Princess Power

Are people actually down on the new She-Ra show? That's tricky to fathom. Because everyone seemed quite united in praise for the Netflix Voltron thing, and this is basically that. But not in space! With perhaps a soupcon of "Steven Universe". Which again. Almost universally beloved. Even if it did need a second look from me.

But yeah. I never watched any other incarnation of She-Ra, but this was delightful. Of the secondary characters, my favourites were probably Seahawk, who was basically pirate Han Solo, and Mermista, who was basically the same character her voice actor played on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" with additional mermaid powers.

I know that the show had a lot to say about friendship, loyalty, honour, and all of that stuf, but I also appreciated Adora's struggle to accept herself when she felt that people only wanted to be around her alter ego. She-Ra's a part of her, but it's not all of her identity, and she had to learn how to feel like enough outside of that. It felt like a good look at that wavery line between role and performer.

And also the whole thing was just really cute.

Bonus Question!

She-Ra versus Mumm-Ra! On "WWE Raw"! Ra! Ra! Raw!

She-Ra's riding high right now, but there's also the fact that she's a total face to Mumm's heel. She's got to take the bout.

Mos Dev

Man, when I started watching Daredevil's new season, I knew that I was in for good times with the gang. More Foggy! Karen's back! Incel Fisk!

And then that Bullseye flashback started in the fifth episode. And I just wanted to get back to the good stuff. But then it became good stuff. The classical version of Bullseye is similar to  Joker in a way. You're not really supposed to care for him. The investment comes from being drawn into what he's doing. But sometimes things can come along to humanize him.  I wasn't expecting that from this series, but there were some moments in the monochrome flashback where I really did feel for the guy.  As he was struggling to develop a sense of empathy, I saw myself empathizing with him.  That relationship with his doctor or whatever was quite poignant. Obviously, he's awful. No question about that. But they did a good job of displaying the humanity behind that, which is important. Monsters are people too. It doesn't mean that they're less monstrous. It doesn't always necessitate treating them as though they're not monsters,  but it can serve to give  a better understanding of what's going on behind all of that,  which can sometimes be helpful. Or just fun.

Bonus Question! 

If Bullseye played with marbles, which he'd obviously do well, I think that his favourite would be a cat's-eye. 

Like a Cat Out of Hell

Apart from the first season of "Daredevil", "Jessica Jones" feels to me like the tightest of the Netflix Marvel shows. Before I started this season, I wondered about the extent to which I'd miss David Tennant, but the increased development of the supporting cast quickly made that irrelevant. The particular focus on Trish could probably have done that by itself. She's not that much better adjusted than Jess, but her flaws are displayed in a subtler way that allows her to flaunt her joyous side more often, which is essentially an inversion of Jessica's personal makeup. Double-J blazons her face with her issues and makes you work for any glimpse of optimism. The pair of them really go deep on the whole yin-yang dynamic, and they don't forget to include the two little dots.

For a while, I thought that Trish's role could only be improved with a bit of actual Hellcat action, but then things started to veer in that direction too.
ObutalsoJeri. I'm relishing the relentlessness with which she's written, and Carrie-Anne Moss's portrayal is executed with precision. I said that I enjoyed seeing the emphasis on Trish, but Jeryn Hogarth basically got her own independent and viscerally compelling story, and that really grabbed me. I seem to recall hearing some calls for a Night Nurse series about Claire Temple at some point, but I'd honestly prefer it if Jeri gradually just took over all the shows.

Bonus Question!

Purple Man versus Indigo Girls!

Battle for the cool side of the colour wheel!

The Purple Man definitely has significant psionic powers, but the Girls are wily. And they've got the numerical advantage. They get the win. Because why not.

Iron Proxyvich

As it stands, “Iron Fist” is probably my favourite of the Marvel Netflix shows. I freely admit that this is probably predicated in large part on my feelings about the character. Of all the Netflix leads, he’s an easy favourite. A privileged white kid who often comes off like a crazy person and makes no real effort to discourage such impressions? Not hard to identify with.

Also? Chest tattoos are sweet. 

I’d probably place Jessica Jones right behind that on the basis of being an unstable mess with a nice jacket.

Additionally, this one had my favourite centrepiece fight. It's not usually a focal point for me, but even I have some inkling of the reasons behind the plaudits for the hallway brawl from "Daredevil". But that's still just a squalid hallway. "Iron Fist" had a melee in a sumptuous elevator. That goes straight up my jam. It evokes memories of a childhood trip to San Francisco where my mother and her friend had to spend large swathes of time in work conferences or something. For a tranche of one such swathe, my brother and I occupied ourselves by wrestling inside an ever moving hotel elevator set against a bright new cityscape.

As its predecessors were, "Iron Fist" is a well crafted story. And as its predecessors did, it does have a bit of a dip in the middle. In this case, that dip takes the form of “Erin Brockovich” by proxy. But whatever. My favourite dip is still the one in “Jessica Jones” that saw her try to play house with Kilgrave. The strict adherence to the 13-episode format on a platform that doesn’t expressly require it reminds me of the comic industry’s modern tendency to fit many of its stories to 6-issue arcs in order to facilitate ease of collection in trade paperbacks. It doesn’t always seem perfectly appropriate, but I don’t honestly care. For me, the pith of the story isn’t really lost, and ultimately, I’m just getting more stuff. I can’t be bothered to put effort into finding fault with that.

Bonus Question!

Best move?

The fist does actually glow. It would have been easy to just let the chi be an invisible force, and I wouldn't have faulted anyone for that. But the fist, like unto a thing of iron as it is, does indeed glow. It's a beautiful thing. And I know glow.