W.L. Swarts Reviews The Universe

The End

2019-02-21T14:59:00.002-05:00

I always thought that if I decided to stop blogging, it would be a bittersweet thing. It has been almost a year since I last wrote a review and the truth is that I've been able to enjoy - or outright hate! - a lot more of what I take in now. I've stopped having experiences solely for the benefit of reviews, which has been very nice when it comes to foods.

The truth is, though, there have been several times in the last year that I have sat down to write a review and I just haven't felt it. Don't get me wrong, there have been many things I have been passionate about, in all areas of the works I customarily reviewed. As well, when I was proximate for the live taping of a podcast where the podcasters were utter sycophants, devoid of critical thought, original perspective and clearly beholden to the idea of not pissing off their corporate sponsors, I absolutely saw the value of my work. While some of my opinions and articles have sparked backlash from readers, my perspective - especially my nitpicky devotion to established franchises - has come from a genuine and informed place. There were several projects I was excited to tackle with W.L. Swarts Reviews The Universe: there have been some wonderful trading card sets recently (especially since I started making evaluations divorced from collectibility), some truly amazing performances I've seen and atrocious continuity in Star Trek: Discovery that made me ready to leap on my wife's idea of top ten lists for each episode with how the show shits on the franchise. I've had a lot of thoughts on the state of the industry with streaming services and I had a passionate appeal to Sir Patrick Stewart about his role in getting a new Star Trek series and on and on and on.

And there is so much stuff out there that I could keep blogging for the rest of my natural life and never run out of material. But, at some point, some things are just great, at least an equal amount are just terrible cashgrabs and while I can argue the intellectual points expertly and frequently, I just can't find the passion to continue writing about things for which most people will simply have a gut feeling about. You can't argue feelings and I've never wanted to; much of being a critic, though, boils down to raising up that which appeals to me and tearing down things some people have a visceral enjoyment of.

The blog kept my critical eye and mind active for years and it continued my writing at times when I could not devote my attention to writing one of my novels. My life is rapidly moving toward a place where the new novels are going to be written and I will publish them myself (the next two have strong concepts that are served best by being books I both write and physically assemble!), so I no longer need the daily self-discipline of writing reviews.

I would like to thank all of my readers. For years, I had people who actively read my blog and who commented (many of which were read, but not published or responded to publicly) and who cared about what I wrote. Thank you. The blog will stand for as long as such things exist and readers may still feel free to read, share, and make purchases through the links; one of the advantages to having such a voluminous library of reviews is that as new works are produced that are entirely derivative of other works, readers may return to the blog to see what I thought and figure out easily what I - probably - think of the new stuff. More often than not, I wrote in a vacuum and worked hard to self-promote the blog, but seeing hit counts go up on various articles always made me happy and I truly hope I amused, challenged and informed those readers who found my blog.

Thank you for many great years of reviewing!

Indefinite Hiatus

2018-03-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

Hello All!

On February 22, someone incredibly important to me died. While the timing of the death was not at all a surprise, it has left me listless and depressed. In the days immediately following the death, I did what I could to maintain the blog, but the truth is, my head and heart are not in it right now.

I am metaconscious enough to recognize that this is a classic symptom of depression (giving up a long-held blog being a classic form of grieving, no . . . depression frequently manifests in the inability to take joy in things that once made one happy), but the results of fighting the symptoms have not been my best work. While I enjoy engaging my critical thinking centers, it is hard for me to enjoy things right now. For sure, I could continue writing reviews where the theme is "everything sucks" - to be fair, the first season review of Star Trek: Discovery I have just not gotten around to finishing is a legitimate analysis of something that was just terrible! - but spending my time that way is just not doing it for me right now. I looked forward to the second season of Jessica Jones for so long and I binged it, but can't bring myself to review the show that just didn't live up to the potential left at the end of the first and going back through the season for my usual episode by episode reviews was probably just the straw that broke this camel's back. I can't get excited about it and I can't keep psyching myself up to just maintain the shows I usually review.

W.L. Swarts Reviews The Universe might well continue - I have a backlog of Doctor Who reviews that are done and await posting and I still enjoy critiquing everything. But, I have a new novel that is itching to get written and it seems pointless to deny the excitement I have to spend time with my wife and furbabies and write that in exchange for churning out more reviews that are sliding toward mediocre.

I appreciate all the readers who have found the blog useful, informative or fun; should I return to it, it will be because I have more to say that meets those criteria. But, for now and the foreseeable future, that's not where my head and heart are at.

Thanks,
W.L. Swarts

Coulson's Death Sentence Is "The Real Deal"

2018-03-09T23:18:00.002-05:00

The Good: Good acting, Moments of character, Engaging plot progression
The Bad: Suspension of disbelief issues, Light on thematic statements, Blase revelation of Deke's lineage.
The Basics: "The Real Deal" delivers episode one hundred of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. with generally positive results!

Every now and then in a long-running television show, there comes a loose end that - when it is addressed - is so unmemorable that the viewer is more surprised by the resolution than anticipating it. On Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., the fact that Agent Coulson made a deal with Ghost Rider at the climax of the fourth season is one such loose end. That deal is addressed in "The Real Deal" and when it comes up to explain Coulson's ticking clock for him impending death, it is something of an "oh yeah . . . I vaguely remember that" type moment.

"The Real Deal" picks up right after "All The Comforts Of Home" (reviewed here!) and it is virtually impossible to discuss the new episode without some references to that one. After all, "All The Comforts Of Home" saw the introduction of the powerful new villain, Ruby, who was working for General Hale. Ruby mutilated Yo-Yo Rodriguez and given that the special effects budget for Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. could not accommodate Coulson missing a hand, one has to figure that Rodriguez is about to get a set of bionic arms or time will be reset to a point before the attack in the season's resolution. And Deke ended up in the past with the Agents as well.

A drone explores the area in which the Kree beacon exploded and finds a dimensional rip there. Fitz theorizes that the end of the world may have already begun in the basement of the Lighthouse. In the medical bay, Simmons treats Rodriguez - who is experiencing phantom pain in her severed limbs - when Mack visits. Rodriguez encourages Mack to stay and fight with her. Daisy Johnson and Deke explore the stockpile in the basement of the Lighthouse, when a Kree warrior attacks them. When Johnson shoots the Kree, he disappears. Fitz theorizes that the destruction of the three monoliths (by the beacon exploding) has created an opening to a fear dimension and that everyone's fears are manifesting in the basement of the Lighthouse.

Fitz believes that the tear can be fixed with gravitonium from Deke's belt buckle, but he believes that the person who carries the device into the basement might get lost within another dimension. Amid protestations, Coulson volunteers, but then collapses. Coulson's collapse provides an opportunity for Simmons to scan him and she finds that his injuries from being killed by Loki are now entirely necrotic and the dead tissue is spreading. After making peace with Johnson, May and Fitz, Coulson takes the device Fitz created and heads toward the rift to attempt to seal it. On the way down, Coulson encounters his nagging fear of his own existence.

"The Real Deal" sets up an interesting potential future for Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The series was easily-accepted by fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because of the leadership of Agent Phil Coulson, resurrected for the show with surprisingly little initial fanfare. Phil Colson has been the character who has spent the most time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The idea that Phil Coulson might actually die in a permanent way and have to turn leadership of his fledgling S.H.I.E.L.D. cell over to someone else is an intriguing possibility. "The Real Deal" sets the S.H.I.E.L.D. cell up to follow Johnson, instead of May, which is an odd choice given how erratic Johnson's tenure with S.H.I.E.L.D. has been and how May has been more consistently loyal to Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Coulson has had a number of heroic moments in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and "The Real Deal" is set up to make viewers believe that this is Coulson's blaze of glory. As Coulson descends toward the rift and encounters his fears - manifested in the form of Mike Peterson - he has to confront his own mortality. The Fear Peterson makes an argument about the lack of reality of Coulson's life is impossible to even consider given the sheer number of scenes in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. that run entirely independently of Coulson. Moreover, for viewers to accept even for a second that Fear Peterson's argument is real, they have to deny entirely that the S.H.I.E.L.D. team participated in events tangential to the blockbusters that a dying Coulson could never have known.

That said, Clark Gregg gives a good performance in "The Real Deal." As Coulson accepts various aspects of his life and considers the fears he has, Gregg gives a wonderful performance with great facial expressions for some of the more subtle moments of the episode.

J. August Richards returns for a delightful pair of sequences as both the Fear-embodiment of Mike Peterson for Coulson and as Deathlok for that character's timely return. Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge have their usual wonderful on-screen chemistry for the episode's climactic scene.

Technical issues aside - seriously, suspension of disbelief for the Fear Peterson's dialog is stretched far too thin given the volume of pieces of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. that have nothing to do with Coulson - "The Real Deal" does a decent job of creating a compelling problem, tying up a loose end and making for a smart resolution to that problem. In the process, though, the episode dumbs down explaining exactly who Deke is. Deke makes a comment that subtly tells viewers exactly who he is, but then, like Mystique's eyes flashing in the Senator's eyes at the climax of X-Men, "The Real Deal" makes the insinuation stupidly literal with a scene featuring Hale and one of her staff.

That said, the one hundredth episode of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a solid series of cameos from the disparate eras of the show and climaxes with an event that could have come about a hundred episodes sooner and still thrilled fans!

7/10

For other elements of the MCU, please check out my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a comprehensive listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Tcho Dark Chocolate Chocolate Squares Disappoint!

2018-03-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

The Good: Good ingredients, Accurately captures the promised flavor
The Bad: Expensive, Bitter, with a dry aftertaste more akin to a baker's chocolate than a dessert chocolate.
The Basics: Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolates are disappointing in that they have a high cacao content with little flavor or enjoyment to be derived from consuming them.

When it comes to exceptionally dark chocolate, I find there to be a difficult balance to find in getting an accurate flavor for the dark chocolate and making a treat actually worth consuming. Far too often, I encounter dark chocolates that are far too milky and fail to live up to the promise of their dark chocolate flavor. Only once in a long while do I encounter a dark chocolate that is more like a baker's chocolate - bitter and unpleasant - than an actual consumable confection. The Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are one of the rare examples of the latter problem.

Basics

Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are one and 1/2” squares of chocolate that are 3/16” thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a dark brown and gold foil wrapper. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Tcho chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.

Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is a milk chocolate patty with an artistic grid filigree stamped into the top.

Ease Of Preparation

These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the plastic wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares. That said, they do need to be kept comparatively cool or these squares will melt.

Taste

The Dark Chocolate Tcho squares smell exceptionally strongly of cacao. Anyone who loves dark chocolate will instantly recognize the aroma of strong, dark chocolate undiluted by the milk chocolate medium or additional sweeteners that most inexpensive chocolates are hampered by. The aroma is akin to baker's chocolate.

In the mouth, the Tcho Dark Chocolate squares are dry and surprisingly sweet compared to the aroma. The initial sweetness fades within seconds to an obvious bitterness that accompanies very dark chocolates with high cacao content. Unfortunately, the Tcho Dark Chocolate lack any real depth of flavor or subtlety; these are dry and bitter with little pizazz. These might as well be baker's chocolate for their flavor.

There is a heavily bitter aftertaste to the Dark Chocolate chocolate squares, which leaves the mouth dry and robs the delight from any part of the flavor experience.

Nutrition

The Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are candy, so it is tough to look at these for something nutritious and then blame them for not being healthy. Tcho chocolate squares have decent ingredients, though, which is probably why they are so expensive. The primary ingredients are cacao beans, cane sugar and cocoa butter. There is nothing unpronounceable, nor unrecognizable in these candies.

A serving of the Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares is considered a single square and while there is nothing bad in them, they are not exactly loaded with nutrients.

Honestly, these are candy and anyone looking to them for actual nutrition needs to get a reality check. These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they may contain trace amounts of tree nuts.

Storage/Clean-up

The bags of these Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. Ours did not have an expiration date that I could find. Given that it is chocolate, one assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. It is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.

As for cleanup, I applaud those who actually throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places, as opposed to litter. Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt, though, is quite a task.

Overall

Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are a good example of a dark chocolate with a high percentage of cacao, but a low appeal based on their flavor and expense.

For other chocolate reviews, please check out:
Lindt Red Velvet Lindor Truffles
Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares
Green & Black's Pure Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao chocolate bars

4/10

For other candy reviews, please visit my Candy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

"Enter Flashtime:" An Objective Lesson On Valuing Your Spouse's Opinion

2018-03-06T23:22:00.000-05:00

The Good: Decent performances, Good direction, Interesting science
The Bad: Not particularly character-driven
The Basics: The Flash creates an engaging problem for the Speedsters to try to solve in "Enter Flashtime."

Every now and then, less for quite some time now, there comes an hour of television that actually keeps me guessing in a way that I end up sufficiently entertained by it. The Flash has gone a long time without having that kind of episode. But with "Enter Flashtime," I actually found myself guessing for almost the entire episode. Indeed, as the protagonists run out of options for a solution to their scientific problem, I kept waiting for the episode - which is entirely incongruent with the rest of the fourth season's plots - to integrate and I bet, fairly early on, that the solution to the "exploding bomb" problem was to let the bomb explode and let a new metahuman solve the problem.

