MagnusHex

It's been a while since I've really, and I mean really, enjoyed an episode on this show, and this is easily one of my favorites, even more than The French Mistake (the other episode this season I greatly enjoyed). The Final Destination references were fun and it's about damn time they pulled a Rube Goldberg machine death. The bigger appeal is the existence of Fate. It's an ingenious MotW to bring to a TV budget show like Supernatural because the Fates from the Greek myths are literally humanoids, not some cool monster that would be hard to pull off with cheap makeup effects. And even though it's kinda questionable why Death and the Fates exist in the same universe, I don't really care about that nitpick. It's a freaking sister of the Fates. That's a big deal. She was in Disney's Hercules! 😂 That's like if you got Zeus or Thor on the show. Almost. The fate of Ellen and Jo aside - the only competent female characters around before - I feel like the angels and even God could have handled the fate of the Titanic a lot better. That wasn't some natural disaster decided by God - it was a man-made mistake. I just feel like not saving 50,000 souls by stopping a preventable mistake was kinda frustrating. Even though I'm not old enough to have lived through that time, I've always felt frustrated by how the real Titanic went down, how a few checks and caution could have saved so many lives. Ah well. 4/5

1x31: The Chaser This one obviously won't be airing today. Or re-airing in syndication even. Or as they say, no means no. It's pretty much season 6 Buffy "Trio" territory here, except that at least Buffy called out on the rape instead of playing it entirely for laughs like this episode here. One interesting comment though mentioned that Rod Serling might have just been showing how juvenile boys' fantasies really were back then, which makes sense 'coz '60s. But it is a pretty generic plot nonetheless, one that's as old as time: the love potion backfiring. If it's not a potion, it's a wish that "she would love me." The acting does carry the episode somewhat though, and it's quirky enough that it almost works. Almost, if not for the nonconsensual "love." 2.5/5

1x23: A Taste of Armageddon Accidentally watched Space Seed before this one. Ah well. A pretty creepy concept, people marching to their death under orders. A few holes in the logic of determining people's lives on the whim of a computer for 500 years, but I wasn't too bothered by it as I liked the overall concept and the attempt at exploring a potential solution for war (a terrible, poorly thought out solution albeit). Idiotic diplomats aren't anything new on this show, but it sure made me realized why people compared Star Trek to Mass Effect. This kind of high concept philosophical dilemma that Kirk finds himself in upon landing on an unknown planet feels right up the alley of that game. Clearly, Kirk is a Renegade, or a Renegon at the very least, willing to bludgeon his way through diplomacy. Spock's mind-control powers are cool, but it feels like the kind of deus ex machina the show wouldn't get to use often. 3.5/5

True. That was an awesome moment. I guess I kinda took that for granted as he had earned my respect many episodes ago as a fleshed out equal to Kirk and Spock, the important heart to Spock's brains.

2x14: Riddler's Reform While I would prefer not to see another "reform fake-out" episode, this is a solidly written episode, and I'm really enjoying these episodes of villain highlight in season 2, including last episode's Ra's Al Ghul and Jonah Hex mash-up. It's always fascinating examining the psyche of Batman villains, and Edward's obsession and his narcissism here are a delight as always, especially with how his obsession with knowledge ultimately become his own living hell when he couldn't figure out Batman's mean of escape. That said... seriously? He couldn't figure out that Batsy hid in a safe? I guess you could excuse that as Edward being too proud to figure out such an obvious ploy, especially when it's coming from the master detective himself. Other than that small nitpick, I was thoroughly entertained. That possibility that Edward could reform if only he lets go of his obsession with being the smartest man in the room, it's fun to watch. 4/5

