TV Rewind… Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×06 – ‘FZZT’

Originally published on Set The Tape

The sixth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally takes some time to look at two of the most underdeveloped characters within the main cast, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). Whilst we’ve not had huge amounts of characterisation beyond Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Skye (Chloe Bennet) we at least have a feel for each of the team; but Fitz and Simmons have only really been there to perform science tasks and explain tech stuff to the audience. ‘FZZT’, however, not only gives them a chance to shine, but also gives an early indication that Fitz may actually be the best character on the show with the most talented actor.

When a number of firefighters that were present during the Battle of New York (the events of the final act of Avengers) start dying in mysterious circumstances, Coulson and his team are brought in to investigate. These deaths begin to show the differences between Fitz and Simmons. Simmons is thoroughly fascinated by case and is more than willing to get in close to the bodies to investigate, whilst Fitz is repulsed by them and freaks out about what a corpse is doing to the cleanliness of his lab.

For two characters that have been very interchangeable up to this point it’s nice to see them differ of something, especially something that has to do with science. These scenes are also played relatively fun, with a much more fluid and natural approach rather than the quip heavy humour the show has had to this point (seriously, it’s like you have to take comedy improv classes at the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy to become an agent or something).

When it’s discovered that a Chitauri helmet is responsible for the deaths, containing an alien virus, I was a little disappointing as it felt like the series was once again relying on a connection to the films in order to tell its stories. Thankfully, there’s little focus on the events of Avengers and things take on a much smaller, personal story.

The moment when the team find a firefighter that has been infected and is moments away from death is a really interesting scene. In most shows this would be something that would take place in the final act, and the infected person would end up saved. But here it happens midway through the episode and there’s nothing that can be done. The moment where Coulson sits with the infected man and talks to him about his own experience with dying, preparing him for what is to come, is very sweet and sad, and gives us some insight into how Coulson has processed his own experience. It’s a brave choice of a scene for a show that seems to have prided itself on its sense of humour, but the level of maturity and darkness it brings to the show is incredibly welcome.

Unfortunately for the team, Simmons has also been exposed to the virus and will soon be killed by the virus too, though the explosive electrical blast that comes with her death is also set to destroy their plane mid-flight, killing the rest of the team. This is when Fitz and Simmons are given the focus of the episode, working against the clock to try and save Simmons’ life.

The scene where Simmons has all but given up on finding a cure, but then Fitz willingly exposes himself to the virus in order to help her is a great one, and begins to really show how good De Caestecker is as an actor as he refuses to let his best friend die. The drama with Fitz and Simmons feels so real, so full of fear and sadness, that its some of the best scenes the show has given us yet.

When Simmons believes that there is no cure she jumps out of the plane in order to spare the rest of the team, only for Fitz to realise there is a cure and to try and follow her out. Whilst it’s sad that he doesn’t get to be the one to jump out after her, that honour falling to Ward (Brett Dalton), he was still putting on the parachute, still willing to leap from a moving plane for her; that willingness to possibly die to save her speaks volumes to his character.

Fitz and Simmons are easily some of my favourite characters as the show goes on, and Ian De Caestecker is an amazing actor, and this episode is really the beginning of a lot of why I love the two of them. It has action, drama, emotion, and huge moments, but all of them are focused on these two characters; the weird scientists who work in the back of the bus. ‘FZZT’ may not have big spectacle or action but it’s a wonderfully told personal story.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch #2 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Warhammer 40,000 universe is huge, it’s filled with dozens of races, hundreds of characters, and thousands of hours of books, games, and comics. Despite this massive amount of lore it seems to be a rare occurrence when it ventures into the medium of comics, which is crazy given how visually striking the designs of Warhammer 40,000 are.

Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch focuses on a small group of Imperial Space Marines that make up a part of the Deathwatch, a specially trained and uniquely equipped section of the Order Xenos, who are charged with the destruction of all alien races the Imperium comes into contact with. Made up of exemplary Space Marines from every chapter, they draw upon the best of the best to make the ultimate fighting force.

Centring the book on the Deathwatch is a great choice, and a really clever creative move. It enables the writer to focus on a handful of characters, rather than squads or even a whole army, and it means that they can include characters with vastly different personalities, experience, and gear that reflect aspects of their original chapters.

