Series: This Week’s TV MVPs -- Week 65

We're already into November, which is hard to believe! Since we're rapidly approaching the holidays, many shows are already beginning to go on hiatus, or else air their midseason finales. There were some pretty incredible performances on television this week, and Mer joins me to discuss them!

Jenn's MVP: Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak (Arrow)

Why she's the MVP: This week was essentially the Oliver and Felicity Power Hour on Arrow. And while I enjoyed Stephen Amell's performance (especially when he accidentally tells Felicity the incorrect route to take because he gets his right and left communication mixed up), Emily Bett Rickards is the true star of the show. In Harry Potter, Hermione Granger is the series' unsung hero. Though Harry has heroic moments and is the titular character, he would be dead a thousand times over if not for Hermione's brains and courage. So is the case with Arrow — if not for Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen wouldn't even exist currently. She's saved him a million times over, and this week was the chance for Oliver to be there for Felicity the way she's always there for him.

Rickards is a master of levity in a show that's often very serious. Though I love Echo Kellum's rapid-fire silliness, Rickards has mastered the subtle art of facial nuances and quippy one-liners. She gets the chance this week to revisit some of the fun Felicity I miss — the one who sneaks around, pursuing hijnks and capers. You can tell that Rickards enjoys this side of Felicity, and she has a blast with it. But Rickards isn't just an MVP because she can make me chuckle — she really was able to convey Felicity's frustrations and vulnerabilities in a believable manner. Felicity Smoak is no damsel, but she's also not used to dealing with the burden of self-imposed guilt that colors the way Oliver thinks and lives. So this week, Rickards also got the chance to convey those facets of Felicity's personality and experience, and the result was wonderful. I've always been a fan of Emily Bett Rickards' performance on this show, and this week helped remind me why she's such a valuable asset to the cast.

   

Bonus MVP #1: Megan Mullally as Karen Walker (Will & Grace)

When I watched this week's episode of Will & Grace I didn't expect to cry but thanks to Megan Mullally's performance, I actually did. We're so used to seeing Mullally excel as loud, brash, and often insensitive Karen that to watch her completely nuanced performance was stunning. For the majority of the episode, Will and Jack try to fix Karen and get her to accept the loss of Rosario. Karen is, understandably, coldly resistant to their attempts to cheer her up and get her to acknowledge her grief. In a really moving scene though, Will is the only one to break through to Karen. Instead of trying to fix her with words or platitudes, he simply stands behind her and hugs her, not saying anything. He allows her the choice — she can stay where she is or she can say goodbye to Rosario. It's up to her, and he won't push her in either direction.

Ultimately, Karen visits the church alone and gives a really moving goodbye speech to her best friend and former maid. Karen grieved in the way she needed to, not in the way everyone else wanted her to. And ultimately, it's really fitting for her — she needed the privacy to mourn without everyone else judging her or expecting a certain reaction from her. Mullally absolutely slayed that goodbye scene, and it was equal parts moving and heartbreaking. Only Megan Mullally would be able to take a character who is so incredibly bold and convey how humbly human we all are when we face the loss of someone we love.

(credit: bunch_of_fans)

Bonus MVP #2: Josh Groban as himself (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)

Don't watch this week's incredibly meta — and brilliant — number "End of the Movie" until you've caught up on the show itself. Once you do, you'll be able to appreciate how incredible and timely the song is. ... And you'll also understand why I've had Josh Groban singing his line, "Like me, Josh Grobaaaaaaan" stuck in my head all weekend. Even though he's literally only in the show for a few minutes, somehow Josh Groban made the scene he was in both hilarious and poignant. Anything crooned by him is gold, but this song is one of my favorites of the whole series now. Kudos to you, Josh Groban, for being so great.

Mer’s MVP: Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven (Stranger Things)

Why she’s the MVP:

WARNING: Spoilers for season two of Stranger Things ahead. Read at your own risk!

Anyone who has watched Stranger Things knows that Eleven is really the heart of the show. She has a mysterious connection to the Upside Down and the Demagorgan which makes her both heroic and dangerous. In addition to that, her tragic past and upbringing make for an always emotional storyline. Eleven is equally naive and innocent, powerful and aggressive, lonely and vulnerable, and underneath it all just a pre-teen girl who wants somewhere to call home. Mastering a character that multifaceted and layered would be a challenge for any actor, let alone one as young and new to the scene as Brown. And yet, master it she does.

There were multiple times throughout watching this season that I cried, I am not ashamed to admit. And the vast majority of those moments were because of Brown’s performance as Eleven. Her scenes with Harbour’s Jim Hopper were some of the most emotional of the entire series, and her standalone episode was one of my favorites (I know this is a somewhat unpopular opinion, but I was really invested in Eleven’s independent story, even as I was desperate for her to reconnect with her friends.)

Over the course of the season, Millie-as-Eleven broke my heart, terrified me, made me angry, and made me proud. With most characters, you either love them, hate them, or love to hate them. Thanks to Brown’s brilliant performance, that’s not true with Eleven. She elicits so many emotions from the viewer that my thoughts and feelings about her changed with the episode — maybe even the scene. Millie Bobby Brown took one of the most unrealistic aspects of the show — a young girl ripped from her mother’s arms and raised with no identity to become a telekinetic government weapon — and used raw vulnerability and quiet emotion to make her one of the most relatable characters. Everything Eleven does is believable, from wiping another girl off a skateboard out of jealousy, to saving the entire gang from demadogs, to dressing up for a school dance. All of these different acts feel true to her character, and that is solely due to the absolutely perfect performance by Millie Bobby Brown. She is the true MVP of Stranger Things.