I was wrong, though. Instead, "Enter Flashtime" is all about the value of listening to your spouse.

"Enter Flashtime" follows "Subject 9" (reviewed here!), but does not actually relate to that episode in a significant way. Harry Wells's subplot in "Subject 9" becomes the point for the family drama between Jesse and Harrison Wells in "Enter Flashtime."

Opening with Barry Allen accelerating Iris to his speed to tell his wife that he cannot save everyone this time, the episode flashes back to just under nine minutes prior, where The Flash is training rigorously to run fast enough to enter a breach. Failing to get to a breach Ramon created, Harrison Wells summons Iris and Barry to a meeting where he shows the team that DeVoe had been planning the bus debacle for three years prior to its execution. Jesse Wells arrives from Earth-2, where she and Harry have it out about his inability to talk about her dead mother. The conversation ends abruptly when Detective West is in a shootout at Wade Airfield when he calls for help from the S.T.A.R. Labs team.

The Flash and Jesse Quick find themselves in accelerated time as a prototype nuclear device is detonated. While Jesse goes to Earth-3 to recover Jay Garrick, Barry brings Cisco Ramon and Harrison Wells into "Flashtime" where they recognize the properties of the weapon and how to stop it from destroying Central City. As the three speedsters make various attempts to stop the bomb, Barry debates with his peers creating a breach that will place the explosion in the Speed Force, risking the Speed Force for speedsters throughout the multiverse and all time!

"Enter Flashtime" is well-performed, but heavy on the jargon and it is a surprisingly engaging episode where people work to focus on solving a technical problem. As a result, the bulk of the episode is not character-driven and does not allow the performers to do any powerful acting. Sure, Grant Gustin does a great job of looking concerned, confused, and like he is frustrated, but that is pretty much Barry Allen solving any problem.

Until the episode's climax, where Tom Cavanaugh and Violett Beane rock out a heartfelt, character-driven scene between Harry and Jesse, "Enter Flashtime" is better-directed than it is notably performed or interesting on any character level. "Enter Flashtime" is an episode of The Flash that does not seem to add to the season's overall storyline through its plot, though it is a surprisingly engaging bottle episode.

If nothing else, "Enter Flashtime" reinforces that if you're married, it helps to consult your spouse first for important decisions and it is entertaining. But, it's a pretty basic super hero problem solving episode.

7.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark Is Fun!

2018-03-06T21:40:00.001-05:00

The Good: Good flavor, Decent ingredients
The Bad: Not exactly nutritious.
The Basics: Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark is a flavorful limited edition chocolate square worth trying and makes the consumer wish it was around year round!

I am not, honestly, a huge fan of chocolate and fruit flavors. That said, every now and then I pick something up that is fruit-flavored and chocolate and it turns out to be wonderful and I love it. Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares are one of those products!

Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark is pretty delicious and is a limited edition flavor of Ghirardelli chocolate that Ghirardelli released for Valentine's Day.

Basics

Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares are one and a half inch squares of chocolate that are about three-eighths inches thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a white and pink foil wrapper with hearts on it. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Ghirardelli chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.

Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is essentially a chocolate patty which has milk chocolate on the bottom and white chocolate with Strawberry flakes in it on the upper half of the confection. In this form, the 5.4 oz. bag, the individually-wrapped chocolate squares are packaged together in a thick foil paper bag. This size has thirteen squares and the thick foil paper bag does little to protect the squares. The bag is not resealable, though this matters very little considering that the chocolate squares do not go bad as they are individually wrapped.

One of these bags, even with only thirteen squares, tends to run in the $6.00 range, before the end-of-the-season sales.

Ease Of Preparation

These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the foil wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares.

Taste

The Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark smells powerfully of strawberry. The scent is strong and inviting. There is no hint of chocolate in the bouquet of these chocolate squares.

The Strawberry Bark tastes sweet and chocolatey. The fruit flavor actually dominates the chocolate squares. The strawberry flavor is delicious and plays off the chocolate better than something like chocolate covered strawberries; there is no sourness to these chocolates, like can happen with real strawberries. The white chocolate portion of the Strawberry Bark is incredibly mild. The strawberry flavor holds its own with the milk chocolate in these chocolate squares and these taste delightful as a result.

The Strawberry Bark has a slight, very sweet, aftertaste to it that does not endure in the mouth very long after the last of these are consumed.

Nutrition

These are candy, so it is tough to look at these for something nutritious and then blame them for not being healthy. Ghirardelli chocolate squares are surprisingly good, though, which is probably why they are more expensive than many mass-produced chocolates. The primary ingredients are sugar, cocoa butter and whole milk powder. Still, there is nothing unpronounceable in these candies.

A serving of the Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares is one square. From a single square, one takes in 70 calories, with 4.5 grams of fat. There is no cholesterol and subtle amounts of sodium, Potassium and Iron. Honestly, these are candy and anyone looking to them for actual nutrition needs to get a reality check. These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they are produced on the same equipment that peanuts pass over. They are, however, kosher.

Storage/Clean-up

The bags of these Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. The package I bought on clearance after Valentine's Day would not have expired until Halloween, had I not eaten them first. Given that it is chocolate, one assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. Given that they are individually wrapped in a very sealed package, it is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.

As for cleanup, I applaud those who actually throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places, as opposed to litter. Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt, though, is quite a task.

Overall

Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark is a pleasant combination of chocolate and strawberry flavoring that manages to land . . . even with someone like me, who is much more of a fan of dark chocolate and mint flavors.

For other Ghirardelli products, please check out my reviews of:
Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee Chocolate Squares
Dark Chocolate With Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Squares
Intense Dark Cabernet Matinee

7/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

"No Country For Old Dads" Slowly Restores Ray Palmer's Intelligence!

2018-03-05T23:01:00.001-05:00

The Good: Good direction, Fine performances, Good special effects, Moments of character
The Bad: No truly big performance moments, Some irksome character moments
The Basics: "No Country For Old Dads" puts the focus on Damien and Nora Darhk and slowly makes the point of the third season of Legends Of Tomorrow clear.

Legends Of Tomorrow has become a mess in its third season. While the show frequently remains high on charm - the current plotline involving Captain Lance and Ava Sharpe is just adorable! - the characters have become muddied for the sake of humor, the plots have become repetitive and the show is currently struggling to find a truly compelling mix of characters who could endure beyond the current crisis to define the Waverider crew in the wake of the death of Dr. Martin Stein. The sense that the show has become somewhat listless is hard to deny at the climax of "The Curse Of The Earth Totem" and how the consequences of that end affect "No Country For Old Dads."

"No Country For Old Dads" follows on "The Curse Of The Earth Totem" (reviewed here!) and where that episode ends is impossible to address in discussing the new episode. Dr. Ray Palmer has been a lawful good character throughout his tenure in the DC Television Universe. He's a pretty white bread character, but the two defining characteristics of the character have been that he is lawful good and he is one of the leading geniuses in the DC Television Universe (indeed, one of the most interesting series of scenes in the show was when Palmer and Eobard Thawne were forced to team up to survive in outer space. So, "The Curse Of The Earth Totem" contains a truly compelling moment, when Dr. Palmer steps over the line; to save one of his teammates, he infects Nora Darhk with nanobots, essentially using lethal force on the young woman. His sense of guilt immediately compels him to do what he can to save Nora Darhk's life and that is cool and within character. Unfortunately, in doing that, the characterization of Dr. Palmer as a smart person is utterly sacrificed. In one of the most predictable betrayals of all-time, the healed Nora Darhk turns on Palmer and he is captured by the mortal enemies of the Legends. Palmer

The Waverider is contacted by the Time Bureau, who inform them that Ray Palmer has been captured. Shortly thereafter, Rip Hunter and Kid Flash arrive on the Waverider. Damien and Nora want Palmer to fix the Fire Totem. After returning to 2018 to use the Upswipz lab, Palmer figures out that the way to fix the totem is to use cold fusion. Damien Darhk reveals that he killed the inventor of cold fusion in 1962. Nora and Ray Palmer return to 1962 to save Dr. Vogal from the younger version of Damien Darhk. Palmer and Darhk are barely able to convince Vogal to join them before Damien arrives to kill the scientist.

While Tomaz and Jiwe meditate to try to find the fire totem in history, Palmer and Darhk forge documents to cross the border from East to West Berlin. Their attempt to complete their mission is complicated by Damien Darhk returning to 1962. When the younger Darhk captures Nora, Damien and Palmer must work together to survive a prisoner exchange. In the ethereal plane, Tomaz and Jiwe find the setting altered and dark. There, they are met by a tribal elder who informs them about Mallus's plan and how the Darhks are corrupting the totems and influencing the destruction of time itself. With the help of Wally and his suit, Ray Palmer manages to engineer his escape.

"No Country For Old Dads" is all right, but the episode feels better while watching it than it ends up being under even the most casual of scrutiny. Ray Palmer's ability to use voice commands on his suit makes the viewer wonder why he didn't use that skill earlier in the episode when he was being tortured ad nauseum by the Darhks (for example). Similarly, as Damien Darhk fights himself, using magic to jerk Nora around is fun to watch, but not particularly clever. Damien has only to move Nora two feet forward at any point or allow her to fall and simply stop her inches from the ground, but he instead continues to put his daughter in mortal peril.

Ray Palmer is not tortured in any ways that are particularly graphic or seem to leave any real psychological effects, which makes his breaking so fast seem like unfortunately weak plot and character work.

"No Country For Old Dads" is well-directed, especially for the surreal sequences with Tomaz and Jiwe and the pivotal scene involving Wally West. But, the look and feel of the episode cannot balance out against the lack of big character or performance moments. The Legends meander through trying to find their best hope to solve most problems now that their other resident genius (Dr. Stein) is no longer around.

On the plus side, the plot of the third season of Legends Of Tomorrow becomes much clearer in "No Country For Old Dads." The villains' plots become explicit, but they do so through a strangely unremarkable series of scenes with Rip Hunter and a thoroughly gratuitous Grodd cameo.

4.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Imbalance In Deliciousness: Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix Nails One Flavor!

2018-03-05T19:48:00.000-05:00

The Good: Fairly easy to prepare, Good flavor, Environmentally-responsible packaging.
The Bad: Comparatively expensive, Coffee flavoring is not present in any satisfying way
The Basics: Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix is all right as an alternative to hot cocoa, but not as much of a thrill for coffee lovers.

I have, generally, enjoyed the Maxwell House Indulge Max Coffee Drink Mix line. The instant coffee beverages are an interesting alternative to hot cocoa, which seems to be in a weirdly short supply in my area. Ironically, this becomes a problem for the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix; this drink nails the chocolate flavors needed to accurately embody mocha, but there is almost no real coffee flavoring to the beverage.

Basics

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix is part of Maxwell House Indulge Max's new premium Coffee Drink Mix line and one suspects that the company is trying to compete with the flavors from the International Delights Coffee Drink Mix line. This mix comes in a 12 oz. cardboard canister, found in the coffee or cocoa section of most grocery stores. The canister represents 12 or 13 full servings of the resulting beverage.

Ease Of Preparation

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix is fairly simple to make. The single serving is two Tablespoons of the mix and eight fluid oz. of water. One must measure out the drink mix in order to use it properly; these are not individually portioned servings, which makes the canister more environmentally friendly than most instant coffee beverages!

To make the drink, pop the plastic lid off the canister of Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix. Then, measure out two Tablespoons of the powder from inside the canister and place the powder in a mug that is able to hold at least 10 oz. of liquid. Once that is done, simply pour hot water - near boiling, but not actually boiling as boiling water cooks the ingredients as opposed to simply dissolving them - over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of coffee granules visible in the water. This drink mix always seems to crackle when hot water is added to it and it was near-impossible to get all of the drink mix to dissolve when using the proper amount of water. Chunks of powder in the drink aside, this makes for a fairly potent beverage! The Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix, when mixed up, makes a dark brown liquid that is opaque, like coffee with creamer or hot cocoa.

Taste

The Mocha smells fairly potently of chocolate. There is almost no coffee scent in the bouquet of this coffee beverage. Indeed, this smells more like a cup of hot cocoa than a coffee drink.

In the mouth, the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix tastes strongly of dark chocolate. The initial chocolate flavor of the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix continues with a dry flavor indicative of dark chocolate flavoring. The drink lacks both the bitterness and the flavoring of roasted coffee beans. Instead, this is flavored much like a hot cocoa than a mocha flavored coffee beverage.

The Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix leaves a surprisingly sweet and chocolatey aftertaste that endures in the mouth for several minutes after the last of the beverage is consumes.

