REVIEW -- Supergirl: Season 2 Episodes 1-2 - "The Adventures of Supergirl" and "Children of Krypton"

Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents Zor-El (Robert Gant) and Alura (Laura Benanti). Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth's yellow sun.

En route to Earth, Kara's spacecraft was diverted by a shock wave from Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara so, when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The main series begins eleven years later when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.

Kara hid her powers for more than a decade, believing that Earth didn't need another hero. However, she has to reveal her powers to thwart an unexpected disaster, setting her on her own journey of heroism as National City's protector. Kara discovers that hundreds of the criminals her mother prosecuted as a judge on Krypton are hiding on Earth, including her mother's twin sister Astra (also played by Benanti) and Astra's husband Non (Chris Vance), who seek to rule the world. After briefly becoming suspicious of the true agenda of her boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), she and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh), secretly discover that Henshaw is actually a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz, who has resided on Earth for over fifty years after escaping a holocaust on his homeworld of Mars. J'onn infiltrated the DEO to reform the organization as well as to watch over both Alex and Kara in addition to guiding the latter in the use of her powers due to his experience with his own abilities. Kara is also being targeted by Earth's criminals as the result of her being related to Superman, and later on encounters an emerging community ofmetahumans and individuals from parallel universes. In the process, Kara accumulates her own rogues gallery who seeks to defeat and destroy her. She is aided by a few close friends and family who guard her secrets—most notably her cousin's longtime friend,James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks)—which also serves as a major plot in high tech mogul Maxwell Lord's (Peter Facinelli) scheme to expose Kara's identity.

Plot (FULL Spoilers)

"The Adventures of Supergirl"

Kara finds an unknown young man lying unconscious in the pod and takes him to DEO. She prepares for a date with James just as the commercial spacecraft, the Venture, is launched into space. It suffers engine failure and descends to Earth, but Kara saves the craft with help from Superman. They find the main target to have been Lena Luthor, the new CEO of Luthor Corp after her brother, Lex, was convicted. In a ceremony where she renames the company L Corp, she is attacked again by John Corben, the assassin. Alex engages him while Kara and Clark stop a building from collapsing. Corben reveals he is working for Lex before he is shot by Lena. Kara chooses to be a reporter for CatCo, a decision supported by Cat. Kara and James decide to keep their relationship friendly. Winn is formally hired to work with the DEO. Meanwhile, J'onn reveals to Alex that he was the one who found the Kryptonite and decided to keep it against the wishes of Clark, who wanted to destroy it. At Project Cadmus, an unnamed woman revives Corben and begins turning him into a metahuman called Metallo.

"Children of Krypton"

Kara and Clark continue operating together in National City before he decides to return toMetropolis. However, they encounter Corben, who challenges them by the kryptonite he possesses. The DEO deduces that there is a mole who smuggled the kryptonite out. In another encounter with Corben, another Metallo goes on rampage in Metropolis without opposition. Alex finds the mole, who is killed by the Cadmus leader, who intends to destroy aliens. Winn manages to build an anti-kryptonite suit for Kara and Clark, who manage to defeat the Metallos by the help of Alex and Hank, respectively. Kara promises the Cadmus leader to find her. Hank entrusts the remaining kryptonite to Clark, who returns to Metropolis. Meanwhile, Cat introduces Kara to the latter's new boss,Snapper, who does not like her and refuses to give her an assignment. Cat advises her to solve the problem herself, deciding to leave CatCo for other adventures, giving her place to James. Cat manages to prove her value to Snapper, who agrees to teach her. In the DEO, the alien man regains consciousness and attacks Kara.

The Verdict:

Originally, I was just going to cover the premiere of this season but I went ahead and added my thoughts on the second episode for this season as well.

"The Adventures of Supergirl"

This episode served as killing two birds with one stone - it served as the premiere of the show on the CW Network while simultaneously kicking off the new season. Right off the bat they addressed the biggest criticism concerning the show in the first season and its lack of Superman despite the several name drops and references. Now we finally get to see the Man of Steel in the flesh so to speak. Even though I read the casting news for the months leading up to this, I have to admit that I was still ultimately underwhelmed by how Superman looks in this show. Then again, we weren't given much in terms of physique when it came to Supergirl so I can't be too surprised. Compare to Henry Cavill, I guess we're all a bit spoiled to how Superman is "supposed" to look like so I wouldn't be too surprised if fans don't cut Tyler Hoechlin any slack about his lack of a Superman-worthy physique.

I will admit that they did manage to capture Superman's presence to the public. They made it a big deal for him to be apart of this show's universe and rightfully so - it IS a big deal, especially after an entire season of teases and minor mentions. Everyone was starstruck and in such awe of him and his reputation while Clark Kent was getting the opposite reaction - save from Cat Grant, who was surprisingly caught up in a schoolgirl-like crush over him. I'm guessing her fixation over Clark is the polar opposite of what drew Lois Lane to him. Cat fell in love with Clark Kent while Lois fell in love with Superman. I guess we'll find out over the course of the next few episodes since Clark is expected to stick around for a bit this season. 

Cat's still my favorite character on this show if I'm perfectly honest...

As usual, the true star of this episode - much like the bulk of Season One - was Cat Grant in all of her brutally honest glory. She puts Kara on blast throughout this episode, pointing how she's become complacent with her position in CatCo and life in general. In a said truth of reality, that's the problem with a lot of these comicbook-based shows. They get stuck in their own repetitive nature of a fairy tale-like narrative but are often afraid to "take the dive" to try something new and different. Sure, the path may be difficult along the way but even if it's a flop or a bust at least the teams behind these shows like this can look back confidently and say that they weren't afraid to take the plunge and do something outside of the box instead of sticking with what is easy or is the safer option for drawing in ratings. 

In terms of action sequences in this premiere, I have to admit that they look a lot better compared to the low quality stuff that we saw last season, but they have a long way to go to blow me away with the action with anything in these shows based in the Arrowverse in general.

I have to ask, what is up with this show's obsession with almost every new female minor character that is introduced is in a position of power? Lana Lang was made the interim head of the DEO last season after J'onn was demoted, the new mystery lady appointed as the figurehead of Cadmus, that woman who ended up being a White Martian in Manhunter's focused episode, and now Lena Luthor too. I'm all for equal rights and building/establishing powerful women in narratives but it seems a bit excessive in this show as the writers are going a bit out of their way to keep doing that.

