Mother-Daughter Love: Great News 'Pilot"/"Bear Attack"

"Pilot"

Great News hits the mother-daughter relationship with a nail on the head in the best way possible. 

The series is about Katie, a producer at a local news station who does only puff pieces but wants to do more, but when her mother, Carol, whom she is very close to, comes in wanting to do an internship, it'll drive Katie to crazyvillie. When Greg hires Carol as Chuck's intern, Katie tries to get her fired, but it backfires when Carol has a connection with Chuck after forgetting his snack time. 

When Carol finds out about how Katie doesn't want her, she tries to convince her to come back, and also, after her hurricane lead story is downgraded, she gets her mother in a story as baby boomers returning to the workplace. 

The show makes fun of the inner and outside of the new media I enjoy. It's still got that 30 Rock vibe, but it's still perfect. The cast is fantastic, from Briga Heelan and Andrea Martin as Katie and Carol to Nicole Richie and John Michael Higgins as the two anchors of different ages. The writing was very, very good, probably an excellent pilot since The Good Place.
Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

"Bear Attack"

When a dangerous story comes, and Katie wants it, Carol leashes out her helicopter parenting to take effect. 

When a bear escapes the zoo, Katie wants to chase the story, but when Carol learns about what happened to someone, she becomes the helicopter parent once again and tries to get Katie away from the story. 

Carol tries to get Greg, the executive producer, to stop Katie from covering the story. After Kaite learns that Greg took her out, she tries to protect it, but Carol tries to diverge the situation. Katie catches on and tries to get to the zoo on a bike, but she hasn't learned how to ride a bike. And after many attempts, Carol shows her how, and soon, she rides off. 

Meanwhile, with The Breakdown losing in the ratings against another news program, Greg thinks that Chuck and Portia should talk at the end of the news about something they have in common. After several meetings with HR, the two finally found common ground with a topic: lemonade. It's either the Beyonce album or the drink, but it's familiar ground for discussion anyway. 

Katie did get that story, but also part of the footage when The Breakdown showed her riding the bike and crushing as she tried to stop. 

This episode was terrific. I thought that Bear Attack was hilarious and was just another well-written episode. As much as Heelan and Martin were great, Richie and Higgins were hilarious in this episode. I love the scene when they are in Greg's office, and as they try to find shared topics, they find one that could ruin their program: talking about their rival program. Also, the scene with Chuck trying to speak with Portia at the anchor desk as a warm-up ended up with an HR meeting. Funny!! Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Great News on Tuesday nights at 9/8c on NBC.

Walking Down Memory Lane: Kevin Can Wait: "Sting of Queens: Part One"

In part one of a two part season finale, it's been a reunion ten years in the making and it just feels like the good ole days.

In "Sting of Queens Part One," Kevin is pulled out of retirement to go undercover with fellow cop, Vanessa Cellucci (played by Leah Remini),  as they play a married couple (how about that?!). When the two meet at a diner, they make the couple that they're meeting with interested in doing business and later meets them at their place to carry their business agreement.

After a day, they meet at the couple's hotel room and after getting on their good side they asked them to come with them for a retreat in Boston, but Kevin tries to decline but thinks that Vanessa could handle it but when they didn't want to do business without Kevin, he decides to come.

Meanwhile, Chale gets a well paid job, way over and decides to go spending on his family but I expect something to break in the next episode. And Donna hopes to get a new position at the school.

But the real focus on this episode was really the reunion of Kevin and Leah since it's been ten years since the final episode of King of Queens. The first scene seeing them together was like walking down memory lane, also the diner episode was hilariously funny. Plus the scene in the couple's hotel and the gum. I was literally crying laughing. It's like those two never lost a step.

I enjoyed this episode very much. Probably the reunion was much of the episode and probably should be since it was one of the funnest things in this two part episode. Even the second episode looks like a hoot from the previews. Overall, I give this episode a 8.5/10.

You can catch Part Two of the season finale of Kevin Can Wait next Monday at 8/7c on CBS.

Trial & Searching: Chicago Justice "Comma"/"Drill"

"Comma"

When a scavenger hunt becomes deadly, the one suspect that everyone wants to pin it on is the one that was trialed for murdered in another country.

"Comma" was another good episode that delivered what we thought would be the suspect but gave a very nice twist of who done it. And it answers the question that do we jump to the gun on who the suspect is quickly?

When a scavenger hunt goes wrong and a college student is murdered, the one suspect comes to everyone at the State's Attorney's office is the one that was in a high profile trail in Spain. But in this case, looks can be deceiving when clues comes in that she wasn't there at the time of the murder and the  murder weapon didn't have her fingerprints either.

But when learning of the victim was a gun advocate, they found someone who was with her who happens to be an anti-gun supporter. Putting her on trial, the ball really dropped at to what she believed and how she was more influenced by her professor about guns saying that he was like her father in a way someone that she has never had in her life before, being supportive and so.The jury founded the victim guilty.

