Power Rangers Dino Charge- Break Out

Previous episodes established the core team, and the need to find the Energems before Sledge does. Somebody is inside Fury (who has gained control of the Ptera Zord) and trying to break free, who Tyler assumes might be his father. When an exhibit on the Stone of Zandar ends up in their museum, the team now finds themselves in possession of the Gold Energem, which will allow him to keep the Ptera Zord charged. Tyler and Shelby posed as royals to lure Fury out, and while they kept the Energem, Fury still has a Ptera Charger to use against the Rangers.

This episode picks up as Prince Phillip III of Zandar shows up with his security detail to confiscate the exhibit and return it home, the Energem along with it. They're ambushed by Fury and a new monster. Although Phillip wasn't exactly nice to them, the Rangers still don't hesitate to protect him.

Once Fury himself gets ahold of the Energem, the person trapped inside Fury is let out. It's not Tyler's father after all, but the legendary Knight of Zandar, Sir Ivan. A morpher manifests on his wrist, allowing him to morph into the Dino Charge Gold Ranger. He quickly dispatches the mooks, monsters, and Fury with a bit of Zandar Thunder, and takes control of the Ptera Charge Megazord when the monster grows.

Ivan swears loyalty to Phillip, who relinquishes the Gold Energem to the fabled hero. After a short introduction to the other Rangers, Ivan goes off on his way, unclear if he's joining the team or not.

Standard in some ways to most Sixth Ranger introductions, but Ivan himself makes for a cool character. Like Caveman Koda, he's a relic from another time, and it's always neat to see an Arthurian type in a modern setting. Plenty of opportunities for him to bond and clash with his teammates. The question is still raised as to where Tyler's father is, and it's possible he's still inside Fury somewhere. All that remains to be seen.

Hotel Transylvania 2

The movie begins with the wedding of Count Dracula's daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and her human boyfriend Jonathan (Andy Samberg). There's a lot of fun and heart in these first scenes alone, as Dracula (Adam Sandler) has become more accepting of humans and happy for as long as Mavis is happy. Soon after, Mavis becomes pregnant and gives birth to the seemingly human Dennis. Dracula is a fun and caring vampa (vampire grandpa), but is nonetheless worried that he shows no signs of vampirism.

After a few amusing scenes of toddlerhood, the plot picks up a matter of days before Dennis' fifth birthday, the apparent deadline for his fangs to sprout. The titular Hotel Transylvania, once a vacation sanctuary for monsters, is now being integrated into human society and the modern age. It's great to see monsters becoming more accepted not only in Transylvania, but in the rest of the world as well thanks to the occasional manatee gag. Johnny has been helping with the integration, but hasn't had much alone time with Mavis since Dennis was born. With some encouragement from his parents (Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally), he and Mavis are considering moving to America can have a safer childhood around human children. Mavis herself seems a bit stir crazy from motherhood, as things get a bit out of hand at the werewolf pups' birthday party. In short, wolf pups go wild, Dennis chips a tooth, and Mavis is just about convinced.

Johnny, however, likes it in Transylvania and wants to stay, so he and Dracula make a deal. While Mavis and Johnny go on a trip to visit his parents, Dracula watches Dennis. Once they're gone, he takes the boy on a road trip with Frankenstein (Kevin James), Wayne Wolfman (Steve Buscemi), Griffin the Invisible Man (David Spade), Murray the Mummy (Keegan-Michael Key, replacing CeeLo Green), and Blobby. He hopes that they can all teach Dennis how to be a monster and become scary. All of their attempts meet with some degree of failure, due in no small part to monsters' being more commonplace now.
It all comes to a head at Dracula's old vampire summer camp, which has unfortunately abandoned its old fangs on approach. The focus has become on fun and safety, and there's very little learning, challenge, or fear left to it. Determined to make some progress, he takes Dennis to the top of the abandoned and unstable flight training tower, and drops him off in hopes that he'll turn into a bat and fly. The scene plays out somewhat differently than we see in the trailer. He catches Dennis at the last minute like always, but the act gets him in trouble with the camp counselor (Dana Carvey), and that only gets worse once the tower falls and Frank runs through the camp and burns it down.

Meanwhile in California, Mavis is having a blast exploring skate parks and mini-marts. It's not really until she gets to Johnny's parents' house that she starts feeling homesick. His father Mike just kind of rolls with the whole monster thing, but his mother Linda goes out of her way to make Mavis comfortable, in the sort of way that makes the person uncomfortable anyway. She's just about to change her mind about moving, when a video of Dennis' flying lesson goes viral. Mavis wastes no time turning into a bat, grabbing Johnny and flying home, while Dracula and the others race to get back first. (All of this seems to happen over the course of one Transylvanian night, but hey, it's an animated film.)

The decision is made to move away after Dennis' birthday party. Johnny's family comes to visit, and Mavis also invited Vlad (Mel Brooks), her grandfather and Dracula's dad. It's exposited early on that Vlad is an even more traditional monster than Dracula, and so Dracula has reason to worry about what could happen if he discovers that Mavis married into a human family. They cover this up by telling Johnny's family that it's a costume party.

Vlad arrives and doesn't seem to suspect anything, although notes that Johnny's Gary Oldman wig is ridiculous, and assumes just like Dracula has that Dennis is a late fanger. Things come to a head when Vlad attempts to scare the fangs out of Dennis, possessing the performer hired for the party (a parody of a certain cookie eating Muppet) and turning him into a real monster. Dracula, however, draws the line and puts a stop to it.

As Dennis runs away in tears, Mavis and the others confront Vlad and reveal Johnny and his family, but not before she chews out her father and husband for going along with it. Werewolf pup Winnie runs after Dennis (the two have an adorable lovy-dovy friendship throughout the film) and run into Bela, Vlad's right hand bat demon, who takes them hostage.

The others soon realize that Dennis is gone and go off to find him, and once Bela strikes Winnie, Dennis' fangs finally pop. He turns into a bat and gives Bela a serious bat-kicking. More bat demons show up, but so do the other monsters and family members. It's an awesome fight, which finally ends when Vlad uses his own magic to shrink Bela down to the size of a normal bat and the others disperse. Vlad apologizes to Dracula and Mavis, and now that Dennis is a real vampire, there's no need to move. As with the first film, the story ends with a huge dance party.

Hotel Transylvania 2 is a great sequel. It's hard to say if it's necessarily better, but it's definitely on the same level. Genndy Tartakovsky's directing keeps the film's comedy flowing with great zingers and slapstick. And of course, the animation is nothing short of spectacular. I particularly noticed the backgrounds and sets more. The hotel/castle and the woods surrounding it are beautifully rendered, looking almost real, while the characters maintain exaggerated cartoony features. Dennis and Winnie are voiced by real children and their interactions are incredibly sweet. There's themes of growing up and acceptance in both this movie and the first. Dracula continues to be one of Adam Sandler's best roles, and it's great to see films where he's allowed to have depth and are more than an excuse to go on vacation with his buddies. I definitely recommend both films for Halloween viewing.

Star vs. The Forces Of Evil

Star Butterfly is a magical princess from another dimension called Mewni. Having reached a certain age, she inherits the royal magic wand from her mother, but her rambunctious attitude and lack of discipline show that she's not quite ready to use it responsibly. As such, her parents send her to Earth and enroll her in a normal high school as an exchange student, placing her in the home of Marco Diaz. Marco serves as a grounded foil to Star. He plays it safe whenever possible, and the hijinks Star often pulls him into is sometimes overwhelming. Nonetheless, he's perfectly capable of using karate to defend himself and is very protective of Star when he has to be. After Star's best friend (a floating unicorn head) leaves her with a pair of dimensional scissors, the show alternates between slice of life stories, visiting strange and exotic places, and fighting off monsters. Leading the monsters is Ludo, a diminutive sorcerer trying to steal the wand for himself. He's mostly ineffectual until a lizard man named Toffee comes along.

The animation is bright, colorful, and often goes off-model to great effect, as the character designs are incredibly fluid. Star's design itself is a good indicator of what you can expect from the show. On one hand, she's blonde and adorable with hearts on her cheeks, and would not seem out of place in the magical girl anime genre (a definite source of inspiration). On the other, her devil horns headband indicate her chaotic nature. Eden Sherr delivers a fantastic vocal performance that you can't help but enjoy. (It's clear the cast is enjoying htemselves.) One of the first bits of magic she is seen using is putting a rainbow over her head, which promptly bursts into flames. At other points, she creates a litter of puppies with laser vision, accidentally replaces Marco's arm with a monstrous tentacle, and nearly anything you could possibly think of.

While mostly bizarre magical misadventures, the series does take a more serious tone on a few occasions. When Star's demon ex-boyfriend takes her to what is essentially demon prom, Marco braves the underworld to keep an eye on her and ensure her safety, despite Star's own insistence that she can take care of herself. Later, she and Marco try to bust out her Pony Head friend from St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses, which uses methods straight out of A Clockwork Orange to mold its wild individualist inmates into stereotypical uptight royalty. The season finale raises the stakes significantly (as can be expected with just about any show) as Marco gets abducted by Toffee and Star sets out on her own to rescue him.

The real treat of the series is Star and Marco's interaction. As stated before, Marco is a good foil for Star without being a complete opposite. It's easy to see these two developing into a more romantic relationship, despite having separate love interests at the moment (and even trying to help each other make progress in those relationships). I look forward to seeing where the next season takes these two. One thing's for sure, things are going to get a little weird and a little wild.

Zoo

All over the world, mutations are occurring in the animal kingdom (mostly mammals and birds), represented by a defiant left pupil. They no longer fear humans and have been attacking with increased coordination and ferocity. The series follows a team assembled to figure out what has happened and if it can be stopped: Jackson Oz is an expert in animal behavior, whose father realized this was happening but was dismissed as a lunatic during his lifetime. He and his best friend Abraham are among the first to witness the lion attacks Africa, along with French intelligence agent Chloe Tousignant. Jamie Campbell is a journalist who was initially working her own leads, trying to bring down the mega-corporation Reiden Global in connection to zoo animals escaping and killing. Rounding out their group is Mitchell Morgan, a veterinary pathologist with a chip on his shoulder and a sick daughter from a failed marriage. The whole team is eventually brought together by Delavane, who seemingly works for Interpol.

Over the course of the series, we learn that Reiden was indeed responsible for the uprising (which I initially assumed was a red herring), thanks to a Mother Cell which was used in all of their foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. Various characters who seem trustworthy at first turn out to be working for them, either to keep an eye on the team, stop them from getting too close, or perhaps genuinely want to find a cure for the mess they created.

All the animals used are real ones, to varying degrees of success (some just don't look as ferocious as they're supposed to be), with the exceptions of a few swarmed bird and bat attacks. The characters do manage to grow on you over the course of the series. The final episode provides some hope that things can be returned to normal, but still ends with a cliffhanger. Whether or not the book ends the same way, or if this was an intentional hook to get a second season, I can't be sure. It's still a cool miniseries, and definitely worth watching through at least once.

American Ultra

Jesse Eisenberg is Mike Howell, a socially awkward young adult with a beautiful girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart) who loves him dearly no matter how many times his handicaps get in the way. He wants to pop the question and take her on a trip, but every time he tries to leave town, he panics. It turns out Mike was the test subject for a CIA programming initiative, who had his memories erased and returned to a normal life after the program was shut down. His attempts to leave town have attracted the attention of CIA upstart Adrian Yates (Topher Grace) who is authorizing his own operation to have Howell eliminated. Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton), the director of the program, catches wind of the operation, finds Mike, and reactivates his subconscious training, giving him the skills to fight back as his entire life is turned upside down.

Mike and Phoebe run for their lives around town, fighting off the other assets from the program who are trying to kill them. Eventually it's revealed that Phoebe was his handler. At first, he's distraught by this, but later learns that while she was initially supposed to get him acclimated back into a normal life, she chose to stay behind because she loved him.

For an action comedy, there are very few laugh out loud moments until the final 30-45 minutes of the movie, although there's enough to keep you smiling throughout. The action, on the other hand, is fantastic, alternating between hand-to-hand, gunplay, unlikely weapons, and plenty of explosions and fireworks.

Mike is pretty relatable as an awkward guy dating a girl way out of his league, and is so grateful to have her in his life no matter how many times he screws up. His reaction to the situation he finds himself in is believable too, and any person would freak out in pretty much the same way. Topher Grace pulls off the bad guy role a lot better than he did in Spider-Man 3. He's someone in a position of authority who really shouldn't be there, and his character is a prime example of what's wrong with covert operations today. He authorized his own operation so he could pull it off and impress the higher ups. There was no imminent threat or greater good justification. No probable cause or due process, and it's very satisfying when he gets its comeuppance.

The real strength of this movie is that it actually made me like Kristen Stewart. She's amiable, funny, emotive, and gets to kick ass a few times. It just goes to show what she's capable of with good writing and directing.

One other character that stood out for me is the local sheriff played by Stuart Greer. Dialogue makes it clear that Howell had some trouble with the law both before and after his programming (before due to delinquency, after probably due to his panic attacks and pot smoking). He's all too familiar with Mike and seems to take pleasure in putting him behind bars when the opportunity presents itself. However, when Yates' henchmen shoot up the jail trying to get to Howell, he puts his own life on the line to make sure Mike and Phoebe can get out safely.

American Ultra is an enjoyable movie. The subject matter is a bit more complex than it appears to be, making light of a real (and fairly unnerving) CIA experiment involving mind control. Whether or not it was trying to make a point, it's a lot of fun no matter your mindset.

Fear The Walking Dead

What happened to the world while Rick Grimes as in a coma? This prequel spin-off takes us away from the familiar woods of Georgia, and relocates to a Los Angeles that has no idea it's on the brink of an apocalypse.

The stage is quickly set as teenager Nick Clark wakes up out of his heroin stupor and stumbles around for his girlfriend Gloria. He makes his way through the church seeing several dead bodies along the way, and it seems that it was a zombified Gloria who has been killing and eating them. He runs away as fast as he can straight into traffic, hospitalizing him. Similar to Rick's first scene with the zombified little girl in the main series, this scene hits you on the head with the idea that this is not the world we're familiar with. However, at this point, civilization is still intact, but it's a foregone conclusion that it's about to fall apart

We then meet the rest of Nick's family: his sister Alicia, their mother Madison, and her boyfriend Travis Manawa. Travis is himself a divorcé with an estranged son of his own. The family quickly goes to the hospital when they receive the call, and Nick is hesitant to tell anybody anything, until he's alone with Travis, surprisingly enough. He knows nobody would believe him about what he saw, chalking it up to the drugs he was on. He's certain that it's impossible, but also that it didn't feel like a hallucination, which gets him worried about his own sanity.

Madison is a school guidance counselor, and keeps a student Tobias from getting in trouble for bringing a knife to school. Maddie earned my respect with that scene. She knew he wasn't going to hurt anybody, but nonetheless had to find out what was troubling him. Apparently he's been paying attention to the news across the country where people are getting attacked and continue to attack no matter how many times they get shot. It could be a virus, and it's definitely spreading, and he wants to be ready. Other students are seen watching internet videos of this, and it seems almost impossible to them. At the same time, more and more students are staying home, seemingly sick with the flu. Meanwhile, Travis goes back to the church and looks into Nick's story. Aside from a junky who runs out in a panic, all the bodies are gone, leaving only a huge pool of blood on the floor.

When Nick's elderly roommate codes, he siezes the opportunity to check himself out of the hospital and limps around town trying to call his dealer. Madison and Travis immediately start looking for him, asking friends and strangers if anybody has seen him. Travis takes Madison to the church. Whether or not she saw the pile of blood is unclear, but she does find Nick's book and needle.

Nick's dealer turns out to be his friend Calvin, who until this point seemed like a normal, affable young man. The two have an incognito meeting in a diner, and Nick is freaking out wanting to know if anything was wrong with the drugs.

Calvin drives Nick to the river, ready to shoot him in order to cover his tracks, but Nick sees gun, fights back, and turns Calvin's gun on him, shooting him dead. As luck would have it, Madison and Travis weren't far behind, and he takes them back to where it happened. Calvin's car and gun are still there, but there's no body. They put him in the car and drive back into the tunnel, only to see Calvin in their headlights. They get out and try to talk to him, but being a zombie, Calvin snarls and tries to eat them. The family manages to fight him off and run into him. The body is broken, and no longer mobile, but the head is still moving and snarling, as the camera zooms out away from the trio to the rest of the city.

This pilot certainly succeeds in selling the series. Right away, it's established what The Walking Dead waited until the second season finale to reveal: the dead reanimate no matter how they died. It's clear that Calvin had never been bitten, but I still have to wonder what happened to Gloria. The promos for the series all showed her trying to attack Nick and his subsequent accident, but how did she become a zombie? She had a wooden board stabbed through her, so that could be either cause of death, or one of her victims attempting to fight back. She was a junky like Nick, so it's equally possible that she overdosed. Similarly, Nick was upstairs when he woke up and immediately started looking for her when she wasn't there. She could have fallen off the balcony when high and died that way. Calvin's reveal was a surprise, which didn't make sense to me, nor did his attempt to try and kill Nick. His family would find out eventually, I'm sure. Travis investigating Nick's story was good, as was bringing Madeline with him to corroborate their experiences, but it seems odd that they didn't go to the police. Were they trying to avoid implicating Nick for his drug use? Even if there weren't dead bodies all over the place, that pool of blood isn't going anywhere, and it would make sense to call in.

Family unity has always been an important aspect of The Walking Dead. Rick's drive to find his wife and son and keep them safe motivated him from the beginning, and we see some of that with Glenn and Maggie as well (as well as Maggie's own grief having lost all of her relatives). Here we see a family already broken, that will nonetheless have to band back together if they have any hope of surviving.as the world around them dies, and I look forward to seeing how that plays out. While these new characters have an interesting dynamic, I haven't quite grown attached to them yet; although I do have some sympathy for Travis and Nick, and Madeline exudes a sort of emotional strength that it is cool to see in a female character. She's already seen her life fall apart, so she can probably handle what's about to happen and fight to keep what she has left. I'm optimistic about what the series has to offer, though I can't say the same for the people in it.

Ant-Man

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has just been released from prison, having served his time for a Robin Hood-style hacking, and is trying to rebuild his life and reconnect with his adorable daughter. However, work is considerably hard to find for an ex-con, even with his mechanical engineering expertise. Desperate for a score, his old accomplices bring him in for a burglary and safe-cracking.

The job turns out to have been a test set up by the man who owned the house: Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Hank is a brilliant scientist who developed a special particle allowing a person to shrink and grow in size (as well as a hearing aid that lets him control insects), and in the past worked for SHIELD to perform covert operations as the superhero Ant-Man. Pym's former protege, Darren Cross, is getting close to replicating Pym's results in the form of Yellowjacket, which could be mass produced and fall into the wrong hands, and so he needs Scott to become the new Ant-Man, break in and steal the Yellowjacket.

At first, this movie seems to be on (literally) a much smaller scale than previous Marvel Cinematic outings, when it's more accurately a small superhero in a large world. There's also an underlying theme of redemption and second chances. Scott is trying to atone for his past crimes and be the father his daughter Cassie deserves. Hank Pym has to atone for allowing Cross into his life, as well as what happened to his wife/sidekick Janet/Wasp. Like Scott, he also has to make things right with his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly). She's perfectly capable of doing the task herself, Hank doesn't want to risk her life.

As is expected with a Marvel movie, we get some great cameos and continuity nods. Obviously we have the advertised appearance of the Falcon, who gets into an amusing fight with Scott. (I'd like to assume this was why he wasn't in the Age of Ultron climax, but the timeline doesn't really synch up, unfortunately). A gracefully aging Peggy Carter shows up in the prologue, and there's the inevitable post-credits scene that I'm not going to spoil.

The scenes of Ant-Man in action are a real treat, and we see how shrinking can be used in combat (conveniently, the subject retains his normal-sized strength). We see a training montage inside an anthill, a climactic battle in a child's bedroom, and a thrill ride through electronic circuitry.

