Noel Neill 1920-2016

The original Lois Lane, Noel Neill has passed away at the age of 95. You may not know her name, but Noel Neill was the very first live-action portrayal of the iconic character onscreen. Neill played Lois Lane opposite Kirk Allen's Man of Steel in the 1948 film serial Superman, and its sequel, 1950's Atom Man vs. Superman. In the pre-television era, 15-20 minute film serials basically played as weekly episodes before the full length feature to movie audiences of the day. Then, when the George Reeves starring show Adventures of Superman began airing in 1951, Noel Neill reprised the role of Lois when the actress who played her, Phyllis Coates, left after the first season. She continued to play her through 1958, when the show was canceled, and went on to appear at festivals, conventions and in many Superman related productions ever since, including bit parts in 1978's Superman, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Superboy and 2006's Superman Returns. I'd say that's commitment to the character, wouldn't you?

Riz Ahmed Stars in HBO Miniseries 'The Night Of'

A new miniseries is coming out next week, and it's HBO's big summer programming, premiering on July 10th. Based on the 2008 British television series Criminal Justice, this one is an 8-part crime procedural that takes us through the workings of the New York City justice system after Ahmed's character is arrested for murder. Steven Zaillian, longtime Hollywood screenwriter, who scripted Moneyball and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, among others, is behind this one and directed several episodes. Early word is strong, so I'll definitely be checking this out.

REVIEW: "OJ: Made in America"

The OJ Simpson story. It embodies so much drama, soap opera, historical context, culture, insanity, tragedy- it's hard to believe it was a thing that really happened, something that really played out all over our TV sets as millions of people watched it live. In 2016 we've been gifted with two amazing series about the subject- FX's The People v. OJ Simpson, and now ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series, OJ: Made in America. As entertaining as the FX show was, the documentary is something else entirely. It feels like history. It feels essential. And it's the best show of the year so far.

I think the OJ Simpson story is a cultural touchstone that plays on a different level for people who remember watching it happen. I said before in my review for the FX series that I am not one of those people, so everything it dramatized felt more or less new, kind of like I was being taught something. That's the case even more so with Ezra Edelman's extraordinary film (which premiered at Sundance and played in select theaters before debuting on television, so it will qualify for Oscar consideration as a documentary feature), that not only takes us back to the trial, but operates on a much more ambitious scope, as it encompasses the entire story of Simpson's life as a celebrated football player and celebrity before the murders, and also takes us through the history of racism in Los Angeles and the relationship of the black community to the LAPD for decades before the trial took place.

The historical context makes all the difference in understanding the impact of the story and the reason for the reactions that took place as the shocking verdict was read in 1995. You may have some knowledge of the systemic racism within the police department in LA, and you may remember the Rodney King riots, which occurred shortly before the murders and rocked the city to its core, but seeing history unfold through mostly live footage and hearing witnesses explain what they felt through years of seeing one injustice after another is an illuminating experience on its own. To juxtapose it with the story of OJ Simpson himself, which is almost a spectacularly Shakespearean tale of rise and fall, is at once provocative, absorbing, entertaining and emotionally stirring. Each piece of OJ's life, his childhood, his college football career, his NFL years and his amazing success within the world of white celebrity and wealth, is explored as being an essential part of his desire to run as far away as possible from the trappings of the black community, to be accepted within the white world as one of them. As opposed to other famed black athletes in the civil rights era, like Jim Brown or Muhammad Ali, he rejected the notion of black activism and sought every glory for himself and his personal standing, which led him to incredible heights in the 1970's as a celebrity and corporate spokesman.

We see the two stories play out side by side over the course of eight hours, as the documentary takes us through OJ's rise, his toxic and abusive relationship with Nicole Brown, the growing tension between the citizens of Los Angeles and the police department after every horrifying incident, and then right up to the night of the murders, where it becomes a crime novel of the highest order. The incredible media story of the murders, the Bronco chase, and the trial itself is what has always been the most publicly played out of course, but it still captivates your attention to see events unfold and the details shown as we recap the players and the storyline of the most sensational "show" of the 1990's, as Larry King himself put it. It was the beginning of the blending of news and sensationalism as entertainment, a move that was undertaken for ratings driven profits, as the line between the two categories was completely blurred, and as we see now, has utterly taken over the corporate media with 24/7 cable "news" which barely disguises itself as information obtained for the public interest.

