I still watch this show, but I can't help but feel like it peaked in season 2. Maybe because I feel like the premise of this show wasn't meant to last this long. In most cases I feel like the 5th season of a show is a perfect time to wrap everything up leaving for a satisfying conclusion. The problem is that by the 5th season of a show, the popularity is usually at its highest point. When in most cases its only natural to continue the show forward until the popularity dies out. I say that because I don't want to see that happen to this show. If the next season isn't the finally, I don't know if I will be able to continue watching it forward. As for season 5, I thought it was by far the most safest season yet. Sometimes that can be good but in this case it left me actually getting bored around the midpoint. I think that it can be both a positive and a negative for my overall thoughts to the season. Thinking back I can't really remember anything from this season that was memorable. Something that all previous season had, even if it was just one moment that defined the season. I guess I could some up this season as the "cutting loose ends" season. With the majority of the season focusing on the election and the second half removing all traces of the corruptness that still wasn't tied up. Leading to an ending that I'm not so sure leaves me excited to see what happens next. In many ways I was looking forward to see when everything comes crashing down for all the actions the Underwoods have made in the past. The way events turn out though, it looks like it might be all a slap on the wrist, for the most part. I'm still going to stick with this show for at least one more season. But I can't say that I am all that excited for it like I was with this season. If anything i would like to see more things at stake or at least portray it that way. We will have to wait and see. Rating:
Paranoia Agent is by far one of the weirdest anime shows I've watched. In many ways its also one of the most genius as well. Putting so much focus on the characters and really exploring them and their backstories but more importantly their problems. Each one is unique and each story of their always leaves you with a different perspective of them by the end. As every episode continues everything in the worlds gets more and more crazy and weird as you get closer to the ending.
The story starts off pretty straight forward. As two detectives investigate a string of attacks all caused by a boy with a golden bat. The strange thing about all these attacks is that all the victims are all related to each other. More and more victims appear as the detectives get closer and closer the person behind these attacks.
The animation had a more realistic feel to it making you see people and not animated characters. This is a trope of Satoshi Kon at this point and always elevates his works. I wouldn't say this is my favorite story of his but this I can't say I've seen as much work put into any other anime I've seen. From the quality to the consistently there really no other show quite like it.
We are just one more season away from the finale of Bates Motel and It is going to be interesting how they follow up from this season! I think my biggest surprise this season was how little actually happened. The previous season there would always be so much going on and you would always wonder how anyone would get out of the situation they were in. This season slowed it down and just focused on Normans psych as well as setting up for the final season. Which I can only assume will start to connect with the events of Psycho.
Unfortunately the main chunk of this season isn't all that exciting and is ultimately resulted to just setting up the finale. There are minor sub plots like Emma's mother, which goes no where. Norman dealing with his black out, which goes no where. As well as Norma's and Romero's marriage, which is cut short. It isn't that none of these sub plots aren't resolved its just that they didn't use any of them to their full potential. Some, only happening just so they can keep the tension up but that only works when they are delivered.
Looking back at the season as a whole, the one plot I would've liked spent a bit more time on was the marriage between Norma and Romero, especially when Norman is back in the picture. This was something explored a bit better in the TV film of Psycho that dived into the past of Norman Bates and really, the inspiration for this show. In that film you really get to see the event of Norman having to deal with his new step father and how that was fueling the Psycho in him. They really could've added to this dynamic in this season instead of focusing so much of Norman at the mental care trying to figure out if he is away of his blackouts or not.
Season 4 of Bates Motel wasn't the most memorable and had a lot of promise to what they could've done. They just took a very safe route and didn't focus on a main plot for me to grab onto to keep me invested. A lot having to be blamed on setting up the final season.Depending on how the final season delivers, will reflect this season and the build up, this season spent so much time developing. Rating:
The Rebels fight off alien creatures to keep their new base protected! Even though they have a new base that is hidden from the Empire, the rebels are still having trouble keeping their ground from the planets own hosts. Sabine and Rex are sent out to go search for a crew member that disappeared the previous night and was capture by these spider like creatures that live on the planet. But while searching, Rex ends up getting captured himself and Sabine calls in backup! The rest of the group show up and explore this cave where the creatures are hold Rex. Hera has Kanon and Ezra go their own route because she wants the group to get used to not having their help. Its clear she doesn't want this to happened but knows it is for the better. It goes smoothly as they retrieve Rex but it does come at the cost of having every creature in the cave after them! The Phantom gets stuck from the webs and the group have to find a away to remove them without getting captured. Sabine uses a signal that keeps the creatures away and brings it over so Ezra and Kanon break the ship free from webs. This idea leads to them establishing these signals as a border to protect their base from the creatures. Now what is left is for Ezra, Kanon, and Ahsoka to leave the group behind to protect them from the Inquisitors, leading to the finale of this Season of Star Wars Rebels.