Unlike some previous films (Thor: Ragnarok, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier), we have some legitimate reasons to keep the other heroes out of this. While the movie is overall great, it does feel somewhat disjointed. The transition from humor to drama doesn't feel quite as smooth here as in other Marvel films, although there is plenty of both to go around and it blends amazingly in the climax. The villain is underwhelming, but nonetheless threatening. Like Obadiah Stane and Justin Hammer before him, he reflects the hero(es) in some way, but unlike them, his actions are rather thinly justified. Stane and Hammer were after money and power, and while Cross is after these things, these desires take a back seat to a desperate desire for Hank's approval. It's one thing to want to get even with mentor who spurned you, but it's something else to still be seeking their approval at the same time. He doesn't really feel like a threat until the climax.

Perhaps had Edgar Wright worked on the movie himself instead of backing out in the middle of production, the tone of the film might have flowed a bit better, but at the end of the day it's still a fun movie with great characters and wonderful superhero sequences. I look forward to seeing Scott Lang in more Marvel movies, be it on his own or as an Avenger.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

In an alternate universe, the Joker drugged Superman, making him inadvertently kill Lois Lane and their unborn child, while setting off a nuclear missile which destroyed Metropolis and everyone in it. After that point, Superman stopped holding back and began killing criminals (starting with the Joker) and anyone else who stood in his way. Five years later, he's the dictator of the world, flanked by a regime of other misguided members of the Justice League as well as a few more than willing supervillains. Opposing them is an insurgency of other surviving heroes and former villains led by Batman and Lex Luthor (who was never evil in this timeline). In order to bring Superman down once and for all, the Insurgency seeks help from the Justice League from a parallel universe more in line with our own.

The game's plot is basically an excuse for superheroes who would normally be on the same side to fight against one another. In some ways, it's a bit farfetched in what it took to push Superman over the edge. While the prequel comics do explain a lot of these events in more detail, whether they were an afterthought or planned that way for the game isn't really clear. As you play, you take control of Batman, the Joker, Green Lantern, Aquaman, the Insurgency's Deathstroke, Cyborg, Green Arrow, the Insurgency's Batman, the Insurgency's Luthor, the Regime's Flash (who at last realizes Superman's gone too far), Wonder Woman, and finally the real Superman who brings his counterpart down once and for all.

The finishing moves look like there is no way the characters could survive after getting hit by them. Some of this is explained by a physical enhancement drug that was engineered by Superman's Regime and hijacked by the Insurgency. Some characters are more easily played than others. Nightwing and Aquaman are particularly good since their staff/trident lets you hit your opponent from farther away. Green Arrow and the Flash are also good melee fighters. Superman, Luthor, Captain Marvel/Shazam, and others are heavy hitters but as is common in this type of game, their strength is often outweighed by their speed. The basic controls are easy to understand, but combos can be hard to implement, and I often found myself executing a move and wondering how I did that. Aquaman has probably the greatest finisher: the stage is flooded with ocean water, he stabs your opponent with a trident, and then a shark swims in and chomps them. He's one of the greatest characters in the game.

The graphics are great, but that's really a given in today's video game industry. The voice cast is a bit more fun. Some reprisals are directly from the DC Animated Universe, others from Teen Titans, Young Justice, and the Arkham games. It's an eclectic mix of characters.

Downloadable content includes extra costumes and playable characters for Battle Mode or 2-player matches. Heroes include Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and Batgirl. The villains are Lobo, General Zod, and Scorpion (Mortal Kombat). Most of the extra costumes are cool, but at the same time, they leave a lot to be desired. The Red Son and Flashpoint suits are particularly fitting for the game's premise, but Red Son Superman is still treated like the good Superman when you play as him. The Earth-2 suits give you costumes for the Flash and Hawkgirl, but not Green Lantern or the trinity. (I know Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were killed off at the very beginning of the comic, but they still had their own unique appearances that I would have liked to see put into play here.) The Teen Titans skins include classic appearances for Raven, Cyborg, and Deathstroke, but not for Nightwing, which I think was a missed opportunity to let you play as Robin. There's a Knightfall costume for Bane, but not for Batman. The best skins are probably the ones that let you play as a completely different character, such as John Stewart's Green Lantern, the Cyborg Superman, or Stephen Amell's (Green) Arrow (the latter is incredibly rare). The Man of Steel suits for Zod and Superman are a nice touch too. Some of my other personal favorites are Earth-2 Flash, Flashpoint Batman, and Red Hood Joker (included in The Killing Joke pack). One issue I do have with Superman's alternate appearances is that none of them include the costume's red shorts (except for Regime Superman, and he's the villain). It's been a problem since the New 52 occurred in the comics as well as Man of Steel, and the costume just looks naked without them.

It's incredibly expensive to try and purchase all of those (and some I neglected to mention), so your best bet is the Collector's/Ultimate Edition of the game, which includes all of that. If you get it on PC, I would recommend buying a console controller to plug into it, it'll be much easier to play. Keeping all of this in mind, I still had a lot of fun playing the game, even if it took me a few tries on some levels. I would definitely recommend checking out the prequel comics too, if you're interested in the story, and curious about Superman's fall from grace and the rise of his Regime.

Friendship Is Magic- Slice Of Life

Our 100th episode opens with Cranky Doodle Donkey and his fiancee Matilda, who suddenly discover that the wedding invitations they sent out have today's date instead of tomorrow, and everypony in town got one. The two fly into a panic to push up their timetable and get married by this afternoon. Who's responsible for this mishap? None other than Derpy Hooves (credited as Muffins), who got them done cheap by hiring poor little Featherweight. It's nice to see Cranky and Matilda again, who debuted back in the second season when Pinkie Pie reunited them after he spent his whole life trying to find her, and hearing Derpy find her voice again is a real treat.

Derpy's feeling awful about her mistake and wishes there was a way to go back in time and fix it, piquing the interest of her friend Time Turner (credited as Doctor, but Derpy just calls him Doc). He's voiced by Peter New, who reminds me a bit of Paul McGann in his delivery, with a bit of Tom Baker. He invites her into his home (which could very well be bigger on the inside) and rambles a bit about his fascination with science, and shows Derpy around, specifically mentioning the flameless fireworks he invented (but can't figure out how to ignite). Then when Derpy finally mentions the wedding, he realizes he still needs to get his suit tailored (and it's green, just like McGann's).

The mane six are trying to stop a bugbear from destroying Ponyville, and as such Rarity isn't at the Carousel Boutique and can't help Turner with his suit. Vinyl Scratch/DJ P0N-3 is walking by and he begs her for help finding a tailor. She can't hear him through her headphones, so just takes him to the bowling alley. He runs into Jeff Letrotski (credited as Lebowski Pony), who just happens to be a tailor himself. (I also noticed his cutie mark is a rug, and that is hilarious.) His team is missing a guy, so agrees to fix up the suit if Turner bowls with them.

As the bugbear rampages through Ponyville, Matilda looks desperately for her wedding planner (Pinkie Pie), but spots Sparkler (credited as Amethyst Star) directing foals to safety. Apparently she was quite the organizer before Twilight showed up and eagerly agrees to help. This scene also provides our first look at the bugbear, and it's pretty cool design. I four-armed black (with yellow stripes) and white bear with a bee's wings and stinger.

As Sparkler and Matilda run away towards the spa, Derpy flies by them and asks if there's anything she can do, and Matilda quickly mentions flowers. She goes to Roseluck and two other mares to get them but nothing is ready. The trio faints at the thought of trying.

Meanwhile at Town Hall, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon are setting up the decorations for the ceremony. After expositing a bit about their friendship, they hear the commotion outside. The moment she learns it's a bugbear, she freaks. Apparently, her real name is Sweetie Drops, and she used to work as a secret anti-monster agency in Canterlot, and that she was the one who captured the bugbear initially and that it's escaped into Tartarus to find her. Not wanting Lyra to get hurt because of her, she jumps out the window on a grappling hook and blends into the crowd, as Cranky is seen pleading to a jeweler pony about the wedding bands.

Back at the bowling alley, Turner is staring down a 7-10 split which could mean winning the bowling tournament. However, Derpy busts in and excitedly says she's going to use his flameless fireworks for the wedding since they look like flowers. He runs after her, and his bowling ball only knocks down one of the pins.

The bugbear fight scrolls by in the foreground as we transition to the spa. Matilda is stressing out, and Lotus Blossom tries to calm her down. As it turns out, Stephen Magnet is there too, the sea monster from the first episode(s). He and Cranky are old friends and recounting how he never gave up searching for her does manage to relax her...then Stephen brings up how big a deal the wedding is to the ponies attending, and it looks like she's freaking out again.

We then cut to Vinyl Scratch entering her house, where her roommate Octavia Melody is on her bass (or cello?) trying to figure out what to play at the wedding. Everything she tries sounds rather generic, so Vinyl brings out her sound board and adds some dubstep to the mix. The two jam for a while in a cool sequence, until Octavia realizes she's going to be late for the wedding. The two burst out of the house on mobile speakers and zoom towards Town Hall, jumping over what appears to be a stuffed shark (clever), streaking past the bugbear battle, and picking up Matilda, the Cake family (delivering the wedding cake) and countless other ponies along the way (it would take too long to mention them all). Cranky loses his toupee as it streaks past him. Somepony drops their cane in the street, which trips the mobile and sends everypony flying. Gummy, Pinkie Pie's pet aligator, watches all this from a distance, and internally monologues about the futility of life.

Everypony luckily manages to land safely in Town Hall; even the cake landed with each layer in one piece. Princesses Celestia and Luna are on the scene, and seemed to forget to bring a gift. Shining Armor is crying like little filly (apparently he always does this at weddings) while Cadance tries to console him. As Derpy admires her flameless firework floral arrangement, Sweetie Drops enters and announces that the mane six have defeated the bugbear. She then takes a seat next to Lyra, who confesses something trivial to Bon Bon and the two remain on good terms.

Derpy goes to the door as Time Turner runs up. It seems he left his suit at the bowling alley and is instead wearing Tom Baker's scarf. She gives him a hug, and he realizes they're short on time and goes inside with an "Allons-y!"

