MagnusHex

1x04: The Enemy Within What the heck is with that overacting when Evil Kirk shows up for the first time? lmao Dramatically spinning around with a face that literally says "I'm the evil version of Kirk prepared to do some dastardly things." Seriously, what the heck's with this intro? This is Kevin Sorbo's Evil Herc territory of ham, plus tenfold. lmao And what's with the hugging the control panel too after the intro? The guy looks like he wants to hump it like Robot Chicken's Humping Robot. lol Evil Kirk feels more like Bully Maguire from Spider-Man 3 at times. He even has the freaking eyeliner like Tobey! rofl And then when Kirk flashes his wounded hand (and only his hand and his arm) in front of the camera for no other purpose than to let the audience know he's injured, I just couldn't take the entire episode seriously from that point. It feels like an episode of Power Rangers or even the Japanese Spider-Man (where he would randomly have goofy poses just for the sake of it). Shatner's certainly chewed the scenery in this one. Seriously, I just couldn't help but chuckle whenever Evil Kirk screams, even during the scene when he's lying in the sick bay in pain. I didn't even laugh at Bully Maguire! There were a few goofs in the episode too, even the remastered version. For one, why would Evil Kirk remove the makeup he applied earlier on his scars (aside from letting the audience know he's the evil one)? For another, when Good Kirk squats down to an unconscious Evil Kirk, you could see double-knees from the split-screen seam. Yikes. Guess Evil Kirk was gonna multiply into even more Kirks! Good thing Spock introduced his Vulcan Nerve Pinch (according to the trivia on Amazon Prime, this was the first time Spock has done that in the production order of the episode list, though I could've sworn I've seen it done previously too). Speaking of Spock, he demoted himself in the captain's log, referring to himself as "second officer Spock" instead of "first officer." Heh. The Evil Kirk shenanigans aside, I like the subplot of Sulu (and others whose name slipped me) freezing to death planet-side (120 below is ridiculous though; didn't they have anyone with a high school science background to consult back then?), making this episode a more intense race against time. It gives Good Kirk (and Shatner) an opportunity to showcase his more human and tender side, which Shatner delivered magnificently with the right amount of subtlety. Appropriately, it's a total contrast with his performance playing Evil Kirk, though I doubt this juxtaposition was intentional. Also, even though the attempted rape left me uncomfortable (as it should, especially when it felt more violent than what Spike did to Buffy... in 2002 at that), I like how disturbing it felt when James contemplate the kind of man he is when told Rapey Kirk is a part of him. I also like how the assault wasn't toned down or anything when the characters discussed it, because in a lesser show (or just Gone with the Wind), Kirk might have just handwaved Evil Kirk's action away as just the way men act towards women. Instead, he was appalled by Evil Kirk's action, downright disgusted that such savagery was a part of him. Star Trek milestone: "He's dead, Jim" uttered for the first time. Star Trek Dated Moment: "The Imposter had some... interesting qualities. Wouldn't you say, Yeoman?" - Spock joking about Yeoman's sexual assault. SMUG IS AN EMOTION (plus casual misogyny too I'm sure). Worth noting from the ST Wiki: Grace Lee Whitney (who played Yeoman) noted in her autobiography, "The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy", that she "can't imagine any more cruel and insensitive comment a man (or Vulcan) could make to a woman who has just been through a sexual assault! But then, some men really do think that women want to be raped. So the writer of the script (ostensibly Richard Matheson – although the line could have been added by Gene Roddenberry or an assistant scribe) gives us a leering Mr. Spock who suggests that Yeoman Rand enjoyed being raped and found the evil Kirk attractive!" I think what made it worse is that this episode was (supposedly) filmed after Grace's real life rape by an executive producer on Star Trek, the same EP who probably got to witness that final scene being filmed, smirking all along. And if this episode was filmed before the rape... well, you could see where the EP got his ideas. And of course, rumor has it that Grace was fired because of the EP's girlfriend not being able to stand the sight of Grace, probably because she's a reminder the kind of man she was dating is. Christ, the politics of this show could get reaaal ugly, huh? And I haven't even touched on the other cast members' issues working with Shatner's ego yet. 3.5/5 Would've scored a bit higher for Shatner's hilarious ham and some nice dramatic moments if not for Spock's tasteless joke at the end, towards an actress rape survivor no less. 1x05: The Man Trap The first episode to air, but the sixth episode produced, The Man Trap got largely negative reviews, with people calling the show something that will never succeed, or according to Variety, something "better suited to the Saturday morning kidvid bloc." Eat your heart out, Variety. Roddenberry's father had to knock on doors to apologize for this atrocious episode being on air. Christ. That said, watching it in production order and after having completed almost every season of The X-Files, the episode didn't impress me as much as it probably should have. This is the 2nd time we have a shapeshifter on the show if you count The Cage, and the 2nd time we have "hostile force aboard the ship threatening to kill everyone!" as a plot point after Evil Kirk in The Enemy Within. Watching the salt creature running around deceiving everybody, I was kinda going through the motions, waiting for that deception to resolve itself as I knew it would. I guess watching two episodes consecutively where a similar conflict is executed in similar ways just kinda left me a little bored. I really enjoy the whole theme of killing a hostile creature that's the last of its kind though, especially Kirk and Spock's poignant discussion at the end. I don't know why people didn't warm up to the idea of a sci-fi show with such an interesting topic of discussion back in the '60s, but I'm glad it worked out. That said, seeing the two crewmembers ogle Yeoman like she's a piece of meat reminds me of Mad Men and its portrayal of '60s genders politics, not to mention racial politics as Uhura didn't receive the same eye-candy treatment this episode (whether that's a good thing or not depends on which of the two politics you're referring to). 3.5/5

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree, 'coz I think it's still up to interpretation in my opinion. But I guess my biasness with mental illness (living with a mentally ill and paranoid mother myself) doesn't help with my judgement.