The running theme that Hera is worried about Kanon and Ezra going separate away from them is interesting as we, along with Hera don't know the fate of the Jedi remnants especially now that Vader will be involved. Its clear that there is some romantic connection between her and Kanon but it is kept to nice subtlety. Ezra has become a much better Jedi in his fighting skills as he is able to tie with Kanon at almost every fight. There is still the one draw back of him not being patient enough to not quickly be taken over. Something that was shown during his training. I thought this was a good episode of Rebels, but I didn't think we needed to have this adventure that took place for the majority of the runtime. This could've been better if it was a smaller more intimate episode just focuses on the group and how they are handling the situation they are in. Even better to address how Kanon and Ezra are going to have to take on the Inquisitors now without any back up, anything like that would've have been this episode great and even make me look forward to the finale which is coming right up soon.
The next episode we get will be the season finale of Rebels and I can't wait to see what happens next! I am thinking... Vader Vs. Ahsoka! Rating:
Satoru is back in the future, but not the same way you would think! Once again we jump to a new direction for the series, now back in the future but this time, having Satoru being in a coma for the past 15 years! It is interesting because we never see how he lives from the car being put into the lake from last episode but it is incinerated that the teacher went back to save him. Either way for the next 15 years from that point, his mother is forced to take care of him until he wakes up from the coma.
For most of the episode, we are spent time at the hospital as Satoru's friends show up to support him and he even begins to gain his health back. We see that Hinazuki is now married and with a child and most of the people haven't forgotten about him even the press. But while at the hospital he runs into Mr. Yashiro, his homeroom teacher from 15 years ago. Unfortunately he doesn't remember anything from his past and I would even assume from his previous future self as well. There are little things in this episode that I like, how he now talks in his mind as if is still were a fifth grader even though he is in his late 20's. How the mother was able to take care of him for so long. Even that Hinazuki and most of his friends that he tried to protect ended up being okay in the end.
When his teacher showed up it became very clear that he was there to either kill him or make sure that he doesn't remember anything. This leads to him taking Satoru to the roof with what you can obviously assume what he is planning to do. But the episode ends off with a twist pulled on Yashiro, that is that Satoru remembers everything! I like the idea of having Satoru grow older in a world that is now much different, but I wish he had his memories right out the gate. If that were the case, most of the episode could've been him trying to gather his friends for one more mission! Now that Yashiro is a politician, they could've taken the chance to pulled up moment he is finally exposed. Maybe they will do that in the finale, but I'm sure is won't be as exciting. Normally the episode before the finale tries to build up to a moment that you don't see coming and takes you for a turn. With this show, I already have a feeling on where the finale will go and how this series will end. I guess we will have to wait and see till next week. Rating:
Chopper gains a friend! I didn't expect this episode to be as enjoyable as it was, especially because it was focusing all on Chopper. Chopper isn't the most likable characters on the show and even by the end of this episode he still isn't very likable. What was very well done was the journey he went through, from the stealing a replacement leg to him taking over an imperial cargo ship! The group go through their standard rebel mission while Chopper is mean to stay behind and watch the ship. While doing that he takes notice of a shop owner selling a leg that would match his. Of course when Chopper wants something he is going to go after it! This leads to him stealing the leg and being chased by Stormtroopers. To quickly loose them he make a turn into a cargo ship that is taking off.