Who was YOUR TV MVP this week? Sound off in the comments below!

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Arrow 6x04 Review: "Reversal" (Clever Girl, Meet Tech Boy) [Contributor: Jenn]

"Reversal"

Original Airdate: November 2, 2017

It's a few weeks into this season of Arrow and I honestly don't know what to do with myself — I have very little to say in the way of snark. I'm not seething with rage at a stupid decision (or string of stupid decisions) from Oliver Queen. My only point of annoyance this week is that Oliver tried to "white knight" Felicity, but even then, the show proved that Felicity could shut him down and that it was Oliver's job to meet Felicity where she was at and listen to her rather than anticipate her needs. Indeed, the title of this episode is apt because we see quite a few characters in role reversals -- most poignantly, perhaps, Oliver and Felicity. Let's take a look at what happened in the episode, which includes my thoughts on the season's new Big Bad (and the Baby Bad), Diggle-as-Green Arrow, and everyone's ship: Olicity.

EVERYONE IN STAR(LING) CITY IS INVESTED IN OLICITY

From the random woman at the restaurant to Alena to Curtis and pretty much all of Team Arrow, it's hard to find someone in the city who isn't invested in the relationship between our Mayor Handsome and The Brightest Witch of Her Age... errrr, I mean Clever Girl Smoak. What's really great about this episode, apart from the fact that Oliver and Felicity naturally have fallen back into their adorable pattern of "let's make heart eyes at each other for 50 minutes" is that it actually provides some substance to their relationship.

For starters, Oliver and Felicity have to deal with the fact that he is protective — and he will never be able to change that part of him that wants to dive in front of bad guys for the woman he loves. It's all well and good to have a "white knight" complex, I guess (there are definitely worse complexes to have), but Oliver only acts in the way he thinks Felicity needs him to act and not in the way that she actually needs him to act. And as it turns out, he actually royally screws up in "Reversal," messing with Felicity's mission and knocking out the people who were pretty set to give her resources she needed to take down Cayden James — our season's new Big Bad! As it turns out, Oliver, not every situation can heroically be solved by beating up the people you assume are the bad guys.

(I think Oliver is itching a little bit to get back into the field and this provided him the opportunity to feel like he was contributing something again.)

After Felicity has words with Oliver and he has words back (blah, blah, blah Oliver does his typical heroic dance where he protects Felicity because he can't bear for anything to happen to her. Dude, this is the chick who took a bullet for your then-girlfriend, remember? The one who actually knocked out her own ex-boyfriend when he held her at gunpoint. Remember that too?), the two decide to actually switch roles for the remainder of the episode. And it's pretty dang perfect because not only do they physically switch seats, but they also emotionally switch seats.

Alena is back in the picture because it turns out Cayden James is actually a bad guy and not a good guy. Oops. Remember when Helix extracted him last season? Yes, the same Helix that drove a wedge between Felicity and Team Arrow because of all of the secrecy and hacktivisim and law-breaking and ARGUS infiltrating. As far as I can tell, and our hacktivists can, Cayden wants to shut down the internet. Seems... about right. There is still a chance for these two ladies to take him down, but it requires teaming up and Felicity isn't exactly Alena's biggest fan at the moment. Still, when there are human lives on the line, Felicity does what's necessary to be heroic.

Oliver's failed rescue attempt aside, he actually steps in to help Felicity and Team Arrow try and take down Cayden James and his team of mini-baddies. With Felicity in the field, Oliver is at the command center, guiding Felicity through the bad guys and fighting. Apart from his few, pretty adorable, mishaps, Oliver manages to lead Felicity — step by step — to her destination. Oliver spends "Reversal" being the one to give Felicity encouragement, affirmation, pep talks, and — ultimately — grace in the face of guilt and blame. Felicity blames herself for the fact that Cayden James is out in the world, apparently seeking to end it. If she hadn't trusted Alena and hadn't been a part of Helix, none of this would have happened.

Luckily for Felicity, Oliver graduated top of his class from the Oliver Queen School for Guilt and Self-Loathing, so he doles out the advice that she would give him. It's really an encouragement to me that Arrow is taking Oliver and Felicity's relationship slowly, first by rebuilding the blocks of their initial relationship that were healthy. We are so used to seeing Felicity on the comms, talking Oliver through a difficult physical or emotional obstacle. But this week, Oliver is the one who gets the chance to play the role of Felicity Smoak. And he does a pretty darn good job. (He did have the best teacher, obviously.)

Still, there's more to this storyline than just a simple, ironic role reversal. Felicity's ability to accept Oliver's grace and advice is actually evidence of her being a strong character. Too often we think of strong characters (especially female ones) as those who always have the answers and solutions and press through the toughest situations without breaking a sweat or batting an eye. But being a strong person means accepting that sometimes we fall down and need a hand to help us back up. Felicity gets the chance to be on the receiving end of that rescue line and it's humbling for her and also for Oliver. She's saved him so many times that he gets to be the one who walks with her through something tough. Make no mistake: Felicity doesn't need Oliver to save her all the time. She's no damsel. But she's human. And for all of the times he has been vulnerable with her, this week was a welcome chance to see Felicity be a little vulnerable right back.

