Category Archives: TV

Arrow – 1.18 Salvation

Wow. Just wow. I’ll be honest, when I saw the preview for this week I groaned a bit as there was a lot of Thea and Laurel involved but I was wrong because I loved this episode! There was so much going on and it was pretty much one person crying after another and damn if it didn’t tug at the ol’ heartstrings.

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This dude though, he needs to stop neglecting his buildings/tenants/whatever and start working on his ability to hold a knife. He dropped that like it was a hot potato and look where it got him – kidnapped, stashed on an old subway car, and then killed while the internet watched. Speaking of, would you like to catch up on the latest that “Glades Betrayed” has to offer? Well you are in luck! You can find the site right here (note: googling “gladys betrayed” will not get you the result you were intending) and we can see that it is a really good think Oliver put that arrow in the Savior’s chest because he was not done with his list.

While the bad guy du jour was entertaining enough, it was everything else in the episode that really made it great.

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How adorable and heartbreaking was Felicity this week? She really reminded me of Garcia from Criminal Minds with her “I just look at the computer screen I don’t really have to be a real part of all this” reaction to the whole situation. Pretty much every exchange between the Arrow Cave group was fantastic whether it was the funny parts or the really sad-ish “you can call me any time” part. You just know that all those Olicity (I think that’s what has been settled upon) shippers just died at this episode. DIED!

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When Oliver was running from the first place Felicity sent him to the second, I can not be the only one who thought of this.

PARKOUR!! Seriously, that was both awesome and somewhat ridiculous. Apparently we are supposed to believe that Oliver can outrun a subway car. Right. That’s totally possible. Sure. I also really enjoyed Oliver busting down every door in an office building and it taking about ten seconds. He really is a superhero!

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Credit to: flameswenthigher

Superman being faster than a speeding bullet has nothing on Starling City’s golden boy Oliver Queen!

As much as I can not stand Thea (this is more of an ebb and flow kind of dislike), she was killing me this week

with her tears. Like they were little tears of acid tearing down the concrete walls surrounding my cynical heart. I’m trying to hone my maudlin teen angsty side, does that seem about right? Seriously though, that whole thing with her watching the internet feed and Roy saying that no one would miss him and he’s just a nobody, oh man just kill me now!

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Credit to: popculturenexus

I do wonder though how long it’s going to take Thea to put two and two together. One second she says something to Oliver about Roy and next thing we know, Roy is being rescued by the vigilante. Come on Thea, you seem like a smart girl, you can do this. Especially when Roy hooks up with Oliver – only a matter of time and Thea is going to be a resident of the Arrow Cave.

If the Thea/Roy and Felicity parts didn’t make you feel things in the ice castle known as a soul, then surely to :insert deity of choice: the Lance family having their hopes shat upon did! Although I have a bone to pick with Laurel. If she thought her mom, Dinah Lance – if you’ve forgotten, was full of it and delusional thinking her sister was alive, why didn’t she just tell her that when she showed up at the door two episodes ago?

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Instead, now we’ve got this family task force thing going and her parents are all excited and hopeful and all that is ruined by one call to the Chinese Embassy. Damn Chinese Embassy always ruins everything! I was a mess with that whole “I killed our baby” thing. A mess. Like “pull yourself together Amanda for you are a grown ass woman tearing up over a show that is really not all that deep and you are sort of making a fool of yourself here” mess.

Arrow
Credit to: wilfulwilf

I might have been boohoo’ing like a baby but at least I don’t have an ugly cry like Laurel. Yikes. They might want to keep the Laurel crying scenes to a minimum because she does not sob gracefully, at all. I am interested in seeing what happens between her and Tommy as all evidence is pointing towards them being on the outs and I can totally see her turning to Oliver in her “time of need”. Of course Oliver will be all over that, white knight that he is, even though she pretty much friend-zoned him when he told her he no longer wanted to be on an island. He reaches out, she keeps him at arm’s length. Ouch.

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“There, there… no, over there there.”

Now all of this was great and wonderful but the real action of this episode was the smallest portion and that Malcolm and Moira. I think we all knew that when Frank showed up a few episodes ago, his time with us was going to be brief. Oh so  you have connections to the Triad and know all about “the undertaking”? Sorry Frank but it’s time for you to die. Now we’ve got Malcolm and Moira again as “partners” in whatever effed up thing they’ve got planned and Moira is in the car going all Lady Macbeth. I fear Moira is going to make a mistake and it will not be pretty.

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I knew that Shado and Yao Fei were going to end up with Oliver and Slade Wilson somehow. I’m also beginning to thing that it’s going to be Shado that ends up teaching Oliver how to be the Green Arrow. Homegirl can kick some ass, and apparently speak English which will go far when it comes to the student/teacher relationship.  Even though I didn’t really think that they’d be able to make the trade with Fyers for the circuit board, I was a little heartbroken for them when they found out that Fyers stole it. Of course that could have just been residual tears from the rest of the episode.

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So Dark Archer is back killing people, Malcolm and Moira seem to be back on track with “the undertaking” that somehow involves the Glades and the old subway system, Felicity is a full-fledged member of the Arrow Cave, Thea and Roy are practically knocking down the secret door, Dinah is heading back to Coast City (and will be home in a “flash”), Laurel is pretending to be sticking by Tommy’s side even though we all know that’s a ticking time bomb, everyone is still on the island and….

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Lest we forget why we watch

Oliver is still working out.

ArrowA fantastic episode! I am starting to think that Walter is for real not coming back. Unless I missed it, there hasn’t been any “oh hey, Walter is gone for good” announcements but there is a good chance they are just stringing me along but that was pretty much the only thing missing from this episode. Going to have to go with a four on this one. Would bump up to a four and a half but it was a generic bad guy (not a bad thing really) and of course that ugly cry of Laurel’s is always going to knock things down a peg.

 

grizzly rating 4of5

TV News Roundup: Sherlock, Always Sunny, Zombieland, and More!

Howdy howdy! This here is a good ol’ fashioned TV News Roundup where we the good folk of Grizzly Bomb scour the big bad internets machine on the look-out for the news you need and gosh darn just want.

And that’s about as far as I’m taking that.

Hokey fake cowboy talk aside, this really is a TV News Roundup where we’ll scour the latest TV news and compile it for you in one easy to read place, no need to wade through countless photos of a Kardashian or Justin Bieber here!

Continue reading TV News Roundup: Sherlock, Always Sunny, Zombieland, and More!

The Walking Dead: 3.14 Prey & 3.15 This Sorrowful Life

3.14 – “Prey”

Prey was an interesting episode. Andrea has become quite an annoying character this season. She has put blinders on and changed before our eyes from total badass to ignorant hussie. In this episode, Andrea begins to redeem herself. When Milton explains the plan that the Governor has to eliminate Rick and his group and shows her his torture chamber, Andrea says that she has to kill him. I didn’t like the transition to wide-eyes Governor groupie to professing murderous intentions. It was very abrupt… like a light bulb went off in her head, like “OH! That must be what everyone kept trying to tell me.” Moron.

Walking Dead Walking Dead

Anyway, she’s back in my good graces after this episode. Almost the entire thing was shown from the eyes of Andrea, following her through her escape from Woodbury and over to the prison. The cat and mouse game between the Governor and Andrea was pretty suspenseful. First, through that abandoned warehouse or factory, and then on the path to the prison. Andrea leaves the Governor for dead in a swarm of walkers coming towards him, and yet he gets out scratch-free. Just as Andrea pulls up to the prison and begins waving to Rick, who only catches something moving out of his peripherals, the Governor tackles her to the ground so that no one can see it is her. He takes her back and straps her into a chair in his little torture dungeon.

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I hate that the Governor is still alive. Not because he’s a douchebag… because he truly is… but because he is always in situations where logically he should be killed. It is unrealistic that so many times, he can stand in the crossfire of a battle smirking and not be hit. Overall, I really liked this episode. It was hard to keep my focus on it at first because I was sure Andrea would find a way to be obnoxious again, but she held it together. I really loved the excitement of the chase!

3.15 – “This Sorrowful Life”

I feel it necessary to begin this with the fact that I believe both Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker should have piles of awards for their perfect performances as the Dixon brothers. They are two incredible actors. Moving forward… this episode begins with Rick having a discussion with Hershel and Daryl about giving Michonne to the Governor. When Rick goes to talk to Merle about doing some of the dirty work, Merle explains to Rick that the Governor is not going to kill the katana-swinging hard ass, he is going to “do things to her”.

Rick decides that they cannot go through with giving Michonne over to the Governor, and has a very heartwarming group discussion about how they are all the greater good, and they need to protect each other. It was sweet. Preceding this talk, Glenn proposed to Maggie, who of course said yes. This was one of the sweeter moments of the show. It is rare that you get a love story in a situation such as this one, even if the ring came from the finger of a lady walker.

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While clearing out a part of the prison, Merle knocks out Michonne and puts a bag over her head, then takes her away from the prison. Of course Rick and the crew thought he was taking her to the Governor, so Daryl went to find them. Of course, Merle had bigger plans. You know… when he was coming back for season 3, I knew there’d be some big reason, I just wasn’t sure whether it would be positive or negative. He lets Michonne out of the car and says there’s something he needs to do on his own.

After this, the eldest Dixon brother has himself some liquor and blares the stereo in a vehicle, attracting a large hoard of walkers. He continues this until the dozens of undead arrive with him at meeting place.

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Merle ducks into a building and through the window, begins shooting our some of the guards protecting the walls of the town. He has the Governor in his sights, and right at the last second, a guard steps in front of him, getting immediately killed, but protecting the Governor from harm.

When the Governor attacks Merle, he bites off two of his fingers from his good hand! The Governor is such a charming man [Ed. – *shakes head*] that it is just incredible to get little reminders of what he is capable of… like biting fingers off of another human being. He shoots Merle, but of course not in the head. Daryl arrives to Woodbury and who is there to greet him but his big brother feasting on the deceased. Daryl, either viciously or mercifully, stabs zombie Merle in the head several times.

Walking Dead Walking Dead

Next week is the season 3 finale of The Walking Dead. I cannot stress enough how excited I am to see that episode. These last two episodes are clearly leading up to something huge. I have loved this show since episode one, but this season has brought so much depth to the characters we thought we knew already, it might just be my favorite season so far.

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Only You Can Save ABC’s “Happy Endings” – Well You and Everyone Else…

Even though the powers that be over at ABC moved Happy Endings to the death march that is Friday nights, they want you, the viewing public, to know that if it gets cancelled, it is your fault. In a move that is somewhat reminiscent of Fox’s “Get Arrested” campaign way back in 2005 (it does not seem like it was that long ago), ABC has gone the “save Happy Endings” route with the newest promo for the March 29th return of the sitcom.

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Let’s be clear, I hate this move. I hate it for many reasons.

One – it really doesn’t matter if I tune in on Friday nights to watch Happy Endings because I am not a Nielsen viewer. I don’t know any Nielsen viewers. So telling me that my watching the fun gang of friends on Friday night will save the show? Incorrect.

Two – They have no intention of keeping Happy Endings around. If you want a show to survive, you don’t follow the “NBC’s foolproof plan to cancel Community” method of scheduling. Newsflash, people don’t watch a lot of TV on Friday nights. They certainly aren’t tuning in to catch a sitcom they might have just heard of for the first time when they saw this promo.

Three – I’d place good money that ABC will base their decision on overnight numbers from this one episode. Again, this is only based on Nielsen viewers on a Friday night. Digital and DVR numbers are not incorporated into the overnight returns so all those people who decided to just DVR the episode and watch it later in the week, they will have no effect which basically means this promo is pointless. Surprise, surprise.

Four, and finally – Is Celebrity Wife Swap really more important than Happy Endings? Really? If ABC was so concerned with the show sticking around, why on earth would they put yet another stupid reality show in a spot where it might have had even the slightest chance of catching viewers?

The whole things just reeks of corporate ridiculousness and in the end, it’s the fans of the show that will end up disappointed.

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Why would ABC deny the world of 23 episodes a year featuring this woman? Why? Not only is Eliza Coupe gorgeous and funny but seriously her on-screen marriage with Damon Wayans Jr. is one of my favorite TV marriages in many years. They are hysterical! Jane and Brad are one of the biggest reasons to love this show.  [Editor’s Note – Realizing I may never have another opportunity to bring this up, I just have to say Jane Kerkovich-Williams (Eliza Coupe) has the sexiest legs on television. Wow, I feel better now.]

It’s also a bit more agonizing to know we are watching the last episodes of the show when they are bringing in a third sister! Jane and Alex and crazy enough but can you imagine a sister who is apparently even more “Jane” than Jane? Not only that but it’s ADA Cabot/Mrs. Bobby Flay/Liz Lemon’s lesbian love interest herself, Stephanie March. Le sigh, I’d love it if she had a chance to return as a regular to a show, and can see her fitting perfectly with Jane, Alex, and the rest of their friends and by “fit perfectly” I mean “annoy the crap out of and we get to see Max’s reaction to her and it would be awesome.” (Speaking of Max, it looks like he’s getting a new love interest!

Between March as the third sister, Michael McKean as Dave’s dad, and Megan Mullaly and Andy Richter as Penny’s parents, the extended families of the Happy Endings family is so awesome its seems almost a crime to cancel. I guess all that’s left is to just enjoy the remaining episodes and pray that Nielsen viewers don’t have much of a social life on Friday nights.

Might as well enjoy some pictures of our favorite friends and their hijinks over the last couple years to try to soothe the pain.

*Several pictures lazily collected from Tumblr.

Mad Men Season 6 – New Trailer and A Whole Lot of Pictures…

April 7th marks the return of the one of television’s greatest shows of all time, and the move from the awesomely classic aesthetic of the early 1960s to the gaudy and unpleasant aesthetic of the late 60s and early 70s. That change will be evident in some of the photos below. Before we get to that though, let’s talk about what we’ve got to expect story wise coming up…

Continue reading Mad Men Season 6 – New Trailer and A Whole Lot of Pictures…

Arrow 1.17: The Huntress Returns

Before we jump into this week’s episode, let me just say if you aren’t following Stephen Amell on Facebook, then you are missing out. I actually don’t follow many actors and don’t even remember what prompted me to follow Mr. Amell but I am so happy I did. At first he didn’t really have much interaction but in the last few months he has really embraced both Facebook and Twitter and it has been quite fun as a fan. Of course there’s also the chance of a John Barrowman sighting which is never a bad thing.

https://www.facebook.com/video/xnxx-92/embed?video_id=327729107330514

While you’re there, you can go ahead and follow Grizzly Bomb on Facebook. I mean, since the page is already open and all.

Okay I lied, one more thing before this week’s review. DC has put out a comic series to tie-in with the show. Much like video games based on movies, it has that “okay this is ridiculous” sort of feel to it, but it’s not horrible. I’ve actually grown to look forward to each new release. Nice to see a little bit more of Starling City and the Arrow cast of characters than just on Wednesday nights.

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Okay on to this week’s episode! After what seemed like an eternity after such a great episode, Arrow returned with the Huntress. I’ve made my feelings about the Huntress known (short story – I can’t stand her) so you can only imagine my reaction when the episode starts right off that bat with her posing as a stripper and killing her father’s lawyer. This chick has some serious Daddy issues and instead of just letting bygones be bygones, she’s going to hunt him down while he’s in protective custody. Blah blah blah. Thankfully there were other things happening in this episode that distracted from her annoyance.

Like this:

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Credit to: marcussour

The club is finally open! Now, I am no master builder or anything but seriously it seems like in the episode where McKenna (oh McKenna, it was so nice knowing you) and Oliver are having their little picnic on the floor, there wasn’t much done in the club but now? Well it’s all done and ready to go! Not only that, but billionaire Oliver Queen was able to snag Steve Aoki for Verdant’s (we see what you did there) opening.

In addition to the awesome party going on, there is a lot happening at this club opening. Tommy is brooding, still butthurt over Oliver not telling him about the whole secret identity thing; Diggle is baffled that Oliver is even entertaining the idea of not ditching Helena like yesterday’s newspaper; McKenna is dancing like it’s her job; and Laurel is pissed that Tommy didn’t ask about her breakfast date.

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Let’s discuss this breakfast.
1.) I feel awful for Quentin. There he is trying to apologize for being a complete ass to Laurel and in walks his ex-wife who disaster ditched him after Sarah died. He’s having to deal with Oliver coming back, alive and well, and now this? Dude is going to end up dying of stress. So sad.

2.) Laurel needs to go and watch Parent Trap at least one more time because that was the worst “I’m going to get my parents in the same room tee hee” move ever. Come on.

3.) Dinah Lance – did you give a boatload of money to Miss Cleo and she somehow, psychically and through the phone, led you to this mystery “tourist” who just happened to have a picture of your thought to be dead daughter who really is alive grunging it up on one of the HUNDREDS OF ISLANDS SURROUNDING HER SHIPWRECK?!?! I mean come on! I can suspend belief pretty far but this was ridiculous. The writers couldn’t find a bridge to this storyline that was at least remotely plausible?  That being said, I love Alex Kingston and girlfriend is looking pretty damn good with her straight hair.

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Credit to: mikaelsondiaries

The best parts of this episode actually involved Helena but only when Diggle or Felicity were part of the picture. Felicity of course has that impeccable timing, walking into the middle of Helena’s “deal” with Oliver. Not only that but of course she has always wanted to hack into the FBI database. Saw that set up a mile away. As great as Helena wondering about the cast of characters in Oliver’s love life was, I think we can all agree that Dig commenting on how much she looked like the T-Mobile girl was the highlight of the entire “party in the Arrow Cave” if not the entire episode. It’s like he read my episode 7 “Muse of Fire” review!

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Credit to: simonjadis

So Malcolm suggests the name Green Arrow and Detective Lance calls Helena “Huntress”. Very nice. I did like how Helena was all shocked that Oliver went all Mighty Mouse and busted her out of the police station. Hello?!?! Did she honestly think he was going to let her sit there and just float his name out in hopes for leniency? I’ve watched enough Law and Order to know that it happens all the time.

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Credit to: teatralka

Of course while all this is happening with Helena and Oliver, Thea is off trying to get in the pants good graces of Roy. Getting him a job, going and checking on him (in the incredibly bad neighborhood, lest we forget) when he doesn’t show up for said job… Thea, newsflash: these are not attractive qualities in a mate. Yes, he may have saved you from the very scary “Glades” muggers and gotten stabbed in the process but he has no job, apparently no desire to get a job, and is okay to live off money acquired by a life of petty crime. This is not a good thing. As a matter of fact, go ahead and take a moment to listen to the soulful and wise musical stylings of TLC.

But of course she’s probably thinking she’ll “save” him or some crap like that. Step one: solve his fear of needles. Check. Which is, by my count, the second reference to Roy Harper’s drug issue in the comics, the first being his ‘8-ball’ necklace.  It’s really only a matter of time before Oliver takes this kid under his wing at Thea’s behest.

It was not at all surprising that Helena ignored Oliver’s offering of a new life in Rome. Nor that she went and

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Credit to: jamandstuff

coerced Felicity to go ahead and follow that dream of hacking the FBI’s network. What is surprising is the speed at which Oliver check’s his voicemail! I only check my voicemail to get rid of the notification, I can’t imagine being in the middle of some “personal time”, hearing the voicemail go off and jumping in my car. That’s superhero dedication if I ever saw it. Good on ya Ollie.

Back to my Law and Order education, why would McKenna go ahead and go after Helena without backup? I mean come on, Being a Cop 101 clearly states that you wait for backup. Otherwise you’ll get shot by a woman who has spent time practicing trying to catch an arrow in midair (that was pretty badass, I will admit) and is hellbent on taking out anyone who stands in between her and killing her father!

However, perhaps that was McKenna’s plan all along because now she’s out of commission and can move to Coast City without having to find the words to say “I’m breaking up with you, Oliver, because while in the midst of some torrid love-making, you unceremoniously dumped me to check your voicemail and then run to the aid of your girl Friday“. Can’t say I blame her, “rehab my shattered femur thanks to your shotgun wielding ex-girlfriend” is probably the easier route.

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The island flashbacks this week were mainly to show that Oliver is getting better at thinking like a person abandoned on an island with some dude and his army gathering SAM units rather than the silver spoon rich kid. I was sort of surprised that he used his “leverage” to request a way off the island as opposed to telling Fyers to release Yao Fei and Shado but I’m sure they’ll be re-appearing relatively soon, I hope.

Overall, not the best episode. It wasn’t bad but I just don’t like Helena and am glad she’s gone again. I’m interested to see how the whole “Sarah might be alive” thing pans out and of course Roy Harper’s further involvement with the Queen family. Speaking of the Queen family, I’m guessing that since Moira and her plan to kill Malcolm weren’t mentioned at all this week, that they’ll probably return to that storyline in the next episode or two. I can not wait because you know Malcolm is going to be uber-pissed and all about hunting down who put the hit out on him. Woohoo!

Gonna have to give this week a 3.5 out of 5.

grizzly rating 3-5of5

Sadly there were no half-naked workouts this episode, but thank you Entertainment Weekly for filling our shirtless Stephen Amell quota this week.

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Until next time Arrow fans!