Aside from the fun and games of The French Mistake, the ending to this episode is easily my favorite scenes from the season so far. This is what I watch Supernatural for. I've accepted that we aren't gonna get movie-budget monsters here, so the next best appeal for me from the show is the human drama, and Supernatural does it decently this episode for me, and it only works if you've been following the show for a while. Dean's words that subtly forgive Sam for his misdoings were beautifully acted. Almost brings a tear to my eye to see how far the show has come from season 1. Shame about Mr. X Rufus though. I really liked his character and his camaraderie with Bobby and the brothers. When they teamed up in this episode, it really felt like a team of veterans doing what they do best: hunting monsters, saving lives, family business. There's just a sense of satisfaction from following these characters for so long and see them excel. Sure, we had a casualty, but with Eve, I feel like the stakes are high enough that it justifies it. I wasn't that impressed with Eve's introduction a few episodes ago, but I like what I'm seeing here so far, with the mind games and the Thing alien homage. It's neat and an effective psychological way to portray monsters with a TV budget. Skinner Grandpa Samuel Campbell's departure is... whatever. I liked his return initially, but making him a full villain just made him kinda boring to me. I like my Skinner ambiguous in his morals but leaning on the side of being an ally. I feel more bad about Gwen 'coz she's the only person I like from Samuel's team. The MotW is whatever. I've seen Ice from The X-Files, but that's forever ago. I also haven't seen Wrath of Khan (working my way there), so any complaints that it's a rip-off are lost on me. 3.5/5 Not a bad episode and has more than a few enjoyable parts due to the character history.

I did, but my short memory means I didn't really remember much from it. 😅 A recap would've been helpful when I watched Full Meta Jackrick, but oh well.

1x30: A Stop at Willoughby This is easily one of the more depressing episodes of the series, depending on your interpretation. The interpretation that Gart Williams (James Daly) was having a delusion and ended his own life might be a boring interpretation, but it's also the one that makes the most sense, considering how cynical the series can be, and also how that final shot of Willoughby funeral home sign was lingered on just a tad too long, superimposed over Gart's delusion as if to mock us for thinking a happy or even a bittersweet ending could be interpreted. It's not exactly a subtle jabbing from Serling there. Of course, a lot of people who felt burned out by life related to Gart's character, myself particularly. The idea that there's a paradise waiting somewhere where you could finally take a break from life's hustle and bustle is a lovely notion, almost as lovely as the misconceived notion that '50s America was an idyllic place (it's not). It's a nice illusion, but life just isn't that kind. And the more I think about this, the more disturbing that episode ending becomes. Gart believing, like all of us hope for at some point in our life, that there is rest to be found, relief from the hellish world that's his workplace, only to have that hope snuffed out. Does his dream of Willoughby end there? I like that it is still ambiguous what the actual truth of it is in spite of some heavy-handed symbolism in the final shot, but it doesn't change the fact that Gart did indeed jump off that train and killed himself, probably because he was under some sort of delusion or having a sleepwalk. This leads to yet another disturbing notion of sleepwalking to your death, possibly while dreaming of Willoughby or some similar form of paradise. Patricia Donahue plays the thankless role of Gart's harpy wife (among the many others on the show thus far), Jane Williams. Credit should be given for her attempt to lend some humanity to an otherwise one-dimensional role, served only as a plot-device to push Gart into further desperation. Serling's inability to write women well continues. That aside, this was a very solid episode that I greatly enjoyed, especially with how cynical the ending felt instead of going the easy way out of saying Gart ended up in heaven. 4.5/5