Oliver walked alongside her, not pushing her forward or berating her. He did what a good boyfriend should do — encouraged and supported her in the ways she needed to be encouraged and supported. And ultimately Oliver's affirmation of Felicity will help both of them become better individuals and a better couple in the future. "Reversal" was a lovely chance to see Oliver and Felicity take on situations and emotional burdens that the other person typically carries. I think that after this week, they have a deeper appreciation for one another.

BIG BAD AND BABY BAD AND GREEN ARROW... OH MY?

Cayden James is already a great villain. I've never seen Person of Interest or LOST (save your dramatic gasps for the comments section, folks) but I've seen snippets of Michael Emerson's acting and I'm really intrigued by what he will bring to Arrow. Not just in terms of acting, but in terms of the broader plan of a "Big Bad." Unfortunately for me, the Big Bad has little cronies and one of those this week is none other than Black Siren herself. Though I'm always a fan of female villains, Black Siren is essentially a one-trick pony (and for the record, I feel that way about any version of Canary that is not Caity Lotz's) — she does a Canary Cry, stalks about and delivers some salty lines of dialogue. But otherwise, all Black Siren serves to remind us is that she's still a baddie-in-training and her relevance to the real Big Bad will eventually run out. We've all seen that formula play out half a dozen times.

Really, Laurel continuing to be on the series isn't engaging me. The only reason we care about her and the only reason Team Arrow cares about her is because she looks like the Laurel who used to walk their Earth. Otherwise, she's not a really captivating villain and the motive of "bad just for the sake of being bad" is a pretty thin one, writers. Still, it seems like Black Siren will be around for a while so I guess I'll have to get used to the Canary Crying and snide comments a while longer. I am grateful, however, that the show realized her motives and purpose aren't strong enough to anchor an entire season as the Big Bad. So I'm interested to see what exactly Cayden James' motivations are. How did Alena read him so wrong? Is he just after revenge on ARGUS or was he a master manipulator this whole time? What will it look like for Team Arrow to go up against a man who is already ten steps ahead of them? Unlike Damien Darhk — who was the most amusing villain to me because of the fact that Neal McDonough could chew up scenery like nobody's business — or Malcolm Merlyn — who was just a dang delight, brainwashing and murder aside — Cayden seems very calm and measured. He's pretty logical and robotic in his calculations and plans so it'll be fun to watch whether or not the team becomes unhinged in his presence or vice versa.

Speaking of the team, we're still experiencing a role reversal of Diggle playing Green Arrow. He got a fancy new crossbow last week that apparently shoots slo-mo arrows (I know it really doesn't shoot them in slow motion but for the love of God, show, just because you CAN use slo-mo doesn't mean you SHOULD in every episode), and we're brushing aside the fact that his tremors are gone because he's injecting himself with a drug (which people on the Interwebz have pointed out could be Mirakuru — which would serve some nice bookending with Slade back in our story). I like that Diggle is leading the charge and that when Oliver accidentally began to debrief the team, they found it amusing rather than annoying. Diggle is a different kind of leader than Oliver, but not in a bad way.

"Reversal" ends with Slade Wilson interrupting Oliver and Felicity's little make-out session. He needs Oliver's help, and next week we get to watch these two in action together again. I'm not going to lie — I missed Slade, so this is exciting for me. What's also exciting and odd is that I have no snarky way to wrap this review up.

Good for you, Arrow. Good for you.

And now, bonus points:

• Can we all please just take a moment to dance around and thank the powers that be that we don't have to endure any more flashbacks? PRAISE HANDS EMOJIS ALL OVER THE PLACE.
• "I'm a hacktivist, not a monster."
• CORTO MALTESE REFERENCE.
• "What are you doing here?" "... You... invited me."
• Felicity asks how Oliver could be the mayor, Green Arrow, a brother, and a boyfriend at the same time and I have to remind her that it's not like he did any one of those things exceptionally WELL.
• Cayden James calls Felicity "clever girl," and it just made me think about how Felicity Smoak is really Hermione Granger.
• "We're not dead." "Told you so."
• I legit thought that Oliver's phone call at the end of the episode was about Thea waking up from her coma.

What did you all think of "Reversal"? Sound off in the comments below!

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Once Upon A Time 7x05 Recap: “Greenbacks” (Changing the World) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Greenbacks”

November 3, 2017

After last episode’s reveal that Rumple is awake in Seattle and knows his whole past, the story isn’t continued! This is the epitome of the problems with this season of Once Upon A Time: Once an intriguing plotline starts, it is forgotten quickly. This latest episode takes one step forward and two steps back, which isn’t the direction any show wants to move in.

TWO STEPS BACK

The first step backward is that Rumple is totally out of the picture after his awakening and doesn’t appear in the episode. Sure, he will more than likely be more of a focal point in the next episode, but it would have been better to explore his new state immediately. The second step backward is Tiana’s state of mind in the fairytale world. Once Upon A Time has always been about strong female characters who don’t need or seek a prince to save them in either the Enchanted Forest or reality. Unfortunately, Tiana’s kingdom is crumbling, and her only thought is that she needs to find a prince to save things.

While Tiana does eventually realize that she can solve her own problems without a man at her side, it still is a problem with the overall concept of the show. The female characters have never entertained the idea of needing a man, so this is deeply problematic for me. The show has always shown empowering female characters, so I hope this isn’t a major setback. On the bright side, Sabine, Tiana in Seattle, is quite the opposite of her other self. She is more of a trailblazer, as she tries to start her own business in retaliation of Victoria raising Sabine and Jocinda’s rent. While all of the acting in the Seattle scenes is extremely wooden, there is a nice concept hidden there.

ONE STEP FORWARD

In a very unexpected twist, Ivy is actually awake in Seattle and has been playing dumb for what seems to be a short amount of time. The creepy witch being kept in a locked room at the top of Victoria’s building definitely has something to do with this awakening. Ivy is setting some sort of plan in motion, but your guess is as good as mine as for what it is. She is probably genuine in her efforts to help Regina, Henry, and Hook take down Victoria, even after she is more than likely awoken in the timeframe the episode occurs in.

Speaking of Regina and Henry, a photo is found in the creepy room by Regina. This picture is bound to wake up more people, considering it shows Regina and young Henry in Storybrooke from back in season one. Obviously, both characters don’t recall the moment the picture captures, but maybe it will set the story more in motion. The creepy witch assumedly had something to do with the photo surfacing, but what is her role in the craziness? Hopefully, we will eventually learn what’s actually going on.

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The Flash 4x04 Review: "Elongated Journey Into Night" (A Bit of a Stretch) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]

"Elongated Journey Into Night"

Original Airdate: October 31, 2017 

I keep using the word “fun” to describe a lot of what’s going on with The Flash this season, and I swear it’s not just because of my severely limited vocabulary. There was very little fun to be had last season, so I think I’m just basking in the return to this show’s former lighthearted glory. I used to like The Flash specifically because it lacked the brooding, moody gloom that every show thinks it needs to be taken seriously — and I don’t just mean other comic book shows, but other shows in general. It’s okay to have levity in entertainment! It’s okay to make your hero kind of goofy, optimistic, and good-hearted! Not every hero needs a deep, dark past or, if they do have one of those, it’s fine if they cope in ways other than steadfastly refusing to feel anything resembling joy.

But it’s not just a factor of personal taste — I think season four’s return to its roots actually helps the season’s narrative and works to clarify some of its more serious plot threads. “Elongated Journey Into Night” (is that a Eugene O'Neill reference? Deep cut for a CW comic book show) continues this season’s apparent emphasis on fun over needless drama and shines for it. Developments that would have been mediocre, such as a potential connection between The Thinker and Barry’s life, stand out amongst Cisco-running-from-Breacher hijinks and Ralph Dibny’s nauseating metahuman abilities. While last season’s Savitar mystery was bogged down by peripheral angst and despair that made me apathetic to its conclusion, this season’s mystery is contrasted against a lighter tone that it gives it room to really settle into the viewer’s awareness.

HEY Y’ALL PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE RUBBERBAND MAN

This week’s episode has a metahuman of the week, but not a metahuman villain of the week. While attempting to track down more of the twelve people on that bus that got exposed to dark matter, Team Flash find a business card for a P.I. named Ralph Dibny. Since Barry seriously hates this guy and Barry’s a puppy again, we’re predisposed to dislike him as well — and, frankly, Dibny’s introduction isn’t the best in the first place, even before we learn that Barry caught him falsifying evidence during a murder case. So, it’s easy to assume that Dibny is the villain of the week, but no! He’s actually kind of the victim, which is a rare twist on the usual formula and a good way to show the audience that Barry’s judgement still isn’t the best. Like, he’s new and improved and happy-go-lucky, but still. Don’t trust Barry Allen to make wise decisions.

After a trip to Dibny’s office (they get nothing out of him, because the hatred Barry has for Dibny is returned tenfold) Joe and Barry are walking out of the building but lo, out of the corner of the eye: Ralph Dibny being held from the roof by his legs, which have stretched multiple stories so that his torso is on terra firma while threatening goons still hold his ankles. Well that’s weird! Better cart that guy off to STAR Labs.

I don’t really understand the technobabble that ensues at the lab, but suffice to say that Dibny’s cells are a bit wonky. The man sneezes his own face off, for heaven’s sake. While Barry fights tooth and nail against helping Dibny, the rest of the team — and Caitlin in particular — insist on getting him back onto his non-stretched feet. Barry distracts himself by investigating what Dibny’s been up to, which includes blackmailing the mayor and being hated enough to almost get Barry and Iris blown up while they’re snooping around in Dibny’s office.

This seems to just be more fuel for the “Dibny’s the worst” fire burning in Barry’s soul, but it turns out the mayor is the one who planted the bomb! And also, the mayor is perfectly okay with sending hitmen to kill Joe and Barry, so he’s just all-around a bad dude. I’d be more shocked, but I never even thought about Central City even having a mayor until this episode so it’s just a big ol’ shrug from me. Central City has corrupt politicians? Eh.