Nutrition

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix is a coffee mix and therefore is entirely lacking in real nutritional value. There are 100 calories, 25 of which come from the 3 grams of fat in this drink. It seems like there is an undisclosed amount of caffeine in the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix, as one of the latter ingredients is "instant coffee," not instant decaffeinated coffee. In addition to nineteen grams of carbohydrates, there is a single gram of protein and 2% of the RDA of Iron.

Made primarily of sugar, nondairy creamer and cocoa, it is unsurprising that the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix is not very nutritious. Because it contains milk, this is not Vegan compliant and it is not marked as gluten free or kosher.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix mix in its canister, it ought to stay usable. The canister I purchased on clearance today had an April 10, 2018 expiration dates, but it is hard to imagine what might make it go bad even after that. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it.

Cleanup for the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix is very easy; if the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into coffee, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha Coffee Drink Mix is decent as a flavorful beverage, but mediocre as a beverage that that is supposed to have coffee flavoring to it.

For other Maxwell House coffees, please visit my reviews of:
Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix
Intense Bold Coffee
South Pacific Blend

6/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

So Many Threads Put In Play Define "All The Comforts Of Home"

2018-03-02T23:43:00.003-05:00

The Good: Decent performances, Good direction
The Bad: Storytelling/character issues, Obvious reversal, Packs a lot of disparate pieces in without a good sense of flow
The Basics: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns with "All The Comforts Of Home," which has the team - and Deke - returned to their native time in an episode that sets up a lot of future plot events without being a particularly impressive episode on its own.

It is hard to sit down to the episode of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., "All The Comforts Of Home," without a sense of "how are the writers and producers going to screw this up now?" "All The Comforts Of Home" puts Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a tremendously weird narrative position. The show is now at the start of the tangent timeline that was explored in the first ten episodes of the season and the season is progressing toward a point where it will, by necessity of being a part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, undo itself. But the obvious time travel story is complicated by aspects that one has to wonder if the writers have actually considered, life for example there are now two Fitz's on Earth. Fitz has just returned from the future, but because he was left behind (took the long way around to get to the future) there is a version of Fitz native to the timeline who will be captured by the military. So, while one of the people who captured Fitz was set up to be the villain for the second half of the season, it seems like a stretch that she wouldn't be weirded out by the fact that Fitz is both captured and running around with the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D..

"All The Comforts Of Home" follows "Past Life" (reviewed here!), which had the Agents in the room with the portal that was there to return them to the past. Yo-Yo also learned that Coulson is dying and hinted that the attempt to save him was, at least in part, what led to the destruction of the Earth.

Opening with Hale, the officer who has Fitz in custody, reprimanding her daughter, Ruby, Hale is given hard questions about her nature. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents return to the past, where videos of General Stone detail exactly what The Lighthouse is. In the basement of The Lighthouse, the Agents discover three Monoliths and they are greeted by Noah, another Chronocom. When the light that foretold the destruction of Earth appears in Milwaukee, the team - less Daisy - go to investigate it. But, while they are out, Deke appears from the future. Deke visits a bar, where he experiences the joys of Zima and hamburgers, but is frustrated when he is asked to pay and is too drunk to run away from his problem.

Fitz determines that the light is actually being sent from Earth and it is the same frequency as the beacon Hive used to lure the Kree to Earth! After the team finds their cloaked Zephyr, Rodriguez is thrown by her experiences in the future. When Deke sets off an alert Johnson has set up, Johnson feels like she must rescue him. At the facility in Milwaukee, the Agents find Agent Piper trying to disarm the beacon. The beacon is deactivated, but when that happens, Piper turns on the team and a heavily-armed kill squad arrives. Their leader, a masked woman, uses a vicious thrown weapon to slice off Yo-Yo's arms. And, despite the paperwork, Daisy is able to liberate Deke and help get the Zephyr to a safe house.

"All The Comforts Of Home" introduces a new Chronocom, which is cool, but when Deke arrives and Johnson finds out, it is a mystery as to how. Given that Johnson has no reasonable belief that Deke could show up from the future, how the alert would include him seems impossible. That sense of impossibility is increased by the fact that Johnson has a picture of Deke that is brought up as part of her alert - she did not have any pictures that could have been matched by the terms of her alert. But the solution to her problem, Deke being in play in the past and getting arrested, shows a troublesome resolution. Rather than Johnson going into the field, she could have sent the Enoch who would be native to this time. In other words, there is no reason for Johnson to go somewhere she might be recognized when there is someone who is not affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. who could run the errand for her.

The acting and direction in "All The Comforts Of Home" are fine, but the episode is pretty mediocre. Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. does not belabor the mystery of the masked woman, which is refreshing, but given how there were only two new characters (essentially) introduced in "All The Comforts Of Home," her identity is hardly a surprise. As predicted, General Hale is the season's new Big Bad, but "All The Comforts Of Home" has her motivations muddied by as plotline that includes her assembling a team of super-villains.

"All The Comforts Of Home" continues to hint at Coulson's medical issues without revealing it to the team, which is made frustrating given that Simmons makes a reasonable request when she asks to give all of the members of a team physicals. Beyond that, "All The Comforts Of Home" seems only to serve to give an ironic payoff to the future Rodriguez's line about holding onto Mack while she can. That payoff is momentarily amusing, but it increases the suspension of disbelief that Yo-Yo would not reveal what she knows about Coulson now to ridiculously high levels and the resolution to her current ailment can pretty easily be reasoned out given the scenes that showed her future self during the fall of Earth.

While Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had a way of pulling out its seasons and the extraordinary plots in interesting ways, if "All The Comforts Of Home" is any indication, it might be harder this season to do!

3.5/10

For other elements of the MCU, please check out my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a comprehensive listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

February 2018 End Of The Month Report

2018-02-28T18:35:00.000-05:00

| | |

February was a big month for the blog with the return of a lot of popular television shows and the end of the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. The DC Television Universe was a mainstay of our reviews, but it was no surprise tha the big review of the month was from a new Netflix show!

We are adapting the Amazon product links as we reference old reviews now. Most of the links have been properly converted and the reviews now have the right products associated with them. We appreciate our readers sticking with us through Amazon reconfiguring, which is likely to continue to be ongoing for a bit longer!

This month, we picked up two new followers on Twitter, but no new subscribers! We are always trying to get people to become regular readers and subscribe, so if you enjoy what you're reading on the blog, please subscribe by clicking on the right side of the blog to get updates with each posting. As well, if you read a review that really affects you, be sure to "share" it! PLEASE share a link to the blog, not the content of the article; this keeps people coming to the site and, hopefully, liking what they find once they are here! We're slowly growing our readership, so sharing and subscribing to the blog is an important way you can help! If you’re subscribing, please tell your friends about the blog!

In February, we updated the index pages every few days and remembered to upload the changes, so the index pages continue to be a useful tool to our readers! The primary Index Page, is usually updated daily and lets you know what the featured review is and has an up-to-the-day tally of how many reviews have been reviewed in each category! Check it out and feel free to use that as it is a much more useful and organized index to the reviews I've written!

If you enjoy the reviews, please consider clicking on the links in the reviews and purchasing items. We really appreciate all the purchases made through the blog as that keeps us going. As tax returns begin, if you're going shopping online, please come through the blog to to it. Thank you so much!

At the end of February 2018, I have reviewed the following:
591 - Book Reviews
with specialized index pages for:
Fiction
Star Trek Books
Nonfiction
Graphic Novels
Magazines
960 - Music (Album and Singles) Reviews
with specialized index pages for:
Music Reviews By Rating (Best To Worst)
Music Reviews In Alphabetical Order
3431- - Movie and Television Reviews
with specialized index pages for:
Movies By Rating (Best Movie to Worst)
Movies In Alphabetical Order
Best Picture Oscar Winner Film Reviews
Television Reviews
The Star Trek Review Index Page (All Star Trek Reviews In Order)!
The Star Trek Review Index Page (All Star Trek Reviews From The Best Of The Franchise To The Worst!)!
The Doctor Who Review Index Page (All Doctor Who Reviews In Order)!
The Doctor Who Review Index Page (All Doctor Who Reviews From The Best Of The Franchise To The Worst!)!
241 - Trading and Gaming Card Reviews
Gaming Cards Reviews
Star Trek Gaming Cards Reviews
Star Wars Gaming Cards Reviews
The Lord Of The Rings Trading Card Game Reviews
Other Gaming Cards Reviews
Trading Cards Reviews
951 - Toy and Christmas Ornament Reviews
with specialized pages for:
Ornament Reviews
Star Trek Toys
Star Wars Toys
Lord Of The Rings Toys
Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel Toys
Comic Book, Movie, Television Toys
Plush and Other Toys
1112 - Food, Drink, And Restaurant Reviews
with specialized index pages for:
Drinks
Candy
Cereal
Cheese and Meats
Ice Cream
Other Food
293 - Pet Product Reviews
Cat Product Reviews
Dog Product Reviews
Rabbit Product Reviews
116 - Travel Reviews
Destinations Reviews
Hotels Reviews
235 - Health And Beauty Product Reviews
218 - Home, Garden, Appliance and Tool Reviews
110 - Electronics, Computers, Computer Games and Software Reviews
62 - Other Product Reviews

The Featured Review For The Month of February is my review of: The Good Place Season 2!
Check it out!

The month of February was packed with new, highly-read reviews, especially for new television works, with some interesting hits from legacy reviews! For February, the Top Ten Reviews of the month were:
10. "Will You Take My Hand?" - Star Trek: Discovery
9. Cello Whisps Cheddar Cheese Crisps
8. "True Colors" - The Flash
7. Loacker White Wafer Cookies
6. "The War Without, The War Within" - Star Trek: Discovery
5. Travellers - Season 1
4. ChocoMe Dark Chocolate With Ground Cocoa Beans, Freeze-Dried Sour Cherry Pieces, and Freeze-Fried Strawberry Pieces chocolate bars
3. "Past Life" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2. The End Of The F***ing World - Season 1
1. Altered Carbon - Season 1

I pride myself on being an exceptionally fair reviewer, but one who is very discriminating. I believe that most reviewers are far too biased toward both what is current and toward unduly praising things. I tend to believe most things actually are average and they ought to follows something around a Bell Curve. Mine is a little lopsided, but not as lopsided as most reviewers I know (who would probably have peak numbers between ten and seven)!

For my reviews, the current count is:
10s - 344 reviews
9s - 648 reviews
8s - 1049 reviews
7s - 1155 reviews
6s - 1079 reviews
5s - 1376 reviews
4s - 1029 reviews
3s - 805 reviews
2s - 399 reviews
1s - 262 reviews
0s - 134 reviews
No rating - 147 articles/postings

There was a decent amount of movement this month, but no new additions to the all time Top Ten Reviews! At the end of January 2018, the most popular reviews/articles are:
10. Oz The Great And Powerful
9. The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bone
8. Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Season 1
7. Warm Bodies
6. Iron Man 3
5. Now You See Me
4. Tyler Perry's Temptation
3. The Burden Of Being Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2. The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
1. Man Of Steel

Thank you again, so much, for reading! Please share links to the blog with friends and spread the word!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

"Subject 9" Hits Highs Before Settling For "Ho-Hum."

2018-02-27T22:50:00.001-05:00

The Good: Moments of continuity, Most of the special effects and humor work.
The Bad: Obvious plot progression, Mediocre performances
The Basics: "Subject 9" starts The Flash out with an intriguing new metahuman before settling into the familiar.

The fourth season of The Flash has finally come into focus. While DeVoe was instantly the season's adversary, the show has meandered into the S.T.A.R. Labs team figuring out what DeVoe is up to. But, as "Subject 9" begins, DeVoe's general plan - to absorb the metahuman abilities from the metahumans he created - has become apparent to both the viewers and the characters within The Flash. "Subject 9" also opens with Ralph Dibny at an intriguing narrative juncture; recognizing that DeVoe is coming after the others like him, he starts the episode knowing he has a target painted on his back.

"Subject 9" was preceded by"True Colors" (reviewed here!) and found Barry Allen being exonerated for the murder of DeVoe - thanks to Dibny discovering a newfound ability; using his stretching skin to shape-change. Allen's successful appeal came following DeVoe making a rather bold move with the metahumans he had created and the murder of Warden Wolf at the hands of DeVoe. The seeds have been well-planted for Marlize DeVoe to switch sides; it remains to be seen how long she will hold out before betraying her husband.

Barry Allen returns to work where he gets a surprisingly cold reception. Captain Singh asks that Barry take a leave of absence to help restore faith in the Central City Police Department. The new Mayor wants to prove that DeVoe is still alive, but while relieved of duty, the S.T.A.R. Labs team closes rank on Ralph Dibny and they renew their search for the other bus metas. Dibny visits the bus depot's lost and found and discover that Izzy Bowin was one of the people turned into a metahuman through the bus accident. While visiting Bowin at a gig, Dibny and Allen are surveilled by the DeVoes. When Bowin resists their help, she reveals her power: the ability to manipulate sound waves.

