In this week’s episode of Futurama we meet the long-awaited girlfriend of Doctor Zoidberg, and watch as Bender pursues his new life-long dream of becoming the world’s greatest tap-dancer. There are laughs and ‘heart-breaking’ moments galore in the roller-coaster of emotion that is ‘Stench and Stenchibility’.
After Zoidberg’s video-girlfriend of four years finally meets him, she dumps him on the spot because of his overwhelming stench. Broken-hearted, Zoidberg tries to return the flowers he purchased for her to the florist, and this is where he meets Marianne (voiced by special guest star, Emilia Clarke). Marianne and Zoidberg are immediately attracted to one another, but Zoidberg does not understand why she likes him when most people run away from him and his smell. Marianne reveals she was born without a sense of smell (a florist without a sense of smell? Oh, the irony!), and Zoidberg feels sorry for her, but is secretly glad she is not repulsed by him like so many others. The Professor tells Zoidberg that there is a cure for Marianne’s condition in the form of a nose transplant. Zoidberg is torn: on the one claw, he knows Marianne would love to be able to smell the flowers that she sells, and just wants for her to be happy, but on the other, he knows that if she is able to smell him, she will no longer want to be with him. What should Zoidberg do? What will Zoidberg do?
Meanwhile, Bender is invited to participate in a tap-dancing contest, and will go to any lengths to secure his victory. The competition seems in the bag, until he meets Tonya, an adorable little girl with the mind of a monster. Will Tonya become Bender’s arch-nemesis or partner in crime? And who will win the tap-dancing competition?!
This episode was great, because, well, who doesn't love Zoidberg? It was nice to see poor, smelly, unlucky in love Zoidberg, finally get his chance at happiness. Other highlights from this episode were the return of more familiar faces (Randy, crazy Robert, and the breathy-voiced scientist/doctor - it seems they are trying to include all of the old characters in some way this season!), and the pure evilness of Bender (just when you think he’s as bad as can be, he does something worse). Only one episode to go now, and I can’t wait! Review by Heather Bale.
For
ages now, we have waited patiently and screamed at the TV screen from
the on-stress Pretty Little Liars has brought upon us. If you caught
this week's episode another member of the 'A' team or red coat was
revealed-we are still trying to figure it out.
The
girls have been hot on A's trial for a while now, hence, all the
chaos A has been causing to slow them down. A has been busy girl, if
in fact it is a girl.
Emily
is living with Mrs DiLaurentis while her house is getting rebuilt
since the car incident and has come across sleeping bag in Mrs Di's
house. Obviously someone has been squatting down there and watching
through little peep holes. Aria, Emily and Spencer visited the spot
to search for clues, only to hear someone enter the house and Aria
nearly loses an eye.
Hanna
on the other hand, still has her mother to worry about and with Mrs
Hasting forced to drop the case, no one has been able to fill her
shoes. A new develop came along this week as Hanna was approached by
Travis who claims he was a witness and saw Ashley drive away before
the gun shots that killed Wilden.
Remember
the photo of Wilden with his arms around Allison and Cece on the
boat? Emily has a flashback of Ali telling her about how she helps
out friends by breaking up with their boyfriend for them and one
actually pulled a gun on her. What if Cece was the one dating Wilden
and she killed him because he would not leave her alone?
The
episode focused a little too much on their relationships, Aria and
Jake are in a happy place but sad Ezra keeps trying to get in contact
with Aria to talk about his son Malcolm. At the country western
dance, Jake tells Ezra to back off but Aria ends up going to Ezra's
place anyway to have a chat. They
really need to learn to let go.
It's
awkward between Emily and Paige since they called the quits on their
relationship but later share a cute dance. While Spencer is worried
about Toby getting set up 'A' as he continues to search for answers
about his mother's death.
It
was great to see girls all at the country western dance escaping from
reality even for a brief moment, Aria even showed off pretty skilled
line-dancing with Jake but of course nothing can stay happy for
long. Also what was with Jake knowing Aria's shoe size? It was kind
of creepy, knowing the luck these girls have, he's probably part of
the 'A' team.
Cece
is back in town and is seen with the red coat then later in a black
hoodie. Either way we know she's not trustworthy. Is Cece red coat or
have the writers pointed all the evidence at her to distact us? Next
week is the summer finale aka #WorldWarA and it's going to be one
exciting ride.
This week's episode was epic, encapturing the very definition of 'being on the edge of one's seat'. The audience was left craving more as the plot thickened on the second last episode ever, with the return of a crazy, homicidal foe, and the final break-up between Michael and the CIA.
The episode if full of tension as Michael's mission with the CIA is coming to an end. For once, the CIA is one step ahead of James, although they are tested to their limits as James' men slaughter the alpha-team.
The alpha-team are not the typical CIA agents however, and are lead by the one and only Simon – the man that attempted to blow up half of Miami, and who Michael personally put away forever, or so he thought. The betrayal Michael felt at this indiscretion of the CIA was the final straw on a long list of wrongdoings by the CIA. Michael finally cracks, and realises his faith in the CIA may not be exactly right – an idea Sam, Jesse and Fi have been trying to instill in Michael for a long time.
Throughout the elaborate schemes Michael is carrying out for the CIA in order to capture James, Michael realises this and then throws the mission, turning his faith to James himself – the very thing his loved ones were afraid of.
This, however, does not necessarily mean Michael has 'turned to the dark side'. As any avid watchers will know, James is confusing – he is portrayed as 'the bad guy', but we see so many good values within him.
All in all, this is a very conflicting and intense episode, with only more tension to come as Michael's friends attempt to reach Michael before the CIA does.
This week’s Futurama episode, ‘Murder on the Planet Express’, is like a golden age crime story crossed with a classic horror story. Those familiar with either genre will laugh as they recognise the tropes of each, and those that are just fans of the show will laugh at the regular sci-fi gags and character quirks littered throughout the episode.
Fed up that the crew of Planet Express do not trust one another, the Professor sends them on a “corporate team-building retreat” in space with the trust guru, Dan McMasters. In order to show them the importance of trust, McMasters picks up a hitch-hiker. Of course this hitch-hiker is someone not to be trusted, as he turns into an alien, eats McMasters, and shuts off all the ships power. The Planet Express crew starts doing exactly what the Professor wanted: they are trusting one another in order work together to try and defeat the alien. That is until they find out the creature is a shape-shifter. So, now the Planet Express crew are trapped on a ship with a murderous shape-shifting creature that is going to pick them off one by one, and they do not know who it could be at any given time. Who can they trust? Who can’t they trust? And will trusting one another actually solve anything?
My favourite thing about this episode is that it undermines the message of the importance of trust right at the end of the episode, which is so Futurama. They don’t care about sending a positive message, they’re not a kids show, they just want to make an amusing episode of an animated sitcom, which they did so well this week. I would definitely rate this as one of the better episodes of the season, and am cautiously optimistic about the quality of the next two episodes.
The season six finale of True Blood, while oddly disjointed, was still quite satisfying. Loose ends were tied up, old problems resurfaced, and time seemed to pass in a blink of the eye.
Since the vamps are all safe now Sookie asks Ben/Warlow whether they could date before he turns her, as there is no urgency anymore. He gets angry and reveals his true colours as the monster we saw in season five, ties her up, and starts feeding from her. Bill (who is Bill Compton again and not Billith after his substantial blood-loss, thank goodness!), realises he still has feelings for Sookie (not again), and enlists the help of Jason, Violet, Andy and Adylin to rescue Sookie from Ben/Warlow. Just when it looks like Ben/Warlow might win, Niall comes back from the plane he was on, Warlow is staked, and all is well.
... for a few seconds anyway. Since Ben is gone, so is his fairy blood, which means the vampires can no longer walk in the sun. This is fine for most, since they are all indoors, except for one: Eric. He is in the middle of nowhere, in broad daylight, so he bursts into flames. The scene cuts before we see whether he lives or not. It seems Eric’s future on True Blood is hanging in the balance, but if that is the way they kill him off, I just... he deserves better than a two minute sequence where he bursts into flames, it’s so anti-climatic. Ben/Warlow’s death was pretty anti-climatic, but I was expecting it since they wouldn’t make Sookie a vampire and had to dispose of him in some way. I know they’re trying to leave Eric’s ‘death’ open so they can make up their minds later/Skarsgard can do other work, but they can’t kill him like that, he’s a centuries old vampire who used to be a viking! Not to mention he’s a fan-favourite who has been around since season one (unlike Warlow). If they want to write him out, let him live... This leaves open the possibility of guest appearances later...
Six months pass, and some things have changed: Sookie and Aclide have been dating; Jason and Violet are still together; Bill has written a book about his time as Billith; Adylin seems to have stopped aging; Sam is now the mayor of Bon Temps; Nicole is still pregnant; Merlotte’s is now ‘The Bellefleur Bar and Grill’ and is owned by Arlene. The biggest change is one on a global scale, and that is the worldwide outbreak of Hep V. Gangs of infected vamps have been roaming the countryside to feed, focusing their attention on small towns. Due to this, Mayor Sam, Bill, and the reverends of the local two churches have gotten together and decided the best course of action is for humans and vampires to create an agreement wherein one vampire will offer their protection to a whole family in exchange for some of their blood. Of course this is met with outrage, but it seems this may be the best course of action for many. In terms of the shows structure this means the main characters should have more interactions with one another if they are confined to certain pairings.
At the ‘pairing’ meeting Jessica offers Andy and Adylin her protection, but Andy wants nothing to do with her. Tara’s mother, Lettie Mae, comes to her and apologises for all of the wrongs she has done to Tara in her life. Lettie Mae offers Tara her blood, which she accepts. This does not sit well with me, because even though her apology seemed sincere, she could be up to something. Lettie Mae hates vampires, and has never seemed to love her daughter, so I wouldn’t be surprised if her mother had become a carrier of Hep V to harm Tara. Or perhaps I’m just paranoid.
Meanwhile, as Bill is trying to offer is protection to Sookie (who needs Bill when you have Alcide?), a horde of infected vamps approaches and surrounds the pairing meeting...
True Blood is known for it’s cliff-hangers at the end of every episode, but the cliff-hanger at the end of this one just didn’t seem to have the same sense of urgency that others have had in the past. Maybe they were trying this for a change of pace, or maybe I’m just optimistic that Hep V will be cured and all will be well once again... before the next big bad announces itself, that is. Anyway, True Blood seems to have pulled itself out of the hole season five created, and season seven has been setup to see the show return to what it once was with fewer story-lines and more focus on the core characters. Here’s hoping that it will.
This week’s episode was
nowhere near as good as last week. The whole episode was a little all
over the place but ignoring the confusing timeline and disappointing
follow through are some of the best character moments of the season.
It also saw some of the best performances of the season, the whole
cast blew it out of the park.
Stiles, Allison and Isaac
search for the missing parents, Scott comes to terms with his
decision to join Deucalion and Derek pays a terrible price to save
his sister Cora. Along the way Stiles and Lydia share an intimate
moment, Peter continues his manipulation of Derek and Scott finds out
about the flirtation between Allison and Isaac. The episode ends with
Scott, Stiles and Allison making performing a dangerous ritual in
order to save their parents. There is also a rather well done plot
twist.
This episode suffered
many of the same problems of early episodes; the timeline was
confusing, the reasoning unsatisfactory and it failed to follow
through on a number of the events of the previous episode. Last week,
Scott’s decision to join the Alpha pack had seemed disastrous but
this week there seemed to be very few consequences. Scott was able to
save Ms Morrell, find out vital information and then leave the moment
that his friends called for help. It was hardly the dire situation it
was painted to be.
On the other side the
search for the parents was beautifully done – with the exception of
Chris Argent purposely getting himself caught without a plan for
escape. Watching Stiles and Allison break down at the loss of their
only parent was heartbreaking and Sheriff Stilinski’s emotional
speech about his wife’s death was quite the tearjerker. At the same
time Derek’s storyline still lacks emotional resonance because his
sister Cora is little more than a two-dimensional plot device.
The best moment of the
episode involved an astonishing realistic depiction of a panic attack
followed by a sweet kiss between Stiles and Lydia. The scene was
played beautifully by Dylan O’Brien and Holland Roden with just the
right amount of hope without pushing it too far. Surprisingly, while
the moment had a hint of hope for something more it was more about
cementing the friendship that has been building all season rather
than romance. It was refreshing.
Realistically, at this
stage there is no way that Teen Wolf can tie up all the loose
ends left by this season. All I want out of the final is an exciting
adventure focusing on the key friendships that have been the best
part of this hit and miss of a season. If I get that, then I will
probably be convinced to follow this show through into the next
adventure.
To be honest, I don't know what or how to feel after this week's episode. Michael continues to do 'whatever it takes' to complete the mission, however, he has now made the complete transition from the spy who gets the job done with zero fatalities, to the spy who is willing to kill a friend.
This new 'facade' Michael is putting on is just a little too convincing, and although I realise this is a part of the story line developing, and that Michael can't stay the too-good-to-be-true hero forever, I don't like it one bit. The audience are left wondering, where is the line when it comes to saving his loved ones? Are all of the lost lives worth their own? And possibly worse than the wondering, is that Michael knows it is not what his friends would want, and hides his actions from them.
Carlos comes back into and out of the picture in the one episode, and knows exactly how it feels to have the lives of others sacrificed for their own. He is captured by an old gang leader, and Fi, almost hysterical, calls in a long overdue favour from Michael. Michael's loyalty to Fi really shines through during this incident, as he is willing to go to extreme lengths to save the man Fiona loves, even endangering his own life, and sacrificing many others.
Although we all know that Michael is doing what he is for his friends and family, there is that nagging feeling in the back of our minds that reminds us of the hundreds of successful missions Michael has completed without fatalities, and we realise we are beginning to see the old Michael slip away.
I don't know what the last few episodes have in store for us, but lets just hope it was all worth it.
