Boomb Tube, The Week in Comic Book Television: 8/13-8/19/2023

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!

Futurama – “Parasites Regained” (S8/11E4, Hulu)

Futurama gets its Dune, sorry, Doon-g on with a sequel to season three’s “Parasites Lost,” where the worms that made Fry intelligent are now destroying Nibbler’s brain. But first, this episode starts with Nibbler callously eating a dog and its understandably angry owner, which, coupled with a gag about Leela immediately forgetting he can talk, really undermined the integrity of her character a bit. That’s not to say she can’t be dumb sometimes, but this season has started to make her too much like the rest of the crew.

Anyway, Leela, Fry, Bender and Zoidberg shrink down to eliminate the source of the infestation in Nibbler’s litter box, joining a war between the Doong beetles and the worms, who can coalesce to resemble the sandworms of Arrakis. When Nibbler huffs the glitter that covers the box’s smell though, he perceives the devastation, and intervenes, revealing himself to be Doong’s prophesied Messiah. Leela cannot accept that her baby would sacrifice himself for the worms though, and uses the glitter on herself to deduce that the worms are hurting him because they themselves are infected with mites.

Everyone draws a line in the circle of life, stomping the mites (and Zoidberg, who’s gloriously — no pun intended — treated like crap this week.) It was a pleasant turn, as I genuinely thought for a moment that this would be Frank Welker’s swan song as Nibbler. I know that sounds silly, seeing as he’d still be on call to do all the animal noises, but it was genuinely selfless that he accepted his fate. Glad he’s fine – just please don’t randomly eat people and their dogs anymore, OK? – Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Good Omens – “I Know Where I’m Going” (S2E3, Amazon Prime)

In case you missed it, read our full review by Mel Lake.

Harley Quinn – “Metamorphosis” (S4E6, Max)

Nightwing is dead. I feel nothing. While his cakes were magnificent, he made little impact on the show’s overall story. Or maybe I’m a jaded old man. It’s probably the second one. It turns out the Joker did it with the full support of his new family. His greatest hits come back to haunt Harley and what’s left of the Bat Family. In Legion of Doom business, Ivy gets rid of her intrusive PR team in a batshit insane Kronenburg battle. The Jon’s form one big ass, body horror “Big Jon” and battle the giant Ivy statue controlled by earth bender Terra. I wish it were a scene in a video game. The tension between the remaining key players is high. Barbara is broken and doesn’t trust Quinn, Harley is emotionally torn between her love and her job, and Ivy is fine. For now. Here are some out-of-context moments for you to mull over. Sugar Saturdays, caked up coffin, league of chaperones, and maniacal laugh. Have a great week! – Carl Waldron

Heartstopper – “Challenge” (S2E4, Netflix)

The gang, now joined by James and Sahar (Leila Khan), arrive in Paris, where most of them are shocked to learn Nick is fluent in français because his father is French. They spend their first day exploring Montmartre, where Charlie starts to become slightly envious of how open Tara and Darcy are about their relationship. He confesses this to Tara while waiting on their partners at Sacré-Cœur, and she in turn admits she actually wishes they could be like the boys, who are so open with their feelings, because Darcy treats everything like a joke.

Things are still very awkward between Tao and Elle, with the lad pushing his luck, trying to act like nothing happened, until they wind up being the only two who want to visit Renoir’s former home in the Musée de Montmartre. The pair reconcile, with Elle starting to be reminded of how sweet Tao is when she sees him help a family take a photograph, despite not knowing a word of French. That evening, Nick and Tao also become closer, with the former effectively telling the latter he is smart, and also deserving of love and affection.

Continued below

Poor Imogen has a pretty rough day, with Ben continuing to be the world’s worst boyfriend. During dinner, Charlie winds up sitting next to Ben, and she calls him out for being more interested in him than her, dumping him. Ben calls her a bitch, something even Harry thinks is too far, and the two wind up leaving the table. Nick and Charlie check on her afterwards, leading to a warm group hug. The episode closes on a more lighthearted cliffhanger, with Charlie waking up to discover Nick has left him a love bite.

Song of the episode: “mona lisa” by mxmtoon – Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Mech Cadets – “Know Your Enemy” (S1E3, Netflix)

Tanaka takes the cadets combat training, where their competitive streak, and inability to work together, nearly gets Maya killed, while her Robo Big Red gets damaged protecting her. While Maya is comatose, we get a flashback to her interview with General Park, where we learn her only living relative is a younger brother, who also survived a tsunami in Puerto Rico. It’s portrayed via black-and-white, 2D animation, which was a winningly striking way to distinguish the scene.

Meanwhile at the base, tensions flare between chief engineer Maxton (Debra Wilson), and Hero Force One project lead Clark (Rick Zieff). Max tells Ava about her fraught history with Clark, and why she believes man-made mechs will never have the heart of a Robo. General Park receives word of a Sharg ship emerging from Mars, while Dr. Miller (Tony Oliver) defies Park’s orders to destroy the eggs, believing the new living tissue samples are too valuable – unfortunately, as the episode closes, one of the eggs hatches, and Miller is attacked by the loose larva. – Christopher Chiu-Tabet