iZombie Review: "Heaven Just Got a Little Bit Smoother"

After being on hiatus for nearly a year, iZombie is back for it’s third season, and as fun as ever. In fact, now that Liv’s entire circle of friends is in on zombie secret (Clive having finally been brought into the loop in the penultimate episode of season 2), the show has opened itself up to explore a plethora of new storylines. We got a taste of that in “Heaven Just Got a Little Bit Smoother”, as the group (are we officially calling them team Z?) started to figure out what their next steps are in light of what happened in last season’s finale.

The episode picks up right where season 2 left off, with Liv’s newfound discovery that Vivian Stoll, head of the cleverly titled military contractor company Fillmore Graves, and her crew are zombies, and that they know Liv is a zombie too. As we learned in this episode, Vivian is essentially Seattle’s own Magneto from the X-Men comics. She’s protective of zombie-kind, and therefore a potentially valuable ally to Liv and company. She’s also very set in her belief that one day humans will discover zombies, and she’s using her resources to prepare for the war she believes will follow. Major, facing the persecution of having all of Seattle think he is a serial killer (despite the fact that he was cleared of those crimes and many of his supposed victims have resurfaced), is completely on board with Vivian’s view of the future. By the end of the episode, unable to find a regular job, he even joins Fillmore Graves as a soldier/employee.

If Vivian is Magneto, then Liv is Professor X. Having experienced first hand the kindness that humans can show zombies, she’s not sold on the idea that humans will automatically want to kill zombies upon their discovery. She’s also not naive enough to think that humanity at large is currently ready to find out about the zombie outbreak. Liv has always used her powers to help humanity, but those same powers have exposed her to humanity’s darkest corners. Magnifying that conflict, feels like a natural direction for the show to go in this season.

Now that Clive is in the know, he can actually weigh in on all of this, which is an exciting development. Being Liv’s friend and crime solving partner, he’s somewhat of a zombie ally, but being a human and a detective, he’s naturally skeptical about what Fillmore Graves is up to. As he notes in the episode, he doesn’t want to go down in history as the human who was dumb enough to help a zombie army destroy human-kind. His resolve is softened somewhat, when he learns that a boy, Wally, who used to live in his apartment building, is also a zombie. Unfortunately this development also leads to what appears to be one of the show’s major story arcs moving forward.

Somebody knows zombies exist (and probably that Fillmore Graves exists too), and is killing zombies to send a message. The first victims were Wally and his family, but I suspect the killings won’t stop there. If there is a zombie serial killer out there, then it is in everyone’s best interest to stop the person or zombie committing these crimes. It’s also an effective way to bring everyone together with one goal, despite all of the characters’ opposing agendas. It’s hard to tell if this new direction for the show will produce better or worse iZombie, but either way, “Heaven Just Got a Little Bit Smoother” was an interesting start to the long awaited season.

Other Thoughts:

• Ravi, Peyton, and Blaine don’t have a whole lot going on in this episode, beyond a love triangle nobody really wanted or needed.
• Similarly, everything about Blaine and his business felt like a distraction from all of the much more interesting stuff going on in the episode. What is Don E. doing with Blaine’s dad? Honestly I don’t care all that much.
• Thank goodness the show finally added Aly Michalka as a regular cast member. Peyton is funny, smart, and a more loyal friend to Liv than just about anyone else. This was a no-brainer (pun intended!).
• Major didn’t play a huge role in this episode, but he was around enough to raise some interesting questions about his role this season. As Ravi pointed out, Major is living (or nonliving?) on borrowed time as a zombie, and Ravi seems to have given up on a side effect free cure, in favor of a cure for memory loss. It took little convincing for Major to join Fillmore Graves, but he must be well aware that if he wants to stay alive he has to cure his zombie-ism sooner than later. Also, Major brought up the missing zombie call girl way too much in this episode for it not to come up again at some point this season.

Riverdale Premiere Review: "Chapter One: The River's Edge"

The CW

Riverdale is a strange thing. Based on the Archie comics, the show follows the lives of classic characters like Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Archie himself. If you're a fan of the original material (personally my knowledge of this universe was very limited going in), then in some ways you are still dealing with the same dynamic here: a group of teens hang out and try to figure out the next steps in their lives, while the classic love triangle between Archie, "good girl" Betty, and "wild child" Veronica rages on. That's about where the similarities end though, and that appears to be a good thing so far. Under the old fashioned facade, there are secrets that seep into the heart of this small town.

After seeing the first episode, there are two things I can say Riverdale does extremely well. Riverdale is one of the most uniquely stylized shows on TV right now. The idea of mixing the wholesome small town aesthetic of the classic Archie comics, with the gloomy shadow of a noir-ish murder mystery is risky, but the show not only makes it work, it turns its atmosphere into its greatest asset. Some shows would sink in the gloom of an aesthetic like this, but Riverdale, like the town it is named after, is kept alight by a garish neon glow. These are small town kids, and while they may be stuck in the middle of a brooding teen soap, they have genuine hopes and aspirations.

The other compliment I can pay the show is that after one episode, I want to know more about these characters. That's a great feat for the pilot of any show. If you can't make me want to learn more about at least one of your characters by the end of the pilot, then why should I watch any more of your show? Granted, not every character is quick to draw the audience in. Archie (K. J. Apa) is arguably the most bland character we meet in this first episode, and aside from some mediocre narration, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is basically a non-factor in this episode. Supporting characters like Josie (Ashleigh Murray), of Josie and the Pussycats fame, bring a lot of attitude and some impressive musical performances to the show. Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), is Betty's openly gay best friend whose running meta commentary and frequent pop culture references are one of the show's most entertaining aspects. As of now these, and most of the other supporting characters, are all pretty flat, but most of them have enough personality to allow the show time to round them out.

The real draw here is the friendship between Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Veronica (Camila Mendes). On the surface both characters seem to fit their stereotypical roles. Betty is the sweet and shy girl next door (she literally lives right across the street from Archie) who always follows the rules and doesn't cause waves. As the episode goes on we learn that this is not necessarily her natural personality, as much as the result of an overbearing mother who controls her every action. Betty has a pent up rage that she successfully hides, but which is bound to come out in one form or another this season. Veronica also walks into town appearing every bit the privileged wild child that her reputation suggests. She has no problem going toe-to-toe with Riverdale's resident queen bee Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) mere days after arriving in town. Like Betty, Veronica is more than she seems at first. Family tragedy has exposed her insecurities, and given her a wake-up call about how she was living her life back in New York. Veronica is trying to use her outgoing personality for good, and is fiercely loyal to her new group of friends.

What makes this friendship such a fascinating part of the show is that each girl is in some way trying to be more like the other. Betty wants desperately to be able to speak her mind like Veronica does, and Veronica is determined to become the kind of person that disproves the negative reputation her family has gained. Watching how each character evolves just over the course of the episode, was easily the best part of this pilot. Betty and Veronica are easily the most fully realized characters on the show, and all signs point to that growth continuing to develop as their friendship does.

Riverdale isn't without it's problems in this first episode. Being a teen drama, the show is always on the edge between being the joke or being in on the joke. The best example of this is Cheryl Blossom, who is a fairly effective villain in this first hour, but who starts to wear out her welcome by the end of the pilot. There is also a lot of work to do developing the adult characters on the show. Obviously in this first hour putting primary focus on the kids makes sense, but the show makes a strong enough point of introducing many of these kids parents, that the show will need to do a much better job of proving their relevance than it did in this episode. Then there's the biggest problem of them all: Archie's affair with his music teacher Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel). Statutory rape is a very tricky road to go down. Maybe the show will eventually do right by a storyline about such an important subject, but all of the sexualizing of it in this episode didn't give me a lot of confidence. Hopefully it doesn't detract from all of the show's great elements in the long run, but as of now it is a problem the show needs to address sooner than later.

This show has a lot of promise, but it's also walking right on the edge of being a smart genre subversion and a cliche that falls into the traps of the genre itself. We've yet to really get into the murder mystery aspect of the show, as it isn't revealed until the very end of the episode that Cheryl's brother's disappearance was actually a murder and not just an accident like the town had assumed. As of now this show definitely has my attention. It's not for everyone, but I'd say this first episode is worth checking out, because it just might surprise you.

"Arrow" and "The Flash" Midseason Review

Of all of the insanely powerful and deadly enemies that the Green Arrow and The Flash have had to go up against on their respective shows, the greatest enemy to both heroes have faced so far on the runs of their shows has been maturity. Barry Allen (The Flash) has a dangerous habit of fixing personal problems by time traveling, thus exposing the entire universe to new dangers, and changing the lives of people around him in irreparable ways. Oliver Queen (the Green Arrow) has trust issues so deep that his secrets and lies have led to the ruin of relationships, friendships, and the death of friends, family members, and innocent bystanders. In both cases, whenever these heroes indulge in their worst qualities, the shows they are on suffer thematically and narratively. If The Flash's "Present" and Arrow's "What We Leave Behind" are indicators of where those respective shows are going, the future may be much brighter for both shows.

This season of The Flash, has revolved around "Flashpoint" and the consequences and threats that have arisen from Barry's choice to once again go back in time and try to save his mother from being murdered by The Reverse Flash. Last week's DC crossover event "Invasion" did a decent job of trying to move the show past that creative mistake, and "Present" was the show's first chance to move in a different direction. For the most part it was a success. Barry finally learned a little bit about who Savitar is and why he's on Barry's earth. He's supposedly the first ever speedster who received his powers from the Philosopher's Stone, and is essentially to The Flash what Apocalypse is to the X-Men universe. Savitar was alerted to Barry's growing power by "Flashpoint" and  seeing him as a threat, has decided to wage war against Barry.

When presented with multiple opportunities to fall back into old habits, Barry ultimately resisted the urge. His first smart move was going to Jay Garrick for help figuring out how to handle Savitar. Barry has a tendency to try to go it alone when he runs into a problem, and the fact that he reached out to Jay is a sign that we might be dealing with a more mature Barry Allen now. Even more telling is that when Barry accidentally travels to the future and witnesses Iris's death, he listens to Jay's advice that the future he saw is just one possibility, and to live in the present, because trying to fix the future will only cause more trouble like "Flashpoint" did. Instead of traveling into the future again, Barry decides to take his relationship with Iris in a big direction by buying them an apartment to live in together. This is the most hopeful sign of growth we've seen from Barry (and frankly the show's writers) all season.

Similar to The Flash, Arrow's "What We Leave Behind" helped point the show in an interesting direction, and show the growth of it's main hero. Through flashbacks, and some present detective work by Oliver, Felicity, and Felicity's detective boyfriend Billy, we learn that Prometheus' vendetta against Oliver and company is somehow connected to Justine Claybourne, a name Oliver "checked off" his list back in his early vigilante days. Though the episode strongly points to an illegitimate son of Claybourne's as the identity of Prometheus, the show is still careful to not show us Prometheus without his mask. In an attempt to hunt Prometheus down once and for all, Oliver falls into a trap in which he kills a kidnapped Billy who has been dressed to look like Prometheus.

The Oliver of the past four seasons probably would have kept this secret from Felicity, so many secrets he has kept from her before. Here, it was refreshing for Oliver to be completely honest with Felicity about every detail of what happened. Arrow is at its worst when these characters are arbitrarily lying to each other. This gave Felicity a chance to take Oliver's word at face value and understand not be burdened with the pain of Oliver lying to her on top of the pain she is already feeling over Billy's death. I'm sure the issue will come up again, and cause tension, but there's much more room for growth with these characters by addressing it in this way.

Both episodes ended with a juxtaposition of both tragic and surprisingly happy revelations. On The Flash, Prometheus' prophesies about the tragedies that will befall Team Flash, and Barry's knowledge that one of those tragedies is Iris's impending murder, set a very somber tone going into the hiatus. That being said, the show purposefully chose final scenes that ended with happier moments like the group acknowledging Wally's Kid Flash status, and Barry and Iris moving in together. Arrow ended with just about everyone on the team's life in shambles. Evelyn's betrayal of the group led to Oliver murdering Billy, Felicity mourning Billy's death, Curtis being attacked and having his marriage fall part, and John being arrested for the false military crimes he is accused of committing. All of that would seem like a definitively depressing ending were it not for the last minute revelation that Laurel is possibly not dead, seeing as Oliver walks in on her standing in Team Arrow's fortress. What any of this means for the future of these shows is a mystery, but both shows seem to be heading in promising directions.

Other Thoughts:

• At the end of last week's DC crossover, John stood on stage receiving praise from the President for his actions in saving the world. So saving the world doesn't earn you a pass on fake military crimes? Why did John run the risk of attending the press conference in the first place?
• Getting Evelyn's betrayal out of the way early in the episode was smart. She's too boring of a character to spend more time than necessary on.
• A fun little Christmas moment was the way Caitlin used her powers to make is snow, but using her powers makes her an evil villain, so maybe not the smartest choice.
• Wally stepping in to save Barry from Savitar begs the question, why did Savitar restore Wally's "Flashpoint" powers if he fears other speedsters gaining enough power to rival him?
• Savitar said someone on Team Flash would betray the group. There are some pretty plausible candidates. Caitlin, since one of Savitar's followers told Killer Frost that Savitar had big plans for her. Savitar could have ulterior motives in activating Wally's powers, knowing he will betray the group in the future. HW is still a bit of a wild card, though having a Wells character betray the group for a third season in a row seems like tired storytelling.
• As far as anyone in the multi-verse has been aware, "Flashpoint" didn't prevent Laurel's death, so how she appeared standing in front of Oliver at the end of the episode is quite a mystery. She could in theory be a figment of of Oliver's guilt ridden imagination. Maybe her sister Sara found a way to save her through her time traveling antics, though I doubt that based on Sara's claims that she knows better than to do something like that. Plus, had Sara saved her, it probably would have erased Laurel's death, not restored her to the current timeline in a way that would surprise Oliver.
• I always liked Laurel as a character, but the show never knew how to properly use her, so if she is back, hopefully they put her to better use this time.
• Oliver notes that the technique Prometheus used against him was a move Oliver himself learned from a woman in Russia. Susan had a bottle of vodka with Russian writing on it, and has been investigating Oliver's time in Russia. The show is obviously hinting that Susan somehow has a connection to his past in Russia.

Supergirl Review: "The Last Children of Krypton"

Supergirl's second episode at it's new home was mostly a continuation of what occurred in the season premiere. Superman was still around for this episode, but by the time he left at the end it felt like it was time for him to go. The opening montage of Superman and Supergirl helping people around the city, was a great reminder of the great sibling chemistry these characters have, but this is Supergirl's show. These episode did a lot that helped transition the show from CBS to the CW, but it's time for Supergirl to start figuring out what show it is going to be after the dust settles.

"The Last Children of Krypton" at least started to answer that question. Cat Grant is leaving, which means that those outstanding scenes between Cat and Kara, which have been a lot of the emotional backbone of the series so far, will not be present for majority of the second season. It's a shame, and I'm not sure Kara's new boss Skipper (played by Ian Gomez in a role that is almost the polar opposite of his beloved Cougar Town goofball Andy Torres) will be able to fill that role, especially given the gender gap. I'm willing to give that relationship time to establish itself though. The show will need to establish strong connections in Kara's personal life if it has any hope of continuing the momentum that it established over these two episodes.

Otherwise, it was a pretty standard outing for the show. Metallo gave the cousins from Krypton a much more worthy opponent this week than the army of drones they fought last week. So far the show has been able to keep the special effects standards up to par with the CBS episodes, and I would argue that the many fight scenes between the Metallos and our various protagonists were more impressive than just about any of the show's previous fight scenes. Now all that remains to be seen is how the show will handle the many impending changes on the horizon. If they handle them with the same care that they have handled these first two episode with, then it looks like Supergirl will have many bright days ahead.

Other Thoughts:

* James doesn't seem like an adequate replacement for Cat, but at least his new role will give his presence a little more meaning. These first two episodes functioned almost completely without him, so the show is going to have to do a lot to justify his continued presence on the show.

* After two episodes, it is very clear that "Winn DEO Tech Nerd" is a much better fit for the show than "Winn Kind of Unnecessary Catco IT Guy.

* For as much as the show seems to be banking on audiences being intrigued by the identity of this mystery man from space (Chris Wood), the show has done a pretty bad job of actually giving the audience a reason to care about that random storyline.

* The show has necessarily ignored a lot of the backstory established in season one, to make the transition to the CW easier, but how Cadmus transitioned from a secret government facility to a rogue anti-alien terrorist group probably could have used a little more explanation.

* Alex donning the anti-kryptonian suit from the end of season one makes sense, and was a smart way to keep her in on the action in this episode.

