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 – “Wilderness Warriors” (S1E8, Paramount+)
Read our full review of the season finale by The Salvatores.
The Flash – “Funeral for a Friend” (S8E14, The CW)
So, Frost is dead, and the team is having a lot of trouble coping with it. A very basic villain named Blockbuster appeared, and team Flash, including Cecile for some reason, fail to stop him.
Joe steps up and does his trademark move, giving great advice, Team Flash has to honor Frost, each in their own way, and the episode turned into little vignettes.
Iris is struggling to write an obituary that works as an apt farewell without revealing her relationship with Frost, and at the end she chooses to do a podcast with people that lives were saved by Frost.
Cecile chooses to make 25% of her cases pro bono in favor of wrongly accused metas. Allegra and Chester are fighting about whether hummus is a dip or not, and Blaine makes them see that these worthless fights won’t have a good ending, and they make peace between each other.
Barry finishes Frost’s bucket list, and it Is a beautiful experience, but there’s still something missing, and Blaine again has the answer: look out for your loved ones and protect them, which leads us to Frost’s sister
Caitlin, understandably, is the most affected one by the Death of Frost, she immediately shut off from the team and openly said that she was not going to go to the funeral, so, Barry goes to her house and says the magic words: What Would Frost Do. He convinces her to go to the funeral, bid farewell and give a gorgeous eulogy about how Frost lives on trough selflessness, but when she comes home again we discover that she has a plan: se is reviving hew, no matter what.
At the end, once the team dealt with their pain, now they are able to work as a team again and save the day. This was an emotional episode that does a good job showing us how every person mourns differently, and every process deserves patience. – Ramon Piña
Heartstopper – “Bully” (S1E7, Netflix)
Charlie and Nick go to the movies, unaware Harry, Ben, and Nick’s other rugby mates are attending the same screening. Afterwards, Harry begins harassing Charlie with a series of offensive questions, ending the date on an ugly note. Before getting in his dad’s car, Ben confronts Charlie, telling he saw him and Nick holding hands, and claims he never had any feelings for him, but only dated him because he felt sorry for him. Nick goes back to Harry and confronts him over his bullying, a fight that quickly turns physical after Harry calls Charlie a “fag.”
Charlie learns about the incident the next day, and tells Nick (now sporting a black eye) he didn’t need to do that, but Nick emotionally protests that Charlie shouldn’t have to tolerate any kind of homophobia, and that he’s come to hate his friends, including those who just stand by and do nothing. Regardless, Charlie is worried he’s ruined Nick’s life, and mulls breaking up their relationship.
Tao tells Elle he blames his acerbic responses to Harry for him targeting Charlie. During their conversation, he finally realizes there is something going on between him and Nick, and despite Elle’s attempts to explain why, he grows resentful that he was going to be the last person Charlie was going to tell. The following day, Harry bullies Tao, swiping a drawing he and Elle made together, which finally pushes him into physically attacking the rich prat. Nick intervenes before a teacher breaks up the fight, but Tao angrily blames Charlie, and ends their friendship.
Song of the episode: “Smokey Eyes” by Lincoln – – Christopher Chiu-Tabet
Continued below
Heartstopper – “Boyfriends” (S1E8, Netflix)
Stay tuned for our full review of the season one finale this week by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – “The Fifth Nemesis” (S2E8, NETFLIX)
Read our full review of the season finale by Henry Finn.
Naomi – “Ready or Not” & “Who Am I?” (S1E12 & S1E13, The CW)
Stay tuned on Tuesday for our full review of the 2-part season, and series, finale by Brian Salvatore.
Riverdale – “Chapter 108: Ex-Libris” (S6E13, The CW)
Read our full review by Elias Rosner.
Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles – “Possessions” (S1E3, NETFLIX)
In this episode, Yuichi, Gen, Chizu and Kitsune bust some ghosts in a haunted house and learn some valuable lessons about judging others and the importance of home. Also that Lord Kogane continues to be the best character in the show despite also being the kind of guy you want to punch in the face.
