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S01.E01: Wayne or Lose

MarkHB

By MarkHB
in Powerless [V]

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MarkHB

MarkHB

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SERIES PREMIERE.  In a world where humanity must cope with the collateral damage of Super Heroes and Super-Villains, Emily Locke (Vanessa Hudgens) begins her first day as Director of Research & Development for Wayne Security, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises that specializes in products that make defenseless bystanders feel a little safer. Full of confidence and big ideas, Emily quickly learns that her expectations far exceed those of her new boss Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk) and officemates, so it will be up to her to lead the team toward their full potential and the realization that you don't need superpowers to be a hero.

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profreader

profreader

Every time I think we've reached Peak Superhero Volume, something ELSE turns up. I mean, I like superheroes as much as the next person... I think. But I really don't know why they are barraging us with show after show after show after show. Aaaaaaahhhhh!

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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

"We greenlit this because we heard ABC/Marvel was doing a Damage Control series."

-- NBC?

The showrunner shuffle is probably a sign this one is not going to pan out.

2 hours ago, profreader said:

Every time I think we've reached Peak Superhero Volume, something ELSE turns up. I mean, I like superheroes as much as the next person... I think. But I really don't know why they are barraging us with show after show after show after show. Aaaaaaahhhhh!

I know, pretty soon there won't be any room on the schedule for police procedurals or sitcoms about middle aged man-babies with hot wives. :-)

More seriously, they are tapping into decades of material that have been written (and visualized) looking at the superhero genre from every conceivable angle, most of which is comfortably owned by Disney or Warner. It wasn't so long ago that all of that was considered purely Saturday Morning Cartoon material, so you can't blame them for being excited. They are going to overdo it until people stop watching.

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profreader

profreader

18 hours ago, Latverian Diplomat said:

 

I know, pretty soon there won't be any room on the schedule for police procedurals or sitcoms about middle aged man-babies with hot wives. :-)

But LAW & ORDER: MAN-BABY HOT WIFE UNIT is my favorite...

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Lantern7

Lantern7

Don't know if DC Comics needed a sitcom. Slice Gotham in half, and you'd have two of those. Seriously, we're three seasons in, and it is batshit insane.

Powerless doesn't seem too bad. Part of me wants to take Ron Funches' laugh and dub it to the (new) Black Canary's cry. And apparently, the idea of Bruce Wayne having an idiot cousin is a Silver Age nod. Griping about Crimson Fox having super-strength and not being insanely French would be a minor quibble.

ETA for @whyjoshua . . . let me guess . . . you're still hurt by her death in Starman at the Mist's hands, right?

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whyjoshua

whyjoshua

(edited)
3 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Griping about Crimson Fox having super-strength and not being insanely French would be a minor quibble.

This bothers me a ridiculous amount since somehow the Crimson Fox is one of my favorite superheroes. I never thought I'd see her in any non-comics adaptation outside of Justice League Unlimited backgrounds, but it's still frustrating that everything we see of the character is… not her. She doesn't use her head-whip ONCE.

I get that they wanted a D-lister for Charm's local hero; I'm just not sure why they'd pick a real DC character and then eliminate the stuff that makes her lovably weird.

Edited by whyjoshua
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whyjoshua

whyjoshua

(edited)
13 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

ETA for @whyjoshua . . . let me guess . . . you're still hurt by her death in Starman at the Mist's hands, right?

That's an odd issue for a lot of reasons. Honestly, I kinda like the little speech Robinson gave her about how the new Louvre pyramid isn't French enough for her.

I actually got into comics long after their deaths, so I've always known them as dead heroes—pre-N52, at least. Who knows if they're "alive" in current continuity.

Edited by whyjoshua
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MarkHB

MarkHB

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2 hours ago, whyjoshua said:

I actually got into comics long after their deaths, so I've always known them as dead heroes—pre-N52, at least. Who knows if they're "alive" in current continuity.

They who, other than Crimson Fox?  (I think her death in Starman happened after I stopped collecting.)

Also, I want to work for Batman.

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Bill C.

Bill C.