But it was still another era, and it'd be interesting to see how a story this attention-grabbing would play in the social media age. OJ as a public personality is nothing less than compelling from the very beginning, with his tall, commanding, charismatic presence and his media-savvy at play throughout most of the trial, but Edelman is convinced that he was guilty of those crimes and makes no bones about it, as the evidence clearly showed then and now. As we see however, the verdict was almost never even about him personally. As a man who rejected the black community most of his life, a man with all the fame, wealth and power to put together a spectacular defense, he was a symbol for the wrongs that had been done over years of systemic injustice, and payback was what the jury (as one of the jurors interviewed freely admits) and much of the African-American community was after. At that time and place, it was a flashpoint that seemed inevitable, and Simpson's "dream team" of lawyers took full advantage of it.

After the trial was another story, as the film continues to show us a post-acquittal OJ, whose life changed completely as he lost most of his assets, his formerly beloved status and continued his downfall, culminating in the infamous 2008 Las Vegas robbery (which plays out like a Keystone Cops mishap) that landed him in prison with a thirty-three year sentence that would have never been bestowed upon a first time offender (as Simpson technically was in the eyes of the law), and was seen as yet another form of payback, albeit from a ridiculous situation that he placed himself in. But it's another time now, and the tragedy of Simpson as an individual stands apart from the climate of Los Angeles in the early 90's, as living with the guilt and acquittal for murdering the mother of his own children takes a separate toll on a man who who committed a crime of passion, the effects of which seem obvious to the beholder as you see the shattered caricature his life became.

If there's any part to this sprawling, epic story that leaves you wanting more, it's in the area of OJ and Nicole's marriage, which is seen in scattered detail, with occasional glimpses of Nicole's diary inscribing a long history of domestic abuse from the very beginning of their relationship, when she was an 18-year-old teenager caught up in the possessive attentions paid to her by an older, famous and powerful man. We hear snippets of outsider accounts, the audio from the infamous 911 calls, enough to know that OJ's possessiveness and rage towards his wife was all consuming at times, yet without accounts of similar behavior toward other women, his first wife or even his children, this specific relationship remains something of a hauntingly tragic mystery, an area that invites further investigation for more insight, as the state of OJ's rage on the night of the murders was the inevitable breaking point of a relationship that was clearly, in prosecutor Chris Darden's words, a "ticking time bomb."

There's a slight missed opportunity in the lack of a wider context for which to place OJ's relationship with Nicole, possibly drawing on the connection between sports culture and domestic violence, obvious territory that remains unremarked on here or in other recent events (the Ray Rice incident comes to mind). But overall, there is no doubt that this film breaches almost every avenue of the wider impact of the trial to fashion itself as required viewing when it comes recent American history. It's a towering achievement that will you leave you in awe, utterly caught up in the broader implications of the man, the times, and the impact the "OJ episode" had on America, which feels even more like a hollow victory in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, which sadly reminds us that nothing much has changed in twenty years. As for OJ himself? He has to live with what he did, what he lost and how he's seen, more as a pariah than a cultural figure, and given what we learn about the public adoration he so constantly craved, maybe that notoriety is all he has left to hold onto.

Grade: A

'Outlander' Picks Up Some Wins at the Saturn Awards

Yeah, you know why I led with that headline, lol. Any place that acknowledges Outlander as the great show that it is is fine by me. And Best Actress and Fantasy Series isn't too shabby. Elsewhere, Hannibal and The Walking Dead proved popular here, while Melissa Benoist's breakthrough win for Supergirl is perfectly deserved. I think it's funny that Netflix shows seems to qualify for this "new media" award, because people still can't seem to figure out if streaming should be competing against network and cable television. The answer is yes. It's all TV, people. Get used to it.

Best Science Fiction TV Series: Continuum
Best Horror TV Series: The Walking Dead
Best Action/Thriller TV Series:  Hannibal
Best Fantasy TV Series: Outlander
Best Presentation on Television:  Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series:  The Flash
(*)  Best New Media TV Series:  Marvel’s Daredevil

Breakthrough Performance: Melissa Benoist, Supergirl
Best Actor on Television: Bruce Campbell, Ash vs Evil Dead
Best Actress on Television:  Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
Best Supporting Actor on Television: Richard Armitage, Hannibal
Best Supporting Actress on Television: Danai Gurira, The Walking Dead
Best Younger TV Actor: Chandler Riggs, The Walking Dead
Best Guest Star on Television: William Shatner, Haven

'Mr. Robot' and 'People v. OJ Simpson' Lead the TCA Nominations

Before the Emmy nomination are announced in a few weeks, it's time for the Television Critics Association to weigh in. These guys basically have zero influence on the Emmy noms, so this list is essentially their own tastes entirely, and what I notice about it this year is that it skews very recent...as in, 2016 and up recent. It's a pretty good list though, with several of my faves making the cut, minus an Outlander or two (guess that one's just not gonna catch on with critics, is it?). I should mention that their big "Program of the Year" award basically means cultural hit of the year, not necessarily best. I'm going to guess they give that to OJ Simpson, right? I think that's the most zeitgeist-y one on the list, I mean, all the rest of those shows are so low-rated. Aside from Game of Thrones, which has already won that. I like the appreciation for the amazing Samantha Bee, but I really don't think I'd place her in the news/information category. Finally, take a look at that miniseries category this year. Man, that's where the great stuff is, isn't it? I expect the Emmys to have a similarly stellar list of nominees there. These awards are held August 6th.

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
The Americans, FX
Fargo, FX
Game of Thrones, HBO
Making a Murderer, Netflix
Mr. Robot, USA
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, FX
UnREAL, Lifetime

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
The Americans, FX
Better Call Saul, AMC
Game of Thrones, HBO
The Leftovers, HBO
Mr. Robot, USA
UnREAL, Lifetime

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
black-ish, ABC
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The CW
Master of None, Netflix
Silicon Valley, HBO
Veep, HBO
You’re The Worst, FXX

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The CW
Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Netflix
Master of None, Netflix
Mr. Robot, USA
Underground, WGN America
UnREAL, Lifetime

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES AND SPECIALS
All The Way, HBO
Fargo, FX
The Night Manager, AMC
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, FX
Roots, History
Show Me A Hero, HBO

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Bryan Cranston, All The Way
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Keri Russell, The Americans
Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Samantha Bee, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Aya Cash, You’re The Worst
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Constance Wu, Fresh Off the Boat

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS AND INFORMATION
CBS Sunday Morning, CBS
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, TBS
Jackie Robinson, PBS
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, HBO
Real Time With Bill Maher, HBO
United Shades of America, CNN

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMMING
I Am Cait, E!
The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime
The Great British Baking Show, PBS
Making a Murderer, Netflix
MasterChef Junior, Fox
Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance, CBS

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH PROGRAMMING
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, PBS
Doc McStuffins, Disney Junior
Nature Cat, PBS
Odd Squad, PBS
Sofia The First, Disney Junior

HERITAGE AWARD
The Larry Sanders Show, HBO
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, CBS
Seinfeld, NBC
Star Trek, NBC
Twin Peaks, ABC

Full Trailer for HBO's 'Westworld'

This looks pretty wild, huh? It's the creation of Jonathan Nolan- yup, that's Christopher's brother. Sometimes HBO shows can have all the prestige, cast and budget, but still turn out to be nothing though, so I wouldn't go crazy just yet. But it's definitely intriguing.

'Supergirl' Finds its Superman

Okay, so it looks like the Berlanti-verse resisted all calls to cast Smallville's Tom Welling in the role, and instead have gone with 28-year-old Tyler Hoechlin of Teen Wolf fame, who brings along a plethora of teenage fangirls with him, I hear. I never watched that show, so I can't speak to this guy's acting skills, but he does look the part at least. 

Couple things though. First, according to Supergirl's own timeline, the in-universe Man of Steel should be at least 36, and instead he's going to be just one year older than Melissa Benoist. Huh.Which leads into my next declaration, which is that this choice does absolutely nothing to convince me this isn't some planted pilot for a potential spinoff series next year. Don't be surprised at all when Legends of Tomorrow is canceled in 2017, to be replaced in the fall by a brand new Adventures of Superman-type show on the CW. At this point I'd bet money on it. I mean, come on, people are already asking for Lois and Lex, it's only a matter of time, right?

REVIEW: "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" Season 2

I was once worried that Tina Fey’s delightfully subversive, daring Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt would veer away from the strikingly dark themes its first season embraced and simply go all in with the satirical, wacky universe its characters inhabit, a universe marked by one visual gag and clever zinger after another while the various cast members fly in and out of the frame and around New York City, going on crazy adventures as Kimmy transforms herself into a person who can stand her ground after a traumatic experience. That wouldn’t have been a bad thing at all, as the show is hilarious enough on its own, and this world is creative, colorful and appealing enough to stand apart from the uncomfortable realities of the premise from which it sprung.