Caitlin manages to stabilize Dibny’s cells enough to give him control over his stretchy powers and, after an attempt to stop his blackmail plan by blackmailing the mayor into not being blackmailed (this show is goofy and I adore it) Dibny ends up caught in the middle of a climactic hero fight. A helicopter swoops down to pick up the mayor and Joe as collateral, and it’s up to Dibny to help Barry save the day by reaching up to catch the helicopter and allowing Barry to speed along his arms. Of course, this occurs after a heroic pep talk about how Barry was wrong all along (Dibny did plant evidence, but he was certain the guy he framed actually did the murdering) and an unmasking on Barry’s part. Does just, everyone in this city know Barry is the Flash by now?

Barry gets into the helicopter and swipes the mayor’s gun, smiling smugly. Then Joe, fresh from being held hostage, turns to Barry and deadpans that Cecile is pregnant. With top-notch timing and delivery, it’s probably a comedy moment more perfect and genuine to The Flash than any of the slapstick gags they’ve been throwing out this season.

At the end of the episode, Barry asks Dibny to join the merry band of superheroes at STAR Labs. He accepts. Barry also asks him why he started investigating the mayor in the first place. Turns out it was a client who did everything over the phone and only gave his last name: DeVoe. A name which Barry has heard several times before, mostly in the context of archrivals.

CISCO VS. BREACHER

The B-story for this week’s episode involved Cisco meeting Gypsy’s father, Breacher, who is played by Danny Trejo and is exactly as intimidating as every character played by Danny Trejo — which is to say, “lots intimidating.” Apparently, it’s a thing in the family for Breacher to hunt down his daughter’s boyfriends in order to prove their worth. Some of the boyfriends, by Breacher’s admission, do not survive.

Cisco’s plot is entirely comic relief, but works with the rest of the episode because, I emphasize this again, having a lighter tone actually allows for a lot more freedom in a show like The Flash. This B-plot is also worth mentioning because it gives some extra screen time to Cisco and Gypsy. The relationship between the two — and, in fact, all the relationships on the show right now, including Barry/Iris and Joe/Cecile — is happy and light and full of genuine regard. It’s bereft of the tragedy shows think all relationships require to be interesting, and that’s what makes it wonderful to watch. (But with that said, I don’t entirely trust this show not to mess these carefree relationships up. Especially since Joe and Cecile are having a baby and that just opens all the doors for potential tragedy.)

Basically, Breacher’s battle against Cisco is the usual “gotta prove yourself” sort and, because Cisco is Cisco, he does prove himself in the end by facing against Breacher to protect Dibny and Barry during the episode climax. Breacher still hates Cisco, but he trusts him to protect Gypsy (not that she’d ever really need protecting) and respects his ability to stand up to his foes, no matter how much they outmatch him. Cisco’s prize is learning Gypsy’s real name (it’s Cynthia, which I swear we’ve heard on the show before but I’m probably wrong). Breacher’s name is Josh, by the way. Hee.

Other Things:

• "You look like someone I once sent my daughter to kill." "I get that a lot." There was so much terrific stuff in the Cisco vs. Breacher plot. Everyone’s reaction to Breacher was A+.
• I like how the show has just dropped any negative effects of speedsters moving non-speedsters at superspeed. The first season, Barry set his clothes on fire because physics. This season? He can phase Iris through a floor and she’s just dandy.
• But I (non-sarcastically) like that the next scene was just Iris going, “And that’s what it feels like to vibrate through solid matter.”
• Cisco’s superhero disguise is literally sunglasses.

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x04 Recap: "Phone Home" (A Very Special Halloween) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Phone Home"

Original Airdate: October 31, 2017

We begin with a young boy, little Ray Palmer running from suited agents in 1988. It looks like he gets shot trying to escape, which is rather horrifying.

Flashforward to current/future Ray and we see him suggesting team-building exercises to everyone, for Zari’s benefit. She thinks she has everyone nailed already. He tries to demonstrate by doing a trust fall with Mick, but he disappears as Mick falls back. GIDEON reveals that Ray died in 1988, so the Legends leap into action, traveling back to October 30 of that year to try to save him.

Ray reappears and learns what happened to his past self. And the good news is that they still have time to save him. Zari is amazed at Ray’s positivity. They go to his elementary school and see him leaving. The team tracks him, keeping an eye in case he disappears. Mick and Jax see him shoplifting candy bars from a news stand and Ray is aghast; that’s so not like him! Mick, on the other hand, is impressed.

They see little Ray getting picked on by bullies, but apart from the stolen candy, they have no leads. They decide to go back to the ship to investigate further but Ray peeks in his bedroom window and sees his younger self feeding something candy. He calls the creature “Gumball.” It’s... a baby Dominator. Yes, that’s the same nasty alien race that gave all the heroes a hard time in last year’s crossover.

The team shows Zari all the information they have on Dominators back on the Waverider. The reason Ray doesn’t recall befriending a baby Dominator is because it’s an anachronism — something they need to fix. Jax confronts Stein about not wanting to be on the Waverider anymore but he deflects him. Mick has some ideas on what Stein’s thing might be though and offers to help.

Ray and Zari go to his childhood home while Nate and Amaya linger outside, ready to provide back-up. Ray locates the baby Dominator in his bedroom closet. Before they can do anything though, little Ray interrupts. Zari hides while Ray shrinks himself. They hang out while little Ray watches Singin’ in the Rain with Gumball. But Ray’s mom drives up at that moment, and little Ray gets busted for skipping school. While she’s yelling at little Ray, Gumball is getting mad. So adult Ray calls in for help distracting his mother. Nate and Amaya ring the doorbell, probably saving her life.

