Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Eye Spy' Review

Whilst episode three of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was something of a disappointment it’s good to see the show returning to its previous higher standards with an entertaining and engaging fourth outing.

Beginning with a visually interesting, if somewhat bonkers opening scene involving dozens of men in suits and red masks making their way through the streets of Stockholm in order to transport a shipment of diamonds.  The episode quickly sets up the central focus when the mysterious and dangerous former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Akela appears and somehow uses some extra normal ability to find and take down her target.

A former protégé of Coulson and thought dead for a number of years the skilled former agent storyline could have very easily been a hackneyed ‘good guy gone bad’ episode.  Luckily the episode works wonderfully well thanks to the strong and understated performance from Pascale Armand.  Armand plays the character as a woman that has hit rock bottom and hates the situation she is in rather than being an over the top arch villain type performance.

Akela and Coulson come face to face.

Just like J August Richards in the pilot episode her performance goes a long way to outshine that of the regular cast and becomes yet another guest character who you’ll be wanting to see more of.

The episode also sets up yet another potential mystery/big bad for the season, alongside Rising Tide and Graviton, in the form of the shadowy ‘handlers’ that are controlling Akela and the British man that also had an eye implant.  Who are they, what are they up to and are there any more people like Akela out there?  I’m sure these are questions that we will learn more of throughout the rest of the season.

S.H.I.E.L.D. branded H2O, because writing 'water' isn't cool.

The episode also seems to confirm what many fans have been speculating about for a long while now, that Mutants, and more specifically the X-Men are not part of this Marvel universe.  When the possibilities of psychics is raised during the episode it’s quickly dismissed as impossible.  Whilst this was hardly unexpected due to Fox owning the rights to the X-Men franchise it makes me wonder just how they are going to handle the origins of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2.

A competent and interesting episode that further builds upon the Marvel movie universe and the past of  Coulson.  More episodes like this please!  7/10

Amy.
xx

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Supernatural 'Devil May Care' Review

Where episode one of season nine focused mainly on the fall out of the previous year, and in particular the angels.  We saw how the fall effected them, how they now view the Winchesters and what’s going on with Castiel.  The second episode ‘Devil May Care’ shifts its focus to the demons and hell.  This separate look at both heaven and hell, taking the time to look at them properly and explore the characters and establishing a potential series arc.

It’s also good to see that after eight seasons family is still a central motif in the show, and really comes through well in this episode without feeling forced or hammy.  Particularly in the way that Kevin is brought into the extended Winchester family  more so than ever before.

Having spent the previous season locked away on Garths safe house boat he’s now in the bunker with Sam and Dean and hopefully well have a chance to grow as a character and have more amazing scenes like his torture of Crowley in this episode.  Dean’s heartfelt speech to Kevin concerning the fate of his mother is a very touching and unexpected moment, and one that really does bring Kevin into the Winchester family proper.

Crowley and Kevin are the emotional heart of the episode.

Whilst the B story focuses on Kevin and Crowley, both acted amazingly by Osric Chau and Mark Shepherd, the A story follows Sam and Dean as they are lured into a trap by one of the potential new big bads, Abaddon.

When Abaddon’s host was destroyed in the season eight finale I was massively disappointed as she was an amazing breath of fresh air to the show.  Luckily the fans of the show weren’t quiet about how much they enjoyed Aliana Huffman in the role that the show runners brought her back in a brilliantly creative way.  Once again the creators of Supernatural have listened to their fans and kept on another brilliant character.

Ezekiel flexes his epic wings.

The highlight of the entire episode for me though was the moment when Ezekiel took over control of Sam’s body and we got to see his damaged wings, one of the best angel shots and one of the most beautiful effects in the entire show.

With some great action, the return of Abaddon and Crowley and some brilliantly played character moments ‘Devil May Care’ is a great second episode and a perfect companion piece to the season opener.  I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.  8/10

Amy.

xx

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Arrow 'City of Heroes' Review

Ollie returns to help Starling City recover.

Season one of Arrow ended on a brilliant note, and one of the best episodes of the entire show to that point.  Luckily season 2 opens on such a strong episode that the show looks poised to carry on the momentum set up in last years finale.

‘City of Heroes’ begins with Ollie back on the island of Lian Yu in a form of self imposed exile after the events of the season 1 finale, having spent the previous five months there trying to come to terms with the failure of his mission and the loss of his best friend Tommy Merlyn.   Whilst the show could have very easily spent the whole of the first episode having Diggle and Felicity trying to get Ollie to return to Starling City, instead they spend only ten minutes doing so and the episode benefits from this quicker pace.

Quentin's been demoted but has a new found faith in The Hood.

Upon Ollie’s return to his home city we see that things have moved on a little from the events of the destruction of the Glades, but Starling City is still a city reeling from a massive disaster, with many citizens in dire need of someone like Ollie looking out for them.  Hopefully this will continue on throughout the rest of the year, as the Glades in season one were not exactly the horrible place Malcolm Merlyn made them out to be, though now they are.

It’s not just Ollie that’s changed over the last five months though, Thea has become the manager of Ollie’s nightclub Verdant and seems to have dramatically grown as a person and is already a much better character than she was in the whole of the previous year.

Laurel has taken the death of Tommy hard and has completely changed her outlook on The Hood and now sees him as a criminal and a threat to the city.  Though this is something of a rather big leap from her character last year it’s a great contrast to her father Quentin, who has since been demoted to a regular beat cop and is showing full support for the man he once hated.

Ollie's island adventure continues with Shado and Deathstroke.

The episode also goes a long way to looking at Ollie's emotional fallout following the tragic events of the last season and his new mission now that he is no longer just crossing names off a list.  There was a lot of controversy the previous year over Ollie’s willingness to kill, and it looks like the show has addressed that fact in a way that doesn’t feel out of place at all.  By stating that killing would ‘dishonour Tommy’s memory’ fits in perfectly to his current emotion situation and is sure to be a vow that will be sorely tested over the coming episodes.

The final moments of the episode also gave the audience a nice tease of things to come later in the season as well as a massive treat for comic book fans.  The first appearance of Black Canary, who could quite possibly end up being Roy’s vigilante mentor rather than Ollie.

Black Canary makes her first appearance in Arrow.

A very competent opening episode that continues on with the great new tone and status quo established at the end of season one.  Hopefully the series will continue to carry on at this great level.  8/10

Amy.
xx

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Is Tomorrow Finally The Day?

Tomorrow is a big day.  Tomorrow is my second appointment at the gender clinic, and it’s the one where I should be started on Hormone Replacement Therapy.  I say should though because so far nothing has gone right during my treatment.  Just a few weeks ago I had a meeting to discuss my case and go through all of the problems that have happened and ended with the NHS representative I was talking to admitting that over a year of my treatment was just wasted time.

This means that, through the myriad of both small and quite massive mistakes and problems on their part I should be well into my transition by now, possibly even living happily presenting as female.  Instead I’m still spending each day avoiding my reflection, feeling uncomfortable in my body, jealous of every cis female I see, self harming, crying myself to sleep and thinking of suicide.  It’s a long list of stuff to go through I know, but for those of you reading this that aren’t transgender that’s pretty much what it’s like, though I can only describe my experiences and not talk for the whole community.

Because of all of these mistakes and delays I have little to no faith in the NHS.  I had to go and organise and chase up getting my blood tests done in time for tomorrow’s appointment because that was yet another thing they hadn’t done correctly.

I have been told that tomorrow I will have a physical examination, my hormone levels will be analysed and I will start HRT.  However, I don’t for a second actually believe that that is what’s going to happen.  I expect to walk in there and be told that something hasn’t been done right, some kind of paperwork has gone missing or that I’m going to have to wait until my next appointment with them, which based on the gap between the first two will be another four months.

This very likely scenario scares the hell out of me.  I don’t know what to do in that situation, or even how I will handle it.  I just know that however I take it, it will not be well.

I can see myself bursting into tears.  I could refuse to leave until they give me the medication.  I could threaten the doctor or do something stupid like that.  I could act fine and then come home and hurt myself.  Or I could do something a lot, lot worse.

This is all maybe’s though.  There is a chance that things will go right for once, but I’ve just become so jaded with the whole situation that instead of being excited for tomorrow I’m absolutely terrified.  I’m sitting here panicking, trying to keep my breathing in control, trying not to cry and I know that it’s going to be almost impossible for me to get to sleep tonight.

I hope, I truly do hope that all of this stress and worry is for nothing and that tomorrow’s post will be a big celebration of starting HRT.  I just don’t believe it.  Tomorrow cold either be one of the best days of my life or it could be one of the worst.  I’ve never been so scared before.

Amy.
xx

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 'The Asset' Review

Skye infiltrates the bad guys party and has a dull conversation with him.

All of the excitement and intrigue of the past two episodes is all but gone in this fairly average espionage and infiltration episode that feels more like part of Alias than the show set up in the last two episodes.

The episode opens well enough, with an impressive hijacking sequence where cars and trucks are thrown through the air by some kind of unseen force and a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist is kidnapped.  Unfortunately the episode soon begins to move down hill after this point.  Sent in to retrieve the stolen scientist Coulson and his team are forced to trust into Skye the responsibility of infiltrating the bad guys party to let the team inside.

Doctor Hall makes his on screen appearance.

Not the most inspired plot, with everything playing out as an almost stereotype of spy drama and predictable every step of the way.  The only neat little inclusion her though is the gravity device that begins to play havoc.

The shifting in action from floor to ceiling to walls is visually interesting, for all of about a minute.  This wold have been an amazing place to have a fight, to see the room shifting around them as they punched the crap out of each other.  Instead the shifting room is used to have a conversation, one where we can see the solution to the problem long before the characters do as soon as Coulson and Hall end up standing on a glass window above the gravity device.

Coulson must find a way to save the episode.

A dull and lackluster episode that holds no surprises or revelations, or even anything the audience hasn't seen before.  Even the very last 'surprise' scene was something that I could see coming a mile away.  Hopefully this is not an indication of the quality of the show to come and it will soon return to the highs of the first two episodes.  4/10

Amy.
xx

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