After DeVoe reveals herself to Bowin while the Flash team is trying to convince her of the threat to her life, the S.T.A.R. Labs team decides to try to train her to be a part of the team. Bowin wants nothing to do with them, but Dibny actually changes her mind. Horton rails against Wells's new device while Bowin is trained at S.T.A.R. Labs. When The Flash steps in with the training, Bowin gets hurt. After bringing the new dampener to Horton, Wells and Horton try to strike up a friendship when Wells has an important epiphany about the nature of the device he built for her. Believing she can take DeVoe on herself, Bowin leaves S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Subject 9" makes Ralph Dibny surprisingly important. Dibny helps find Bowin and he is integral to convincing her to stay with the S.T.A.R. Labs team. Dibny is willing to be tested upon so that Bowin can develop her abilities and that is a nice twist for him; being suddenly useful.

Attentive viewers will recognize the moment it is brought up that "Subject 9" has the season's resolution within it. In the third season, when DeVoe was being teased as the fourth season's adversary, Savitar mentions the weapon used to defeat DeVoe. In "Subject 9," Horton turns to Wells for help with dampening Joe West's thoughts . . . which seems like exactly what the crew needs to adapt in order to stop DeVoe. So when the silent epiphany comes, attentive viewers are well-prepared for it. In fact, it is hard to believe that it takes so long for the S.T.A.R. Labs team to develop the cerebral inhibitor . . . considering they had a similar device already in play to protect Barry from the psychic attacks of Gorilla Grodd.

The climax of "Subject 9" is incredibly frustrating. The physics of the final scene make no reasonable sense; there is a force field (apparently) and The Flash doesn't even try to vibrate through it. Or go around it. As a result, the move by DeVoe feels ultimately forced for the plot, as opposed to a sensible development based on characters' actions.

Harrison Wells returns to the narrative in a way that continues to illustrate that the writers have not figured out how to write for him now. Tom Cavanaugh is good - though he does smirk through one moment where he is supposed to be performing exasperation - but the character has been a bit aimless this season. Fortunately, Cavanaugh's final scene in the episode is well-executed and bucks the trend of adult characters being almost exclusively under thirty. Cavanaugh and Danielle Nicolet have good on-screen chemistry for their scenes.

In the end, "Subject 9" leaves the viewer with something of a ho-hum feeling. The plot moves into the inevitable territory fans knew it would, but it still feels more formulaic than it is fresh. The cast - save Hartley Sawyer - seem to be simply going through the motions and "Subject 9" feels more like a filler than a thriller episode.

4/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Benny's Diet Requires Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch Dog Food . . . It's Such A Good Thing That He Loves It!

2018-02-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

The Good: Great nutritional benefits, High-quality ingredients, Benny loves it
The Bad: Exceptionally expensive
The Basics: Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food meets Benny's special dietary needs and while it is expensive, it has helped him get up to a healthy weight and he loves it!

My poor Benny! It did not take my wife and I long to realize that our latest rescue dog had some pretty serious issues. As he became healthier, he started to exhibit food allergies and one of his eyes became drastically worse than when we got him - as an corneal ulcer manifested! With Benny's near-constant scratching, it became very easy for my wife to diagnose his food allergy. Since Benny's diet had always (since we got him) been grain-free, his itching indicated a different type of food allergy. My wife did a lot of reading on the subject and determined that Benny probably needed to consume novel proteins.

While she initially sent me on a futile quest to the local bison farm (yes, I live now in an area where there are multiple bison farms!), we ended up stocking up on Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food the moment Benny responded favorably to it. And he has. For the past two months, Benny has been eating Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch and he no longer itches compulsively after eating!

Basics

Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food is a premium dog food and it is not something carried at my local grocery store. The 28 lb. bag lasted Benny a month and that's a pretty big expense for dog food for us.

A single serving of Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food for a dog like Benny (he's an English Setter who has gotten up to a healthy fifty pounds) is supposed to be 2 1/4 - 2 3/4 cups per day, so the 28 pound bag lasts only a month! The Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food is made up of little discs that are 3/8" in diameter and 1/8" thick. The Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food smells appropriately fishy.

Ease Of Preparation

Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch is a fully-prepared dry dog food; there is no preparation required for dispensing it. The Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch has directions for dispensing based on specific canine weight ranges and Benny has had no issues with devouring his 2 1/4 cups each day.

Benny’s Reaction

The Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch smells very fishy, but not in an unpleasant way. Instead, the Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food is aromatic in a way that implies the fine ingredients it possesses!

Benny devours the Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food each time it is put before him. Benny consumes this dog food eagerly and when he hears the bag being opened, he comes running for his meals. The Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food sits in Benny's stomach well; his stool has become more firm and regular while on this diet. As well, he does not itch after eating any more, which seems to indicate it has solved his food allergy issues!

Nutrition

Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food is quite nutritious. Made primarily of herring meal, potatoes, and peas, the first twelve ingredients are natural and recognizable and most of the middle ingredients are, too! The Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food has no corn or wheat in it, which is good for a finicky dog like Benny who needs more protein, so it is considered grain-free.

According to the guaranteed analysis, Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food has at least 32% crude protein, 18% crude fat, 1.2% Calcium , but no more than 4% crude fiber and 10% moisture. This is a great food for all dogs. As a dry dog food, it is highly recommended that you have adequate water available for your dog when serving it Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food. Because it is a hard dog food, the act of dogs eating it helps to clean their teeth, which is a nice benefit of the Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food.

Overall

Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch dog food is wonderful for dogs with dietary issues, which make it worth it for anyone who loves their special needs canine!

For other dog food reviews, please be sure to check out:
Rachael Ray Nutrish Just 6 Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Recipe Dog Food
The Honest Kitchen Grain Free Base Mix
Cesar Canine Cuisine Filet Mignon

9/10

For other pet product reviews, please check out my Pet Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

"The Curse Of The Earth Totem" Makes For Decidedly Mediocre Legends Of Tomorrow

2018-02-26T22:59:00.000-05:00

The Good: Moments of character, Decent performances
The Bad: Simple and obvious plot, Unfortunately lame special effects
The Basics: Legends Of Tomorrow creates a pretty basic episode in the form of "The Curse Of The Earth Totem," as three plots don't quite come together in a satisfying way.

It is hard not to acknowledge - even for fans - that Legends Of Tomorrow is meandering in its third season. The season is shuffling around cast members, has not satisfactorily focused on a villain and is struggling to find new characters who resonate in interesting ways. So, after a season high, it is hard to come back to Legends Of Tomorrow with hope that its latest attempt to incorporate a character it had trouble integrating with another cast will yield a decent episode.

"The Curse Of The Earth Totem" was preceded by "Here I Go Again" (reviewed here!) and that episode climaxed with the appearance of Wally West. Wally West encounters Rip Hunter, a character who has been ill-defined and pretty much off the team since the climax of the first season when he lost his defining character arc (which was to stop Vandal Savage and restore his killed family to the timeline). West is a speedster who is a perfectly adequate and wonderful Flash who essentially got booted from The Flash when the executive producers found it impossible to write around any scenario that could be solved by having two Flashes in play at the same time (or they got tired of being forced to artificially knock one Flash out of play to keep only one in the hero position at a time). So, Legends Of Tomorrow might be a good venue for Wally West, as the team could benefit from a Speedster.

Opening in 1717 in the Bahamas, Blackbeard the pirate bestows a gift upon his pirate queen. The emerald he gives her is a totem and it almost instantly causes vines to erupt from the earth to kill her. While Ray Palmer briefs the Legends on the search for the sixth, previously unknown, totem, Captain Lance visits Star City for a date with Ava Sharpe. Horrified that the fire totem has fallen into the hands of Damien Darhk, the Waverider crew (less the Captain) visit the Bahamas to recover the Earth totem. Rip Hunter asks Wally West for help and West denies him aid, as he is eager to no longer engage his Speedster powers. In Nassau, Jiwe actually turns to Rory for advice in what to do with her desires to change the futures for her daughter and granddaughter. Rory starts talking up the Dread Pirate Jiwe, so she can get the attention of Blackbeard and that gambit works.

Unfortunately, the Darhks - Damien and Nora - arrive and Damien takes Jiwe's totem from her. Hunter and West get drunk together, which allows Hunter to convince West to use his powers to steal equipment from the Time Bureau. Escaping Darhk's cannonballs, Lance's date is broken up by Ava fleeing when Gary shows up and Lance sees the Waverider crash nearby. Trapped in 1717, Jiwe and Rory manipulate Blackbeard into getting them to Grace Island to recover the Earth Totem.

"The Curse Of The Earth Totem" starts as a pretty basic Legends Of Tomorrow episode. This is a pirate episode of Legends Of Tomorrow. As a Legends Of Tomorrow episode, there is a pretty obvious progression of screw-ups, reversals and antagonists who are unique to the setting and part of the larger arc. As such, this is an episode that is mostly about the setting and it blends the pirate tale poorly with the Hunter and Lance plots. For sure, Rip Hunter's tale is a story that begins with piracy, but it gels poorly with the rest of the plot.

Part of what makes "The Curse Of The Earth Totem" so mediocre is the reversal surrounding Blackbeard. Blackbeard is a coward, who gives up information to law enforcement easily and is nowhere near as fierce as the legends about him. So, the episode becomes an easy opportunity for Jiwe to rise to the occasion of the rumors that Rory and the other Legends start.

That said, the reversal near the end that puts a zombified Annie (Blackbeard's pirate queen) back in play is well-executed. As well, Amaya Jiwe is a compelling protagonist for the episode. Jiwe is a pragmatist in many ways and "The Curse Of The Earth Totem" gives the show a chance to play with her character a bit in a decent way. Maisie Richardson-Sellers has the talent and magnitude to carry an episode and she pairs surprisingly well with Dominic Purcell for most of "The Curse Of The Earth Totem."

Ray Palmer's big moment at the episode's climax promises major character conflict for him in the next episode . . . assuming the writers make a decent exploration of it. The hints of Palmer's slip from the lawful good that comes in "The Curse Of The Earth Totem" leads to a climax that follows his character (save his supposed intelligence) well. The progression of Lance and Sharpe is fun in "The Curse Of The Earth Totem," but the return of Rip Hunter and Wally West to the DC Television Universe is unfortunately mediocre.

The concept for the vine and zombie creature that is the affected Annie is an interesting one, but the special effects for the sequence are poorly rendered compared to most of the other effects, undermining the menace. Ultimately, "The Curse Of The Earth Totem" is a very average episode; every aspect of what it does well is offset by something is head-smackingly bad.

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Indistinct Edibles: RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars Underwhelm

2018-02-26T19:19:00.000-05:00

The Good: Decent ingredients, Does not taste bad
The Bad: Not particularly or distinctly berry flavored, Not as nutritious as it is ethically produced, Comparatively expensive
The Basics: RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars are unimpressive and not particularly filling or healthy, making them a tough sell for their premium price.

My wife has her eyes out constantly for new and interesting foods. As a result, she often picks me up products from new (to me) brands that have "hooks" that I tend to be intrigued by. Recently, she found me RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars and the gimmick for RXBars seems to be listing their primary ingredients on the front of their packaging. For me, that meant a sense of bemusement right out of the gate: there are no berries listed as primary ingredients for the RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars! Sadly, that truth carried through to the flavor of the Berry Blast bars, which meant that the flavor of raspberries only was a minor aspect of the flavor palate and made these an underwhelming treat to me.

Basics

RXBars are new to me. They seem to be trading on the idea of being all-natural and up-front with their ingredient list (the front of the package lists the four main ingredients that compose the bar).

Each Berry Blast Protein Bar is in a 1.16 oz. bar that is plastic-wrapped. Each bar represents a single serving and the Protein Bars are each 1 5/8” wide by 3/8” thick by 2 1/2” long. The RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars are unsurprisingly breakable or squishable. Each bar looks like a simple cookie bar, like a textured Fig Newton or a soft breakfast bar.

Ease Of Preparation

Eating RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars is simple. After removing the plastic wrapper, simply pull out the bar and stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated equation to eating this Protein Bar; it is an entirely ready-to-eat food!

Taste

Unwrapping the Berry Blast Protein Bar, the bar smells surprisingly fruity. The scent of raspberries and strawberries emanates compellingly from the RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bar!

In the mouth, the RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bar tastes dry and sweet, with a vaguely fruity flavor. The sweet and tangy flavor of raspberries overwhelms the actual dates that form the basis for the bar. The mildly berry flavor comes out in every bite - usually as a mid-flavor between the mealy date dryness and a buttery, nutty aftertaste.

The RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars have a buttery, almond aftertaste that is not particularly distinct or flavorful.

Nutrition

RXBar Kids Protein Bars are intended as a meal supplement and they seem to work fairly well for that. These 1.16 oz. Protein Bars represent a single serving and they are surprisingly healthy. Made primarily of Dates, egg whites and almonds, what surprised me was how there was nothing in these bars that was unpronounceable. This is an all-natural food product and these Protein Bars are not Vegan-compliant, because of the eggs in them.