With Cranky missing his toupee, Stephen Magnet cuts off half of his moustache and plants it on Cranky's head, reflecting Rarity's act of generosity to him back in his first appearance. With everypony else arrived, the ceremony begins as Derpy closes the door and inadvertently locks the mane six out, forcing them to watch through a window. Mayor Mare officiates and delivers a wonderful monologue about the importance of every character who plays a part in each others lives, major and minor. And so she pronounces them Jack and Jenny (Is that donkey terminology? I wouldn't know). Their first kiss as a married couple sets off Time Turner's flameless fireworks, and he's overjoyed by it (and just happens to be sitting next to Roseluck).

We then cut to outside. The sun is setting and the Town Hall interior has flashes of color erupt from the inside. As Twilight and her friends look on, she turns towards Ponyville and says how lucky they are to live there, giving them all a group hug.

This episode is fantastic. It's nice to see all the background ponies get some time in the spotlight, and return to characters we haven't seen in a long time. The mayor's monlogue is particulary poignant, and leans on the fourth wall a bit. The Doctor Who references via Time Turner (often referred to as Doctor Whooves by fans) are a real treat, since it seemed like something they got about as close as they could to making him the Doctor without actually doing so. I also loved the spotlight on Derpy. She hasn't been called by name since the second season, but she also hasn't spoken since then either. For now, I'm assuming her real name is still Derpy and Muffins is just something that others call her, because she likes Muffins (it's also her first line in the episode).

While I got a kick out of seeing Time Turner's labratory and his interaction with Derpy, my favorite scene is probably the one at Vinyl and Octavia's household. Their home is split down the middle, colored normally on Octavia's side, with purple and blue on Vinyl's side. I'm still a bit disappointed that Vinyl doesn't have a voice yet. She didn't speak in Rainbow Rocks either, so she could very well be a mute. It's still great seeing her and Octavia actually interact and make music together in canon.

The mane six, of course, got the back seat during this episode. I'm kind of curious how they finally defeated the bugbear and how it got to Ponyville in the first place. I don't think they'd be able to fill a whole episode with the battle, although they have done that kind of device before back in the third season.

At the end, Slice Of Life is a 22-minute love letter to the show's audience and fanbase for helping to make My Little Pony the powerhouse (or perhaps powerhorse) that it is today, and an episode you do not want to miss.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

This movie is to the spy genre what Kick-Ass is to superheroes. Deconstruction, parody, and reconstruction mashed up together into an entertaining story.

It begins on a covert mission where four agents are interrogating a prisoner. A trainee agent realizes that the prisoner is rigged to blow and jumps on top of him, killing them both, but sparing the rest of them. We now learn that these men are all Kingsmen, and the trainee's sacrifice allowed the other trainee to move up. However, another agent Harry Hart, codename: Galahad (played by Colin Firth) feels guilty over the incident and offers condolences to his wife and son. The wife is too distraught to accept anything from them, so Harry simply gives the medal to the son, Gary Unwin. He tells them if they need anything to call the number on the medal and deliver a coded message "Oxfords not Brogues".

Flash forward 17 years, and we're treated to what appears to be a typical spy rescue. Kingsman agent Lancelot shoots his way into a mountain chalet to save a captured scientist (played by Mark Hamill). Then there's a knock on the door. Lancelot's about to check it out, when he's suddenly sliced in half. The killer is Gazelle, a seemingly Asian woman with sharp prosthetic feet. She covers Lancelot's body as well as the slain henchmen's bodies and then lets her boss in: Richmond Valentine, a multi-billionaire (played by Samuel L Jackson) with a lisp and an evil plan to save the world from global warming.

Harry meets with Chester King, codename: Arthur (played by Michael Caine), and discuss the necessity of filling Lancelot's vacancy as soon as possible and finding whoever was responsible.

Gary, nicknamed "Eggsy", is all grown up now. His mom has remarried to an abusive bar owner and had another kid. Eggsy may have a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but he's still got a heart, as displayed when he comforts his crying baby sister. He heads out to the bar to meet his friends, but gets harrassed by the local bullies while there. Eggsy and his friends leave, but not before swiping the lead jerk's car keys. The cops' attention is grabbed quickly and a car chase ensues...in which Eggsy is driving backwards for a good amount of it. When a fox jumps out in the road, Eggsy swerves to avoid it and crashes into another car. He then crashes into the police car to give his friends a chance to run away.

Eggsy gets arrested, but he still has that medal on his person. When he exercises his right to a phone call, he calls it and delivers the message. He gets released and finds Harry outside waiting for him. They go to the pub, and Eggsy's not completely sold on the recruitment speech, however we do learn some exposition about him through Harry's having kept track of him. He did very well in school until dropping out, completed basic military training until his mom started getting worried, and stopped training for the Olympics when his stepfather came into the picture. The bullies from earlier show up and pick a fight with Eggsy, but instead have to deal with Harry. He locks the bar doors, closes the window shutters, and a very satisfying fight ensues. He takes them all down with ease and then tranquilizes the bartender to not remember anything. Eggsy is sufficiently freaked out by this, but swears not to tell anyone about it and promptly leaves with his memory intact.

When he gets home, his mom is relieved he's alright but his stepfather is angry and ready to smack him around. Luckily, Harry placed a bug on Eggsy before he left and could hear everything. He projects his voice through the house's electronics and tells Eggsy to meet him at a tailor shop, the secret entrance for Kingsman headquarters.

Eggsy is now one of many Kingsman recruits vying for the vacancy left by Lancelot, and seemingly the only one from a lower class upbringing. Supervising their training is the agency's quartermaster and tech expert, codename: Merlin. The first test involves the barracks filling up with water. While the others search for an air supply, Eggsy makes an effort to break down the door and when that fails, break the one-way mirror in the bathroom. The only thing keeping the test from being considered passed is the fact that they didn't work as a team, seemingly resulting in the death of one of the trainees.

Meanwhile, Harry goes to interrogate Professor Arnold, who despite his kidnapping, seems to have returned to his daily life. Before Arnold can reveal anything, his face explodes, and Harry only barely escapes. This puts him out of action for a while as training continues. This incident also peaks Valentine's interest, seeing as Lancelot's name and agency could not be identified, but Harry mentioned his comrade during the attempted interrogation.

Each candidate is given a puppy that they have to care for. Eggsy chooses a pug (under the mistaken impression that it'll grow up into a big bulldog), and names it JB. We're then treated to a montage of the training. Running, firing, etc.

The next big test involves skydiving. The six remaining recruits all jump out of a plane. One of them, Roxy, is clearly agorophobic, but Eggsy helps her through it. It starts to become fun, until Merlin tasks them with what to do if one member of the team doesn't have a parachute. Eggsy immediately comes up with a plan: the trainees huddle together in pairs. This good idea is dashed when one of them panics and releases his chute. Now in an odd number, Eggsy comes up with another plan: form up in a circle and release your chutes one at a time. Nobody is able to hold onto their neighbor. With safe altitude waning, Charlie pulls his chute and again can't hold on. Only Roxy and Eggsy remain. With mere seconds left to go, Eggsy pulls her cord and her parachute comes out, allowing them to land safely. It's an amazing scene, since the skydiving aspect keeps your adrenaline up, and you see Eggsy putting everyone else's safety over his own. He doesn't seem to have much doubt that he has a chute until that last moment. The three who pulled earliest are dismissed, leaving only the two of them and Charlie. Eggsy gets into Merlin's face about making him the one without a parachute, feeling singled out. Merlin just pulls Eggsy's cord to reveal he had one the whole time.

Once Harry comes to, the Kingsmen are able to make the connection to Valentine, with a little help from Eggsy. He's a multimedia mogul passing out complementary smartphone sim cards, as well as several upper class and political figures going missing. Harry is sent to meet with Valentine under the guise of a donor. The meal consists of McDonald's takeout in a humorous reveal. The two discuss old spy movies, each expressing interest in the other man's role. Harry's wine was laced with a special gel so that Valentine could track his movements after he leaves.

The three remaining trainees are tasked with seducing a female target so they can take her to a safe point, but end up getting drugged themselves by an assailant. When Eggsy comes to, he's tied to the railroad tracks, the man demanding to know everything he can tell about the Kingsman organization. He refuses to tell him anything, even as the train is about to run him over. This turns out to be the real test, as the track is a trapdoor and the assailant is Harry in disguise. Roxy passed the same test off-screen, and now it's Charlie's turn, who spills everything to save his own skin. Arthur, taking the role of the assailant here, is extremely disappointed, and leaves him tied to the tracks.

With only Eggsy and Roxy remaining, their handlers are given 24 hours to spend with them. Harry takes the opprtunity to get Eggsy fitted for the standard issue suit, and shoes (oxfords not brogues). To their surprise, Valentine and Gazelle are in for a fitting as well. Harry recommends a top hat to go with his suit, which is bugged so they can listen in on his upcoming meeting. They also have a quiet moment in Harry's study, which is adorned with tabloid covers. Each one represents a day when Galahad completed a mission and saved lives, because as a secret organization, there is no public recognition for good deeds or accomplishments.

Arthur calls Eggsy into his study for a private meeting. He's seemingly pleased with his progress, and after a little chat, Arthur hands him a gun, and orders him to shoot JB. Eggsy can't do it. There's a tense stand-off when Arthur asks for the gun back, and then a shot is fired in another room. It seems Roxy passed her test, and Eggsy has failed. As Roxy is officially given the title of Lancelot, Eggsy storms out of the mansion, taking the Kingsman's taxi with him. He stops at home briefly to see his mom and drop off the dog, then drives out to the pub, ready to confront his stepdad once and for all. Before he can do so, the taxi steers itself back to Harry's home, where he expresses disappointment in Eggsy's failure. It's revealed that the gun was filled with blanks and the dog would have been fine. It feels like personal failure to Harry, who was doing all he could to help Eggsy in order to repay his father's sacrifice. He's suddenly called away for another mission.