But Season 2 of Kimmy Schmidt far exceeded my expectations by living up to all those standards of hilarity while simultaneously and wholeheartedly diving into Kimmy’s scarred and wounded psyche, never once allowing the root of what happened to her to be ignored or to overwhelm who she is as a person. By doing all of that on top of being so outrageously hilarious, surreal and over the top, it becomes a wondrous mix of happily damaged characters who go about their nutty lives while overcoming the problems that actually make them feel human, in spite of living in a Looney Tunes version of New York where your boyfriend’s racist grandma is an actual decrepit puppet presiding over Sunday dinner (I literally choked on my soda, I was laughing so hard at that joke).

After her captor, the crazy reverend Wayne Gary Wayne (played by Jon Hamm) was put away last season, Kimmy continues to try to live her life anew, and the early episodes involve her job at the everyday Christmas store and her ongoing, start-and-stop romance with Dong (Ki Hong Lee), himself trapped in a green card marriage to the pester-y Sonya, while periodically helping her fellow bunkmates find ways to start their own crazy lives fresh from the tyranny reigned down on them by the reverend. Titus Burgess continues to excel as Kimmy’s roommate, as he must confront his own past and a wife he never wanted, tries out a one man show starring as his Japanese geisha alter ego, and eventually forms a relationship with sweet construction worker Mikey (Mike Carlsen), seemingly his opposite in every way, yet here the romance is adorable. Just about every episode is bright, sunny, filled with clever wordplay, out of nowhere musical interludes, blink and you miss it gags, and an all around zany vibe that plummets you into Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's New York City that’s more of a live action cartoon than actual reality.

And yet the show takes its time setting up the effects of Kimmy’s PTSD, as she can’t handle reminders of her years in the bunker, and flashbacks show us the mental wherewithal she undertook to keep herself strong and sane (one revelation devolves into an actual cartoon rendering of herself as a Disney princess slaughtering the reverend into bloody, gory pieces all over a hand drawn background of singing birds). The show then places Kimmy in therapy with Fey herself playing the alcoholic psychologist Andrea, who manages to help Kimmy somewhat face her past and confront her issues with the mother who abandoned her as a teen, while getting in her own not insignificant amount of verbal barbs as both the professional therapist and her evil, drunk alter ego who roams the bars at night with Kimmy as uber driver chauffeur to her exploits.

The show handles every area of focus with the same pitch perfect tone. It seems strange to think you can watch Kimmy and Dong playing Home Alone in an abandoned hotel and in the next scene make a joke about Kimmy’s involuntary violent reaction to the idea of intimacy with him. When Kimmy confronts her long lost mother (played by Lisa Kudrow) in the season finale, Kudrow becomes the first character to actually utter the word “rape” in regards to what Kimmy suffered in the bunker all those years, and yet it doesn’t shy away from that either, as we are told that Kimmy only feels safe with Dong when his hands are tied, and bursts into fighting stance when someone accidentally touches her neck.

The success with which the show navigates those thorny issues is an impressive feat, never sacrificing its outrageous comedy for the heartbreaking tragedy that Kimmy suffered, while at the same time also never seeming insensitive in the way it regards survivors of trauma and sexual assault. And Kimmy’s not the only unbreakable one, as Jane Krakowski’s Jacqueline also stages a comeback, returning to the city after spending time with her native american family, intent on reclaiming her roots and re-entering high society, this time as a non-trophy wife. The friendship between her and Kimmy is unique, in that it never returns to employer/employee status, and the two women genuinely help each other to move forward, as Jacqueline gets a pretty surprising amount of character development this season, further separating her from the character Krakowski played on 30 Rock. She’s still somewhat shallow and focused on superficiality, but with an inner core and new depth revealed through each triumph, from her hilarious feud with fellow society wife and rival Deirdre (a superb Anna Camp, who should be Emmy nominated for guest actress for this), her final repudiation of Julian’s fortune, her eventual newfound connection with son Buckley, and her golddigging turned genuine relationship with sad sack lawyer Russ (an always excellent David Cross, whose own comedic timing fits perfectly with Krakowski’s).

