Boomb Tube, The Week in Comic Book Television: 9/17-9/23/2023

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!

Ahsoka – “Far, Far Away” (S1E6, Disney+)

Read our full review by Brian Salvatore.

Daryl Dixon – “Alouette” (S1E2, AMC)

In case you missed it, read our full review by Alexander Manzo.

Daryl Dixon – “Paris Sera Toujours Paris” (S1E3, AMC)

Read our full review by Alexander Manzo.

Futurama – “The Prince and the Product” (S8/11E9, Hulu)

Futurama’s anthology episodes return with this genuinely bizarre set of toy-inspired segments, where the crew are wind-up toys (Windos), racing track cars (RoundWheels), and finally Rubber Ducks and eggs (Eggulons.) They’re framed as “commercials” in a story where Leela (gasp!) falls under the “science spell” of the Prince of Space, forcing Fry and the King to fight for Leela’s honor, only for her to kill her love- oh you know what, forget it, the ending made it pretty clear none of this was canon too. The whole thing was so childish, I can’t help but wonder if it was a bet to construct an episode around ideas pitched by the writers’ kids. (I mean, why else was there a macaroni portrait of the Queen?)

Then again, the RoundWheels segment (the best one) could’ve probably only been done this way: this delightfully dark sequence, which turns out to be a Ringu parody, sees the crew get slowly offed and turned into a single car by Zoidberg (who’s been driven mad by years of abuse), something that would’ve been far too grotesque with the usual character models. There were many other fun moments in this, from the pay off with the warranty gag, to Windo Bender giving his life to save Fry, be reborn as a plane, and crash again, that I choose to look at this admittedly weak episode with bemused bewilderment than anger at what is already a very weird show. (In other words, if it was intentionally bad, then don’t rise to the bait!) – Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Mech Cadets – “The Einstein-Rosen Bridge” (S1E8, Netflix)

Although Hero Force One hasn’t been tested for spaceflight, Olivia manages to reach the GDR satellite, and goes to scan the Sharg ship. Back on land, Stanford and Buddy help Ava and the Engineering Corps repair the tower, while Maya and Frank stand watch. Things are dire, with every other Robo injured or engaged in battle, although it turns out Tombo’s still in the fight, just needing to be repaired and recharged. It’s then Olivia discovers the Sharg ship is actually the biggest member of the species yet, and becomes overwhelmed after it launches thousands of eggs, which drain the energy from her mech.

Park orders Hero Force to rescue her, but Adam is unable to breach the atmosphere, causing him and his teammate to crash, forcing the Robos into action. Ava manages to reactivate the satellite shield just as Stanford discovers Buddy can create portals, allowing Olivia, Maya and Frank to cross through the GDR while the eggs crash and burn against it. With the cadets safe, Tanaka starts an honest-to-God fight with Park in his office about provoking his daughter, and resigns from the Sky Corps. Events take a sudden turn for the worse when the giant Sharg attacks and damages the satellite itself, undoing Ava’s good work, and a second wave of eggs come pouring in as the credits roll… – Christopher Chiu-Tabet