Gravity Falls Review: "Roadside Attraction" (Season 2, Episode 16)

Airdate: September 21st, 2015

Synopsis: The Mystery Shack gang (bar Wendy, plus Candy and Grenda) go on an RV trip to sabotage competing tourist traps. While on the trip, Dipper tries to get over Wendy by "homing his craft" on other girls. (And no, he doesn't use the "mesmer-stare", thankfully.) This does not bode well when Candy confesses that she's developed a crush on the geek... and only gets worse when Stan gets kidnapped by a giant spider who led him on... that he tried to lead on.

Review (SPOILERS): Back in February, "Northwest Mansion Novella" aired. Given that there was something resembling ample notice regarding the controversy (i.e. the promo containing the two relatively close together), I was able to post an editorial regarding the somewhat controversial ship, and comment on the episode's effectiveness as a launcher afterwards. In the former, I made a comment regarding the fact that Candy and Dipper (or CanDip) had no traction, and didn't seem to have chemistry... mainly because none of the writers really put the two together outside of quick gags.

Here, CanDip is set sail... in an episode that, in deep contrast to "Northwest Mansion Whozawhatzit", is a deeply lighthearted episode... and far less consequential to the overall plot. In fact, I think it's the episode most separable from canon since "Boss Mabel".

A Note on October Posts

While I don't expect any major changes to the frequency of updates (yes, I am aware that I went almost two weeks without posting something), I should bring up now that, because I have a few papers to write over the next few weeks, don't be surprise if my next update doesn't come until the middle of October.

Next month, though, I fully intend to review "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future", get to "Bart the Mother" and "Treehouse of Horror IX", and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Also, if I find the time, I might post reviews of "Together Breakfast" and "Frybo".

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Movie Review: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Will driving down Lombardi Street help? (Image from fanpop.com, via Google Images, made by Bob Peak.)

Premiere: November 26th, 1986

Synopsis: Coming off their refreshing, life-renewing trip to Vulcan, the Enterprise crew - uh, the Bounty crew - begin their long trip back to Earth, where they will face a court-marital, and risk a long jail sentence. Unfortunately, Earth is intercepted by a probe (yet again) that threatens the planet with disasters of biblical proportions. Interpreting the signals as whale sounds, the crew realize that the probe's calling out for other whales... which, since the whales are dead, is kinda hard to do.

Therefore, using scientific mumbo-jumbo, they go around the sun and wind up in 1986 San Francisco. There, Spock and Kirk talk to Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks), a marine biologist at the Cetacean Institute in Marin County, to try the hell to gain access to two damn whales; Uhura and Chekov look for the nuclear wessels in Alameda, causing a bit of a mess-up with security; and Scotty, Bones, and Sulu try to create a tank, all the while messing with modern minds with their medicine and lack of keyboards.

Review: In short, this movie is TMP, as written by the creators of Captain Planet. If it was actually pretty good.

In long, this is often cited as a fan favorite, up there with Wrath of Khan, First Contact, and Trek 09 as the fan favorite. The Voyage Home was the most commercially successful Trek film, and many have argued that it was due to it's more casual tone - that nobody really needed a deep knowledge of Trek history to get into it.

Does it still hold up, however?

Actually, it still does.

Gravity Falls Review: "The Last Mabelcorn" (Season 2, Episode 15)

Warning: neither moment nor episode are as lighthearted as this picture makes them out to be.

Airdate: September 7th, 2015

Synopsis: Tortured by a nightmare of Bill Cipher, Ford asks that Mabel go and find a unicorn, so that he can use it's locks to help build a force field. Alongside Wendy, Candy, and Grenda, Mabel actually manages to stumble across a unicorn village. The unicorn nearest the front gate declares that she will give her hair to the one "pure of heart". Mabel doesn't necessarily fit that, though. Cue emotional crisis!!!!

Meanwhile, Ford and Dipper use a machine to try and encrypt their minds, in an attempt to protect themselves from mindjacking via Bill. What happens is... weird, to say the very least.