RXBar Kids's Berry Blast Protein Bars have 130 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. A full serving represents 3% of one's RDA of saturated fat, though they are cholesterol-free. Surprisingly, they are fairly low in sodium with only 80 mg (3% RDA) per serving and there are an impressive 7 grams of protein to be had by eating a full bar. These bars are a notable source of Calcium, Iron and Potassium, but no other vitamins or minerals.

Storage/Cleanup

As a healthy Protein Bar, RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bar remain fresh so long as they are kept in their wrappers. Ours had an expiration date of June 23, 2018, so these last for a while. As long as the bars are not heated up, they remain fresh and the only real clean-up for them comes from wiping up crumbs. These bars are fairly moist and they seem almost greasy; cleaning the moisture/greasy film off the fingers is pretty much the only clean-up required!

Overall

RXBar Kids Berry Blast Protein Bars are unimpressive on all fronts.

For other bars, please check out:
Special K Protein Chocolatey Dipped Mint Meal Bars
Quest Beyond Cinnamon Roll Cereal Protein Bar
Clif Builder's Bar Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar

3.5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please check out my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Black Panther Advances The Marvel Cinematic Universe Surprisingly Well!

2018-02-25T22:31:00.002-05:00

The Good: Cerebral moments, Decent continuity, Good performances, Female characters
The Bad: Very basic plot progression, Some under-developed characters
The Basics: Black Panther does a good job of making a fairly-original feeling film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe . . . when it is not falling into the familiar conceits.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is, wisely, evolving beyond the most obvious and familiar icons from Marvel Comics and it is a risky venture for the wildly successful film franchise. Fans of Marvel Comics and the films based upon them have a pretty wide stable to draw from, but the characters who are most popular are most popular and enduring for a reason, so as the MCU evolves, the fanbase is being challenged and highlighting lesser-known (in the collective consciousness, at least) characters is a risky endeavor. Arguably the greatest risk the film studio has taken - the television portion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is well-acquainted with risk, whatwith making the series' Agent Carter, The Inhumans and Iron Fist . . . and finding shocking success with the obscure character Jessica Jones - thus far is with the film Black Panther. While Ant-Man (reviewed here!) mitigated some of its risk by playing with a popular genre - the heist movie - Black Panther takes a much riskier approach by blending a tormented family drama with a conflict of a society in crisis.

Black Panther is intriguing in that it marks a major turning point within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More than the continuity aspects within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther is intriguing because it does not utilize most of the obvious conceits of the action-adventure superhero films that have dominated the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, one of the issues that does not take long to manifest within the film is that it is horribly mis-named. Black Panther would have been more accurately entitled "Wakanda" or Black Panthers; the film is vastly more about the setting than the protagonist or antagonist.

Indeed, writer Joe Robert Cole and writer/director Ryan Coogler seem to go out of their way to smartly explore the setting of Wakanda in amazing detail and with a clever eye for subtle cultural commentary. Black Panther is set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, which has incredibly futuristic technology and is hidden from the outside world by a massive holographic field. The country's largess comes from the presence of a massive reserve of Vibranium, the hardest element on Earth, deposited under the surface thanks to a meteor that crashed to Earth in ancient times. The Vibranium deposits allowed four of the five local tribes within Wakanda to unite and create a stable, technologically-advanced society that featured its own super hero, the Black Panther.

But beyond the technological superiority of Wakanda, Wakanda is characterized by a strong sensibility of African style. Wakanda is well-defined by a visual sensibility that illustrates costume and art style that are not dominated by European sensibilities. As a result, buildings have curved ramps instead of stairs, bright colors dominate the walls and outfits, and weaponry is spear and energy-based, as opposed to advancements in gunpowder-based firearms. Wakanda is a colorful place that blends advanced technology with tribal artwork, lip plates, and body types that are not at all monolithic (there are several films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where a viewer would be hard pressed to try to find someone who did not look like they could be a lead in a film and/or a model).

Opening in 1992 in Compton, a Wakandan spy who has stolen Vibranium from Wakanda is confronted by King T'Chaka - the Black Panther at the time. Flashing forward to the present day, a week after the death of T'Chaka in Captain America: Civil War (reviewed here!), T'Challa is being formally installed as King of Wakanda. After a brief challenge, T'Challa becomes king. One of the first challenges he faces in the dual roles of King of Wakanda and Black Panther is the theft of a Wakandan artifact from a London museum and the resurfacing of Ulysses Klaue, a mercenary who stole Vibranium from Wakanda and has since eluded capture or justice there.

Determined to bring Klaue to justice after thirty years, T'Challa and his guards journey to South Korea where an American is buying the Wakandan artifact from Klaue. T'Challa finds that the buyer is the C.I.A., in the form of Everett Ross. While they disagree on who should apprehend Klaue, the point rapidly becomes moot as Okoye is made and a fight breaks out in the casino the mission has taken them to and Klaue is revealed to be armed (literally) with Wakandan weaponry. Ross captures Klaue and begins an interrogation of him, but Klaue is rescued by Erik Killmonger. In the process, Ross is shot saving Nakia and T'Challa makes the decision to save his life by bringing him back to Wakanda. Shortly thereafter, Killmonger arrives on the border of Wakanda with a surprising gift and a challenge to the throne. Deposing T'Challa, Killmonger begins to pursue a radically-different agenda for Wakanda.

Black Panther works when it tells the political story of two potential leaders who each have a different view of their nation and its relationship with the world at large. Erik Killmonger, raised in the U.S. and trained by the C.I.A., sees the plight of black people around the world and wants to use Wakanda's resources to liberate blacks, advance Africa, and dominate the world. Killmonger is one man, essentially, working alone with a vision that would overturn the world order and have Wakanda conquer.

The most interesting aspect of Black Panther on the character front is that Killmonger's foil is not a single character; it is the idea represented by T'Challa in the way he governs. T'Challa - despite being a king who reports to a council that features representatives of the four tribes that participate in Wakanda's government - has a strongly democratic idealism; he is guided by views and agendas from his scientifically-minded sister (Shuri), the Captain Of The Guard (Okoye), his old friend W'Kabi, and his ex-, a spy who is bent on stopping the oppression of women throughout Africa, Nakia. T'Challa is an interesting mix of being open-minded to opposing viewpoints and being set in his way. In many ways, Black Panther is about T'Challa slowly incorporating the various ideas he is presented with into a new plan for Wakanda.

Much like Captain America: Winter Soldier (reviewed here!) was essentially a spy thriller set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Ant-Man was a heist flick in the shared universe, Black Panther is a cerebral political drama that is masquerading as an action-adventure movie. In fact, the forced action moments are often disappointing because of the way they feel entirely incongruent with the rest of the movie. The car chase sequence is especially banal. While things like Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Doctor Strange provide Black Panther with continuity cover for the film's mysticism (both Killmonger and T'Challa both commune with the dead, but they do so from a specific place in ways that could be explained as either portals or simple psychological revelations).

While Klaue is outfitted with an awesome weapon that is utilized in a clever way for his part in Black Panther, many of the conceits that follow the plot formulas for the action-adventure film fall flat in the film. T'Challa's body being tossed off a cliff, for example, simply leaves the genre fan waiting for him to pop back up in the narrative.

But the foils between T'Challa's father issues and Killmonger's father issues play out well and create an interesting character drama that the viewer wishes was explored more. The values of Wakanda are detailed well and the political differences between T'Challa and Killmonger, Nakia and Okoye, Ross and Klaue make for an intriguing story of political theory disguised in a science fiction/fantasy setting.

The acting in Black Panther is good. The performers are all convincing in their roles, but given how few of them I was familiar with prior to the film, it is hard for me to write more. Andy Serkis (Klaue) is well-cast, but his giggles are reminiscent of his most famous performances and Martin Freeman's biggest performance challenge seems to be maintaining an American accent throughout (which he does well). Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, and Letitia Wright are all good, but most aren't given a lot that allows them to show off much range or greatness. Indeed, Boseman's best moment comes at the film's climax when T'Challa amends what could be the film's most sexist and demanding moment into a request. After a film populated by strong women and men who accept that as the norm, that moment stands out and after a moment of disgust at the writers, the film turns back to its delightfully progressive direction.

Black Panther is worthwhile and it is a solid addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it could have been more by focusing on what made it original, as opposed to trying to force it to conform to the familiar paradigms.

8/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee Chocolate Squares Delight!

2018-02-23T19:08:00.001-05:00

The Good: Good flavor, Good ingredients
The Bad: Not exactly nutritious, I wouldn't pay full price for them . . .
The Basics: The new, limited edition, Valentine's Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares are flavorful and worthwhile!

I love Valentine's Day . . . for the after-holiday sales. I'm not a huge fan of the Hallmark style holiday (I have an anniversary to glorify my love for my wife!); so getting the treats from the holiday afterwords for half price is a much bigger deal to me than the actual Valentine's Day. This year, I stopped at Target after the holiday and I picked up a bunch of Valentine's Day candies. One of the most exciting candies I picked up this year was a bag of Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares.

Basics

Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares are one and 13/16” squares of chocolate that are 1/4” thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a light pink foil wrapper with gold hearts. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Ghirardelli chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.

Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is essentially a white chocolate patty with tiny flecks of additives that are reminiscent of cookie pieces with the Ghirardelli symbol stamped into the top. In this form, the 4.8 oz. bag, the individually-wrapped chocolate squares are packaged together in a thick foil paper bag. This size has fourteen squares and the thick foil paper bag does little to protect the squares. The bag is not resealable, though this matters very little considering that the chocolate squares do not go bad as they are individually wrapped.

One of these bags, even with only fourteen squares, tends to run in the $5.00 range, which is not at all prohibitively priced.

Ease Of Preparation

These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the plastic wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares. That said, they do need to be kept comparatively cool or these squares will melt.

Taste

The White Chocolate Creme Brulee Ghirardelli squares smell incredibly like white chocolate. The white chocolate aroma is strong and aromatic. There is a hint of cinnamon in the scent of the Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares.

In the mouth, Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares taste potently of white chocolate. The cinnamon and caramel flavor comes out in the Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares as the white chocolate melts away. The Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares feature a crunchy additive that bears the flavor of the creme brulee; the white chocolate is smooth and creamy opposite the caramel and cinnamon crunchy pieces.

The White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares have a slight, sweet, milky aftertaste.

Nutrition

The White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares are candy, so they are not intended to fill in nutritional gaps one might have. Ghirardelli chocolate squares have decent ingredients, though, which is probably why they are so expensive. The primary ingredients are sugar, cocoa butter, and whole milk powder. There is nothing unpronounceable, nor unrecognizable, in the White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares.

A serving of the Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares is a single square. From a square, one takes in 60 calories. There is no cholesterol and 20 mg of Calcium. There is only a negligible amount of Sodium (10 mg) and no other vitamins or minerals are truly represented!

The White Chocolate Creme Brulee squares are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they may contain trace amounts of tree nuts. They are, however, kosher.

Storage/Clean-up

The bags of these Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. Given that it is chocolate, one assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. It is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing. The bag I purchased on clearance following Valentine's Day had an expiration date of November 30, 2018.

As for cleanup, just throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places and you're done! Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt, though, is quite a task.

Overall

Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee chocolate squares are surprisingly good, even for those who like dark chocolate, as a flavorful alternative to the norm!

For other Ghirardelli chocolate squares reviews, please check out:
Milk Chocolate Peppermint Brownie chocolate squares
Cinnamon Crunch
Sublime White Vanilla Dream White Chocolate With Vanilla Beans

7.5/10

For other candy reviews, please visit my Candy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

The Good Place Season 2 Develops Character In The Afterdeath!

2018-02-22T22:12:00.000-05:00

The Good: Very funny, Good performances, Interesting themes, Decent character development
The Bad: Unfortunately short season, Some repetitive moments
The Basics: The Good Place Season 2 manages to reinvent itself successfully to progress its characters through a short, but wonderful, second season!

There are very few shows that I can think of that had more pressure to perform and surprise audiences in their second season than The Good Place. It was a tough thing to write a review of the first season of The Good Place (reviewed here!) without spoiling the end; it is impossible to write a review of the second season without discussing the end reversal. In my review of the first season, I worked hard not to spoil the end, but I alluded to how the first season works like a movie that if I even mentioned could spoil the first season. That film was The Usual Suspects (reviewed here!) and, like that, The Good Place Season 1 features an untrustworthy narrator. That put a huge burden on the second season of The Good Place as it forced the show to completely reinvent itself or risk simply doing the same thing a second time.

In its second season, The Good Place takes the tough road of reinvention and it manages to succeed, making an even better second season than the first.

Almost immediately, The Good Place Season 2 subverts expectations by revealing that the show will not simply be a reboot of the first season. Having revealed that Michael is actually tormenting the four protagonists of The Good Place, the rebooted experiment within Michael's Bad Place does not last the whole season . . . it does not even survive the season premiere! Over the course of the first episode, Eleanor's note from the first season finale allows her to quickly deduce the nature of the place in which she has found herself.

The Good Place Season 2 finds Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason in the afterdeath. There, they are tormented with the belief that they are in the Good Place, but the imperfections tip them off. On the 802nd attempt, Michael is extorted by Denise and Eleanor and Chidi retreat with Janet to Mindy St. Claire's. In the Medium Place, Eleanor and Chidi learn the true nature of their existence and return to the neighborhood. There, Michael confesses to his humans and works to convince them that they are all in the same boat. Reluctantly working with the coerced Michael, the group begin the 803rd attempt with their memories intact and a promise from Michael that he will try to find a way to sneak the quartet into the actual Good Place.

When Chidi begins to teach ethics to Michael, it creates in him an existential crisis. It does not take long, though, for him to revert to form. But continuing to work with Michael to force the demon to uphold his word, leads Michael to develop and grow. As he becomes invested in the group and their problems, he actually works to protect the humans from Sean and their impending doom!

The Good Place Season Two progresses wonderfully, without a sense of repetition that could have plagued the show. Instead of simply repeating the first season's plot for the entire season, The Good Place reinvents itself by smartly developing Michael. While the first season worked to evolve Eleanor to reveal a truth about the plot, the second season of The Good Place finds Michael and Janet evolving beyond their original parameters in surprisingly compelling ways. Janet and her impending self destruction forces the plot forward, but the threat to Michael blended with the menace from Vicki makes him make decisions that progress the twelve episodes forward in an intriguing and often-funny way.

For a better understanding of why The Good Place works as well as it does, it helps to understand the characters. The characters in the The Good Place Season 2 continue to be:

Eleanor Shellstrop - Dead and initially returned to Michael's experiment knowing that she doesn't belong and given the title of "Best Person" to encourage her to go off the rails, she uses the clue left from the prior loop to find Chidi. Almost constantly figuring out that the group is in the Bad Place, she always turns to Chidi for help and she begins to develop actual affection for him. She starts to develop actual romantic feelings for Chidi and actually turns to a tape she stole from Mindy St. Claire, which allows her to make a genuine appeal to the architects of the afterdeath,

Chidi Anagonye - Originally rebooted as the neighborhood's only man who has two potential soulmates, between whom he must choose, he is found by Eleanor almost immediately. It is the fact he always helps her that ultimately turns Eleanor toward Michael's plan. He acts as an ethical guide to Michael, Eleanor, Tahani and Jason, though he is tormented by Michael with the Trolly Problem. As Eleanor develops, Chidi starts to have feelings for her as well,

Tahani - Given a new identity with a tiny house and a short soulmate, she is miserable right away and gets drunk at the initial party. Tahani is a hold-out with Eleanor on Michael's plan until she has the epiphany of how truly horrible she was in life (by being shown how she died). When she is tormented by Denise with a party that is better than one she is throwing, she finds Jason's compassion surprisingly alluring and the two hook up. When Jason proposes to her, she finds herself in the surprising position of actually saying "yes,"

Jason Mendoza - Rebooted again as a silent monk, he is miserable with his platonic soul mate and works to get away from him. He turns to Janet for help and, at a low point for Michael, he figures out they are in the Bad Place! Still a complete idiot, he eagerly hooks up with Tahani. When that happens, he becomes more emotionally-complicated by feeling hurt by Tahani's shame about being in a relationship with him. When he learns that he was married to Janet in a previous incarnation, he tries to maintain his relationship with Tahani,

Janet - The interactive information system in The Good Place, she was stolen by Michael for his experiment and continues to adapt to the new stimuli she is presented with. She works around her programming by trying to keep the four humans happy (as opposed to servicing the demons in the community). Her programming begins to glitch when she acts as a therapist for Tahani and Jason. Her glitches begin to compound, which threatens the neighborhood, so she creates a mate for herself, which further complicates the neighborhood,

and Michael - The demon who is desperately trying to avoid "retirement" (in the form of eternal torment), he adopts a mindset of "if you can't beat them, join them" and teams up with his human subjects. Learning philosophy from Chidi starts to have a real effect on him and he develops compassion for the four people he has been tormenting. Working to keep his secret from Sean, constantly threatened by Vicki (Denise, the original "real" Eleanor), he starts to feel bad about how he treated Janet and how asking her to lie is affecting her program. When Sean recognizes his good work and he is promoted, he faces a genuine ethical dilemma that forces him to actually choose sides and face the consequences of his actions.

The Good Place allows Ted Danson to shine with a very different type of character than he has played before. Danson is funny and tormented as Michael and he plays that range well. When Michael is earnest and honest, Danson shines in a way that he often does not have the chance to play. Equally wonderful is William Jackson Harper, who plays Chidi. Harper is instantly watchable as he plays Chidi as more than simply conflicted and indecisive. When he has to play the teacher and has hints of an alternate self when he and Eleanor were romantically involved, William Jackson Harper shows off his chops in a way he did not in the first season. As the second season of The Good Place progresses, Harper becomes a delight to watch as he makes Chidi an exceptional balance of authoritative and deeply human in the most painfully flawed ways.

Against the probabilities of what comes from most network television shows, The Good Place manages to make a smart, strong second season that improves upon the first season and whose deepest flaw might be that it leaves the viewer wishing there were more of it!

For other works from the 2017 - 2018 television season, please check out my reviews of:
"Here I Go Again" - Legends Of Tomorrow
"Will You Take My Hand?" - Star Trek: Discovery
"True Colors" - The Flash
"Both Sides Now" - Supergirl
"Past Life" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Altered Carbon - Season 1
Grace And Frankie - Season 4
"Twice Upon A Time" - Doctor Who
The End Of The F***ing World - Season 1
The Orville - Season 1
The Punisher - Season 1
Inhumans - Season 1
Stranger Things - Season 2
Rick And Morty - Season 3
"Crisis On Earth-X, Part 2" - Arrow
Twin Peaks - Season 3 ("The Return")
Game Of Thrones - Season 7
The Defenders - Season 1
Friends From College - Season 1

8/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Garnier Goes Affordable And Great With Garnier Fructis Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying Shampoo!

2018-02-21T21:14:00.000-05:00

The Good: Great scent, Wonderful cleaning power, Surprisingly affordable, Conditioning properties
The Bad: Still a little pricier than comparable shampoos.
The Basics: Garnier Fructis's Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying shampoo is a wonderful shampoo thar strengthens hair and makes it smell wonderful!

For most of my life, Garnier Fructis has been a brand that is notable to me for being a premium hair care product. So, as the brand has moved into more affordable territory, I have been pleasantly surprised as it has allowed me to try more of their products. On a recent business trip, I had to pick up some shampoo because my hotel was horrible. For the first time, the best-priced shampoo at the grocery store I went to was a Garnier product! Since then, I've been using Garnier Fructis Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying Shampoo and my wife and I love it!

Garnier Fructis Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying shampoo is one of the more affordable shampoos in the Garnier line; I found it for $3.50 for a 12.5 oz. bottle and that was quite reasonable for the quality. The bottles are flat on the sides and top, which makes it easy to hold when wet. Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying is a white creamy shampoo that has good viscosity, though it is a little thicker, almost like a conditioner. The Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying shampoo comes with a flip-top cap for easy access to the shampoo with one hand while in the shower.

Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying is a shampoo, so there is no trick to using it. Simply place a dollop on your hand and rub it into your wet hair until it lathers up. Then rinse and repeat if necessary. I have long hair and I usually can get away with a quarter-sized dollop to clean my hair with most shampoos. That has easily held true with the Garnier Fructis Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying Shampoo.

This Fortifying shampoo cleans and seems to do an amazing job of actually strengthening hair. My hair has gotten cleaner and stronger over the last two weeks, without even having to use conditioner!

On the scent front, Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying Shampoo smells delightfully of apples. The scent is strong and pleasant and it endures on the hair for hours after the shampoo is rinsed out of the hair.

All in all, Garnier Fructis Grow Strong Paraben-Free Fortifying Shampoo is worthwhile and does all that is promises!

For other shampoo reviews, please check out my takes on:
Pantene Pro-V Dream Care Shampoo
Maple Holistics Limited Edition Winter Blend shampoo
Dove Intensive Repair Shampoo

9/10

For other health and beauty product reviews, please be sure to visit my Health And Beauty Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

"Here I Go Again" Moves Beyond References Into Something Wonderful!

2018-02-19T22:57:00.002-05:00

The Good: Wonderful performances, Interesting character explorations, Good direction, Decent plot twist near the end, Good balance of humor and heart
The Bad: Somewhat derivative plot
The Basics: "Here I Go Again" plays the time loop conceit on Legends Of Tomorrow . . . surprisingly well!

Legends Of Tomorrow is having a third season that is made more weird than by its air schedule. The show has had two essential characters depart, a new character added, the brief return of an alternate-universe version of Leonard Snart, and the return of one of the most familiar villains in the franchise as support for the season's primary villain. "Daddy Darhkest" found Sara Lance starting to explore feelings for Ava Sharpe, despite having a fling with John Constantine. Throughout this season, the show has not had a lot of time to explore and grow the new character of Zari Tomaz. The attempt to rectify that is made in "Here I Go Again."

"Here I Go Again" follows on "Daddy Darhkest" (reviewed here!), which had Mallus tormenting Damien Darhk's daughter. "Here I Go Again" also begins with the Legends Of Tomorrow now having a quest of their own; Mallus appears vulnerable to the totems used by Amaya Jiwe, Zari Tomaz and Kuasa.

Zari Tomaz is attempting to alter Gideon's programming when the rest of the Legends return to the Waverider. While checking the results of the mission, Gideon crashes and Sara Lance gets furious with Tomaz. Zari indicates she is trying to hack time to alter the flow of history to prevent her Earth from becoming a dystopia and when she tries to fix the Waverider, it blows up. Time reboots and Tomaz is frustrated and confused by returning to a conversation in which Lance gives her a dressing down. Within an hour from the conversation, the Waverider explodes and Tomaz is thrown back in time.

As one of the loops progresses, Dr. Heywood tells Tomaz about Groundhog Day and the next time through, Tomaz hunts down Heywood and enlists his aid. Together the two try to figure out who might have blown up the Waverider and why.

Despite the allusions to Groundhog Day, "Here I Go Again" plays much like the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Cause And Effect" (reviewed here!) on the plot front. "Here I Go Again" is fun and there is a lot of joy in the moment when Ray Palmer actually references the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode.

More than simply being a plot conceit, "Here I Go Again" uses the repeating time loop to explore the characters of Legends Of Tomorrow and Tomaz especially. Zari Tomaz came from a dark and miserable place and has not truly integrated with the crew. So, putting her at the core of the conflict where she has to try to win the trust of her teammates and save the day is interesting.

Tala Ashe has a chance to truly shine in "Here I Go Again" and she runs with the opportunity. While it is hard not to see Tala Ashe when she is used as windowdressing, to fill a niche to make viewers think of Morena Baccarin, "Here I Go Again" allows her to step out with an incredibly diverse performance. Ashe gets to play heavily dramatic, incredibly funny and wonderfully earnest at various points in "Here I Go Again" and she rises to the occasion each and every time. Ashe's performance is matched by Dominic Purcell's wonderful deadpan and the best on-screen sexual chemistry between Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Nick Zano.

More than simply a rehashing of Groundhog Day or "Cause And Effect," "Here I Go Again" races to a surprising, clever and original climax. Director Ben Hernandez Bray makes "Here I Go Again" feel fresh and original and some of the editing telegraphs the end, but that only makes the episode feel smarter and better-constructed than it originally does.

The result is one of the best episodes of Legends Of Tomorrow.

9/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Intriguing, But Not Indispensible, Lindt Red Velvet White Chocolate Lindor Truffles Are Fun!

2018-02-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

The Good: Good white chocolate flavor, Generally decent ingredients
The Bad: Not the most distinct flavor, Limited edition nature makes them hard to find/potentially expensive
The Basics: The Lindt Red Velvet White Chocolate Lindor truffles are an interesting Valentine's Day exclusive truffle that shake things up for those who love white chocolate.

"Red Velvet" seems to rapidly be becoming one of those trendy flavors that products are produced with the coloring and name in mind, as opposed to the actual flavor. Red velvet cakes seem to have a wide variety of recipes, but the most consistent seem to be cakes that have a high cinnamon content and I most frequently find them with cream cheese style frostings. In that fashion, Lindt Red Velvet White Chocolate Lindor Truffles manage to live up on more than just the coloring front. But next to an actual red velvet cake, these truffles are comparatively mild.

Basics

Lindt Lindor Red Velvet White Chocolate truffles are one of the newest chocolate truffles from the Swiss chocolatiers Lindt & Sprungli and their U.S.-based subsidiary. Each truffle is a one inch sphere of white chocolate with a shell about an eighth of an inch thick. This shell covers a thick red-brown chocolate and cinnamon flavored ganache ball inside. Each of the truffles comes individually wrapped in a dark maroon foil wrapper, which is very easy to distinguish from other Lindt Lindor truffles. While I usually rail against the environmental impact of individually-wrapped candies, it is hard to imagine Lindt Lindor truffles not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.

Each Lindor Truffle is a sphere with a seam at the hemisphere that is essentially a white chocolate globe sealing in a soft creamy ball inside. Currently sold individually (at approximately $.75/ea), by the pound or in various-sized limited edition packs outside the Lindt retail stores, Red Velvet White Chocolate Lindor truffles are a seasonally-available truffle.

Ease of Preparation

These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as unwrapping the foil wrapper around the actual chocolate truffles. There is no special way to unwrap or eat Lindt Lindor Red Velvet White Chocolate truffles; it's not like baking a red velvet cake from scratch!

Taste

Opening the wrapper from the Red Velvet White Chocolate truffles, the strong, creamy scent of white chocolate bursts forth from the wrapper. The aroma of white chocolate is very inviting for anyone who loves that style of chocolate. The bouquet of the Red Velvet White Chocolate does not hint at anything more than white chocolate.

The white chocolate coating of the Red Velvet White Chocolate truffles is thick, sweet and creamy without being at all waxy. The strength of the white chocolate overwhelms even the hint at any other flavor hiding inside. As the white chocolate melts away, there is a flavor much like cream cheese that comes to the forefront. As that flavor transitions, the Red Velvet White Chocolate truffles take on a more cinnamon flavor. The cinnamon and mild chocolate flavor finish the truffle well, but the white chocolate definitely dominates the flavor of these truffles.

The Red Velvet White Chocolate lindor truffles leaves a creamy aftertaste in the mouth, which endures for several minutes after the last truffle is consumed.

Nutrition

The Red Velvet White Chocolate Lindt Lindor truffles are candy, so it is tough to look at these for something nutritious and then blame them for not being healthy. Lindt Lindor truffles are made of good ingredients, which is probably why they are so expensive. The primary ingredients are white chocolate, vegetable oil and sugar. There is nothing unpronounceable in these candies, which is something I have come to expect from Lindt.

A serving of the Lindt Lindor Red Velvet White Chocolate truffles is three truffles. From a single serving, one consumes 220 calories, 17 grams of fat. There are twenty-five milligrams of Sodium and 5 mg cholesterol in these truffles. This flavor is devoid of any vitamins. There are two grams of protein, 65 mg Calcium (6% RDA), 85 mg Potassium (2% RDA) in each serving.

Honestly, these are candy and anyone looking to them for actual nutrition needs to get a reality check. These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they are produced on the same equipment that peanuts (and tree nuts) pass over. They are marked as kosher (dairy), but not gluten-free.

Storage/Clean-up

The Lindt Lindor Red Velvet White Chocolate truffles remain fresh for quite some time. However, they ought to be kept in a cool environment between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Kept in such an environment, the truffles we bought a couple of days ago would have lasted until August 31, 2018.

As for cleanup, throw the wrappers in the garbage and that is all of the cleanup needed! Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these truffles melt into most fabrics, they will stain. For that style of clean-up, be sure to consult a fabric guide for whatever you stained.

Overall

The Lindt Red Velvet White Chocolate Lindor Truffles are flavorful and interesting, though it is hardly a flavor I'd hunt down as vigorously as some of the other Lindt seasonal truffles!

For other Lindt treats, please check out my reviews of:
Extra Dark Peppermint Lindor Truffles
Intense Orange Dark Chocolate Squares
70% Cocoa Almond Brittle Chocolate Bars

5/10

For other food reviews, please check out my Food Review Index Page!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Lackluster Love: Phantom Thread Blends Boredom And Beauty

2018-02-19T19:25:00.001-05:00

The Good: Decent performances and cinematography
The Bad: Pacing, Dull characters, Virtually plotless, Flaccid characters
The Basics: P.T. Anderson disappoints with Phantom Thread.

In the ten days since I saw Phantom Thread, I have been trying to muster up the enthusiasm to write about the cinematic experience. I love the works of writer/director P.T. Anderson. Indeed, in my life full of experiences, one of my most enjoyable memories of an event I attended was a screening with Anderson at which I had a chance to stump the artist with an insightful question and meet him. Ever since Magnolia (reviewed here!), I have been a loyal devotee of P.T. Anderson's works. So, after weeks of trying to find a movie theater within 200 miles playing Anderson's latest, Phantom Thread, I was particularly excited when it was playing at a theater a block away from the hotel I was staying on my recent business trip. My first night on the road, I eagerly went to see Phantom Thread.

And, wow, was I disappointed.

Phantom Thread is no Magnolia. It's no Punch-Drunk Love (reviewed here!) even. The comparison between Punch-Drunk Love and Phantom Thread is an important one; Punch-Drunk Love featured two characters - one in deep emotional pain, the other who appears to be straitlaced and intensely normal - and the two develop an unlikely romantic relationship that builds to an important moment when the expectations about Emily Watson's character are suddenly and brilliantly subverted. Punch-Drunk Love is complicated, quirky, and artistically-delivered in a way that encourages rewatching. Phantom Thread is just boring. Phantom Thread lacks a spark of intrigue or chemistry between the two protagonists (whereas, in Punch-Drunk Love the important character aspect of the protagonist is clearly laid out - he is a man constantly betrayed who is looking for love and needs the security of someone who will not subvert his trust - and he has impressive chemistry with his romantic partner). Unlike something where there are two people who, on the surface, seem to have nothing in common developing a romance, Phantom Thread is plagued by two characters who have nothing in common, no chemistry, and no real interest in one another insisting that they are in a relationship of some sort (it never appears actually romantic).

Reynolds Woodcock is a fashion designer in London, where he runs an upscale boutique with his sister. His dresses are highly sought-after and he goes for breakfast at a little restaurant where Alma works. Woodcock asks Alma out (though it is phrased more as a demand) and he insists on bringing her back to his fashion house where he uses her as a mannequin to design a new dress. After a series of such moments where Woodcock uses Alma's body as a form for his new works, Alma starts to realize that she is not actually important to Woodcock. So, she poisons him so he will be helpless and is forced to rely upon her, but - of course - as soon as he gets better, he reverts to neglecting her.

And it's 2 hours and ten minutes of Daniel Day-Lewis acting stiff, focused, and unlikable. Day-Lewis is fine playing such an emotionally-distant and, on a moment's notice, angry character, but it seems like a truly weird note to end his acting career on. In a similar way, Vicky Krieps plays Alma well as a woman who is subtly begging for affection - though she is not given enough of a role to sufficiently explain why Alma accepts Woodcock from the beginning to make her character at all compelling. And Lesley Manville makes Cyril weird and authoritative through her performance . . . though the character is not particularly interesting.

P.T. Anderson directs Phantom Thread beautifully, but that does not make the story any more compelling, less boring or worth writing more about.

2.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

A Lot To Ask From White Chocolate Lovers: Loacker White Wafer Cookies!

2018-02-13T23:27:00.000-05:00

The Good: Tastes good, Generally good ingredients
The Bad: Could be a little more affordable, Not at all healthy
The Basics: Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies are powerfully flavored in a way that anyone who loves white chocolate might enjoy!

I love trying new foods, even when they are not my favorite flavored foods. I am a big fan of dark chocolate and mint, but despite that, I often try things that are milk chocolate or white chocolate. I was pretty psyched when a recent food box my wife picked up for me included Loacker White wafer cookies. While she might like white chocolate more than I do, I can easily recognize the quality of the Loacker White cookies!

Basics

Loacker is an Italian food manufacturer that has begun importing to the U.S. to grow their brand here. The Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies are individually-wrapped wafer wafer cookies and they are good, though they are not the most environmentally friendly.

Each 55 gram Loacker wafer cookie is a single bar-style wafer cookie approximately 3 1/2” long and 3 1/4” wide and 3/8" thick. The White Chocolate wafer cookies come in a 1.94 oz. package with a bar that has six segments.

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies is not a real challenge, simply unwrap the wafer cookie, which is pretty much like a candy bar, and consume. When you have a wafer cookie out, all you have to do is stick it in your mouth and chew; there is nothing complicated or foreign about eating these wafer cookies.

Taste

Opening the individual wrap around the Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies reveals a strong, surprisingly nutty scent. There is almost no chocolate scent to these wafer cookie bars, but there is a weird, faint peanut scent to the cookies.

The Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies are very sweet and creamy. The white chocolate is potent and instantly recognizable. The crispy wafer cookie inside the chocolate shell is more of a texture as opposed to a flavor, but it is delightful. The white chocolate flavor is strong and dominates these cookies in a pleasant way.

There is no real aftertaste to the Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies.

Nutrition

Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies are intended as a sweet snack, not a full meal. The full 55 gram wafer cookie bar represents a single serving and they are not at all nutritious. Made primarily of sugar, cocoa butter and whole milk powder, this is not an all-natural food product and these wafer cookies were produced on equipment that forces them to add a disclaimer about almonds, hazelnuts, milk, wheat, gluten and soy.

Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies have a whopping 310 calories for a single wafer cookie serving, 170 of which are from fat. A full serving represents 65% of one's RDA of saturated fat, though they are very low in cholesterol, with only 10 mg. (3% RDA). As well, they are fairly low in sodium for a wafer cookie, having only 70 mg per serving. They have five grams of protein and only fifteen percent of the RDA of Calcium . . . and no other real nutrients. As one who is working on getting heart-healthy, I wish there had been even a gram of dietary fiber.

Storage/Cleanup

Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies are easy to care for and clean up. Unopened, they have a pretty short shelf life; I received mine last month and they have an expiration date of the end of February 2018. Kept sealed, I am sure they would have lasted at least that long. As wafer cookies, one need only not shake the package excessively to care for them and wipe away any crumbs after eating them. This is a low-stress food!

Overall

Loacker White Chocolate wafer cookies are good, for anyone who loves white chocolate and is willing to overlook the nutritional detractions of them.

For other reviews of White Chocolate products, please check out:
Ghirardelli Sublime White Cookies Jubilee chocolate bar
Quaker Chewy White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
Reese's White Peanut Butter Cups

5.5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Legends Of Tomorrow Returns With The Horror That Is "Daddy Darhkest!"

2018-02-13T21:57:00.000-05:00

The Good: Fun plot, Competent performances, Hints of character
The Bad: No exeptional plot, character or acting moments.
The Basics: Legends Of Tomorrow resumes with "Daddy Darhkest" . . . and an appearance by John Constantine!

Well before the third season of Legends Of Tomorrow began, it was well-teased that John Constantine would be making an appearance. As the show picks up for its midseason premiere, that appearance happens. Having not watched Constantine, I was intrigued to see if it would be possible to appreciate the new direction and character. Fortunately, "Daddy Darhkest" begins with a pretty basic primer on Constantine to help viewers ignorant of his show catch right up.

"Daddy Darkest" picks up in the aftermath of "Beebo The God Of War"(reviewed here!), which climaxed with John Constantine appearing on the Waverider. Given that Sara Lance had just encountered Mallus in the spirit world, the explosion of supernatural elements into Legends Of Tomorrow seems organic.

Opening in Star City, 2017, John Constantine enters a hospital where he attempts to perform an exorcism on a little girl. There, he finds out that something evil is hunting Sarah Lance. Constantine arrives on the Waverider where he informs Lance that something evil is coming for her. Lance and her crewmates are able to name the evil: Mallus, which helps Constantine plan his next attempt to exorcize the demon from Emily, who turns out to be a younger version of Nora Darhk. While the others work on the exorcism, Amaya Jiwe fights Kuasa, who comes to defend Emily. When the exorcism goes badly, Snart, Constantine and Lance find themselves teleported to 1969.

With Kuasa frozen and Mick Rory obsessed with watching a live football game, Dr. Heywood, Tomaz, and Palmer try to help Emily so she might not grow up to hate them. In 1969, Mallus reaches out to Lance, but Constantine is able to help her. Snart, however, is captured by the doctors at the asylum. While Lance and Constantine rescue Snart from a lobotomy, in 2017, Palmer and Tomaz take Emily out to coffee. While at Jitters, Mallus takes over the girl. To escape 1969, Constantine summons Mallus into Lance's body. In the spirit realm, Nora and Sara Lance work together to fight the influence of the demon.

John Constantine is surprisingly unobtrusive in the character mix of Legends Of Tomorrow, which is nice. With Jax gone and Dr. Stein dead, finding a new balance in the characters takes a back seat for an episode. Constantine hooks up with Lance, which is fun and the idea that Constantine has the ability to fight a demon like Mallus makes sense given how most of the crew of the Waverider is more scientifically-minded as opposed to guided by magic. The return of Snart to the crew - even in his Earth-X form - is enough of an adjustment for the regular crew.

