Lantern7

Fish can fly a helicopter. Sure, why the heck not? I mean, Barbara is nowhere to be seen, and Eddie's creep factor is around a 4 out of 10 . . . it's the guys' fault for not going, "None of us can fly a chopper. Can you fly a chopper?" Damn, Ogre is creepy. Where's Christopher Eccleston and a rooftop when you need them? Good times. As far as the Petrelli Bros. are concerned, Peter cleans up better than Nathan over on Agents of SHIELD. Now . . . there should have been a better way to see the Ogre in action. I am scared for Leslie, though . .. canon can be screwed with on this show. Can't wait for the inevitable call with Gordon. "You want to kill my loved ones? Two words: Barbara Essen. That's 'Essen' with two S's." Nice to see Penguin chew on scenery. He's got three episodes to kill Don Moroni. I wouldn't bet against the kid.

I watched the first two seasons of USM. It was nice, though not as good as Spectacular Spider-Man, even with a wicked cooler Aunt May, and a better use for Ben Parker than as Peter's Achilles heel. I DVRed a lot of the third season, then I deleted it to make room for other stuff. It just isn't a priority for me anymore. Also, the monologues can be a bit weak, and there's no bromance between Luke and Danny a la the comics canon. I tried Avengers Assembled, but I fell out of it. Ditto Hulk & The Agents of SMASH, though I will admit that Clancy Brown rocked as Red Hulk. I don't know if I'll get into the GotG series when it comes out. I think I'll wait for the next movie, even if that will take a while to happen. ETA: Before I forget, here's the original credits sequence to A: EMH . . . I will admit, the song did grow on me. Also, I wound up getting this sketch based on Ant-Man and Wasp. Here's hoping we get counterparts in the movies that are as good.

One episode, two fights, two flashbacks. Anybody else think Widdle Satuki was cute in the second flashback? She was hardcore even as a kid. In the main plot, Ryuko manages to get a forfeiture from Inumuta, then she get smacked around by the majorette and her Goku Uniform. Oh, and Gamagoori and Mako spend quality time on the sidelines. Amazingly, he doesn't try to throttle her.

Bit of a rant . . . I went to a convention over the weekend. One table was selling CP9 chess-style blind box items for $14. I got one . . . turned out it was the same piece I got last time: Kumadori and Fukuro, back-to-back. At least I got this cool sketch of a character that comes in a later arc. This week . . . I think "deer gorilla" fits Chopper's large humanoid form, not to mention his monster mode. Also nice to see Kalifa get what was coming to her, even though she managed to "finger pistol" Nami once or twice. In addition, Robin didn't get smacked around by that wanker Spandam. I am waiting for Luffy to launch into Second Gear against Lucci. At least we'll be seeing Zoro fight unencumbered by Sniper King. now that the handcuffs are off.

David Jacoby brings up the fan vote in his column. Basically, he's ready to campaign for Woo. He also figures Portland would come out in force for Cliff.

Presenting the Dan Foley School Of Survivor. I reckon that's what he gets for not being built like Rodney or rugged like Mike. Also, because he's a bit of a dick, but y'all knew that already.

I got the averages after six legs . . . 3.00 Aly/Steve 3.50 Jelani/Jackie 4.17 Laura/Tyler 4.50 Hayley/Blair 5.33 Mike/Rochelle 6.00 Matt/Ashley 5.17 Jeff/Jackie I think that anybody can take it. There's no dominant team. Last season around this time, you had a gulf between the three frontrunner teams (Dentists, Cyclists, Surfers) and the rest of the pack (Wrestlers, Scientists, Tim/Te Jay).Aly & Steve have finished in the top five in each leg, but they don't overachieve like the Dentists did. Also, with the Scientists winning TAR25, you can't discount any team. However, I don't think any of the Racers can match Maya's manic zeal. There was talk of passports this week. Anybody else expecting a team to lose their documentation in the coming weeks?

Do they also coordinate with @Midnight? Because they did a bit about the panda banging a night or two prior. In Larry's defense, they actually showed the consummation, as opposed to showing stills. Also, I was going through a backlog of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, and they did a The Price Is Right takeoff called "The Cost Is Correct" a few months before Larry pulled it out. Could be a coincidence, or maybe Larry's a fan.

Anybody else thinking we'll be getting a non-elimination leg in next week's two-hour installment? Also, I'm surprised there wasn't any Hayley jabbering. Maybe she and Blair buried the hatchet. I don't think we've had hyenas on the show before. Another animal to add to the menagerie.

I don't think I liked this leg. Car commercial in the cold open. No footage from Mike & Rochelle's Date Night. A crapshoot for Detour options with no chance of swapping tasks. A seven-team pileup at the finish line. Oh, and Hayley & Blair won, albeit without any (seen) bickering. Sure, we lose a generic Caucasian team in Jeff & Jackie, and they were blind-daters to boot, but they looked to be the 20 percent success rate for the format. I did like the fancy dress, though. Reminded me of The Mole, though I don't think they wrecked sweet duds the way poor Mike sweated through his jacket. Phil in a tux? Probst wishes he could pull that off. And on the flipside, Phil can probably rock khakis as well. Two hours next week! Here's hoping most of it doesn't involve Hayley bickering.

My fantasy with Shirin involves her winning it all. Once Probst announces the deciding vote, Shirin runs . . .not to her family in the audience, but directly at Rodney, yelling, "What's my name?!? WHAT'S MY NAME?!?"