The five Space Marines that make up the heroes of the book are Dienekas Agathon of the Imperial Fists, Izrafel of the Flesh Tearers, Kaelar of the Celestial Lions, Rurik Warsong of the Space Wolves, and Tiberius of the Ultramarines. Sent to the mining colony of Sidra to eliminate an infestation of the vicious Ur-Ghul’s, their mission goes horribly wrong when an army of Orks arrives on the planet, trapping the five marines.

This second issue follows the Marines as they make their way through the ruined streets and buildings of Sidra, ascertaining the sheer volume of the Ork invasion they face, and trying to find a way to escape the planet. Despite the Deathwatch being some of the best Marines in the whole galaxy, we see over the course of the issue that they’re massively outnumbered as they’re hunted by thousands of Orks. It’s a nice change of pace to see the normally super-human Space Marines being the side against overwhelming odds, where their lives are in danger, as it would be very easy to fall into the trap of making them close to unstoppable.

The danger faced by the Marines is highlighted when Agathon has to fight an Ur-Ghul alone, a fight that results in his armour broken, and the loss of one of his arms. Having previously seen Agathon easily dispatch an Ork in single combat, it’s definitely a surprise when he’s so harshly beaten.

The five heroes of Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch face dire odds, with no apparent way of escaping the horrors of Sidra, and their leader heavily wounded. This being the Warhammer 40,000 universe, where everything is grim and full of horror, there’s no guarantee that things will work out for them in the coming issues.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Doctor Who: A Confusion of Angels – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

‘When the Doctor and his companions are drawn to a seemingly empty transport vessel in deep space, they’re pulled into an impossible conflict – between the robotic Heavenly Host… and the Weeping Angels!’

Doctor Who has a huge history to draw upon, with hundreds of hours of adventures on screen, dozens of books and comics, all spanning more than 50 years. As such, whenever a story utilises characters or monsters from the past things can feel special, especially when it combines elements from multiple stories. ‘A Confusion of Angels’ does this with the new series history, mixing together Weeping Angels, Heavenly Host, Judoon, Slitheen, and Missy into one huge adventure.

The premise for the story is simple enough, the Doctor, Bill, and Nardole have recently left Earth to gather supplies to fix the vault containing Missy, but get sidetracked on their way back when they discover a cargo ship adrift in space. The trio soon discover that something terrible has happened on the ship: the power is being drained, communications are off-line, and members of the crew have gone missing.

The story manages to keep a sense of mystery going for quite a while in these early pages, and even performs some sleight-of-hand trickery for those who aren’t aware that the story features Weeping Angels. With Bill sneaking through the bowels of the cargo ship alone we see glimpses of a creepy-looking angel-like figure stalking her. Knowing Doctor Who and its monsters you immediately think Weeping Angel, but are then surprised to discover Heavenly Host instead. You’re led to believe that not only are these angelic robots the culprits, but are what we saw stalking Bill. When the Weeping Angels do finally appear it’s a shock because the book bluffed the reader into believing that they weren’t there.

It’s a clever little trick to pull, and shows that writer Richard Dinnick shouldn’t be trusted to play fair; something that becomes more apparent when you discover that the mysterious stowaway in the creepy clown mask is another version of the Doctor. Dinnick messes with the reader more than once, and it makes the story more enjoyable and complex than it could have been in another writer’s hands.

‘A Confusion of Angels’ brings back other story elements though, as the ship’s distress call gets answered by a squad of Judoon, led by a special investigator, Margaret Slitheen. Picking up a loose thread left over from Eccleston’s series, we finally get to see what happened to Margaret after she was regressed to an egg and allowed to live her life over with a good family. I think that Dinnick wanted to convey some kind of possibility that she may have still been untrustworthy, as it is brought up more than once, but she never really does anything that would be considered questionable.

The book’s two artists, Francesco Manna and Pasquale Qualano, complement each other wonderfully, and fit the story well. They both manage to capture the likenesses of all of the characters well, which means that returning characters like Margaret are instantly recognisable without need of an explanation of who they’re supposed to be. They also bring some great new designs of their own to the story, with the crew of the cargo ship being unique and wonderful creations.

Mixing together elements from previous stories, bringing back the new series’ most iconic new monster, and adding more depth and background to the Series 10 plot of Missy’s reformation, ‘A Confusion of Angels’ throws a lot at the readers, but doesn’t slow down in its pacing to let you catch your breath. It’s a fast paced fight for survival against a terrifying enemy that is sure to keep the reader on the edge of their seat.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Volume 7 – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

‘A new age begins for the turtles as the epic events of the past have created new opportunities for the future, but new dangers as well. While they continue to get used to a world leading the Foot Clan post-Shredder, they return to the Technodrome to monitor the revival of the Utroms on Burnow Island and are surprised to meet a new mutant – Leatherhead! But will the mysterious mutant be friend or foe? Plus, Kitsune still poses a threat, and a new group, the Street Phantoms, enters the fray!’

The saga of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues in the latest bumper volume from IDW, bringing together 14 issues in one beautiful 300 page book. Following the defeat, and death, of their enemy The Shredder at the hands of Splinter, the Turtles and their friends find themselves a part of the Foot Clan when Splinter takes over as their leader. Much of this volume centres on this massive change to the lives of the Turtles as they come to terms with their new place amongst their former enemies, and the effect that this change has had on their father.

The death of Shredder could have been a conclusion to the Turtles’ story, or an opportunity to introduce a new villain to the universe; instead, the team behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made the much wiser choice of having conflict come from within the family unit. Whilst the book does feature the appearance of a new tech-savvy street gang and their crime boss leader Darius Dunn, they’re not a huge threat or a central focus.

What the book focuses on instead is the slow descent of Splinter to becoming the kind of morally corrupt leader that the Turtles previously fought against, and how this affects their family unit. At the beginning of the book Michelangelo has already made his feelings on the matter clear and has left his family, disagreeing with Splinter’s choices, and throughout the story the characters make moves to bring him back into the fold, before pulling the rug out from beneath the readers in the final issue and having the rest of the Turtles turn their backs on Splinter too.

The interpersonal drama is well paced, and feels very real. You can understand why Splinter is making the decisions that he is, and can even agree with them to a certain point. At the same time, however, it’s easy to side with the Turtles too. There’s no clear black and white, no good or bad, just differing opinions on what is the best way to proceed with their new circumstances. For a book that’s essentially about mutant animals fighting aliens and ninjas, it’s able to do interpersonal drama better than many DC and Marvel books.

The book also packs in a lot of action throughout, with a number of smaller intertwining stories. There’s a huge confrontation with the Street Phantoms and Darius Dunn at the end of the book, but we also have several skirmishes before this, as well as a battle with the supernatural entity Kitsune: a fight that has huge consequences for the Turtles’ ally Alopex.

Whilst the book is mainly about the Foot Clan and how the Turtles have been picking up the pieces following the death of Shredder, there’s also a section of the book that moves the Utrom story forward, with the Turtles assisting Professor Honeycutt in awakening a number of the aliens from their hibernation. A distraction from the main plot, this small side-story is actually very entertaining, and manages to introduce the mutant crocodile Leatherhead into the re-imagined universe.

This volume also introduces readers to several new mutants in the form of the Mutanimals: a rag-tag group of crime-fighters that includes Man Ray, Herman the Hermit Crab, and Mondo Gecko. A really fun mix of characters that gives Mickey the spotlight early on, they make for a great expansion to the universe.

Volume 7 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles packs a lot of action and interpersonal drama into its pages, crafting a hugely enjoyable and well-told story that is sure to satisfy long-term fans and new readers alike.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Star Trek Discovery Season 2 Trailer

The trailer for the upcoming second season of the hit series Star Trek Discovery premiered this weekend at San Diego Comic Con.

Following on from the surprise arrival of the USS Enterprise at the end of season one, the trailer shows Captain Pike taking command of the Discovery in order to investigate 'red bursts' that are happening across 30,000 light  years of space.

The trailer shows something of a lighter tone for the series than the first season, uniforms that are closer to those of the original series, new cast members, and hints that the central mystery is somehow connected to Spock.

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn