The Flash returns for a second season with a rolling start, immediately jumping six months into the aftermath of the singularity, with a brand new status quo that thankfully gets fixed by the end of the episode. Maybe Barry has been listening to Ollie too much but distancing yourself from your team NEVER works. Ever. They always have to come in to save your arse and thankfully, Team Flash does this in 42mins as opposed to the 3 episodes it would usually take Arrow.

So what’s new in Flash world? Well, Henry’s free! And now he’s leaving! Wait, why? It’s such a stupid, obviously for production move. Wells, further proving to be the best kind of redeemable villain (aka Not-Grant Ward) and videos himself confessing to the murder of Nora Allen, thus allowing Henry to go free. Which is awesome! They throw him a party and everything but then he takes Barry aside at his welcome home party and says he is leaving. It’s so fucking stupid and it’s a shame because I’d have liked to have John Wesley Shipp on Team Flash full-time.

Speaking of Team Flash, they’re this season joined by Iris and Professor Stein. Iris is actually tolerable this episode, mourning Eddie’s loss and doing a solid job of not annoying me. Good work. Cisco and Caitlin return and are equally on-form and with the absence of his other half, Martin Stein becomes part of the team and even earning his place by naming this week’s bad guy…

Atom Smasher! Because he’s atomic powered and he smashes things. Good one, Stein. Traditionally Al Rothstein is a good guy, often associated with the Teen Titans and the Justice Society. I love the mask but the costume itself is a little bland. Adam Copeland (aka the wrestler Edge from WWF) does a pretty solid job portraying the gruff bruiser and, interestingly, reveals that he’s not from this world. He only wanted to kill The Flash because it was the only way he could get home. When asked he promised him that, Al simply replies…

CHILLS. With the apparent casting of Tony Todd as the voice of Zoom and seemingly able to transport people through the multiverse, this season’s antagonist is shaping up to be a real threat. Smarter, faster, deadlier. But Zoom isn’t the only speedster in town as a mysterious stranger bypasses all of STAR Labs’ new security system and introduces himself…

Yoooooo, it’s Jay Garrick! Now we’re in business! Sure he’s a little young but the prospect of having a Flash team-up is too awesome!

This season premiere was pretty damn fun but I’m really looking forward to next week’s adventure, Flash of Two Worlds.

Ow! Ow! Okay, that was in poor taste but I needed SOMETHING to lighten the mood as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns in the shockingly intense Aftershocks.

Emotional fallout is all over the shop in this episode. Between Skye and Raina’s transformations, the team’s raw emotions running wild and the introduction of more Inhumans, we’ve got a jam-packed episode.

In a flashback to the 80’s, we see Skye’s mother, Jiaying, caring for the a young Inhuman who recently went through Terrigenisis. This is the same Inhuman we saw at the end of the last episode but as a teen, traumatised by the loss of his sight and is also a teleporter. She is revealed to have counselled many generations of Inhumans, thanks to her longevity. This segues nicely into Skye, isolated from everyone else in quarantine.

She’s feeling guilty; blaming herself for the death of Trip as well as the cave-in she inadvertently caused, coupled with the fear of her teammates reaction to her newfound abilities (especially after Jemma, distraught, declares that these powers are a disease and must be destroyed. Also should we be calling her ‘Daisy’ now? Screw it, I’ll keep calling her Skye.

On the flipside, Raina escapes the temple after slaughtering a couple SHIELD scientists and seeks out Skye’s father, Calvin. Calvin is delighted to hear of Skye’s transformation and proceeds to ramble like the hammiest villain you could imagine and we’re introduced to the new Raina, who was transformed into a more beastial Inhuman form. Shout-out to the make-up department because Ruth Negga is almost unrecognizable in her thorny make-up. It really looks fantastic! She is horrified by her new appearance and Calvin suggests she either learn to live with it (after all, this is what she always wanted) or to not live with it at all.

It’s interesting to see the difference at the end of the episode between Skye and Raina. Skye is amongst family but has never felt more isolated and afraid while Raina is alone and ready to kill herself but after a timely rescue by Gordon (yes, that’s the teleporter’s name) seems to be whisked off to meet a new family that will help her adapt to her new powers.

The rest of the team is naturally shaken. Fitz and Mack bond over a shared experience after Mack explodes, telling Fitz that he doesn’t know what it’s like to lose control of his body or to feel trapped within it and Fitz just responds with a simple “Yes, I do.”