Review (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD - READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION): Always! I wanna be with you! And make believe with you! And live in harmony, harmony! Oh, yeah!

Uh, sorry about that. Curse you, Andy and Vince!

Anyway... unicorns. Those mystical magical horses are among the most used fictional animals in fantasy works. Their powers, their pointy horns, their hybrid of grace and power all contribute to the unicorn's staying power in the fantasy canon. I believe that the unicorn itself gained it's most recent spike in popularity with the use of Twilight Sparkle, one of the protagonists of the cult hit My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic. Many new "unicorns" have been used since then and have gained cult followings, such as recurring antagonist Pony Head from Star Vs. The Forces of Evil.

Naturally, Gravity Falls, being a part-fantasy show, needed to take it's stab at it in one episode this season. And wow, was that a great episode. An awesome episode, in fact.

But how awesome was it?

Another Brief Note About My Reviews

Just letting you know that I don't think I'm going to be reviewing Steven Universe's "Nightmare Hospital", which airs tomorrow night. At least, not yet. I am trying to review the episodes in order, and I really think that reviewing the newest episode outright would just be a bit awkward.

I will watch it, however, and might make a note about the episode in an appropriate review, whether it be another SU review, a Gravity Falls review, etc.

Meanwhile, just a couple of notes about my other reviews:

• Barring any last-minute changes, I think that the "Last Mabelcorn" review will go out tomorrow.
• My review of Star Trek IV should be out by the end of the weekend.
• I intend to review "Together Breakfast" sometime within the next week or two.
• I might also get to "Bart the Mother", thus allowing me more time to review "Treehouse of Horror IX" in October.

Steven Universe Review: "Cheeseburger Backpack" (Season 1A, Episode 3)

Now available in Vegetarian and Turkey styles.

Airdate: November 11th, 2013

Synopsis: The local mailman, Jamie, delivers Steven his package from "Wacky Sacks". As the title of the episode suggests, it's a backpack that's shaped like a flippin' cheeseburger. Good timing, too, since the Gems are about to go on a mission. You see, the Gems have to place a Moon Goddess Statue at the top of a Lunar Sea Spire soon, or else the whole thing will disintegrate. With Amethyst's vote of confidence (under the pretense of "education"), the other Gems let Steven and his cheesy backpack come along with them.

Hilarity ensues.

Review (SPOILERS): We're still in the early stages of Steven Universe, where characters hadn't been too fleshed out yet, comedy was the centerpiece, and the animation was more likely to be off. This episode is a prime example of just how far this show's quality shot up in a short time, yet from the other end.

That's not to say it's a bad episode - it's just not one that seems like it has a whole lot going for it, at least in terms of "favorite episode" lists. However, it does have enough to make it a good third episode.

Gravity Falls Review: "The Stanchurian Candidate" (Season 2, Episode 14)

Uh... let's just say that the GOP Election Debate was more sane than this.

Airdate: August 24th, 2015

Synopsis: With President Barack Obama being constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term, many people apply for the most powerful office in the Western World. These include a social democratic populist, the spouse of a controversial former president, an eccentric right-leaning populist billionaire, and the brother of a controversial former president, among many, many others. "Hilarity" ensues, especially concerning cloths, servers, and hairpieces.

Uh, I mean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has Governor General David Johnston call elections so he can get a fourth consecutive mandate. However, he faces critiques from the public and his competitors, which include a bearded dude, a hippie, and the handsome son of a former politician, over his controversial justice legislation, his questionable handling of the economy, and his somewhat awkward management of the nation's institutions and public services. Said handsome son, hippie, and bearded dude, meanwhile, face questions on their leadership and whether they'll split the vote... again.

Uh, I REALLY mean, Stan decides to run for mayor of Gravity Falls, after the long-serving mayor dies. He does so because of insecurities that have surfaced after Ford came back. He runs against Bud Gleeful... whose son was locked up, thanks to Stan. Unfortunately, he's more gaffe-prone than his poll numbers (starting at zero and bottoming out in negative numbers) will allow. To try and salvage Stan's candidacy, they try and commit mind theft via a tie that Ford invented for "Reagan's Masters". Bud's campaign manager, some dude that's in prison, one-ups Stan by literally overtaking Bud's mind with a spell.

Oh, that dude in prison? Gideon.

Review (SPOILERS): Politics! Is there a word more thrilling to the human soul? Since the dawn of time, decisions had to be made. One idea of governance is Democracy - allowing for more than just one person to decide. The Ancient Athenians laid the groundwork for (very limited) democracy. The Roman Republic established separate houses to (in theory) balance the wants and needs of the experienced versus those of the common man. The English Parliament (later the Parliament of Great Britain), the American Congress, and the Assembly of the First Republic kick-started the modern democracy we all know and love... even if the latter didn't last long.

While the system is generally kind - let the average joe and jane send representatives to voice their interests - there are a lot of awkwardnesses in the campaign process, and within the after-effects of said elections. "The Stanchurian Candidate" exploits the idiosyncrasies that are found within the races and campaigns - this time, with the end goal to be the mayor of a small town. How does that go?

Unfortunately, as far as the writing for this episode goes... not the greatest.

Note About My Order of Steven Universe Reviews

Just a quick note about my Steven Universe reviews.

It's worth noting right now that I will be reviewing the episodes in "viewing order", not the order in which they aired. I'm doing this so that the continuity flows better... at least, in my reviews.

This shouldn't be too much of a problem, though - I am approximately 60-ish episodes behind the most recently aired episode. Gonna take a long time to get there... I think. Maybe.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (Season 10, Episode 2)

Airdate: September 20th, 1998

Synopsis: Reaching a midlife crisis, Homer becomes despondent on life. After a projector breaks down, Homer rhetorically asks "who invented this thing?" Lisa responds, and Homer has a new goal - be the new Thomas Edison. He becomes obsessed with the man... and, when it turns out that Edison invented something that Homer seemed to invent - a chair with an extra set of legs on hinges - Captain Wacky becomes hellbent on destroying Edison's chair.

Review: Sounds like a Scullyfied Simpsons. Ain't been reviewed onto nigh for two months.

Tsk, tsk, tsk - trouble a brewin!

Homer's sorta pitiful life is the centerpiece of the greatest Simpsons episodes. Even when he is involved in something landmark (such as going into space), there's this tinge in the writing that he got there by the thinnest of margins (aka, Barney going insane and falling off the top of a mattress factory). Despite this, he almost always maintained a love for the simple things you'd expect a 40-year old to love - TV, Duff, all that jazz.

Indeed, deconstructing his simple life by putting him in a midlife crisis seems like tough ground to tread. It doesn't seem like Homer would be the one to encounter that, but I'd be willing to excuse that somewhat as a deconstruction of what his life has been.

Then Lisa brings up Thomas Edison, and the episode becomes... a tad bit more haphazard.

Steven Universe Review: "Laser Light Cannon" (Season 1A, Episode 2)

Oh, no - it's the maker of rules. Dealing with fools, it'll cheat you blind!

Airdate: November 4th, 2013

Synopsis: Short answer: the core four realize that Clear Eyes can't cure Red Eye all the time.

Long answer - a red eye from space is gunning for Beach City. Attempts to destroy it (including throwing Amethyst at it) have failed. There is an option - a light cannon, used by Rose... Steven's sorta-dead-ish mother. Still, there is more hope - the cannon could be in Greg's storage unit... his crowded storage unit... which stores the stuff that doesn't fit in Greg's van, where he lives.

Review (SPOILERS): If "Gem Glow" established the relationship between the core four characters and established the start of Steven's "coming-of-age" arc, then "Laser Light Cannon" takes a first look at the past for the main characters... or at least, one of them.