Agent Carter: The Edge of Mystery/A Little Song and Dance Review

image credit: ABC, Marvel, farfarawaysite

Following the cliffhanger of last week's two hour extravaganza, last night's episode was all heartbreak, action and shocks and turns. But what else could you expect from the two episodes before the season finale?

I won't lie. I was in tears majority of the episode. Why? Bloody Edwin and Ana Jarvis. If you thought Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was painful, last night Agent Carter gave some of the most emotional, heartrending scenes I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

James D'Arcy knocked it out of the park last night with his performance as Jarvis dealt with the aftermath of Ana being shot-and unexpected consequences that followed the injury. The emotions were raw, charged and felt real during the episode; each actor provided a stellar performance, but James D'Arcy and Hayley Atwell absolutely stole the show with their emotional scenes, especially with their argument in the desert in A Little Song and Dance.

Speaking of song and dance, I was honestly shocked at how well done the dream sequence was. While one could argue it didn't really match the tone of the rest of the episode, it was a fun scene altogether and saw the long awaited return of Angie Martinelli (Lyndsy Fonseca) as the entire cast put on a fantastic show, complete with singing and an epic dance between Peggy and Daniel (and yet another almost kiss....perhaps the third time will be the charm) that was quite frankly amazingly done and had me shipping them even more (which I didn't think was possible).

The scene was also done as a way of showing Peggy's impossible place in the love triangle between her, Jason and Daniel, as well as giving us another glimpse at her brother Michael with an emotional scene as the two talked about Peggy being in the field and how Michael knew that it was what she wanted more than anything.

With plot twists, betrayals, heartbreak, gasp worthy moments and more shipper squeals than I can count, these two episodes were absolutely fantastic and beautifully done. Honestly, I can't wait to see what next week has in store for us.

Rating: 5/5 (I would also argue 10/10)

The Flash: King Shark Review

image credit: CW, DC, farfarawaysite

Last night's Flash picked up exactly where last week's left off; moments after Jay Garrick was cruelly killed by Zoom in front of the entire team, before his body was dragged back to Earth 2 by the dark speedster.

The episode focused mainly on the team recovering from that loss as well as what they saw on Earth 2, while trying to stay busy to avoid to pain of their loss. That distraction came in the form of King Shark.

Continuing the tradition of a second crossover episode, we had a visit from Diggle and his wife, Lyla (who's now running ARGUS!) as they try to help the team defeat King Shark as the talking shark actually escaped ARGUS' custody.

The episode was another suberb episode, following the Earth 2 episodes. It was nice to see an episode with the team dealing with the after effects of their visit to the parallel Earth; seeing the consequences of character's actions is something I love to see in television (or in any form of entertainment, really) and I'm glad the writers didn't decide to just go straight to a light hearted episode, which in a way, this episode was but there was that undertone of loss that really made the episode work.

There's so many standout performances in this episode that it's really hard to choose a favorite scene in the episode, but all of the Caitlin and Cisco scenes together were amazing, as was seeing the West family bonding.

Quite impressive was how they handled King Shark; it would be very easy for this episode to be corny or just not good at all, but somehow they managed to do the complete opposite. It was tense during the fight scenes and the CGI for King Shark was darn good for a television show. And when a show can make a talking shark wearing pants even remotely threatening, then that's darn impressive.

Rating: 5/5

Doctor Who: Silhouette Review

Hello, I'm back today (All Hallow's Eve) with a review for the first (and hopefully not the last) Doctor Who book featuring the Twelfth Doctor that I've gotten to read!

Synopsis:
Two men are dead, and the Paternoster Gang are on the case. When the Doctor and Clara end up in Victorian England, they find themselves swept up in the mystery; what does a man
found dead in his study have anything to do with
the town fair? What happened to Strax's drinking buddy, who was found dead in an alley? It's up to the Paternoster Gang, The Doctor and Clara to solve the mystery-before it's too late.