Little Ray (and adult Ray) overhear his mother complaining about Ray’s insulation to Nate and Amaya and it clearly bothers him. Little Ray believes no one cares about him so he decides to run away with the baby Dominator, taking shrunken Ray with them as a toy for Gumball. Zari calls at little Ray to stop, telling him she’s there to save his life. He gives her the slip — not trusting her — so she chases him into the woods. Back on the Waverider, Mick is talking to Jax about Stein, suggesting maybe he’s selling information to the Time Bureau. Apparently, someone has been taking the jumpship while everyone sleeps and erasing the log.

Amaya is upset with Nate for flirting with Ray’s mother. Then she tells him she wants them to be just friends. While they’re arguing, they come across the suited agents we saw at the start of the episode and see enough to know they’re tracking the Dominator... and little Ray. Sara gets jumped by an adult Dominator.

On the Waverider, Jax and Mick find Stein’s lab where it looks like he’s been inventing something.— potentially for the Time Bureau. In the woods, adult Ray coaches Zari on how to talk to his younger self to get him to trust her. Right about the time he’s ready to trust her, the agents appear. They take the Dominator, sedating him in a lab. And then begin torturing him. The agents have Zari and little Ray locked up and it seems they plan to kill them both. Adult Ray (who is shrunken) is flying around, incognito, trying to figure out what to do.

Meanwhile, Sara is being interrogated by the adult Dominator. He grabs her memories and leaves her tied to playground furniture. Jax accuses Stein of working with the Time Bureau, but he promises he would never do that. The communicator he has is to communicate with Lily. He used the jumpship to bring her the other communicator. He wants to be there for the birth of his grandchild, which is happening any minute now. Softened, Mick and Jax agree to bring him to 2017 so he can visit his daughter in the hospital.

Ray enlarges to protect Zari and his younger self from the agents. They need to escape, but little Ray doesn’t want to leave without Gumball. His older self tries to tell him that he needs to learn how to face reality. But Zari promises they’ll save Gumball. Sara wakes up and tries to free herself and contacts the rest of the team. They fill her in and she tells him that Gumball’s mother showed up and she’s probably headed to Ray’s house, where his mom is. Nate goes there to check on her and protect her if needed. Mrs. Palmer jumps him, however, and Nate doesn’t do much to dissuade her — leaving Amaya to investigate around the house. What she finds, however is Mrs. Palmer all tied up in a tree which means... Nate is with the Dominator Mama. YIKES!

Amaya rushes in to save Nate and he thinks she’s jealous. But then he realizes it’s the Dominator. Amaya fights her long enough for them to get away and they run through a neighborhood of trick or treating children with the Dominator chasing them. Sara goes to the ship to get it and bring it to them but she finds the ship is gone — Jax and company took it back to 2017.

At the lab, Gumball holds the agents off and adult Ray tries to get little Ray to turn the machine that controls the Dominator turned back on. Little Ray tries to insist that Gumball wouldn’t do that and when older Ray tries to argue, the Agents — controlled by Gumball — start to sing the song from Singin’ in the Rain. Gumball is on their side. They take him and leave on stolen bicycles. They plan with Sara and Nate and Amaya to all meet up at the same time so that they can hand off the baby to the mama.

Little Ray is reluctant but he brings Gumball to his mother. They share a tender goodbye. The team is all choked up as the Dominators are beamed back aboard their ship. Meanwhile, Stein arrives at the hospital in time to meet his new grandson, whose name is Ronnie. It’s a touching moment for him as well.

Back at Ray’s house, Nate erases Mrs. Palmer’s memory while Zari says goodbye to little Ray, telling him he did the right thing by letting Gumball go. She tells him that she’s found people that she fits with and he will too, someday. Before the Legends leave, they take little Ray trick or treating and back him up against the bullies from earlier in the episode. Mick steals their candy and they take it back on the Waverider. Zari and adult Ray talk and she admits that she rather likes being a part of the team. She even offers to do Ray’s team-building exercise: two truths and a lie. Then they agree to watch Singin’ in the Rain together. Aww, I kinda like that budding relationship!

Jax feels conflicted now about keeping Stein on the Waverider. He knows the old man belongs at home with his family. He wants Ray’s help to figure out how to break up Firestorm, so Jax can continue without Stein. Yikes!

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Grey’s Anatomy 14x05 Recap: “Danger Zone” (Here’s to New Beginnings) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Danger Zone”

Original Airdate: October 26, 2017

There are a lot of reasons why the fourteenth season of Grey’s Anatomy has gotten off to a great start, and the fifth episode sums up most of them. With a majority of the episode flashing back to the day that Megan Hunt was kidnapped in Iraq, finally seeing the events that we have all heard plenty about was quite nice. The cast chemistry was absolutely fantastic, which is why it is so hard to accept that this good thing is coming to a halting end. Even more surprising is that the events of the episode are an unconventional send-off for one of the main characters.

THE PAST

The most interesting parts of the episode are the flashbacks to Owen, Nathan, Megan, and Teddy’s time in Iraq — specifically the fateful day where Megan was taken captive. I have never seen Owen so alive as a character than during the military throwbacks. Actor Kevin McKidd always does a great job of making Owen very emotional, but his attitude in the Iraq scenes was fantastic. Owen is definitely a military character through and through, which I feel has never been shown to this extent.