This is the point where the episode gets really interesting as we begin to get to know an Inventory droid who once was a navigator in the Clone Wars. He is mistreated by his new owner who seems to hate droids and the droid himself begins to develop a emotion out of it. While checking the ship for Rebels he runs into Chopper who slowly convincing him to start helping him take over the ship. Even going so far as to lock troupers inside one cargo and taking out his owner in another situation. Chopper even sets him free so he is no longer tied down to the Empire. This give him motivation to escape and help Chopper get to the Rebels. While we were able to see the character arc for this new droid, we didn't get much out of Chopper. Who really is the more important character. Yes he did do a good thing by helping a droid escape from the Empire and realize he is better off helping the Rebels, but it was only so he can be taken to safety after stealing. Choppers character is quite a bipolar one, doing one bad thing that leads to a good thing. I did like how the dynamic of both Chopper and the Droid mimicked the dynamic of R2-D2 and C-3PO, with one being very strict and by the book and the other being a loose canon. I liked the episode for what it was but I think it is time we start getting back to the more focused stuff that this season has to offer. Rating:
Norman is actually sent to Pinewood?? The episode had a turn that I didn't not expect from this series. As the paranoia of both Norman and Norma play off of each other and their actions. Norman begins to get the thinking that Norma is responsible for all the deaths that have happened on this show, really believing that she not only did it but is also covering it up and keeping it from him. Norma on the other hand is trying to find a way to get Norman into Pinewood so he can get the help that he needs. What is interesting is that by the end of the episode it is made very clear that Norman has the upper hand and is even becoming threatening to Norma. He does some investigation on trying to find the body of Emma's mother which is think his mother has done away with. In his visions it is possibly shown that her mother is alive and may have escaped in some way. Romero decides he wants to help Norma by help paying for Norman's treatment to get into the Pinewood facility but by doing so, leads to Norman finding out about it. This leads to an interesting end of the episode where Norman tries to get his mother to stop lying to him and tell the truth. But not the same truth that he was thinking. Norma calls Romero because she feels threaten by having Norman there and he shows up to take him away. I like how much they are going a different route with this show, I never would have expected Norma to do this because up to this point of the show she has protected Norman from just about everything. What is more interesting is the fact that Norman is very much convinced he is being framed and will most likely be putting the blame on his mother in some way. Either way the outcome from this episode is going to be quite the watch and I can't way to see what happens next! Rating:
Bates Motel is back! We pick up right where last season left off as loose ends are tied!
Norman is sent to a hospital and the majority of the episode if focused on Norma trying to get him out. Also trying to skew having to send him away to a mental facility in any way.Meanwhile Dylan is waiting for Emma to get out of surgery and even meets her mother for a moment. It is very much hinted that she probably wasn't a very good mother based on the chemistry of her and the father. Her mother stays at the motel for a few days just to stay in the area. Right away you already know that her staying in this motel is not a good decision and it does lead to something happening to her that could play a big part in this season. It was a good start of the season though I do feel that not much is progressed. It felt very much like a catch up episode to remind you what had happened last season and to possibly set up a new situation or problem that looks to be coming their way. It is going to be interesting seeing Norman at full Psycho from this point on and how everyone else if going to keep looking after him even though he is ahead. Rating:
I am surprised that this studio has been able to get away with going this long without a single canon episode. Well today that change! We return back to Naruto to finish the story and see it till the end.... I mean... We returned to Naruto to get back to the canon briefly and go back to fill- I mean, (canon backstory)..
This filler arc will focus all on Itachi and his backstory based off of a novel written a while ago. But instead of being smart and making this a separate show so people can get excited and interested, they drop it into the Naruto Shippuden anime...
We see a battle between the leaf village and sand village while Itachi watches the battle from afar. When the battle if over he makes his way through the battle fields and helps out a soldier who is killed instantly when he realizes that he was a ninja. His father tells him about how war is the real Shinobi world and that begins to form the way he thinks. We follow Iatchi's life as he trains and even finds out that he is going to have a younger brother. He shows some generic bullies how good he is at shurikens and we get a little hint at a mysterious character that I'm sure will show up.
I think if we had more time to just focus on Iatchi's story they could've easily squeezed in more events. Getting back to the canon for a good chunk of the episode just so they can make it connect with this story isn't helping the fact that Naruto Shippuden has been dragged on longer than it should've been! I would've much preferred that these fillers be a separate show while the main show put on hiatus. That being said, I think that this Itachi story could have potential if they have a clear goal and focus for what they want the story to be.
The big finale for Season 2! Following the events of last weeks episode Frost escapes the Zero Matter black from Wilkes only to just absorb all its energy. They escape as she goes after them only to be hit by Jarvis and going back to make her next plan. She now wants to reopen the Zero Matter portal so she can harness all its energy and power, most of her thinking has been manipulated by the Zero Matter so nothing is really clear to her anymore.
The group re-team with Stark to recreate the portal ahead of Frost so they can stop her one last time! Using one of Stark's Hollywood lots, they use the area to create the portal to draw Frost out into the open. They set up and get ready because it is rather unpredictable what this Zero Matter will do.
The rest of the episode is relatively simple, with them stopping Frost, removing all Zero Matter from her and taking her into custody. They use Stark's flying car to dive into the portal because the fuel used would cause the right explosion to close the portal again. From there it looks like happy ending as Peggy gets ready to depart for New York. We get some goodbyes and a possible hint that we might be set in California a bit long? Frost is sent to a mental institution where is becomes obvious she has become crazy now. The episode does leave on a cliffhanger when a rather important character is killed off by someone because he had a deleted file on Carter. Will we ever find out what this means? My guess would be to wait and see if there is a season 3. I will say I liked this season of Agent Carter, if I were to describe it, I would say it was a fun ride! I like the setting change, especially because it is something new and different. Taking advantage of the setting and using real locations in California was nice to see as well. I also took notice that this season felt more like a team effort and less on just having Peggy do everything. This gave it the right amount of fun the show needed. A stand out was definitely Whitney Frost as the villain, What I looked forward to the most each week was seeing her progression from just an Actor to a Genius to a Crazy Villain. She was also a nice contrast to Peggy as we dived into both of their backstories. I would like to see an Agent Carter season 3, if there was something I'd hope they do for the next season and the show overall, were to give it more a movie look than a TV Show look to it. Similar to how their Netflix shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones are. If they do that, Agent Carter could become one cool 50s spy show unlike anything we've seen.
Ezra and Kanon are engage in a fight with the Inquisitors, teaming up to get out of there as fast as they can. Kanon realizes that their presence in the rebellion is dangerous and they need to find a new way so they can't be followed. Ahsoka is watching old holograms of training sessions from Anakin reminiscing on how great she saw him as a teacher. They travel back to Ezra's homeworld of lothal and go to a Jedi temple, the same one from before.
They open up the temple only to reveal that there is a second floor below that was hidden. Kanon opens up a path that is just mean for him and Once inside he is met from a Temple Guard, and is challenged by him. What makes this meeting interesting is that the guard tells Kanon that the darkside is calling for Ezra and with that they begin fighting. Kanon is getting outmatched and begins to take a new lightsaber as three more guards show up! The Inquisitors, show up as they tracked them to the Jedi Temple and make their way inside. Ezra and Ahsoka talk about Yoda and his training as well as some of the qualities he had. In a blink of an eye Ezra wakes up in a different space and is met by Yoda. Ezra wants to know how to stop the Inquisitors and Yoda tells him about the Clone Wars and how the Jedi became consumed by the darkside.
Ahsoka is by herself and is then met by a vision of Anakin telling her that she shouldn't have left. It is pretty obvious that she is guilty about her leaving the Jedi behind. The Inquisitors begin to reveal the Temple themselves as everyone is still stuck in their visions. They open it and make their way inside of the temple as it is collapsing. Kanon is once again outmatched by these guards and begins to realize that he can't save Ezra. With that the Temple guard reveals himself to be the grand Inquisitor who tells him that he can still be what he once was. Yoda tells Ezra to find Malachor as his next journey.
The Inquisitors are met by the Grand Inquisitor and other Temple Guards before they are taken out by them. The group makes their way out safely and are saved by Chopper as more Imperial forces make their way to them. I like this episode and by far the most interesting aspect was Kanon's battle between the Temple Guards! We had already expected who the Grand Inquisitor might be but now having confirmation makes it a bit more interesting! Also it is heavily implied that Ezra is going to be seduced to the darkside and Kanon is going to have to let that go at some point. Will be become a new Inquisitor? It is always possible. A really good episode of Rebels and now that Vader is back, it is going to be even more interesting as we get closer to the finale!
Kayo's life is actually getting better this time around, but shouldn't this have been the first time? The episode picks up where last weeks left off, only to make it clear that the person sneaking onto the bus Kayo is hiding on is the actual killer. Only he doesn't do anything he just kicks a box and leaves. We are to assume maybe because of Kayo's disappearance, but that made me question, why is the hiding place for the killer's evidence on the same school bus that Kayo happened to be hiding on?? Its something that is just too coincidental.
The next day Satoru brings food and she tells him and everyone else about the person on the bus. They make a new plan to move Kayo to a better and safer location by taking her to Satoru's home. Before that they check out what is in the boxes and backpacks of the killers and find just about all the tools he use. I was surprised they just looked at them and didn't even bother to taken them to show to the police. Especially because Satoru recognized them instantly. Satoru and Kayo make it to his house and he brings her in to show his mother. She takes her in and makes her feel at home. The episode spends a while showing how much of a better mother Satoru's mom is than her own mom as she makes them dinner and generally shows love to her, something she has never gotten. It all leads up to the next morning where Kayo is awoken to a very nice breakfast made for her. She ends up crying because she has never been treated so kindly. It was a pretty effective moment, except for the fact that I kept thinking that this moment should've happened the first time around in the first past travel, back when there was emotion. This time around it just doesn't work as much because we pretty much can assume the fate of everything that will happen. The episode ends with Kayo finally approaching her mother for what I would assume for the last time. When we had a chance to go back in time again I was hoping for the series to get back to what it was good at and actually have a message to say. That notion is long gone as the show is just focused on finding who this killer is while at the same time making it pretty obvious who the main suspects should be. It is lacking any of the emotion that the first half had because the goal has changed. No longer is it about learning about Hinazuki and trying to save her from her abusive parents that would ultimately prevent her death, but now it is a bout trying to stop a possible time traveling killer. The show continues to to lower in the quality of its story telling but does deliver a overall good presentation of the material and for that I will keep watching.
Zeb and Agent Kallus, two enemies that must work together! During their latest mission that gang get surrounded by Stormtroopers and are forced to split up. Zeb ends up having to fight Kallus alone and has to find his own way to escape. He gets on an escape pod only to be attacked by Kallus once again and they both activated the escape pod. They land on Geonosis and are stuck in an underground cave. This forces them to have to work together so they can come up with a plan to escape. It is not easy however because in this cave lies creatures as well as empire scouters above ground. So until the Rebels can find them they are stuck on this planet. Kallus tells Zeb a story about one of his first missions on Alderon and how a Lasat took out most of him men and almost killed him. Through their conversation they begin to develop a common ground with each other and being in the situation they are in they are going to have to. More creatures show up and they decided to climb the pillars to make it out. They make their way to the top only having to use a cleaver way to dodge the creatures and get to the top. Once their it becomes too cold to make their way through the surface. They find a sheltered area and Kallus realizes that what happened on Lasat was wrong and doesn't want to take credit for it.
The ghost crew make it and save Zeb taking him back to the ship. While Kallus waits for the Empire and begins to see everything differently now, taking notice that he isn't really present on his own ship. Maybe even realizing he is on the wrong side. We will have to find out later on I suppose. I really enjoyed this episode, it was simple and it is always entertaining to see two enemies having to work together and find a common ground. This reminded me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender that had a similar episode during the series. It wasn't what I was expecting but I can appreciate when they take the chance to give the characters more development to make them more interesting as the show goes on. Rating:
Episodes: The Edge of Mystery & A Little Song and Dance
The first thing I noticed in this episode was the darker tone it took, we really got to see the fall out from last week and the toll its taken on Jarvis. Peggy and the group come up with a plant to save Wilkes from Frost, by simply trading what she wants so they can get him back. They follow through but after saving Wilkes it turns out he had already made a deal with Frost so he can enter the Zero Matter and hopefully fix himself once and for all. This causes him to have to turn on Peggy after just being saved from her so he can get what Frost needs but he doesn't go through with it and escapes. Leading into Episode 9 where things get interesting. We see the Zero Matter in person in a much larger form too. As well as a pretty big explosive ending that makes me interested in seeing how everything will be affected in the couple of episodes. I did think that all the musical numbers with a bit weird and out of place but they were entertaining. The core stand out was definitely the argument and conflict between Peggy and Jarvis. It follow off of the build up from the last episode of his anger building up in him to get revenge. He even goes as far as to try and kill Frost but failing because she still has Zero Matter inside of her. This lead to them both getting captured and having to escape being separated from the group. They escape but what happens afterward is interesting because this is where we get to see Jarvis come in to realize his current problems. The argument is solved when Jarvis realizes his weaknesses and decides to continue to work with Peggy. Thompson takes this into his own hands, planing on creating a bomb to eliminated everyone involved with this problem. But before he can do that Wilkes shows up in the same room as Frost and Vernon and seems to have exploded in Zero Matter form before the bomb could go off.
These were too really good episodes and I thought anytime the villains were on screen was the best parts of both episodes and most entertaining. Rating:
Okay now I have felt that this season has been a mixed bag for the most part, but I was looking forward to the finale because it continued off of the very first episode. Now that the finale is here, I could've waited a while for this to come. This wasn't really a finale? Nothing was resolved and it just felt incomplete. The episode focuses on Scully trying to figure out to create a vaccine using her own DNA and Mulder once again confronting the smoking man as well as the big plot that this series has built up to finally being revealed! People are starting to get sick and Scully learns from a past character that the smoking man is behind it all and injected certain people with alien DNA and those people will not be infected with the virus. This leads to her trying to create a vaccine in a hospital full of growing sick people as well has trying to vaccine her friends and loved ones. Mulder is also missing! But not for long as we find out he was attacked by a thug who was sent from the smoking man because he wanted to save Mulder. After disappearing he makes his way to the home of the smoking man and confronts him to find out why he wants to see him.
It all builds up to the secret over arcing plot that the smoking man has personally selected people who will be able to survive from the virus released while the rest of the population will die. Nothing is never really made clear and the motive makes sense but I have a hard time still believing that this guy is still this powerful and wasn't taken down in the old series. Scully makes her way through crowds of sick people who are beginning to loose control and begin to destroy everything. She isn't too far from Mulder and when they gets to him she realizes that her vaccine wouldn't be enough to help him. At that moment a UFO shows up from above them and its insinuated that it is their alien son. Leaving the finale on a cliffhanger. Honestly I don't know if I can still be exciting for another X-Files season. It was nice to see the return of the characters, but nothing was done with them. They were just doing the exact same thing as they were doing from previous seasons, no growth was made and nothing has changed. As for this episode alone, it wasn't that good and the cliffhanger was a little embarrassing. I would hope if they make another season that they significantly improve the story telling. Rating:
Satoru final prevents Kayo's kidnapping! But did he change it for the better? We pick up from last week where Satoru makes eye contact with his villain but at that moment decided to quickly go back in time one more time to fix the situation permanently! He goes back to the day at the science museum and once again spend the day with Kayo, there are little subtle differences going on but nothing to dramatic. The one change of note was that his friend Kenya confronts Satoru about his recent personality change. He is able to play it off, but Kenya wants to help him out with trying to save Hinazuki. They come up with a plan to falsely kidnap her in order to protect from during the date of the day she goes missing.
Satoru even goes out of his way to make sure the Yuuki has an alibi from the police by throwing a rock in his homes window. He then begins to follow Hinazuki's mother but Kenya stops him before he can do anything. When the day comes of Kayo's disappearance nothing really happens. No phone call from her mother and even the teacher doesn't make much of it. Satoru gets his friends involved in the kidnapping as they wait for time to pass so they can get the attention of the police. Things are starting to look up a bit, until the last moment in the episode where a mysterious person is walking into Kayo's hiding place, she wakes up and notices leaving the episode on a cliffhanger until next week.
I liked this episode but I do have to acknowledge that there were a ton of dumb stuff that happened. I don't know if it on purpose on Satoru's part because it is like he is making irrational decisions without thinking them through all the way. He hides Kayo in a save place for one night, but leaves her alone for a good chunk of the time, it is explained so he can sneak out, but why couldn't he have just included his mom in some capacity in the first place? Also they couldn't have made it more obvious that there is something suspicious about the teacher. Even to go so far as to give visual queues that something is off about him. Do I think he was the person at the end of the episode? No, I have a feeling it will be Kayo's mother. Unless its the killer. Then it will probably be the teacher... Also wasn't there a moment in episode 2 where it shows Kenya and the teacher were secreting talking??? That would explain why he is so interested in helping Satoru so much in this episode. I do like this timeline much more than the future one and I hope we stay here for a while longer until everything is fixed.
We meet Hera's father! Hera returns home in this episode of rebels. The phoenix squad is at it last leg as many of the rebel fighters are taken out by the Empire leaving their numbers dwindling. Worried that there will be no more places to hide the ships Hera has a plan to fix the problem and even give the Rebellion an asset they need. In need of a helping hand they make contact with Cham Syndulla, who is Hera's father who fought in the Clone Wars, with Mace Wind. Hera has a past grudge against her father while Kanon is really taken to him. They coordinate a plan to overtake and steal the carrier that houses these Imperial bombers and with Syndulla's experience he is a great addition to the group.
It turns out the Syndulla has a different motive and wants to blow up this station as revenge for his planet. This conflicts with our groups motive as they want the bomber ship to take back to the rebels. But Syndulla and his gang get the upper hand at first and knock out the ghost group to get the head start. They disable the hyperdrive and even begin to plant bombs through out the carrier. Luckily Hera wakes everyone up and they make a plan to go stop Syndulla from blowing up the carrier at the same time stealing the ship so the rebels can use it. This was a much better episode than last weeks but I still feel like we didn't get as much depth as we could've had. It was nice to see Hera's father and get a little hint at her past but I would've liked to have seen more. I think if this situation took place on her actually planet we could have seen more of her kind and maybe other faces from her past. The message of the day became fairly obvious by the middle of the episode and I was just waiting for what beat to hit all the way to the end. A good episode, but a fairy predictable and in-inventive one as well. Rating:
Satoru is closer to finding his villain than ever before! When last weeks episode ending I had a strong feeling that Airi was going to make it out of that burning house. I was right, Satoru runs into the house to save her. She gains consciousness briefly and gives him her phone that could expose him even further if she kept it. His manager shows up and takes her to take to the hospital because Satoru is still a wanted man at this point. The next day he meets an old friend of his mothers, who is a reporter and even has records of all the past abductions including Kayo's. They try to figure who this mysterious figure could be and how he has been able to stay invisible for so long. Later in the episode its mentioned that he could be a council member of some kind, one that has control and it able to go under a different alias than we would know. It begins to look like the police are going to treat Airi as a suspect now, being involved with Satoru's mother death and even helping his escape and hide form the police. This doesn't last long though because Airi sneaks out of the hospital having her mother take her place. She goes to meet Satoru one last time before the police show up and capture him. It looks like either they caught her mother or they knew that she left and followed her. This all builds up to Satoru accepting the capture and goes calmly, but as he is being taken away someone is watching on the side lines. He turns to look at this person and notices immediately that it is the culprit! The one that has been invisible this entire time. What makes it more interesting is that time seems to slow down drastically, I don't know if it just for added effect or it was really going on in the world. If that is the case, that this person that Satoru is after does indeed have time travel powers as well. It all connects to the name of the episode, Grim Reaper, as this villain has gone out of his way to make sure that people Satoru saves end up dying regardless of how much he changes in the past. But what makes this person cleaver is that he strategically plans out everything in advance, making sure that someone is framed perfectly so the police has someone to go after. This is someone who has been playing the long game, but the question is, Does he know about Satoru's time traveling powers?" We will know soon enough, because I have a feeling we are going to see Satoru go after this person head on very soon! Rating:
The episode starts off with the group looking for the location of a facility that is holding special fuel that could power the entire Phoenix group through an entire cycle. While on their way to this facility Ezra begins to hear a call coming from space. The sound is coming from a group of space whales that are giving off this call. They happen to be going in the same direction as them and Hera becomes very cautious of them because she doesn't trust them. When they get to the facility they are met by opposition from what looks like the workers there and it turns out they are the ones that are keeping the whales from leaving. The mission, instead of being just blow up everything, now becomes saving the whales so they can be free and no longer contained. Ezra takes charge as he has the plan to save them while both Kanon and Sabine have his back to get the fuel and save the whales at the same time. Once again Rebels is really improving on the interaction of the group especially when they are on a mission like this one. The interactions and dynamics they have keep it very exciting and gives everything they're doing a sense of fun to it. If I were honest with myself, this would be the first episode of this season that I didn't care all that much for. I don't know if it was just the plot or the episode or that is focused so much on Ezra without really developing him. It felt like he was just the person telling us the message of the day and didn't really do much else. The best episodes are when he is heavily interacting with Kanon whether it be with new training or learning more about each others pasts. Its a decent episode with nothing really memorable in it. I am hoping and having a feeling that the episode to follow will be more interesting but we will have to wait a whole other week to see it.
This episode was interesting as we had a chance to see a few events of the past of both characters. I found Frost to be the more interesting of the two it is shown that she actually has a brilliant mind that not many know about. Peggy's backstory focuses on how she eventually become involved with Special forces. At the time she has to leave behind her fiance and her old life behind in order to make a life changing decision.
Peggy and Jarvis kidnap Hunt to interrogate him for information. She uses a special formula created by Stark that gives people the common cold very quickly. He tells them everything he knew and they even pretend to let him escape because they know he will return to Chadwick and Frost. It was a good episode, even better, giving us backstory to these characters that could help make their actions more impact in the story. Its going to be interesting next week now seeing that Frost has control of her powers. Rating:
