Did You Catch?

Posted on by Anthony (Kbear!) Nichols | Editor-in-Chief

By Kbear! on February 14, 2017

Did you catch the season premiere of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver? Oliver has been on hiatus since Trump’s election. Like a British Punxsutawney Phil coming out of his burrow to see his shadow, last week Oliver turned up on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The former Daily Show correspondents gave their opinions on Trump’s actions since his inauguration. Since Oliver has a green card, he was especially concerned about Trump’s travel ban. As Colbert joked (?) one comment Trump doesn’t like and back to Great Britain Oliver goes. On his show, Oliver did a great segment on Trump v. Truth. He asked how did America elect a pathological liar and then pointed out many of Trump’s lies before he became a candidate. Oliver examined the ‘news’ sources Trump relies on. A funny but disheartening segment. Oliver coming back this week coincides with most of the late night shows stepping up their own political commentary.

Late Night with Seth Meyers found its voice during the election. Meyers began his a Closer Look segment then. He found an edge giving a serious, but funny examination of politics most nights. Instead of doing bland middle of the road jokes about the campaign and the issues they raised, we went in with sharp observations that had a point of view. That is always refreshing to me.

Stephen Colbert began doing that after Trump’s election. Before that, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was playing it safe, trying not to express a real opinion of the events unfolding. Jokes were made, but they were soft and didn’t have the sting you’d expect from a Stephen Colbert. The show felt neutered. Now Colbert has the verve he had on Comedy Central.

Speaking of recovering one’s verve, Saturday Night Live has been on a streak it hasn’t been on since the ‘08 election. During most of the ‘16 election, the show was all over the place, throwing punches but not landing any. It hit its nadir when they invited Trump to host. They lost all credibility with most of their audience. This year, starting with having Alec Baldwin playing Trump they have really stepped up their game. After he won, they have gone all out with one memorable episode after another; including Melissa McCarthy’s devastatingly funny Sean Spicer skits. It doesn’t hurt these shows that Trump keeps giving them great material. I really wish he wasn’t giving them such great material to work with, good for them, bad for the nation.

CW Berlantiverse

Supergirl / “The Martian Chronicles”

M’gann’s (Sharon Leal) ex-mate Armek (Terell Tilford) attacks her and Hank (David Harewood). Kara (Melissa Benoist) arrives in time to save them. The White Martians have arrived. M’gann refuses to stay at the DEO for protection. Her ex shows up at the bar she works at. He gives her two hours to turn herself into him or he’ll attack everyone she cares for. Hank shows up later at the bar to convince her to go back to the DEO with him for protection. Hank walks in with M’gann, moments later another M’gann enters. The M’gann Hank walked in with was Armek, the White Martian and Hank throw down. Armek escapes so Hank puts the DEO on lockdown. Everyone starts turning on each other. Hank has a test to determine who is human or Martian, if a Martian puts their hand near a flame, their true Martian identity shows. All the humans pass except for Winn (Jeremy Jordan); it is Armek. He escapes again and sabotages the building’s nuclear reactor. Hank divides everyone in teams. M’gann is with Hank and he expresses his true feelings for her. They find two bodies encased in some type of Martian cocoon. It is Winn and Alex. The Alex with Kara is another White Martian! We get the episode’s big fight scene; Kara is fighting the White Martian who impersonated Alex and Hank and M’gann double team Armek. While the fighting is going on, Winn shuts down the nuclear reactor with twelve seconds to spare. Our heroes eventually beat their opponents. When Armek attempts a sneak attack on Hank and M’gann, the real Alex shoots him with an alien gun. M’gann tells Hank she is going back to Mars to help other good White Martians turn away from the dark side. Hank has given her the strength to do this. Poor Hank, sad and alone again.

Mon-El (Chris Wood) is bartending when Kara walks in. Things have been awkward between them since he admitted he likes her. Kara gives reasons why they shouldn’t date, making things even more awkward. Alex (Chyler Leigh) is excited to go to her favorite group’s concert with Maggie (Floriana Lima). She forgot it was Kara’s 13th anniversary on Earth. Kara hasn’t forgotten her Earth birthday. She made big plans for it without telling Alex. She tries to pretend she isn’t hurt that Alex has plans with Maggie and does a poor job hiding it. Maggie can sense that something is wrong with Alex. Alex feels guilty for bailing on Kara’s 13th Earth birthday. Maggie tells her to talk to Kara. (Maggie must sometimes regret being involved in the Danvers sister’s drama) They talk and Kara pretends everything is fine. Later, Hank puts Kara and Alex on a team. Kara discusses her fear of abandonment with Alex. She soon finds out she isn’t talking to her sister. After the big fight, the real Alex and Kara have a heart to heart. Because of the link the White Martian had with her, she remembers the conversation. She assures Kara she isn’t going anywhere. She also thinks Kara might have put so much emphasize on her Earth birthday as not to think about her real feelings for Mon-El. Kara says he’s complicated and anyway things like romance don’t work out for her. (Really, don’t you have three men pining for your?) She later sees Mon-El with another woman. Happy Earth Birthday.

 

The Flash / “Untouchable”

Barry (Grant Gustin) is training Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale), they are preparing to race. The crew place bets on who will win. HR (Tom Cavanagh) is the only one to bet on Wally. Barry wins a close race by phasing through a building, a skill Wally hasn’t developed yet. Barry is trying to teach Wally how to phase.

Later at a crime scene, Barry, Julian (Tom Felton) and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) are looking at a body that is rapidly decaying. A new metahuman named Clive Yorkin (Matthew Kevin Anderson) is targeting people, who were cops who arrested him during Flashpoint. Clive shows up at a coffee house where Joe is with his family and Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) and her daughter Joanie (Riley Jade Berglud). He is touching the stairs to make them collapse. Wally quickly becomes Kid Flash to stop him. This brush with death convinces Iris (Candice Patton) to tell Joe about her impending death. Joe is angry, hurt, scared and mad specifically at Barry for keeping this secret. Barry growing up in the West household knows how this would affect Joe. Clive changes strategy and goes after Iris. Since Barry isn’t at Star Labs, Wally goes to Iris’s place to stop Clive; he is too late to keep Clive from touching her.

Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) has to use her freezing power to stop the spread of the decay. Wally blames himself for not being fast enough. Barry realizes he has to do a better teaching job. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and HR figure out a way to know whom Clive will target next. Cisco vibes to Flashpoint in another universe. A police officer name Stone who is a PI in our universe is the next target. Joe knows her so he goes to warn her. Clive spots both of them at the train station. Iris is getting worse and Caitlin is turning into Killer Frost. Julian is able to talk Caitlin back to being Caitlin; she is able to assist Iris.

Joe and Stone get aboard a train and Clive touches the track to kill them and the other passengers. Barry and Wally cannot get the passengers off the train in time so Barry tries something new, he vibrates so that the train can phase through an object. Now Wally phases his blood into Clive. Wally and Barry’s speedster blood can neutralize Clive’s power. They are able to use the blood to make an antidote for Iris. She’ll be fine. Joe reminds the group that if they are honest with each other and work together they can stop Savitar. At the end of the episode, Wally is able to phase his hand through a wall. Jessie Quick (Violett Beane) comes out of a portal. Grodd has her father and taken him to Gorilla City.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow / “Turncoat”

Mick does the intro this week and he explains the concept of the show; haven’t we gotten this yet. Who writes this crap? In the last episode, evil Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) killed General George Washington (Randall Batinkoff). The Legends detect this and know it’s a trap but go to save Washington and the revolution anyway. They go earlier in time to Christmas 1776 to warn Washington. Rip shows up with the Red Coats armed with automatic rifles to kill him and the Legends. They are able to get Washington out of there. Rip uses an EMP bomb to take the Waverider out of commission. The explosion also keeps a miniaturized Ray (Brandon Routh) small. Rip shoots Sarah (Caity Lotz). Sarah names Jax (Franz Drameh) captain while she’s incapacitated. Martin (Victor Garber) has to tend to Sarah while Jax has to keep Rip from getting aboard the Waverider and stealing the piece of the Spear of Destiny they possess.  Jax sets up traps for Rip and his two Red Coats. The traps stop the two Red Coats, so now it’s Jax and Rip mano a mano. Rip threatens to kill Sarah unless Jax gives him the Spear of Destiny, Jax gives it to him but he still kills Sarah anyway. Now Jax is determined to kill Rip, but a revitalized Sarah convinces Jax not to kill him, for Jax’s sake, not for evil Rip’s sake.

Nate (Nick Zano) and Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) are bonding over breakfast. A time quake knocks Amaya into Nate’s arms. Later during the mission to rescue Washington, Sarah assigns them to play newlyweds at Washington’s party. They along with Mick get the future President out of the party. They engage some Red Coats and Nate falls into a river. Amaya uses seal power to rescue him. She takes him into a small cottage and takes off their wet clothes so their skin can touch and give them warmth. Being they are two young attractive people and on TV, they take it to the next level. Afterwards they save Mick and Washington.

Mick and Washington separated from Amaya and Nick, are captured by the British. The Brits decide to hang Washington instead of treating him by normal war conventions. Mick persuades Washington that to win the war he’ll have to fight an unconventional war. As they are about to be hanged they use unconventional fighting to get loose. Nate and Amaya join them to defeat the Red Coats.

Ray had gotten small to sneak into the party with Mick. When Rip used the EMP bomb, it prevented Ray from going back to normal size. When he gets back aboard the Waverider, a giant rat is chasing him. Ray gets away from the rat and is able to jump on a lever that turns the ship’s power back on. He is able to get back to normal size.

After all the fighting, the Legends have their own Christmas party. Nate and Amaya had earlier discussed the Wizard of Oz so he gave her a pair of red ruby shoes. The two of them won’t become a couple but will chill and still be friends. Sarah addresses the crew and tells them things aren’t looking great right now with Rip being evil and the Legion of Doom having their piece of the Spear of Destiny. They will be okay because they have something LOD doesn’t have, our Legends our family. Sarah reminds them, “No body fights like family.”

Arrow / “Bratva”

Susan Williams (Carly Pope) get news that General Walker (Garry Chalk) and his men have broken out of custody. ARGUS finds out that they are headed to Russia to sell a stolen nuke. ARGUS cannot operate in Russia so Oliver (Stephen Amell) decides to go to Russia to stop Walker. Oliver takes everyone on Team Arrow except Renee (Rick Gonzalez) to Russia. He needs him to babysit Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) who is back from rehab. Oliver’s old Bratva comrade, Anatoly (David Nykl) greets them at the airport. He punches Oliver and tells him he shouldn’t have come back to Russia. Oliver had denied a request to a Bratva brother a few years back, resulting in Slade killing him. The team sets up in an ARGUS safe house. They need Anatoly’s help so Oliver and John Diggle (David Ramsey) go to meet him. Anatoly tells them a sale for the nuke will go down soon. Felicity (Emily Brett Rickards), Curtis (Echo Kellum), and Rory (Joe Dinicol) are back at the safe house following clues online. Felicity decides they need to shake down a Russian computer expert to get the location of the sale. Felicity has info on the Russian and threatens to expose it unless he talks. The sale is in a church, but it is a trap for Team Arrow, Walker escapes but they are able to capture one of his men.

Oliver threatens to torture Walker’s man; John actually goes through with it. Felicity used info from the NSA files she received last episode to threaten the Russian. Rory advises Felicity not to abuse her power. (Something I get the feeling she won’t follow.) Oliver is upset that John tortured this man; Felicity only wants to know if Diggle got any information from him. Oliver distressed by his two friends’ attitudes, makes a deal with Anatoly to get more information. As part of his deal with Anatoly, Oliver and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) shake down some Russian mobsters. Later Oliver tells Dinah he’s afraid Prometheus is right, Oliver infects people like John and Felicity. Dinah tells Oliver she’s not into brooding, and he has to remember the good he does. John and Felicity find out about the Oliver and Dinah outing. They know that Oliver didn’t want to do Anatoly’s bidding. Oliver did it so they wouldn’t go off the rails. He needs John and Felicity to be better than he is. To prove Prometheus wrong. Anatoly and other Bratva members show up outside the safe house. They have the sale’s location and they are ready to fight beside Team Arrow.

Oliver and Dinah stop a van but find out it doesn’t have the nuke. Rory and Felicity stumble upon the nuke. It has been set with a timer to explode. Felicity cannot disarm it but Rory uses his magic rags to absorb the nuclear explosion. Diggle catches Walker, but despite Walker trying to egg him into shooting him, John takes him into custody to face justice. Later everyone is drinking vodka to celebrate. Diggle tells Oliver he and Felicity aren’t better than Oliver is, the three of them make each other better. Anatoly lets Oliver know he isn’t out of the vow of brotherhood he made to Bratva. (They keep dragging him back in.)

While all of the action was happening in Russia, Rene has to help Lance prepare for an interview with Susan. Rene asks tough questions about Laura. Lance is pissed and he throws Renee out of the room. Renee talks to Lance later, Quentin apologizes and they continue practicing. The interview went well; Susan didn’t ask Lance any hard questions. Rene had gone to Susan earlier and told her how when he was a kid, beat cop Quentin Lance had caught him spray-painting a building but instead of arresting him set him straight and set him on the right path. Rory tells Felicity his rags were destroyed in the nuclear blast, since he doesn’t have any powers now he’s leaving Team Arrow. Oliver and Susan hit the sack; she later looks pensive. (Could it be because of her inevitable betrayal?) She meets with her PI. She saw the tattoo on his chest, a tattoo captains in the Bratva receive. There is a picture of the Arrow back years ago in Russia. She puts 2+2 together; Oliver is the Green Arrow.

Flashback: Oliver and Talia (Lexia Doig) go on a trail run in his new Arrow suit. They later go after drug dealers making a deal in Russia to sell drugs back in Starling City. Oliver busts into the drug deal and fills the dealer with arrows. He tells him he has failed his city. Talia tells Oliver to right his father’s wrongs he has to leave the Bratva and Russia. He later finds Anatoly beat up in a clinic, he promises revenge.

Anthony (Kbear!) Nichols | Editor-in-Chief
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