I guess. But the point wasn't really to compare animation to live action whenever someone compares Phantasm to live action Batman films. I think we're lamenting that live action attempts have never been as stellar, which is a shame because I wouldn't mind watching a live action film as solid as Phantasm more often. There have been attempts, but few are nearly as great as the TAS entries. Depends on which continuity you're referring to, I guess. TAS' Batman would probably be comparatively sane compared to his comic counterpart.

I think it helped that I've never seen Sunset Boulevard, so the episode still felt fresh to me (although I heard Glenn Close's gonna star in a contemporary remake). Plus, due to the reasons I mentioned regarding my own personal experience with the theme of escapism, I quite enjoyed the ending.

Mask of the Phantasm In preparation for watching season 2 of the series (beginning with Sideshow since I had unfortunately followed Wikipedia's broadcast order), I rewatched Mask of the Phantasm just now (when really, I should've watched it earlier as it serves as a better closing chapter for when I had finished season 1 last year; oh well). It's pretty great, just as great as I vaguely remembered. You have a few brilliant writers from TAS working together on a tight script, Alan Burnett of Two-Face: Part One, Michael Reaves of Feet of Clay, Martin Pasko of See No Evil, and last but definitely not least, Paul Dini himself of Heart of Ice and Joker's Favor. All brilliant writers bringing a wide range of elements to the film. As a minor nitpick: because of the number of writers, it did feel a little busy towards the end, where I didn't quite enjoy the dragged out Joker fight as much as others might have, especially since it felt out of place in a movie focused on the new original villain, like the producers had no faith that the Phantasm could stand on her own. I like Mark Hamill's performance as much as the next guy, but come on, Batman has a wide range of rogue's gallery worth mining from. It's like Superman fighting Lex Luthor again in Superman Returns and Batman v. Superman. But I get it. Since this was the first theatrical release of the animated series, they wanted to go big, and so the Joker was a no-brainer. Having said that, I like that when Joker had to pick between the knife or salami as a weapon, he went for the salami. That's the kind of whimsical psychopathy that defines the character accurately but you'd never get out of something like Ledger's Joker (no offense, RIP) or, ugh, Leto's. Speaking of this being a theatrical release, I really like how the film opened up, with Shirley Walker brilliantly chanting the names of the show's composers and producers backwards in such an epic and operatic fashion. Listening to that choir sent chills down my spine. That CG pan of Gotham City still looks good today, really selling you that this is a very special big-screen version of the animated series. This is what a Batman movie should look, sound and feel like. Easily the best intro to any Batman movie, period, even more so than Burton's Batman (1989) if I could be honest. Even the end credits song, which could've been easily a generic pop song in any other animated debut of an animated series, was thematically appropriate in Phantasm, not to mention having that nostalgic feeling of the '90s, with that classy saxophone and Hans Zimmer's synthesizer giving that bittersweet romance vibe. I was thinking of Whitney Houston's Bodyguard track I Will Always Love You is what I'm saying. 😂 The last act of the movie aside, I find Phantasm to be a solid entry and easily a far superior film over most live action attempts; I definitely enjoyed it more than 2022's The Batman (which, like Phantasm, also borrowed elements from Batman: Year Two). I wouldn't really introduce it to a first timer who has no knowledge of Batman though because, as great as it is to learn what ultimate pushed Bruce into his caped persona, you'd really have to been through with Bruce for a while through the animated series to really care about him finally having a chance at happiness and tragically lost it. That quote, "I didn't count on being happy," carries more weight if you know what Bruce's deal is and have been following his adventures (and tragedies) for a while now. The same applies to Alfred's "You walk the edge of that abyss every night." But that being said, Andrea serves as a great foil to Bruce, with their quest for vengeance taking different paths. More than many of Batman's live action outings, Phantasm served as a fantastic character study of Bruce and his struggle between his pursuit of happiness and his vow to his parents. Between Andrea and Selina though, Bruce sure knows how to pick 'em. lol I learned that in the tie-in comic to the movie, Bruce called Andrea a murderer upon meeting her again. Yikes. But to be fair, Bruce's own psyche, while well under control and stability, isn't really what you would call normal either, so I just couldn't really see him living a normal apple pie life with white pickets and barbecue. Of course, you'd have to wonder if Bruce's psyche was aggravated by the criminals of Gotham (especially The Killing Joke's events) or if he was messed up from the beginning (the movie suggests the former). The man literally has a contingency plan for each member of the Justice League in case he needs to kill them (although I don't know if that's ever brought up in the DCAU). 4.5/5 for the movie. Because of Warner Brother's shortening the timeline for a theatrical release, the animation quality isn't really impressive enough for a big-screen movie, but I still really like some of the shots here, especially when Bruce dons his cape for the first time in his life, much to Alfred's shock. "My god" indeed. On an ending note, Dana Delaney did a fine job as Andrea here, but I'm looking forward more to her role as a certain confident reporter when I pick up Superman: TAS in the near future.

