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!
The Flash – “The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2” (S9E05, The CW)
I don’t like to say bad things about my show, because I love The Flash, but this episode felt rushed, the plot was particularly flimsy and the closing of the story was very anticlimactic.
The Red Death invades CCPD and sets her base in there, one would think that after multiple invasions of the precinct, the team would at least have installed some sort of better security, power dampeners at least?
Cecile feels that Mark Blaine is alive and they attempt to rescue him, but it was obviously a trap, the Red Death reveals her plan to Barry like every villain: she is working with Grodd, because after the Crisis, every sentient gorilla disappeared and he is left angry and alone.
Barry travels to the Serengeti and speaks with Grodd, I wonder why evil-Ryan didn’t move Grodd back to Central City, she left him there alone to be easily found by the Flash; and he convinces the animal to stop working with the bad guys and he even gives Barry his powers back!
That’s another problem, isn’t Barry supposed to be fastest man alive? The one with the strongest connection to the Speed Force, so why is he losing and recovering his powers so easily? It sure feels like a stretch to fully recover his powers by whatever Grodd had stored in him.
At the end, this universe’s Ryan Wilder, the Batwoman, suddenly appears out of nowhere, when she was supposed to be missing, she deactivates the Red Death’s powers with a simple batarang, and they defeat her with a punch. And that’s it, day saved; Batwoman-ex-machina.
We get a final scene, were Allegra and Chester share a kiss, Joe bids farewell and Khione reveals that Iris is pregnant, a nice kind of happy ending to this “graphic novel.” – Ramon Piña
The Mandalorian – “The Mines of Mandalore” (S3E2, Disney+)
Read our full review by Brian Salvatore.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur – “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” (S1E5, Disney Channel)
Picture Day is coming, and Lunella becomes self-conscious about her natural hair after a random white classmate calls it messy. Despite Devil’s concerns, she tries to create a non-toxic straightener, which inadvertently causes her hair to fall out and come to life. (Boy, Devil must hate being right all the time.) This new villain, Mane (Jennifer Hudson), sabotages every aspect of Lunella’s life, even causing Devil to trip and fracture his tail. She soon enters Moon Girl and Devil’s hideout, and seizes the rest of the formula to create an army.
Having concealed her accident from her family, Lunella recognizes it’s best to come clear (more or less) with them. Her mom and grandma recall their own accidents with straightening their hair, but above all, tell Lunella her real mistake was allowing other people to make her feel bad about her Black hair. During the final confrontation with Mane, Lunella realizes she’s still fighting against accepting a part of herself, and apologizes for taking her for granted. Mane accepts, allowing herself to be absorbed back onto Lunella’s head. What a lovely lesson of an episode, both socially, and scientifically – remember, if you do decide to straighten your God-given hair, use a neutralizer! – Christopher Chiu-Tabet
Quantum Leap – “S.O.S.” (S1E14, NBC)
One of the really pleasant things about this iteration of Quantum Leap is that the producers seem to be aware of the imperfections of the series, and are working to get them resolved before too long. Addison’s relative boringness compared to the rest of the cast is attempted, here, to be remedied by involving her father. This is a trick that the original Leap did with Al a few times, but Al never ran the risk of being the most boring part of the series. While I will never complain about getting Brandon Routh on my television screen, and while it is nice for Addison to get some clarity on her father and his emotional detachment, I’m not sure “S.O.S.” actually helped the character’s growth, nor does she seem particularly more interesting now. But hey, they tried.
Continued belowWhat this episode also tried to do was give the out-of-Leap team some stuff to do, but Magic didn’t necessarily need us to know that he was in the Navy or has powerful friends, and that much is clear. This is an episode that was really about the conversation between Addison and her father that could never actually be had. On that front, Routh’s character has to deliver some soul-searching monologues to Ben for no real story reason, and so it comes off as extraordinarily hokey. But from the Ben/Addison relationship front, this was quite helpful, as Ben is able to give Addison some closure and peace, which is about all he can do for her from his perch in the Leaps.
This episode also re-introduced the other leaper that we haven’t seen since the Old West leap from episode 5, “Salvation or Bust.” While we still don’t know what he is doing or why, it is interesting to see that he is clearly an antagonist in one way or another. When this show is firing on all cylinders, it doesn’t need distractions like this other leaper to be interesting, but it does add a little panache to the lesser episodes, and gives a hint toward the future of the series. – Brian Salvatore
Star Trek: Picard – “No Win Scenario” (S3E4, Paramount+)
The Titan has only four hours before it’s crushed by the gravity well or loses power, and Riker, after apologizing, suggests Picard spend the time he has left to get to know his son. In a holodeck recreation of Guinan’s, Jean-Luc asks Jack why he avoided him, but he refuses to answer, and Jean-Luc instead proceeds to tell a story about Jack’s namesake, Beverly’s late husband and Wesley’s father. While doing so, Picard uses the f-word for the first time onscreen, which was awesome – you gotta love when your parents stop treating you like you’re a kid.