Every scene that Wentworth Miller is in in "Daddy Darhkest" reminds viewers of how much his presence was missed in the prior season. Miller steals the show as Leo Snart continues to establish himself as a very different version of Snart.

Madeline Arthur is wonderful as the creepy young Nora Darhk/Emily. Her waifish appearance is augmented by a wide-eyed stare that is just plain creepy. At the key moment of "Daddy Darhkest," Arthur plays the part with a sadness that is palpable and it is impressive for such a young actress.

"Daddy Darhkest" allows John Constantine to help the Legends Of Tomorrow define the season's villain better and open up the show to how they might defeat it. Tomaz and Jiwe learn that the totems may be the key to stopping Mallus and there might be more than the five that Jiwe knows about in existence.

Ultimately, "Daddy Darhkest" is a horror episode of Legends Of Tomorrow and it is solid, but lacking in anything superlative. The episode had no great performances, no unstoppable character moments and a plot that is very familiar to anyone who has watched horror movies.

For other DC Television Universe midseason premieres, please visit my reviews of:
"Legion Of The Super-Heroes" - Supergirl
"The Trial Of The Flash" - The Flash
"Supergirl Lives" - Supergirl

5/10

For other television and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Good Career, Average Ornament: The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie Ornament!

2018-02-13T16:09:00.001-05:00

The Good: Good balance, Good sculpt, Affordable
The Bad: Does not look at all like Barbie, Seems a little small for the price
The Basics: The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie Hallmark ornament is all right, but not spectacular.

The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie ornament is one of the last 2017 Barbie ornaments I had yet to review. The ornament is all right, but it is hardly one that will light the world on fire. The Veterinarian Barbie ornament is an ornament of a Barbie doll - this time, a brunette! - dressed in a traditional white lab coat, holding a tiny dog in one arm! This is a Barbie ornament intended to be Barbie at work and it is cool on that front, but it is not one that looks like the distinctive ornament from Mattel.

Basics

The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie ornament is an entirely unique ornament, featuring an incarnation of Barbie that is part of the Occupations line of full-sized Barbie dolls. The ornament was released with an original issue price of $17.95, which is on par with other ornaments in the Barbie line. The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie ornament is 4" tall by 2 5/8" wide by 1 1/4" deep and she is made entirely of hard plastic.

The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie ornament has a purple shirt, covered by a white lab coat, and blue pants. The flats that the Veterinarian Barbie wears are notable for the realism of their sculpt. Similarly, the dog in Barbie's arm is cute and surprisingly healthy-looking for a dog at the vet's. This Barbie's hair is long and black and back in a professional fashion. The sculpt is fairly simple, but the ornament has incredibly well-sculpted details like shoelaces!

The coloring of the Veterinarian Barbie might well be its only serious detraction. The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie is incredibly simple in its coloring. The coloring is done without any subtlety or depth of shading; instead the ornament is colored in decent, if solid, colors.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Veterinarian Barbie ornament could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but it does not. This is just the ornament, simple and direct. The dog may not be removed and the doll ornament does not feature articulation.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake 2017 Veterinarian Barbie ornament is that the ornaments will be hung on a Christmas Tree. For those creating the ultimate Barbie Christmas Tree, the Veterinarian Barbie ornament is a cute addition, but the ornament does not quite look like a traditional Barbie. The Veterinarian Barbie has a steel hook loop at the top, center, of her head and from there she hangs with excellent balance.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have branched out into every major franchise from Barbie to Gone With The Wind to The Hunger Games. The Veterinarian Barbie ornament was released at the October Ornament Celebration Weekend and it has sold out at most of the Hallmark stores I've been to before the end of the season. So far, though, this ornament has not appreciated at all in the secondary market and it seems like a tough sell for it to.

Overview

The 2017 Veterinarian Barbie ornament is all right, if simple and lacking in any iconic Barbie components.

For other Barbie ornament reviews, please check out:
2017 Lavender Luxe Barbie ornament (Limited Edition)
2017 Holiday Celebration (Black) Barbie ornament
2017 Holiday Celebration (White) Barbie ornament
2017 Dream Date Barbie ornament
2016 Ballet Wishes Barbie ornament
2016 Holiday Celebration Barbie ornament
2016 Soccer Player Barbie ornament
2016 Cherry Pie Picnic Barbie ornament
2016 Picnic Set Ornaments (Limited Edition)
2015 Celebration Barbie (Black)
2015 Barbie Celebration Set (2013/2014 Celebration Barbie)
2012 Barbie Provencale
2012 Brava, Ballerina! Barbie
2012 Holiday Celebration Barbie (Black)
2012 Holiday Celebration Barbie (Caucasian)
2012 Matinee Fashion Barbie - Final In The Series!
2012 Tweed Indeed Barbie
2011 Celebration Barbie (Black)
2011 Campus Sweetheart Barbie
2011 Prima Ballerina Barbie ornament
1996 Enchanted Evening Barbie ornament
1995 Barbie Debut (Brunette) - Club Exclusive
1994 Barbie Debut ornament

6/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

CBS All Access Asks Fans: "Will You Take My Hand?" Into Star Trek: Discovery's Second Season.

2018-02-13T11:13:00.001-05:00

The Good: Speeches exemplify Star Trek values well, Most of the acting is good
The Bad: Terrible characterizations, Awful direction, Simplistic plot, A couple of lousy performances, Continuity issues
The Basics: Star Trek: Discovery completes its first season with "Will You Take My Hand?" and it's a lackluster end to a disappointing first season.

The first major chance Star Trek: Discovery has to make a massive course correction has arrived: it is season finale time! Having spent the weekend with die-hard Trekkers - I was at a wonderful fan-run convention populated by the Star Trek fans who remember watching the original series, supported the boom of Trek during the mid-nineties and have kept fandom and the franchise alive for fifty years - who either refused to watch Star Trek: Discovery because they were not going to pay for CBS All Access or because the first two free episodes completely offended their sensibilities (seriously, CBS - I found ONE person who vocally enjoyed Star Trek: Discovery at a convention attended by thousands!), I was in no real rush to watch the first season finale of Star Trek: Discovery. But, upon returning home, my wife - with hope in her eyes - asked, "Did you watch the season finale while you were on the road?" The look of disappointment in her eyes when I said "no" broke my heart. So, while she's sleeping in today, I'm taking in "Will You Take My Hand?"

"Will You Take My Hand?" is a chance for Star Trek: Discovery to make an attempt to re-steer Star Trek: Discovery toward something more recognizably Star Trek and more in line with Star Trek canon (which would be a virtually impossible task). Instead, the show generally digs itself in deeper with an attitude of "we'll do whatever the hell we want with this show!" "Will You Take My Hand?" picks up where "The War Without, The War Within" (reviewed here!) left off, with the U.S.S. Discovery headed on a dangerous mission to the Klingon Homeworld in an attempt to end the war.

As the Klingon fleet closes in on Earth, Emperor Georgiou - impersonating the lost Captain Georgiou - commanded the Discovery on its mission to Kronos. As the ship closes in, Georgiou is harsh with her crew and Saru and Burnham resist her authority and jibes. Georgiou and Burnham visit L'Rell in the brig where Georgiou attempts to torture the information of where she should send a landing party out of L'Rell. Failing that, Burnham brings the Captain to Ash Tyler in an attempt to get the information a nicer way. Tyler advises a team to visit a volcanic site that was leased to the Orions and Georgiou enlists Tyler and Tilly to help deploy a mapping drone needed to better define targets on Kronos. Saru and Stamets take the Discovery under the planet's surface, while the Away Team beams to the Orion marketplace and attempts to gather information.

Shocked by how Tyler's interactions with the Klingons triggers memories of her parents' death, Burnham becomes sympathetic to the Klingons on Kronos. Waking up from being drugged, Tilly discovers that the mapping drone is actually a bomb capable of almost entirely destroying Kronos. Realizing that StarFleet has sanctioned a genocidal action, Saru and the Discovery crew turn on Admiral Cornwell and devise another plan. L'Rell and Tyler leave to end the war by taking control of the Klingon High Council. The Discovery returns to Earth, where Burnham is given a pardon and re-commissioned as a Commander.

"Will You Take My Hand?"actually manages to embody the adage from "Mirror, Mirror" (reviewed here!) that it is easier for civilized people to play the barbarian than the other way around; from the outset, Georgiou is impulsive, short-tempered and cruel, exactly what one would expect from the Mirror Universe version of the character. It proves a severe lack of judgment on the part of the Federation leadership and StarFeet that they would attempt to use Georgiou to end the war. Unfortunately, the fact that no one in the leadership of StarFleet or the Federation foresaw the stupidity of putting Georgiou in command is insulting. How did so many people rise so high in such an ethical organization only to completely lose their principles?! It's a conceit that plays to the idea of a heroic starship crew, but plays poorly to the idea that they are part of something larger; how are they the only capable people in StarFleet who actually adhere to the principles of the Federation?

In a similar fashion, it is utterly ridiculous that Tilly would be part of the Away Team to Kronos. Tilly is a cadet and there is no decent explanation within "Will You Take My Hand?" for what particular skills she had that make her of use to the mission. She is a terrible liability, which is evident almost immediately - especially when Georgiou outs herself to Tilly. Saru is still, technically, in charge of the Discovery and he could easily have ordered a security officer to accompany the Away Team. Allowing Georgiou free range to assemble her team without any oversight makes no real sense.

So, "Will You Take My Hand?" is utilized as an opportunity for Tilly to swear, have StarFleet personnel hang around a strip club and lope into a heroic first season ending. The episode feels like it wants to be audacious, but it pulls its punches. Sure, Tilly gets high and swears again. That's a fairly juvenile way of "being edgy." Georgiou has a threesome and appears almost fully-clothed in the aftermath; the producers were not willing to push the envelope the way something like Altered Carbon (season one reviewed here!) did with naked people in combat.

Akiva Goldsman directed "Will You Take My Hand?" and it doesn't take long before the viewer wishes someone would get him a camera stand. There are almost no shots in the episode where the camera is not shaking and moving in an inorganic way. "Will You Take My Hand?" is nauseating to watch. And the movements make no rational/storytelling sense. For a show that makes viewers pay for the privilege of watching the final product, one would think there would be money in the budget to afford something to hold a camera steady!

"Will You Take My Hand?" is hampered by convention to form over sensibility. While there are continuity issues like a Klingon female taking over (much less serving!) on the Klingon High Council and a Klingon fleet massed right off Earth (seriously, did none of the writers watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?!), the episode is far more gutted by its forced attempt to stick to the familiar. Michael Burnham is the protagonist on Star Trek: Discovery and Sonequa Martin-Green gets top billing for the show, so she is utilized like she is the most important character in this corner of the Star Trek universe. As a result, the convicted criminal is the character who upholds StarFleet and Federation values more than anyone else and that plays poorly in "Will You Take My Hand?" As the episode comes to a close, Burnham gives a rousing speech to an assemblage of StarFleet and Federation personnel . . . for no particular reason other than the fact that she is the show's focus. A newly-recommissioned, barely exonerated, officer addressing the top brass in such a fashion is roughly equivalent to me being able to address the United Nations General Assembly. The list of people given such an opportunity before me (or Burnham) is so long as to make such an appearance laughable. It severely diminishes Saru's character that he acts as a supporting character in "Will You Take My Hand?," especially in the climactic speech scene.

On the acting front, James Frain continues to shit all over the legacy of Sarek with his performance - smirking through a key scene between Sarek and Burnham in a way that is decidedly un-Vulcan. Frain cannot be blamed for the writing of Sarek (one supposes Sarek learned his lesson on using force against the Klingons, which is why he was not part of the cabal intended to wipe out the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, though his actions in Star Trek: Discovery would have made an approach by any member of that group logical, in which case Sarek failed to disclose?), but when he outright smiles in a scene it is hard for fans not to wince.

The rest of the acting is fine, though Michelle Yeoh and Sonequa Martin-Green dominate the episode. The dramatic standing of many of the characters is well-performed, but given how little is known of their characters, it lacks impact. And Martin-Green delivers her several big speeches well, but they feel forced for the character she plays.

Ultimately, "Will You Take My Hand?" does what it can to resolve the Klingon war arc that has dominated half of the first season and it gets there . . . but it does so in a way that leaps to that end without making it feel organic or incredible. L'Rell becomes suddenly critically important to wrapping up the arc and the way the episode plays, Klingons are undermined for their resolve, personal strength and even their established cultural values. The result is that Star Trek: Discovery ends with its characteristic lack of respect for canon and an emphasis on style . . . though at least "Will You Take My Hand?" pays lip service to Star Trek values and ideology.

For other first season finales from the Star Trek franchise, please check out my reviews of:
"In The Hands Of The Prophets" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"Learning Curve" - Star Trek: Voyager
"Shockwave" - Star Trek: Enterprise
"The Neutral Zone" - Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Operation: Annihilate" - Star Trek

2.5/10

For other Star Trek episode, movie, and seasons, please check out my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |