Television Reviews

The Wheel of Time – The Shadow in the Night

  • Title: The Wheels of Time – The Shadow in the Night
  • wiki: link

The most memorable moment of “The Shadow of Night” doesn’t come from Egwene (Madeleine Madden) eventually confronting Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) about seeing him with Lanfear (Natasha O’Keeffe) nor the tragedy at the end of the episode where Rand struggles at how helpless the one power is even against death. Instead, the best moment of the episode is courtesy of Elayne (Ceara Coveney), covering for herself after being recognized in the bar, with the help of Mat‘s (Dónal Finn) old friend Thom Merrilin (Alexandre Willaume), by delivering a rowdy rendition of “The Hills of Tanchico” which is so good the episode reuses the song for the outro and credit sequence. Also of note, Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) and Faile (Isabella Bucceri) finally admit their feelings for each other on the eve of an army about to hit the Two Rivers.

…

The Wheel of Time – The Shadow in the Night Read More »

Human Target – A Problem Like Maria / Communication Breakdown

  • Title: Human Target – A Problem Like Maria / Communication Breakdown
  • wiki: link | link

The two episodes which involve the return of former flame Maria (Leonor Varela) and the return of troublemaker Harry (Tony Hale) are tied together by the B-story involving the rapidly disintegrating relationship between Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) and Ilsa (Indira Varma) whose plane is shot down at the beginning of the second episode. “A Problem Like Maria” features Maria tricking Chance in the others into a kidnapping in South America to save the life of her husband. In doing so, they make themselves an enemy of a local criminal figure Hector Lopez (Jordi Caballero) who shoots their plane down in the jungle. Luckily, while attempting to avoid the blowup between Chance and , the others weren’t on the flight. Unluckily for them, the arrive home in time to get drawn into Harry’s latest trouble involving the Armenian mob who storms the offices shortly after he arrives.

…

Human Target – A Problem Like Maria / Communication Breakdown Read More »

Bob’s Burgers – The Shell Game

  • Title: Bob’s Burgers – The Shell Game
  • wiki: link

An invitation by Mr. Fischoeder (Kevin Kline) to his tortoise‘s birthday party puts Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) in the strange situation of competing against the other guests for guardianship of the animal should anything befall the host. Louise (Kristen Schaal), Gene (Eugene Mirman), and Tina (Dan Mintz) are far more into the idea of having a tortoise than their father (even going so far as to help cheat to make Bob believe the animal likes him), but eventually the most obvious suitor is the correct one. Memorable moments involve the various competitions shown, and alluded to, and both Bob’s joy, when he believes he’s made a connection to the animal, and despair, after realizing the truth.

…

Bob’s Burgers – The Shell Game Read More »

Phineas and Ferb – Dry Another Day

  • Title: Phineas and Ferb – Dry Another Day
  • wiki: link

Attempting to beat the heat, Phineas (Vincent Martella) and Ferb (David Errigo Jr.) build a giant ice luge wheel which they roll around town with Isabella (Alyson Stoner), Baljeet (Maulik Pancholy), and Buford (Bobby Gaylor) which not only cools them off but leaves a cool breeze for all who pass. Of course Candace (Ashley Tisdale) attempts to catch them but, as always, is a step too slow (although she does earn a momentary second of fame skiing after the boys). The Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire) plot, involving the villain attempting to dump his oil in a water park, isn’t a strong, and somehow makes even less sense than usual, but the two stories do eventually collide at the water park.

…

Phineas and Ferb – Dry Another Day Read More »

Leverage: Redemption – The Cooling Off the Mark Job

  • Title: Leverage: Redemption – The Cooling Off the Mark Job
  • IMDb: link

Although the pieces of the story feel about awkwardly stitched together, “The Cooling Off the Mark Job” offers fun moments as Hurley (Drew Powell) returns after his own con went sideways to help the team deal with their own mark (Alex Boniello) who stole $3 million from a church including $1 million the team hasn’t yet recovered. While initially there to just help Clay cool off, and recover the rest of the church’s missing funds, Hurley empathizes with Clay especially after learning what, or more specifically who, the stolen money was for.

…

Leverage: Redemption – The Cooling Off the Mark Job Read More »