Shaw crashes the proceedings by bringing up another episode in Picard’s life, disclosing his friends were killed when Jean-Luc was assimilated by the Borg, which is why he really resents him and Seven. Jack objects, but Picard graciously concedes Shaw is right to be angry, and leaves. They bump into Beverly, who reveals the gravity well has been giving off energy pulses, because the nebula is actually a strange, undiscovered lifeform’s version of frogspawn. In any event, Jack proposes they use the pulses to propel the ship to escape the asteroid field, and after some persuading from his oldest friends, Riker agrees to at least die trying.
Remembering Shaw mentioned his experience was in engineering, Picard gets him and Seven to work together to open up the nacelles, so it can absorb significantly more power. While doing so, the Changeling saboteur attempts to interfere by posing as Ensign La Forge, but Seven confirms her suspicions by asking her to address her by name: the Changeling refers to her as Hansen, not Seven, resulting in her being shot and killed.. and hopefully Shaw learning to respect his XO’s choice of name. Beverly’s gambit pays off, much to a deep sigh of relief from everyone (including yours truly), and Riker leaves Vadic a delightful parting gift, by using their own tractor beam to fling an asteroid at her ship.
As the crew comes together, Picard thinks back to a talk he gave five years ago to some cadets, when a stranger asked if he regretted not having a family. Picard responded Starfleet was his family, and now realizes the stranger was Jack, whom he alienated by saying that. Pretty awkward, especially given what a nail-biting ode to the power of friendship this episode was. Jean-Luc decides not to dwell on it in his admiral’s log, instead pondering the unanswered question of why Vadic was so hellbent on capturing his son. Unbeknownst to our hero, Jack is plagued by visions of the red entity the Changelings presumably want to locate, beckoning him to find them. – Christopher Chiu-Tabet
Star Wars: The Bad Batch – “The Outpost” (S2E12, Disney+)
While he is easily the least likeable of Clone Force 99, the Crosshair episodes of this season have been among the best. The mantra of ‘good soldiers follow orders’ is essentially what guides him, and so far, that has trumped any personal feelings that he has had about a mission. His purpose in life is to follow orders and, while that can sound sad, it also makes his life very simple, and guides his decisions in thoroughly uncomplicated ways. In “The Outpost,” we see that belief system finally break down, in part because he realizes that while good soldiers follow orders, they also take care of their fellow soldiers.
Continued belowOn one hand, Mayday and Crosshair would probably have been at odds had they met under any other circumstances. Mayday is a pragmatist who thinks of his fellow soldiers as much or more than he thinks of the overall mission, which is not how Crosshair thinks. But because Lieutenant Nolan is such a dick to the clones, they wind up sharing some knowing glances and biting remarks about the commanding officer. Mayday proves to be a very good soldier, and a very helpful one, saving Crosshair’s life from a pressure mine. Crosshair does a very un-Crosshair thing, which is not abandon Mayday when an injury leaves him, essentially, a dead man walking. But Crosshair struggles along with him and, in a not so subtle metaphor for military brotherhood, essentially allows Mayday to lean on him for the arduous journey back to base.
When Nolan is angry that they returned without their cargo and lets Mayday die, Crosshair does the unthinkable: he shoots Nolan. Finally taking actions into his own hands, he seals his fate by betraying the Empire. After collapsing on the ground, Crosshair wakes up in the laboratory of Dr. Karr, who looks to begin experimenting on him. If his actions were a one-time lapse, this only will reinforce Crosshair’s notion that rocking the boat leads to disaster. However, Crosshair seems legitimately changed by his experience in the cold. However, I can’t imagine this interaction with Dr. Karr will continue to change him for the better.
“The Outpost” is also one of the most visually stunning episodes of The Bad Batch thus far, with gorgeous snow animation really setting the stage and helping to reinforce the emotionally cold Empire and the equally chilly Crosshair. But more than that, this episode did a remarkable job of, in posture, positioning, and shadow, demarcating power between Nolan and the clones. For a show that doesn’t always trade in subtlety, there were some noticeable nuances to this episode. – Brian Salvatore