1x24: Space Seed Okay. 🙄 Weirdly speaking to the audience his name in a way that Kirk wouldn't have comprehended the context of, but okay. The Khan introduction on "Space Seed", on the other hand, definitely felt more natural. The episode has other problems, of course, mainly in the treatment of Marla McGivers becoming one of those dated Gone with the Wind "I like it when men ravish me" cliches. Normally, I wouldn't bring it up if it's just a scene or even two (since dated gender roles are practically bread and butter of this show by now), but it's the whole backbone of her character throughout the entire episode. As for Khan himself, he's brilliant, but only by proxy due to Kirk's own stupidity. Letting a stranger aboard, particularly one you suspect to be from a penal colony, have access to the technical specs of your ship... Yeah, Kirk's lost a lot of brain cells this episode. The ending is nice enough, with Kirk giving Khan an entire planet to conquer as he recognizes the bestial nature of a man like Khan (along with his need to conquer and dominate). It's like releasing a wild lion into the savanna, so it's appropriate enough as punishments go. Guess I'd have to wait a long while before I'll find out how Khan and his people will prosper, because the feature films won't be viewed by me till after I finish all three seasons of TOS. On a note that's off topic to the episode itself, sort of, I've heard of Wrath of Khan's reputation as a magnificent sequel, perhaps even before I've heard and seen Empire Strikes Back. As someone who has greatly loved the idea of the "better, darker sequel" that ESB is often hailed as a shining example of, I'd love to see how WoK holds up in comparison. 6/10 for the episode due to the uncomfortably dated nature of Marla McGivers' character, plus Kirk's foul-up. Montalbán's charisma is the only thing keeping this episode afloat, plus the nice fight at the end that feels believable that Kirk was outmatched in strength.

Just watched Full Meta Jackrick for the first time, and as someone who used to be passionate about writing and remains very passionate about storytelling, this was a lot of fun. I really like all the meta jokes, and particularly the appearance of Joseph Campbell himself, leading R&M on a literal hero's journey. So great. Such a fantastic episode for writer nerds out there. 5/5

2x12: The Lion and the Unicorn That's not how nukes work. I guess technically, it was a missile, but Batman literally blew it a short distance away from the Big Ben in mid-air, so there had to have been some form of collateral damage at least. Other than that laugh-out-loud resolution, I guess it's an okay episode. I haven't seen the Pennyworth spin-off, but I knew of Alfred's reputation for kicking ass. It's just too bad Alfred took a backseat here while Batman did most of the kick-ass. Would have been nice to see an elder Alfred go on some spy mission or something, Kingsman style even. Plus, Red Claw is a lame villain. She makes most Bond villains look sophisticated by comparison. She also has teleportation powers here it seems because she conveniently appeared in the Batwing, just hiding there the whole time waiting for Batman to show up just to make a weak attempt at ambushing him. At least plant a bomb in his seat or something, lady. 2.5/5

The AV Club review agreed that it's too elaborate for a prank, and deduced that he might have wanted to ask her out in a roundabout way. Regardless, I agree with Ditty: there were bits and pieces here that were decent (there were some humorous bits from Dean in the forms of mannequin jokes), but it's kinda a mediocre episode for me. The case-of-the-week is fine. Its function is just an excuse for Sam and Dean to have something to mope about this week, but that's fine, since I like what they were moping about. And even if the whole "heroes doing more harm than good" schtick has been run to the ground especially by the time Captain America: Civil War came around, it's more about the two of them (or rather, Dean specifically) sacrificing normal lives for this career. It's your typical CW teen drama angst, but it's fine for what it is. 6/10 Next episode looks to be one of the best episodes of all time though.

Yeah, I read in the AV Club review a similar theory about the point of the episode, that the Hell feels so tame to us the audience because this is Rocky's own personal version of Hell. He's an empty person who seeks thrills, which is why predictable pleasure is his punishment. On the other hand, if the person being punished is me, I doubt I would get the same treatment and something more unpleasant would be in store for me (probably a lot of pointy sticks and eternal inferno).