All of the actors looked very at ease and comfortable during the flashback scenes, which translated perfectly for their characters. The four characters click so well, and the beginning of the season has been teasing their tight bond. They really seemed like a big, happy family in this episode. Nathan and Megan’s relationship does get fleshed out a bit more in the past, which revealed that both parties cheated on the other. I liked how the old Nathan was finally showcased because it confirms that he has changed, even though we haven’t seen the full character arc over the past two years.

As great as the flashbacks were, I was very surprised that we only get a glimpse at how Megan was kidnapped. The whole event was not shown, which was disappointing. The episode gives the entire story up to the point where she is taken. This is a sad tease that isn’t quite fair to the viewers. I would much rather have seen exactly how Megan was kidnapped and survived rather than an extended look at the day leading up to it. Based on what happens during the present-day storyline, I don’t think that story is going to be told anytime soon.

THE PRESENT

The other focuses of the episode are Megan and Owen’s trip to her new home and Nathan and Farouk’s bonding time. Unfortunately, there is a bit of a time gap between the previous episode and this one because Amelia appears to be fully recovered. At first glance, Owen and Amelia have started over together and are living under one roof again. The Hunt siblings have picked up exactly where they left off ten years ago, which finally fleshes out with Megan being released from the hospital. It isn’t clear how much time has passed, but it feels like there is an episode missing to explain the sudden changes between the characters.

Owen is still extremely overprotective of Megan and decides that he can’t leave her again in fear of her not making it to her new home in California. Although he is cordial with Amelia again, things don’t feel like they are back to normal with that relationship. The road trip serves a dual purpose for Owen in avoiding Amelia and protecting Megan. At least Megan has a good sense of reality and convinces her rather stubborn brother that he can’t protect her forever and needs to have a life of his own. Their interactions are so much fun to watch, as McKidd and Abigail Spencer are perfect together.

Somewhere in between episodes, Nathan and Megan have committed to being a family and raising Farouk together. They have decided to move out of Seattle together to get a fresh start, which leaves Nathan to set up the new beach house. Watching Nathan struggle to put the house together adds a good amount of comic relief to the episode, which was definitely needed between the flashback scenes. He also has some bonding time with Farouk, which shows how committed he is to being a father figure.

By the end of the episode, the family of three has settled into their new home. Nathan is surprisingly staying in California, which means his time at Grey-Sloan has come to an end. While it was assumed that Nathan would probably wind up with Megan sooner or later, the love triangle with Meredith was so much fun and had a lot of potential left. It seems so sudden that Nathan is leaving. With no previous hinting, the move comes at an awkward time with all of his storylines heating up. I thought Nathan was a great character for the show, so it is sad to see him go.

THE FUTURE

So, with Megan and Nathan’s story abruptly wrapping up, where do we go from here in regards to the rest of the season? The first five episodes were all about Megan and her recovery, so it should be interesting to see what comes next. The other “shocker” of the episode is Owen breaking it off with Amelia. While she did give him the free pass to do so at the end of the previous episode, it was surprising to see Owen give up on her. He made so much effort in his second marriage that it doesn’t make sense for one trip to change his mind.

It is unclear whether the end of Megan and Nathan’s storyline means the end of Teddy’s guest arc as well. Naturally, with Owen ending things with Amelia, the assumption would be that he goes all in with Teddy. After years of flirting, it’s about time that they finally act on those feelings we all know they have for each other. With Nathan leaving, it would be great to have Teddy back full time. Time will tell whether Teddy stays or goes again, but if she leaves, I wouldn’t be shocked at this rate if Owen goes with her.

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Supergirl 3x04 Review: "The Faithful" (Clap Your Hands If You Believe) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]

“The Faithful”

Original Airdate: October 30, 2017 

It’s becoming clear that this season of Supergirl is going to go to darker, more serious places than previous seasons have gone. “The Faithful” deals with issues of faith and how religious faith in the heart of one person might lead to peaceful reflection, while another person ostensibly following the same faith might turn dangerous. Although I prefer my Supergirl on the side of cheesy optimism, I can’t resent the show for treading this particular path, as Superman (and, by extension Supergirl) has a long history of throwing in these ideas about the thin line between a superhero and a god... when they’re not making stories about inept killer robots and turning Jimmy Olsen into a lizard man or whatever. Mixing the stupid with the mythical, folks: it’s the comic book way.

HAVE A LITTLE FAITH (JUST A LITTLE, THOUGH)

The episode opens on a plane, two years ago. A grumpy drunk guy is telling the stranger sitting next to him that happiness is a lie and his wife will probably cheat on him. He’s clearly going through some stuff, but still. Rude. Suddenly the plane is crashing and everyone starts to panic, and Grumpy Drunk’s sad, vodka-tinged life is probably passing before his eyes. Lucky for him, though, that this plane crash is the moment Kara Danvers became Supergirl. She saves the plane and is seen standing on the wing by Grumpy Drunk, who looks at her with complete awe. He saw her face, and now he’s a believer.