Mitch Pileggi playing an untrustworthy character who might or might not be an ally just gave me a nostalgic X-Files vibe as I was watching this. God, I miss Skinner. lmao I promise I won't spam this forum with unrelated mentions of X-Files every episode. 😛 Mark's down, and that's one Campbell fallen. It's a shame, but I was also kinda relieved that not all the Campbell family members were redshirt fodders to be killed off, particularly Samuel. Much as I like Sam and Dean, I would prefer to expand the ensemble to keep things fresh to be honest. Wait, is Samuel... Samael? lol I'm spitballing here, but nonetheless I'd appreciate no untagged spoilers. 😛But still, it makes sense if that's the case, considering Samael is the king of all demons, "the true name of Satan." Would explain all of Samuel's suspicious behavior. From the speech he gave at the end, it didn't necessarily feel like he's Lucifer in disguise, but a big demon honcho might be possible. But just ignore all of this speculation if I'm wrong. lol The whole two men and a baby broad comedy schtick was fine, if mediocre and cliched. It was brief enough not to annoy me, so it's not really an issue. I like Dean's moral dilemma this episode if only because I had a tough dad growing up too, and I too had the fear of becoming like my dad too if I ever have children of my own, especially when I already have an anger problem even today. IIRC, it's not the first time Dean voiced this concern, but it's not frequent enough that it would feel like a retread this episode. However, as one could easily predict if he's seen half of this show's season openers, Dean is back on the road again with Sam while Lisa and Ben have once again become secondary plot device to welcome him home without consequence whenever he feels like it. It all feels a little cheap and contrived, and I wouldn't have minded had Lisa gotten a more meaningful role down the road, but ah well, that's the CW for you. Smoke on the Water is cool, but it just feels like one of those lazy ways writers use to convey the character enjoys rock and heavy metal, much like the use of AC/DC's Highway to Hell. It's like, I'm sure Deep Purple has other great tunes they could mine from if they really want to make a rock & roll reference. Everybody just knows Smoke from Purple. Don't get me wrong though, as I do like these songs whenever they come up in the show (the use of Thunderstruck in the season 5 opening recap was almost better than Wayward Son). Also next week episode, Cas is back! I can see why this episode is titled that way now, with the following one being The Third Man. Kinda on the nose, but I'll take it. I read that Cas will be nerfed going forward though. Sigh. Angels were easily the most badass thing to have ever happened to this series. But I guess that's also the reason why they had to tone it down to prevent writing themselves into a corner. AV Club Zack Handlen's observations worth noting: 1) What's with the "last episode recap" for this episode? Giving away that the monster's identity is a shifter seems kinda odd with Sam and Dean trying to figure out what the monster is for quite a while. Dramatic irony, I guess. 2) Shifter shifting into people in the same room. Uhhh... was it done just to show off? Alpha's got an ego, I guess. 3/5

Mr. Denton on Doomsday This was an instant classic even if it lacks the usual sci-fi elements one might expect from this show. It has a great pathos of a character from Dan Duryea's Al Denton with a very sympathetic backstory that I really like. Some might be annoyed by the heavy-handed moralizing of such an episode, but I quite enjoy broad themes like this, especially when this episode feels rather subversive of your typical heroic tale where you get to shoot/beat up the bad guys without any emotional baggage. It's a very straightforward plot but it nonetheless contains a brilliant enough of a twist to keep things engaging. Watching the episode with Martin Landau on the commentary track, he remarked how it would have been interesting to follow Henry J. Fate (Malcolm Atterbury)'s journey from town to town as the peddler, helping people, and I agree. What's fascinating is that over the first three (or four if you count The Time Element) episodes, you have three different genres that differentiate from one another. Even if they all contain sci-fi or supernatural elements, Mr. Denton could easily be passed off as a western. With another anthology series like Black Mirror, for example, you'd usually only have sinister or technophobic-related tales that feel limited in range. And what's brilliant, of course, is that you didn't really have TV guides or Wikipedia back then to tell you what the next episode would be like, merely Rod Serling's short summary to tease your appetite, so you wouldn't really know what to expect. One little nitpick that I didn't even realize until I read the AV Club review: there's a helpful doctor conveniently standing by just to pronounce the hand of both men to be incapable of firing a weapon anymore. It wasn't that big of a deal, but it is slightly amusing in hindsight. 4.5/5 The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine Looking through the list of '30s films I've seen, it did seem like a more innocent time. The Wizard of Oz for one thing; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for another. Both very wholesome films that portrayed a whole removed from the kind of gritty cynicism decades later. But then you also had horror flicks that explored the darkness of the human heart, films like White Zombie, Dracula, and of course, Frankenstein. Although for Barbara Jean Trenton (Ida Lupino), I guess a more appropriate film to recall would be Gone with the Wind (the younger Jerry Hearndan/Jerome Cowan in the projected film even bears a striking resemblance with Clark Gable/Rhett Butler), a film of which its form of "romanticism" hasn't aged well at all (not to mention its casual racism). But Barbara would probably believe that Gone with the Wind was a wholesome film full of heartfelt emotions celebrating the power of love or something... To be fair, Marty Sall (Ted de Corsia) was a jerk. Ida/Barbara was still as beautiful as ever this episode (even if make-up might have been involved), so if it's a superficial matter of looks, Barbara deserves more than bit roles. Then again, I guess it's the '50s after all, and female roles in pictures haven't really progressed that far yet. It would be some time before we would hire aging ladies to replay a role they had some 40 years ago (Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode obviously, who had already reprised her role in H20 during the '90s). Furthermore, I also understand the appeal of shutting yourself away living in nostalgia. Heck, I'm a shut-in myself spending my life watching older TV shows from decades ago (instead of bothering with new and trending shows like The Last of Us), so I'm no better. That thirst and hunger to escape away into something simpler away from the trappings of real life and all its misery, I could relate to that even today, at this moment in my life. I remember writing a fan fiction back then called Escapist. It was never finished, but it was essentially about a shut-in who ended up escaping into several fictional worlds from anime (think Chaos;Head meets Ready Player One). Similarly, Last Action Hero also explored the appeal of such simplicity in fiction. Even with the ending to Shrine, the scarf implied that Barbara has simply escaped to another universe. But I think that in spite of that ending that seemingly tried to end the tale on a more hopeful note, the way Danny Weiss (Martin Balsam, or Dr. Gillespie from The Time Element) shouted for Barbara to come back to the real world still feels rather heartbreaking, having lost his dear friend he cherished forever from reality. It's a sentimental ending, and yet it still feels somewhat wrong and unsettling. Alternative headcanon: Barbara gained access to the magic ticket from Last Action Hero and entered her film the same way Austin O'Brien did. 4/5

