Lucifer
Rating: A
This show came out of nowhere. I only started watching it because the plot was so preposterous, but the subplot (or is it the main plot, who can tell)
about Satanic existential angst is so thoughtful and well written that you overlook the somewhat mundane murders of the week. Even those though, show a
writing staff determined to make snarky in-jokes about Hollywood. And on the back of this, Tom Ellis should be the new Benedict Cumberbatch (i.e. considered
for everything). I already want him as Captain Laurence if they ever make a Temeraire movie.

Shield
Rating: C+
I don’t know why this hasn’t grabbed me this season but it hasn’t, and it bothers me that I can’t actually put my finger on it. With the exception of
Bobbi and Hunter, who are now gone, the characters are just kind of vanilla. There are action sequences worthy of the MCU, so that’s not it. Maybe it’s the rapid
fire pace of plot development means you don’t have time to get used to a status quo before it’s changed. Lost people are found. Good characters turned evil are
good again. I’m iffy on this one.

Flash
Rating: A
Nothing specific to say, except I really like this show. Barry loses his speed, he gets it back again, life goes on. It’s solid popcorn fun with extremely likeable characters and decent writing. For no real reason it is less soap opera-y than Arrow, with a lot of solid humour. Carlos Valdes as Cisco is especially good, as is Tom Cavanagh. The Supergirl crossover was entertaining, though it didn’t make me want to watch Supergirl.

Legends of Tomorrow
Rating: B
I like the premise of this show, I like the characters, and I like the futuristic universe with the cool ship and the AI Gideon. But the plots of this show are, well, not terrible, but not coherent. Pretty much every problem could be solved by time travel, but the rules of the universe somehow prohibit it. We don’t know how because the rules have barely been explained. Rip “not-the-Doctor” Hunter says they can’t do it, and everyone pretty much just buys in. I find it hard to blame the writers as good time travel is difficult to write well, plus they have an ensemble cast who all need decent airtime. Still, I read that season two might have more self contained episodes, so this might help. At any rate, I’m looking forward to it.

Stay tuned for Pt 3 in a few days.