Project Cadmus finally making their presence known was a pleasant surprise after staying in the shadows for the bulk of Season One, but I fear the weak narrative writing for this show will drag it down in the long run. Not even the mysterious Kryptonian has my interest perked enough to care about what he brings to the table. The rift between Superman and Martian Manhunter made me roll my eyes more than actually care about it from a narrative standpoint when most fans should know that if Superman really wanted to be petty he could just keep a book of matches laying around when the subject of Manhunter's weakness comes up.

Seriously... Just ask Batman.

"Children of Krypton" 

This episode continued the Project Cadmus plot that was teased at the end of the season premiere but we are treated to the first fruit of their labors as Corben is transformed into Metallo. This version of Metallo wasn't really memorable but it wasn't bad for this show's first attempt at the character. Seriously, it could be a lot worse as I think we can look no farther than Smallville and The Lois and Clark: New Adventures of Superman versions of the character. Yeah, I went there...

They didn't butcher Metallo like they did Livewire in the first season, so I can't complain. Let me get into what I'm really upset about on this episode...

Cat Grant is fucking leaving. Reportedly, this has to do with the show not filming locally where Calista Flockhart lives so travel is an issue but she's set to still make sporadic appearances throughout the season. She's just not listed as a series regular from here on out. From a storyline perspective, they are writing her off as being "burnt out" and taking a leave of absence while James takes over her position at CatCo while Kara takes on her new reporter job. Boy, seeing the arguably the "best" character on this show being written off doesn't give me much high hopes for this season. The Project Cadmus plot is intriguing enough as it makes me wish that Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice went that route in terms of being opposed to powered-people like Kryptonians, especially with their propaganda video.

No one gives a pep talk like Cat Grant. #Supergirl pic.twitter.com/jpXcRJKciO

— SupergirlWritersRoom (@SupergirlStaff) October 18, 2016

Snapper Carr seems like a piss poor replacement from this first appearance and comes off as a poor man's J. Jonah Jameson to add onto Kara's moping around like The Flash's Barry Allen, if these CW shows don't have enough of that with their young adolescent protagonists. At least Cat went out with a bang with her sassy attitude and brutally honest life lessons for Kara/Supergirl. We'll definitely miss you, Cat.

This episode has more awkward looking action sequences, somehow managing to top how poor the premiere's sequences looked. Can someone explain to me how Alex was punching Metallo in that exo-frame armor when it wasn't covering her hands? She should have shattered her fist to dust if she was hitting him as hard as Supergirl was. (Sighs) At least we got a Superman and Martian Manhunter team-up in this episode along with another look at the Fortress of Solitude, so I won't complain too much in that department.

I will complain about how stupid they made the whole "shipment/supply" of kryptonite issue in this episode. How the fuck does Superman know that's all of the world's supply of kryptonite? Like LexCorp or Cadmus might have their own supply somewhere. Jesus H. Christ, Superman is stupid when it comes to this whole kryptonite thing in this universe. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having an insurance policy if his ass gets brainwashed or something. The last thing the world needs is some rampaging rogue alien going around doing what he pleases - we had enough of that last season in this show.

How the writing on this show makes me feel at times...

I should look up the side effects and see if long-term exposure to kryptonite makes Superman stupid - kinda like the Orb of Confusion from Spongebob...

Watch it or Don't Bother?

From the ratings numbers, it seems like that a LOT of people tuned in - old and new viewers - just to see Superman in this premiere. If that's all you want to see then go nuts. But if you're looking for anything more than that, you might not be getting what you were looking for, especially when there's a lot of MUCH better shows to be watching than this. As the season continues on, I see those rating numbers going further and further down the hole unless this show really pulls something out of left field. With both Cat and Superman not sticking around for the duration of the season, I think those new viewers who turned in for Superman will quickly give up the ghost to watch something else in this time slot on Monday Nights. 

REVIEW -- Marvel's Agents of SHIELD - Season 4 Episodes 1-4: "Ghost", "Meet the New Boss", "Uprising", and "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire"

The fourth season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (promoted as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Ghost Rider), which is based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division), revolves around the character of Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and allies as they deal with various enhanced individuals following the signing of the Sokovia Accords. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The season is produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, with Jed Whedon,Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell serving as showrunners.

The season was ordered in March 2016, and production began that July. Alongside Clark Gregg, who reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, principal cast members Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge and Henry Simmons return from previous seasons while John Hannah was promoted to the principal cast after appearing in a recurring role inseason three. This season deals with how the film Captain America: Civil War affects the series, and introduces recurring guest star Gabriel Luna as the mystical Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider to coincide with the film Doctor Strange, which explores mysticism in the MCU.

The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

"Ghost"

Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson, now the vigilante "Quake", is hunting gang affiliates of the anti-Inhuman terrorist group Watchdogs in Los Angeles when members of the Aryan Brotherhood are murdered by the fiery "Ghost Rider" in front of her. Agents Phil Coulson and Mack, who were forbidden from searching for Johnson by the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, are tipped off to her location by Agent Melinda May. They fly to Los Angeles under the guise of checking in on Inhuman asset Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, who has signed the controversial Sokovia Accords and is now under the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United Nations.

Agent Leo Fitz visits friend and S.H.I.E.L.D. ally Holden Radcliffe, a transhumanist doctor who is on probation after previous illegal experimentation. Fitz discovers that Radcliffe has secretly transferred his artificial intelligence AIDA into a human-like body, which he intends to be the first in a line of decoys for field agents in danger. Believing Radcliffe's altruistic intentions, Fitz agrees to help him perfect AIDA, and to keep her a secret from his girlfriend Agent Jemma Simmons, who is in the paranoid Director's inner circle, and takes daily lie-detector tests. Simmons realizes that Coulson and Mack are investigating Johnson, and orders May to stop them; May and her new strike force arrive to find Coulson and Mack surveilling Chinese gangsters, who they believe are potential targets of Quake.

The gangsters have bought a weapon off the Brotherhood which can help them fight against Inhumans. The open the box containing the weapon, and unleash a mystical being who turns the gangsters berserk. She secretly infects May as well, as the strike force takes out the gangsters. Johnson meets with Rodriguez, who stole medication from S.H.I.E.L.D. during their brief check with her which can help Johnson heal—her recent over use of her Inhuman abilities as Quake has been fracturing her bones. Johnson then tracks down the Ghost Rider and confronts him, but he defeats her, explaining that he only murders people that deserve it. She later sees his human form, Robbie Reyes, looking after his disabled brother Gabe.

