It’s the fourth episode of NBC’s Powerless. Still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, though. So there’s that. But I will say that I didn’t hate it this time around. It didn’t particularly blow me away or anything either. But it was a somewhat enjoyable way to spend 30 min after a long day at work, which is really all I’m looking for out of a light-hearted comedy. Here are some things I thought while watching:
1. Pretty Girl Incapable of Finding a Date
This show may be turning into one of those shows about a pretty girl that only wants to find love, but for whatever reason is incapable of doing it. And that’s probably a bad thing. Because shows like that are pretty damn boring. Who gives a shit about a twenty-something looking for love in the big city. I’m here to see cool superhero gadgets and maybe occasionally laugh at a joke or two. A good amount of this episode is devoted to Emily’s search for love. About how the only guys she dates are jerks or assholes, about how the one “good” man she’s ever had turned into a cheater…and now he’s marrying the girl he cheated on her with and they’ve invited Emily to the wedding. It’s a scenario that get played out quite often in TV shows and movies. And they all lead to one thing:
A girl’s night out where…
2. Emily Meets A Guy! But…
He’s a bad guy.
Just like the episode title would lead you to believe. Emily falls for a henchman. He’s handsome and funny and he’s a doctor (which is code for henchman). He works for the Riddler, and he’s not sure why but he constantly feels compelled to tell his victims his full and complete plan. I’m glad that we’re getting some bits of story that go outside of the, like, four people that work for Wayne Security, but this bit didn’t really do it for me. Maybe it’s because the Riddler was having his henchmen break into Wayne Security to steal cell phone case to make an indestructable tank to lead an assault on Arkham Asylum. I don’t give a shit how fireproof some fancy cell phone case is, there’s no way in hell it’s more indestructible than an actual tank. Riddler, come on, man, you’re better than this.
The henchmen were also scared off by Van Wayne in a shitty rubber Robin costume, so maybe it’s just that the Riddler hired a bunch of henchmen duds.
3. While I’m On The Topic of Van Wayne
He wasn’t as terribly annoying in this episode as he has been in the past few, but that’s maybe just because he didn’t have as big of a role in this one. He was in it, yeah, but it wasn’t as Van-centric. Basically, Van thinks he has what it takes to be the next Robin, even though we’re told that he threw his back out the other day by sneezing. He’s even wearing the rubber Robin suit under his regular suit, just in case Batman makes an appearance.
The thing is, I think he just wasn’t as whiney or annoying as he’s been the last two episodes. He was quirky and silly, like he was in the first episode.
4. Batman Makes An Appearance…Kind of, But Not Really
Teddy and Ken find a Batarang. For some reason it’s not at all bat-shaped, which I initially assumed was because they didn’t have the rights to show Batman’s symbol on the show. But then Ken’s wearing a Batman T-shirt for most of the episode so I don’t know what’s going on here. But the whole episode is focused around the guys trying to meet Batman. They have his Batarang and they knows he’s going to come looking for it, because it’s got a GPS tracker that occasionally beeps. So they like put out milk and cookies for him (because how do they know he’s not also Santa) and they start hanging out in alleys to try to run into him. Nevermind the fact that Batman works out of Gotham and this show is set in Charm City.
Continued belowThey end up getting mugged by a dude that looks like a cross between the Joker and the lead singer from the band Prodigy. After the mugging, as the mugger is walking away we see a flash as he’s gone. It was Batman. Batman zips the dude away.
Batman made an appearance! He was just never shown on the screen.
I actually really enjoyed this storyline. Much better than the main one. It was light and funny and I even got one or two genuine laughs out of it.
5. Maybe It’s Not All Terrible
Maybe I’ve just been needlessly hard on the show in my last two reviews. Episode 4 wasn’t terrible. Like I said before: it wasn’t particularly great either. But it was a light and fun few minutes of television. This isn’t groundbreaking, life-changing shit here. But I never expected it to be. I really hope that the last two episodes were just missteps. Maybe now Powerless is starting to find its legs. Maybe now they’ll just continue to run with the light-hearted quirkiness that I think made this episode so much better than the last two.
Even the main storyline, with Emily trying so hard to find love, wasn’t terrible. It’s not the type of storyline I usually follow, but it’s getting better. I was talking to my wife about the show after we watched it (this was the first episode she’s ever seen) and I was going back and forth on whether or not I liked it and she she said something that I think pretty much sums it up perfectly: It wasn’t great, but I’ve seen worse. And it’s true. We were mildly entertained while watching it. We got a few laughs out of it. What else can you expect from a 30 min comedy on NBC?
