iZombie Review: "He Blinded Me With Science"

iZombie was back this week, after being on hiatus for almost a month, and it certainly did its part to prove the old saying, "Good things come to those who wait," correct. This week's episode felt like the writes were starting to set the show's many storylines up for the season finale, but it did so in a way that was much more exciting and fun than a traditional "transition" episode.

This episode is mostly a showcase for Blaine, Liv, and a lot of the goings on over at Max Rager. That's not to say that Major, Ravi, and Clive aren't around (in fact each of them has an important plot development moment in the episode), but they aren't doing the heavy lifting here. Blaine was in pretty poor shape when last we saw him (having his throat slit by Boss), and interestingly enough it seems to have made him a smarter zombie. He has moved his drug business into hibernation, and it's a good movie for the show, because his drug war is often the least interesting part of the show.

Blaine taking Ravi's unproven "emergency" cure, was an interesting step for the show. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm always curious to see where the show goes with the cure aspect. The writers like Blaine too much to have this potential cure kill him, but the lack of an effective cure would have the same result. I have a feeling this cure will potentially keep Blaine alive, but have some sort of undesirable side-effect. That means Major probably has a difficult choice to make in the future.

On the Liv front, the scientific mind she inherited from this week's victim, allowed her only to play a crucial part in helping Ravi create this latest potential cure, but it also allowed her to finally see just how suspicious Drake's actions have been. She won't get any closure or answers there though, since Major checked Drake off of his zombie list at the end of the episode. This week's case was barely a factor in the episode, and aside from some interesting math chart visuals, the brain wasn't all that different than typical Liv brain, seeing as she is a scientist of sorts herself. It did, however, provide Liv with a lot of insights into what is going on at Max Rager, and now she has a pretty good idea that they are hiding a zombie in their secret basement.

The climax of the episode however, is the scene where Von, Gilda, and the researcher are attacked by the zombie they are holding captive. Honestly, that scene alone is one of the series' best. In past episodes, Von and Gilda's relationship has been hinted at more than it has been explored, and in this one scene the show exposed a variety of complex ideas about the father/daughter duo. It was the best work that Steven Weber and Leanne Lapp have done on the show so far. There have been a lot of memorable moments from iZombie, but for me, Gilda beating on her father's door begging for help, stands above the rest.

Other thoughts:

• It's a testament to how intricately written the show is that Major just kidnapped Liv's boyfriend and took out a hit for Blaine without even realizing it. The writers do a great job of letting different characters have access to information at different times. 
• Gilda's many wounds mean there's no way she's not a zombie now. Maybe Live and Gilda will become reluctant allies. 
• Dale and Clive are getting ever close to discovering zombies, and that could really change the show. I'd like to see Dale stick around, but something tells me she won't be around after this season. 

Daredevil Season 2 Binge Review: Great Characters Overcome Unfocused Storytelling

When Daredevil's first season hit Netflix last year, it set a new standard for television superhero shows, particularly Marvel shows. The action scenes were unlike any other show on TV (though I've heard the Cinemax show Banshee also has standard setting action scenes), and not only put all other superhero shows to shame, they put many of the movies to shame as well. What drove the show more than anything was that it had such a strong sense of the story it wanted to tell. The fight between Daredevil and Wilson Fisk, each believing that they are saving Hell's Kitchen, was compelling and well told. There were few spots where the show lagged, and the characters were able to shine because the storytelling never got in their way.

Daredevil's second season suffers from a very unfocused story, and a lot of that is the fault of the platform it appears on. Netflix (and more recently Amazon and Hulu) has built a brand on the idea of binge watching shows, and therefore many of their shows become thirteen hour movies, as opposed to network or cable shows which generally are tasked with making each episode interesting enough to keep viewers coming back week after week. Shows like The CW's iZombie or The Flash, for example, manage to combine weekly cases/villains while still working toward a season long goal. Barry's current mission to stop the villain Zoom on The Flash, or Liv's attempts to investigate Max Rager's role in the zombie outbreak on iZombie give the entire season purpose, but they don't keep those shows from producing excellent individual episodes.

Watching the second season of Daredevil, there were very few "the episode where [fill in the blank] happens" type episodes and what few their were appeared in the first four or five episodes of the season. The episode where Daredevil and the Punisher pontificate about whether or not it is morally justifiable to kill criminals, and the episode where Matt and Karen go on a date are the two that stand out. During those episodes I found a lot to like in the show, just like I did during season one. The problem is, once Elektra is introduced as a character, the show's story becomes a mess. This isn't Elektra's fault; she can actually be a fairly interesting character in her own right, and Elodie Yung does a pretty good job of portraying her.

The show never figures out how to organically fit Elektra or the plot about The Hand that she brings with her, into the existing story. It takes the show three episodes to explain why Elektra is even in Hell's Kitchen, and then the show proceeds to focus the remaining episodes on the joyless task of destroying Matt Murdock's personal life, and presenting unsuccessful "shocking" twists about who Elektra really is. It's hard to watch the latter part of the season and not feel like condensing the number of episodes would have helped bring the show a little more focus, because it's pretty clear that Netflix's "thirteen episode season" rule forced the writers to stretch out a story that they didn't quite know what to do with in the first place.

All of that being said, the show still has a lot going for it. Most of that is that these characters are interesting enough to carry the show no matter how messy the plot becomes. Karen and Foggy's side plot lines were both odd and mostly fruitless, but it gave the show an excuse to keep Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson around, who are arguably two of the show's biggest assets. I've read complaints that Daredevil himself isn't an interesting lead, but I find his moral idealism to be refreshing when so many dark superhero shows/movies are portraying their characters as caring very little for human life. His speech about every human life having a light was a particularly great moment, and his fight scenes are no less impressive than the first season. The Punisher was an interesting addition to the show, but it was smart not to make the entire season "The Punisher vs. Daredevil," because that would have been exhausting. Overall, the show has a lot to improve on, but it still has strong enough characters to justify watching it.

Other thoughts on the season:

•  Having Karen move on to journalism as a career makes sense, but breaking up Nelson & Murdock to do so seems like the wrong direction to go in. The further the characters move apart, the less natural it seems for them to interact in the future. 
• Did Marvel force the show to have Foggy move on to the law firm that Jessica Jones freelances for as a way to potentially connect the two shows for The Defenders? 
• The season ended with far too many plot lines up in the air given that the show probably won't get a third season until after The Defenders, which probably won't air until 2018. 
• Having Matt expose his identity to Karen at the end of the show made no sense. He should have done that much earlier on in the season. The timing of it also made no sense. It seems like the writers just wanted to end the show on a cliffhanger instead of actually giving the show a reason for him to tell her. 
• I could have done without Wilson Fisk showing up at all. He was a fantastic villain in the first season, but here he just seemed like a half measure. 
• So if Elektra is The Hand's chosen one, why were they totally fine trying to kill her on multiple occasions? 
• Basically nothing about The Hand was actually explained by the end of the season. Are they going to be a villain in another Netflix/Marvel show, or are they just putting all of that on hold until the probable third season of this show? 

Supergirl "Worlds Finest" Review: Supergirl Meets The Flash

Coming off of a weekend where DC's attempt to combine their two most iconic characters on film, went very wrong, Supergirl started the week by showing exactly how good a superhero crossover can be when everyone involved understands the appeal of the situation. I'll admit, the idea of Supergirl and The Flash meeting up in "Worlds Finest," seemed exciting on paper, but I didn't expect it to really add up to much as a final product. I was happily wrong, for a number of reasons.

One of the biggest reasons the episode worked is that Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist are such inherently likable actors. In a world of grim and brooding superhero movies/shows, The Flash and Supergirl are easily the two most optimistic depictions of superheros anywhere. Seeing as a lot of that optimism is owed in large part to each show's lead, watching the two occupy scenes together was effortlessly charming. Gustin pulled off Barry's excitement to show off in front of new friends, without coming across as smug, and Benoist was great at showing how giddy Kara was to have a super-powered peer with whom she could interact.

The writers were at the top of their game here, and that's what it takes for an episode like this to work. The episode established the presence of two villains, highlighted personal problems for Kara to solve both as a person and a superhero, introduced The Flash to Supergirl, gave both heroes a chance to show off their powers to each other, fit in two great fight scenes, and gave the characters plenty of time to just inhabit the same world in a fun way. Doing all of that in one episode requires a strong understanding of when to speed things up and when to slow them down. Funny enough, that sentiment is actually the main message behind the episode's plot.

Do I wish the episode were an hour longer? Sure, but given how unlikely this episode's existence was in the first place, I'm very happy with the end result. Here's hoping another crossover (maybe even one involving the Green Arrow) awaits us in the future.

Some other thoughts:

• The scene where Barry shows off his powers to Kara's friends by getting them all ice cream cones in the blink of an eye is probably the most iconic scene of the episode. If my Twitter feed is any indication, it was also the most popular scene among fans. 
• It was smart to introduce Kara to the Flash by having him save her life. From a story standpoint it allowed the episode to skip the whole "can I trust this person" plot that would have sucked up too much of the episode's time. Also it made for a nice "Who are you and why have I never heard of you?" moment for both characters. 
• The episode had a lot of fun showing how Barry was equally in awe of the fact that Kara was an alien, as she and her friends were of his explanation of the Multiverse. 
• Barry is used to being one among many scientists, but it was fun to see Winn nerd-out over having another scientific mind around to talk to. 
• Kat Grant's comment about Kara, Barry, Winn, and James looking like, "the attractive yet non-threatening racially-diverse cast of a CW show" was a particularly fun jab at Barry Allen's home network. The CW should have no problem laughing it off, seeing as they do genuinely put a greater focus on diversity than just about any other network except maybe ABC.
   

American Crime Review: Episodes 1-8 (Spoiler Free)

When I was in high school, one of my required reading assignments for English class was Tess of the d'Urbervilles. In the book, Tess repeatedly refuses the sexual advances of Alec, a known womanizer. At the end of the book's first section, Alec forces himself upon Tess while she is sleeping. The rest of the book chronicles Tess's social and emotional ruin as a result of this one unwanted act. One of our assignments for the book was to have an in-class discussion about whether or not Alec's actions constituted a rape. I didn't think we would have much to discuss. Tess repeatedly rejected Alec's advances, and when he did initiate sex with her, she was asleep and not in a state to give her concent. What happened instead was that majority of the class spent the entire discussion defending Alec's actions with abhorent justifications such as, "She didn't say no," and "It can't be rape if she didn't fight back." Worst of all were the claims that Tess was, "being a tease," when she had rejected Alec before.

In many of my fellow students' minds, she clearly wanted this. That's when I realized, this is how it happens. This is how rape victims are smeared or discredited in popular opinion. Our first question whenever somebody alleges rape is, "Are you sure you didn't want it?" We want to know how the victim brought this on himself or herself. When society, and even the legal system, is saying "You have to say 'no'," what all of us should be really be saying is, "Only if you say 'yes'."

Watching the first eight episodes of ABC anthology series, American Crime's second season, I couldn't help but be constatly reminded of that discussion that took place back in my high school English class. After lewd pictures of Taylor (Connor Jessup) from a party are posted online by fellow students, he is suspended from his private high school for breaking the code of conduct. Since Taylor is from a low income home and attending the school on financial aid, his mother (Lili Taylor) pushes him about his behavior, seeking the truth. Eventually Taylor relents to his mother that he was drugged, raped, and left at the party where fellow students stood around him taking the pictures that were posted online.

Without giving too much of the rest of the plot of these first eight episodes away, Taylor's mother, Anne, sets out to seek justice for her son, while Taylor tries to distance himself from the event (and his old school) so that he can find some form of peace. As the story progresses, secrets are uncovered, horrible acts are committed by both victims and aggressors, and the truth about what happened at the party becomes more clear. I'll be honest, this show is already in contention to rank high on my top ten list for 2016. The show deals with many of the complex issues surrounding the act of rape, and then examines the stigma that male rape victims face on top of the stigmas that already exist for rape victims. As the story progresses, those accused of doing wrong become incresingly ruthless in their attempts to dehumanize the accusers, and those who feel victimized find themselves resorting to incresingly dangerous actions in the pursuit of justice.

The show is propelled by strong writing (with the occasional scene chewing monologue being the exception), and even stronger performances by the whole cast, but particularly Jessup, Taylor, and Joey Pollari who plays one of the attendees of the party where Taylor alleges he was raped. In the background of the central story the show also explores themes of wealth versus poverty, race relations, sexual identity, gun violence, bullying, and the consequeinces of social media. I can't think of another show that is taking on all of these topics, and certainly not one with such strong characters and tone. In it's second season, American Crime is breaking ground for what a network drama can look like, and giving us what I predict will be some of the best performances of the year. In other words, watch this show, it's a great one.