Review:
Silhouette, written by Justin Richards (famed Who author, of titles such as 'The Resurrection Casket', and 'Apollo 23') is exactly what it seems in terms of genre; it's your typical murder mystery, with a Who-twist, of course.
    The addition of the Paternoster Gang (Strax, Vastra and Jenny) is a nice addition, though probably divisive among fans, as some love the gang while others hate them. In terms of the Paternoster Gang, Richards knocks it out of the park in characterization, because it's almost just like watching an episode. You can hear the characters' voices in your head no problem. Clara is also handled wonderfully, although it seems to be hard for authors to grasp  Clara's personality, sometimes. When you get to how the Doctor's characterization it almost...well, it kind of falls flat, really. While it's not a bad rendering of the Doctor-in those terms, it's excellent-it's just not a good grasp of the Twelfth Doctor. While it's not hard to understand this issue (the authors only got to see Deep Breath, if I remember correctly), the Doctor comes off a little too Eleventh Doctor-y at some points, a stark contrast to Twelve. At some points, you can easily imagine any of the Doctors talking or walking around with Clara.
      The mystery itself is a good one, though I think it could've helped having a few more red herrings, rather than having the villain be quite so obvious. I love a guessing-game. The villain is well done, and has a particular charm to them, while also being completely devious. The book also has several nods to previous series, and even a few to the new series
; in fact, I quite enjoyed picking out references to past episodes. The book also had some laugh out loud moments, which were quite enjoyable, and some moments were very Doctor-y, and I could very well imagine the scene occurring in an episode (albeit, probably more of a Tenth Doctor or Eleventh Doctor than Twelve).
  In all, the book is a great one. While it might not be one of my favorites, it definitely classifies as a great Doctor Who story, one that I'll probably will re-read again, and was a nice glimpse back into the lives of the Doctor and Clara, due to my three week absence from the Whoniverse (*shivers*).

Overview:
4.5/5
P.S.
That cover is just gorgeous in person...
Have you read Silhouette? What did you think of it? If not, are you interested in reading? Comment below!
-Tegan

Sherlock: A Study In Pink Review

Last night, I took the plunge: I watched the very first episode of Sherlock last night. And the second as well. I've been debating about watching this show for a couple of months now. I've heard so much about it on Tumblr/Pinterest, and all the reviews for it seem to positive. And my Dad loves the show, and I've been getting into Sherlock Holmes here lately, plus James from J and J Productions suggested to give it a shot, so I figured what the hay.

I liked it. I really liked it. I have a new show to watch.

Synopsis: 

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson have just become flatmates, and Watson is pulled into a world filled with murder, adventure, and danger.

Review:

Minor Spoilers

I was amazed by how good it was, and by how much it followed the books. I've been reading A Study In Scarlet off and on all year-since March, actually, but I haven't been able to finish it just yet. I did, however, read the first few chapters. And, can I just say, how the scene were Sherlock and Watson met was straight out of the book? I mean, the lab was exactly how I imagined it, it was amazing. The case itself was quite mind-bending, but Sherlock was able to deduce everything. And I don't think I've ever seen someone quite so happy about murder in my life...and I watch Castle. I also like that they got the Sherlock/Watson friendship just right, and I, so far, like most of the other characters. I must say, I shall be watching the rest of the series.

Overview:

5/5

Note:

Tomorrow I shall put up my review for The Blind Banker. Note, I won't be watching the first episode of season two, as I've read what's in it, and so, I'm just going to be skipping it.

Have you seen A Study In Pink? What did you think? If not, are you interested in watching it?Comment Below!

-Tegan

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Yes Men' Review

The highly anticipated episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that was to feature Jamie Alexander as Sif, from the Thor movies, premiered last night, but was it worth the wait and the hype?
  You're kidding right? The answer would have to be this: duh. 
After last week's amazing revelation, I was more or less expecting some answers. Did we get any? Eh, not really. However, Sif helpfully gave Coulson a list of blue aliens she knew of, and one of those were Kree. Maybe those theories that blue dude was a Kree was true, you never know. Anyway, on the answer scale, we really didn't get much, but on the action and question scale, we got a lot. And a good couple bits of humor in the episode too, so let's begin, shall we?

Synopsis: Written By Me
The team find themselves united with Lady Sif, from Asgard and friend of Thor's, who is on the hunt for her arch-nemesis, Lorelei, who is a sorceress who can put men under her spell. But when Grant falls under her spell, the stakes are higher.

Review:
'Yes Men' was the episode I'd been looking forward to most (kinda like last year's Doctor Who episode, 'Hide'.). I mean, really. We were going to see Sif again, which I loved the idea of because I liked her character in the films, but we never saw enough of her character for her to end up in the favorite character category. Is she a favorite character of mine now that I've seen more of Sif, and we've gotten to know her a little better? Not a favorite character, but I do like her character. And a cross-over from the big screen to the little screen that wasn't just an after-credits scene, or a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Awesome! But besides the awesomeness of having a cross-over, was the wait worth it? Yes. It was. This is one of the best episodes AOS has to offer so far, and I'd have to say, it might just be my favorite of the season so far. The episode had good pacing, starting off in the action, bringing in the crew to meet Sif, them working together, and then finding Lorelei, to her enchanting Ward, to the big fight scenes, la, la, la. So, the pacing was good, the story was good. What was wrong with it? Nothing, really. We got to see more of the Ward/May relationship ironically, and we definitely got a twist that I most certainly didn't see coming at the end of the episode. Am I the only one who screamed 'What?' at their TV during the after-credits scene? Anybody? Eh.. Anyway, the episode didn't give much answers, more questions mostly, and we got to see Lola in action again (sort of, anyway), plus the crossover was cool. The scene between May and Sif was nice, and you really had the feeling of two warriors respecting one another. Now, onto one of the best parts of the episode, the humor. Really. The humor is back again after a serious episode last week, and most of the humor comes from (or centered around) Fitz. Honestly, Fitz had a lot of good scenes in the episode. Sif wasn't in it as much as I'd imagined, and most of the focus was on Lorelei, Ward and May, which is expected I guess. Most of the other characters were kind of in the background, but not in a bad way, everyone had their moment to shine. I was really shocked with Jemma's outburst to Coulson in the beginning. I've never seen her yell at anyone so far in the show, and I was even more shocked that it was Coulson who she yelled at. Skye didn't really have much to do in the episode, mostly because Jemma refused to let her off bed-rest after she was shot, but like I said, the episode mostly centered around Lorelei, Ward and May.
      Now, onto the fight scene. Was it cool? It was awesome. I was going 'ooh, ahh! eep!' throughout the whole thing, but it was a cool fight scene (not as cool as the fight scenes in The Avengers, admittedly, but it was a nice comic-book/action-film fight scene, so who cares?). The episode also brought in some questions, and the less spoiler-y one would have to be about Ward, so Minor Spoilers. I've been trying to figure out if what Lorelei said about Ward liking someone else was just to get under May's skin, or was it true? I wonder if we'll find out eventually, but who knows at this point? Now, onto the Major Spoilers-the after-credits scene. At first I was like, did the video mess up or something, then it showed the bug, and I was like, okay, maybe it's the Clairvoyant listening it, maybe that's how he/she knows everything. But no. It was Melinda-flipping-May listening in, and reporting to someone. S.H.I.E.L.D.? Fury? The Clairvoyant? Who knows, but one thing's for certain: there's a traitor amongst us.
  Also, is there an episode next week, or is it just that special, 'cause I thought the special was coming on first, then an episode, or was the episode put on a back burner? I'm really curious about this footage from Age of Ultron, though, I mean, they just started filming I think, so what could possibly be available for us to watch or see? Hmmm.....

Overview:
4/5

-Tegan

Doctor Who: Shroud of Sorrow (Tommy Donbavand) Review

There were two Doctor Who books on my radar last year: Shroud of Sorrow, and Summer Falls and Other Stories. Fortunately, I was able to get them both.


Overview:
After an unfortunate mishap at an archaeological dig, the Doctor and Clara find themselves in Dallas, Texas, on November 23rd, 1963. Now, across the globe, people are seeing faces where they shouldn't be (in coffee stains, in windows, on patterns, ect.), and they're the faces of the dead. Now, the Doctor and Clara must find a way to stop this fearsome adversary, but can they save all of humanity from sorrow?


Review:
Shroud of Sorrow is a particularly interesting, because it's the only book (actual full length novel in print) that was released last year that featured Clara. I was excited to read the book, and was thankful that I was able to. The problem I had with the book: there were hundreds of typos.  Besides that, the book was good; I finished it within a day. It's a good book, but I've only been able to read it twice so far, but give me time. The book has a ton of references to past adventures, especially towards the end of the book. The book is pure Who, able to have a very serious adventure, and have something so completely ridiculous, but still have it work and still have it serious. The book has a few instances of humor, but a particular scene towards the end of the book had me in tears, and it wasn't one I was expecting. The book is one of the better Doctor Who books, and the writer (Tommy Donbavand), got the characters just right (unlike a certain Doctor Who comic that I picked up that had the Doctor and Clara way out of character), and made the book feel like a proper Doctor Who episode in book format. That good. This, however, is a book that I've only been able to read once and awhile, but it's still one of my favorite Doctor Who books that I've read.


Notes: This book also mentioned The Rose and Crown, and I find it odd, because it's not the only story that has. Paradox Lost (George Mann) would be another, Clara worked at The Rose and Crown in The Snowmen (Steven Moffat), and it appeared in the She Said, He Said (Steven Moffat) prequel (it was a sign in the background during the Doctor's part.). The last couple of times words have been scattered across space and time, things didn't usually end well....

Stars:
Four out of Five

Coming Soon:
Coming Soon from Tegan's Library:
'Pond Life' Doctor Who mini-web-series Review
'She Said, He Said' Prequel Review
'The Bells of Saint John Prequel Review
'Winner Takes All' (Jacqueline Rayner) Book Reivew

-Tegan