A target has been determined from their surveillance of Valentine: a hate-fueled fundamentalist church in America, akin to the Westboro Baptists. Arthur sends Harry to check it out. The sermon is about as hateful as you'd expect but Valentine doesn't appear to be inside. He's using the church as testing grounds for his sim cards. Once triggered, anyone in range of them is placed in a state of anger goes on an unstoppable rampage. Just as Harry is about to leave, the test begins. A riot breaks out inside, the parishioners attacking themselves and Harry. He's just as affected as everyone else, but his training gives him the upper hand. This fight is amazing to watch as he kills everybody who gets close to him, made all that much better as "Freebird" plays in the background. It's probably the best scene in the movie. With the test over, and everyone dead, Harry straightens up and walks out of the church, to find Valentine waiting for them. This is usually the part where the villain tells the spy his plan and then has to stop him. Unfortunately for Harry, "This ain't that kind of movie, bruv." Valentine shoots him dead at point blank. Eggsy saw the whole thing through Harry's video glasses, and is devastated. (Valentine is equally taken aback by remorse over the feeling of killing someone, hence the whole point of his plan is to make people kill each other.)

Eggsy runs back to Kingsman HQ and finds Arthur there, who surprisingly offers him a seat at the table and a glass of brandy in toast to Galahad. Eggsy's keen eye for details notices the scar on Arthur's neck, just like the one on Professor Arnold, and puts together that Arthur is also in league with Valentine and that his glass was poisoned. Exactly how long  this was is uncertain, but Arthur now reveals Valentine's evil plan: Comparing the earth to the human body and humanity to a virus, global warming is the fever the body uses to fight the virus. The virus must be killed to save the body, so people need to die. The sim cards send people into a rage, they kill each other, and the smaller population would calm the fever. Eggsy's slight of hand saves him from what would have likely been his demise, as he switched glasses with Arthur before the toast.

He relays what he's learned to Merlin and Roxy, and they hatch a plan to infiltrate Valentine's stronghold and stop him. The lair is located inside a mountain where his wealthy and powerful allies have amassed to keep themselves safe from the effects of the cell cards. Tricked out in a new suit Harry had made specially for him before his death, Eggsy enters Valentine's lair pretending to be Arthur while Roxy floats up above the atmosphere to shoot down one of Valentine's satellites. Eggsy borrows a computer from one of the guests upon arrival so Merlin can access the network and cut Valentine off, but Eggsy's exposed by none other than Charlie. He has to make a run for it while Merlin holds his own inside their jet.

Meanwhile, Roxy does manage to shoot down the satellite, and stop the rage briefly. Valentine makes a quick phone call to a friend so he could borrow his satellite and the plan is set back in motion.

Eventually Eggsy's surrounded with no way out, and suggests to Merlin to remotely activate the explosive chips inside all of Valentine's minions and guests. He does so, and we see hundreds of thousands of heads explode set to Pomp and Circumstance, and it is awesome.

Eggsy comes across a princess Valentine abducted earlier in the movie, and she agrees to kiss him (and more) once he saves the world. He heads back to main room, and an enraged Valentine activates his sim cards while Eggsy fights with Gazelle. It's really a treat to watch her fight, since she's incredibly graceful. He finally manages to kill her with a poisoned knife in his shoe, and then throws one of her prosthetic feet at Valentine, stabbing him in the chest and forcing his hand off the controls, stopping the rage for good. He then heads back to the princess who makes good on her promise.

The movie ends with Eggsy returning to his stepdad's pub, and offering to take his mother away from the guy now that he can afford it. The man is ready to pick a fight, and Eggsy gets ready to create Harry's bar fight from earlier.

From beginning to end, Kingsman is a blast to watch. Eggsy is easy to relate to, a young man with a lot of potential yet hasn't really found his place int he world. I'm really surprised that Roxy wasn't portrayed as his love interest, since they did have some moments of chemistry. He definitely cared about her and it was his encouragement that helped her overcome her fear of heights when she needed to. On the upside, she's never portrayed as a damsel in distress, and it is pretty refreshing that she didn't hook up with him, that maybe two people of the opposite gender can become friends, work well together, and don't necessarily have to become a couple. And thanks to the inclusion of the swedish princess, the hero still gets the girl.

There's a lot of blood, violence, and cursing, so the movie is definitely not for everyone. However, it's a great film for anyone who enjoys extreme violence and spy thrillers. The Freebird and Pomp & Circumstance scenes are definitely worth a watch.

The Flash- Fast Enough

'Harrison Wells', the Reverse-Flash is now in custody and it's time for Barry to get some answers. He killed Barry's mother because he hates the Flash, or at least his future self. From his perspective, they had been enemies for a long time. His actual intention was to kill Barry when he was a child and thus erase him from existence, but the Flash gets in his way. He got his younger self to safety, but left the Reverse-Flash alone with his mother, who then stabbed Nora Allen in the chest. Cut off from the speed force, it then became necessary to ensure the Flash's existence so he could get his speed back and return to his own time. 'Wells' tells Barry that he's grown fond of Barry over time to the point of admiration and respect, but Barry doesn't want to hear any of it. Then he convinces Barry he could run back in time and save his mother.

Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein (the other half of Firestorm), have stuck around after the fight in the previous episode. It's determined that if Barry reaches the speed of mach 2 and collides with a particle inside the accelerator, it would open a wormhole through time. If all goes well, he could go back in time and save his mother and return to the present in just under two minutes, while 'Wells' could at the same time return to the future. However, if the wormhole is unstable, it could swallow the whole city. Not sure what to do, he asks his Joe and then his own dad. Joe says he should go for it, since it's the only chance Barry might have to save his mom, even if it means losing the paternal relationship he has with him. Barry's dad, however, is thoroughly against it. The risk is too great. Unlike when Barry changed the past last time, there's a good chance that he would have no memory of anything that's happened since that night, and there wouldn't be a Flash. The Reverse-Flash would essentially have won, and Central City would never have its hero.

Meanwhile, with some encouragement from Professor Stein, Eddie decides to keep his relationship with Iris going, and she reciprocates. Despite his apparent insignificance in the Thawne family tree, the fact that Eobard ended up in the same city as his ancestor is an incalculable coincidence. Ronnie also decides to follow through on his initial engagement to Caitlin Snow, and Professor Stein officiates their wedding. It's a beautiful moment.

As the STAR Labs team makes the calculations and adjustments for the event, Cisco also confronts 'Wells' about how he killed him in the previous timeline, and 'Wells' realizes that this is Cisco's metahuman ability: he is aware of alterations in the time-space continuum. What previously seemed to be an easy excuse to make the heroes aware of Wells' true identity is suddenly something bigger, and I'm suddenly curious if Cisco has a comic counterpart.

They build a functioning time machine with the power source from 'Harrison's' wheelchair, and the attempt begins. As Barry keeps running faster and faster, he sees glimpses of events in the past and future. The Legends of Tomorrow, the Flash museum, and other Easter Eggs not necessarily noticeable on first viewing. I was fully expecting that Barry would have to fight the Reverse-Flash himself when he arrived in the past, that he would have to let his mother die in order to save himself. Instead, the Flash is already there. He notices Barry and gestures to him not to interfere, so he stands down as his future self saves his child self and the Reverse-Flash stabs his Nora Allen. With both speedsters gone, Barry then reveals himself to his mother, assuring her that her family is safe and her son has a future, which gives her peace of mind as she passes away. It's a thoroughly heartbreaking moment.

Meanwhile in the present, 'Wells' prepares for his departure. A silver helmet with gold wings falls through the portal, which he takes as his cue to leave. (The helmet is a nod to Jay Garrick, the Flash of the comics' Golden Age/Earth-2.) But before he can leave, the Flash returns to the present, destroying the machine with a single punch. (AWESOME!!!) A fight ensues with the enraged Reverse-Flash and things don't look good for Barry...And that's when Eddie shoots himself in the chest. With his ancestor dying, the Reverse-Flash is erased from existence, his face reverting back to Eobard Thawne's to deliver one last forboding threat to the Flash before he disappears.

This also has a devastating effect on the wormhile, which turns into a giant quantum singularity that will suck up the entire city. There's only one thing they can do: the Flash has to run fast enough around the wormhole to cancel it out, just like he did with the tornado in the first episode. The odds are thoroughly stacked against him, but he has to try, and the season ends has he runs straight into it.

This is an amazing finale. I can't help but be reminded of Smallville's first season finale, when a huge twister tore through the town and had you wondering what would happen next. Another parallel is Eddie Thawne who, like Lana Lang's first season boyfriend, Whitney, was written out after the first season (later revealed killed in Afghanistan). Unlike Whitney, however, Eddie came across as a good guy the whole time, and not just a jerk jock with a few good moments. His death came as a complete shock and a true testament to his character, someone who would do what he had to to protect the people he cared about, even at the cost of his own life. I get the feeling next season is going to be huge, especially when it's sharing a universe with not one, but two connected series. This has probably been one of the best superhero shows I've ever seen, and I can't wait for what the future has in store for not only The Flash, but for (Green) Arrow, and Legends Of Tomorrow.

Arrow- My Name Is Oliver Queen

Previously, impressed that Oliver survived their first battle to the death, Ra's Al Ghul extends the offer to be his successor. At first it seemed optional, but then the League of Assassins start killing people in Starling City, framing the Arrow in the process. His identity is revealed to Quentin Lance, who was already angry over learning Sara was dead. Roy Harper takes the fall, revealing himself as the Arrow and goes to prison in Oliver's place. ARGUS helps fake his death in prison and Roy is sent away.
The flashbacks reveal a horrible virus was unleashed in Hong Kong which resulted in the death of Akio Yamashiro, the son of Oliver's handler Maseo. He eventually joined the League of Assassins, was given the name Sarab, and handed this virus over to Ra's Al Ghul.
As added incentive to get Oliver to accept his offer, Ra's personally invades Thea's apartment and stabs her in the chest. Oliver agrees so Thea can be revived with the Lazarus Pit. Unbeknownst to the rest of Team Arrow, Oliver enters in an agreement with Malcolm Merlyn to bring down the League from the inside. To everyone else, it seems Oliver, now called Al Sahim, has truly turned evil. The team, plus the Atom and Maseo's wife Tatsu (Katana), go to Nanda Parbat to stop the plot before it can begin. Sarab's death aside, the raid fails and the team gets captured. Al Sahim maintains his cover, and Ra's Al Ghul officiates the wedding of his reluctant daughter Nyssa and Oliver, while the virus is seemingly unleashed upon Team Arrow, plus Malcolm.