“Possessions” is an episode I enjoyed a lot more than the last two but it still has the same fundamental problems: sluggish action, character models that don’t emote well, a script that could use some punching up, and actors clearly trying their best with OK direction. Still, the creativity of the episode’s retreads of well-worn ghost tropes keeps things lively and the goofier aspects of the episode help offset the attempts at humor from the cast themselves.
Dare Mo’s whole schtick of pretending to be people and objects before disappearing their faces was great fun, leading to the second best non-Lord Kogane gag in the episode with Gen and his twin sister. I was a little iffy on the suddenness of the introduction of Toshiko but eh, the gag was worth it. That’s really the vibe of “Possessions:” a Scooby-Doo-like episode with a neat ending, a bit of a mystery, and a twist at the end that the villain isn’t who we thought it was. Only instead of Old Man Jenkins, it’s that Yokai aren’t that bad and Yuichi should reconsider his prejudices.
On the ongoing plot front, we learn that the cultural museum used to be Gen’s home, which I didn’t expect, per say, but they were not subtle about Gen’s odd love for the museum he pretended not to have. We also learn, as stated above, that Gen had a sister who is now indebted to the Bat Squadron, who I think we met in the first episode and I forgot to mention in my review?
Finally, as I predicted with Chizu last episode, she’s a part of the Neko Ninja Clan for reasons as yet unknown. Did not expect her boss to be straight out of “Cats & Dogs” though. It’s good to know we’re building up a long-term story and factions at the same time as the Monster of the Week stuff while not neglecting the characters, even if that work is often…too simple. I’m still not clamoring to watch more than an episode at a time but I’m starting to find my footing. The reduced Yuichi levels in the episode certainly helped. – Elias Rosner
Star Trek: Picard – “Farewell” (S2E10, Paramount+)
In case you missed it, read our full review of the season 2 finale by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – “Strange New Worlds” (S1E1, Paramount+)
Read our full review of the series premiere by Chris Egan.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – “Children of the Comet” (S1E2, Paramount+)
Within a story about the Enterprise coming across an event that takes a look at a line blurring between science and religion, we are given a more casual look at some of the ship’s crew at a social gathering at Captain Pike’s quarters. Some of these characters we already know, even if we only met them last week, some are background filler, and we also get introduced to the new Chief Engineer. Mr. Hemmer is an Andorian, a species notable for their usual animosity towards Starfleet. He is also blind but that fact is neither a hindrance nor something he sees as a problem.
We meet him through Cadet Uhura, who is both trying to open herself up to meeting others, and being hit with some softball hazing pranks. It’s through her cadet’s log and this gathering that we learn more about this person who will go on to be one of Starfleet’s biggest heroes. But at this moment, she is questioning if she even sees herself sticking around as she only joined after a shuttle accident claimed the lives of her entire immediate family. Her story also gives us a peek at the why and how of her becoming such a distinguished linguistics expert, on top of her incredible intellect. It’s a well done expansion on this character’s history without having to re-write it.
Continued belowWe get yet another touch on Pike’s doomed future before jumping ahead to the meat of the story. As the Enterprise is studying and tracking one of the oldest comets in the galaxy, they see that it is on course to collide with a nearby planet and it will kill everyone living on it. As it is a pre-Warp society they must assist in secret. The team lands on the comet only find it to be something so much more than a giant rock, while the bridge crew meet a guardian species known only as the ‘Shepherds’ who monitor and take care of the comet. They believe it holds a power to life in the universe. Pike sees them as zealots until more of the truth comes to light. It is only in this first moment that the idea of religion is looked down upon and not simply seen as another viewpoint. And it is through understandable frustration that Pike briefly has these feelings, believing the Shepherds care more about the comet’s path than saving millions of lives.
The crew puts together a plan that will allow them to secretly re-route the comet unbeknownst to the Shepherds, keeping them safe from the aliens’ superior technology and weapons, and not appearing as though they look down at their beliefs. Through some truly ingenious writing, (That I won’t spoil here.) we and the crew are given various twists and reveals to chew on. And in a sort of safe, but still fascinating, way the story resolves itself by never leaning too far into whether or not it was science or faith that saved the day.
“Strange New Worlds” continues to be a shining example of tackling multiple ideas, themes, and story threads in a concise, but never undermined, way that is true to what “Star Trek” has been about all along. Christopher Egan