Just about every story beat worked this season, although Carol Kane’s Lillian, who can be funny when used as a snarky, sarcastic deliverer of one liners and hardened, sage advice, is still a little uninteresting when propped into her ongoing personal battle against the gentrification of her neighborhood, but the core cast and supporting characters are lovably wacky, and the outstanding guest stars are never wasted (from Jeff Goldblum as a reality show “doctor” to Joshua Jackson popping up out of nowhere to deliver a screed against Dawson’s Creek, and Fred Armisen as Bobby, Lillian’s former Fred Durst lookalike boyfriend). No less than three quotes per episode instantly get stuck in my head, and the show comes with a built-in re-watchability factor simply so you can be allowed to catch every joke you may have missed the first time around. Ellie Kemper anchors it all with her oddball, very physical, very manic performance that captures all of Kimmy’s excitability, determination, optimism and childlike nature along with the lit fuse of repression and anger that simmers under the surface of her outward expression, just waiting to explode. Her enduring and affectionate friendships with both Titus and Jacqueline provide something of a heart in the center of all this madness and sadness creeping in on the fringes of the world. This remains undoubtedly one of TV’s best comedies, and if the madcap humor’s not for you, all I can say is that’s too bad. Because you’re missing out.

Grade: A

Recap and Preview for Season 2 of 'UnREAL'

 I'm very happy to report that the new season of UnREAL is getting fantastic reviews and apparently hasn't missed a beat from its nasty and delightfully dark first season. It premieres Monday night at 10pm on Lifetime. Can't wait. Check this out for a preview of the new season.

REVIEW: "The Flash" Season 2

The Flash was one of my favorite shows in its first season, and even ended up in my top ten for last year- that's how much I enjoyed the light, fuzzy, pure comic book tone that made it feel so bright and sunny and stand apart from the other superhero shows. This year, I'm sad to say it will not end up in my year end list (at least I doubt it- it'd have to be a pretty bad TV year for that to happen, which has not been the case of late). Unfortunately, it really seemed to suffer from a bit of a sophomore slump this season, in two easily identifiable (and hopefully fixable) ways. Oh well. I guess that's to be expected, especially with 23 episode seasons on a network like the CW.

Let's start with the story that turned out to be the biggest flop of the season- the Big Bad. The show takes its cues from the old Buffy formula of having one major villain per season, but you really need to get creative with that concept to justify it lasting all year long. Tom Cavanagh's Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne/Harrison Wells of Season 1 was a far superior villain, carefully crafted to reveal his secrets at all the right moments to our hero Barry Allen and his friends, and the motivations behind his nefarious goals that connected him to Barry were never less than compelling, thanks to Cavanagh's delightfully sinister and downright gleeful performance.

This time around, the show basically decided to repeat the storyline full stop, by introducing another mentor figure in the form of Teddy Sears' Jay Garrick from Earth-2, along with the introduction of the multiverse as a yearlong theme. But Jay turned out to be a total drip who had less connection to Barry and more of a deadly dull, chemistry-free, sometime romance with Caitlin of all people (Danielle Panabaker, by far the weakest actress on the show), and though his real identity turned out to be someone else (Hunter Zolomon, aka the evil speedster Zoom from the Flash comics), his motivations and goals changed about a thousand times throughout the season, so that no one watching could ever explain to you what it was that Zoom really wanted, and introducing him to the team so early made it so that he kept coming and going at seemingly random intervals just to drag things out to the very end, which finally culminated in a fairly underwhelming and predictable finale.

Earth-2 Barry and Iris were one of the highlights of the season

So Zoom was a big miss (even though he was voiced by Candyman's Tony Todd, which was a cool effect before he was unmasked), but I can sort of forgive convoluted plot stuff, especially as it involves comic books and sci-fi and all that, as long as the characters and relationships remain strong and the actors sell their chemistry with each other in such a way that you just want to keep watching them hang out no matter what they're doing. This cast was particularly excellent in that regard, as I mentioned last year (Panabaker aside, but she's basically a background character much of the time), and for the most part that remains true, but for some strange reason the show decided (whether consciously or not, I'm unsure) to drop what was by far the reason I originally loved it so much, and that was the bright and sunny tone. It was the modern equivalent of the Christopher Reeve-era Superman movies, a show that proved you could do light and funny with superheroes for the modern age, and yet still have an enormous amount of real emotional connection to these characters, especially because Grant Gustin's Barry was a such a sweet, smiling puppy dog that you just wanted to take home with you.