"Oil Drums" was a nice episode, even if it was aimed at nostalgic children of the Eighties instead of the kiddies. I wouldn't have thought it possible to name-drop so many shows for legal reasons.

From Stop Being Polite: Jonathan Murray steps down as BMP executive producer.

Anybody else seeing the commercials for the third season? There's also a great cover story on her in Entertainment Weekly. Looks like her star is on the rise.

Probst emphasized Joe winning three straight individual challenges in last night's episode. What if he manages to stay in the game to win? He looks dreamy enough for Probst to mancrush on him. As bad as that could be, it beats the prospect of Mike or Rodney winning.

Stop Being Polite posts Challenge 27 rumors. I wonder if Mark Burnett will sue BMP.

Well, I'm on board the Shirin train. Why? Because she's a fan. Because she's trying to enjoy herself. Because she can be spazzy in front of Probst. And, most importantly, because her mere presence bugs the shit out of Rodney and Dan. Fuck those guys. Bargain Basement Rob and Bloated Cliff Claven have no shot at winning themselves . . . they're doomed to be on the jury, thinking up venom-fueled questions to ask the people who actually played the game, leaving out the line, "And I say that because I'm hung like a flea." BTW, whomever said that they'd leave their kids with Rodney before Dan? That person wins, period. Why is Probst hyping Joe's winning streak? Three wins in a row is impressive, but it's not groundbreaking compared to the likes of Colby and Tom. I think Probst has a crush on Joe. I'm not a drinker . . . are whisky and ice cream compatible? It sounds disgusting, Hali.

Awwwww . . . Simmons still cares! Also, Skye is a special snowflake . . . but then again, aren't we all? Good episode. Didn't see Deathlok coming. Come to think of it, neither did Hunter. Also liked Cal bringing the crazy. "Afterlife" is a nice place to visit, but I'm willing to bet the really cool Inhumans are being saved for the movies. Not like we're gonna get Lockjaw anytime soon. Also, we'll be losing Raina to the Preacher series. At least Ruth Negga (sic?) won't need a ton of SFX makeup for her new role.

Before I forget . . . here are the first credits in full.

Caught the season opener for China, IL. Is it just me, or does the show work better with 15 minutes instead of 30? More time means more people to keep track of, and I don't feel attached to them. I did find out two things from "A Gentleman's Bet": 1. Any status-quo rocking event can easily be reversed by a gun and a psychotic breakdown. 2. You can choke Baby Cakes. I didn't think that boy had a neck, but Pony sure did find it.

weyrbunny . . . out of curiosity, did you ever get into Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes? While DC Comics usually get their act together when it comes to cartoons, I figure that this Marvel series struck a perfect balance between the comics and the movies. Alas, it only last two seasons, then Disney XD replaced it with the more movie-centric Avengers Assembled, which features the movie team and Falcon. A:EMH is the superior series, as least I'm far as I'm concerned.

Any idea as to when the voting would start? I'm guessing right after the Reunion. I would be eager to see how the campaigning is done. Also . . . why is J'Tia on the list? Didn't she quit the game? Even if she did, Probst and Burnett would be psyched to put her on for the drama.

This week: the New Girl shows up in GGO. I know she's going to be special, because she's in the opening credits. I don't think she's Kirito's sister from the second season of SAO, though I did see glasses on the bureau after she logged out of GGO. New Girl is a deadly sniper in the game, and she winds up killing a guy with a fast-action minigun, even after getting part of her leg blown off. Why wasn't she "killed" outright from the bullet, I don't know yet. Meanwhile, in the elf game from the second season, Kirito and Asuna (along with their "child") are lovey-dovey with each other. I'm impressed and slightly horrified that Asuna is in a video game, given how the previous Big Bad badtouched (or maybe just badtalked) her frequently. Kirito sees an object in the sky, gets a flashback from last week, and decides to tell Asuna about Deathgun. Speaking of Deathgun . . . . in the credits, he's credited as "??????" Nice touch.

How to tell when characters are serious about fighting each other in an anime . . . they don't bother calling out their attack names. Such is the case with Luffy and Lucci, as they continue their battle. Meanwhile, Kalifa gets her fanservice on against Nami, making her skin slippery to the point where she can barely hold onto her Clima Takt (the weapon Usopp made for her prior to the main Alabaster arc). But she manages to wash away the scrubbing bubbles and creates vapor-based copies of herself, aka "Mirage Tempo." Oh, and Chopper busts in on the fight, and Kalifa is dumb enough to think it's Nami with a Zoan Devil Fruit power. Also: Usopp gets into his role as "Nosestorm." ETA: I forgot about Spandam knocking Robin down the stairs again. I feel that I should keep track of how many times that sort of abuse happens, because it is hard to watch.

Good episode last night. Ryuko and bondage enthusiast Gamagoori had their fight. How eager is he about discipline? He spent most of the battle wearing a ball gag. How does he talk? I'm guessing from the heart, like Roronoa Zoro on One Piece when he put a sword between his teeth. Anyway, Gamagoori has the upper hand for most of the battle, until he sucks Ryuko into his Goku uniform. Senketsu transforms, and Gamagoori gets shredded from within, winding up buck-ass nekid and crying to Satsuki, since he failed as her shield. Up next . . . (checking character thread). . . Houka Inumuta takes his shot at Ryuko.