Malcolm managed to stealthily inoculate the others before they were taken prisoner, so nobody dies. To everyone's surprise, the Flash zooms through Nanda Parbat, knocking out every guard and letting the team out, likely the favor Oliver asked him for earlier. Felicity begs Barry for help, but he has to get back to Central City and interrogate Wells, but assures the team that Oliver needs them. While they suit back up, Tatsu returns to her life of solitude.

Meanwhile, Ra's, Oliver, and Nyssa were on their way to Starling City when their plane starts to fail. Oliver reveals his true intentions to Ra's, and a swordfight breaks out aboard the plane. Ra's escapes, the assassins are dealt with, and Oliver and Nyssa make an emergency landing.

Everybody regroups at Palmer Technologies, Diggle still reluctant to trust Oliver after everything, but they set their differences aside for the safety of the city. It's discovered that Ra's Al Ghul's old rival, Damien Dahrk, is also in Starling City, so that when the virus is unleashed, not only is Oliver's home wiped out, but Ra's disposes of his old rival. The team hatches a plan to exchange Dahrk for the virus while Laurel appeals to her father about the bioweapon threat and Ray works on dispersing a vaccine through the air on a large scale.

Thea also decides to get in on the action, wearing the Arsenal uniform Roy left with her during a brief reunion. It's then discovered that the virus has been injected into some of the League's pawns and spreads once their blood is exposed to the outside. The police and team work to keep it contained while Oliver confronts Ra's directly. A swordfight breaks out at the dam, Captain Lance and some other cops looking on ready to snipe whoever wins.

It's an important moment for Quentin. He started out as the Inspector Javert to Oliver's Valjean. Then he became the Commissioner Gordon to his Batman. After learning Sara died and the League framed him for murders, he fell off the wagon (in more ways than one) and became Javert again. Even so, he still had some moments of looking out for our heroes in the past few episodes. He made it clear to Laurel that he would always love her but might not ever forgive her for keeping Sara's death a secret (not to mention taking up the mantle of the Black Canary), but still went out of his way to protect her once gunfire broke out at the police station. When Roy Harper went to prison in Oliver's place, Lance tried to appeal to him to come clean with the truth, not wanting an innocent kid to get locked up for someone else's crimes, not to mention the many criminals the Arrow put away. And then when Roy was attacked and (seemingly) fatally stabbed in prison, he was perfectly sympathetic to Thea. Now, with Oliver's life on the line while he's trying to save the city, he doesn't want to see Queen get himself killed, so sends a message to Felicity.

Oliver wins the fight and stabs Ra's, who in turn passes a ring indicating the title of Ra's Al Ghul is now his, and then falls down dead. Sure enough, Oliver is shot in the chest by the police and then falls off the dam. Before he can hit the water, Felicity swoops in wearing Ray's Atom armor and saves him.

The show's flashback story also comes to a close. Oliver and Maseo torture and kill General Shrieve, the corrupt military man responsible for the Hong Kong outbreak and Akio's death. Akio's ashes are split into three urns; one for Maseo, one for Oliver, and one for Tatsu. They each go their separate ways; Maseo went to join the League of Assassins, Tatsu returned to Japan, but it's not clear where Oliver went, presumably back to Lian Yu, two years remaining until he is officially rescued.

Back in the present, our heroes decide to go their separate ways. With the Arrow identity no longer allowed to him, Oliver takes the opportunity to finally be with Felicity (she and Ray already broke up a couple episodes ago). He tells everybody how proud he is of the team, Thea ready to start crimefighting as Speedy, and Laurel having come into her own as the Black Canary. Their alliance at an end, Oliver hands Ra's Al Ghul's ring over to Malcolm, apparently part of their agreement all along, and so Merlyn returns to Nanda Parbat with Nyssa as the new head of the League of Assassins.

Back at Palmer Technologies, it looks like Ray is trying to get his suit to shrink, and instead results in an explosion. It's unlikely he gets killed (thanks to a third DC show in its way to the CW), but I'm curious to see how he survives, and how this ties into his earlier promoting Felicity to vice president.
Meanwhile, Felicity is driving off into the sunset with Oliver, and it's a seemingly happy ending for them.

All of this makes for a rather satisfactory season finale (and a good way to end the series just in case), but there's one thing I still don't understand: why did Malcolm drug Thea and make her kill Sara? While it's apparent he wanted to get the League of Assassins off his back without risking his own life, it's an incredibly convoluted method. Was taking over the League always part of his endgame, or was this just a bonus for him? Will the League be better or worse now that he's in charge? I hope he takes some time away from the series and lets the dust settle before coming back.

As for Oliver, with the Arrow's mantle retired, what does this mean for next season? It seems to indicate he'll take on the friendlier persona of Green Arrow from now on (something else indicated by Wells' Flash disapparance article that kept popping up), but how he does this without further compromising his no longer secret identity remains to be seen. Also, where will the flashbacks take us? Back to Lian Yu? On missions for ARGUS with the Suicide Squad? I look forward to finding out.

The Flash- Rogue Air

Previously, Harrison Wells' cover was blown. The core characters all know he's the Reverse-Flash, he's from the future, and killed Nora Allen. Just as Eddie was about to propose to Iris, Wells kidnaps him and reveals their shared lineage and that Iris ends up marrying Barry and not him. Iris has also learned that Barry is the Flash.

After last week's fight with Grodd, our heroes uncover that Wells had been hiding Eddie in the depths of the particle accelerator, and rescue him. He's still shaken up, but reveals to them what the audience (and Cisco) already know: Wells' real name is Eobard Thawne. They also discover that the particle acelerator is going to reactivate, which would kill all the imprisoned metahumans inside.

Barry gets a call to Diggle's wife and ARGUS arranges transport to Lian Yu, (the island Oliver was stranded on, now serving as a prison for particularly dangerous people). Joe attempts to get help from the city, but the legal issues were too extensive for his friend at the DA's office to get involved. As a last resort, the Flash seeks help from Leonard Snart/Captain Cold and his sister, who Cisco reluctantly names Golden Glider.

A few episodes ago, Cold learned Barry's secret identity, making it necessary for Barry to negotiate with him. Snart agreed to keep quiet and stop killing civilians and Barry let him get away. This time, Captain Cold agrees to help the Flash move the metahumans in exchange for complete erasure of his records from the police and federal registries, and Barry reluctantly goes through with it. I'm hoping that Barry kept backups on the flash drive he had with him, but I can't be sure. Once his records are destroyed, they make their way to Ferris Air, which has been abandoned since one of their test pilots disappeared (a foreshadowing reference to Green Lantern).

Once they arrive, however, the power inhibitor in the transport truck fails, thanks to Cold's tinkering. He shoots down the ARGUS plane and the metahumans escape (except for one, who Snart kills to keep the others in line). It's a win-win for Captain Cold; he's got a blank slate in criminal databases, he pulled one over on the Flash, and the rest of the rogue's gallery owes him a favor.

Then, as the particle accelerator activates, Wells resurfaces for a showdown with Barry, but he's not alone this time. The Flash is flanked by Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond), and Oliver Queen/Al Sahim (check the next Arrow review for an explanation). The three manage to take him down with some effort, Oliver ready with some nanite arrows that reduce Wells' superspeed. It's an amazing fight. When it's over, Oliver asks Barry for a favor.

While all this is going on, Eddie decides to pull the plug on his relationship with Iris. Eobard's revelations that their relationship goes nowhere is enough of a reason for him to give up on it, although Iris doesn't really want to yet still resigns to it.

There's a lot of great aspects of this episode; the easter egg references, the cameos from the two other heroes, and a seemingly final showdown with Wells. It's not over yet, tho. There's one episode left in the season, and it looks like we're going back to that night when the Reverse-Flash killed Barry's mom. I don't think Barry will be able to save her, but what if he does? What will that mean for the future? I look forward to finding out.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron

There is no denying that this movie is awesome. It's certainly on par with the first film, but I can't be sure if it's better or not.

Acting on intel unknowingly provided by Team Coulson (a little bonus for anyone who's been watching Agents Of SHIELD), the Avengers raid a HYDRA outpost and retrieve Loki's staff. This not only puts them up against twin adversaries Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, but Tony Stark finds the makings of an artificial intelligence that he and Bruce Banner could work into a peacekeeping program they'd been brainstorming for a while. Unfortunately for them and the rest of the team, the moment Ultron comes online, he sets events in motion that would either bring about humanity's evolution, or their extinction, and it doesn't matter which.

The team takes some pretty big hits along the way, thanks in no small part to Scarlet Witch's ability to mess with people's minds, which among other things sends the Hulk into a rampage. Luckily, Iron Man was ready with a Hulkbuster exo-suit. This fight was amazing. Tony also has to deal with the fallout from all of this as the one responsible for Ultron's creation.

Eventually Pietro and Wanda realize the error of their ways and join the Avengers to fight Ultron. Also joining them is the Vision, a techno-organic robot of Ultron's own creation. It turns out Loki's staff housed another Infinity Stone, which has now been infused into Vision along with the Jarvis program. To exemplify this, he's played by the same man who has been voicing Jarvis since the first Iron Man. (Plus he can lift Thor's hammer Mjolnir, which in and of itself is awesome.)

A definite plus is that we get some more character development to the two normal humans on the team, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Oddly enough, the film puts the kibosh on the idea that these two might have a thing going on (maybe they did in the past, but they certainly don't now). Natasha seems to have a thing going with Bruce Banner, and we learn that the Soviet program that trained her sterlized her when her training was complete. She can't have a family, in comparison to Banner who can't get close to people out of fear of Hulking out and hurting them. Speaking of which, Pepper Potts and Jane Foster are both given reasons for not being in this one, but Betty Ross hasn't been seen since The Incredible Hulk, and it wasn't until after seeing this movie that I started wondering why.
Clint is actually married with two (later three) children. He set up an arrangement with Nick Fury to keep them living off the grid, well away from any dangers of SHIELD, HYDRA, etc. The scenes with them are are really quite sweet and down to earth. All of that pathos gave me the impression that Hawkeye was going to get killed before the end of the movie. However, when the time came, Quicksilver took the bullets instead.

