In this post food-coma state we all might be in, I thought it would be nice to talk about the recent show that’s captivated our attention, Gotham. Why? Because this is a show about Batman before he was Batman, and really, more about the city. With that, there’s always something to learn. Also, yes, I am just now catching up on the mid season finale. Being an adult severely cut into my TV time these past few weeks. It seems things are finally getting back to normal.

So, seriously, I did not know that Alfred was as awesome as he is. Did anyone else? Was this just a thing I never knew? Was it something that was information to everyone but me?  Whether Alfred really is this bad ass, or not, the show has really shed some light onto his character. More than just a butler, Alfred is able to kick some serious tail and has no problem telling Gordon how it is. This version of Alfred rapidly stole my heart the second he told Gordon off. While this surly old gent has no problem with standing up to people, he seems to give in to Bruce whenever the child pushes. Regardless of anything, Alfred is still the loyal butler we all know and love. This one just swears, says mate, and gives open snark. Okay, at first, I didn’t want to like him. At all. But, he is a pretty great character.

Next up, the Penguin. Now, I knew he was a bit of an interesting weird little fellow. I never expected him to be full blown sociopathic. This psychotic mobster-wannabe, has done anything and everything to worm his way into the mix of the two major mob families. Originally, Oswald had psychotic rages when being called Penguin, but lately he’s learned to embrace it. The little master mind is so devious, he’s playing as many sides of this that he can. He also has no problem killing anyone. I mean, anyone….If that wasn’t bad enough, the very weird relationship he has with his mother might just explain his psychosis. Still, I have to give mad props to the actor playing the Penguin. I’ve never been so creeped out by a character before. While the Penguin isn’t for everyone, he certainly is good at what he does. After all, he taught me the most important lesson of all: if you’re going to take over a city, leave no loose ends. And also, wear a tux. Come on, he’s classy at least.

We all know the story of Selena Kyle. Or do we? It’s hard to say. With so many versions out there, it’s hard to settle on just one. What we can’t debate is that she does become the Catwoman. How, or why, doesn't really matter; yet, Gotham is giving us a bit of backstory. Selena currently lives on the streets and already has an affinity for any feline. Her movements are already catlike in nature. But, how did she get there? It’s obvious her parents aren’t in the picture, but it seems she’s searching for her mother. Still, her motives may be somewhat self driven….she puts up a tough front, but she is sensitive. With anger as her default setting, it’s not hard to see how closely she takes after a cat. I will say, she does make me want to learn parkour.

Perhaps the most interesting on the show for me, is not just Jim Gordon, but also Harvey Bullock. These two characters are pretty static, in my opinion, in most media showcases. This show, however, gives them both depth, and drives them forward. Bullock is one of the most captivating characters for me. In the movies and cartoon show, he’s been shown as a slob that’s kind of a dirty-ish cop. While some of that may be true, this show has given Harvey more development. With a backstory that showed us he was once as passionate about his job as Gordon, we saw a different Harvey. A Harvey that pulled back and hid from everything when he got his friend and partner injured. Still, throughout the show Harvey has done a great deal at overcoming that. While he’s still rough around the edges, he’s at least on Gordon’s side…

The transformation of Gotham and the murder of the Wayne’s are far more connected than I once thought. This show does a great job of intertwining little plot strings. It does great at showing how the city is slowly corrupting and turning into the Gotham we all know. It seems this city was always struggling with it’s crazy population of baddies….

Wow, guys, it’s been a crazy week! And last week’s episode of Gotham? Just as crazy. It’s all building up to tonight’s’ mid season finale, but before that, let’s take a quick minute to walk down memory lane and re-live last week! For starters, what I love best about this show is their ability to go down different avenues with various characters. Harvey Dent is introduced as the go-getting, very ‘trustworthy’ lawyer. Except, he might be showing signs of an explosive personality disorder already. Montoya and her partner escort Gordon to meet the district attorney to discuss possible leads in the Wayne case. With Selena as their only eyewitness, there isn’t much of a case to build just yet. Speaking of, Selena might be hanging out with the Wayne orphan and his trusty Butler.