A Nice Place to Visit The Good Place, anyone? I haven't even watched the series (only seen one episode in scriptwriting class) and that show immediately came to mind watching this episode. lol Honestly though, this is another case of value dissonance, another case of not being able to relate to the protagonist's conflict. If I could get everything I ever wanted for all of eternity, there's no way in Hell I would consider it a living Hell. If anything, Rocky lacks imagination, just like Walter Bedeker in Escape Clause. Being able to summon anything you wish for at your whim? Just summon something novel to keep yourself from getting bored! Though for me, I'd probably just sit on the couch and watch TV shows all day in my own private Hell. lmao That being said, I kinda get it though. I used to aspire to be a filmmaker, and if I'm in Francis Valentine's shoes, being able to shoot any film I want with everyone worshipping me as some legendary filmmaker... that would've been a hollow experience as well. I get it. But even so, there are ways to enjoy that kind of pleasure, even if it's simulated pleasure. At risk of sounding crude, it's pure masturbation, but people do get pleasure from that. In other words, this version of Hell might sound unpleasant on paper, but in practice, when you think about it... not really that bad compared to fires and brimstones. I guess it would be kinda boring since the Internet hadn't came out yet in the '60s, but with a computer and Internet access, I could probably get used to The Bad Place easily. Pip certainly seems eager to please and willing to go along with whatever Rocky demands, so a request of having different entertainment content everyday for the rest of eternity would probably not be impossible. 7/10 Interesting concept, but the message gets a little silly under closer examination.

Exactly. These days, people tend to suck up whatever garbage Hollywood churned down the chute for us without bothering to examine or questioning them. It's f-ing ridiculous. It's not like we are calling them racial slurs or anything; we as the audience deserve the right to enjoy our entertainment and provide constructive criticisms when said entertainment doesn't entertain us, ESPECIALLY if we pay for it, like with said streaming service. I don't see any wrong with that whatsoever, and it's this apathetic attitude to be okay with every middling, no-effort productions that we've allowed more mediocre productions to be churned out. Anyway, I thought the episode was... fine. It has its potential, and I guess it's kinda relevant to the times, even though I think most people have gotten used to Trump and his antics by now. 6/10. Time to go watch something else that would actually engage me fully.

I actually enjoyed myself after initially finishing this episode just now, especially since it feels like a more entertaining episode than last episode's soap opera slow burn. However, the more I think about it, the more the episode fell apart. Naturally, the lack of technological elements in the story is a big flaw, but it didn't bother me that much since I'll take any good horror story with a twist since I'm a sucker for those. That said, the ending felt weak. There's not really a memorable punchline, but I guess if you really want to push it, I guess the punchline is that Bo got more than what she asked for and "paparazzi bad." But considering that Bo didn't really seem to learn her lesson anyway, that message became invalidated. I didn't hate the twist though. In fact, I love how realistic and high-budget the transformation was. I've been disappointed over and over again by shoddy low-budget werewolf transformations that have failed to impress me over the years (looking at you, CW's Supernatural), so it's nice to finally see one that could match up to the greatest werewolf transformation in the entire history of cinema: An American Werewolf in London. C'mon, that's literally the same transformation from the movie, the same look and design. It's not original, but I'll take it for the cool homage and well-done design. I originally thought it was gonna be a Hostel situation though, especially since they mentioned people coming out with power tools. lol Overall, not too bad for the nice special effects, but a weak ending really hurts the episode. 6/10

Meh. The ending was kinda forced. Went up to eleven abruptly. I thought he had merely just secretly went to apologize to his wife or something, but that ending felt like it came out of nowhere just for the shock factor, especially since there's very little to implicate that David turned into a psychopath. All the time, it also felt like a soap opera. Felt like I was watching a poor man's version of Mad Men, especially given the time period. They also used the '60s poorly. I had thought that the tragedy was relevant to some historic event since MLK was killed just a year prior to '69, or the Vietnam War even. What a letdown. 5/10 Felt like I wasted a morning watching this.

Yeah, I was a little iffy about the episode at first - still kinda am tbh - but I guess the ending message criticizing the exploitative nature of true crime dramas did kinda win me over somewhat. I'm not a fan of true crime drama since reality bores me over fantasy, so I was largely bored for parts of the episode as well to be frank. I was expecting a more supernatural or sci-fi kind of twist, I guess, like the killer was some kind of mutated Loch Ness monster or something. Ah well. It's not a bad episode for what it is, and I like how the depressing ending called out on the sacrifice that had to be made for the so-called "truth" to come out, however much said truth is really worth. Pia was alright. I was a little disappointed that her pitch for the documentary felt exploitative at first, but she seemed nice enough of a person as the episode went on. Ironic though that the documentary did become exploitative, and Pia just became another statistic to be played by some posh Hollywood actress. Lastly, I'm glad to see John Hannah in this. I only know him from one franchise - his role as Jonathan Carnahan in The Mummy movies, and I also saw his Last of Us clip even though I never bothered with the series - but there's just something about him and his charisma that makes me glad to see him on-screen. Glad to see him take on more dramatic roles nowadays. 7/10

Guess I won't be expecting better episodes down the road then. Shame.

Decided to watch this on a whim despite learning of its bad rep, and it's actually pretty good. I can kinda see why people were annoyed though; I went in expecting to be disturbed, but I guess for the past few seasons of Black Mirror since season 4, it's become more of a comedy now. lmao I kinda like the ending, and it reminded me of one of my favorite episodes, Black Museum in a way. When the Quantum Computer was said in the episode to contain sentient AIs, I was just reminded of all the different sentient AIs implied to be technically alive like in White Christmas or Hang the DJ. This quantumputer is probably unrelated to those AIs, but it would be kinda cool if it was the source of all those other AIs (and all the tragic fates they were bound to) in a way similar to how Rolo Haynes from Black Museum tied into other stories, and now it's finally destroyed for good. Again, I'm probably way off, but it's a cool headcanon. People criticizing this season claimed that it's got nothing to do with technology, so I was expecting a more grounded season, but you've got a freaking computer (not to mention the DeepFake technology) in the first episode, so I don't know what the freak they're talking about. Plus, it almost feels like it's criticizing cancel culture on Twitter or any other social media platforms, how people would learn about the scandals of celebrities on the news (no matter how distorted it is) and treat those as facts. Overall, 7/10. Not as bad as people claimed, but it's still not as strong as the first few seasons yet. Hope to see more though. Footnote: I particularly love the criticism of AI art, and how soulless entertainment has become. Another footnote: I like how normal-looking the real Joan looked like, instead of being a posh celebrity beauty queen.

That's true. It kinda seemed unnecessary to throw that in now that you mentioned it. lol Nah, I got distracted playing Persona 5... just like how I'm distracted now playing Persona 4 Golden. It's gonna be a while before I could get my regular viewing schedule back on again with all these distractions. lmao But thanks. I'm glad to hear that my posts are appreciated. 😄

True. But it's the '90s. Cartoons weren't really taken as seriously back then. Even Batman was just getting started revolutionizing children's animation.