"Meet the New Boss"

S.H.I.E.L.D. and Johnson independently investigate the figure, an apparent ghost of a woman named Lucy Bauer, both concluding that she worked at an abandoned facility, Momentum Energy. Johnson confronts Reyes again, and he once more overpowers her. Restraining her, Reyes searches Johnson's belongings and discovers her research on Momentum. He leaves, and Johnson escapes her restraints. As Mace plans to officially announce S.H.I.E.L.D. as a legitimate organization again, the infected May grows increasingly paranoid, seeing all people as monsters, and eventually attacking other agents. Mace restrains May with his Inhuman strength, and promises to take care of her. Mack and Fitz arrive at Momentum to find more ghosts, who attempt to blow it up with them inside. Ghost Rider intervenes, destroying one of the ghosts, and Johnson arrives to stop S.H.I.E.L.D. from taking him in. Rather than rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D., Johnson agrees to work with Reyes, who believes that the actions of the ghosts and Watchdogs may be tied to him.

"Uprising"

Inhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. asset Elena Rodriguez is caught in a blackout in Miami. Reyes and Johnson are caught in another in Los Angeles. A group claiming to be the Inhuman resistance, fighting registration with the Sokovia Accords, take responsibility. Reyes explains that his uncle, Eli Morrow, was imprisoned for causing an explosion at Momentum that apparently created the ghosts; he believes that atoning for Morrow's sins will pay his debt to the Devil, and rid Reyes of the Ghost Rider. At the Reyes' house, Gabe realizes that Johnson is Quake and asks her to leave Robbie alone. Radcliffe and Simmons 'cure' May by killing and reviving her. Coulson, Mack, and Fitz save Rodriguez from a group of Watchdogs, and find the EMP that caused the blackout—it was set off by the Watchdogs, who had access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s list of registered Inhumans, and have backing from Senator Rota Nadeer, whose brother is encased in an Inhuman terrigen cocoon. Hoping to assuage public fears of the Inhumans, Mace announces the return of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire"

Johnson forces Simmons to help track the Watchdogs' actions. They discover that the group hacked an Inhuman's monitoring device, and race to save the next Inhuman on the list. Coulson visits Morrow in prison, but gets no answers. Reyes arrives to talk to Morrow, and Mack recognizes him as the Ghost Rider. They capture Reyes, and earn his trust. AIDA supervises May's recovery, as a Turing test by Radcliffe. Johnson and Simmons find the Inhuman JT James and destroy his monitor. Reyes visits Morrow, and learns that the Momentum explosion was caused by a group of scientists studying the Darkhold, a mysterious book. Only Lucy's husband Joseph, whom Morrow had put in a coma trying to stop the experiments, survived. James betrays Johnson—he hates being an Inhuman, and gave the Watchdogs access to his monitor. Coulson, Mack, and Reyes save Johnson and Simmons, alerted by the monitor's destruction. They then get May to help find the Darkhold, and when Simmons sees AIDA she deduces her true nature.

The Verdict:

"Ghost"

Let's start this review off right...

I TOLD you guys on social media that I had the utmost confidence in what Marvel Studios was going to do with Robbie Reyes in this continuity. They wouldn't go out of their way to introduce this new character after getting the Ghost Rider license back from FOX. Just because Agents of SHIELD isn't on Netflix doesn't rule them out from being another solid contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether you have followed the show or not up to this point, but Agents of SHIELD have been the glue that holds this universe together between the blockbuster film releases and the narratives told in Hell's Kitchen with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and shortly Luke Cage on Netflix. This show shouldered the aftermath of the original Avengers, demonstrated how vast HYDRA's infliction was like a disease to the SHIELD organization following Captain America: The Winter Soldier, introduced the Inhumans to this continuity - along with the Kree Empire via T.A.H.I.T.I., long before Guardians of the Galaxy and the conversation of the Inhumans ever getting a feature film came to fruition, and most importantly, this series serves as the origin story for one of the titular SHIELD agents in the comics continuity, Quake/Daisy "Skye" Johnson.

I'm glad that we can put the memory of Nicholas Cage's Ghost Rider behind us - even though I didn't "hate" those two movies but I wasn't really crazy about them. Agents of SHIELD used this single episode and portrayed the best iteration of Ghost Rider to date. I'm sure the hardcore Robbie Reyes fans will be mad that it seems like they made Robbie into a "traditional" Ghost Rider instead of being possessed by a demonic serial murder, but I thought they settled for a happy medium, giving fans and casuals the best of both worlds for this character. That being said, I love this new "darker" approach to this season. Outside of a few rare instances in the previous seasons, this show was a bit too light-hearted for my taste at times, especially for the subject manner that was touched upon. I was glad that Agents of SHIELD is moving away from being all smiles and giggles and into a much more serious tone that was needed since the HYDRA reveal. We were given a lot of insight on the surviving members of Coulson's team have been hardened by the friends and loved ones that they have lost over the last three seasons. I think the darker approach and tone for this season is going to pave the way to some rather dark storytelling portraying how far away from the traditional "heroic" path some of these characters are going to walk to insure that they won't lose anyone else dear to them again. It's painfully evidence in Quake's character now, who is still suffering from the events of the Season 3 finale along with the loss of her parents in Season 2. I'm anxious to see how Robbie Reyes and the Ghost Rider's principles and personal outlooks on life will clash with Quake's own.

I'm glad that AoS didn't just completely write off or "forgot" about remaining Inhumans or rather Secret Warriors that were recruited during the ordeal with Hive and HYDRA last season. This premiere saw the return of YoYo Rodriguez, who is continuing her on/off romance with Mack who is ironically not trying to get his "mack" on.

I honestly don't know where they are going with Fitz and Radcliffe's subplot of working on LMD (Life Model Decoys) but I hope and pray that's not an excuse/copout to bring back everyone they have killed off up to this point as LMDs. I said it on social media last season and I'll say it again now. Keep Grant Ward away from this show. We've all had our fill of him. Let him stay dead and gone. Another thing I hope they don't do is have Fitz with a Weird Science-style imitation of Jemma Simmons that does "anything" he wants. To be honest, I thought LMDs would have been introduced in Captain America; The Winter Soldier when Nick Fury "faked" his own demise.

"Meet the New Boss"

The biggest takeaway from this episode is the revelation that the new director is an Inhuman credited as Jeffrey Mace. This is the first time I've actually seen how Jason O'Mara looks like despite being a fan of his voice acting work. I'm surprised that he hasn't tried his hand at getting a role in more live-action superhero roles until now.

On top of that, we're treated to the fact that the Ghost Rider is the only one who can "kill" these new ghost adversaries that have popped up this season that are aligned with Lucy Bauer. We also learn that Bauer is after a spell book referred to as the Darkhold. In the comics continuity, the Darkhold directly ties to Dr. Strange as it is considered to be the ultimate dark grimoire, a collection of all evil spells in the existence collected by the Elder God Chthon. It serves as the anti-thesis of the Book of the Vishanti. Trust me, if a lot of this magical stuff is over your head then fear not as it's just to warm people up to this side of the MCU before Dr. Strange's formal introduction next month in theaters.