1x02: The Corbomite Maneuver Watching the remastered version of TOS on Amazon Prime (with the Paramount+ add-on). It's also one of my first Star Trek viewing (minus the 2009 reboot). Greatly enjoying it so far, though I am annoyed that The Cage isn't found on Prime, and TOS is arranged in broadcast order. Left my thoughts on The Cage in another thread, which was a pretty solid pilot to say the least, even with all its campiness. The 2nd pilot's even better, Where No Man Has Gone Before, and I quite enjoyed that we got into god-like powers this early in the series. However, the episode I saw earlier was actually the 2nd (or 3rd?) episode, 1x02: The Corbomite Maneuver, and even though I had more fun with the other two episodes, I think Corbomite's ending feels far more refreshing, especially in retrospect when Star Wars is still more beloved than Trek. I remember my first thought finishing the episode was: "If this was Star Wars, Balok would have engaged Kirk in a lightsaber duel where somebody dies." Clearly, Trek favors Paragon diplomacy rather than Renegade violence, which was something I've always appreciated about ST even before watching any installment (also why Mass Effect reminded me immediately of ST because of its similar use of diplomacy in its gameplay and storyline). The fact that Kirk explained to his crew with optimism about the potential for peace from intelligent alien life makes it waaaay ahead of its time in sci-fi classics because, and I don't really like digging that hole again, buuuut... Star Wars would just say "once you go dark side, you go broke and must be killed." Cue Spongebob wha wha wha sound effect. Was it campy that Balok turned out to be a space-toddler with wisdom beyond his appearance? Maybe. But I liked it. In fact, I've been enjoying Trek's philosophical insights expressed in these three episodes, how Bailey (and perhaps the audience) learned a little lesson in diplomacy over instinctual retaliation. The newly promoted crew member wigging out in the face of danger isn't exactly a groundbreaking subplot, but I appreciate the way it's handled without anyone telling him to suck it up/man up, especially for a '60s show. For comparison, in the Black Mirror Star Trek parody, USS Callister, Daly rebuked Walton with "Walton, you are a space fleet officer; act accordingly" when the latter panicked. Kirk could have used his rank to reprimand Bailey for lashing out (as my sergeant had similarly done during my conscription), but thanks to McCoy's influence, I'd imagine, he's reminded of the human side to his crewmates. DeForest is excellent as McCoy btw, his character almost bringing an essential humanity to Kirk's leadership. I also heard that TOS had far higher stakes than TNG, where many episodes had Kirk and the gang in mortal danger - and how! This episode exemplifies this effectively, with Kirk literally having to poker-face his way through what the crew had assumed to be a life-or-death situation. I also like how the remastered version not only made the USS Enterprise look like something produced today rather than in the '60s, but the same could be said for the magnificent shot of the Fesarius as well that really showed you the scale of the vessel. Really cleaned up that visual effect nicely. Of course, with the show being a product of its time, I guess I should probably get the obligatory sexism critique out of the way. The way Kirk expressed his annoyance at a female Yeoman here in this episode definitely left something to be desired, although I guess you could always headcanon the casual sexism away to be something more meaningful besides holding back your urge to sexually harass co-workers in a pre-#MeToo era. Moving on from unfairly holding an older show to task, ST was the first time I learned what a "Yeoman" is despite being a massive Mass Effect fan and having heard Kelly Chambers referred to as "Yeoman Chambers" countless times. I always thought that was her nickname or something. lmao Aside from the relatively minor Janice Rand scene above, this was a pretty solid and entertaining ep with a great theme and a nice twist. 4/5 1x03: Mudd's Women "Report to the ship as soon as possible. We'll bang, okay?" - Captain Kirk, maybe, after ogling at Mudd's women Oh boy. Here we go again. I didn't want the sexism critique to be a recurring thing since that's not what I'm here for nor am I some hardcore feminist, but I think with an episode like this, there's no choice but to bring this up: "Amen to that, Scotty." Oh, McCoy. I had such a nice impression of you too in the previous episode. How far and how quickly you've fallen from grace and dignity. This is made worse by the fact that the women were revealed not to have any special hypnotic or alien powers at all, but merely through the simple ability of... sigh, "believing in themselves," as Kirk so eloquently put it at the end of the episode. That means McCoy's mind wasn't really mind-controlled, manipulated or anything of that sort, but he was actually acting like a drooling idiot of his own will. Even if you put aside the problematic portrayal of the women in the episode (did Eve seriously have to settle down with that boorish thug of a man? the scene where the drugs' effect expired also made Harry seem like a shady pimp keeping those girls hooked on drugs to sell their bodies), the plotting is just flimsy and uneven, with merely three miners working on the entire planet. I get that the episode's supposed to be goofy and whimsical, and I guess Harry Mudd would be a fun character for many people, but man, I fell asleep towards the end of the episode (though to be fair, it is getting quite late for me). Spock is the MVP of this episode for not getting dragged into this soapy melodrama. That being said, let's hear it... "SMUG IS AN EMOTION." 2/5

Three shows possibly no longer airing. All having live action segments mixed in. I vaguely remember this show, except its distinct intro that had its melody stuck in my head. I literally had to Google "magician princess cartoon" to find the title. lmao It was a pretty neat cartoon though. I couldn't remember much of the plot, but I do recall some girl with real magic on the show but is also a real magician performing stage magic (voiced by Cree Summer, NUMBUH 5 from Kids Next Door!) while also appearing in a live action segment at the end of each episode, featuring the real life Japanese magician Tenko, Mariko Itakura, performing a magic trick on stage for the audience. That last part of the show was easily the most memorable part of it. I don't remember the CG version of the show from 2000, but this above version with the live action segment, I remember quite distinctly. The theme song isn't as memorable for me as Tenko, but I still have some semblance of nostalgia for it. The line-reading of "Who am I?" in the intro was indeed goofy af though. lmao The live action segment of this show is also featured at the end of each episode, where Jackie Chan would appear himself as he showed off a flurry of his martial arts moves. To be honest, that first season end credit song ("Chan's the Man" by Wheatus) is the thing I remember more fondly than the opening intro. That being said, among the three shows, this one is definitely the one I remember the most as I was old enough by the time this show was broadcast (10 years old at 2000). Also helps that I grew up on the contemporary Jackie Chan movies like Who am I?, Mr. Nice Guy, and let's not forget, City Hunter. Plus, I found the premise of zodiac talismans that give you superpowers really unique and fun back then. This was around the time when I was watching other cartoons that also featured collecting things as the story as well, namely Cardcaptor Sakura and, of course, Pokémon.

I read a lot of negative comments on how The Real Adventures was far inferior to the original Jonny Quest, but that brilliant and heart-pounding theme song above was the only recollection I have of any JQ media. This intro had also done its job of making a Saturday morning cartoon look exciting for me, making me almost wanting to check out the show. Almost, if not for its reputation. Still, what an amazingly badass intro for a cartoon. I really like how all the surrounding lines turn into a fingerprint at the end, which feels suitable since this is, presumably, a show with espionage and spy intrigue. Easily one of the best and most memorable cartoon intros I've ever seen.

The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay Finally got on board this show for the first time after hearing about its reputation from... uh, I think comments from AVClub's Archer reviews, maybe. Not surprised someone there might have referenced this show, given that their Adult Swim parodies of old spy/adventure shows. The point is, I enjoyed the pilot, but that's probably because I can be easily satisfied given the proper adjusted expectations (I gave up on Simpsons after season 11, so not always). It has some pretty morbid jokes ("We don't have a mum, Hank") so I already have a good impression of the show. The goofiness of the Monarch is charming enough, and the twist motive of the ninja had me laughing and impressed, so. I really dug the subversion of calling out a ninja who's blatantly crept up on a corner of the ceiling. The only plot-point that might have been kinda lukewarm for me was the hooker. But if I'm as easily impressed with the pilot, the rest of the show should probably be even more amazing. 3/5

Finally, I'm back for the sixth season, watching it for the first time... without Kripke. Ah well. I quite enjoyed the return to be honest, but largely because of my adjusted expectations for a CW-quality show. Sam's return was lazily done, but it was inevitable for a show like this, so I just accept it. And while I agree that I don't know Lisa and Ben well enough to care about them staying with Dean, on any other better written show, they could have been developed further to make me care, especially when Supernatural had a bad track record of flimsy female characters lacking depth (and when they do, they were killed off). So Lisa and Ben being the new Ellen and Jo could have been cool, perhaps with Lisa learning how to hunt (and therefore, defend her family) from Dean. But alas, that's not the kind of show this is. This is a show where we want to see Sam and Dean kick demon (and sometimes angel) ass and call it a day. And that's not necessarily a bad thing either, because I'd know what to expect and, like I said, adjust my expectations appropriately. Still, with the changing of the guard and the departure of the Kripke, I'm hoping Sera Gamble could bring aboard something fresh Eric didn't. Even knowing the later seasons' reputation, I'm still holding my breath that I could be genuinely surprised, or at least entertained. Plus, f-ing Skinner Mitch Pileggi is back. I liked the angle of bringing back the Mary Campbell side of the family and even having a whole bunch of new hunters (if this was made in 2023, they would be "the new generation"). It felt like a fresh idea for the series the way the angels' introduction felt fresh. But unfortunately, the Campbells were implied to be suspicious at the end of the episode instead of remaining undeniable allies. Sigh. Having seen the season only for the first time, I'm guessing they're probably demon-possessed, working for angels, or have some kind of "for the greater good" well-intentioned extremism. Ah well. I kinda want Skinner to be the brothers' ally for a while tbh. lol Still haven't gotten over my love of The X-Files, even after I've abandoned its 11th season... The Djinn's kinda lackluster this episode, which is a shame, given that I just skimmed through clips of Wishmaster a few days ago. It's probably not a fair comparison, but still, I feel that they could've done something more with the Djinn's return. Ah well. 3/5 for the episode.