This year the show made Barry down in the dumps from the start, in response to everything that happened at the end of the last season, and boy, oh boy was that a mistake. I praised Gustin to the high heavens last year because of his natural likability, but man, can he not do "brooding" well. Forcing Barry to be miserable and depressed made him whiny and annoying, which is the clear opposite of what he's good at, and it actually made him downright unappealing at times. In fact, the Barry that showed up on the hyped Supergirl/Flash crossover episode in March suddenly reminded Flash viewers what we'd been missing since Season 1- the smiling, funny sweetheart who loved and enjoyed every moment of being a superhero. I'm kind of shocked that the show forgot to maintain that tone this year in favor of darker, angstier, frankly Arrow-like misery for the most part, because it just isn't what the show does well. Perhaps the loss of co-creator, developer and writer Geoff Johns this season left a bigger impact behind the scenes than anticipated, but I'm telling you right now, they need to fix that and they need to fix it fast. And with the unnecessarily dark finale that saw the murder of Barry's dad Henry (John Wesley Shipp) and the startling cliffhanger that promises more of this dark avenue in the future, all I can do is cross my fingers and hope these guys are listening to some of the criticism about this less than stellar second season.

With that said, it wasn't all bad. The very weak first half that was mostly devoted to waste of time episodes dedicated to setting up spinoff show Legends of Tomorrow, along with the incredibly pointless subplot of Barry's throwaway two-second romance with Patty Spivot, designed to stall the inevitable union with soulmate Iris (which is hilariously practically stated on the show, as a reluctant Barry has to be pushed into this temporary relationship), at least gave way to some much better episodes in the second half once those obligatory storylines were jettisoned. The two-part sojourn to Earth-2 led to the best episode in the show's history, as we got see doppelgangers of every character in another world, and see Barry and Cisco interact with them in various, entertaining ways (even Panabaker improved a bit with her performance as Killer Frost, who at least isn't as painful to watch as Caitlin).

Killer Frost was a welcome relief from Caitlin

Iris got to be a kick-ass cop instead of a reporter, a profession the show clearly doesn't know how to integrate with the team, so I say make this occupation change for her permanent somehow. And the Kevin Smith directed episode "The Runaway Dinosaur," where Barry gets lost in the speedforce, was excellent and another contender for best in the show's history, as debut Flash writer Zack Stentz clearly knew exactly how to balance the humor, lightheartedness and emotion that made the first season so fun and really fueled that episode (not to mention gave our Earth-1 Iris the best role within the action and the team that she's ever gotten). Overall, the cast is still immensely fun to watch, with Cavanagh and Jesse L. Martin doing their parts as the veterans to the team of younger actors, Carlos Valdes is still superb as the scene-stealing Cisco, who happily remains not overused (unlike his character equivalent of Felicity over on Arrow, who was always a comic relief bit player and never should have been upgraded to female lead), and the improvement in Iris's character from the first season was hugely significant and showed that Candice Patton is clearly the best actress in a series that favors the men for some reason (use her more, guys, she's good).

As always, I'm a big hater of any kind of "will they, won't they" subplot (in my opinion, that trope is decades out of date by now), so as far as I'm concerned, Barry and Iris need to be together yesterday, and the really irritating romance stalling is getting on my nerves to the nth degree at this point. It's a superhero show, guys, and this couple was supposed to be permanently married anyway, so what are you waiting for? Pull the trigger already and just keep 'em together, for god's sake. Waiting around for that (for absolutely no credible reason) annoys me and makes me angry more than it does anything else, so I'd like to tell them to just get on with it. Finally, the introductions of Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) and Jesse Quick (Violett Beane) actually turned out to be fairly well-executed, as Wally's initial "angry rebel" addition to the family as Joe's long lost son seemed eye-roll worthy at first, but by season's end, he actually turned out to be a pretty good dude who I'm now looking forward to see get his own powers and become Barry's sidekick, as the West-Allen blended family remains the strongest element of the show, essentially its beating heart, and that it never lost.

So as you can tell, my investment in this show and these characters remains strong, despite all the things I can nitpick and complain about in regards to this season. Not the least of which is that ridiculous cliffhanger that seemed to negate any character development on Barry's part at all this year in favor of introducing a famous comics storyline (Flashpoint Paradox) that readers may be excited to see happen, but I remain deeply skeptical of, since it would appear to involve erasing both seasons of the entire show so far. Yeah, not feeling good about that, but if it's quickly dispensed with it could theoretically be used to restore Barry's happy, cheery, Season 1/Supergirl self. And that's my biggest wish for next season, one that I really hope the writers adhere to. I loved The Flash it because it was fun and warm and fuzzy. Cisco shouldn't suddenly be (and wasn't last year) the only person allowed to be funny on the show. Please bring that back and don't make Barry a miserable mess anymore, despite whatever plot machinations take place. That's all I ask. But I'll keep watching anyway, because, well...frankly, I'm hooked no matter what at this point.

Grade: C+

Mopey Barry needs a Season 3 attitude adjustment, stat- where's the dorky goofball of Season 1??