In the present-day, Sam is watching her daughter Ruby play soccer while also fielding some work phone calls and answering emails. A lady walks up to Sam and asks which player is hers, to which Sam proudly responds, pointing out Ruby, and returns the question. The lady doesn’t answer. Bad sign! Lady proceeds to tell Sam, in a lilting voice that screams “cult member,” that she and Ruby are chosen, then hands over a weird pamphlet. Really bad sign! I assume she skedaddles before Sam does the smart thing and alerts security that there’s a non-parent creeping around at the kids’ soccer game, handing out poorly designed literature and talking like a Stepford Wife.

Sam did take the pamphlet, though, since she carried it to her office, where she’s meeting Lena to sign some papers. Kara’s there too. Kara picks up the pamphlet because she recognizes the symbol on the front as a symbol for Rao, Krypton’s god and the name of its sun. She’s curious enough to want to investigate, and Winn and James are bored enough to tag along with her to the meeting specified on the flyer (the meeting time and location is the only thing specified on the flyer — like I said, it’s poorly designed). Turns out, the meeting is for a Supergirl/Rao-centered cult, led by the guy Kara saved from that plane crash two years ago, Thomas Coville.

Kara hosts a hang-out session with all the female characters on the show, including newbie Sam. I know the show really needed to integrate Sam’s story with the main plot and there’s probably no elegant way to do that, but Sam getting invited over to Kara’s place gives me the impression that we missed a lot of friendship build-up somewhere. Has anyone else noticed that this show is very “off screen” when it comes to friendships? Like, I buy that Lena and Kara are BFFs because Katie McGrath has charisma out the wazoo and chemistry with just about everyone, but a majority of the friendship between those two comes in the form of briefly-mentioned brunch dates. The same deal seems to be happening with Sam and all the other characters. Sam’s just in the friendship circle now. Drinkin’ wine, sharin’ stories, apparently adopting Alex, Maggie, Kara, and Lena as Ruby’s... cool aunts — wait, what?

Sam asks about Kara’s relationship status and Kara goes all sad and awkward because she is reminded of the Mon-El void in her life. I’m sure the same woe is brought about by other things that remind Kara of Mon-El, like unsweetened whole grain cereal, elevator music, and the color beige. Anyway, a fire engine siren saves Kara from further socializing with the odd woman who’s perfectly okay with four almost-strangers announcing themselves as her daughter’s adoptive aunts. Seriously, guys, that was weird.

The siren leads Kara to a fire and, rather than the usual panicked gratitude, the person Kara saves is just passively happy. His girlfriend shows up and Kara recognizes her as someone from the Rao cult and, yep, the fire was an initiation ritual. Kara is understandably angry, since the guy set the fire himself and could have hurt a lot of people.

When Kara confronts Coville about the unsafe rules revolving around his cult, he does the one thing no one else can do on this show and actually sees through the glasses Kara wears, recognizing her as Supergirl. To his credit, he seems genuine when he promises not to tell anyone about her identity, but the fact is that Coville is crazytown bananapants and nothing Kara tells him will stop him from worshiping his god (and Supergirl) exactly how he thinks they should be worshiped. Turns out, he thinks they should be worshiped via large-scale danger and terrorism, thanks to a bomb he fashioned out of a Kryptonian power source he got from the Kryptonian equivalent of the Voyager probe (which is, incidentally, also how he learned about Rao in the first place).

After the confrontation with Coville, Kara sits down for a now-rare conversation with James. I’m reminded why I used to like James before the show started ignoring him, as he does his best to comfort Kara and admits, in some ways, of having an almost religious faith in the Kryptonians on Earth as well. After all, Supergirl and Superman both save people when other deities might be no-shows, and they both provide a sense of security and hope in the people around them. James has a balance between sorta-worshiping Supergirl and Superman as otherworldly, protecting forces and recognizing their Earthly presence and, for lack of a better term, humanity — a humanity which Kara seems desperate to shun this season.

By contrast, Coville sees Kara as an indestructibly divine, a manifestation of the Kryptonian god Rao, and it’s that view of her as something other than mortal that nearly kills thousands. Kara flies to the rescue but the bomb he set with the intention of initiating even more people into his cult was, unbeknownst to him, laced with kryptonite, which both incapacitates Kara and allows her the opportunity to show that she is mortal and she bleeds. I’m not sure why this is a big deal, since Supergirl has publicly lost fights in the past, but it freaks out the cultists and they flee from scene. Coville is left behind to help Alex shove the bomb into the center of the Earth, thanks to a hole created by Kara’s eye-lasers. The day is saved. Coville is super arrested.

But he isn’t all that changed by his experience. Kara visits him in jail and he actually seems kind of nice when he promises to pray for her, as he thinks it’s Rao’s will for him to help Kara on her journey. He also echoes some of the stuff Kara’s been dealing with this season, including her lack of balance and questioning her own understanding of herself.

At the end of the episode, Kara turns to the Rao religion as she knew it back on Krypton, guided by the hologram of her mother reciting prayers. On the one hand, it seems like Kara is trying to meditate and find herself again — on the other, she’s turning more and more toward the Kryptonian side of her identity, which just reminds me of the troubled state she was in during this season’s premiere.

Other Things:

• The inevitable Alex/Maggie break-up is sad but, considering Alex’s real desire to raise kids, not unrealistic. I’m at least thankful that the show is pacing it well enough that it won’t seem like it came out of nowhere when it happens.
• Sam’s secretly a force for evil, btw.
• There’s gotta be a counter somewhere for all the shows that have used the song “Hallelujah.” It’s probably in the hundreds.

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