Since the show's no longer on Netflix even though I was barely past season 3 yet in my viewing, I bought the blu-ray set of TZ last year and I've been saving it for when I watch Supernatural, season 6. Now that it's finally time, I got to watch its first three episodes: The Time Element, Where is Everybody, and One for the Angels. The Time Element Of course, as everybody probably know, the pilot episode, The Time Element, was broadcast not as a TZ episode, but as an episode of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, which itself was produced by Desi Arnaz from I Love Lucy. Knowing about Rod Serling's history as a WWII veteran gave the episode an extra dose of dramatic weight, especially the knowledge that he was haunted by the war and all its casualties. Naturally, The Time Element has its theme rooted in such a sentiment as Peter Jenson, your average everyman (otherwise known as your typical TZ protagonist) travels back in time and struggles between the dilemma of cashing in on his knowledge of the future or stopping the Pearl Harbor attack. The extended one hour runtime gave the episode enough time to familiarize us with the secondary characters about to be killed in said attack, which was nice. Even though some might describe the episode's hour runtime as detrimental to its pacing, which I agree with to some extent, I also like how the plot is slowly built-up that way. When I'm watching a black-and-white film, I would usually mentally prepare myself for a slow burn anyway as the few B&W films I've seen were drawn out that way, so I had no problems with The Time Element being as dragged out as it is. The twist ending is great too. I'm a sucker for tragedies, and I like the tragic element of just doing the best you could to be a decent man and attempt to save lives from the Pearl Harbor attack, even if Peter ultimately doesn't succeed. I remember reading a humorous remark about time travel: everyone always tries to stop 9/11 on their first stop. If this episode is made today, the Pearl Harbor attack would probably be changed to 9/11. I really like how the final scene was done too, how the psychiatrist ultimately finds himself traveling through the titular Twilight Zone and finding Peter's picture in the bar, learning that he died in the Pearl Harbor attack. It's like A Nightmare on Elm Street meets Back to the Future. You gotta give credit to Rod for easing the audience into the pulpy time travel plot too because not everyone's into sci-fi yet, and Star Trek: TOS wouldn't air for another handful of years in the '60s. The time travel part of the story was gradually unfolded with such cleverness that I didn't really see coming to be honest (helps that I'm a non-American who has limited knowledge about '40s America), and I like how the young couple was skillfully eased into the story to make us care about them as much as Peter did. I remember, while watching the Jordan Peele reboot of the series that I voiced about how I was annoyed by the heavy-handed political message in some of the episodes, but I was quickly reminded that the original TZ had similar trappings from Rod Serling, and it did kinda leave me wondering what the reason was that made the original episodes more appealing even in the face of sledgehammer-driven messages. But to be honest, it's no great mystery why I made the distinction: Rod's messages at the time felt more universal. The anti-war sentiments in many of Serling's TZ episodes, for example, could be understood and empathized by anybody regardless of race and gender because war is a universal language. But of course, Jordan's takes would feel more divisive due to the topic being about minorities. American minorities at that. As a non-American Chinese living in a country (Singapore) that's not exactly obsessed with arguments about racism (being a multi-cultural nation after all), I guess it's not so much that I'm not a fan of political messages in storytelling, but that I wasn't interested in Jordan's particular racial messages (at least its contemporary form in a time when everyone just feels a little more entitled to more trivial privileges compared to the '50s/'60s), even though I enjoyed Get Out and its message. I wasn't even remotely interested in Crazy Rich Asians (literally set in Singapore, albeit an exaggerated and glamorized version) or any big-name Chinese-starred films over the past decade like Shang-Chi or Everything Everywhere All at Once. Having said that, what's also worth noting is that I once had an fanatical belief in the past that fiction could be used as meaningful vehicles for social messages and shouldn't be squandered as cheap entertainment. Go figure. 4/5 Where is Everybody? I think I would have starved to death if everyone disappeared from the world. I would imagine that I would have enjoyed it at first, being a loner and somewhat of a misanthrope, but 1) no streaming services because someone's gotta keep those servers running, and 2) food in supermarkets expires eventually, even preserved food. I don't know how to cook and, more importantly, I don't know how to grow food. Really doesn't help that I'm a picky eater who doesn't like my greens. Good luck breeding cows and slaughtering them, I guess. Christ, how did Will Smith survive again in I am Legend? I saw the original pilot version of the episode with the original opening titles and Rod's opening narration. I really love the way Rod introduced the series to everyone, even if it did kinda spoil some of the intricate details in later episodes like Escape Clause. Such an intriguing way to introduce the world to the great show, and it reminds me of those older films when the director would have a commentary at the start to ease the audience into the picture. Of course, nowadays, directors would trust the audience's intelligence too much to do that anymore, but it does make me kinda miss those opening narrations and overtures. Remember those 5 minute overtures that would set the mood of the film? God, I really liked it in Gone with the Wind. The pilot on the blu-ray also came with Rod's lecture at Sherwood Oaks College in 1975, where he had some intriguing insights on filmmaking, such as the way silence with no music cues made the episode feel more realistic, and it certainly did. I really like how older B&W films felt more naturalistic due to a lack of background score in certain scenes. He, along with Earl Holliman (Mike Ferris) on the official TV broadcast episode's commentary track (94 and still kicking! goddamn), also mentioned how the phone booth scene was based on Rod's personal real life experience where he also had trouble opening the phone booth door and was embarrassed. It's certainly an experience I could more than relate as I goofed up similarly many times in the past. The ending is pretty good too. I like the commentary on the human need for human interaction, something I have experienced constantly despite my many past attempts to cut myself off from society (here I am now, for example). Of course, being stuck in a tiny box like that would make you feel claustrophobic even if you never had history of the symptom, so the resulting loneliness and delusions are probably inevitable either way unless you spend years training for NASA or something. And of course, like many of Serling's TZ episodes, the Atomic-era paranoia circulated this episode's themes as well, with Mike wondering if everyone has been Hiroshima'd. It's a nice layer to the series I wouldn't mind seeing in other episodes too. Another interesting insight worth noting on the Holliman commentary was that the entire episode was not only filmed on a studio (which I could hardly tell thanks to the lack of color), but the street where Mike walked onto was the same one from Back to the Future. No wonder it looked kinda familiar to me. Nice that the same set from another sci-fi story was used though. Alternative headcanon: Mike walked into an alternate universe version of Hill Valley in his "delusion," the same way Peter Jensen walked into '40s Pearl Harbor. 4/5 One for the Angels "Death doesn't like to be cheated." - William Bludworth, Final Destination 5 Here's a more whimsical episode that leans towards camp, especially during the scene where Lou Bookman makes his big pitch to Mr. Death. Why would Death need a tie or whatever useless trinkets Lou was trying to offload on him? Who knows? But it is amusing regardless that Lou's pitch is persuasive enough that even Death would entertain the notion of men's fashion. Of course, whenever a child is endangered, even the most whimsical episode is ultimately turned into a serious one. But even so, I appreciate the consequences here of Lou's action in escaping his death resulting in someone else's. I also like that it has a well-deserved happy ending, something you wouldn't usually think to find in a thriller anthology series like TZ, but of course, IIRC, Rod Serling has offered a bunch of other lighter episodes throughout the series as well, rather than all gloom and doom. 3.5/5

