Category: television

Partners in Crime: The Clergyman’s Daughter

The premise of this episode was that it was a ‘house seems to be haunted – Tommy and Tuppence prove it’s not!’ except that at no point did anyone think it was haunted and the victim identified who was actually the source of her problems in her interview with the detectives and they immediately pegged the rest. And then the rest of it was solved with a riddle that they just kind of plowed through.

There WAS an adventure part of the episode I liked, where Tommy and Tuppence nearly get shot to death, but alas, I hope the book this episode was based off of is more mystery-ish than this episode. I’m still planning on reading them, after all!

There was also a deeply clever moment where to deter people spying on her, Tuppence gets the man who just pointed where the macguffin was to start pointing where the sun rises, the sun sets, and some other thing and the spyers are like ‘what the hell is going on’. Anyway, I liked that bit. Good bit.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 16: Shadow of Evil

“As the Turtles try to find pieces of a strange metal Baron Draxum is looking for, Splinter intents(sic) to get to the bottom of these odd activities at April’s new job at the Foot Shack. He soon learns that the Foot plan to resurrect their ancient master the Shredder by reassembling the Kuroi Yoroi armor. As the parties clash, the secrets of Splinter’s past finally come to light.”

Thanks, Wikipedia.

So! This is many things: A plot episode, an April episode, a Splinter episode, and a ‘randomly terrible things happen to Donnie’ episode. All of which please me. I was sad the Foot Recruit was not in this episode, as that would have been the perfect cherry.

There was a great bit at the start with two punks and a rhino and a warthog and the Turtles going that if they (the punks) were mutated they would be unstoppable! and I chuckled knowingly and said ‘I got that reference’. It also makes me miss my two cats that were named Bebop and Rocksteady. Bebop could really take a petting like a champ.

I enjoyed the Splinter backstory and him being more fatherly. And for some reason Mikey going ‘You cute little guy!’ as he raced into attack was the best.

Future self, you enjoyed this episode when you have inevitably forgotten everything and look back at this.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 15a and 15b

15a: Mind Meld

A classic plot of ‘smart character makes other characters smart, regrets it and changes them back’ which was very by the numbers except the brothers weren’t actually doing anything except ignoring Donatello that required them to be turned back and the macguffin was that they were rescuing stolen equipment from the Purple Dragons to… keep for themselves. Ah, the fucking around levels are off the chart in this series. I appreciated these aspects of the episode, but otherwise I think I was more focused on the apple I was eating. Which is a shame because you’d think I’d be more excited about a Donatello episode. I DID like how he kept complimenting everything they were doing instead of them being destructive forces while he was freaking out.

15b: Nothing But Truffle

Todd is confirmed as capybara. Mikey episode. Meat Sweats episode. …were-tree episode?

“You ditched me? I thought you were kidnapped!”

Todd gave me the creeps previously but he was really funny in this episode. And I’m really enjoying a TMNT where I don’t keep going ‘ugh’ at Mikey’s very existence*.

 

*I don’t like wacky/zany characters. I used to like them well enough, but Pinkie Pie was so awful she retroactively poisoned me on the character type. I can’t even look at Wakko Warner now. And I think I’d use a shoe on the other Pinky.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Episode 14a and 14b

So before I started watching this (the other actually, all of today’s posts are a bit behind) I went to look up what the majority of the fic for the fandom was on Ao3 because I was curious and I will break it down for you:

30% Reader fic

30% ‘People who ship the turtles do not interact with this/TCEST DNI’ mixed with actual physical threats*

30% Leonardo/Donatello

10% ‘Oh hey this is about April, neat!’

Okay, onto the episodes:

14a Late Fee:

They seem to be moving from Shredder being the worst parent except for the fact that just him offering a hug made those turtles move heaven and earth to accomplish their goal. A lot of the humour comes from also knowing how dvd rental actually works, re: their final goal. The wizard was weird.

14b Bullhop:

CANADA CANADA CANADA CANADA.

The rest was fine. Mikey is a gem.

“Good news, guys! I totally punted!” – Leo

 

 

*Please stop being weird, fandom. It’s just fic. Don’t threaten people.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates – Fingers

This started out a little unexpectedly with a chopped off finger being sent to someone’s parents. On the other hand, the one preceding this involved an hour long torture of some poor hard of hearing dude so. You know.

I did have a moment of ‘oh great, Italy and a mafia plot’ but there was a TWEEST and an entire scene with that europop stuff pumping in the background and enjoyable graffiti bits and well, overall it was a good episode.

I could have done without Robert comforting a stressed out person with ‘well, keep your pecker up!’

The hair on the victim’s sister was gorgeous:

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates screencap of the character Gianetta showing off her hair
I mean look at Gianetta’s hair. Damn. DAMN.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: “The Evil League of Mutants”

The plot episode I was expecting! Baron Draxum sings! Things move forward! We find out what the big deal about Lou Jitsu is (mostly), and the turtles give Splinter a big speech about how he’s their father which was something I was sort of on the fence about. I usually like Splinter as a story about adoption but they kind of went to a weird place with him in this series.

A very very weird place.

I kept thinking that those crab people reminded me of evil versions of the PSA guys from this animation by SmallBu. I think it was the posing.

I figured Todd was a villain after the ‘milking puppies’ thing. I was right.

Midsomer Murders: Wild Harvest

When a wealthy farmer is covered in truffle oil and mauled to death by a wild boar, Barnaby and Nelson’s investigation leads them to a tyrannical celebrity chef.

There was apparently an extremely gory death )the boar thing) in this episode they completely did not show. Just the face. I feel cheated, usually Midsomer is never coy.

Murder was pretty satisfying. Actor playing Nick Ivers was very handsome. Good Sykes subplot. An entire family was wiped out by just being adjacent to the actual target which was delightfully over-murderous.

Also Ruth Cameron’s actress had the best accent. Loved hearing all her lines.

Not a period piece so I have nothing to say about the clothes, but I point out Midsomer Murders has been going on so long that the first season does technically count as a period piece. Watching the evolution of the cellphone through the eyes of Midsomer has been quite the thing.

My grandmother was all about Murder, She Wrote, but my grandpa is all about Midsomer which means I can enjoy the same show as him while he’s still around to talk about it. I had to watch Murder, She Wrote after the fact to get to know my grandma better.

It’s nice to be in the episodes with the second Barnaby so I can understand why we kept using different names for the lead…

Partners in Crime: The Sunningdale Mystery

Boy oh boy I love the clothing in period mystery shows. Watching this 80s series (about… the 20s? I said I liked the clothing, but I’m not good at you know, dating the clothing) about Tommy and Tuppence has really made me resent Tuppence’s appearance in either the Miss Marple or Poirot sexed up later episodes where she was a miserable alcoholic whose family hated her. Tommy and Tuppence are so delightful in this series. Very pleasant to watch.

I own the entire original book series and I think I’ll try to read something of the detective being parodied in each one when I read them, finally.

Mystery was fine, onto the fashion.

Tommy and Tuppence drinking tea together and Tuppence is in a lovely vest.
No hat here, but I love her outfit.
Tuppence in Partners in Crime wearing a lovely magenta hat that covers her whole scalp and hair
The first hat. I love it.
Tommy and Tuppence looking into the middle distance while Tuppence wears lounging wear
Even dressing up to lay about! I do not aspire to this. You are lucky if I actually leave my pajamas in the first place, especially after winter hits and I can just wear a big heavy coat for errands.
Tommy and Tuppence riding horses, Tuppence is wearing a bowler and a suit.
I love her bowtie oh my gosh. The third hat.
Tuppence in a golfing outfit, the hat is brown and floppy.
The fourth (not final or even really the fourth hat, I skipped one that looked like an admiral’s tricorn and the final one with a big pendant on it that never really went fully into frame) and oh boy, is this whole outfit adorable. Ten stars to whoever did the wardrobe on this show.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Episodes 11-12

I’ve started watching this series and as we hurtle to the end of the first season I still have no idea if I actually like it. The turtles fucking around is pretty funny and the art’s great. Still not sure how I feel about sociopath Donatello and Bad Dad Splinter. DO like softie Raphael and sweetie Michelangelo. Neutral on Leonardo. April is great.

 

11a “The Purple Jacket”

A Donatello episode! Where we get to see his soft shell, which I think is pretty neat they’re all different species now. Also April, who is always a delight. It was pretty cute seeing how excited Donatello was to go to a school. I liked it. Good episode.

11b “Pizza Pit”

I liked the punk band. (Reminder these are mostly just notes to myself)

12a “Smart Lair”

Another Donatello episode!

‘No hard feelings, I promise!’ ‘Don’t fall for it’

More of Splinter being a questionable parent and an urge to eat… endangered animal eggs? I’ve noticed that some of the more recent reboots tend to randomly spin the characterization hand to ‘chaotic evil’, although I admit I am completely basing this on this show and some of the stuff Scrooge has done and not like, a huge sample. So ‘some of’ means ‘2 shows I have watched’ but I don’t watch a lot of stuff so that’s like 100% of the reboots I’ve watched, OKAY. Scrooge dancing around that dead guy’s corpse is pretty memorable to me.
12b “Hot Soup: The Game”

I really liked this one. The Foot Clan guys were really great interacting with the Foot Recruit. And Raphael being protective over Michelangelo was so sweet. And, of course, good Donatello moments like him using his robo arm to pat Michelangelo on the head without actually looking up and the sarcasm that wasn’t sarcasm about having an app to tap into the security cameras in the city. I GUESS LOU JITSU IS KIND OF IMPORTANT I guess that’s why they keep mentioning him in almost every episode.

 

A quick check of wikipedia when getting the episode #s and titles is that the next one is an actual full size plot episode. Nifty. Next time I eat, I guess. It’s a bad habit to watch things while you eat, but new habits start fast.