Well, after seeing the pilot...I'm not sold yet, and it felt like it was trying a little too hard--Wayne Light Lime, Emily kind of in general, and Wendy--but in general it showed promise.  Low-key, Superstore-esque promise, but still.  The gentle riffing on superheroes/villains and faintly meta bits (I seriously want something involving Retcon Insurance now) helped save it.  It's at least got a few episodes to find its way.

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Lantern7

Lantern7

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"This godforsaken taint of a city"?  Wow, broadcast TV much?

I think that's how Cat Grant described National City in the rough draft of the Supergirl pilot.

I like the credits, putting the cast in the covers of old-school comics. Very clever.

If we ever get a strip club scene, Van has to shout about "MAKING IT WAYNE!!!!!"

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whyjoshua

whyjoshua

39 minutes ago, MarkHB said:

They who, other than Crimson Fox?  (I think her death in Starman happened after I stopped collecting.)

The Fox. There's two of them. The idea of the Fox is that she's a French Batman-style hero (wealthy industrialist who has adopted an animal persona to avenge her parents' deaths), but with a twist!: she's twins. One of the D'Aramis sisters (Constance) faked her death, so there's both a Crimson Fox and a Vivian D'Aramis operating at all times, but the sisters switch roles as needed.

The real Vivian died in Justice League America (the post-Zero Hour run with Wonder Woman as the leader), and then the real Constance carried on as a solo hero, only to die in Starman. Constance talks a bit about how lonely she is as the sole survivor of her family in the Starman issue, which I think is meant to make her death in that issue seem extra tragic.

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Twilight Man

Twilight Man

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I like the credits, putting the cast in the covers of old-school comics. Very clever.

I remember buying the Batman comic when I was much younger.  Stop making me feel old.

Seriously, it's the most recent comic cover they showed by a long shot. While the others were Golden/Silver Age, the Batman comic was from the 90's, right around the time Tim Drake became Robin.

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Affogato

Affogato

I'll watch it to see Alan Tudyk on the screen every week and there is the potential for him ending up to be the Tom Thumb of the family. Bruce seems to be kind of a jerk, and face it, he probably is a jerk.

The cast looks  like different people, always appreciated, I prefer it to the shows where it takes me a year to figure out who's who.

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dankesean

dankesean

(edited)
1 hour ago, Twilight Man said:

I remember buying the Batman comic when I was much younger.  Stop making me feel old.

Seriously, it's the most recent comic cover they showed by a long shot. While the others were Golden/Silver Age, the Batman comic was from the 90's, right around the time Tim Drake became Robin.

Not sure about all the rest (was Flash fighting the Atomic Skull? What a weird pairing...), but the Wonder Woman cover was from '88- not that much older than Tim Drake era Batman.

Edited by dankesean
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iMonrey

iMonrey

Not a comic book fan but I gave it a shot. I agree with the recap, it doesn't quite work. But I'll give it a couple more chances - pilots can be pretty shaky. It took me a long time to warm up to Superstore and this feels like a pretty good companion show. Plus, Alan Tudyk and Ron Funches. Potential is there. Just needs to be funnier.

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OtterMommy

OtterMommy

I have to admit that  I watched this only to see if it was something my husband or kids would watch.  I do think it is a little old for my kids, but it *might* amuse my comics loving husband.  I found myself laughing a few times, but it took me a while to get a feeling of the show.  About halfway through I realized I needed to quit thinking of it in terms of Batman and start thinking of it in terms of Dilbert.

Still on the fence, but I'll give it a few more episodes.

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swimmyfish

swimmyfish

This was a bit of a letdown after the mostly stellar first season of The Good Place that previously aired in the same timeslot, but I think it shows promise. I enjoyed Emily's enthusiasm and Van Wayne's pathetic desperation, and I'm probably the only one but I laughed repeatedly that the "visionary" guy's only real contribution was to pick the color of the product. I think the only character I didn't really like was the one who made the Emily-alarm, because she just seemed a little too mean-spirited for the rest of the show, but I do like that the lab setting means there are other characters that can regularly interact with the main crew.