I had to feel bad for May this season as she's been sidelined as the show's resident badass, only to be one-upped by the Ghost Rider. I'm sure May will take her place back in due time but there's no denying Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider's presence in this show. Two episodes in and he's like the best thing that's happened to this show to say that he's just a guest star/recurring cast member for this season.

"Uprising"

About time we got a Yo-Yo centric episode. I was starting to miss her as a regular from last season's focus on the Inhumans. Out of all of the "New Warriors" Daisy recruited last season, she was definitely my favorite and I was glad to see that she was sicking around. Much like the treat we got of May in a dress a few seasons back, it was nice to see Yo-Yo in one for this episode, even though it was brief.

I found it rather odd that it took them like what, two seasons now to show the public populace are reacting to the Inhumans living among them. Agents of SHIELD are sprinkling these "X-Men-like" issues of dealing with indifference and racism to potentially prepare audiences for whenever Marvel Studios finally actually gets the X-Men license (along with the use of mutants period) back and are able to integrate them into the MCU.

I wasn't surprised to see that Radcliffe had to risk exposing AIDA to Simmons to save May's life, but I'm left wondering how are they going to prevent future "infections" from contact from the ghosts in future conflicts. It's not like they have protection against that or anything. I have to be honest that I have felt that Simmons has been sketchy since her time away from the Coulson's team to do her undercover op as an agent for HYDRA a few seasons ago and her new role as a high ranking SHIELD agent is rubbing me the wrong way. Remember that she was the main one who didn't want to give Inhumans a chance at all about two seasons ago so what makes you think that her intentions have changed since then after all that has transpired despite the fact that the new director is one himself? I have a feeling that she's going to let the sheep out of the bag and expose her real intentions sooner more than later and it will ultimately drive her and Fitz apart.

I thought it was interesting to see that Robbie's brother was the one who got Daisy to leave after seeing her powers firsthand, yet he's blind to see that his own brother isn't normal himself. I'm familiar with Robbie Reyes' comic book counterpart and I'm anxious to see if this show draws from the demonic possession by a serial killer (his uncle Eli) or not. So far, it's looking like they aren't dwelling into the comics too much but I want to see where this goes.

At the end of the day, this was a fun episode that we needed to remind viewers that Coulson's team still has it and can hold their own. I'm glad that they are actually picking up this storyline of the Watchdogs after leaving it floating in the air for a while in favor of the plot with Hive last season. They make for a nice diversion among all of this mystical and magical stuff being introduced this season.

One of my favorite things this season is that I can sit back and enjoy the ride with most fans who aren't savvy to the bulk of this stuff. The mystical/magical realm of Marvel Comics is something I have no problem admitting that I'm not very knowledgeable on so I'm enjoying learning about this stuff as this season peters out, along with Dr. Strange around the corner.

That being said, I have NO idea what they got planned for Senator Nadeer's brother locked up in that carbonite... err terrigen cocoon. Whatever it is, I'm positive he'll end up being something that Daisy, Yo-Yo, and Robbie will end up having to deal with.

"Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire"

Ha, Daisy keeps using her powers recklessly and she's going to quake her arm off. I'm finding it rather hard to believe that she was too stupid to take the special gear and gloves that Simmons made about a season ago for her NOT to hurt herself with her own powers with her when she left SHIELD. Even Simmons reminds her about them but Daisy blows her off about them not being incognito. Fuck being incognito if it they are going to help her in the long run.

I couldn't help but find it to be hilarious that Radcliffe addressed my question from the last episode on how were they were going to prevent future "ghost" infections by telling May that they are developing a countermeasure to that. I don't see Radcliffe's "experiment" going bad unless Simmons spills the beans and I know she will... I just can't shake this feeling that she's sketchy this season. I will admit that AIDA seems confused about the conception of "lies" and that might come to bite Radcliffe's ass later in the season.

About time we get a car chase with Coulson's Lola in this show. Even better that it was against Reyes' Charger.

Here's where the comics' Reyes is different than the MCU Reyes. Uncle Eli was a serial killer and is already dead. Eli made a pact to become a demon in death and that's what possessed Robbie Reyes to give him his powers. He wasn't in prison nor a noble man like the one depicted here. I guess since Reyes is the "first" Ghost Rider introduced into the MCU properly into this continuity so I'm guessing they are going to keep with the traditional Ghost Rider story and axe the whole twist about being possessed by a serial killer. A guy gives up his soul to become an avatar to fight in the presence of evil. Hmmm... I wonder if they are going to introduce Mephisto in this show or not then? All of this talk about God and Devil has me wondering...

Was anyone really surprised that JT James ended up throwing Daisy and Simmons to the "wolves" or rather to the Watchdogs? That dude was shady before Hive infected him and recruited him to his group of Inhuman "superfriends" so I wasn't surprised in the least at that double cross. It's times like this that I'm a little sad that Raina's not around to serve as a better villain when it comes to these clever double crosses.

Everytime Robbie's eyes flare up, I think of this from Ronin Warriors...

Most bad ass moment of this episode was Reyes grabbing that flaming chain from James. James couldn't been more stupid to fight a guy who's immune to fire though. I keep hoping that they are going to have Reyes bust out the Penance Stare but nope. They keep teasing it but no dice. I'm guessing they are saving that for last hurrah of this season.

I have to share Coulson's feelings about being stern with Daisy though. She didn't have to run but I guess she's unofficially back on the team for now along with Reyes.

This was another fun episode that built off the previous one of Coulson rebuilding his team with members old and new to prepare to deal with this upcoming threat of whoever is going to get their hands on the Darkhold first. This Marvel team-up might not go as well as they all envision if Simmons ends up spilling the beans to the new director. I swear... that girl has turned into a wet blanket to be the buzzkill on everyone's parties lately.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

If you haven't given Agents of SHIELD a chance until now, this is a great place to start, especially if you want to see what Marvel has done with Ghost Rider back under their roof of cinematic properties. I think this episode will turn even the hardest of skeptics into fans of what they have done with that character being introduced into this continuity. Each episode thus far has been better than the last and I can't help to see how this season plays out. Marvel's definitely raising the bar on the superhero dramas right now. 