New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and No Tomorrow Mini-Reviews

New Girl:

After what has been a pretty slow start, and a very half-hearted attempt at a cross-over with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, last night's episode of New Girl was easily the best outing the show has had this season. Jess securing votes for Nick had a lot of decent comedic material, but more importantly it allowed the show to explore both the Jess/Nick relationship and the Jess/Cece friendship in ways that were affecting without being overbearing. Schmidt and Cece's interior design disagreements gave that couple a chance to work out some of their most obvious differences. That couple has been through so much, that at this point it's nice to see them have breakthroughs, without the threat of breaking up. The idea that Schmidt and Cece's home might have been the setting of an adult film, never really paid off, but Nick and Winston's secret vault was easily the funniest thing the show has done this season. That the rituals involved with the vault became more complex over the course of the episode made it all the more fun to watch. New Girl is best when it commits to the absurd.

No Tomorrow:

The first two episodes of No Tomorrow showed how the idea behind the show had a lot of promise, but that the show wasn't quite where it needed to be yet. There is still some fleshing out to do, but "No Doubt" was the first episode that felt more like a good episode than just a good idea for an episode. Evie isn't perfect, and it was nice to see the Xavier call her out on trying to take advantage of his fun lifestyle, while trying to hide the parts of him away that she doesn't like. If Evie and Xavier's relationship is going to be compelling beyond just a few episodes, it has to eventually move beyond these two people liking each other because they have fun together. "No Doubt" was a big step in the right direction. It was also nice to see how Xavier's lifestyle started to have an effect on the people in Evie's life. Kareema in particular started to move from "sarcastic best friend" status to being her own individual in this episode, which was nice to see for a character with really strong comedic potential.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine:

Like New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has had a pretty slow early run of episodes this season. Elements of the Florida based episodes worked, but as a whole the show felt disjointed without having the entire cast together. Leave it to the annual Halloween heist episode to get the show back on track. There's an argument to be made that the show should probably retire this tradition, but if the show can keep making episodes as strong as "Halloween IV," then more power to them. The "surprise" of Gina winning the bet wasn't all that effective because the show did something similar last season with Amy's out of nowhere win. It's something that the show will need to do differently if it does future installments. All of that being said, this episode was a lot of fun. Jake's original plan to steal the plaque by locking everyone out of the lobby and making them watch, was surprisingly ingenious for him. It also led to Holt hilariously smashing through his own office window, to keep Jake from winning. Realistically, Jake should have gotten to keep the plaque after all of that, but Gina still would have pulled one over on him anyway. Diaz's commitment to Amy's detailed plan (down to reading the suggested Babysitter's Club chapters) led to some of the episode's best moments, and took full advantage of a relationship that the show doesn't explore enough. Gina's win wasn't a surprise, but her at least her motivation for winning was different from past years, and her explanation (especially wearing Amy's clothes to hide in plain sight) was a lot of fun.

Supergirl Review: "The Adventures of Supergirl"

When I first watched Supergirl last season on CBS, I thought it was a decent, but flawed, superhero show. The casting was excellent and the lighthearted approach to superheroics was refreshing compared to the many darker comic book shows that populate television. Like any show, Supergirl took some time figuring out what kind of show it was. The main problem that plauged the show was its location on CBS.

Since the recent cultural superhero boom, the Big Four networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC), have struggled to figure out how to make good superhero shows. The one exception being ABC's fantastic Agent Carter, a show for which the network could never find an audience. From Gotham to Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., these networks have struggle to produce compelling superhero shows because they are creating content in a system that fears genre shows. Genre shows speak to a specific audience, and the network model wants shows that speak to everyone. On a show like S.H.I.E.L.D., for example, the writers are not only hindered by the network's avoidance of the "genre" label (which resulted in the early run of the show basically being superhero CSI), but by the studio (Marvel) which constantly makes the show change course to fit what is going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  When the networks or studios start limiting shows creatively, audiences are smart enough to notice the difference.

The CW has taken a different approach to genre shows. Being the number five network has given The CW a perspective that the Big Four don't have. When you are the lowest rated network, creating self-aware genre shows that other networks are too afraid to create, suddenly becomes a distinction that sets you apart from other networks. Producer Greg Berlanti has created in immersive DC Comics superhero world at The CW between his shows Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash, the latter of which did a very successful crossover episode with CBS's Supergirl (which is also produced by Berlanti) last season. These shows have their fair share of flaws (especially Legends), but unlike other network shows, they are self-aware, and fully committed to their comic book origins. When CBS was unhappy with the outcome of Supergirl's first season, it only seemed natural for the show to move to The CW (a sister network of CBS, that is co-owned by Warner Bros.).

Being the first episode of Supergirl since moving to The CW, "The Adventures of Supergirl," had some important questions to answer. Would it still feel like the same show? Could The CW keep up the quality of the show with more limited resources than CBS? Would the show be able to improve upon the show that CBS had established? While some of those questions will take time to answer, the overall impression left by "The Adventures of Supergirl," is that this is the best version of the show to date.

One of the biggest flaws of the first season, was the way the show avoided ever showing Superman. Yes, Supergirl is the star of the show, but the idea that she would never see her only living relative, or work with him once she became a superhero, became increasingly ridiculous as the season progress. "The Adventures of Supergirl" tackled that problem head on by introducing Clark/Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) early on in the episode, and keeping him around to help Kara/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) at various moments during the episode. If the show had any fears about Superman stealing the show, this episode proved that the writers can balance having Superman around and still have this be Kara's show. Hoechlin and Benoist have a very strong "brother/sister" type of chemistry that works perfectly for these characters. It was fun to see Clark play mentor to Kara, while Kara got to roll her eyes at how much more humble and charming Clark is than even her. Seeing the sway that Clark has over Cat Grant, or Kara's reaction to Clark thanking the DEO agents for their work provided some of the episode's best moments.

The show made some other changes as well. The DEO has moved to a new location, which gave the show an opportunity to make some meta jokes about how the show moved from CBS to The CW. Despite ending last season having finally deciding to explore a relationship, Kara has decided that her and Jimmy should remain just friends. Winn has moved careers to the DEO to put his tech skills to good use, which is a much better way for the show to keep his character relevant. After receiving the offer to take on whatever role she wanted at Catco from Cat Grant last season, Kara finally landed on becoming a journalist. Sure anyone could see that coming from a mile away, but it also allowed for a really great moment between Kara and Cat, who admitted that she envisioned this future for Kara since the day she hired her as her assistant. Since Cat will only be a recurring character this season (which I suspect will be a huge loss for the show) instead of a series regular, these kinds of moments will be few and far between, so it was nice to see the show take advantage of her presence here. There are sure to be more changes to come in future episodes, as the show gets used to its new home, but for now, the show feels more like itself than ever before.

Other Thoughts:

* Right now Superman is only set to appear in last night's episode and next week's episode, with the option to make future appearances. I hope the show finds room to have him come back every now and then, as the relationship between Clark and Kara was a very strong element of "The Adventures of Supergirl."

* I never had any strong feelings either way about Kara and Jimmy as a romantic couple. I don't necessarily think we've seen the last of that coupling, but if we have, it's no great loss to the show.

* There were some worries that the show might be lacking in the special effects department this season, since CBS has more money to work with than The CW, but this first episode looked like it was up to the standards of the first season. Whether or not the show will be able to sustain that quality for the entire season remains to be seen.

* The show introduced Lena Luthor as a character in this episode. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her. Clark made a comment that he's learned the hard way not to trust a Luthor, but by the end of the episode Kara and Clark both seem to believe she's as innocent as she says she is. The episode gave us no reason to think otherwise, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lena become to Kara what Lex is to Clark.

* Alex and Hank were pushed to the side for much of the episode. I'm assuming this is due in large part to the episode's focus on the Clark/Kara relationship, but it's nice to see that the show is able to prioritize instead of just arbitrarily trying to service all of its characters.

* The episode starts with the revelation of the mystery man (Chris Wood) in the Kryptonian pod, but never gives any real answers about who he is. Hopefully the show gets around to that sooner than later, but this episode had enough going on that it didn't need to rush that particular answer. I would not be surprised if this character ends up being the key to destroying the new villain we saw being created at the end of the episode. Could he be a villain himself?

Jane the Virgin Review: "Chapter Forty Four" and Some Thoughts on Season 2

"When I came here, I had dreams. But I could never have dreamed this moment." ~ Alba

There's a reason I never write reviews for Jane the Virgin, despite having ranked it as the best show of 2015. I could never do all of the show's complex plots, hilarious jokes, and amazing characters justice. Tonight's episode, and all of season two in general, was so great, that I felt the need to at least give it a shot. So, as the show's narrator would say, "Let's begin..."

Jane the Virgin, is a telenovela (as well as a satire of telenovelas), and telenovelas are built on twists. Boy did "Chapter Forty Four" have plenty of big ones. Some of the twists weren't hard to see coming. The show had spent many episodes foreshadowing that Anezka would swap places with Petra, for example, but making Petra live in what is essentially a waking coma is the cruelest thing a character has done on the show so far. Leave it to the writers to take the episode's most horrible situation and mine it for a great joke like, "#Petrafied." Similarly, it wasn't hard to see that something bad was going to happen to Michael, given how perfectly things had been going for him and Jane lately. The idea that Michael might die, had been floating around the internet lately, but I'm glad the show settled for just having him get shot. Sure, there's a chance that he could die early in season 3, but I think that would be too dark for a comedy like Jane the Virgin.

That Michael was shot by his partner, Susanna, wasn't much of a surprise either. Her sudden appearance and consistently suspicious behavior this season, made it pretty clear that she wasn't who she was pretending to be. Early on in the season, I suspected that Susanna might be Rose (due to the plastic surgery plot, Rose could have looked like anything), but after "Rose" was killed following an altercation with "Susanna", I had completely been duped into believing Rose was dead. The writers deserve a lot of credit for playing that twist just right.

These characters are very real people with very real feelings, longings, and beliefs. That's why the show never becomes overwhelmed by the insane situations the characters constantly find themselves in. The twists are a fun part of the show, but Jane the Virgin is at its best in the quiet moments. Alba's words to Jane (which I quoted above) when she was helping Jane get ready for her wedding were the perfect emotional touch to summarize everything the Villanueva women have been through to reach this point in their lives. As nice as the wedding ended up being , especially Michael learning to say his vows in Spanish for Jane, the scene where Michael and Jane went over their pre-wedding list, was a much better example of their love for each other. Jane the Virgin shows how life is really about the small moments that are happening around the big events of our lives. These characters are built by the small moments and choices that make up their lives, be it the Villanueva women sharing one last laugh before Jane gets married, or Rafael choosing to stay silent about his feelings for Jane, because he loves her too much to ruin her wedding. 

That Jane the Virgin can capture so many fantastic small moments, while still throwing in the big twists that are a staple of its genre, is impressive. This season has been further proof that Jennie Urman has created some of televisions most affecting characters, and of just how much fun she has putting them in all kinds of crazy situations. This is the best show on television, and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next season. 

Other thoughts on "Chapter Forty Four" and Season 2 in general:

• It's nice to see that the show is not backing away from the fact that Rafael loves Jane, or that Xiomara and Rogelio love each other, despite the fact that none of those relationships can realistically happen at this point in the show. 
• Speaking of Xiomara, her pregnancy worries me more than any other cliffhanger from the finale. If she really is pregnant with Esteban's child, that's a weird and dangerous direction to take the show in. My guess is it's somehow Rogelio's child. 
• The finale didn't use the narrator as much or as well as I would have liked, but on the whole, the second season did an excellent job of making the narrator one o f the most fun parts of the show. 
• Jane's new idea for her thesis was a really great way to set up the education/career part of Jane's life for season 3. 
• With a cast this big, it's hard to find moments for every character, but this episode managed to have something for each character to do. Mateo even got a couple of scenes to shine in. 
• My review didn't talk much about Rogelio, but throughout the course of the second season, he became the driving comedic force on the show (besides the narrator of course), and a great source for unexpected emotional moments. 
• Season two did a great job of transitioning Jane into motherhood. The best parts of the season were focused around how parenthood made characters grow and change. Jane's struggles to be a great mother and follow her dreams became the series best source of conflict and motivation. 
• Another season has passed and the writers have found yet another way to keep Jane a virgin. Michael is either dead or very seriously injured, so Jane probably won't be having sex with her husband for a little while. I can't image Jane making it all the way through season three with her virginity still in tact though. 

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.