Review: Gotham, Season 2, Episode 8: Tonight’s The Night (A Nice Day For A White Wedding?)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“Bad dream”

‘Tonight’s The Night’ was a thoroughly entertaining piece of TV, and one of the best episodes of Gotham since the time of Jerome. Having one over-arching story (that of Galavan’s quest for vengeance) has glued everything together and given mostly each character a reason for existing. Even Barbara has had something to do. This episode is her shining moment, where all of the potential of her mentally scarred character was pushed into the foreground, rather than lurking in the foreground. Bookended by two weddings, ‘Tonight’s The Night’ packed enough in between the bookends to be rewarding TV.

Review: Gotham, Season 2, Episode 7: Mommy’s Little Monster (A Freudian Slip In Quality?)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“No, no, no, that’s not possible”

Will Gotham be anything more than a mixed bag of a TV series? Seven episodes in to the second season, and the quality hits highs and lows every couple of minutes! The beginning to this episode was shocking and rather brutal, but the rather ridiculous Riddler sub-plot dragged the flow down soon afterwards. Galavan continues to be an intriguing ‘big bad,’ and most scenes involving him keep the show afloat. But what really happened, of substance, between the pre-credit teaser and the final shoot-out? And yes, we were subjected to yet another shoot-out that looked identical to all the other shoot-outs that we’ve seen thus far!

Review: Gotham, Season 2, Episode 2: Knock Knock

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“You’re part of the great endeavour, the great cleansing”

Well, why didn’t ‘Gotham’ begin its second season with an episode like ‘Knock Knock?’ This was ‘Gotham’ at its best; granted, that doesn’t mean the highest level of quality, but you settle for what you can get in ‘Gotham.’ Although I could have done without the Bruce Wayne/Alfred subplot, which felt like we’d been cheated yet again, the ‘Rise of the Villains’ certainly came to the fore, in an equally entertaining, brutal and shocking manner. At times, the brutality seemed too camp, diffusing the shock factor, but overall it was well done. It felt more like a mid-series cliffhanger than merely the second episode! Let’s hope they don’t peak too soon…

Review: Gotham, Season 2, Episode 1: Damned If You Do…(Damned If You Watch This Show!)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“Dark days are coming”

Gotham is back on Channel 5! If it was up to me, I wouldn’t watch Gotham. The first season, while containing some good episodes, failed to conjure up much of anything apart from boredom and frustration. However, my fiancée adores it, so in the name of compromise, I continue to watch it! With the subtitle ‘Rise Of The Villains,’ we were promised a great deal…but the first episode of Season 2, ‘Damned If You Do…’ did what Gotham does best: disappoint! One pleasant observation was that it no longer takes itself too seriously, but nothing made a great impression. The writers have not learned any lessons from Season 1.

Review: Agents of SHIELD: Season 3: Episode 1: ‘Laws of Nature’ (Survival Of The Fittest?)

(MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD)

“I don’t know what’s happening to me…”

‘Agents of SHIELD’ is back! The second series was a massive improvement on the first, and some episodes were among the best TV I saw last year. Of course, there were still a few duds littered about, but you’re always going to get that with a series of twenty-odd episodes. The show changed from being a chore to watch to being a pleasure to watch. I was looking forward to the new season of AoS. However, I should have done (or there should have been) a recap, as I had forgotten some events from the second series (and couldn’t put names to some faces!). That being said, the Season 3 opener was, for the most part, a success. Apart from a few boring exposition scenes, there was enough action and enjoyable dialogue to bring AoS back to our screens with a bang!

Review: Agents of SHIELD: Season 2, Episode 12: Who You Really Are (Do You Want To Find Out?!?!?)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“Training is not a group activity”

Well, last week’s episode ‘Aftershocks’ was a bit of a dud. Nothing really happened of much substance. It represented the worst of Agents of SHIELD; those episodes that are merely padding, and not much more. However, maybe we needed a dull episode to break us into the second half of Season 2. And ‘Who You Really Are’ everything ‘Aftershocks’ wasn’t: gripping, entertaining and moving along at a rapid pace. Also, the added benefit of guest star Sif really boosted proceedings.