Adding to my list of shows I'm binging is an old sci-fi show from ages ago. I needed a sci-fi/supernatural show to replace The X-Files and accompany CW's Supernatural (season 6 currently), but while The Leftovers has been... decent, it's also quite short in length in number of episodes per season and not a great companion piece alongside the 22-episode Supernatural S6. Enter Star Trek: TOS. Been wanting to watch this forever now as part of my ongoing crusade to watch everything essential in pop culture history (Dr. Who, as in Classic Who, is on my radar as well, but I'm reluctant because it seems like a far dated show compared to ST). Just watched The Cage just now. It was better than I expected from a cult show like this. Good start. Pacing's a little bit slow and lots of scientific jargon, but nothing I've never dealt with before for a show like this. Theme music's funky in a charming way (I could've sworn Futurama replicated the entire theme in their Star Trek episode, not just parodying it). Hope for great things to come in this final frontier. Also, on that note, if there's any Whovian fans out there, would appreciate it if anyone could let me know if sitting through the entire legacy of Classic Who is worth it.

Over the past week, I've finished three solid conclusions to seasons-long cartoons from my childhood, namely "The Powerpuff Girls Rule" (10th anniversary special to the series), "Codename: Kids Next Door - Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W." (a very emotional send-off for fans of the series and the young at heart), and finally, the movie I just watched just now, "Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie". Out of those three, the last one is arguably the strongest finale that pays the proper tribute and ties up all the loose threads fans have asked for. Here's my review for it: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie And so, at long last, after 22 years beginning from its pilot episode of '95, its follow-up five seasons, and two movies, Hey Arnold has finally come to an end. And what an end it is, with this movie easily being one of the strongest animated TV finales I have ever seen. Ironically, contrary to its big-screen debut, this delayed TV movie (originally intended to be a big-screen movie, and its quality animation really shows that) actually feels far more cinematic and theatrical than "Hey Arnold: The Movie", not simply because it pays proper tribute to all the secondary characters and their unique traits, but more importantly, it reminds everyone about all the great deeds Arnold has done for the community over the course of the series that made Arnold the special boy he is. It's a perfect tribute to the TV series that HA: The Movie sorely lacked. And of course, it's also a great finale because of how it gave a proper closure to the biggest lingering plot of the TV series: Arnold's parents. Sure, much like some of the movie, things did feel rather contrived and even cheesy - befitting a Nickelodeon cartoon - and I did almost roll my eyes a few times, especially towards the end in a scene involving Helga's locket, but I still ended up accepting the film for what it is because I feel that the resolution is well-deserved, cheesiness be damned. Personally speaking, I do agree with some people in that I wouldn't have minded a more melancholic ending as well, as some of my favorite HA episodes were about getting through the dark times with hope in my heart, even if I don't get what I want in reality. Having said that, for a conclusion to a decade-old TV series, you gotta wear your heart on your sleeve and have a satisfying ending like this with all the sentimentality for the fans (much like the way "Spider-Man: No Way Home" poured its fanservice), and I think "The Jungle Movie" had the right amount of sincerity without being too goofy. It's a solid send-off for one of the best animations America has offered, and I couldn't be more happy to have witnessed it. 4.5/5

Futurama, 6x26: Reincarnation I just finished season 6 of Futurama, and while most of season 6 has been between lukewarm or just inconsistently written (albeit having some nice clever jabs at trending topics at the time that I enjoyed more than most people who considered them to be easily dated), Reincarnation is easily the most enjoyable episode of the season. Being an anime fan, the Japanimation segment of the episode was naturally my favorite one, especially the calling out of the horrible dubbing in imported anime in America ("Rather than speaking Ja-[ENGLISH!] like us"). The constant bouncing of all characters in the black-and-white cartoon segment was a hilarious tribute too. It also had a lot of fun with video game logic in the 2nd segment. This whole episode is just barrels of fun with so many in-jokes that you'd get if you remotely understand any part of geek culture.

Been watching MeatCanyon videos recently. Say what you will about these edgy videos, but you gotta admit that man does a solid Hank Hill impression.

I've never seen the Slam Dunk anime nor am I interested in sports anime, but this opening theme song from the classic '90s show is just emotional and heart-pounding enough that makes me wanna watch it. Even though I understand none of its Japanese lyrics, I still feel like there's this heartfelt and endearing feeling to the music, a kind of indescribable feel-good wholesomeness that's often attributed to those mawkish '90s shounen/shoujo anime where the characters would overcome whatever hardships that life throws at them.

Just saw Hey Arnold!: The Movie as part of finishing up the TV series' fifth and final season. Here's my review! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the summer of '02, Nickelodeon made the foolish decision of releasing a produced-for-TV movie on the big screen, competing against the likes of "Lilo & Stitch", the live action Scooby-Doo adaptation, Star Wars Episode II, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, and let's not forget, the first big-screen debut of Spider-Man. To make things worse, the marketing budget of the film cost over 13 million dollars, on top of the 3 million budget for the film. It's little wonder that the film was considered a flop, and "Hey Arnold" the series would be put on the shelf for a long time to come after its TV finale, "The Journal". The original theatrical release that this film replaced, "The Jungle Movie", would not come to see the light of day for more than a decade. And as for the actual movie itself? It's quite decent for a big-screen version of the series, filled with your typical one-off guest characters and cinematic elements reserved for movie versions of TV shows. The gentrification plot is a little cliched, not to mention being a go-to plot for many American movies, from "Casper: A Spirited Beginning" to Pixar's "Cars" (the latter of which actually had a decent song to convey the theme, James Taylor's "Our Town"). That being said, the movie does a good job of showing the mundane but somewhat quirky lives of various citizens living in the soon-to-be uprooted town in the forms of the aforementioned one-off characters, particularly the bus driver, Murray who's a war veteran whose girlfriend ran off due to prejudice against his amputated leg. In fact, Murray's existence gives the film the kind of melancholic somberness that made the animated series popular and appealing to even older audiences. Unfortunately, this is ultimately underwhelmed by an over-the-top antagonist with a weak motivation, coming off as your typical cartoon villain usually seen in big-screen versions of TV cartoons. That said, the film does contain a pretty nice Helga and Arnold moment. Even if I'm not a big fan of the shipping myself due to Helga's problematic behavior that's pardoned by fans, it's a pretty decent character progression compared to her stagnated arc in the series. It's just a shame that status quo remains king in the film. Overall, it's not a bad film adaptation, even if it's not nearly as impressive as even certain TV movies of other cartoons (like "Codename: Kids Next Door" that actually had real progression in its lore). I also like the subtle jab at Disney animated musicals when Eugene tries to sing in a musical number - twice - but got shut down by Arnold and Gerald. Always a fun take to knock those Disney musicals down a notch or two. 3/5