The rest of the team lets Bakshi lead them to the heads of Hydra and play them hardcore into killing each other and then bust in to mop up the rest, leaving Bakshi alive and in the custody of General Talbot. Though if Hydra is without it’s heads right now, does that mean that Baron Von Strucker is the only leader of Hydra left and, if so, does that mean we’ll be seeing him in the future?

The stinger is a little subdued, as the RC Lola that Mack built reveals a scanning device in it’s hood and quickly locates the Toolbox that Fury had given to Coulson. What is Bobbi and Mack’s agenda here? I don’t think they’d go straight for a Hydra heel turn after Ward and I’m not buying that they’re doing it for Fury so… S.W.O.R.D.? Secret Avengers? Who knows, we’ll have to wait and see.

Be sure to come back next week as we see the return of Lady Sif and Skye’s powers unveiled in Who You Really Are.

This episode finally takes the running sub-plot of the alien writing and is using it to good effect.

Before I get to that though, Grant FUCKING Ward. The irredeemable dickbag is out in the wild and the team is hot on his ass though, through various tricks, he manages to get to a rendezvous point for Hydra and kills a bunch of Hydra goons and leaves Bakshi for the team as a present. Cue the Tumblr fan girls creaming themselves and my desire to smack some fools increases. Seriously, that portion of the fandom is toxic and it‘s insistence on bizarre relationship bullshit riles me up. I get it, women like bad boys or guys who seem broken because some people are fucking deluded and have this overwhelming desire to “fix them” but there is no “fixing” or redemption for a homicidal sociopath. Get your heads out of your asses/the Vampire Diaries tag and get with the show’s REAL plot.

Rant… Subsiding…

Besides, we all know the real “One True Pairing” is Fitz and Mack. Did you see the scene with Simmons acting all jealous? And when they were playing Halo 2: Anniversary (product placement!) was really sweet. BRO-T-P! BRO-T-P!

The clues regarding the alien language finally come together as the pieces fit together. An ex-Agent of SHIELD and survivor of Project: TAHITI (the same one we saw getting tattooed in A Fractured House) is hunting other survivors of the project and is carving them up, hoping to find the answer to the symbols. Once Coulson finds this out and confronts the killer at the home of the last survivor, he puts it all together and the symbols are revealed to be…

A city. Now, given the GH 325’s origins appear to be Kree in origin and this “map” is actually revealed to be a city, the conclusion to be drawn is that this is the Inhuman city of Attilan. With the recent reveal of the Inhumans movie, it makes sense to establish their presence early. In the comics, the Inhumans are a genetic off-shoot of humanity, created by the Kree during their ancient war with the Skrulls and if the GH host is as old (if not older) as the SHIELD doctor suggests, then this could be the building blocks of the Inhuman saga.

Hell, I’ve been saying for a while that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (appearing in Age of Ultron) can’t be called mutants because of rights issues so why not make them Inhumans? Quicksilver himself has ties to the Inhumans, marrying an Inhuman and being exposed the Inhuman’s Terrigen Mist after losing his superspeed.

This episode ties up a major plot point for the series but also offers up another mystery as well as continuing the sub-plot of Grant Ward. Where do we go from here? I can’t wait to find out when we return with The Things We Bury.

The title of the episode refers to Coulson. He’s become Director of SHIELD and despite the tech at his disposal, we’ve already heard how he’s been run ragged. Between Hunter’s capture by Talbot and, as we find out, he’s been having episodes of rune drawing that he’s attempted to hold back, he’s different to the light-hearted guy we once knew. He still has a couple cute lines here and there and we even see him play with a holo-display (no doubt derived from Tony Stark’s tech) so we could see him slip back into his old self more or less depending on how the team is tested this season.

Making a surprise return is Raina, acting as an agent for Skye’s mysterious father. She’s after the obelisk and does indeed grab it for her employer, The Doctor. I’m not even kidding, Skye’s father (played by Kyle MacLachlan) is listed in the credits as “The Doctor”.

That’s pretty weird. Almost as weird as Raina being able to handle the obelisk without going full on Vesuvius victim and the runes even glow when she touches it, showing them to be the same the ones Coulson is drawing. The Doctor promises to show her what it means once she brings him Skye.

Creel plays second banana mostly because of the larger players for Hydra and The Doctor are trying to manipulate him. He ends up being bested by Coulson and handed over to Talbot in exchange for some leeway. Coulson backs up his confidence with some dick-swinging as he reveals both the Quinjet and a freshly refurbished Bus, now with added cloaking tech. Though he does lamp-shade the event by recommending they leave before the Bus runs out of fuel.

