Season 1: All Episodes

[Actionmage]

(Mods: I checked TVDB and they had nothing other than the basic info.)

 

 

Well, this is wonderful and a bit frustrating. I was waiting with the hubby to watch Whose Line and saw how close it was to Vixen's release!

 

At this moment, there is a one minute preview-ish  segment and the pilot, but the opener was very promising!  Lots of info, but I didn't feel overwhelmed. That is all I'll say until more see it.

[MarkHB]

Gerry Conway's hopefully going to be cashing some checks out of this: he has creator credits for Vixen, Cisco Ramon, and Felicity Smoak (albeit the comics original version).  Hell, looking at his Wikipedia page, he was all over the place in the 70's and 80's before he moved into TV work.

 

The episode itself was good; I'm not sure how much they'll be able to fit into a total of 30 minutes of story by the time it's all done, but this was a promising start.

[quarks]

So far, so fun. 

 

This is probably more my taste in jewelry than anything else, but since I don't really like the necklace, and need a reason why everybody on the show seems to want it, I'm fanwanking that the necklace has some sort of mystical compulsion that makes people want it - the cop suddenly wanting to buy it from a prisoner in the jail, and the muggers.

 

Fingers crossed that this is earning Gerry Conway some money.

[tarotx]

I liked it :)

[tv echo]

Just watched the 5-minute pilot and I liked it - but it was way too short!  I really hope Mari/Vixen shows up as a live-action person on Arrow, Flash and/or LoT.

 

Stayed through the closing credits (I'm Marvel-trained that way) and noticed these guest credits (although Felicity and Cisco didn't appear in the pilot):

(screenshot source)

Edited August 25, 2015 by tv echo

[foreverevolving]

Question.. are the episodes supposed to be this short?

Because i think I may just wait until they are all out to watch them, if this is the case.

[MarkHB]

It's going to be 6 5-minute episodes adding up to a half-hour.  I am guessing that the credits are the same on all of them because some of the "also with"'s weren't in this one either.

[BkWurm1]

Help me out. Nothing in the credits rang any bells but I soo know the voice of her foster father. Where do I know it from??

Apart from that driving me crazy, I liked it. It has the animation style that I like for DC and the action looked great and I'm curious about the lead. Sooo short though. It's going to be hard to wait for each part.

Edited: Finally figured it out. The actor's name is Neil Flynn which meant nothing to me but it's the same guy that currently plays the dad on "The Middle" (which I watch) and played the janitor on "Scrubs".

Nice casting. If they ever brought it live, they have actual screen actors that could just slip into place.

Edited August 25, 2015 by BkWurm1

[Kromm]

I liked what there was of it.  But 4 minutes 19 seconds (which they've seemed to advertise as "5 minutes') is kind of a "dip a toe in the water" level of viewing.

So far, so fun. 

 

This is probably more my taste in jewelry than anything else, but since I don't really like the necklace, and need a reason why everybody on the show seems to want it, I'm fanwanking that the necklace has some sort of mystical compulsion that makes people want it - the cop suddenly wanting to buy it from a prisoner in the jail, and the muggers.

 

Fingers crossed that this is earning Gerry Conway some money.

I don't think any fanwanking is necessary.  They're going to tell us straight out why people want the necklace. In my opinion it's clear where they're headed.

[Kromm]

Just watched the 5-minute pilot and I liked it - but it was way too short!  I really hope Mari/Vixen shows up as a live-action person on Arrow, Flash and/or LoT.

 

Stayed through the closing credits (I'm Marvel-trained that way) and noticed these guest credits (although Felicity and Cisco didn't appear in the pilot):

I don't think we can apply the traditional "pilot" moniker for episode 1.  I believe these were all produced together at the same time, not the first ahead of time as some kind of proof of concept. 

 

And I think that also explains the credits. It's one set of credits for the whole "season" (because it's basically really one episode--just cut into smaller chunks).

[bettername2come]

I was disappointed Flash and Arrow didn't talk in their scene. Disappointed there wasn't more, which is probably a good sign. Hope they don't kill her foster dad. 

 

Think there's any chance they'll air this on TV in one block? I feel like that's how it's meant to be viewed.

[Trini]

So far, I liked it and want to see more. Probably because this was a made as a 30-minute pilot, then cut into 6 "episodes". At least that's what it feels like.

 

Are these going to released once a week? Or once a day?

 

These "episodes" are so short, I think there should just be one thread to discuss them all.

Edited August 31, 2015 by Trini

[BkWurm1]

I was disappointed Flash and Arrow didn't talk in their scene. Disappointed there wasn't more, which is probably a good sign. Hope they don't kill her foster dad. 

 

Think there's any chance they'll air this on TV in one block? I feel like that's how it's meant to be viewed.

Maybe during the winter hiatus? Wouldn't surprise me if it found its way on air eventually.

 

These "episodes" are so short, I think there should just be one thread to discuss them all.

That sounds reasonable to me.

[Actionmage]

and need a reason why everybody on the show seems to want it,

 

My take on the thugs at the end is that... they're muggers and assume that any jewelry will get them a few bucks in addition to whatever else they score. Of course, there could be something else prompting the mugging, but I don't know.  I saw the cop as just genuinely being lazy and not wanting to shop, since he forgot his anniversary.   Sometimes a mystic necklace is just a mystic necklace. *g*

 

These "episodes" are so short, I think there should just be one thread to discuss them all.

 

 

If the mods want to rename the thread into an all episodes thread, that makes more sense. I'm just sorry that I didn't think of that sooner.

[MarkHB]

After conferring with my fellow mods, I have made this the All Episodes thread for Vixen: Season 1.  Thanks for the suggestion!

[BkWurm1]

Part two was up by midnight.

It's funny to recognize the same lines of dialogue we've heard on Arrow. I guess Dr MacCalaster (sp?) and Ray Palmer must hang out together so they can each brag about their three PHD's. I appreciated that despite selling her out he first provided helpful insight about the necklace.

Nice to know there was a reason the gang targeted the necklace. Wonder why Mari or her dad wasn't more surprised she could take them out?

The flashback made me cringe a bit. Adult playing a ten year old but playing it as if ten is the same as five.

[MarkHB]

It must have gone up between 12 and 1 Eastern, then, because I checked shortly after midnight here and it wasn't up yet.

 

My guess is that this was the first time she accessed the power of the necklace in such an extreme situation.  She might have used it in the past to, say, run faster without realizing it, but I know I've never been mugged by three thugs so I wouldn't have had reason to call on the strength of a gorilla, either.  So after that she called the Corrupt Prof and tried to learn more.

 

I wonder if the kitchen cabinetry was supposed to look like cheapo 70's woodgrain laminate, indicating that Chuck and Patty didn't have a lot of money, or if I'm reading too much into it.  More seriously, I wonder what happened to Patty.

 

And yes, they did well if they managed to raise a girl to the age of 10 in Detroit without her knowing what a junkie was.

[Eegah]

The credits are no help because I still don't have many names down, but I'm pretty sure that was Laura Bailey as the Big Bad. I thought instantly of Lust once that voice appeared.

[Trini]

Oooh, the plot thickens! But I wonder what took Shadowy Lady so long to find Mari and try to get the totem? And do they really need her alive?

[BkWurm1]

It must have gone up between 12 and 1 Eastern, then, because I checked shortly after midnight here and it wasn't up yet.

 

It was probably closer to 12:30am Central when I thought about it and checked my tablet.   I just assumed that it had gone up by midnight.   I was happy that I didn't have to wait until someone showed up at work on Tuesday for it to be posted. 

 

The production office is on the West Coast, right? 

 

 

 

Oooh, the plot thickens! But I wonder what took Shadowy Lady so long to find Mari and try to get the totem? And do they really need her alive?

Does that mean that only Mari can make it work?  (or at least her among a select few).

[Kromm]

Does that mean that only Mari can make it work?  (or at least her among a select few).

Probably not some random white lady...

 

It seems to me to be a "of the blood" kind of thing.  You probably have to be of a specific family or ancestry.

[MarkHB]

Part 3 is up. This one pretty much brings us up to date with the start of Episode 1, and we get to see the Hall of Justice-reminiscent STAR Labs interpretation.  Really, my biggest takeaway is that Carlos Valdes needs to work on his voiceover work... it was just "off" for me.

 

Also, I'm thinking that Mari will go ahead and summon flight capability (in a panic) to get out of the "I just fell off a roof" situation we were left with in Episode 1.... she probably just didn't have time to try it from the ground, and was justifiably scared when she backed out of jumping off the roof.

