen, has survivor’s guilt over this, especially since one of the dead was her best friend. Throughout this mission, Alex has visions of her mother, Melanie, helping her cope.
Melanie also appears to Wilford in his prison cell, especially after he’s stabbed by Roche, in revenge for the death of the brakeman’s beloved wife in the drawers. (Aside: there must be a phone book of people who want to stab Wilford.) Wilford seems to regret that Alex might see her dead friend but whether that’s out of genuine caring for Alex or because he needs Alex to believe in him just a little bit, is unclear. Alas, it’s clear that Wilford does survive the murder attempt.
Meanwhile, Pike and Ruth consummate their odd couple romance and it’s absolutely adorable and sweet. It makes me wonder who Pike was before he became a Tailie. I hope we get more of these two and that they manage to survive. They’ve both had enough heartbreak. Not so cute is Zarah’s confession to Layton that she allowed Wilford’s evil doctors to experiment in utero on their chlld. (Zarah is really the worst–she makes all the wrong choices.)
There is as yet no mention of Miles, the young boy that Josie and Layton had basically adopted and that seems odd. I searched but there’s no explanation for his absence. I can only speculate that perhaps the young actor isn’t available but it seems odd that Layton and Josie haven’t mentioned him at all, plus he’d be a good companion for Alex.
Corrina Lawson
Super Crooks – “Carmine” (S1E10, Netflix)
Ten episodes into Super Crooks, and Johnny Bolt almost had a moment of character growth. Almost. After failing their big job and apparently just getting away with it, our one-note villains go to a bar. Fair enough. But they don’t seem at all relieved to have gotten away with their lives or without their identities being revealed, probably because they’re all incredibly dumb.
Instead, Johnny and Kasey decide to get married. None of this makes any sense if you think about Kasey as a real person who might have real feelings and common sense, but the writers don’t. Before the wedding, Johnny goes out with his dumb friends from the second episode and goes back to prison. Kasey and Johnny’s breakup might have had emotional resonance if it had happened in episode four or five. The gang’s failure and then eventual rise to success and their reconciliation might have made an impact if it had been the overall arc of the show. But because it’s been so awkwardly spliced over a bunch of episodes packed with nonsense and one-note side characters, there’s no reason to care about Johnny and Kasey’s relationship. Instead, we’re left actively rooting against it because Johnny is just so singularly dumb and unwilling to change.
This episode is called “Carmine” because he provides the plot fodder for the gang to get back together after five years have passed. Because of the weird pacing and stunted or nonexistent character arcs of this show, it doesn’t really matter if five years or five minutes pass. But we have two more episodes to go, so I’m assuming we’ll get a triumphant return or at least another ridiculous battle in the finale. –Mel Lake
The Witcher – “Voleth Meir” (S2E7, Netflix)
Yennefer takes Ciri to Cintra, as she promised Voleth Meir, and along the way Yennefer discovers the joy of parenthood, teaching Ciri how to control her Chaos and not apologize for it. Moved by their blossoming relationship, Yen seems to change her mind at the last minute, but it’s too late. Voleth Meir has consumed enough pain to escape, and Yen and Francesca reap the sour side of their bargains. Francesca’s baby is mysteriously murdered. Geralt catches up with Yen and Ciri and expresses (not his MO) that this betrayal may be irredeemable. Fringilla, however, continues her upward trajectory, and terrifyingly murders all the Nilfgaardians threatening her power. Yen takes Geralt to Voleth Meir at sword-point, but she’s already escaped, turned into fireflies, and possessed Ciri.
To find Yen, Geralt enlisted the help of Jaskier. Though Jaskier gets two cool songs and some genuinely funny banter throughout, his friendship with Geralt is sort of sidelined this season. The penultimate episode is the first time we see them together, and there’s no time to repair their rift from last season. While I want to see more of their friendship, it does make complete sense to me that Jaskier doesn’t demand more from his friend Geralt. Jaskier loves Geralt, and sometimes love is worth unearned forgiveness. Aww! The monster fighting and political intrigue are all great, but The Witcher truly sings in these adorable charming delightfully cheesy moments. –Laura Merrill