By far the outstanding portion of the episode for me was the emergence of the BROTP, MackFitz. After the heartbreaking reveal last week, it’s more understandable why the team is a little distant with Fitz but our little techie isn’t truly on his own as the new mechanic, Alphonso ‘Mack’ Mackenzie, becomes my personal hero by looking after the little guy. Mack calls him out for acting like a space-case at first but is soon helping him work through his mental stalling. Even HeadSimmons likes him! Mack and Fitz are on track to becoming the new science duo and I wholeheartedly approve.

A fantastic follow-up to the season premiere so hopefully the series can keep up this head of steam. Next week promises a real shake-up so I’ll catch you guys next week for Making Friends and Influencing People!

Hello again, true believers! How was the break? Did you enjoy Guardians of The Galaxy? Of course you did, you have a pulse. SO! Agents of SHIELD returns to our screens and straight out of the gate it’s not pulling its punches. It looks at the floundering of the first season and thought “SCREW THAT!” and kicks the door open with cameos, plot threads and emotional fallout.

WARNING! This review and those that follow will feature HEAVY SPOILERS for UK viewers. As of time of writing, there’s been no word on an air date for the UK so these reviews will feature SPOILERS.

BOOM! The episode kicks off in WWII with Agent Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos! Already off to a strong start as we see the return of Hayley Atwell, Neal McDonough and Kenneth Choi (all reprising their roles from The First Avenger), probably setting the stage for the upcoming Agent Carter TV show. They raid a Hydra facility in 1945, procuring many ancient and alien artefacts (The Kree from T.A.H.I.T.I., anyone?) and start cataloguing them. This is a fantastic little scene; short, sweet and setting up many elements we’ll be seeing in the future.

When we see the team for the first time, they’re in their element. Skye, May, Trip and newcomer Hartley (played by the gorgeous Lucy Lawless) and her crew, in a sting operation on ex-SHIELD members trying to sell secrets. Unfortunately, the deal goes south when a Hyrda agent intercepts the info, taking several gunshots before leaping out of a 25ft window. This badass is Carl ‘Crusher’ Creel, better known as the Absorbing Man and current recruit for Hydra. Coulson brings the team in and we find out he’s being run ragged by his new responsibilities as Director of SHIELD. Most of the team barely sees him now and the family unit we’ve been following is kind of drifting. That’s the impression I got anyway.

We get introduced to a lot of new characters, Hartley and her two guys, Lance and Idaho and Alphonso “Mac” Mackenzie. They definitely feel like a B-Team but they’re all pretty likeable.Not much to say about them at this moment.

Crusher Creel, despite having very little to say in the episode, is a pretty cool bad guy to watch and a good antagonist for SHIELD. His ability to absorb any material he touches is played with well by the effects team and none of his forms look silly, though the point in the episode where he become wood is a little weird, as he did it just to unwind, though I guess this was to play into his character that he’s obsessed with the metamorphosis.

We find out that Ward has been locked in the basement of SHIELD’s new base since the end of last season and time has not been kind. He’s unshaven, desheveled, the clear signs of suicide attempts present on his arms and head. He’s refused to speak to anyone other than Skye and now that the situation warrants it, their relationship becomes all too clear as they sit either side of a hi-tech forcefield cell. Ward’s attitude points towards a repentant man but screw that, I’m with Skye on this one. You can’t trust this guy and any redemption story he has better be drawn out and significant.

Fitz and Simmons are… a little different to how we left them. The trauma of Fitz’s near-death experience has affected severely and it’s just sad to see the once brilliant jokester reduced to a broken mumbler, constantly looking to his carer for the words he can’t find while the rest of the team looks at him with pity. He’s clearly lost something and his mind isn’t right but the presence of Simmons calms him and even makes him feel like he could get better. But he’s not. Because Simmons left months ago and everything we’ve seen has been Fitz talking to himself/the Simmons in his head. This reveal is truly heartbreaking and I got genuinely choked up by it. The sadness in his eyes hurts to watch as Iain De Caestecker’s performance gives the indication that he’s all too aware that Simmons is gone but can’t let her go.

The stinger for the episode is the Hydra informant we saw talking to Creel talking to a silhouetted man named Daniel Whitehall, who is revealed to be the Nazi commander we saw at the start of the episode! DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

Shadows is an intensely entertaining and satisfying beginning to this season. It takes the lessons learned from the latter half of the first season and continues building this fantastic world and giving us plenty to chew on. What did you guys think? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll see you guys next week!

Young Justice is one of the newest animated shows from DC Entertainment and Warner Bros and is a damn fine show. Debuting nearly 16 months ago, it’s only now that the first season has reached it’s finale. You heard me right, 16 months for 26 episodes. Yeah…… Cartoon Network are fucking assholes. But despite being spread across three years (2010-2012) and constant delays, the show has been consistently engaging. Any time the show has appeared on screens, it’s just as fresh and brilliant as when it left off.

Following the exploits of a covert ops team of teen heroes, Young Justice is written and produced by some of the best in the business, namely Greg Weisman (He of Gargoyles and Spectacular Spiderman fame) and Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood, The Batman). Not to mention an all-star cast, running the gamut from DC Animated staples  to relative new-comers.

So with the Season 2 premiere only days away (Seriously, 16 months but Season 2 starts the week after Season 1 finishes? What clown is in charge of scheduling?) I’m going to be counting down my Top 5 episodes of Season 1, starting with…..

5 – “Welcome to Happy Harbor”

The third episode of the season is where we really start to see the team come together. In the hour-long premiere, the team solely consisted of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad. They retrieved Superboy from Cadmus Labs, and Miss Martian was introduced just before it ended. It was a pretty dark episode to kick off but fun nonetheless. It’s in this episode where we start to get a feel for how the show is going to portray it’s team when they deal with the villain, Mr Twister, in a surprising show of teamwork. The only downside is the over-use of Miss Martian’s catchphrase “Hello, Megan!” but thankfully that lessens in the future episodes. A fun episode to showcase what the show is and well worth checking out.

4 –  “Coldhearted”

Kid Flash is the comedic relief of the Team so to have an entire episode focus on him and show he’s capable of growth was an excellent move. This is probably my favourite episode of the season so why is it only 4th? Because while I enjoyed it, other episodes did far better in terms of character development. Our red-headed speedster has to run across country to deliver precious cargo to a heart transplant patient, in the snow, with Vandal Savage standing in his way. It’s a recipe that works for me! Wally learns his lesson, grows up a little and even showcases his powers in a more successful way than ’Denial’ did but its just not as strong as some other episodes and this is purely on the list because I enjoy it. It’s my list, I’ll do whatever I want!

3 – “Secrets”

One thing you’ll notice about this show is that it has a definitive timeline, the show makes it clear what day of the year a particular episode takes place on, whether through on screen text or mentions on the show. Case in point, this episode which is a Halloween episode and while Conner, Wally and Megan do the usual Halloween schtick, the episode truly focuses on Zatanna, the relative newbie to the team. Zatanna and Artemis head out on patrol and encounter a seemingly unstoppable opponent in the form of Harm. Aided by a mysterious young girl, the two uncover a horrible secret that ties Harm and Secret together and is actually pretty dark, especially for touching on a subject that is danced around in many other shows. The dark and heavy A-Plot is balanced out by the B-Plot’s humour and shenanigans. From a story perspective, it’s a perfect episode and an excellent way to further add Zatanna to the team.

2 – “Failsafe”

The Justice League is dead before the credits. Yeah, this episode isn’t dicking around. Granted, this is obviously a “What If?” scenario because we’re only 16 episodes into the first season but it’s very apocalyptic and doesn’t mess around with killing off people. It’s an episode along the same lines as “Over the Edge”, an episode of New Adventures of Batman which is quite similar but nowhere near as good. Sorry, but it’s not! “Over the Edge” didn’t have lasting consequences while character development is at an all time high in this episode. We see the Team step into the shoes of their now-dead mentors and deal with this alien threat as the situation becomes more and more dire. Even the Team itself is not safe and while the outcome is obvious, the emotional impact of this episode is felt well into the later half of the series. I’m not giving too much away but it is well worth your time.

1 – “Usual Suspects” & “Auld Acquaintance”

I’m kinda cheating here by having the penultimate episode and finale as my number 1 but they feel so much like a two-parter that they deserve to share the top spot. Greg Weisman said that the theme of the first season is ‘secrets and lies’ during early promotion of the series and that really comes to the fore in these two episodes. The series has been steadily building it’s story from the get-go and these two episodes are where all those plot threads are tightened into one epic story. Who is the mole? What was The Light’s plan? Why did they use so many villains? How will the Team deal with such a threat? And what is “Phase 2”? It’s a rip-roaring two-parter that delivers on all levels and serves as set-up for season 2: “Invasion”.

Check out the trailer for Season 2 (SPOILERS)

See you next time!