[Trini]

Well, her foster dad is handling things fairly well! (Please don't kill him off.)

Now I wonder what other animal attributes she has access to; would Mari be able to smell as well as a bloodhound? It also seems like a power where not only would one have to think fast, but also think very specific. Like, to get from this rooftop to the next: jump like a grasshopper, glide like an hawk, then stick the landing like a jaguar?

[bettername2come]

Hearing Cisco diss Detroit broke my heart a little. In the comics, he's from there. 

[BkWurm1]

Hearing Cisco diss Detroit broke my heart a little. In the comics, he's from there. 

We have the most contempt for the familiar so he could still be from there. 

 

Really, my biggest takeaway is that Carlos Valdes needs to work on his voiceover work... it was just "off" for me.

 

Yeah, I had that issue as well.  Also with Barry though part of that is his animated version doesn't really fit.  Animated Barry is taller and more muscular and overall cooler than real Barry.  Looking forward to slash dreading  when animated Felicity shows up. 

 

I like the series but boy oh boy the sections are short. 

[Actionmage]

Hopefully, if the first set of episodes are popular, we might get longer episodes. Maybe an adult swim-ish fifteen mintues?

 

I love that Neil Flynn, aka The Janitor from Scrubs and Mike Heck from The Middle, is Mari's foster dad! He's fun so far, especially as he's not a fawner or a 'deny your powers' kind of person.  Chuck is a 'you're my daughter; be safe' person, which is refreshing.  His "It's for you" in Episode 3 was just right.

 

PS Megalyn Echikunwoke is great. I hope we get to see her Mari "in person" soonish.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Actionmage

[BkWurm1]

I was a semi-regular viewer of Scrubs and found NF funny enough, but he didn't impress.  I adore him though on The Middle and he does a great variation of regular dad in Vixen.  Let's keep him alive show.  The loss of her original parents and the death of her foster mother are enough pain to serve as motivation.  Crosses fingers.

[MarkHB]

... and now we have our Felicity appearance. I thought EBR did a good job with the voice work, tbh, and I'm glad to see Mari found her flight power. Plus, the "mauled by a lion" was a nice touch.

 

I hope the site or the app gives a way to watch the whole series as one continuous show when it's all been released, similar to what the Heroes app did for Dark Matters.  It would be nice to see how it all hangs together as one half-hour show.

[Eegah]

I remember hearing about one comic book story where a newly discovered superhero instantly starts fighting with all the members of the Justice League or Avengers or whatever sent to talk to her, and it turns out superheroes fight each other instead of the bad guys so much that she'd simply assumed it was part of the usual routine. It was hard to stop thinking of that.

[tv echo]

I really enjoyed episode 4 with that long chase sequence involving Oliver, Barry and Mari.  I also liked Felicity's voice debut (although I wish they had cut to her in person so that we could see the animated Felicity).  But again, the episode was too short.

Edited September 15, 2015 by tv echo

[quarks]

Still liking this, although I agree with everyone that the episodes are too short, My other problem - is it just me, or is Mari accepting/adjusting/learning how to use her powers too quickly?  I know this has been a major source of argument over on the Arrow forum (with Ray, Laurel and Felicity flying the Atom suit), so maybe I'm just overreacting?

[Trini]

Way to be real specific with the fern mention! I know they're connecting this to the TV shows, but still. It was cool to have Felicity included here, but I have a feeling that we're not going to actually see an animated version.

 

It was telegraphed, but still cool when Mari used flight. Liked that the Flash brought a little comic relief. Pretty sure Mari will take out those gunmen easily; but I hope she can get some answers from the Mystery Lady.

 

I know that with animation you can't get a lot nuance, but I'm having an issue with the animation not matching well with the voice performances. Not so much with Mari, but the side characters. Even with TV animation I've seen better. When it comes to the voices, the low budget is really showing. /animation nerd

I hope the site or the app gives a way to watch the whole series as one continuous show when it's all been released, similar to what the Heroes app did for Dark Matters.  It would be nice to see how it all hangs together as one half-hour show.

I hope they can convince the CW to air it during a break, or something. Especially if they plan to introduce Vixen in Flash or Arrow.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Trini

[Actionmage]

I like that while we know the guys are trustworthy, even with Barry's Pipeline Prison ( another not-really-cute lampshade PTB), that Mari has legit concerns about going to them with whatever and having them anywhere near her dad.

 

There is a named character that I have seen in the credits, but am not sure if we have seen. IT could be Mystery Woman, but I kinda hope not. Still, if Mystery Woman is that character, I love the actress and will enjoy rooting against her. Go, Mari!!

[bettername2come]

I loved Oliver criticizing Barry's "way with metahumans." I read a fanfic where a newly discovered metahuman basically thought Flash was a serial killer, and couldn't help but think of that in that scene.

[Primal Slayer]

This was a good episode to showcase her powers, her being able to outrun Flash was weird but I can only chalk that up to Barry not knowing how fast he can go and not pushing himself enough. And of course they had to bring up that stupid fern.

[BkWurm1]

I really enjoyed episode 4 with that long chase sequence involving Oliver, Barry and Mari.  I also liked Felicity's voice debut (although I wish they had cut to her in person so that we could see the animated Felicity).  But again, the episode was too short.

I swear we saw stills of Felicity actually present with Oliver and Barry during the day so I'm hopeful that we will still get to see animated Felicity.  Wasn't Vixen the place where Oliver is supposed to find out that Felicity kissed Barry too? 

[quarks]

We've got a couple more episodes, right? So there's plenty of time for Oliver to find out about Felicity and Barry, though honestly I'd rather have this show focus on Vixen, and have Oliver find out about Felicity/Barry on Arrow or a Flash crossover. Oh well.

[BkWurm1]

We've got a couple more episodes, right? So there's plenty of time for Oliver to find out about Felicity and Barry, though honestly I'd rather have this show focus on Vixen, and have Oliver find out about Felicity/Barry on Arrow or a Flash crossover. Oh well.

If they keep it in, I'm sure it will take up no more time than the aside about watering the fern, just a little bit of fun tossed in to extend the shared universe feel. 

 

I'm very curious how they are going to in the limited time they have left get Mari so far down the superhero path that she already has her costume.  

[tv echo]

MG had said on tumblr some time ago that Oliver would find out that Barry kissed Felicity on Vixen.

 

I think we'll see an animated Felicity because the closing credits of Vixen include credits for two people for creating Felicity Smoak (Gerry Conway and Rafael Kayanan), as well as Vixen and Cisco Ramon. No creator credits for Oliver or Barry, so I assume those were pre-existing animated characters.

Edited September 16, 2015 by tv echo

[quarks]

MG had said on tumblr some time ago that Oliver would find out that Barry kissed Felicity on Vixen.

 

I think we'll see an animated Felicity because the closing credits of Vixen include credits for two people for creating Felicity Smoak (Gerry Conway and Rafael Kayanan), as well as Vixen and Cisco Ramon. No creator credits for Oliver or Barry, so I assume those were pre-existing animated characters.

 

Gerry Conway and Rafael Kayanan are getting the credit for creating the original Felicity Smoak in the comic books. (Kayaman was the penciller and I think the inker.) It's more or less the same thing as ensuring that the name Bob Kane appears on Batman products. Oliver Queen/Green Arrow is the creation of Morton Weisinger/George Papp, and trademarked/owned by DC; Barry Allen/Flash Number Two was created by Robert Kanigher/Carmine Infantino. The original Flash was created by Gardner Fox.

 

Conway raised the issue of creators not getting full royalties for DC and Marvel owned characters - at one point last year he pointed out that he wasn't getting royalties for the use of Caitlin Snow in Flash. I'm assuming this is sort of DC's response. 

[Primal Slayer]

If they keep it in, I'm sure it will take up no more time than the aside about watering the fern, just a little bit of fun tossed in to extend the shared universe feel. 

 

I'm very curious how they are going to in the limited time they have left get Mari so far down the superhero path that she already has her costume.  

I think she will just have a Peter Parker moment. With great powers come great responsibility and all that jazz. So after her encounter with this woman who wants her tantu totem, she will decide to fight the forces of evil full time. And since she is in fashion, she'll create her costume at the end of the series.

[BkWurm1]

And since she is in fashion, she'll create her costume at the end of the series.

 

Ha!  You are probably right.  Hey, it's more logical than some of the other ways the heroes got their costumes.

[BkWurm1]

What is with the need to kill off the younger sister so the oldest can take over her life?? Is this the regular backstory for Vixen? I'm still hoping the sister thing was a lie.

The new episode offered more info but it was also riddled with plot holes. Why didn't Mari tap into her flying power when she was first trying to escape? And they only winged her. Why couldn't she have still escaped? And why bother patching her up and taking her to Africa if the plan was still just to kill her? And then when she escaped, she collapsed...but clearly was not dead...and the Unremovable unless she was dead necklace suddenly came off fine. I never saw the spider actually bite her so also why was it so easy to catch her? Did I blink and miss something?

Edited September 22, 2015 by BkWurm1

[MarkHB]

I'm willing to handwave some of that as Mari not really having a solid grasp of Totem tactics yet, and the likelihood that she may have gone into shock when she was shot.  But the necklace coming off so easily I don't understand, either.

 

And if the sister story isn't a lie, then why would their mom only run with one child, and separate the totem from the daughter who was supposed to have it?  Unless she already knew her older daughter was unworthy; that's a possibility.

[tv echo]

Mari outran the Flash, but couldn't escape these human guys?

[quarks]

Ok, I'll buy that Mari doesn't have full control over the totem yet - but tv echo is right: she outran the Flash and was able to outmaneuver Arrow. So not entirely buying that one at all.

 

Plus, I don't understand why the sister didn't remove the totem in the U.S. while Mari was unconscious, or just kill Mari after knocking her out. Unless the idea was that the spider bite would allow the totem to get removed while keeping Mari alive, but in that case, why not just say, "If you really want to lose the totem, and live, then let this spider bite you." Or for that matter, just say that anyway so that Mari wouldn't resist and go running off into the savannah. I get that the sister isn't supposed to be all there, but still.

[Trini]

Only one more episode after this? Seems a lot to cover: she has to get back the totem, get back to Detroit, and get in costume.

 

Anyway, I'm glad we got Mari's backstory, but yeah, why didn't the mother take both children??

And they had to go all the way to Africa for that spider?

[MarkHB]

I wonder... if the spider is the trickster god's true form... can Mari become venomous?

 

My thought is that Evil Sister may genuinely want to use the totem in Africa... maybe there are valuable minerals under the remnants of the village?

 

Also, I realize they needed him for the marketing hook, but including the Flash?  Definitely a storytelling mistake.... for sprint distances (say, once around the planet) he can beat Superman in a race, let alone a cheetah.

[BkWurm1]

Did she ever actually get bite by the spider though?  I thought the evil sister held it out and Mari said (in one of the funnier moments) nope, I'm out of here, and was gone.  I thought the reason she collapsed was because she was wounded, weak and out in a desert becoming dangerously dehydrated. 

 

Not much of a bond if anyone can take it off of you if you are not conscious. 

[Actionmage]

What is with the need to kill off the younger sister so the oldest can take over her life??

 

Right?  If the older sister is just greedy ( nodded at with the "deals with others" line), then she needs to quit scaring the ever-lovin' snot outta Mari, a complete stranger! They may be blood-kin ( 50/50 right now), but for the first thing to insist on is your sister's death so you can look after the dead?!  Not their father. Not bring the village back to life ( renew the area so the original families might come back), but sororicide?  Especially when the threat escalation went:

*Unknown woman with the totem- kill her.

*Known woman with the totem- kill her, maybe.

*Known woman with the totem wants to give it to me, but it's bonded with her- kill her.

*Known woman tries to escape with the totem, but we injure her and kidnap her to Africa- more than likely kill her.

*Known woman is revealed to be sister, she still doesn't want to die- spider bite to sever the totem's bond with your long-lost sister.

 

Whaaaaat?  Especially when you look at the reveal and count back. Somewhere between 'the totem is active; bring it to me' and finding out who the woman was from the Professor, Big Sis had to realize who had the totem. Yet we are supposed to just chalk up her intervening 'kill her' as... temporary hurt feelings ( 'You never call, never write!')?  When the threat level goes from Death to Poison with Spider For Possibly Deadly Side-Effects, I'm not sure what we are supposed to feel about our villain.

 

It was entertaining, and I am genuinely happy to have this series. I just wish the writing for our still-unnamed ( in-show) villain was a little more transparent. Yes, seeing your father executed, your village massacred and then being abandoned by your mother- with your just given sacred trust and infant sister!- would mess you up beyond the telling. It's the Dr. Evil-ing of her that's frustrating.