The Big Tall Wish I really love stories that deal with the replacement of childhood innocence with adult cynicism. 2003's Peter Pan live action flick, probably my favorite adaptation of the classic tale (as it felt like the most sensible way of telling a story about a boy who never grows up), dealt with similar themes of children being forced to grow up and learn to accept the harshness of reality, and it kinda had an opposite (and perhaps less tragic) lesson to teach about that acceptance than what Big Tall Wish had to offer. it wouldn't be ludicrous from me to recommend watching that film as a thematic/spiritual successor to this episode since it expanded on the episode's questions of "What do you do if wishes aren't real in reality? How do you accept that?" But my digression from the episode aside, it's a theme like this that makes me really connect to this episode so well, even though I'm no boxing fan. The whole idea of becoming too old and embittered by the constant beatings of life - both metaphorical and literal ones for Bolie Jackson (Ivan Dixon) - is just such a heartfelt topic to explore, especially when you're over 30 like me and not really have much to celebrate in your life. That feeling of fatigue and those desires of giving up and hanging up the gloves, I could relate to them very much. And the thing that really speaks true to me is that, if I was in Bolie's shoes, I wouldn't have the confidence in myself to believe that the world's giving me a lucky break too, and I would've probably ended up disbelieving like Bolie did. It's just not that easy to get back that childlike faith in the goodness of the world once you've lost it and seen the ugly parts. What further makes this episode great is that Bolie is probably one of the most well-developed characters in the series. As mentioned before, characters in TZ rarely have room to develop much in those 30 minutes or less as the script builds up towards the plot twist. What usually works best on the show is when Rod integrates the twist with the protagonist's journey, like how this episode beautifully made the twist part of Bolie's discoveries about life and his incapability to believe in anything remotely miraculous. The bittersweet (or even outright tragic) ending of young Henry Temple (Stephen Perry) becoming influenced by Bolie's cynicism is an extra kick to the guts that I appreciate, even if Bolie ultimately tried to sweeten things up with some remorseful words about not enough people believing in miracles. It might not be the happiest ending, but it's sure an impactful and memorable one that leaves me pondering on what could've been and what's to come in Bolie's life. Again, this is a pretty depressing ending even if you interpret Bolie's last words in an optimistic light. But I think that's why I love it so much because there's so much to say and expand upon for the message the episode is conveying, how it becomes difficult, impossible even for certain people to have faith in life anymore as you get older. There's beauty in such poignancy because it provokes me to search for a better and more hopeful answer to that, and I personally believe that kind of provocation is what great art should do. One last thing that's sort of worth pointing out ("sort of" because pointing it out kinda contradicts the beautiful subtlety of it all): we have an all-black cast this episode in a '60s show. That's something impressive. 5/5

1x21: Tomorrow is Yesterday And so I've arrived at what was supposed to be the second part to The Naked Time. Big Top Gun vibe when I saw the opening to this episode (Danger Zone was literally playing in my head), even though it wouldn't come out for a few decades. I initially enjoyed the prospect of the Starship traveling to '60s America because cool shots like the ones in the cold open appearing on this show felt so different and out-of-place that they felt like a refreshing change of pace. Unfortunately, the episode didn't do much in mining the potential of showing much of the past besides some dull grey corridors. I understand the reasoning (budgeting, and most of the plot takes place in a military base, so not much chance for showing Time Square New York or some other colorful setting like that), but it does leave much to desire. The ending also feels kinda weird, since Captain John Christopher (Roger Perry) kinda just went along with Kirk's plan of sending him back a day before and wiping his memory of the Enterprise, even though John literally fought against that idea and threatening Kirk with a gun just a scene prior. Plus, the whole "sending you to the past and your memory is wiped" is ridiculous too, naturally. All that being said, I have to admit that I had fun with the episode for the most part, because the whole idea of a present day man finding out how far technology advanced in the future is just a breeding ground for fun interactions, and the episode sort of delivered on that. I also love how much fun Sulu seemed to have when he beamed down with Kirk to the military complex. I freaking love how George Takei spread that huge grin across Sulu's face, playing well the Sulu that (from what I've observed of the character so far) seems to be a history nerd with romantic ideas about past Earth cultures. It must've been like Christmas at Disneyland for him. He didn't even say much this episode and let his body (and facial) language do the acting for him. Genius. All in all, a pretty decent episode with some decent laughs. Bonus points for George's acting. 3.5/5

2x11: Baby-Doll "I didn't mean to..." Ahh, I really like this one. Teared up in the end even though I was already told it's gonna be an emotional one. It helps that I knew about the kind of struggles many child stars lived through, having that one purpose in your life vanish away when you grow up and then told to move on to the real world. Paul Dini did a good job of making Dahl sinister yet very human and broken at the same time. She's still a criminal that tried to blow her co-stars up, of course, but I love how there's an underlying pain and loneliness in her actions, especially towards the end. And the worst part is that much of that pain stemmed from her body's condition, forcing her to be literally stuck in her childhood against her attempts to break out into adult roles. Worth mentioning, of course, is the fact that Bruce is also someone who didn't have a proper childhood before being forced to grow up. I know not every villain needs to have some parallels with Batman, but it's nice to see that similar path in life gone awry for someone else. 4.5/5