Ultron is a really interesting villain. He's far more human than I expected him to be, since he's a robot. He has a lot of Tony's snark and casual attitude, but he's still cold and efficient. From Iron Man to Ultron to Vision, it's like each one is a reflection of their sire. Iron Man wants to bring peace and keep humanity safe. Ultron sees that humanity can't be peaceful and so so the only way to achieve peace is to destroy it. Vision sees the destruction of humanity as inevitable, but that's all the reason he needs to defend it.

The final battle is nothing short of spectacular. Ultron raises a city into the air with the intent to send it crashing down back to the earth like a meteor. The Avengers are outnumbered by Ultron's robot legion, and need to not only fight them off, but evacuate the city's population before it either crashes down or gets destroyed before impact. Luckily, SHIELD is back with a brand new helicarrier (Theta Protocol - another Agents Of SHIELD bonus), and even War Machine gets in on the action.

I'm glad that supporting characters from the other characters' solo movies got a bit to do here. Heimdal appears in Thor's nightmare, Peggy Carter appears in Captain America's, and as stated before, Rhodey returns and is wearing his War Machine armor again. For whatever reason, Falcon doesn't take part in the final battle, even though he appears at the Avengers Tower party and again in the last scene. Why he didn't get to fight Ultron is anyone's guess. I was a bit upset that Quicksilver got killed, but at the same time relieved Hawkeye survived and made it home to his family. Also, I have a real bone to pick with Joss Whedon choosing to pull a Soprano with the last scene. Why cut to the credits in the middle of a battle cry? Just to leave us wanting more? Well, it worked, but that doesn't mean it didn't make people mad.

Any nitpicks I had with the movie were minor. It's still an excellent entry in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, setting up for bigger things to come and an ever expanding roster of superheroes.

Lupin The 3rd: Jigen's Gravestone

This brief film is not only the first appearance of Lupin's new blue jacket (soon to be the staple of a new series), but it's also the first release licensed by Discotek Media to have an original English dub. The art style closely resembles the previous TV outing (The Woman Called Fujiko Mine), so it's beautifully colored and heavily inked, but not quite as many sketch lines all over the place. Some of the bizarre surreal elements from that series are present as well, which while confusing, doesn't detract from enjoyment for long.

The plot is pretty straightforward. Master thief Arsene Lupin III and his right-hand gunman Daisuke Jigen "have their sights set on a treasure worth stealing called the Little Comet which is located in the country of East Doroa, but Yael Okuzaki, a skilled assassin is after Jigen". Meanwhile, femme fatale Fujiko Mine is attempting a heist of her own and ends up in a big mess of trouble with some creepy secret society. The two plots come together after Lupin bails her out and discovers why this society hired the assassin in the first place.

The story is presented in two parts, each about the average length of a TV episode with an opening and closing title sequence. The closing theme is great and would fit right into a James Bond movie (complete with a gunbarrel graphic).

The dub is fortunately good, although if you're familiar with other voices for the characters, it does take a moment to sink in. I warmed up to Kevin Silverstein's Lupin pretty quickly, mostly due to his laid back approach and that he reminded me of Mark Hamill. Jigen's voice is serviceable. It's not bad, but I think Richard Epcar or Christopher Sabat had a certain gruffness that the new actor hasn't quite figured out yet, but does show some promise. If Discotek decides to put our more dubs (and I honestly hope they do), this guy might be able to grow his beard and become just as memorable as the other two. Speaking of Epcar, he reprises his role as Inspector Zenigata from the Fujiko series in a brief cameo. While he put in a great performance there thanks to these projects' portrayal of Zenigata as competent and dead serious, I still wonder how he'd fare in a lighter Lupin feature, which portrays the inspector in a more comical (but usually still competent) manner. Christina Vee's Fujiko voice is thankfully perfect. I couldn't tell if it was Michelle Ruff returning to the role or a dead-on impersonation. Either way, she fits the character to a T.

This one is certainly worth it if you're a Lupin fan, and I'll definitely be getting it when the DVD comes out. Until then, we can watch the film on Hulu. Viewer discretion advised.

Daredevil

On the darker, edgier side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a boy named Matt Murdock saved an old man from a truck and ended up with radioactive waste dumped into his eyes. He was blinded for the rest of his life, but found that the rest of his senses enhanced. Years later, all grown up, he's a defense attorney by day and a crimefighter by night. His law partner Foggy Nelson and their secretary Karen Page are working tirelessly to bring down crime boss Wilson Fisk, who has some big plans for Hell's Kitchen.
His backstory is told in similar fashion to Arrow, but the flashbacks aren't present in every episode. His father was a boxer who could take punches and dish them out, but he'd throw the fights when he was paid to in order to provide for his son. All that changed when he got a fight with the champ, Crusher Creel (who I think is the Absorbing Man we saw on Agents Of SHIELD). He was supposed to go down in the fifth round, but changes his mind for Matt, both for himself and for his son. Knowing full well this is going to get him killed, he places a huge bet on himself and makes sure the winnings go into an account for Matt. Sure enough, he wins and is murdered shortly after.

After that, he's taken under wing by a blind man called Stick, who teaches him how to used his enhanced senses and how to fight. But when Matt starts to feel a paternal bond with him, Stick abruptly leaves him.

 Releasing the series on Netflix makes the show a lot easier to watch than it might have been on network TV. You don't have to wait weeks on end to find out what happens next. Also, despite being a superhero action show with some real kick-ass fight scenes, there's a lot of quiet drama as well. It takes a lot of time to develop its characters, even the Kingpin (Fisk). Murdock doesn't even put on the red suit until the season finale. He spends most of the series wearing a tight black outfit with a matching mask/blindfold. When you finally do see the suit, it looks great.

There's a few continuity nods to the rest of the MCU. The first episode makes a mention to how New York's been rebuilding after the events of Avengers (or possibly SHIELD's fall in The Winter Soldier), and reporter Ben Urich has a framed article about the Battle for New York. I wish there was a clear timeframe as to when the episodes take place. Agents Of SHIELD ties in with whatever movies are being released around the same time as their episode airdates, but there's no clear way to determine that with Daredevil.

There's  a lot of stuff I was not expecting from this series. For starters, there's the Kingpin. He's a fully fleshed-out bad guy. Despite being a horrible person, he's still capable of compassion. His first ever victim was his abusive father when he was just a boy protecting his mother. He begins seeing a woman named Vanessa, and against all odds, is completely honest with her.about who he is. No part of their relationship is forced or abusive, and he is willing to do everything he can to keep her safe, even if it meant he couldn't be with her. He also places a great value on his friendship with his right-hand henchman, Wesley. The actor also brings a towering presence to the role befitting such a large muscular man.

Matt Murdock has his own unique charisma as well, both as himself and as Daredevil. He manages to get serious in his alter ego without using a gravelly Batman voice, and it's hard to be certain if he can really see or not.

Foggy Nelson seems like he'd be the comic relief of the show, but despite some snark, he's a pretty ordinary guy. He's got a backbone I didn't expect him to have and when things get tough he stands his ground, even if he's not a hero.

Karen Page was a character I hadn't heard of. She was Matt and Foggy's first client when one of Kingpin's corporations framed her for a murder, and the whole series is set in motion. She also surprised me in how tough she is despite needing a rescue every now and then. I guess it comes with growing up in New York.

Then we have Ben Urich, an investigative reporter seemingly past his prime. He did a lot of hard-hitting stories in the past, which unfortunately don't sell papers the way they used to. He wants to bring Fisk's deeds out into the open. The actor does a great job, and it's great how he never seems to lose his cool, even with the Kingpin sitting a few feet away.

Anyone who has Netflix and loves the Marvel movies should check this one out. However, the violence in this series is more akin to Blade than Avengers (no vampires, but there are several nasty kills), so viewer discretion is advised.

The Flash- All Star Team Up

Felicity Smoak pays another visit to Central City, this time bringing her boyfriend the Atom with her. Ray Palmer needs to upgrade his suit's power source and thinks Harrison Wells can help. At the same time, people are being poisoned by excessive bee stings. These bees are actually miniature robots controlled by a woman who Ray and Cisco dub the Bug-Eyed Bandit (played by The Walking Dead's Emily Kinney, rocking a honeycomb dress and a pair of glasses).

Barry's a bit on edge after the previous episode's epiphany about Wells being the Reverse-Flash, and confides in Felicity about this, whose dealing with her own issues about what's going on in Starling City. Further complicating thing's is now that Eddie knows Barry's the Flash, Iris can tell that he's keeping something from her, and this is putting them on the rocks. I'm sure she'd take it pretty well if Barry told her himself, but as established in the show's first episode, Joe doesn't want her to know the secret. Not sure where this will go. A common theme I've seen in both this show and Arrow is just how much damage a big secret can do between friends and family. It's understandable, since people don't like being lied to. Even so, Eddie's a cop. I'm sure there's other things he can't tell Iris about for good reason.

We learn here that the Flash suit comes equipped with a defibrilator (which shorts out after it's needed to save Barry's life when he gets stung too much early on), and Cisco has a phobia of bees (which he overcomes to keep one of the bots from stinging Felicity or Ray).

The climax is pretty cool. The Atom saves Trina McGee from the bee bots and gets them to follow him into the water while the Flash takes on the Bug-Eyed Bandit directly. Felicity hacks into her network to take control of the remaining bots and bring her down. It's a great use both of our main hero and guest stars. The bees also inspire Ray to begin working smaller, which means he could be developing his signature shrinking technology after this.

Towards the end of the episode, Barry and Joe decide to bring Cisco and Caitlin in on their suspicions about Wells after Trina tells him how much Harrison has changed since his fiancee died. Cisco's been having nightmares about Wells revealing he's the Reverse-Flash and then killing him (the same thing that happened before Barry accidentally ran back in time and changed things), so he's on their side almost immediately. Now that the main cast (sans Iris) are all in on the truth, it remains to be seen how long Eobard Thawne can keep up his charade.

Friendship Is Magic- The Cutie Map

The season begins in Twilight's Crystal Tree Palace playset as the mane cast ponder what's next for them. As they're trying to figure out just how to spread the magic of friendship through Equestria, a full-scale table map emerges from the floor. Their cutie marks start flashing, and the map seems to indicate a destination for them.

