Pop Culture Princess

Pop Culture Princess
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Thursday, October 30, 2014

The Penguin makes a timely appearance on Gotham, a cold chill for The Flash and choosing between two Thursday night thrillers

 On Gotham this week, we got a little more insight into Harvey Bullock, as he and Gordon hunted down a killer from the city's past. It was good to see some nuance to the jaded cop persona that he's been affecting so far and hopefully, his former partner Dix makes another appearance.

Seeing Harvey in a new light will be helpful to Gordon, who got an even bigger shock as Montoya and Allen came in to arrest him for the murder of Oswald Cobblepot.

Personally, I thought they had pretty flimsy evidence there. Other than Cobblepot's mom(who got a visit from her boy on this episode) reporting him missing and a rather unreliable witness found on the docks, how did they ever get an arrest warrant?

The point became quickly moot, as Oswald showed up in person at police headquarters and was not shy about making his presence known. This big reveal may get Gordon out of one jam but is tossing him(and a whole bunch of other folks) into a boiling pot of mess indeed. This seems to be the start of some serious plot movement and it's about time. A lot of setting up has been done already, so let the forward momentum begin:


The Flash received his first major foe this week, as Captain Cold  was introduced .Professional thief Leonard Snart(Wentworth Miller) decided to obtain a cold laser gun in order to keep pace with Barry's super hero speed.

What upset Barry almost as much as facing this new threat was the fact that the gun was created by his Star Labs buddy Cisco, as a preventive measure in case Barry turned out to be evil.

I can understand why he was less than thrilled about that but it's a bit early on here to have complete and unwavering trust at this point between The Flash(I hope they finally start calling him because The Streak is sounding tired already). Besides, the real danger is from Captain Cold, who is one cool customer when it comes to crime.

 On the bright side, Felicity from Arrow came to town to visit and that small crossover subplot was a nice touch. I know I'm behind a season on Arrow but not totally surprised that Felicity wishes to be Oliver's true Queen, so to speak.

Nevertheless, I think she and Barry make for fine friends who share smarts and unrequited love for close personal connections there. Perhaps somewhere down the line, a more action based crossover could happen but in the mean time, it's good enough to have Felicity feel welcome in Central City:


I have a slight quandary regarding the ten o'clock slot on my Thursday night schedule, as Elementary is returning and I do want to see it, yet How To Get Away with Murder really has me hooked.

It's not that big of a dilemma, since the option to see one show later this weekend is available, but part of me wishes that such riveting programs are on against each other. Nature of the beast and all of that, as Sherlock would no doubt say:


Granted, both are typical of their genres(with HTGAWM being a little more soap opera-ish) but they are well done and with good casts ably talented enough to pull off the dramatics required.

Although in the case of HTGAWM, Viola Davis is the strong solid lead who is carrying most of the load. Nothing against the rest of her team mates but except for Liza Weil(who I am partial to due to her Gilmore Girls cred), those kids are just alright for the most part. Compared to the quick energy and chemistry between Lucy and Liu and Jonny Lee Miller, Viola Davis is not as evenly matched  with her acting counterparts but it's still early in the game at this point.

When all is said and done, HTGAWM is a definite must-see tonight. For one, you don't find many instances when the phrase "Your husband is Mr. Darcy" is not a good thing for a wife to hear:



RANDOM NOTES:

DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY: Speaking of Mr. Darcy, Part two of this Jane Austen meets P.D. James miniseries airs this Sunday and I am most anxious to watch. While some may find this take on Lizzy and Darcy to be more somber than they are usually depicted, I think it's rather well suited to the story.

After all, murder and family scandal does call for more buttoned up behavior from those expected to make a good face about it to the world and such trials can test anyone's spirits, even a perfectly matched pair such as the Darcys:





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