REVIEW -- DC's Legends of Tomorrow -- Season 2 Premiere: "Out of Time"

When Vandal Savage murders his family, Time Master Rip Hunter goes rogue, deciding to bring him down with a team consisting of Atom, White Canary, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave. However, the Time Masters actually backed Savage in his domination of the world in 2166, intending to repel a Thanagarian invasion. However, due to Captain Cold's sacrifice, the Time Masters are destroyed. Savage attempts to rewrite history with a temporal explosion, but is killed by the team when he is rendered mortal by the same meteor he used for his scheme. With Savage dead, Hawkman and Hawkgirl leave the team.

Following the demise of the Time Masters, Rip decides to take their place guarding history with Atom, White Canary, Firestorm and Heat Wave. However, they are warned by Rex Tyler that they will die in New York 1942. They proceed to ignore the warning, resulting in Heat Wave being put in stasis, Rip missing, and the rest of the team scattered in time. However, historian Nate Heywood, aided by Oliver Queen, finds Heat Wave and replaces Rip on the team. The pair rescues the rest of the team and proceed to locate the time criminals trying to alter history.

Cast:

Victor Garber as Martin Stein / Firestorm
Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer / Atom
Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter
Caity Lotz as Sara Lance / White Canary
Franz Drameh as Jefferson Jackson / Firestorm
Ciara Renée as Chay-Ara / Edith Boardman / Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl
Falk Hentschel as Khufu / Joe Boardman / Carter Hall / Scythian Torvil / Hawkman
Amy Pemberton as Gideon
Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory / Heat Wave / Chronos
Wentworth Miller as Leonard Snart / Captain Cold
Matt Letscher as Eobard Thawne / Reverse Flash
Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe / Vixen
Nick Zano as Nathan Heywood / Citizen Steel
John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn / Dark Archer

Episode Summary: (FULL Spoilers)

In 2016, historian Nate Heywood enlists Mayor Oliver Queen's help in locating the sunken Waverider, finding only Mick aboard in stasis. After being revived, Mick tells them what happened. With the Time Masters gone, Rip's team - Mick, Ray, Sara, Jefferson and Martin - continued traveling through time dealing with "aberrations" in history while avoiding 1942 due to Rex Tyler's warning. They learned that a nuclear bomb would be exploded in New York City in 1942 and believed that the Nazis kidnapped Albert Einstein and forced his help in making one. They abducted Einstein themselves, but discovered that this did not change events. Einstein explained that his partner, Mileva Marić, was the only other scientist with enough expertise. In another confrontation, they saved Mileva while Sara attempted to kill Damien Darhk, who was helping the Nazis, to preventLaurel's death. However, Darhk escaped and launched his sole atomic bomb toward New York from a U-boat. Rip then teleported all but the injured Mick off the Waverider, scattering them throughout time, before intercepting the missile with the ship and saving the city. Mick and Nate travel through time and rescue everyone, but fail to find any trace of Rip. After fixing events in 1942 to prevent the Nazis from making a nuclear bomb, the team is confronted by the Justice Society of America. Meanwhile, Darhk is shown to be working with Eobard Thawne.

The Verdict:

I have to admit that I enjoyed the pacing of the story on this episode rather than the timeline of the week format that the show lazily adopted in the first season during the pursuit of Vandal Savage. Jumping across multiple periods in time kept things interesting and fresh throughout the entire episode and didn't feel like a chore to watch like the bulk of the first season was.

At the end of the day, this episode is still a recap episode that fills in the gaps on what the Legends have been up to since toppling the Time Masters at the end of Season One. Rip Hunter is still playing the part of a wannabe Doctor Who doctor to this crew of misfits and unlikely heroes, even though I thought they got over the bulk of that hurdle at the end of Season One, but whatever. It's quickly revealed that Rip has taken measures to keep the team afloat in the case of his untimely (no pun intended) demise or disappearance. No one stays dead in these shows, whether it's DC or Marvel-made, so I think that Rip Hunter will be back later down the line in some form or fashion thanks to this show's (along with the "Flashpoint" plot for The Flash Season 3) tampering with the timelines.

I felt that the "Timescatter" protocol that Rip arranged to save the Legends in the event of their possible failure of their mission was rather stupid. He could have easily displaced all of the Legends to their original places in time where they belong or in one place together instead of fucking up the timeline even further by having their appearances show up in even more sporadic points in history. It was ironic that he was scolding them about that for the bulk of the episode when he managed to blunder the timeline himself.

Sadly, the special effects still leave a lot to be desired but at least the hand-to-hand action sequences make up for the visual shortcomings. White Canary/Sara Lance definitely kicks the most ass in this episode - or rather she gets her ass handed to her royally by Darhk by the end of the episode due to her personal obsession with revenge over the murder of her sister, Laurel.

Can I say that I vote that this guy is the best villain of the Arrowverse if he had the balls to kill off Laurel? Out of the rare chance that I took a peek at Arrow, Laurel and Thea were the two worst things about that show. Kudos to you all who put up with that shit since Day 1 but I couldn't deal. That being said... As much as I have a crush on the actress who plays Felicity Smoak, I'm not watching that show just for her.

I honestly didn't feel like Oliver Queen was needed in this Season Two pilot to introduce this new guy, Nate. It just felt like an excuse to hand Stephen Amell another paycheck for an appearance outside of his normal episode orders for Arrow this season and the inevitable Arrowverse crossover episode(s) with Legends, The Flash, and Supergirl. I thought the new guy was capable of selling himself as a new crewmember all on his own. The whole "stamp of approval" by Ollie wasn't necessary at all, but then again, most of the stuff on these CW-made superhero dramas are made to live-or-die by what the fangirls and fanboys jerk themselves off to in fan-fictions on Tumblr and Fanfiction.net, so I guess the network figured that fans would be more receptive to a new character if Ollie was cool with him too. Remember that's how Barry Allen/The Flash got his own spin-off in the first place. He popped up in a few episodes of Arrow first before they decided to go full-swing with a Flash-based show.

Since this show (along with The Flash) are playing with the consequences of Flash's tampering with the timeline of his show coupled with their own consequences of disposing of the Time Masters at the end of the first season of this show, it seems to be opening up a lot of unique opportunities to bring back a lot of marquee villains from throughout the Arrowverse up to this point. We saw Damien Darhk featured in this episode to lead into the treat of Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne joining forces with him. I'm looking forward to seeing more of these villains join forces from both Arrow and The Flash up to this point as I'm sure they will stack the deck against the Legends big time if the JSA have to step in.

