Tag: The CW

Posted on

SUPERMAN & LOIS [Series Premiere Review]: Up, Up, And Away.

Frank Simonian
@scarletdadspidr

This week The CW premiered the latest DCU show Superman & Lois and it shares the Arrowverse with the other CW shows. The Man of Steel is reprised by Supergirl star Tyler Hoechlin. The premiere episode takes place at a much later time in the Kryptonian’s life. Kal El is married to Lois Lane, who is played by Grimm’s Bitsie Tulloch. To make things complicated, Clark and Lois are raising 14-year old twin sons — Jonathon (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan (Alex Garfin) Kent — in the bustling city of Metropolis as the couple remain journalists for The Daily Planet…

The first episode is filled with fan service. Some of the nods in the episode are subtle while others are blatant. Siegel and Shuster, Superman’s creators are referenced as well as a nod to the cover of Action Comics #1 and using the “S” symbol with the black like the Fleischer cartoon. Supes makes a trip to Gotham’s ACE Chemical Plant when the audience is given a peak at the villain that will most likely last the whole season. No spoilers but the family ends up going back to Smallville.

There, major changes happen, eventually the locals catch up with the Kents, including Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui), her husband Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez) and their daughter Sarah (Inde Navarrette). The episode works well enough that the audience can see the mechanizations begin to work and the plot of the season unfurls. For the most, part the villain remains anonymous but that is not to say there is no conflict or confrontation. There is a decent fight between Superman and the anonymous antagonist.

https://youtu.be/PzGaOCTtXMQ

In general, the premiere episode has action and the visuals are fairly well done and not at all cheesy. The romance between Clark and Lois does resonate and doesn’t cross the line to an overdrawn or overacted relationship. I will not spoil anything if for some reason you have not watched this episode, having said that the dynamic of the twin sons feels similar to the treatment of the comic book characters the Super-Sons. The obvious difference would be that one is not Bruce Wayne Jr.– or in the later series, Damian Wayne and no Clark Kent Jr.

The relationship the brothers have really lends itself into that dynamic, and who knows… maybe a spin-off? Much like what Superman’s symbol means, this premiere gave me hope. Hope that Lois & Clark will be replaced by Superman & Lois. Hope there will crossovers. Most of all; hope that
this is the start of something great. This looks like a job for the CW. Good luck. 4.5/5 Bibles.

-Frank Simonian

Posted on

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: THE CONCLUSION [TV Show Review]: Trust In The Arrowverse!

Kevin “Pastor” Palma
@eggrollko

After a long month of waiting, we finally got the conclusion to Crisis on Infinite Earths and what a conclusion it was. While these final two episodes were the only two of the five episode crossover to air back to back, yet they were the ones that felt the most distinct from the rest, at times in a jarring way.

We should probably begin with the enormous elephant in the room, largest Easter egg to date in a crossover that’s been loaded with them: Ezra Miller‘s Flash from the cinematic DCEU, which now ties in nearly every single iteration of live-action DC properties in recent history. It was an amazing moment and image in an otherwise extraordinarily awkward scene.

This scene occurred in the Speed Force, which Oliver (now the Spectre, played by Stephen Amell) informed the team would be the only way to escape The Vanishing Point after being left stranded there just before the destruction of the multiverse. Barry (Grant Gustin) travels through memories of the various crossovers over the years in the Speed Force to carry his fellow paragons to the dawn of time, represented by a rather underwhelming barren quarry with a green hue.

Watch as they look!

This led to an almost equally underwhelming fight between the paragons and the shadow demons with some cringe-worthy quips at the dawn of time opposite an actually epic fight between an Obi Wan-esque Oliver Queen aka The Spectre (the only disappointing part was that, while they were surrounded by flame, Oliver didn’t bust out a dinosaur like the cover of The Spectre #29).

As Oliver defeats the Anti-Monitor, he makes sure to let the Anti-Monitor know that he has failed this universe before he shoots out a burst of energy to rebirth the Multiverse. This is followed by the paragons awkwardly staring up at the sky intently, “fanning the flames” after Oliver lit the spark. It ends with Oliver’s final death after defeating the Anti-Monitor as the paragons witness the birth of a new Multiverse.

Although I’ve mocked a lot about this episode and described it as underwhelming, that’s based on the scale of what they were going for, and how constrained it seemed by being set in a TV budget. This was a good episode of a TV crossover of relatively good shows that was attempting to do something that would almost unarguably have been more epic than even Avengers: Endgame. This wasn’t just time travel, this was a fight at the dawn of time after the destruction of the multiverse with the goal of birthing a new one. It’s hard to imagine any network TV show having the budget to do a fight on that scale justice, but overall this was good for what it was.

The final episode of this crossover was an introduction to the new universe of Earth-Prime, which includes the entire Arrowverse on one Earth and a fun fight with a giant Beebo, a final tribute to Oliver Queen, who birthed both the previous universe and this one, one last stand against the Anti-Monitor to save the new world that they’ve just rebuilt, and the establishment of a base of operations for the group of heroes of Earth-Prime, aka the birth of the Justice League.

Grrrrrrrr!

All of that stuff was great, although it was a little disappointing not to show some supremely important moments, like the reunion of Barry and Iris. The fight with the giant Anti-Monitor was especially fun, especially the solution of putting him a state of permanent shrinkage which I found absolutely brilliant.

All in all, while the conclusion to Crisis was underwhelming given the scale of what they were trying to accomplish it was still a good, satisfying conclusion to another excellent crossover.

“It’s like looking into a living snow mirror.”

Ep. 4: 4/5 Antimatter Bibles

Ep. 5: 4.25/5

Crisis on Infinite Earths: 4.5/5

-Kevin Palma

Posted on

NANCY DREW [NYCC 2019 / Series Premiere Review]: Super Natural.

“El Sacerdote” J.L. Caraballo Twitter @captzaff007

While the 2019 New York Comic-Con might have recently ended, we’ve still got plenty of coverage from the City that Never Sleeps. Sunday, October 6th saw the cast and producers of the CW’s updated version of teen sleuth, Nancy Drew, in person, premiering the pilot episode to a surprisingly crowded panel.

Following a brief introduction, the pilot began for Nancy Drew. Roughly 50 minutes in length, we are introduced to Kennedy McCann as the titular character, a mystery-obsessed amateur sleuth with more than a few skeletons in her closet, living in the small New England town of Horseshoe Bay. We’re quickly introduced to Nancy and her small band of friends, Ned “Nick” Nickerson (Tunji Kasem), with whom she is engaged with in what she hoped was a casual fling; Ace (Alex Saxon) a laid back co-worker of hers at the local restaurant, The Claw…who ahs a few secrets of his own; George Fayne (Leah Lewis), another of Nancy’s coworkers who holds a serious grudge against the titular character; and Bess (Maddison Jaizani) a big-city girl trying to adjust to life in a small town while attending college, who has a mild case of kleptomania.

A full house!

The cast dynamic is great, with real, visible chemistry (especially between Nick and Nancy, which is crucial), and none of the characters comes off as phony or insincere; although Bess comes off slightly as being “written”…of the main cast, she was closest to coming off as inauthentic, but Jaizani’s performance was charming enough to save it. Here, Ms. McCann’s strengths as an actress cements itself. She’s funny, dynamic, and convincing as someone who has so often dove into mysteries, the police know to immediately single her out. She’s also compelling and a strong screen presence.

In the Q&A that followed the screening, Ms. McCann revealed being a lifelong Nancy Drew reader and fan, and had to give a bit of props to her geek cred (she got the call from her agent, confirming her casting, while playing Dungeons and Dragons while in New York City.) She knows the character well, and writers Noga Landau, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage thankfully don’t shy away from making these teenagers complex and, sometimes, selfish.

The central mystery — the wife of a rich businessman is found dead during a mysterious blackout — intertwines with a supernatural tale of a ghostly prom queen. While the overlapping of genres might not have worked in theory, it’s surprisingly refreshing and works well, and is confirmed, via showrunners, that the “ghost story” part of these tales are actual, legit ghost stories.

It’s an interesting angle — the mystery angle of Riverdale via the otherworldiness of The Chilling Tales Of Sabrina (yes, I know they coexist in the same universe) — and one that seems to work well for the otherwise vanilla Nancy Drew. And the pilot, at least, does get a bit risque, so this series isn’t afraid to mature it up a bit.

While I’ve only known Nancy Drew on a name-only basis, this first real introduction to her was memorable enough to recommend to my fiance. I was intrigued, and entertained, and the CW might have another hit on its hands if the show lands right. Given the overwhelmingly packed crowd in the panel, and the audience reactions to key moments and character introductions, it goes without saying that there is an audience out there for Nancy Drew, and hopefully it connects.

And yes, the Hardy Boys are…hopefully…slated to make an appearance in the future. Be interesting to see how they fare in today’s often jaded world.

Panel: 4/5 Bibles

TV Pilot: 4/5 Ghost Stories

Nancy Drew premieres on The CW on October 9th.

Posted on

BLACK LIGHTNING [Series Premiere Review]: The Resurrection.

Black Lightning, the latest in the CW’s live action DC series, is electrifying…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvbAwl9NeWU

“Vestal” Colleen Vincent
@CollyCol

Cress Williams (forever known as Scooter from Living Single) convincingly portrays the reluctant former superhero turned respectable citizen, mildmannered family man and high school principal Jefferson Pierce. His daughters, Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) are both standout students and hell on wheels, the eldest in the pursuit of social justice and the youngest just looking for independence via “pop off” rebellion.

The neighborhood, Freedland, is a bubbly cauldron of police profiling and gang activity, ready to erupt into the kind of violence that needs a vigilante hero to step in. Alas, Pierce hung up his suit after losing a wife more interested in a safe, quiet family life over sleepless nights of mortal worry. A good hero never stays down and soon danger threatens the Pierce family and forces Black Lightning out of nine year hiatus.

So you’re sayin’ his name is.. “White.. Thunder”??!?

Black Lightning is pretty action packed from the start, also paced to set up the family dynamics, the protagonist’s backstory, and introduce several villains, including the Big Bad, Tobias Whale (Strong Arm Steady emcee, LA’s Krondon!) —  not to be confused with fallen Arrow villain Tobias Church or Hannibal pal Tobias Budge. BL even manages to include hints that the super powered apple didn’t fall far off the tree, with the Pierce daughters already have pretty great fighting moves. If I had any complaints about the pilot, it’s the suit; a little clunky for my tastes — and in need of a slicker design — despite its impressive mobility during fight scenes.

Above all, Black Lightning manages to tackle racial dynamics, gang violence, and respectability politics with unapologetically Black dialogue and characterizations. In addition to setting it off just less than 24-hours after Martin Luther King Day, CW has a WOKE superhero suited for the modern age, and a fantastic appointment TV serial. 4.5/5 Bibles.

-Colleen Vincent

Posted on

BLACK LIGHTING [Trailer / Preview]: Family Matters.

A trailer for the upcoming Black Lightning CW show, along with a synopsis, was released today:

Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Super Hero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad.

Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZpJeuXo2CY

Black Lightning has a lot of promise, with the focus on family being a standout ingredient of the show. Relationships in the CW DC hero epics are what make them so compelling and enjoyable. Legacy and family are an important part of the comics and it’s nice to see those elements show up in all these programs. The juxtaposition of realism and the fantastic in the trailer also stands out. It seems like they won’t build up to the superhero aspects of the show but embrace them instead right away. It helps that those lightning punches look pretty cool, too.

“Minister” Keith Dooley
@Keith_Dooley

According to CW chief Mark Pedowitz, Black Lightning won’t take place in the Arrowverse. That’s very disappointing. If they’re worried about too many superheroes, then they don’t know us geeks. There can NEVER be too many heroes in one TV universe, let alone a comic book universe. Or a multiverse! – Keith Justin Dooley