The Bad Batch: Reunion

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This episode finally brought back Crosshair. Finally.

I thought this was easily the best of the recent batch of Bad Batch episodes, we finally got the tense standoff between the inhibitor chip free clones and the possessed evil Crosshair that the series has been building towards. Luckily for all, this confrontation feels meaty and well-paced, neither can truly best the other and both sides are hurt. The only way I think this could have been made better is if Crosshair killed one of the Bad Batch or at least gravely wounded them, this would have added to the impact of the episode.

I thought the re-emergence of Cad Bane was both a pro and a con to the episode. It is a pro in that the character is cool and it is nice to see him return and carry on his storyline, but at the same time it is a con as it feels very random and there was little to no build up to him returning. With him taking Omega at the end of the episode I hope she stays out of commission for a while so the Bad Batch can properly deal with their defeat and really rally to the cause.

Overall, a high point for the series so far I can only hope the next lot of episodes keep the same pace and tone.

Pros.

Finally bringing back Crosshair in a meaningful way

The tense cat and mouse elements

The action

The ending

Cons.

Cad Bane’s return feels a little random and unplanned

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iCarly: iGotYourBack

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This episode did what I have been saying for a while the series needed to do and that is to feel more human. This show seems to exist to do one purpose and that is to mock the modern internet/influencer landscape, which is fine, but the show also runs the risk of becoming just as bad and as vapid especially in a lot of the moral teachings of the show. However, this alarming trend is somewhat postponed here as this episode moves away from all that and instead focuses on the lives and friendships of the characters.

Spencer and Freddy have an arc about Freddy getting back into the dating saddle, and Carly and Harper have a storyline about Carly needing a new dress and Harper trying to design one for her. Both story threads are not perfect, but they do at least produce warm moments to make us like these characters a bit more. I still think far and away Jerry Trainor’s Spencer is the best character on the show, and he is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, often having to make up for the growing unlikability of Carly.

I thought the jokes about Spencer hiring Freddy a prostitute unknowingly were a little juvenile, and though it does produce one or two funny moments by and large it left me cold. Laci Mosley’s Harper was by far the comedic standout of the episode and is at times overshadowing Carly herself.

Overall, better but still plagued by issues.

Pros.

A more human approach

A few funny moments

Spencer and Harper

Cons.

Carly is incredibly self-involved and is becoming everything the show is mocking

The humour is quite juvenile

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iCarly: iFauxpologize

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This episode is of a very similar quality to the one before it, my concerns for this series are reinforced.

My main issue with this and the previous episode is Carly herself and her characterisation. She is portrayed as being deeply self-involved and almost unfeeling to anyone else: using them to boost herself and whatever she is doing. This continues here as she becomes the subject of an internet meme, however, said meme has a negative effect on her brother’s art exhibit. Carly doesn’t seem to hugely care about this until it affects her. I can only hope that this a surprisingly accurate meta commentary on influencers, and not what creatives think makes for a likeable character.

However, I did enjoy seeing the show call Carly out for this behaviour and thought Spencer’s hellish art exhibit going after Carly and online culture to be not only funny but accurate. Moreover, I like how the show then uses this as an example to lampoon cancel culture, which is really the main subject of the episode.

I think the series meta commentary is very much on point and well done, however the series can’t just rely on this for its humour and needs the characters to also have warm moments so that you still care enough about them to keep watching.

I didn’t find this episode as funny as I had the previous two, but it did make me smile several times. I thought the show referencing the ‘interesting’ meme was suitably amusing though I am glad they did not linger on it for too long.

Overall, this show needs to balance its broader lampooning of internet culture with likeable character moments sooner rather than later otherwise people will turn off.

Pros.

The jokes about cancel culture

Spenser’s art exhibit

Bringing back the ‘interesting’ meme

Cons.

Carly is still unlikeable

The meta commentary is starting to feel gimmicky

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Rick and Morty: Mort Dinner Rick Andre

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This will be my first Rick and Morty review, I have been a fan for a long time and I thought that I would start covering it on here so I could share my passion.

I was very mixed on season four of Rick and Morty it had a few hits but by a large it wasn’t of the same consistent quality as the previous season. However, if this first episode is anything to go by season five might be bringing the show back to its previous glory.

My favourite part of this episode was the evolving story of Morty and the wine. In an effort to age the wine for his dinner guest Rick sends the wine into another dimension wherein time moves differently whereby a few minutes to us is centuries to the inhabitants. Moreover, Morty is tasked with entering this dimension over and over again to get more wine, each time doing so managing to hurt someone or destroy something, thereby becoming basically the devil of their reality. What I enjoyed about this is the escalation, each time Morty goes back the people of the other dimension have evolved to defeat him, I think the idea is quite interesting and is used in a way that is both visually impressive and also funny.

Moreover, I like seeing Morty and his long time crush Jessica finally acting on their feelings for each other. Sadly it doesn’t pan out and the can is kicked further down the proverbial road. This would be my only downside of the episode, I would have liked to see Morty and Jessica finally get together and then have the two of them adventuring with Rick and seeing how that changed the dynamic. Wishful thinking for now.

I think the Rick story involving the arrival of his nemesis Mr Nimbus was the weakest part of the episode. Until the closing moments this story did nothing for me at all, it felt very random and slapdash, and I feel it could have been better done if Mr Nimbus had at least been mentioned before in the show. However, I did like the emotional pay off of this storyline, when Mr Nimbus ends up saving Rick, Jessica and Morty at the end of the episode: I thought the emotional growth of Rick as a character in this moment felt earned and mature. I would like to see Mr Nimbus return in the future, if only to further explore his relationship with Rick.

Overall, a very strong start to the season let’s hope it keeps up this level of quality

Pros.

The building of dramatic tension

Morty and Jessica

The emotional growth for Rick

Beth and Jerry have a funny bit

Cons.

Until the end the Mr Nimbus storyline is a dud.

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iCarly: iHate Carly

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So by popular demand I will now be covering the new iCarly revival weekly. I thought this episode was nowhere near as strong as the first episode in a lot of ways, the cracks are starting to show.

Cosgrove and Trainor are still a delight, but the humour is getting weaker and weaker. I said in my previous review that the laugh track was not helping the show, and this only gets worse here. Characters will simply say a word and the canned laughter will be used- they aren’t even trying to be funny most of the time.

Moreover, the message of the episode was flawed. Carly forgives and eventually starts dating a guy that used to cyber bully her, but it is okay because he has reformed and is now a nice person: that on its own would be a fine episode arc. However, where it gets troublesome is that Carly forgives him for his troll-like origins, but then says he gives her ‘the ich’ when he starts doing spoken word poetry- really.

I think in this episode the writing for Carly is slightly off as you don’t really warm to her, she seems self-righteous and judgemental and worst of all deeply self-involved, which starts to make her a character you want to avoid. Personally I found the Spencer side story much better and more enjoyable.

Overall, Carly is heading down a path towards unlikability, I hope the show veers away from this.

Pros.

The Spencer side story

A few good jokes

The side characters

Cons.

The concept of ‘the ich’

The ending of the episode

Pros.

The action

The cinematography

Cons.

The dead zombie baby

The runtime and staggering pacing issues

It is repetitive

None of the characters are allowed to be interesting

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Loki: Lamentis

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I enjoyed this episode more than the last. I think it suffers from being a little too compact and could have done with another ten to twenty minutes to better flush out a few ideas, but that aside almost everything else is a homerun.

Firstly, the chemistry between Hiddleston’s Loki and Di Martino’s Sylvie is fantastic, and though this episode suffers a lack of Owen Wilson it does not suffer for it: as the back and forth between Hiddleston and Di Martino is easily as good if not better.

Secondly, this episode has huge ramifications not just for the wider series but for the MCU as a whole. There is a line in this episode, that I won’t say for spoilers sake, that will fundamentally alter how you see the TVA and that also recontextualises the whole series so far.

Thirdly, there are plenty of really good character moments here that remind you why you love these characters and this universe. My personal favourite of the episode was probably Loki’s drunken singing, but the dagger metaphor is strong to. There is a lot of excellent character work going on here that helps the series to be instantly memorable and likeable in a way that shows like TFTWS struggled with.

Overall, a very important episode that both put a smile on my face and changed my entire view of the show.

Pros.

The character moments

Loki and Sylvie’s back and forth

The line that changes everything

The ending

Cons.

The episode is too short and needed another ten minutes

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Bad Batch: Battle Scars

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So this episode gets straight into tying up the mysteries of the previous cliff-hanger, and we now know that the sisters were talking to our old friend Captain Rex- who comes in an immediately makes things better. These last two episodes have been the best in the Bad Batch so far, though that is not saying much.

I enjoyed the further exploration of Wrecker’s mind as he loses control to the inhibitor chip and its programming and becomes evil, for a few minutes. I think its interesting to see this evil side of a character that is often the most loveable. Furthermore, I liked that the show is continuing to explore the effects of the inhibitor chips on the clones. However, I think the greatest short coming in this department is the continued lack of and almost deliberate ignoring of Crosshair; you would think that now the Bad Batch know about the chips they would plan to remove Crosshair’s and save their friend- evidently they don’t care that much.

I think something needs to happen with Omega soon as she is quickly becoming the worst part of the show, she is not likeable and is often annoying: the gimmick of her being naïve is starting to wear thin. Moreover, the relationship between Hunter and Omega just isn’t coming along and more often than not feels forced in, it is a million miles away from the relationship between Din and Grogu.

Overall, this series is getting better, but it still has quite a few issues to overcome.

Pros.

The continuing of the inhibitor chip storyline

Wreckers turn to the dark side

Everything to do with Rex

Cons.

Omega

Ignoring Crosshair

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iCarly: iStart Over

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I don’t know if I’ll be covering this series regularly, but I wanted to review the first episode for old times sake. iCarly and Drake and Josh were a huge part of my childhood growing up, I watched the hell out of each time and time again, so when I heard that iCarly was coming back for a revival series I knew I had to check it out.

I truly do think that the adult orientated approach to this series is a stroke of genius, the audience has grown up with Carly and we like her have very different trails and tribulations then we did when we first watched the series. Though the series has a bit more adult humour I would still say it was child friendly as there is nothing that unsuitable there.

Moreover, I think the knowing self-aware aspects to the series really help to enhance it and add to that link between those on screen and us watching. There were no actual forth wall breaks, at least not in this first episode, but there were a number of winks to the camera so to speak and each time it made me smile.

Miranda Cosgrove anchors the series masterfully, and it is nice to see her back centre stage again. Likewise Jerry Trainor as Spencer is also still excellent and has a nice back and forth with Cosgrove and the rest of the cast. Though Jennette McCurdy’s absence is felt, Cosgrove and the rest of the cast do such a good job that it makes up for it.

Overall, so far a good and well done revival series.

Pros.

Cosgrove

Trainor

The self-awareness

The adult tone

Cons.

The studio audience canned laughter is distracting

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Loki: The Variant

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So, the second episode of Loki is good, there is no doubting that, however it does slump a bit when compared to last weeks mostly stellar opener. Mainly this is due to what I would argue is a rushed story decision on the part of the episode’s ending, but I can see why with a limited six episode run they chose to do it this way.

I am of course talking about Loki’s decision to chase after his evil variant and effectively leave the TVA. Like I said plot wise it makes sense, but I would have liked more time with the Loki and Mobius buddy cop dynamic, Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston have great chemistry together- hopefully they will still get to share a lot of scenes together.

As for the who the internet have dubbed prematurely Lady Loki, who is more likely Enchantress, it is far to early to cast any kind of judgement on her: though I will say it was a neat development to have it be her that truly begins the destruction of the Sacred Timeline it makes her vital to the narrative going forward.

Overall, a solid episode though one that is slightly in the shadow of its better predecessor.

Pros.

Loki and Mobius

A few very funny scenes

The destruction of the timeline

The things it sets up

Cons.

The plot feels a little rushed

It underwhelms after a strong first episode

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Loki Episode 1 : Glorious Purpose

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Though I enjoyed Wandavison’s first episode more so than most, I think this is easily the best first episode of a Marvel Disney + series to date; the reason I did not mention, Falcon And The Winter Soldiers first episode is because it wasn’t very good and proved no real competition to this.

This episode had everything you would want out of a Loki series and then more on top. It has humour, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Owen Wilson’s Mobius have great on screen chemistry together and provide us with quite a few strong comedic scenes. It has heart and depth, such as when variant Loki, who had never seen the events of Thor The Dark World, saw his adoptive mother die for the first time. It also has a promising mystery, and pits Loki against himself.

I thought one of the best things about this episode was the introduction to the Time Variants Authority and the widening of the MCU as this fills in some blanks and also changes how we see the events of the MCU as a whole. The one thing I didn’t like in this respect is that they basically confirm that Agents Of Shield is non-cannon: there is a moment where one additional line of dialogue would have confirmed the shows place in universe, but we never get that conformation.

Finally, outside of Loki and Mobius the rest of the characters are sparse and only really seem to exist to facilitate one purpose and are quite one dimensional: hopefully this will be fixed later in the show and these characters might get to see more exploration.

Overall, a very promising first episode.

Pros.

Widening the MCU

Owen Wilson

Tom Hiddleston, particularly during the more emotion scenes.

Cons.

A few annoying side characters

Even more signs pointing to AOS being non-cannon

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