Disc Type

The 1988 Batman comic storyline that featured the death of the second Robin, the impulsive Jason Todd, is remembered as one of the most important in the Batman family of comics. It told the story of how after being relieved of his duties as Robin, Jason Todd began a quest to be reunited with his birth mother, only to be kidnapped, tortured, and eventually killed at the hands of Batman’s most notorious nemesis, the Joker. Though Batman did manage to bring the Joker to justice, the loss of Todd had a profound affect on Batman as well as the rest of the Batman family for years to come. Because of it, Batman resolves to continue alone, and while he did eventually take on another Robin, he never was the same. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if Jason didn’t die? How would the Caped Crusader’s life have been different if he’d been able to save his former protégé? We don’t have wonder anymore thanks to the DC Animated Universe, which just introduced Batman: Death in the Family, the first interactive animated movie that allows the watcher to choose Jason’s ultimate fate. With multiple separate storylines, the audience has the power to decide if Robin dies, cheats death, or is ultimately saved by the Dark Knight. So, which will you choose?

This was the best method of telling this story in my opinion. Allowing the audience to pick what happens to Jason Todd is a very immersive experience and in keeping with the legacy of the original comic. For those who don’t know, Jason’s fate in the 1988 comic storyline was decided by a 900-number voting system. Fans called two separate numbers and chose whether Jason would survive the Joker's torture or die because of it. It only seems fitting that the audience have that same power with this animated film.

This is a show that always surprises me because it is so far out of the reaches of the type of project that I am usually attracted to, but every time I watch, the cleverness and sharp-wittedness of it always wins me over. Season 4 is no different. Though it can get very political and the series is unafraid to take shots at the President, this season provided quite possibly one of its most well-balanced episodes with the season’s opening. However, before we get to that, let’s have a brief recap of where we left off in Season 3. The end of the season saw the departure of Rose Leslie’s Maia Rindell, who after a rollercoaster season which included her getting fired from Reddick Boseman Lockhart, departing for the capital to lead her own firm. Meanwhile, Diana and Liz joined an underground political opposition group for the purposes of undermining Donald Trump’s presidency. While they both are start off as enthusiastic members of the group, with Diana going as far as to secretly seize the leadership position when a prominent member disappears. However, the missing member is revealed to be a charlatan, causing Diana’s charade to be exposed. Additionally, the group’s tactics change, becoming darker and more ruthless, prompting Diana and Liz to distance themselves from the group. Threatened by Diana’s potential exposure risk, the season ended on a cliffhanger that saw Diana’s and her husband’s lives in danger.

Now in regards to the season opening, Diana wakes up in a alternative reality where Hillary Clinton won the election. Though initially ecstatic about this change, she quickly learns that not everything is rosy as she learns in this world there is no #MeToo movement, and Harvey Weinstein is still a prominent movie producer, but also her newest client. This was an interesting episode, as it was the first series episode that didn’t feel overly critical of Donald Trump. Granted there were still occasional jabs at the President, usually in the form of someone laughing at the idea of him winning the election, but the acknowledgement that both outcomes have their pluses and minuses was very intriguing.

While I enjoyed the first couple seasons of Rick and Morty, I wasn’t all that sure about the show’s staying power with Adult Swim. I’d talk about the show with some friends, but for the most part this seems to be a show that finds its fan base more in their late teens.  It’s fair to say it’s been more than a few years since I was a teenager, so perhaps it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that  I was a little hesitant with this season (feel free to check out my review of Season 1).  When Season 3 came out, the show blew up in a big way, gaining numerous fans and even managed to make “Pickle Rick” a part of everyday pop culture and make Szechuan sauce at McDonalds a thing.  The show for those who may be unfamiliar is something of a blend between Back to the Future and more than a sprinkle of Futurama.  If that sounds like a fun ride, well, then this may be the animated series for you.

Season 4 kicks off with Rick and Morty going on an adventure that takes them to a planet where they find rocks that when you hold them can show you the numerous outcomes of every decision you make, ones that mostly lead to various forms of violent death or even love.  Once Morty gets a hold of one, he sees that if he follows the will of the rock, he can eventually wind up with his high school crush.  It’s piggybacking off the idea from Live Die Repeat, but giving a fun twist on the idea.  On a technical level this is an impressive episode when you consider how much animation is going on in this episode as well as how many deaths occur over the course of the episode.  It may take a couple viewings to catch them all, but there are some unique kills here.  Everything about this episode is bigger than what we’ve seen from the show in the past, but bigger isn’t necessarily better in this case.