King of the Hill: 3x11: To Spank with Love As someone who despises corporal punishment from both parents and teachers, I'd have to say... Peggy did no wrong. At least not initially. She might've had the wrong motivation when the news crew was on her and she was motivated to spank Joseph, but Stuart Dooley felt like an amoral brat who needed discipline, not to mention committing sexual assault quite early as a kid. God only knows what kind of man he would grow up to be. God, I hate kids sometimes. Or at least I couldn't work with them; "hate" might be too strong of a word. I don't have a problem with the well-behaved ones, but I can't stand bullies, having been roughed up by them as a kid. I guess part of why I supported Peggy is that my response to bullying was physical retaliation as well, even though I didn't actually hit anyone (merely tossing desks and chairs around). Got into a lot of school fights in my day. Another reason was because Peggy was right about the lack of respect not just her students didn't give her, but both Hank and Bobby didn't give her. Typical white men acting like it's the woman's fault for being sexually assaulted.

First heard this song from a Spotify playlist. I don't usually listen to modern pop songs more than once anymore nowadays, so this one being memorable is a pretty big deal for me.

Gave this show another chance after dropping it after the pilot, and I'm glad I did. My impression of the show improved after Prickly-Muffin, but goddamn, that next episode... 1x4: Zoës and Zeldas Like, what the fuck, BoJack? That's messed up, the ending. I love how the ending kinda retroactively subverts your typical comedy writing when you look back at how BoJack's interaction with Virgil Van Cleef, how a typical callous comedy line that undermined Todd's chances of making the rock opera a success, something Homer Simpson would unintentionally do, gets subverted into an intentionally malicious manipulation. Holy crap. That's clever and screwed up. I read one comment that the episode was the one that made them realized that this was a different kind of comedy, and I agree. I'm guessing it's only gonna get much, much darker from here, and I can't wait to find out more. 7/10

I think that just makes him even more terrible of a person in my view. lol He has all this power, and he squandered it playing politics, and he dared to call himself "real police" to someone like Colvin? COLVIN?! The guy who actually did REAL police work like connecting with the community? What a freaking joke. But yeah, I get why he's fascinating to watch. He's quite the... uh, colorful personality. lol One thing I'll admit is that things are never dull when he's on the scene.

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot: f*** Rawls. I mean, look, I get the point of the show, that Rawls isn't the problem, merely the symptom, but still, screw that man. I almost respected him in season 1 when Kima was shot, but his interaction with Colvin just pisses me off so much with his disrespect for Colvin. Blaming the system for his flaws just doesn't sit right with me, considering Colvin was a better man despite being part of the same shitty system. Shit rolls downhill, and Colvin had to pay for it. "Get on with it, motherf***er" indeed.

The Wire 3x12: Mission Accomplished The cycle continues, and nothing was accomplished. Sounds about right. Love the reference to Bush's punchline. In fact, after doing a little digging on other people's more shrewd observations, I realized how many references this season and especially this episode made to 9/11 and the War on Terror. It's all pointless meandering on the same problem, the main theme of the series. Not a bad way to end the series if it had ended, circling back to the broken system. In fact, seems like a lot of third seasons of television feel like a close to an arc, a trilogy almost, even if not the series finale. Stringer's dead, Avon's imprisoned, McNulty kinda mellowed out a bit towards the end of this ep, Daniels got his promotion, and there's even a promise of something hopeful even amidst all the gloom and doom: Dennis' boxing gym. Yep, guess there's nothing more to say... right? 😂 I feel bad for Colvin, but this is Baltimore, gentlemen; there's no high power here to save the city. Hamsterdam was never going to work, more of a stopgap until a more permanent solution comes along. Furthermore... I can't help but think that Hamsterdam might have sped up Johnny's death. Colvin saw the big picture, and I don't think he was wrong. I think he did some good out there. But at the same time, there's the big picture of the war on drugs, and the little picture of people like Johnny caught in the crossfire. Even if Hamsterdam hadn't been shut down, what then? What was the end goal of this? I wonder if Bubs even knew about what happened to Johnny. Goddammit. Just another statistic on a mountain of collateral damage. And above all, you know what they say about good intentions. Even Tommy boy here, for all his promises as upcoming mayor, the show seems to imply that he might turn out just as corrupt as everybody else down the line. I remember one YouTube comment on the speech he gave this episode about the injustice the city faces: "This is the type of speech that gets you elected into public office, not the type of speech that points out what we need to do to actually solve public issues." God, what a bleak series. Hopefully, season 4 might be a little lighter, what with its focus on the younger generations (and hey, Prez is back!) But from what I heard, season 4's gonna be even more depressing. Sigh. 10/10 Solid season finale to an amazing series, but I can understand why some people don't have the stomach to sit through The Wire.