I thought Sara's crack to Palmer about "what is he without his suit" was rather funny even though it was a direct rip off of the joke Captain America poised to Tony Stark/Ironman in the original Avengers film. I thought that they would have given him legit powers by now instead of reducing him to don a low-budget Ironman suit to fight crime. And here I thought Diamondback's outfit in Luke Cage looked bad... Speaking of Sara, can anyone answer a question for me? What's her sexuality? Is she lesbian or bisexual? Either way I still think she's a bad ass and one of the better characters on this show, but geez, she was sleeping around on this episode. I thought she had a thing for Snart last season before he sacrificed himself? (Sighs) I guess that's her way of coping with losing two loved ones in so little time back to back. First, it was Laurel and now Snart. I suggest the writers tone that down a bit before people start complaining about it in the near future though if they aren't already. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that's probably their running gag in all honesty though.

Watch it or Don't Bother?

The Justice Society of America make their first appearance at the end of this premiere. 

If you liked the first season, you might as see where it goes next. Newcomers, it's still pretty early to judge, but this is as good as a starting point as ever as this episode recaps a lot of things outside of what happened to the original crew of the Waverider, but sticks to what happened to the current group that was left following the demise of the Time Masters.

Even though I feel like the Justice Society of America look like a huge group of losers/nerds in cosplay (outside of Stargirl's costume that looks AMAZING), I'm anxious to see where this goes. From the tease that there's more than Thawne and Darhk working together to form their own band of villains from the teaser trailers for this season to seeing the members of the JSA teaming up with the Waverider crew, I think they might actually deliver big time on this show after it's shortcomings last season.

My biggest complaint is that they completely dropped the cliffhanger that the last season ended on with the warning by Rex Tyler and it seemed like the writers wrote this episode like that didn't even happen. I'm willing to forgive them for that if they revisit that situation later in this season - after all this is the season two premiere, so I'm going to cut them some slack.

REVIEW -- CW's The Flash (Season Two)

Following the defeat of Barry Allen's arch-nemesis Eobard Thawne (aka Reverse Flash) at the end of Season One, Team Flash quickly turned their attention to the singularity swirling high above Central City, which fans last saw consuming everything in its path. Armed with the heart of a hero and the ability to move at super speeds, Barry charged into the eye of the singularity, but will he actually be able to save his city from impending doom?

Main Cast:

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash and Barry Allen
Candice Patton as Iris West and Detective Iris West-Allen
Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow and Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost
Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon/Vibe and Cisco Ramon/Reverb
Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West
Tom Cavanagh as Dr. Harrison "Harry" Wells and Professor Eobard Thawne
Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West and Joseph West

Recurring Cast:

Teddy Sears as Hunter Zolomon/Zoom and Hunter Zolomon
Tony Todd as Zoom (voice)
Shantel VanSanten as Detective Patty Spivot
Violett Beane as Jesse Quick
John Wesley Shipp as Dr. Henry Allen and Jay Garrick/The Flash
Patrick Sabongui as Captain David Singh and Singh
Victor Garber as Professor Martin Stein/Firestorm
Vanessa Williams as Francine West
Wentworth Miller as Leonard Snart/Captain Cold
Amanda Pays as Dr. Tina McGee
Demore Barnes as Dr. Henry Hewitt/Tokamak and Dr. Henry Hewitt
Ciara Renée as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl
Malese Jow as Linda Park and Linda Park/Dr. Light
Michelle Harrison as Nora Allen
Rick Cosnett as Detective Eddie Thawne
David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan
Matt Letscher as Professor Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash
Robbie Amell as Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm and Ronnie Raymond/Deathstorm
Adam Stafford as Adam Fells/Geomancer
Tone Bell as Scott Evans
David Hayter as King Shark

Season Two Episode Listing: 

#	Episode name	Directed by	Story by	Teleplay by	Original airdate
1	"The Man Who Saved Central City"	Ralph Hemecker	Greg Berlanti &Andrew Kreisberg	Andrew Kreisberg andGabrielle Stanton	October 6, 2015
Picking up six months after the Singularity attacked Central City, Barry is still struggling to forgive himself for Eddie’s death. Concerned about putting his friends in danger, Barry has pushed everyone away and has chosen to protect the city on his own. When a meta-human named Atom Smasher attacks the city, Iris tells Barry that he needs to let his friends help him protect the citizens of Central City. Meanwhile, Cisco helps Joe with his Meta Task Force.
2	"Flash of Two Worlds"	Jesse Warn	Aaron & Todd Helbing		October 13, 2015
Jay Garrick, a mysterious man from Earth Two, appears at S.T.A.R. Labs with a dire warning about an evil speedster named Zoom, who is set on destroying The Flash. Barry and the team must decide if they can trust this stranger even as they face yet another powerful meta-human. Meanwhile, Joe must deal with a determined officer named Patty Spivot who wants to join his meta-human task force.
3	"Family of Rogues"	John Showalter	Julian Meiojas & Katherine Walczak		October 20, 2015
When Barry and the team find out Captain Cold has been kidnapped, they form an uneasy alliance with his sister, Lisa. However, Barry feels double-crossed when he finds out Snart is working with his father, Lewis Snart on a heist. Meanwhile, Joe is faced with a difficult decision.
4	"The Fury of Firestorm"	Stefan Pleszczynski	Kai Yu Wu & Joe Peracchio		October 27, 2015
Barry and the team look for another Firestorm match for Dr. Stein. When the team meets Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, Caitlin has her reservations about whether Jax is the right match for Dr. Stein. Iris surprises Joe Westwhile Barry and Patty Spivot grow closer.
5	"The Darkness and the Light"	Steve Shill	Ben Sokolowski & Grainne Godfree		November 3, 2015
Barry learns a new breacher, Dr. Light, has come through the portal and sets off to capture her. Jay tells Barry that Dr. Light was not a threat on Earth Two and that Barry can reason with her. However, during a fight with The Flash, she blinds him and drops some shocking news about Zoom. Meanwhile, Barry and Patty go out on a date.
6	"Enter Zoom"	J.J. Makaro	Gabrielle Stanton & Brooke Eikmeier		November 10, 2015
After recent events, Barry decides it's time to confront Zoom and comes up with a dangerous plan. Caitlin sides with Jay and deems it too dangerous for Barry to engage with the speed demon. However, Iris shows her support and brings forth a surprising ally. We see what Earth Two Harrison Wells' life was like before coming through the breach.
7	"Gorilla Warfare"	Dermott Downs	Aaron & Todd Helbing		November 17, 2015
Grodd returns to Central City and kidnaps Caitlin. Barry and team race to find her before it's too late. Meanwhile, Cisco plans his first date with the new barista at Jitters, Kendra Saunders and Patty begins to suspect Barry is hiding something from her.
8	"Legends of Today"	Ralph Hemecker	Aaron & Todd Helbing		December 1, 2015
Vandal Savage arrives in Central City and sets his sights on Kendra Saunders. After Vandal attacks Kendra and Cisco, they turn to Barry for help. Realizing how dangerous Vandal is, Barry takes Kendra to Star City and asks Oliver and team to hide her until he can figure out how to stop Vandal. However, things quickly go from bad to worse when a man with wings AKA Hawkman shows up and flies off with Kendra. Meanwhile, Harrison develops a serum to make Barry run faster and asks Jay to test it out.
9	"Running to Stand Still"	Kevin Tancharoen	Andrew Kreisberg		December 8, 2015
When Mark Mardon AKA The Weather Wizard returns to break Leonard Snart AKA Captain Cold and James Jesse AKA The Trickster out of Iron Heights, Barry must stop these rogues from taking over Central City during Christmas. Meanwhile, Joe and Iris meet Wally West.
10	"Potential Energy"	Rob Hardy	Bryan Q. Miller		January 19, 2016
Now that they've grown closer, Barry considers telling Patty that he is The Flash. Meanwhile, Joe and Iris try to get to know Wally, and the team hunts down a meta-human who can slow time itself.
11	"The Reverse-Flash Returns"	Michael Allowitz	Aaron & Todd Helbing		January 26, 2016
When Cisco gets a vibe of Eobard Thawne, Barry and the team don't believe it. But, after an attack at Mercury Labs, Christina McGee confirms that the Reverse-Flash is back. Meanwhile, Iris and Francine share a nice moment that brings Iris closer to her brother, Wally.
12	"Fast Lane"	Rachel Talalay	Brooke Eikmeier	Kai Yu Wu and Joe Peracchio	February 2, 2016
Barry teams up with Wells to figure out a way to close the breaches, but they are distracted by a meta-human nicknamed Tar Pit who can transform into liquid asphalt. Iris is concerned for Wally's safety after she finds out about his drag racing hobby. When he refuses to stop she makes a bold move that puts her in danger.
13	"Welcome to Earth-2"	Millicent Shelton	Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg & Katherine Walczak		February 9, 2016
Barry, Harry and Cisco journey to Earth-2 to rescue Harry's daughter, Jesse from Zoom. Barry is stunned when he runs into Earth-2 Iris and Joe, but nothing prepares him for meeting Killer Frost and Deathstorm. Meanwhile, back on Earth-1, Jay has to take over the Flash's responsibilities when a meta-human nicknamedGeomancer attacks Central City.
14	"Escape from Earth-2"	J.J. Makaro	Aaron & Todd Helbing		February 16, 2016
On Earth-2, the team races to find Zoom's lair and asks for help from the most unexpected source. Meanwhile, back on Earth-1, Caitlin rushes to perfect Velocity-9 so that Jay can stop the Geomancer.
15	"King Shark"	Hanelle Culpepper	Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes		February 23, 2016
When King Shark escapes from an A.R.G.U.S. holding tank, Lyla and Diggle travel to Central City to warnBarry. King Shark shows up at the West house and attacks Joe, Iris, Wally and Barry.
16	"Trajectory"	Glen Winter	Lauren Certo & Lilah Vandenburgh		March 22, 2016
Deciding to blow off some steam, Barry and the team head out for a night on the town only to encounter an unexpected speedster who is up to no good. Iris is challenged by an assignment from her new boss, and is surprised when friction turns to flirtation.
17	"Flash Back"	Alice Troughton	Aaron & Todd Helbing		March 29, 2016
After the shocking revelation that Zoom is Jay Garrick, Barry is more determined than ever to get back to Earth-2 to stop Zoom forever. Desperate to find a way to increase his speed, Barry decides to travel back in time and masquerade as his earlier self in order to get his arch-nemesis, Dr. Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne, to teach him how to run faster. However, things don't go as planned and Barry is stunned to face familiar foe Hartley Rathaway, as well as old friend Eddie Thawne. Iris makes peace with her past in order to embrace her future.
18	"Versus Zoom"	Stefan Pleszczynski	Joe Peracchio & David Kob		April 19, 2016
Equipped with the tachyon device, Barry believes he is fast enough to stop Zoom and wants to open the breaches to catch him. Harry strongly advises against that plan but after Barry convinces him, Harry reveals that Cisco has the power to re-open the breach. Meanwhile, Hunter Zolomon's painful story on Earth-2 is revealed.
19	"Back to Normal"	John Showalter	Brooke Roberts & Katherine Walczak		April 26, 2016
A meta-human with super strength named Griffin Grey mistakes Harry for Earth-1 Harrison Wells and kidnaps him, demanding that Wells cure him from his current condition. Realizing another brilliant Wells could help track Griffin's location, Barry asks Jesse to help. Meanwhile, Wally corners Joe about The Flash.
20	"Rupture"	Armen V. Kevorkian	Kai Yu Wu & Lauren Certo		May 3, 2016
Zoom arrives back on Earth-1 intent on taking over Central City. Barry and Wells come up with a plan to stop Zoom once and for all but it's extremely dangerous. Unsure if he should take the risk, Barry reaches out to both fathers for advice. Henry is adamantly opposed to Barry risking his life again but Joe thinks he can handle it which puts the two men at odds with each other. Meanwhile, Cisco is shocked when he vibes the Earth-2 villain Rupture, who happens to be his brother Dante's doppelgänger. Rupture came to this Earth seeking justice for Reverb's death. Iris decides she's finally ready to open up to Barry about her feelings for him.
21	"The Runaway Dinosaur"	Kevin Smith	Zack Stentz		May 10, 2016
With Barry gone, the team must figure out a way to handle the return of an old enemy – Girder. Realizing Girder is retracing his steps from his last attack, Iris volunteers to act as bait to trap him in S.T.A.R. Labs. Meanwhile, Barry fights to return to his old life.
22	"Invincible"	Jesse Warn	Greg Berlanti &Andrew Kreisberg	Brooke Roberts & David Kob	May 17, 2016
After Zoom unleashes an army of Earth-2 meta-humans on Central City, Barry is shaken when he sees their leader is the Black Canary's Earth-2 doppelgänger, the Black Siren. Meanwhile, Wally takes to the streets to help The Flash stop the meta-humans, which worries Joe. Iris and Henry are concerned about Barry taking on Zoom.
23	"The Race of His Life"	Antonio Negret	Aaron & Todd Helbing		May 24, 2016
After Zoom reveals his true plan, Barry vows to do whatever it takes to stop him.

The Verdict: 

I really hate having to revisit my thoughts on this season as it’s just pissing me off all over again.
At the end of Season 1, I was pissed off. At the end of this season, I was more pissed off here than I was at the end of the first season and I couldn’t fathom that the series’ writers would dwell into this level of stupidity.

Wait, wait… I’m getting ahead of myself here, so let’s start at the beginning.

Hot off the heels of closing the dimensional breech from the cliffhanger ending to the Season 1 finale, Barry Allen is coming to grips of the pressures of living up to everyone’s high expectations of his heroism after defeating Reverse Flash (not really) and saving Central City (again not really). I say not really because in both situations, the world was saved due to forces outside of Barry’s control and he just happens to get the credit for the heroics. Eddie Thawne defeated Reverse Flash by “erasing” him from existence after killing himself and Firestorm was the one who saved the city by closing the breech. Barry starts off the season moping around until we’re introduced to the first of many dimensional breechers, Atomsmasher (played by WWE alumni Adam Copeland AKA The Rated R Superstar, Edge). After an anticlimactic battle, it’s revealed that Atomsmasher was working for another speedster known as Zoom. Soon enough, Barry is befriended by another speedster, The Flash of Earth 2 – Jay Garrett, along with the Harrison Wells (the REAL one) of Earth 2, who both are there to warn and assist Barry of the pending threat of a new evil speedster, Zoom.

Doesn't this sound familiar to the plot of Season One with Reverse Flash/Thawne? That's why this season frustrated me. It ultimately follows the same pattern. Jay Garrett isn't who he really say he is and ends up being the enemy in disguise - namely Zoom himself and was using Barry in the same fashion as Reverse Flash to gain his speed for his own purposes. The villains of the week end up being various "breachers" as dubbed by Cisco from Earth-2 that were recruited by Zoom to kill The Flash. Most of them prove to be only minor conveniences until the audience was treated to a trip to Earth-2 where everything is a bit "reversed" in comparison to the normal Earth that we've been used to this point. Barry's married to Iris, who is a police officer instead of her father, in that reality while the Flash support team are the supervillains Reverb (Vibe/Cisco) and Killer Frost (Caitlin) working for Zoom. Barry's Earth-2 counterpart doesn't have any powers either. Those two episodes proved to be one of the better standout episodes of that season.

Once Zoom exposed his identity of being an impostor and being really Hunter Zolomon instead of Jay Garrick and stripped Barry Allen of his speed, Barry found himself going down a path of self-discovery of his own worth as a person and as a hero. This ultimately led Barry to go to the extremes to regain his powers by recreating the experiment that gave him his powers in this first place. It seemed to kill him but instead it took him into the Speed Force itself. In a special Kevin Smith directed episode, Barry reunites with his mother and truly becomes one with the Speed Force after truly understanding the depth of his powers.

Between this episode, the ordeal where Barry went back into the past and altered the past to prevent the deaths of his allies in this season's crossover with Arrow and the heroes set to star in Legends of Tomorrow, and the Season One finale where Barry had a chance to prevent the death of his mother, one would think that Barry has come to terms with the death of his mother and how all of these events up to this point have shaped him into the hero he is today. Wells along with Thawne/Reverse Flash warned him about tampering with time travel, yet Barry tampers with it once again. Here's where my frustration with this show reaches its peak. Barry doesn't learn from anything. He makes the same mistakes time and time again - not because he is a nice guy or a genuinely good person. No, it's because he's a stupid person. That's the impression that the writers of this show have painted a picture of. Look, I can understand his pain of losing both parents due to the actions of Zoom and Reverse Flash, but what he's not realizing that every time that he or someone else tampers with time and the Speed Force it only creates another evil speedster - one more dangerous than the last. First we had Reverse Flash in Season One, then Zoom in this season and it looks like they have ANOTHER one set to debut in Season Three. Not to mention they teased and set up the potential origins for Wally West to become Kid Flash and Jesse Wells to become Jesse Quick down the road and a potential return of the other minor evil speedster in this season, Trajectory.

I have to mention the subplot where Barry Allen was hitting it off with Patty Spivot, then the show unexpectedly threw that relationship to the curb and put Barry back in the pursuit of Iris. It came off really awkward in that transition when Barry and Patty seemed to have a really great thing going and the show just wrote it off - pretty early in this season if I may add. I was left wondering if they were going to come back to this character later in this season but to no avail.

This situation sums up the season perfectly though. It seems great on the surface and potentially to lead to something wonderful in this series, but ultimately falls flat. This season gets your hopes up on something cool then immediately lets you down with the payoff. It's a recurring theme throughout this season from premiere to the finale.

Watch it or Don't Bother?

If you watched season one, you might as well see where things go from there. Everyone else, I suggest not bothering. This isn't a good point to jump into the show if you haven't been following to this point and if these CW DC Comics-based superhero dramas aren't your cup of tea then you might not become a fan after the poor writing in this season.

Ultimately, this show keeps running around in the same circle. Barry finds himself pitted against an evil speedster and finds himself along with his loved ones in the cross hairs no matter what he does. In the conflicting battle between the two speedsters, lives are lost, people are hurt, and someone dear to him dies. As a result, he tries to change the past despite the warnings and previous experiences of doing so proves to go horribly wrong. Barry does it anyway without heeding the warnings and goes through an absent-minded process where he doesn't realize the magnitude of his actions until it's too late.

I can't really put the blame on the cast for this show as even though there's times I can't fucking stand Iris West's character and can't fathom Barry Allen's stupidity at times, the actors are only working with what they are given. They do a superb job for what they given. Tom Cavanagh is still the best among the cast as Harrison Wells (again) this season with a rigid edge to his character in this season while Grant Gustin following a close second as you cannot help but love his performance as Barry Allen. Carlos Valdes' delivery makes Cisco's jokes and wisecracks stand out even more while there's moments where you want to give both Danielle Panabaker and Candice Patton a hug for their heart-felt moments and vulnerability. Teddy Sears really offers nothing major as a stand-out villain in this season compared to Cavanagh as Thawne/Reverse Flash in the first season. That alone makes me scratch my head why would they retread familiar territory when Sears couldn't live up to Cavanagh's impact as villain in the premiere season of this show.

After season one, I thought the series creators would learn from their mistakes and provide a better product after growing from what they have learned from the original season. Instead, the writers, much like Barry Allen/The Flash, refuse to learn from their mistakes and continue running into circles, destined to repeat the same mistakes and shortcomings time and time again. That being said, with the premiere of Season Three around the corner, I don't have much faith that they will do anything different with the television adaptation of the popularized Flashpoint storyline even though Barry's tampering with the fabric of time will effect every show in the CW's DC Television Universe in some shape or form going forward.