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!
And since the summer is here, check out our 2022 Summer TV binges, where Multiversity staffers reach back in time to review comics/comics-adjacent/nerdy shows all summer long. (Here’s a handy list of what’s being covered too.)
The Boys – “The Instant White-Hot Wild” (S3E8, Amazon Prime)
Read our full review of the season 3 finale by Ramon Piña.
Dead End: Paranormal Park – “Wait Time: 22 Minutes” (S1E6, NETFLIX)
Scuse me! Coming through! I forgot my review! I forgot my review on the ride!
Whew. Found it…Ew why’s it covered in stale popcorn and Hawaiian Punch?
This was a hard episode to watch and thus a hard episode to review. Not because it’s bad. I just really, really don’t like the rom-com awkward conversation tropes and that’s most of the episode. Barney, Norma, Pugsly, and Courtney are waiting in line for a brand new ride which is basically a horrifying doctor-themed version of a tunnel of love and it turns out Logan aka Logs is on the line too. Norma, Puglsy, and Courtney split off, giving Logs & Barney the chance to be alone in front of a very understanding couple who had their first date on the ride when it first opened.
He’s terrified and gets Puglsy to go all Freaky Friday on him only instead of body-swapping it’s just plain old possession. Hijinks ensue, everyone else is just as bad at romance as Barney if not worse, and there’s a running gag (literally) that I found annoying before it looped back to being hilarious thanks to Gorm. It’s all fine stuff, and clearly from a talented team, but I wasn’t that into it.
That said, Dead End continues to impress me with its animation. It’s not flashy but it is clean and lively. There’s a slight bounce to everyone and it keeps things from feeling static. Logs is kind of a square and I love him for that and the spookier bits of the episode were very effective. That half-Pugsly? OOF.
I also wanted to bring up the conversation Norma & Barney have in the In-Between about Barney constantly running away. It’s right on the heels of his mother saying something similar in the previous episode. I’m glad the episode takes the time to sit with it not through that lens but as a self-reflection on Barney’s part.
The larger plot pieces are also starting to fall into place now that the Pauline impersonator from the first episode has been found and even though I have an idea where we’re headed, it’s like Norma and the park: the ride may be the same but I’ll enjoy it every time. – Elias Rosner
Riverdale – “Chapter 115: Return to Rivervale” (S6E20, The CW)
Read our full review by Elias Rosner.
Stranger Things – “The Piggyback” (S4E9, Netflix)
Read our full review of the season 4 finale by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
The Umbrella Academy– “Kindest Cut” (S3E5, Netflix)
This episode of The Umbrella Academy felt a little lackluster, although Vikor confirms that Harlan was the one that had killed their mothers the day his mother died of cancer. Viktor does his best to protect Harlan by trying to keep the information to himself, but it only draws more attention and suspicion from the others. Combined with Five explaining the “Kugelblitz,” AKA their latest apocalypse they have to combat, it seems to point back to killing Harlan since he was the one that caused a significant change by killing their mothers.
While all the characters are reacting to their latest and seemingly hopeless apocalypse news, it makes the audience wish more had happened instead of struggling to devise any plan of substance. The random takeaway is that Klaus finds out that he can resurrect himself from dying and has been doing so since he was a child. It’s not surprising to anyone watching the previous two seasons as he acts recklessly and is void of any responsibilities.
We did, however, get a little nugget of Allison using her “rumor” powers on Luther when he was trying to go Sloane. It’s an unsettling scene. Although Luther is under her power, he seems aware of it, and his face is stuck in a stiff look of pain. She continues to veer off the edge of sanity as she deals with the fact that her husband and daughter from her original life are gone. This episode didn’t quite have the same oomph as the build-up, and let’s hope for some action in the next one. – Alexander Manzo
