Change Your Image
![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjQ4MTY5NzU2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDc5NTgwMTI@._V1_SY100_SX100_.jpg)
erickd201
Reviews
The X Files: One Breath (1994)
Breathless
Scully's back! But her return is a little more ambiguous than celebratory. She's in a state of Coma where she is weakening by the second and no one knows why or the circumstances of her arrival at the hospital. There are a lot of elements of mystery and spirituality throughout this episode. The scenes in which Scully is on a canoe with the rope to shore breaking (the metaphorical life line to the physical plane) were beautiful and poignant. On the other side of things Mulder's struggle to find who was responsible for Scully's state had some great moments. Mulder's scenes with X were intense and mysterious. X is quite the enigmatic figure and way more bad ass than Deep Throat that's for sure. Then there is the confrontation with the Smoking Man who admits to being involved in Scully's capture. His toying with Mulder saying he likes both Mulder and Scully and his taunts to Mulder of him never knowing the truth shows how manipulative he can be. My favorite scene however is when Mulder is faced with the decision of taking out Scully's captors or being with Scully in her final moments. Mulder picking the latter was a great payoff especially considering when she finally wakes from her coma she reveals to him it was his voice she heard.
Pros: David Duchovny's performance
Mulder's struggle
Scully's visions
X > Deep Throat
The Smoking Man and Mulder
Cons: No hard answers for Scully's disappearance
Nurse Owens character while sweet wasn't really necessary
Overall Score: 9.3/10
Supernatural: The Vessel (2016)
Supernatural + Time Travel = Amazing
Season 11 so far has been one of the most consistent seasons in the show's history. I really enjoyed this episode and there are so many great things about it but what I think I loved the most is that they finally explained Castiel's abilities. This kind of goes back into some issues people had with the episode Dark Dynasty which by no means is perfect. But so many people had criticized that Castiel should've been able to teleport Charlie out of that bathroom. I felt I was the only one screaming at the rooftops saying "He has no wings people!"He can't just go back and forth like he used to. All angels (except Luci who was safe and sound inside his cage) lost their wings in the fall. Cas has his own car for Christ's sakes. Anyway back to the episode which didn't feel entirely original I'll admit (shows like Doctor Who and Angel have done the whole submarine thing before) but wound up being one of the cooler episodes this season. I never in a million years thought I'd see a WWII submarine get attacked by Nazis on an episode of Supernatural. What was also cool was the character of Delphine a Woman of Letters. On her own mission to transport the "Hand of God" back to the Men of Letters base. Her sacrifice at the end to spare Dean was both tragic and heroic. Hopefully the Hand of God made her immortal somehow in the near future. It would be cool to continue the trend of cool recurring female characters this season.
Pros: Explaining Castiel's current abilities
Delphine's sacrifice
"Castifer's" identity revealed to the boys
Cool WWII submarine setting although...
Cons: it's not that original
Besides the sub being attacked, not much action
Overall Score: 9.1/10
Angel: Sleep Tight (2002)
Betrayal
Did it really need to go this way? No. Am I glad that it did. Hell yeah! Sleep Tight is one of those episodes that there's a lot of manufactured drama and conflict but its well manufactured. I mean Wesley could've sat down and told Angel what the prophecy said and maybe they could've stopped it from happening. My guess is he probably figured that the prophecy would come to pass anyway since the Loa told him it can't be stopped so he decided to take Connor as far away as possible for as long as possible. He was maybe going to pin Connor's disappearance on Holtz too unfortunately he gets caught by Lorne (in the dumbest way possible I might add) and from then on chaos ensues. We also learn that Angel's growing blood lust is the result of Wolfram & Hart tampering with his blood supply in order for him to fulfill the prophecy and kill his son. Meanwhile Holtz and Justine are using Wesley's misguided attempt to rescue Connor for their own ends. And Sahjahn is growing more impatient. It all comes to a head in a heartbreaking final scene.