The interactions are going questionable, at best, and Alfred is really not okay with watching the little street cat. But, Bruce has ordered she can stay with them as long as she needs. Plus, she does know what the killer of his parents looked like. And, if I’m not mistaken, the little heir might just have a massive crush on the precocious little scamp.  It’s all good and fun but her temperament isn’t up to Alfred’s rules and standards. Sadly, Gordon hasn’t been by to visit just yet. Between setting up a case with Dent and dealing with the fact that Barbara left him, he’s also busy with a case. A very mentally unstable young bomb maker was attacked and taken from police custody on his way to therapy. It seems some angry Russian’s need him for a job. Well, angry Russians that might be livid at Falcone over the death of their boss, and might be working for Fish.

The goal? Steal some highly explosive, more powerful than C4, stuff and blow a hole in Falcones’ personal vault. Then rob him blind. The bomb maker isn’t too thrilled with this plan. He never wanted to hurt people, and the only time he did was an accident. He turned himself over and pleaded guilty when he found out one of his bombs had killed two janitors. With some detective work and help from Nygma, Bullock and Gordon find out what the compound is and just what it does to certain metals. They arrive on scene as the Russian mobsters are stealing the cash out of the vault. A bomb in the car goes off before the deadly fire fight can begin, killing the four gangsters…

The Mayor decides to re-open Arkham after that…and ships all the mentally ill prisoners in Black Gate, to Arkham. Including our bomb maker…which is kind of sad. As far as baddies on this show, he wasn’t bad…I felt awful for him! Alas, things never go as I want them. It’s all right, we do get to see the Penguin being…well, insanely creepy. He’s found out Fish’s secret and gone so far as to confront the girl Falcone is seeing. He knows she’s a double agent for Fish and threatens her life if she doesn’t keep working for his old boss. Seems the Penguin is planning to overthrow them all?

Life in Gotham is so confusing. To top it all off, Barbara has run back to Montoya…and Gordon hasn’t a clue…Hopefully tonight’s episode gives us something to hold on to…with the imminent holiday break coming up, I’m not sure how to survive without my favorite shows.

I think I finally realized what I like about The Flash. The fact that this show manages to embody the best parts of every comic book we have ever read.  It's fun, it's action packed and most importantly it's relatable and last night's episode, "The Flash Is Born" combined all of those elements to make for one incredible episode.  

Last night, Barry finally went up against an meta human where his speed meant nothing and it just so happens this particular villain, was a true blast from his past, the bully that used to pick on him in grade school. What makes Tony Woodward so difficult for Barry to defeat? Only the fact that he can turn his body into pure steel and everything Barry throws at him, leaves him broken and wounded.  

As the team works to figure out how to defeat this man of metal (yes, the show made a Man of Steel joke) Barry is still having to deal with Iris and her love of blogging about "The Streak" despite the fact that the trouble he warned her could happen, at last comes to light as Tony comes to find Iris in an effort to get her to write about him instead. The team does finally figure out how to beat the metallic bully, and it turns out that in order to do it...Barry will have to travel at Mach One to knock the monster out.  It's a feat he manages to pull off and Tony is added to the menagerie at S.T.A.R. Labs.  Plus, Barry and Iris reconcile and at long last, The Streak is given a proper nickname...The Flash. 

In between all of this though, Joe is doing his best to figure out who really murdered Barry's mother and his work on the case manages to offend Wells and it brings forth the very mysterious yellow lightning man that Barry saw years ago to steal all the evidence CCPD ever had on the case and leave Joe with a warning.  Stop...or Iris dies.  

So when I said this episode combined the best parts of comic books, I wasn't kidding. There were laughs, there were some awesome battles between Barry and his bully and that storyline is what caught me by surprise the most.  It was just incredible to see Barry have to face a blast from his past one that haunts him and the fact that he has to find a way to overcome it whether he likes it or not.  That's what pulled so many of us toward our favorite comic characters over the years, they were men and women who faced their demons, their past and insurmountable odds to succeed, and we wanted to be that kind of person in our lives and I find it so refreshing to see it play out on television like this.  Another great episode and I can't wait for next week.  

I guess if there is one good way to describe Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is that the show is like a fine wine, it truly gets better with age.  Week after week this show continues to impress me and last night was no exception. So many questions were answered and I'm still reeling from a couple of plot points from "The Things We Bury".

The good news is, crazy Coulson is truly gone.  Sure there is some fear from a few members of the team as to whether or not he may have gone off of his rocker, but his focus on finding this strange alien city and the plan he has in place shows the man we know and love has indeed truly returned.  But while the hunt for the city is clearly the focus for the next few episodes of the show...the focus last night was on Ward & Whitehall.

We learned a lot about Whitehall last night.  We learned the man is likely damn near one hundred years old for starters and has been dealing with the Obelisk, now called The Diviner, basically all of his life.  He was unable to crack the code back in the 1940's and Agent Carter (in another surprise guest spot from Haley Atwell) had him locked up for most of his life. That is until Under Secretary Pierce had him released where he continued his work. He once again found a girl who was able to touch the Diviner and not be harmed.  It's important to mention she was still the same age she was in 1945 when Whitehall meets her again in 1989 and the subsequent experiments on her body gave Whitehall the youth we see today at the cost of her life. 

In between watching that horrific story, Ward went after his brother. The focus of this visit? To get Christian to admit that he was the reason that Grant shoved Thomas down the well and surprisingly, Christian admits it. This admission seemingly patched up the differences between these two.  So as the brothers Ward seem to be burying the hatchet, Coulson's plan to hijack government satellites to find the alien city goes into action, and it brings him face to face with Skye's dad.  It's a quick and angry confrontation that will undoubtedly get ugly the next time the two see one another.  

But on the plus side, they find the city. On the downside, Ward finally meets with Whitehall and it is revealed that his brother and the rest of his family are dead in a "murder/suicide" and that's how the show ends, on a bleak note.  To say the least Ward is quickly becoming terrifying and next week, it looks like we may finally find what this hidden city is all about. 

Last episode we learned that Mockingbird is my favorite character. We probably learned a lot more too. Like how agent Ward is utterly insane and obsessed with Skye; how Simmons and Fitz aren't as close as they used to be; most importantly, Coulson is still carving into walls. That's right, the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Is having some problems keeping that compulsion down. What's been going on? 

To find out, Coulson decides to use the machine Raina had on himself. While the team doesn't agree with this method, as the director, what he says goes. While under we learn that Project T.A.H.I.T.I. was Coulsons' creation to avert the side effects of using magical alien DNA to repair humans. This serum derived from the half alien remains can cure just about anything. However, it imprints memories onto the patients, making them carve strange symbols into anything they can find. This includes, in the case of Derek, flesh. Project T.A.H.I.T.I. replaces the memories of these agents, gives them new identities and lives. Except Derek, who has rediscovered his memories and is now out to find his other test subjects. Pain gave him his memories back, so he figures it will work with the others. A brutal murder of one patient has the team searching for the killer and answers. Slowly, Phil is driven a bit insane from the reclaiming of memories. Skye goes to secure him, but only succeeds in being tricked and locked up herself.

Coulson, now free, finds the next victim on Derek's list, a welder, and goes to confront the man. Sadly, Derek is there waiting and he captures them all. While he starts to torture Phil, the welder and his family attempt to escape. Coulson gets free and fights Derek, winning just as his team shows up. Suddenly, his compulsion to carve the symbols is gone. With the last piece of the puzzle, Coulson puts all the carvings together and discovers they form a city. What city? Why? That's the real question...

While they're doing that, May, Hunter, and Morse are tracking Ward. They end up following him to a dive bar where they see him meet with a HYDRA agent, the top ranking agent is left gagged and tied as a gift to Coulson. Ward calls Skye to inform her he'll be sending more their way, and that he'll be back to see her soon. 

That last part creeped me out really bad! Ward has gone a bit over the deep end and doesn't seem to care what he does, so long as he's in control. Seems his sights are still set on Skye....

Oh Gotham, how you continue to impress.  This week was a fast paced episode, filled to the brim with important little details and as always hints of things to come, especially when it came to the man whose name shared the title of this week's episode, "Harvey Dent".

Yes, good old Harvey had a plan this week to potentially draw out some of Gotham's more unsavory businessmen by tying Dick Lovecraft to the Wayne murders in a risky gambit. His plan was to leak the story that GCPD had a secret witness ready to go to testify against him, of course the plan fails miserably, but we are treated to one incredible outburst from Harvey that certainly speaks to his future role as a madman terrorizing Gotham.  Yet, that was really it for Harvey this week, short and sweet because the rest of the episode had two other big storylines to handle. 

The first one was the escape of an inmate from Blackgate Penitentiary, Ian Hargrove.  Mister Hargrove was a bomber who destroyed buildings and companies he deemed bad for society and only recently harmed other human beings in the process. But good old Fish had bigger plans for Hargrove, using him to exact revenge on Falcone. Yes, she wanted to hurt Falcone where it matters most, in his wallet, and while the heist failed miserably in the respect of making Fish that much richer, the cops now knew where Falcone hid his money and all that bread undoubtedly found itself seized.  

But the best part of the show last night was Gordon putting Selina Kyle up in Wayne Manor to keep her safe as he continued to work toward solving the Wayne murders.  It was awesome to see Bruce quickly develop a crush on the woman he will someday have one wild and weird relationship with, but it was even better to finally see Bruce acting like a kid once again. Selina actually managed to bring out the best in Bruce, and challenge him in ways we hadn't see him go through yet. This whole little subplot was as Aflred put it, "a breath of fresh air."

Either way, I really enjoyed this episode. I loved watching Harvey damn near lose his mind around Lovecraft and see that insane fury burning in his eyes.  Despite being a classy prosecutor for the city and state, that evil is already starting to brew within him.  I also loved how the recently renovated Arkham Asylum was re opened as a home for the criminally insane, simply because well...we all know how well that works out.  Until next week...

Once upon a time there were three sisters. Not related by blood, but by magic. Well, so thinks Ingrid the Snow Queen. It seems her plan is slowly coming together. However, there’s just one thing not going according to plan. Nothing ever goes according to plan in StoryBrooke. Emma, on the run from her family, seeks out Gold and asks for a favor…a spell that would take away her magic. He just so happens to have one…only, the spell isn’t quite what he’s making her think it is. Still, Emma is desperate to trust him and give up her light magic in order to save her friends and family.

Henry tried to speak with her about this, only, that didn’t go so well. Much like Elsa and Anna, Emma ends up hurting Henry. The boy is more upset that he doesn’t have magic to help with than actually being hurt by his mother. With that, he slinks off to his room to sulk. Snow and Prince Charming, however, seem to be okay with Emma giving up her powers. Why? Because being normal might actually help her. Or maybe they don’t want to be afraid of their daughter. While discussing this, Elsa overhears them and decides to take matters into her own hands. She steals a tracking potion Regina has brought over as well as Emma’s scarf. She sneaks off without anyone noticing. Hook is beyond panicked as he figures out what Emma has done. He calls her repeatedly…finally leaving a message telling her every last thing that had happened. The truth finally exposed to a voice mail does little to settle his guilt. After all, he did help Gold in some of this, and he isn’t about to let him take the woman he loves for a second time. 

Regina finally learns what Emma is going to do and essentially tells Snow and Charming off, getting them to go after their daughter and stop her. On the way, however, Regina gets a call from Robin and leaves to speak with him. What is the Prince of Thieves up to? He and Will have found a secret library under the clock tower. In it, they’ve been searching for a clue as to who wrote the magical storybook that seems to determine everyone’s fate. While they don’t find anything a page appears in Robin’s bag. It’s a duplicate of one of the pages, a picture of Regina and Robin kissing in the tavern where she left him. It would seem there were many options that night could have taken. Maybe Regina is rewriting her own fate after all. A happy ending for the former evil Queen? I hope so…

But not all get a happy ending. Gold has trapped the Snow Queen for the moment, but she sends a projection of herself to warn Emma. It doesn’t work. Emma goes to where she’s meeting Gold, only to find she can’t find him right away. Gold has set the Sorcerers’ hat up…he has little problem betraying Emma to get what he wants. Giving the hat the power it needs, will free him from the control of the dagger. Fueled by his need to be free, he doesn’t seem to care about hurting his grandson’s mother. He leaves and stops Hook from getting to Emma. He doesn’t see Elsa slip in, nor does he see how the young Queen of Arendelle talks some sense into Emma. Finally, Emma accepts her powers and they stop going insane…Gold is livid, and takes Hook's heart. It seems part of the spell required to break his bond with the dagger means he needs the heart of someone who knew him before he was the Dark One…

When all seems well, ribbons appear on Emma and Elsa’s wrists, draining their powers. The Snow Queen has used them to channel their powers to her…and with that, she has cast the spell of Shattered Sight…The same spell she had used on Anna all those years ago to have the girl trap Elsa in the urn. Shortly after, she freezes the entire castle, including Anna and Kristoff…With the spell now unleashed on the whole town…what’s going to happen?

Reeling from the betrayal of his fellow cops, Gordon will hardly talk to anyone but Bullock. This doesn't seem too unreasonable...they did leave him to die. Still, this has some pretty strong tension between the detective and everyone. That ill will gets somewhat stronger over the course of the case. A man is found dead near the docks. It seems he'd been beaten, but the large gash on his throat is what killed him. Who could have done such a thing? A thumb in the victims mouth might help find who killed him. Gordon and Bullock get to work on tracking down any leads.

Meanwhile, Bruce is being forced to go back to school, thanks to Alfred. It's obvious he doesn't quite fit in when he starts getting bullied by a larger kid. When the kid starts picking on Bruce's' dead mother, he loses it. And then promptly loses. In Alfred's wisdom, he takes Bruce to the kids house after school, hands him his fathers watch, and watches as Bruce gives the kid a rather savage beating. After, Bruce asks if Alfred will train him to fight...the butler agrees. Is this where our Batman learned to kick butt? Apparently it is the start of it. Still, hearing Alfred say "mate" weirds me out. Seriously! Alfred is supposed to be all prim and proper! And while this Alfred is, he's also a bit more human. Which isn't bad, it's just strange!

Back to the detectives! They've found where the thumbless man worked and are hitting up the business. The, so obsessed with warrior culture, boss confirms nothing and denies it all. Gordon isn't in any mood for this. Telling the guy off most likely made him a target, but you can't really blame the detective! He's just doing his job. Just a bit more forceful about it. Gordon even blows Barbara off in his anger. Though he does make peace with the Chief. She seems to be beyond regretful for leaving him, unlike the others. A number of abandoned buildings pop up as possible places the murder happened in. Gordon splits the list with Bullock and they start to look. Gordon happens upon the original crime scene on his first try, only he's not alone. The strike to the back of his head is indication of that.

Not having heard from his partner, Bullock starts to panic. He tries to get the GCPD to help, but nobody seems interested. I really applaud Bullock here, the speech he gives is still just fantastic. After chewing everyone out, they all decide to finally help find Gordon. Whom is in a Fight Clubesque situation. Apparently, he's the new target, potential hires for whatever job are tasked with killing the detective. Whomever kills him first not only gets a job with the crazy boss, but they get a 1 million dollar sign on bonus. Seems a bit ridiculous to me...but the 4 candidates waste no time in attacking Gordon. They just don't know who they're messing with. Not easy to kill, he manages to incapacitate all the attackers, but before he can even catch a breath, the big masked boss is there, ready to kill him. Still, Gordon fights as best he can. Only after nearly killing the guy does he realize how far he's lost his patience with everything. The chief shows up to save him, or really just bring him home. Making peace with all that's happened, and the entire GCPD, Gordon seems to be doing better. Sadly, Barbara has had enough and left a note as she leaves...

That's all right, she keeps irritating me and hurting poor Jim! Speaking of hurting! The Penguin shouldn't be discounted. It seems he's found out Fish's plans and knows about the girl in Falcone's life. What will he do with this information? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I have to give The Flash some major credit.  This is a show that could have easily slipped into the world of silly camp, much like its predecessor from the 1990's.  Instead we have been given a show that is filled with fun moments, and many thought provoking moments and solid character development.  This week's episode was no exception, in fact it was a show filled with some heavy moments and some ugly surprises, so let's get right into recapping "Plastique".

Last night we met Bette Sans Souci, a former United States Soldier who was badly wounded in Afghanistan and on the night S.T.A.R. Labs changed the world, she was given new life as a Meta Human...that can turn anything she touches into an explosive.  Of course Barry is on the case, until the mysterious General Wade Eiling comes into town to find her.  He takes over the case from Central City P.D. and of course, the good General wants her around for an opportunity to save lives.  Of course this being a comic book show we all know that means he wants her to kill people at his leisure and thankfully Barry and his friends are having none of that and try to help Bette deal with her new powers. 

As they deal with that, Barry has another problem on his hands. The lovely Iris has continued writing about "The Streak" and has even attached her name to the articles (thanks to an off the cuff suggestion from Barry) leading Barry and Joe on a mission to get her to stop for her own safety.  Of course, nothing either man does dissuades her from her quest to tell the world about this miracle, leading to what appears to be a temporary break friendship wise for Barry and Iris.  But before that moment arrived, Wells gave Bette one hell of an idea...to put down the General once and for all. It was a bone chilling moment that led to Bette's demise and helped further reveal the checkered past between Wells and Eiling.  

If anything, Harrison Wells is becoming scarier every single week.  One minute, like in the final moments of this episode with Grodd, he seems like a compassionate man, then we have that eerie scene with Bette, with a haunting twinkle in his eye as he motivates her to murder the General and it's not like we haven't seen that twinkle before earlier this season when Wells took matters into his own hands with a knife.  His actions every week leave me wondering, is he a super villain waiting to happen or is he genuinely out there to protect Barry? Even then...he sure goes about keeping him safe in the weirdest of fashion.  

But outside of that, this was a pretty awesome episode through and through, and a brainy one at that.  Between Barry's choice to continue to confront the woman he loves to keep her safe, to the implications of how scary this new world really is for both Meta Humans and the people that are witness to their abilities this show is firing on all cylinders.  I love the realism that's coming to the table every week and I'm definitely hooked.  Until next time...

I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't allowed to write on the walls, ever. It seems that, even when you're having a psychotic melt down due to alien DNA in your bloodstream, writing on the walls is bad. Even worse is carving into them. Well, I guess Coulson has some explaining to do. Thankfully Skye is there to babysit while May, Hunter, Triplett and Morse are off hunting down Ward. Skye is a little upset at Coulson about his behavior, but he can't help it! The rest of the team, Simmons, Fitz, and Mack, are starting to worry.

In an effort to solve the problem Coulson reveals the machine Raina had. That very mind reading device that got us to realize what happened to Coulson in the first place. Against everyone's wishes the Director puts himself into it. Project T.A.H.I.T.I. was his after all. Unlocking the memories of that couldn't be too bad, could it? It can...several agents were brought in to do the test trial. Coulson was well aware of the alien and it's DNA. The original trials were a success, until they weren't. The alien's DNA was imprinting memories onto the subjects, making them carve the strange symbols into anything they could. In the case of one agent, Derek, the carving moved from surfaces to flesh. These carvings lead Coulson to the path of T.A.H.I.T.I., erasing their memories entirely and giving them false ones, new names, and new lives. 

All this was brought about because Derek happens to be the man covered in the crazy symbol tattoos and is out to awaken the others in the trial with him. Fully aware of his past memories, pain brought his back, surely it'll help the others? Sadly, it results in killing all but one man. Coulson, out of the machine and in a panic, tricks Skye and locks her up so he can go save the last guy himself and confront Derek. Things never really go according to plan, however. Derek is fully aware of Coulson and is waiting for him. The scuffle ends quickly, with only a few cuts to poor Phil. And soon, the final piece of Coulsons' puzzle is realized. The last survivor of the trials was a welder. The symbols? They're really a map of a city, an over view. With that, Coulson no longer feels the need to carve the symbols anymore, nor does he have any weird compulsions....he does explain to the team what happened to him, and their new goal. Find the city and what it means before HYDRA does.

Meanwhile May and her team are on the trail of Ward. Everyone wants him alive, so sadly Triplett can't shoot him. Ward seems to be wearing enough C4 to do some serious damage. Bobbi attempts to take him down but her cover is blown before hand. Thankfully Hunter is all set as a backup. They follow Ward to a bar where he meets with one of HYDRA's top agents. Instead, Ward turns on him, ties him up, and leaves him for the team. He's left without a trail to follow. An eerie phone call to Skye promises more HYDRA agents and an eventual meet up.

Ward being on the loose terrifies me to say the least! I don't know about you guys, but I really need the team to take him back down, sure he may be acting like a friend right now, but how can they trust him after everything he's done? I know I can't. Sometimes this show is just too much, but I love it, and now I have to wait with all of you until next week.