What If: Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Stephen Strange, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, goes on a hunt for answers after the death of his love Christina Palmer, voiced by Rachel McAdams, and what starts out with good intentions quickly morphs into something perverse.

I think this was a very high calibre episode, certainly up there with the murder mystery one and Captain Carter; maybe better. What I think this episode does so well is that it tells a very personal story but incorporates a lot of big themes and concepts into it, so as we focus our attention souly on the life and loves of Stephen Strange the MCU is also expanding all around us.

Another thing I enjoyed about this episode was that it finally gave Jeffery Wright’s Uatu something to do. I understand he is a Watcher and is forbidden to get involved with the events he sees, but they could at least give him something. Other than the narration each episode and maybe a shot of him watching he is basically absent from the show. This is rectified here as Uatu shows up during the events of the episode and talks to Strange as the episode ends, it finally gives him an active role.

Moreover, I also enjoyed the further exploration of the magical side of the MCU, and I thought the conjuring/consumption scenes during the episode were intriguing, especially as it pertains to the supernatural within the MCU, maybe Mephisto can appear yet.

My one complaint of the episode would be that it ends on rather a down note and that it leaves you feeling depressed, but I suppose that was the point.

Overall, a deeply personal look into the mystical side of the MCU

Pros.

Expanding the mystical side of the MCU

Making Doctor Strange feel more human

The emotion

Finally giving Uatu something to do

Cons.

The ending is depressing

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What If: The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Someone is killing off Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, what would a world look like where the Avengers never formed?

The concept of this is far more interesting than the previous Star Lord episode, that is already a point in its favour as far as I am concerned.

I thought it was a little awkward how Black Widow centric this episode is considering what is going on with Scarlett Johansson and Disney in the real world, however she is not voiced by Johannsson here. I thought the mystery was actually quite well done and surprising, and much like the first episode this is a reality I would like to explore again in later seasons of the show.

The one thing I would say about this episode in a negative light is that it is the first time within the show were I have thought how limiting the ‘no new characters’ rule is. Can you imagine the finale of this episode whereby Nick Fury stands with a whole different team of Avengers to defeat Loki, maybe with some faces we have not even met yet, personally I think it would have been a hugely exciting moment.

That aside I think this is a fairly strong episode, I enjoyed the voice cast and thought everyone seemed to be having fun especially Lake Bell as Black Widow and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson.

Overall, fun and with a dense premise rich for further exploration.

Pros.

The mystery

Bringing back scenes from The Incredible Hulk

The ending

Coulson and Black Widow

Cons.

They should have used the death of the Avengers as a spring board to introduce some new characters.

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The Bad Batch: Kamino Lost

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch have to escape a sinking Kamino.

Meh.

For a season finale this is pretty bland. Nothing much happens and there is minimal action, the ending feels like more of a mid-season ending rather than the end of a season. There is no big cliff-hanger or tease to set up the next season.

I enjoyed what this episode did with Crosshair. I thought by having him not join the Batch at the end of the episode and still aligning himself with the Empire it makes him far more interesting than his brothers. I think the complexity to Crosshair’s character is one of the best things about the series as he can be both an outright villain and an antihero in equal measure.

Omega was once again an annoyance. The series is trying here to make us care about her by saying that she effectively watched the Batch grow up and that they were her only friends, but still you just don’t care. This is mainly due to the fact that she constantly makes dumb errors that are infuriating, like going back for the droid and then not really seeming bothered with him once she has saved him. I think the show would be infinitely better if it just focused on the Batch and she was not a part of it.

I was also hoping for more of a tease of what the Empire plans to do with the Kaminoians… but we get nothing.

Overall, watchable but fairly anti-climactic.

Pros.

Crosshair

It is watchable

The animation

Cons.

Omega

No action or anything special

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Rick and Morty: Rickternal Friendship Of The Spotless Mort

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

We finally get an episode of Rick and Morty that builds on the ending of last season and feels like a true continuation. In this week’s episode Rick ventures into Bird Person’s mind to bring him back to the world of the living.

I feel like this should have been the first episode of the season. Now it feels like the seven other episodes we have had before this were just meaningless filler, and this is the true continuation of last season. In terms of episode placement, the creators definitely shot themselves in the foot with this one.

I like that this episode is entirely Rick centric, Morty is off doing something with the family, and he doesn’t even get a B plot. The idea of Rick having friends is one that the series has flirted with but never really committed to on a big scale, the only exception to that is with Bird Person. It was nice to have an episode that was entirely about their early years and friendship- or even perhaps more than friendship at least on Rick’s side.

I think the reason this is such a good episode is because it takes a break from randomness and sperm jokes and instead just focuses on the characters and tries to analyse them as people. There is a lot of cannon here, around Rick’s early years, his time as a galactic freedom fighter, and his friends. It answers a lot of questions that fans have been asking for years about the show, but also gives us a lot more questions to replace them. There is a throwaway line about Beth being dead for example, that will need addressing at some point. Moreover, Bird Person’s daughter needs to be freed. I would like the next episode to directly follow on from this and give us more cannon, but I know it won’t. I know I am too greedy.

Overall, this and the Mr Nimbus episode show that the series still shines when it wants to, when it isn’t distracted by a teenage sense of humour focusing on giant incest babies or space sperm.

Pros.

Rick’s history

His complicated friendship with Bird Person

A lot of new questions to be explored

Removing Morty and the family from the equations

Cons.

Seeing a good episode like this makes some of the other offering this season look incredibly lazy by comparison.

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What If: Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An Elseworlds tale that answers the question what if Peggy Carter got the Super Soldier Serum rather than Steve Rogers.

Personally I am loving how political phase four of the MCU is getting, with this first episode, Black Widow and Falcon And The Winter Soldier, all addressing worldly issues I feel the MCU is finally in a place where it can start making statements. This episode goes hard on how Peggy up until this point has been shut out and overlooked because of her gender, I like that by doing this and then having her become Captain Carter it allows the character to feel far more like a feminist icon. I enjoyed seeing how she played off the other male characters after she had the serum, especially when she said to the, deeply sexist, general character that he was ‘lucky to even be in the room’, that was a cheer worthy moment for me.

I liked how this episode gave us moments that would already be familiar to us as MCU fans but put a twist on them, we get to see Bucky not fall off the train, no one getting frozen in ice and Steve Rogers becoming a totally different superhero. I thought this was fascinating and by far the biggest selling point of the show, as the idea of what if this changed is always one that keeps you coming back.

I enjoyed what this episode did with Peggy and Steve, showing the romance more from her point of view. I thought it was just as sweet and as heart-breaking as it was the first time we saw it in The First Avenger, hopefully Captain Carter will get to go back in time and get her dance with her sweet heart just like Steve Rogers did in the main timeline- just hopefully with a few more adventures before that for us all to enjoy.

My only issue with the episode and it is only a minor thing is that Chris Evans is not back to voice Steve Rogers. It is strange as almost everyone else is back Hayley Atwell is back as Peggy, Dominic Cooper is back as Howard Stark even Toby Jones is back as Zola, so it seems like a pretty big deal that Evans isn’t back in the role. Maybe they couldn’t afford him, maybe he didn’t want to come back but to me it felt a little jarring to hear someone else voicing the character. Hopefully I won’t have the same issue when we get to the Iron Man episode.

Overall, a really strong starting episode that introduced us perfectly to Captain Carter hopefully we get to see tons more from her in the years to come.

Pros.

Captain Carter

Getting political

The monster at the end

The same but different

Cons.

Not getting Evan’s back

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Rick And Morty: Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Rick replaces Morty with Summer who decides to keep enabling her Grandfather’s bad behaviour as a means of connecting with him and getting approval. Meanwhile the family all become pilots of an interlocking space robot- think Voltron.

This is easily the worst episode of season five so far for a number of different reasons. Worst is the fact that this episode is very reference heavy, as have been several episodes this season, which quickly becomes an issue if you are not aware of what the show is spoofing, which was the fate that befell me. The problem with these kind of episodes is that they feel lazy, rather than come up with a fresh concept or gimmick, they just take preestablished films/cartoons/tv shows etc and make fun of them: which requires far less effort.

Moreover, I have been hoping for some kind of reference back to the cannon or to earlier seasons for this year’s whole run, and we finally got it in a big way here. Except, not quite. Rather than bring back an important or impactful storyline from seasons gone by, like Space Beth just off the top of my head, they instead decide to bring back the giant incest baby from a few episodes prior- because that’s a character we need more of right? Honestly, the giant incest baby character was just a throwaway joke in that episode and bringing it back here does not make it anymore impactful, rather it just feels like the writers were looking for an easy way to tie in previous episodes.

I also found the constant narration to be grating.

Overall, one of the worst episodes of the show to date, please don’t bring giant incest baby back again.

Pros.

It is watchable

There are a couple of funny lines

Cons.

The narration

Bringing back giant incest baby

Another lazy spoof episode

Most of the jokes don’t land

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The Bad Batch: War Mantle

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch go on a rescue mission, to horrific results.

This was a sad episode on multiple fronts, but also one that feels like it has real stakes.

My first thought after finishing the episode is that it is good they finally have Hunter and Crosshair in the same location with no way out. The confrontation between the two characters has been needed for some time, it feels very much that since the first episode the Batch has pretty much turned their backs on their former brother, even when they realised that he was being mind controlled: as such there always needed to be an explanation for why Hunter and co acted this way- and it looks like we will get it next episode.

Moreover, the Clone rebellions are starting to feel more and more like something we will see on the show, as we are now being shown the Empire phasing out its Clone forces in favor of Storm Troopers. I am excited by this prospect and would like to see what is going to happen to all the captive clones, will the Empire wipe them out, will they escape, will they start a doomed rebellion: these are all questions that the series could and should answer.

I thought for the most part the story of this episode was tight and interesting however I could have done without the cut back to Omega and Wrecker where she complains that she is worried about the other members of the group and he makes a joke. This scene does nothing for the episode, but kill time, the joke is not needed and undoes the well built up tension and Omega once again adds nothing to the episode. I feel like unless the writers have some big endgame for her character she should just be written off as clearly they are struggling on a weekly basis to find things for her to do.

Overall, a strong episode with good tension and an intriguing ending.

Pros.

The ending

Setting up the Clone Rebellions

Where will the series go from here?

The tension

Cons.

The Omega cut away

The slow start, with the first five minutes being dull

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Tuca And Bertie: Sleepovers

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Bertie has a hard time being alone and Tuca finds it hard to balance her friendship with Bertie and her new relationship.

I honestly can’t tell at this point whether it is the friendship between Tuca and Bertie that is toxic or each as individuals. Neither can seemingly let the other be happy or live/ enjoy life without the other constantly with them, which of course means sabotaging anything that might separate the two of them. I understand there will be friendships like that out there, but it makes the characters and their friendship hard to root for.

Moreover, I am starting to find the show a little immature. Yes it does now and again touch on some very adult themes and issues and handles them well, but my issue comes from how the characters behave on an episode by episode basis. We are expected to view these characters as mature after all they have been through, however they act like children often. This episode is the perfect example of this behaviour, whereby Bertie essentially has a temper tantrum because Tuca is not giving her enough attention.

The one pro I would say for this episode is I liked what they did with Tuca’s storyline. I thought the exploration of her new relationship was interesting and seeing whether she can allow herself to be happy and seeing whether the other most important bond in her life will also become toxic were interesting questions to ask. I thought the cliff-hanger ending worked well, and I am intrigued to see how the series will resolve her arc.

Overall, the characters and their friendship are becoming more and more toxic, though I do like the arc that is being set up for Tuca.

Pros.

Tuca’s storyline

The ending

Cons.

Bertie

Their friendship is toxic, I’d rather see them drift apart or fall out then resume the status quo

The Bertie storyline is surprisingly immature

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Rick And Morty: Rick And Morty’s Thanksplotation Spectacular

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Rick wrongs the President again and has to go undercover as a Thanksgiving turkey in order to try and secure a pardon, things quickly spiral from there.

Meh.

This was a very throwaway episode of Rick and Morty, destined to be no one’s favourite. Though I did enjoy what the episode did with the exploration of Rick and the President’s relationship and potentially budding respect for each other/friendship. I like the idea of Rick learning to like people more and maybe even having friends, other than the few we have already met who are now mostly dead, in later seasons.

Other than that though I thought there was nothing much interesting about this episode. The plot about evil turkeys just feels thrown together at the last minute in order to have a Thanksgiving episode, as it serves no real purpose as it neither provides us with a fun adventure nor does anything to push the cannon forward.

I would have liked to see more of the siege of the Smith’s house by the president and how it affected various members of the Smith family, we know that it affected Jerry’s cooking but that’s about it. I think buried under all the schlock and monsters for the sake of monsters there is something interesting in this episode that is left mostly unexplored which is a shame.

Overall, not a bad episode but certainly weaker.

Pros.

Rick and the President’s arc

It is very watchable

The end credits scene is a good laugh

Cons.

It feels slapped together

It is incredibly forgettable

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Batman The Long Halloween Part Two: DC Animations Best In Years

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Part Two finally brings to light the identity of the Holiday Killer, as well as seeing many of Batman’s most well known villains take to the streets of Gotham to wage war on the Falcone crime family.

This is the best thing out of DC animation in a while, a long, long while. By this I mean both parts of The Long Halloween viewed as one complete piece, but still on merit this is a strong second half. Not only is it a compelling mystery that gives us quality time with almost all of Batman’s rogues gallery, but it is also a surprisingly strong crime film.

I enjoyed the world set up by this film. I thought it made several changes to the source material and comics cannon that work well in this new context and serve to better the film. The films make the Falcone’s so interesting that you are almost sorry they didn’t split the graphic novel into three films, so you get to spend more time with them.

Furthermore I enjoyed the animation style and thought it looked just enough like the classic cartoons of my youth to be fondly remembered whilst also having more than a little clear anime inspiration. Both elements work well together and create for an animated feature that is a delight to watch.

My one slight criticism of this film would be that Batman gets beaten a lot. Now this might be my own fault for not knowing the timeline, but surely this happens after Year One, so it makes little sense to have a Batman that is clearly still very green in a lot of ways. Batman gets beaten by almost every villain in this film and yes I get that the film is trying to show us an inexperienced Batman but instead he comes off as almost out of his depth.

Overall, one of the best DC animated films in years.

Pros.

The animation

The world

The character development of the Falcone family

The story itself

Cons.

Batman is a little too easily beaten

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