‘Tis the Season… For New Seasons
It’s autumn which means that the new shows start and the old ones return. This fall brings us the return of a number of good shows and a few new and interesting one. DC Comics is really making the most of TV this year. Here’s what I’ve seen so far. Just beware of any…
Let’s start with the returning shows.
Arrow is back for it’s 3rd season. It’s months after the end of the last season. Detective Lance survived the attack he had in the season finale. He’s now a captain and has the power to thank the Arrow for helping the city and end the anti-vigilante task force. Roy is now Oliver’s partner though he has yet to be named. Who knows if he will be Red Arrow, Arsenal, or Speedy. (Unlikely the latter given the way he reacted before to the name.) He’s quite the archer and acrobat too. The thing everyone has been waiting for, a date between Oliver and Felicity, finally happens. The problem is that the the blast it turns out to be isn’t the one they hoped for as a missile takes out the restaurant. This puts a quick end to the relationship for now. To complicate Oliver’s life, some is battling him for the control of his family’s company, none other than Ray Palmer. (He’s being played by Brandon Routh, the actor who played Superman in that abysmal Superman Returns movie.) Yes, this is the same person also known as the Atom. I’m guessing this is prior to that identity. One of his plans is to turn Starling City into Star City. Finally! About time they got to the proper name. Tho I don’t like him losing his company yet again. On the good side, Diggle’s ex-wife finally gives birth. One more person shows up, Sara. Surprisingly, Canary returns after leaving leaving in the season finale. And now here is the big spoiler so jump ahead if you haven’t seen this yet. After meeting up with Laurel, Sara turns to see someone that she recognizes and who shoots her with a couple arrows. Sara then falls to the street right in front of Laurel. Guess she won’t be making any more guest appearances. I saw a bit of a spoiler that showed Laurel being cast for a mask. I always thought she would be Black Canary at the start given that the comic book character is Dinah Laurel Lance. All this in one episode. The series is off to a really interesting start. I can’t wait to see where it goes.
After quite an appearance at the end of the last season, we see for sure that it is Elsa who is now in Storybrook. Everyone seemed to think that she was going to be the big villain somehow but she isn’t. She just escaped the urn and is looking for Anna. I like the casting of Elsa and Anna so far, but I’m not too sold on Kristoff. Sven is cool tho, as are the rock trolls. Just because Elsa isn’t the bad guy doesn’t mean everyone won’t think she is as she finds out she’s not the only one with ice powers. (Tho Elsa’s creation of the giant show creature in a live action show is really cool. Between dealing with Elsa’s storyline and flashbacks to Elsa and Anna back in their world, a few other things do happen. Snow ends up taking over as mayor, as if she didn’t have enough to do with a newborn to take care of. The connection between Hook and Emma grows and keeps getting messier. (If she doesn’t want to keep a sexy, fuzz faces, hairy chested hunk like that, I’d gladly take him off her hands.) Regina tries to find a way to rewrite her story in the book to finally get a happy ending after Marion returns and gets in the middle of Regina’s relationship with Robin Hood. (Whenever I see him, all I can think of is Krod Mandoon.) It’s a few episodes in and things seem to be going well.
After the end of the first season, my main question was what would happen to Ward as I liked the character. I did until he turned traitor that is. I couldn’t see them dropping him though. I realized as I watched the first episode, there were a lot of other questions. The answer to my first was that he is being help by S.H.I.E.L.D. (such that it is). He wants to help the team now and is still infatuated with Skye. He’s really kinda of creepy. Another obvious question is, after the end of last season, what’s up with S.H.I.E.L.D.? I mean, they lost most of their people with the big Hydra infiltration. For now, they were able to bring on a few “contractors” tho a few don’t make it past the first episode. I hope the new guys are as cool as the old ones. The one I wouldn’t have thought of was regarding Fitz. After the escape from the pod Ward dumped in the water, it turns out he got brain damage from the lack of oxygen. When he first see him, he’s with Simmons trying to work on projects. I’m not sure how his technical skills may have suffered, but he has trouble remembering words. This seemed bad enough until someone mentions that Simmons has left the team. Everyone thinks Fitz is talking to himself but he’s really talking to a delusion of Simmons. I really hope he pulls together in not too long. Maybe once Simmons returns since she’s actually on a mission undercover in Hydra. So far, they’ve introduced the Absorbing Man (and did a great job of, for a quick scene, giving him hi classic ball and chain) and brought back Blizzard who now has powers of his own. Things are looking good so far.
But there are also new shows too…
Spinning out of the last season of Arrow is a second chance at a Flash TV series. Most people I know actually got to see it early as a promotional video of the pilot got released. From what I could see, only one clip maybe 10-15 seconds long got cut. It was a fairly awkward and uncomfortable part of scene so I’m glad they cut it. First we start off with Barry as a kid and see where his mother is being attacked by some sort of lightning force. (From the comics, we know this is Eobard Thawne, Professor Zoom.) Barry’s father (played by John Wesley Shipp, the Flash from the first TV series) gets framed for it because no one will believe what Barry says. Things jump to just before the electrical storm that happened in Arrow, giving you a little more background to what was going on before Barry goes into the coma. Barry gets back from Starling City and catches up with Iris West who is now black and almost like a sister as he was raised with her. This will make things even more for an awkward for an already awkward person. Then we have the storm around the time of S.T.A.R. Labs starting their particle accelerator. When Barry wakes up, he’s surprised to find that the lightning gave him abs. Of course, that is nothing compared to the super speed. Barry teams up with the professor behind the accelerator (who is now in a wheelchair) and a couple of his younger teammates. He also finds out that the accelerator explosion may have caused a number of other metahumans. In the 2 episodes so far, we’ve met the Weather Wizard and Multiplex. Iris’ father finds out about Barry which makes 4 confidants so far. There’s also one other person added to the circle of characters, West’s new partner Eddie Thawne. I don’t know yet if he is an ancestor of Eobard Thawne or if they just changed the name. One other twist is that the professor can actually walk. Not sure why he’s in a wheelchair but he has a newspaper about the Flash disappearing in the Crisis in the future. They’ve even brought up the name of Ronnie who was present at the time of the explosion. This can only be Ronnie Raymond which means that Firestorm will actually be making his real life appearance. (I just wonder if he will have Professor Stein as part of it or if it will be just him.) Things will definitely be interesting though I’m not sure I really like the fact that all the metahumans will be spawned out of this one event. The show definitely has potential though.
Last but not least is Forever. The most “normal” of the shows, this one is still of a supernatural nature. There have been takes before on immortals but this one is a twist. He’s immortal but he isn’t at the same time. He can die. He just comes back to life… out in the middle of a body of water totally naked. This can be quite inconvenient and embarrassing. This also means that his body just disappears from where he died. Very weird. He’s a medical examiner with the analytical skills of Sherlock Holmes and assists the police. At first it seemed like it would going to be a “death of the week” type thing but the last week just dealt with detective work and flashbacks. Henry Morgan has only had one person he shares his life and secret with, a man he’s raised since he was a baby and who now looks much older than him. The show is interesting even if the interactions are a bit awkward. Henry’s second in charge is actually one of the interns from Bones ironically enough. We’ll see how this one pans out. It has potential but there’s also a good chance this may turn into a single season show.
There’s still more new shows coming up but this is what I’ve caught up on so far. Hopefully this will be a good TV season.