I was a little confused though by the ending - Batman already having one of the wristbands they'd just invented seemed maybe to hint at a connection between Emily and Bruce Wayne? Or was the implication that he'd gotten it from LuthorCorp? 

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Lantern7

Lantern7

I keep forgetting . . . goofy-looking Starro for the win! He/it is the Daleks of the Justice League . . . you judge it by appearance and it doesn't occur to you that fear is a valid response until it's far too late.

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whyjoshua

whyjoshua

(edited)
40 minutes ago, swimmyfish said:

I was a little confused though by the ending - Batman already having one of the wristbands they'd just invented seemed maybe to hint at a connection between Emily and Bruce Wayne? Or was the implication that he'd gotten it from LuthorCorp? 

The prototype (or at least its schematics) was sent to Gotham, and then Bruce Wayne approved it for beta. We are to infer that Bruce Wayne then adapted the prototype to make an anti-Joker version, with the Powerless crew shrugging it off as a coincidence.

Edited by whyjoshua
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Lantern7

Lantern7

I'm okay with lampshade hanging, as long as they don't overdo it. "For the last time, Ron . . . Clark Kent can't be Superman just because they look a little similar when you draw glasses on Superman. Are you high again?" "'Again' implies that I stopped at some point. And have you ever drawn a spit curl on Clark? It's so obvious!"

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

Like with most sitcoms, I'll give a few episodes since usually the pilots are rough and it takes a bit to find its footing.  Overall, it had a few chuckles, but also a decent amount of misses.  Alan Tudyk was awesome and my favorite part.  Since the High School Musical franchise was never my cup of tea (for many reasons), I'm not that familiar with Vanessa Hudgens outside of supporting roles in usually bad films (Journey 2, Sucker Punch), so she was... alright, I guess, but she basically just comes off like what I usually think a former Disney Channel star does: peppy, smiley, and spunky.

Always good seeing both Danny Pudi and Ron Funches, but hopefully the character will quit being such jerks to Emily, and start working better as a team. Just found the team to be kind of unlikable; especially the woman who seemed to go out of her way to slam Emily.  Just a bit too mean spirited for me, and I felt like I was suppose to find her insults funny.

The credits might have been my favorite part.

I do like the idea of Bruce making cameos by phone, and bossing Van around.

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marketdoctor

marketdoctor

I liked the little touches (the comics covers), though superhero comedy can be tricky, since people already suspend some disbelief for a superhero.

that said, I knew I would give it a pass for at least a few episodes for the Adam West VoiceOver about what Wayne Security does, and the joker gas antidote as both a connection to Micheal Keaton and a commentary about Epi-pens.

it's also interesting to see Lexcorp actually making something (sometimes they did in the comics, because there are a LOT of comics), because it shows intent that the DC Universe is full of weirdness that doesn't get recorded. That's part of the fun.  It reminds me of the sillier parts of Scalzi's Redshirts.

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swimmyfish

swimmyfish

4 hours ago, whyjoshua said:

The prototype (or at least its schematics) was sent to Gotham, and then Bruce Wayne approved it for beta. We are to infer that Bruce Wayne then adapted the prototype to make an anti-Joker version, with the Powerless crew shrugging it off as a coincidence.

 

3 hours ago, Trey said:

Since they don't know Bruce Wayne is really Batman.

Oh, right! I forgot that the people in the show don't know that. Now the ending makes sense. Although I'm still going to secretly hope there's some kind of connection between Emily and Bruce Wayne/Batman. :-)

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legaleagle53

legaleagle53

6 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

i really enjoyed the pilot.  I laughed a few times and loved how the long-term residents of Charm City were 'over' the superheroes and villains.  I think this has a lot of potential for lots of fun.

I agree.  I like it for what it is, a cheesy, over-the-top show that lampoons both comic-book hero/villain tropes and workplace-comedy tropes.  So it's not Shakespearean comedy -- I'm still going to have fun with it!

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paulvdb

paulvdb

The pilot wasn't great but it showed potential so I'll give it some time. The lab setting reminded me a bit of Better Off Ted which also took a few episodes before I really loved it. I don't expect this show to become that good, but it has to show some improvement in the next few episodes or else I'll stop watching.

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Trini

Trini

I laughed enough to keep watching. So far there's only one character I don't like. (The one that made the sex robot?) Still can't believe this is the show that gets to talk about all the DC characters/etc. We might need a thread for all the easter eggs!

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

This definitely needs to work some issues out, and I cant say it was perfect and hilarious, but I got some laughs, the cast is charming, and yes, I still love me some super hero stuff. And this is a side of superheroes that I enjoy, seeing how the wacky comic book stuff affects normal people, and how they change the culture around them. Its something the MCU touches on sometimes, and I always find it interesting. I wasn't blown away (heh), but it was a pilot. I will give it some time to settle in.

"Superheroes fighting each other for vaguely defined reasons" was probably my favorite line, because its become something of a pet peeve of mine in super hero land lately. Seriously, EVERY DAMN MARVEL CROSSOVER for awhile there was heroes fighting each other for really stupid reasons.

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SVNBob

SVNBob

The whole Crimson Fox/Jack O'Lantern fight in the cold open was supposed to be a parody of Spiderman and the Green Goblin, wasn't it?  I distinctly got a feeling that they were poking fun at Marvel with that.

On 2/3/2017 at 8:25 PM, marketdoctor said:

the Adam West VoiceOver about what Wayne Security does,

That was a nice touch.  I wonder if there'll be a pitch for a new product in every episode and he'll be voicing them all.

On 2/3/2017 at 8:20 PM, thuganomics85 said:

I do like the idea of Bruce making cameos by phone, and bossing Van around.

If we ever get to hear Bruce on the phone, I hope it's Kevin Conroy doing the VO.  His Bruce would be perfect for the tone of this show.

In a great bit of amusing coincidence, I recently received a copy of a reprint of Action Comics #1.  So I was able to make a quick comparison.  The character on the real cover where "Emily" is in the opening is a guy in a purplish (sangria?) suit, who actually kind of looks like the guy behind Danny Pudi on the next cover.  I can understand why they went Action #1 for the first one in the credits, but there's bound to be a non-zero number of comic fans that aren't going to like the "change".

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BusyOctober

BusyOctober

I wanted to like this, but the lead actress just lost me with her over acting.  My sister told me Vanessa Hudgens is a former Disney kid star, so that explains a lot. I'm not a comic book fan nor do I know much about super heroes beyond the 1960's Batman show, but I enjoy quirky shows.  I did not enjoy this, but I'll try a few more episodes to see if the lead actress can dial back the gee-whiz, fresh faced, country girl in the big city with big dreams trope.

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Danny Franks

Danny Franks

Not brilliant. Too broad and too much winking at the audience, insecure that they'd get the joke without canned laughter.

Alan Tudyk was easily the best bit about it, and all the laughs came from him. He's always funny, and can work with even the worst material. The "tell them the other news," "I got a parking ticket!" bit actually made me laugh out loud. He'll have a great time playing Batman's cousing with a crushing inferiority complex.

Danny Pudi was okay, but really I just felt like I was watching Abed playact the role of an R&D guy. It's going to take a while to accept him in a different role. I didn't really form an opinion of the other three (was it three?) characters who worked with him.

Vanessa Hudgens was definitely the weakest part of the show, and overacted most of it quite badly. I've never seen her in anything before, but knew she was one of those 'Disney kid who can sing and maybe act a bit' types. She'll either need to improve, or they'll need to retool the show to make her less prominent.

The idea of everyone in the city just being so over the superhero/villain shenanigans is good. One that comic books have explored before, and one that could deliver big time, if the writing can live up to it. I'll give it another couple of episodes.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

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20 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Vanessa Hudgens was definitely the weakest part of the show, and overacted most of it quite badly. I've never seen her in anything before, but knew she was one of those 'Disney kid who can sing and maybe act a bit' types. She'll either need to improve, or they'll need to retool the show to make her less prominent.

Go watch her in Grease Live from last year, where she played Rizzo just days after the death of her father. She can definitely act given material that warrants it.  This show seems to be going more for "2 Broke Girls" level, though.

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