They arrive at a quaint little village full of friendly townspeople, but there's something very off about it: every pony has the same equals-sign cutie mark. Fluttershy seems to find it nice, but Pinkie Pie knows there's something very wrong with their smiles. The mare in charge is a unicorn named Starlight Glimmer, who sings praises for sameness and equality, and that without your cutie mark and the talent it represents, you can be that much happier. The atmosphere is incredibly creepy and Orwellian, and it's great to see this kind of subject matter taken up on what some would decry as a children's show (or specifically, a girl's show).

The mane six are not convinced, but still take some time to look around the village and have a bite to eat. The baker unicorn, Sugar Belle, invites them discreetly into her shop, so that she and some other ponies (a unicorn named Party Favor and a pegasus named Night Glider) can admire their cutie marks and reminisce about their own. It's here we learn that the cutie marks are kept safely in a cave, and the townspeople can visit it whenever they want. Starlight is more than happy to show it to the mane six, but shortly after their arrival, it's clearly revealed to be a trap. Now that she has them surrounded, she picks up a staff which she claims to be a lost relic of a powerful unicorn named Meadowbrook. Twilight Sparkle attempts to fight back, but is the first to get her cutie mark taken off and replaced with the equals sign. The others are quickly dealt with as well, and the first part ends as overhead shot fades into the forboding equals sign...and the credits role with the happy theme tune.

When the second part picks up, the mane six are trapped in a cabin, equalistic propaganda playing through a loudspeaker, rather similar to Big Brother's "ignorance is strength" dogma in 1984. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both make attempts to break out, but fail to do so without their athleticism. Fluttershy can't communicate with birds to signal for help, and Pinkie Pie begins to sound more and more monotone, while Rarity's own fashion sense begins to fade. Twilight theorizes something's off about that staff as Meadowbrook was supposed to only have eight relics, whereas Starlight's staff is seemingly the ninth. As time goes on, they come up with a plan. Since Fluttershy seemed the most comfortable in the village, she would feign conversion and break them all out later.

As a test of loyalty, Starlight asks who the ponies were who met with the mane six earlier. Before she can answer, Party Favor steps forward, taking the fall so the others wouldn't. Fluttershy is let out while he gets thrown in with the rest of the mane six. Later that night, Fluttershy tries to sneak out to the cave, but notices Starlight take their cutie marks back to her cabin. Once her henchpony Double Diamond has left, she accidentaly spills some water on herself, and when wiping it away revealing that she's still had her cutie mark the whole time.

The next morning, Party Favor is let out while Fluttershy speaks to the others. It seems Twilight is ready to join the community too, but it's a ploy so that Starlight can be doused with water, revealing her deception to the whole town. It turns out the staff really was just a stick and Starlight kept her cutie mark because her magic was needed to take everyone else's away, so that they could all be equal, except for her. She's run back into her cabin while the villagers run to the cave.

As she escapes through an underground passageway, the glass in the cave is shattered and everypony's cutie mark is restored. The mane six, however, are still powerless as Starlight held onto theirs. Unable to keep up with her without their own talents, it rests on the villagers to get them back. Night Glider breaks down the cabin door allowing for the chase. Party Favor seemingly can make anything out of balloons, from binoculars to a bridge. During the chase, Double Diamond finds his old skis abandoned in the mountains, and then he and Night Glider catch up to Starlight. She finally drops the jars, which break and restore the mane six's cutie marks.

After a lecture from Twilight about why our own unique attributes and abilities are what make friendships special, Starlight Glimmer manages to escape into a dark cavern, likely to return. Even so, the villagers are all the happier that she's gone and their talents restored. The mane six look on in satisfaction, as their cutie marks flash again, indicating the map has another job for them to do, and we end with a group hug.

A very strong start to the season. Even though the show has had a pretty good track record with episodes dealing with complex issues (learning disabilities, physical handicaps, etc.), the social commentary in this episode is really appreciated. It shows why talents should be both praised and encouraged, and why keeping everybody on the same level isn't always a good thing, no matter how appealing others might make it sound.

Even so, the episode does have its flaws. Twilight was equalized by Starlight a little too easily, but I mostly chalk that up to being taken by surprise. Even so, she could have simply put up a forcefield instead of teleporting away from the blast before trying to counter. Spike could have been very useful in this episode, but was left behind in the castle after some funny bits at the beginning of the episode. He's a dragon and doesn't have a cutie mark, so would not have been susceptible to Starlight's magic. Additionally, he can breathe fire and would have been able to help the mane six escape from the cabin, and if all else fails could have sent a message to Princess Celestia and brought in backup. However, that might have been excessive. Unlike previous antagoniss like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, or Tirek, Starlight Glimmer is just an ordinary unicorn. It's a bit of a mixed bag seeing the mane characters having to take the backseat during the final confrontation. It's somewhat disappointing to see the characters de-powered, but at the same time, letting others have a moment in the limelight is cool.

The Cutie Map indicates that we'll be seeing more of Equestria outside of Ponyville, Canterlot, and Manehattan, and that's probably for the best. Even though the series is strongest with its slice of life stories, additional world building is always welcome. W If we can expect more like this one all season, then I am proud to still be a brony.

Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero

This series is really enjoyable. The idea is that Penn and his two friends, Boone and Sashi, are sent to other dimensions to complete a mission, defeat the bad guy, and save the world. The characters undergo different transformations depending on whoever they're taking the place of. Sometimes it's as simple as a costume change, other times it's something a bit more different (superheroes, stuffed animals, kaiju monsters, cereal mascots or even sports equipment.)

Standing in their way is Rippen, the art teacher at Penn's school whose reasoning isn't entirely clear, but it seems out of a desire to be a full-time villain. He wants to take over the world, and it doesn't matter which world it is. Assisting him is Larry, the school principal. Despite his loyalty and "friendship" toward Rippen, he's really not very evil himself. He's happy and talks a lot, and sometimes is the cause of Rippen's failure.



Supposedly there will be an origin story later in the season. I don't really mind that we didn't get t hat first, since the premise makes the show easily accessible, no matter what episode you begin with. Even so, we can see that heroism is something of a family business. Penn's own parents do it too, but are trapped in the Most Horrible Dimension Ever. Penn sometimes communicates with them through a holo-screen, and it's clear he misses them. However, they're always in good spirits no matter what sort of trouble they're in during the conversation.

 Phyllis, who might be a relative of Penn's (it's a bit unclear) is responsible for keeping the inter-dimensional portal working and sending the trio on their missions. Their base of operations is a movie theatre, which I guess allows her to monitor the missions so they can be retrieved when they're done.

Penn's likeability is his real strength as a protagonist. He gets really excited when he arrives in most dimensions, and has some great geek-outs when he gets to be a superhero or starship admiral. And despite only being a part-time hero, he's definitely a full-time hero at heart and always looks out for his friends.

Sashi is the girl on the team. Her character design is adorable, and her normal appearance has a bit of a harajuku/cosplay motif going for it. She's the most serious/competent of the trio, which is often ironic as she sometimes gets the short end of the transformation stick. (A monstrous creature in the James Cameron Avatar parody, a skunk-themed superhero, and a monkey in the Arabian Nights world.) Her seriousness became a detriment when they're sent to clown world, which was guided by the laws of cartoon physics, and she had to learn to channel that humor to save the others.

Rounding them out is Boone, who while at first glance is the laid-back comic relief, does have some good moments in the spotlight. In a world full of merpeople, he had to overcome his fear of water, and when the fate of the world rested on the result of an alien game show, he overcame stage fright with a bit of interpretive dance. He's simple, but smarter than he looks.

The flash animation is fluid and colorful, and the different dimensions visited in each episode are all unique. One of my favorites so far is the superhero world, where every man, woman, child, and animal has some sort of superpower. Adam West even came along for the ride as Captain Super Captain. There was also a G-rated zombie apocalypse caused by tainted hamburgers (the title card a direct homage to Romero's Dawn Of The Dead), and a Star Trek-type mission where the transporter accidentally fused Penn with an adorable alien animal. We also got an episode focusing on Rippen as he attempts to replace Larry as his right-hand man and win for once, which despite ending in their usual failure does give them some nice character moments. On top of all this there's also stuffed animals trying to save themselves from babies, cowboys riding dinosaurs, cereal mascots fighting the milkman, and anything else a wide-eyed imagination could think of.

All of this has made Penn Zero a new favorite of mine, right up there with Disney XD's other great shows like Gravity Falls and Star vs. The Forces Of Evil.

Teen Titans Go!- Let's Get Serious

Teen Titans Go! is a comedic revival/parody of the Teen Titans animated series from nearly a decade ago. While it does have a few good jokes, a lot of the humor falls short since it often comes at the expense/flanderization of characters we already got to know and love. To its credit, the simplified art style is eye-catching, and all of the returning voice actors do a great job and likely have fun recording. The more serious Young Justice lasted two seasons and spent a good amount of time building not only on the core team, but on the DC Universe they existed in. While the original Teen Titans wonderfully juggled drama and comedy, putting the Young Justice characters into Teen Titans Go! couldn't be more jarring.

The Young Justice roster seen here is limited to Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian. Out of all of them, only Aqualad seems to do any talking, probably since he shares a voice actor with Cyborg. Their simplified designs honestly look great, and I wish we could have seen more of them. The best part of this is when he calls the Titans out on their childish antics. This convinces Robin that the Titans need to become more serious, and their character designs change accordingly. Again, I have to give props to the animators once the Titans hit the uncanny valley. While their appearance and movements were often unsettling, the motion is incredibly fluid. Their seriousness lets them take down the HIVE successfully, and when Aqualad congratulates them on a job well done, he also warns them against becoming too serious.

Sure enough, back at the Tower, Beast Boy and Cyborg get into a petty argument which exacerbates into a full blown fight between all of them. Titans Tower is destroyed and the team goes their separate ways. The final shot in the episode, however, indicates they go right back to being silly, since the series has little to no continuity.

It's odd to have low expectations for something, and still be disappointed. Not just in this episode, but in most of the series. They've got a great team of animators and voices, but the writing is never consistent. It's barely even a crossover, since the Young Justice heroes only appear in two scenes. And while it was good seeing certain characters again and hearing this show take notice of its flaws, nothing comes of it and we just keep getting more of the same dumb and sparingly funny jokes.