The release of this disc comes a bittersweet time, as a prominent member of the cast announced that she was leaving the show. That’s right, Anna Faris announced that Season 7 would be her final one with the series. Such an announcement of the loss of a pivotal character normally serves as the kiss of death for a series. Had this decision came a few years earlier, it most likely would have been the end of the show. However, the show went through a transition a few years back, and Faris’ central role was shared among the rest of the cast, which includes Allison Janney, Jaime Pressly, Kirsten Johnston, and Mimi Kennedy. The decision for the show to continue has been made, but after watching this latest season, it is hard to imagine that the show will continue past its upcoming season. Even with her role reduced slightly, Faris remained an integral part of the show, and though Chuck Lorre is no stranger to trying to keep a show going following the exit of a cast member (i.e. Two and a Half Men), Faris’ absence is guaranteed to be noticed.

In regards to Season 7, I was at a bit of a disadvantage, having only seen clips of previous season episodes. I did my diligence, though. The show follows Christy Plunkett, a mother of two, who after a lifetime of battling drug and alcohol addiction is on the path to sobriety. Her mother, Bonnie (Janney), also a recovering addict, is a source of frustration in her life. By the time Season 7 rolls around, her children are no longer with her, and she has basically been relegated to the daughter role, living with her mom and her new husband, played by William Fichtner. This felt like a step back for the character in my opinion, a bit of a diminishment from all the progress of the previous season. Though during Season 7 she was working towards her goal of becoming a lawyer, both her professional and personal life are used to beat down the character for the sake of amusement. The use of this trope is akin to how in the latter season of Friends, Matt LeBlanc’s character felt dumbed down. Here we are with a character whose sole purpose was to better herself, and she is being shown to be a constant screw-up and desperate for love.

“My name is Dylan Hunt. My story begins the day on which I died. My last look at my world was to be from inside a pressure chamber at NASA’s underground laboratory at Carlsbad Caverns. Our goal was the development of a form of suspended animation which would allow our astronauts to make longer voyages through our solar system. It had been my decision that our method was ready to test on a human so, it seemed that any risks should be mine…”

Gene Roddenberry was riding high as Star Trek began to grow more in popularity during syndication than it had as a prime-time network series. Suddenly television executives wanted more ideas from the Great Bird of the Galaxy, as Trek fans began to know him. One of those ideas was Genesis II. It tells the story of a scientist who is conducting a suspended animation experiment. He expects to be under for only a few days, but a cave-in traps him in his chamber, and he is not rediscovered for 154 years. He awakes to find an entirely different world than the one he remembers. Humans live underground as a group called the PAX. They are a peaceful sort and have left behind most of the science that destroyed the world Hunt knew. Their enemies are a group of mutants, identifiable by having two belly buttons because they have two hearts. They have enslaved humans and live an aristocratic life in the city of Tyranus. Now Hunt (Cord) is being courted by both civilizations. He must choose between them. Attempting to win him over to the Tyranians is Lyra-a (Hartley). She seduces him and tries to taint his opinion of the PAX. But Hunt soon learns from experience which side is the nobler race.

You have to go back to the early 40’s for when Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica first appeared in comic book form. Over the years, their characters have changed with the times, though the town of Riverdale always seemed to maintain an innocent charm where nothing bad ever seemed to happen. Well, that is until recently, where the comics took a shift and thrust our characters into various scenarios, one even including Riverdale being overrun by zombies. These changes occurred when Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa took over the brand, and now he has brought the town of Riverdale and its inhabitants to the small screen for the CW network.  Though this iteration differs from the early days of the Archie comic universe, all the familiar characters are here, and they are showing us the shady underbelly of Riverdale that I’m so glad we are getting a glimpse at, one episode at a time.

Following the mess that was Season 3 of Riverdale, I’m curious about what went down in that writers’ room.  I know I wasn’t the only one disappointed by how far off the rails the show seemed to go with the deranged D&D-esque game of Griffins and Gargoyles, the return of the Black Hood, and then the cult on “The Farm”.  While I’m not against these ideas, they always seemed to be too farfetched, even for the absurd world of Riverdale.  Then the show got rocked with the curveball of Luke Perry passing, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what could happen next. Could the show bounce back to its fun bubblegum/noir roots, or would it just continue to spoil?