After i do enjoy the conversation between Jefferies and Stone about how do college students get so stupid with how his daughter after coming home gets angry with him about fighting over at Vietnam and Stone was mad at his family for clearing out the Native Americans. After that Jefferies calls the Security of State's office to help clear the first suspect in the case to be free from having to go back to Spain after testifying against the suspect.

This was a very good episode. I thought the writing was good and the acting was there too. The meaning really does open up of how college students can be influenced by professors for a cause. It's a real touchy subject for me anyway. Overall, I give this episode a 7.5/10.

"Drill"

When a gun is turned in for buy back it turns out to be a murder weapon, but the twist comes down to who it belongs to during a trail.

When a man brings in a gun for the buy back project, it turned out to have blood on it and takes the man into custody about where he found the gun. The gun turns out to be a murder weapon for a trail that has an innocent man on trail.

After learning about this, the suspect on trail is released and when he gets dropped off, he gets attacked from other gang members because he was a snitch. Trying to find who used the gun, Stone uses the most powerful weapon he could do, shut off every gang member's social media counts. Apparently it worked and when it did, had someone testified and soon admitted that he was the suspect after showing how to use the gun that had a broken spring.

This was another good episode. There was some very good dramatic moments. But it was Stone boldly taken on people and their social media that really could be the conversation that everyone would talk about. Is it the right thing to do? Could it really serve a purpose on shutting down gang member's social media if they're gonna take down someone? Probably. Overall, I give this episode a 8/10.

You can catch Chicago Justice Sunday nights at 9/8c on NBC.

NBC Pulled Off Powerless

Well it looks like NBC has pulled the plug on Powerless.

On Tuesday, the superhero-adjacent comedy has been pulled from the Peacock Network's Thursday night schedule, which in short terms means that it's good as cancelled. It'll be pulled off this week, with Superstore shifting into it's time slot 8:30/7:30c with reruns airing at 8/7c for the next two weeks.

Powerless, starring Vanessa Hudgens as the research director at a security company that protects average citizens from the superhero battles raging all around. The cast also includes Alan Tudyk, Danny Pudi (Community), Ron Funches (Undateable) and Christina Kirk (A to Z).

The series has been struggling in the ratings since it's February debut. Last week's episode pulled a 2.1 million total viewers and a 0.6 demo rating, which is a 30 percent drop from it's Superstore lead-in.

Two episodes of the show's original 13 episode order still have yet to air and that includes the one guest spot from TV's original Batman, Adam West. It's unclear when or if those those episodes will air.

This really puts a damper on my day after hearing about this news. I've enjoyed watching Powerless and thought that it was a good show. I thought Vanessa Hudgens brilliantly funny and last week really proved it. I hope there might be an 11th hour decision to bring it back and maybe go back to the original idea of the show and maybe spin it off in like an Earth One or Earth Two concept. That would be very cool to pull off.

Spring Awakening: The Blacklist "Dembe Zuma (No.10)"/"Requiem" spring return

The Blacklist is back and Red's day of wrecking has come! Hey now! Hey now! The Blacklist is back!!

Sorry about that, I've gotten that tune in my head before the new episodes of The Blacklist aired Thursday with an epic two hour spring return event.

The first episode "Dembe Zuma (No. 10)" was a very good episode that started off with Dembe taking Aram from his home and away from his girlfriend, Janet. Since the last episode, we had thought that Dembe might have poisoned Reddingotn, but as Aram and all of us have found out, that he knew Red was poison and the only way to find out was to do it while accused of it.

Aram believes Dembe and helps with try to see who has hacked into Red's hidden places and a name comes up that gave Dembe a look that someone has come from the grave. As that was happening, Red and Liz spend some very nice time together (yeah!!) not only where Dembe is but locating his daughter so he could get to him.

They search for Dr. Sophia Gallup that has aired criminals, who get released from prison to kill those that had killed her parents. When Red and Liz get to her after capturing her hit men, they see her covered in bees to help the pain after an accident that she had encountered from the ones that had killed her parents. Red asked for the book that she holds of information of those that are hidden and finds Dembe's daughter.

Red asked Dembe's daughter where he might be and soon give him a phone that he sends her with only one number to call. Red calls and gets Dembe, as he is back at the woods and tells him that she's not there. Red ask who but before Dembe could say anything, he gets shot with a bow by the creepy woods man. Red calls Aram asking the name that he and Dembe found and as Aram tells Red, Kate Kaplan. Red spooked as hell, tells Liz about Kaplan as she is the person who's been there through the darkest days.

Red and Liz recues Demebe and takes him to the hospital while Red goes after the woods man. Soon, Red outsmarts the guy and takes him down but the guy had one last shot with a bomb that goes off but Red and his bodyguard rushes out fast. But at the end, Mr. Kaplan answers her phone with a message from that woods man telling her to fight like hell because Reddington is coming.

The second episode "Requiem," opens back int he 60's of a young child saying goodbye to her mother, who happens to be Mr. Kaplan. This episode gives one of the series great backstory of how Mr. Kaplan became Mr. Kaplan and her relationship with Liz, Katarina and even Red.

She was aired as a nanny to watch Liz when Katarina would be doing her undercover job, even spotted her having a backseat relationship with Reddington. But when she helped Katarina with a guy that was trying to kill her and we see her first cleaning job.

As Katarina went on the lamb and Kaplan was watching Liz, we see that she gives Liz to what would be her "foster father. Later after dropping of Liz, she's at a bar and meets a by the name of Annie Kaplan and soon the two were a couple. They work for Little Nikos and soon a man who wants to see him comes in with a gun and not only shoots Annie but Kaplan too. Annie dies and Kaplan survived as the bullet went through her head cleanly. For some reason, she gets by two gun shots to the head like that, she is a lucky person.

We jump to where Red has summoned Kaplan and offered a job to help protect Liz because her life will be endanger. She tells him that she'll help him but if she had to choose between him or Liz, it would be Liz every time and Red agree ( I guess he had forgotten about that meeting ).

While watching the flashbacks, Kaplan in present time was on the road finding something that happen to be in a certain motel, probably the same motel that her and Liz were in hiding at the time. After a bit delay from a couple in the room, she goes in and takes part of the wall out and gets out suitcases.

As soon as Red calls Kaplan, she tells him that she's gonna bring him down to where it all hurts...release the bodies of the victims that he had killed, for which Kaplan had stored in an ice rink and leaves with a whole lot of bodies out out.

So we're off to the races! This was a very good, well spent two hour event that I couldn't have been more thrilled and stunned at times. The first episode was so good and amazing from performances not only from Spader but also Boone, Hisham Tawfiq as well. That scene when Red tells Liz about Mr. Kaplan without saying her name til the end of the scene was just so beautifully written. Also Annie Heise steals the episode too as Aram's girlfriend (I'm one who forgives Janet for what she has done as she's really changed Aram's perspective on things). Not to mention, Clark Middleton steals again as Glen Carter and the one scene was given Red and Liz a ride with a student foreign driver.

The second episode was probably the best episode, mostly the best backstory episode on the show (until we get to see Reddington's backstory). It was so beautifully written and so well performed by Joanna Adler as the young Mr. Kaplan and not to mention the original Mr. Kaplan Susan Blommaert. I was amazed how Kaplan's relationship grew for Liz and Katarina and not to mention when she met with Reddington. The episode ended with a chilling way that we've not seen Kaplan like this before, threatening Reddington.

Overall, I give "Dembe Zuma (No. 10)" a 9/10 and "Requiem" a 9/10.

You can catch The Blacklist Thursday nights at 10/9c on NBC.

Retreat at Truth Island: Powerless "Emergency Punch-Up"

This week's episode of Powerless might have been one of it's best.

When the Emily and the team are about to leave for a much needed company group retreat, the supervillian Dr. Psycho releases a toxic gas in Charm City, making the team stuck in the office. But Emily tries her best to make the situation not so terrible by bring the retreat to the office.

Emily serves drinks and even party games, one of the games asked one of each who they would be trapped in a deserted island with: Wendy picked Van, Jackie picked herself but later on picked Ron, Teddy was shocked that Ron didn't pick him because they're best buddies.

Soon when Teddy took the challenge of throwing one of the fake tiki torches to the trash can but missed, hit the window cracking it and letting the gas in which they had to run into next room where they were secured but had no gas mask as they were in the other room surrounded by gas.

Emily goes out there trying to get them, because well, she's the mother of the group she has to do it. Wearing hazmat bags and a bucket helmet (that was used as the bathroom bucket) used as a complete hazmat shit, but gets caught in the gas.

The gas is known as a truth gas and well, the truth really came down from Emily and everyone heard the truth about it..everyone. Emily let them know how she feels that she never gets a thank you from either one of them and how they're like children.

But after Ron goes out there trying to get Emily back in the other room, they do the one thing that they don't want to but Emily has been wanting to do for the retreat: karaoke. They performed Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" which was very good as everyone started and Emily ends it on top and fants after. The next day or after the retreat was over, Emily was back to normal and had no clue what had happen to her but in the end, everyone thank her for all that she has done for them since joining the team.

"Emergency Punch-Up" was literally one of the best episode of the show so far. Not only was this the best ensemble performance from it's cast but Vanessa Hudgens gave her best so far this season. She was just brilliantly hilarious. There was a lot of memorable moments in this episode like the History of Supervillian bit and Dorothy spoiling the ending to Ron, Van's gang of comedy writers even when Emily drops the truth bombs on the gang was great and the karaoke too.  Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Powerless Thursday nights at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.

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