Pros: Wolfram & Hart behind Angel's blood lust
Wesley's plan backfires
Heartbreaking ending for Angel
Cons: Conflict was a little forced
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Angel: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been (2000)
Angel: The Lost Years
Angel has had a soul for a long time now but he wasn't always a protector. In the 50s he was nothing but a wandering recluse. Coming to live in a thriving hotel he meets a mysterious woman named Judy who seems to be on the run. Turns out her life was going downhill when her employers found out she's mixed (black and white) and fired her. This was the 50s and unfortunately this was the norm.She decides to steal as much money as she can from them,takes off and tries to lay low at the hotel. On the other side of things,voices are surrounding the hotel causing fear,paranoia and murder. Everything comes to a head when everyone finds out about Judy and accuses her of a murder she didn't commit. When Angel shows up she turns the blame on him and the townspeople...er...I mean residents decide to hang him. After the smoke clears Angel is still alive obviously and the real culprit a Thesulac Demon shows itself claiming to have caused all the conflict in the hotel and gives Angel the choice of saving the lost souls he's about to feed on to which Angel responds by leaving. A very different side to Angel than we're used to. Of course Angel rectifies what happened in the present time and the episode ends with a very poignant scene with Angel and the aged Judy. Very beautiful episode and one of the best written.
Pros: Racism, paranoia,compassion for humanity and lack there of are well told themes in the episode.
Different kind of period piece episode for Angel
Angel and Judy reconciliation scene
New base of operations for Angel Investigations
Cons: Thesulac Demon was defeated way too easily
Overall Score: 9.2/10
Angel: Sanctuary (2000)
Everybody Wants Some Faith
The second half of what is essentially a two parter. Faith is taken in by Angel and no one is happy about it. Not Cordelia who preemptively takes a paid vacation or Wesley who doesn't trust Faith not that anyone could blame him after being nearly killed by her. Faith wants to change and Angel is the only one who's willing to help her. Though none of this was going to be easy what with the police after her for a string of assaults, the Watcher's Council for crimes in Sunnydale, Buffy for that horrific body swap situation and Wolfram & Hart for not making good on their agreement to kill Angel. Nothing but chaos ensues when they all zero in on her. Great drama. Great action. Awesome episode.
Pros: Faith wanting to get better
Buffy/Angel scenes
Great action scenes and stuntwork
Wesley siding with Angel over the Watcher's Council
Cons: Didn't effect the story much but would've liked more Cordelia in the episode
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Angel: Five by Five (2000)
Angel Vs. Faith
Faith is one of my favorite Buffy characters so her first appearance on Angel had to be good right? Thankfully this episode exceeded my expectations. Not only did we get some great character development on the Faith front but also some more pivotal backstory for Angel. Also its notable how the stories paralleled with each other. Angel with his soul restored couldn't cope with the monster he had become as well as Faith realizing the pain she's caused others wanted nothing more than a death wish for her punishment. They're a lot more alike than they seem especially with the whole torturing watchers thing.
Pros: Nice parallels to Angel and Faith's redemption stories
Dance Club fight scene
Final fight scene and last moments
Cons: None
Overall Score: 9.3/10
Angel: I've Got You Under My Skin (2000)
The Exorcist: Angel Edition
This was definitely a hidden gem in season 1. At first it just seems like your regular run of the mill exorcism episode which it definitely is for the most part. From it being a child possessed by a demon right down to the trip to a church for advice on expelling it. Though it provided some interesting insight into a few of the characters. Wesley feeling he wasn't good enough for the Watcher's Council let alone Angel Investigations and Angel feeling responsible for Doyle's death were just some of the taunts spouted out from the demon. What really made the episode for me was the cool twist that the demon possessing the boy wanted to escape from the boy's empty soul. From that point the boy attempts to burn his sister in their room with Angel and Wes just barely rescuing them. In the end this episode did just enough to keep me engaged in a tired exorcism plot.
Pros: Cool twist to exorcism plot
Demon's taunts towards Angel and Wesley
Legitimately creepy at times
Cons: Not much for Cordelia to do except get the wrong demon containment box
Mother was stupid for attending to her possessed son
Overall Score: 8.3/10
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Selfless (2002)
The Origin Of Anyanka
It's easy to forget how important a character can be when they are always placed in the background. This episode showed how complex and fun a character like Anya can be. It was cool to see how exactly she came to be a vengeance demon in the first place. D'hoffryn saw her potential for vengeance when he saw her curse against her lover and from there took her in as a protégé and seemingly a daughterly figure. It was interesting to see how she's been affected by her decision to be a demon again since she's been living among humans for awhile now. You can see it's hard for her to come to terms with the vengeance she's been dishing out and at the same time she feels she's too far gone. One thing that got to me was Buffy's decision to just go ahead and kill her without question. I mean Anya has done some pretty heinous things of late and Buffy does have a point that her friends wanted her to take out Angel without remorse at one point. But I feel it should've been talked about more. Its not like no one who has went over the line couldn't be talked down (looking at you Willow).
Pros: Anya's origin story
Buffy and Anya throw down
Cool flashback to the musical episode...
Cons: ...though it felt kinda out of place
Buffy's rushed decision to take out Anya
Overall Score: 8.5/10
The Flash: Running to Stand Still (2015)
A Very Rogue Christmas
So that wasn't what I expected. Didn't really feel like a mid season finale but was a very fun episode nonetheless. Mark Hamill is absolutely perfect as the Trickster. Every scene he was in he stole. Wentworth Miller is great as always though I would've liked to see more of him on this episode. Weather Wizard showed an improvement this time around. I enjoyed him in Out Of Time but his persona shined through here a little more. One of the weaker points of the episode was Zoom's true motivation. He's a speed force vampire essentially. Trying to build Barry up to steal his power which is all well and good except Thawne was basically doing that last year. The only difference was Thawne was trying to get home and Zoom well...he wants to be faster. Hopefully there's more to it when Zoom confronts Barry again.
Pros: Mark Hamill as the Trickster
Cool action scenes...
Especially the ones with Weather Wizard
Introducing Wally West
Cons: Zoom's ultimate goal
Needed more Captain Cold
Overall Score: 8.9/10
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Normal Again (2002)
To Be The Slayer Or Not To Be The Slayer...
I'm a sucker for What If? stories but this one felt very different. This episode toyed with the notion that the reality that Buffy was infected with by the demon in the beginning of the episode might actually be the real one. I know when this first aired it rubbed people the wrong way but I find it to be an interesting concept which led to an intriguing question for Buffy. Which reality did she want to be a part of? In one reality she is a bona fide superhero with friends who are beloved to her, but as of late she has been going through some crises of life. Another being institutionalized with the opportunity of getting better and being with her still living mother and even her father. At the end of the day she chose the former and saved her friends and all is well but that final scene kept you guessing...
Pros: Great What If? concept
Buffy choosing her friends
Joyce returns
Xander still wants to be with Anya
Cons: Dawn making it all about her
Overall Score: 9.0/10
The Flash: Enter Zoom (2015)
Zoom Ain't No Joke
I'm a big comic book fan so I knew for a fact when they were going to make a Flash show that the only true threat he would have to face would be other speedsters like himself. Don't get me wrong, he has other great villains but they're more inclined to give him less trouble then say a Reverse Flash. So the only real difference would be how the speedsters be represented and Zoom.definitely makes an impression. This episode was like a roller coaster ride ramping up the tension and humor (seriously that training scene with Linda was hilarious). Then Zoom just comes in and just owns the show (and Barry). I mean Barry gets absolutely destroyed and I honestly can't see how he can stop this guy. Don't know if somewhere down the line if people will get tired of Flash facing off against other speedsters but for now I can tell you Zoom is in a league of his own.
Pros: Zoom is a beast
Linda Park training scene...
And the following "trap" were hysterical
Barry willing to do anything to stop Zoom
Cons: A little slow in the beginning
Overall Score: 9.6/10
Supernatural: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2015)
What We've All Been Waiting For
That was epic. No doubts about it, this was one of the best episodes this season and that's saying something. This season has been phenomenal so far. First off Amara's turning into a very threatening big bad. I wasn't so sure about her in the beginning with the whole little girl thing (we did the whole Lilith schtick already) but the character's really coming into her own. Its going to be interesting to see how her vendetta with God play out 'cause obviously that whole angel smiting was never gonna work. Now onto the nitty gritty-Lucifer. The whole Hannibal-Clarice thing Sam and Luci had going on in this episode was awesome. I couldn't help but hang onto every word. Then the big twist at the end. Luci has been sending Sam the visions. The look on Sam's face said it all.
Pros: Luci and Sam convo
Amara's mission against God
That opening scene
Cons: Where's Castiel?
No mention of Adam and/or Michael
Overall Score: 9.5/10