Alphas: "Alphaville" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

"Alphaville" might have had its fair share of exciting moments (I'm looking directly at you "Cameron shoots that stealth Alpha right in his stupid toe shoe!"), but it didn't quite leave me feeling all-together satisfied. By the end, with regards to Stanton Parish's mysterious hospital tech, we only discovered what we already knew. That the light oscillations cause an amplification of Alpha abilities. And then Dr. Rosen inadvertently burned down a bunch of peaceful Alphas homes and we were done.

Still, it was great to see Summer Glau back on the show as Skylar Adams, the super-genius Forge-style mutant who knows her tech. This time around, Skylar's struggling as a mom to a hyper-active Alpha kid. And while that storyline might have fallen a bit flat - as well as Nina tagging along and doing nothing - the most interesting thing to come out of it was Parish's proposition to Skylar at the end. And seeing as how Skylar's doing everything in her life for Zoe right now, no matter how miserable it makes her, she might actually join up with Parish's camp.

I liked watching Dr. Rosen come face to face with a bunch of Alphas who weren't too crazy about him blabbing their secret out to the world - but all he got was scolded. Right before he made all their lives even worse. Claude, the bee-whisperer, could have been more (and had a better power), but instead he was just too much of a peace-loving nature-protector to do anything more than lecture Rosen. Which, I suppose, was a good thing for Rosen. But nothing ever came of their mini-confrontations, and in the end all Claude could do was say "Haven't you done enough?" as Rosen tried to help the residents of the tucked-away summer camp evacuate their land due to a Scipio-caused forest fire. And at no time (and perhaps this might even be one of the best things about Rosen) did Rosen ever retro-doubt his decision to go public. No, with him it's ever-forward, with hardly ever a chink in his ideological armor.

There were some fun character moments here, namely from Gary, who went from forest-hater to a guy who could spend his time "listening to the sun." Gary's at his best when he's semi-cranky, but at his worst when the stubbornness brought upon by his mental condition causes him to make dumb decisions that put him and team in danger. But, for the most part, Gary's venture into his first ever signal "dead zone" was a hoot. Rachel, who became an unwitting test subject for Parish's device, found herself overwhelmed when all of her senses went haywire. But in the end, it helped "cure" her of the over-reactions she was having when she was set on "normal." It felt like a teensy bit of a cheat, but I'll allow it. Season 2 seems to be about figuring out solutions to the character-specific hurdles from Season 1.

It's also fun to watch how certain Alphas can have the same, or similar, powers to others. The stealth Alpha reminded me a bit of Rebecca Mader's "Griffin" character in "Blind Spot." And Cameron found himself battling Trisha - a chick with crazy-ass agility like his own. As for the rest of the episode? Well, the inevitable reveal (to the team) that Dani is the mole could be good. But we've known her for such a short while, and we were just hit with the fact that she and Cameron were a couple. I just don't think it will wind up having the impact something like that should. I'm wondering if this all should have been kept a secret from us too, instead of playing out in a dramatically ironic fashion. Too late for that though. No sense in retrofitting.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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True Blood: "Save Yourself" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

Hey, I remember that old Stabbing Westward song! "I can not save you..." Sorry guys, my '90s are showing.

Okay, so big things were poppin' in the True Blood season finale. And I don't mean that metaphorically. Fangers were 'splodin' all over the joint. And Sam (as much as it still hurts my brain to accept that shifters can turn into flies) flying into Chancellor Harris' mouth and then bursting out of her as a human was pretty freakin' rad. As was the final 10 minutes of "Save Yourself," in fact. But before I get into the whole naked, bloody "Billith" reveal - which actually seems to be borrowing from Deacon Frost's plan to become the Blood God from the movie Blade - I need to talk about the quick, unceremonious death of Russell and some of the things that were lacking in this season ender.

True Blood has always been an oddly paced show. Often, the finales dispatch with the "big bad" within the first half hour, leaving the rest of the episode to act as set up for the next season. One gets the sense that the writers know when they want to have big moments happen, but filling in all the moments in-between, or leading up to them, is treated as a stagnant chore. So we either get episodes of filler leading up to exciting bloody carnage, or we get random crazy side-stories that go nowhere and leave a handful of characters with nothing to do at the end but drink Cajun Margaritas. And witness the beauty of the orgasmic fairy birthing process. "I have no idea what's happening" says the drunken Mrs. Boathouse in Merlotte's, in that True Blood meta-way that tries to excuse the crazy bulls*** by having the characters call out how crazy their lives are. "Who the f*** does?" Lafayette replies.

So, while one story in this finale had "life or death" stakes, the other had Maurella telling everyone "My light broke" and leaving Andy with four newborn baby girls. The worst part of which is that we'll now have to see Andy comically deal with four newborn babies in Season 6. And as for Russell? The driving force for most of Season 3 and the man who we all cliff-hanged on last week? He got splattered by Eric within the first two minutes; before the opening credits. Now, since I figured that this season couldn't end without Sookie actually meeting and seeing "Evil Bill," I knew the Russell situation would get handled quickly. But not that fast. I mean, I'm glad Eric was the one who got to kill him, but the hastiness of the whole thing made it feel very unsatisfying. I would have much rather watched things play out in the field a bit longer than, say, watch "constantly seeing things" Jason constantly see visions of his vampire-hating parents.

But, like I mentioned already, the final act of this episode was pretty damn fun. And guys...skinwalking paid off! It was used to actually do something useful! And, I have to say that I didn't even know it was Luna acting as Steve at first. I thought it was just Steve being protective of his pet. We'd even seen him tell Luna not to shift into a human before. Also, Tara kissing Pam and Jess screaming "I knew it!" was awesome.

And I'm glad they decided to keep Evil Bill around for Season 6. Though, I'm not sure what his plan will be now that almost every vamp in the Authority HQ has been staked by Jason, Eric and Nora. His army seems to be gone. But who knows what Bill's mind is even going to be like after fully transforming into that blood demon thing? Will he even be in charge of anyone? Season 5 did a good job of expanding its vampire story out across the U.S. I mean, I still didn't believe Jess when she said that the Bill and the Authority were just crazy enough to take over the world, but it was a step in the right direction.

But now the world knows that Steve Newlin "eviscerated" 22 frat boys. And they know that shifters exist too, thanks to Luna. So there's definitely some interesting possibilities taking shape. The trouble is, it makes me care even less about the smaller characters at Merlotte's. This finale ended with a single cliff-hanger and not several character-specific cliff-hangers like last year. Which makes me really only want to follow this one story even more.

Oh, and Alcide's pack-master story was fine too. Robert Patrick's always a kick to watch, although Alcide now seems even more detached from the core characters than usual.

At this point, given the final scene, I can see no way back for Bill. Of course, we all thought that at one point when Angel turned into Angelus back in '97, so I suppose there's always a way. And this is where series creator Alan Ball leaves us, as he wrote this finale and now heads off to focus on his new Cinemax series, Banshee. He leaves us (thought probably not entirely) with our former hero flipping his crippling guilt upside-down and using it as an excuse for divine madness. It's funny too, to think about how every new Authority character that was introduced this year, aside from Nora, is now paste. No one from that now overly-familiar set was meant to survive the religious purge; with ever-devious Salome being the last to bite the dust. And now that Bill is Billith, will we ever know what Lilith's game was? I mean, she wanted one of them to drink all of her blood. So now what? Stay tuned...

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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Wilfred: "Honesty" Review

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

Getting back to the roots of the show, this week's "Honesty" was a nice reminder of where exactly we left off with Ryan and Jenna's relationship. It had been a while since we'd seen the twosome in any extended one-on-one scenes together, and it was probably about time their unresolved tension was addressed.

Central to this story, though, was Wilfred's cat kidnappings, which really drove this episode to its unexpectedly gripping climax. At this point, Wilfred's rivalry with other animals -- felines, "dobies," or otherwise -- has been a thoroughly established recurring theme throughout the series, and while his incessant torturing to the missing kitties did provide some decent humor, the general bit has gotten a little stale over the course of the season. Luckily, Ryan's obligation to get involved as the rumored "cat killer" did a put a nice spin on what could have easily been a humdrum b-story for Wilfred.

The whole video production schtick was probably the highlight of this episode, comedically speaking. Wilfred's role as a hot-tempered director was indeed hilarious, as was Ryan's amped up performance as the sadistic cat-killing psychopath. But the best part was Wilfred's subsequent tirade, which never seemed to end -- in a good way. Just when you thought he was done, he would come back to yell some more, driving his frustration home. His passive-agressive backseat editing in the next scene was a nice way to top things off before Ryan eventually realized that Wilfred had re-cut the whole thing himself after the fact.

The missing cat arc also served as a clever outlet for Ryan to reveal the truth behind the "squishy tits" incident from Season 1. I wasn't really expecting Ryan to lay it all out on the table like that, but given the episode's title, I suppose it should have been obvious. But more surprising than Ryan's spiel was Jenna's confession to Ryan, not only about using him, but taking advantage of the fact that she knew he had a crush on her. Fortunately, this confrontation ended amicably -- maybe even too amicably. It will be interesting to see where the friendship goes from here, as Ryan seemed to be pretty level-headed about Jenna's blunt admission of guilt. Perhaps now they're just on even playing fields again, and that might be a fitting way to end their story for now, at least for this season. In any case, both characters now have a lot to think about, particularly Jenna.

Despite these mild revelations, this episode definitely felt like a back-to-basics kind of story, which, after all that's happened this season, was kind of comforting to see. Ryan and Wilfred had some good moments together, and Ryan and Jenna had some great ones. Even though the story felt pretty safe in the long run, it was still rather sharply written. For now, it seems, the principal trio has been relatively straightened out. What still remains, of course, is Ryan's ever more inexorable meeting with his father.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

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Anger Management: "Charlie Gets Romantic" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the Season 1 finale follow. (Although if you're worried about spoilers for Anger Management, you might need to reevaluate some of your core characteristics...)

Even though FX's Anger Management, featuring Charlie Sheen's much hyped return to TV sitcom-land, slipped from over five million viewers to around two million over the course of its 10-episode "trial" first season, FX president John Landgraf hinted, back at the Summer TCA Press Tour, that a renewal was likely. But a decision won't be made until after the season's done, so this is it! We now stand at what could be a dead end, or a gateway to a whopping 90 episode order (part of the syndication-ready deal in place).

So what's happened to Charlie Sheen's Charlie Goodson over the course of 10 episodes? Well, he's pity-dated an "ugly chick" (Kerri Kenny), dated a hottie who didn't believe in therapy (ex-wife Denise Richards) and hashed out old issues with his dad (real dad Martin Sheen). Has the show improved at all since the pilot episode? No. Not at all. In fact, it's become even more obvious how painfully rushed and unfunny the show is. Back when I reviewed the premiere, I was willing to accept that FX was reaching for the un-dynamic and typical in an attempt to capture the millions of folks who watch the syndicated Two and a Half Men reruns on their channel. I chalked the show up as being "not for me" and believed its only crime was playing the "broader audience" game.

But it's worse than that. The abrasive laugh track, which was once merely an annoying indicator of lazy writing and bad comedy, now scratches at my very soul; shining a giant spotlight on just how flat the jokes truly are. One begins to hyper-analyze the enthusiasm of the fake laughs versus the meager punchline they're responding to. In "Charlie Gets Romantic," Kate (Selma Blair) gets a bit freaked out when Charlie wants to do more with her than just have meaningless sex. Like, go to a movie. So Charlie decides hold out on intimate kissing which then causes Kate to sexually shut down and, well, the "dry vag" jokes fly free and loose.

After 10 episodes, Anger Management is already in a rut. As I mentioned in the pilot review, there are a ton of cast members on this show and most episodes involve Charlie having at least one scene with each of them. Bret Butler in the bar. Michael Boatman at is home. The prison group. And this series chooses volume over quantity, bombarding you with an animated series' worth of gags and one-liners, none of which register a laugh. Okay, wait. I will admit to chuckling when Patrick called Lacey "Kim Carcrashian." Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that this wasn't, technically, a laugh-free finale.

The storyline involving Charlie's ex Jen (Shawnee Smith) wondering if she somehow "passed the gay gene" onto Sam was awkward at best - with the show never actually deciding why Jen was so disturbed by this. It actually almost came off as homophobic, but then the story quickly diverted all its power into making Jen seem crazy and ignorant rather than needlessly anxious and angry.

I know most of this might seem like a review of the overall series rather than a deep look into the finale, but there's really not that much to analyze. This review was mostly meant as a sort of "let's check back in with the show before it gets a giant order that takes it up to 100 episodes" deal. The brutal format of this show follows predictable humor and painful callbacks to jokes that weren't funny the in the first place. For example, Nolan's obsession with Lacey jumping out of a "30 Days Without Incident" celebration cake wasn't funny. And since the canned laughter makes for certain that no bad joke is distinguishable from another, it got to be not funny again when they came back to Nolan and he was still talking about it.

There's also just not that much to laugh at when your comedic leading man character is successful with women. At least on Two and a Half Men, they paired Charlie up with a polar-opposite loser. Also, pairing this show with something as different and ingenious as Louie does it no favors. So, as you can see, the score's been lowered. Maybe I just resent the fact that one day there will be a box set of all seven or eight seasons of this series simply because it runs a rudimentary playbook.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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Futurama: "Viva Mars Vegas" Review

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

In this week's episode "Viva Mars Vegas," the Planet Express crew paid a visit to Mars Vegas for a wind down, courtesy of Amy and the Wong family. It was only an added bonus that Zoidberg was our protagonist for the adventure, going from rags to riches -- and then rags again.

It was actually kind of fun to see the gang all hanging out at Amy's family casino, and Zoidberg's lavish money montage had some nice chuckles, too. His "let it ride" bit proved to be one of the stronger scenes of the episode, justifying his losses by adding, "Easy come, easy go. But for one brief moment, I made everyone on Mars happy. If you ask me, that makes me a winner!" ("Category 5 loser now departing.")

But it was the Donbot's takeover of the casino that really set the story off on its way. Having Zoidberg covered in ink and subsequently turned invisible provided its fair share of clever sight gags, particularly his bathroom scene with Amy.

From there, the episode made a sharp turn into Ocean's Eleven territory as the Planet Express crew formulated a heist plan to take back the casino from the Donbot and his mob squad. The chart room sequence was the real standout here ("Um... How come we've never been in this room before?"), especially given the sheer magnitude of charts prepared by all the characters.

The heist itself had some okay moments as well. But more than the crew's various disguises, it was the Donbot's nonchalance that made it so great with lines like, "You know, I think I'll close the safe a little prematurely today," and, "I'm enjoying the casino business. You meet a lot of colorful characters."

Overall, it was a pretty fun show this week. Zoidberg, the Robot Mafia and even Amy all delivered on their respective arcs, and it was nice to see another episode where the entire crew gets involved in the story. More so than the last couple weeks, "Viva Mars Vegas" was tight, fun and had a solid amount of good laughs throughout.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

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Alphas: "Gaslight" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

I had never heard of the term "gaslighting" before, so when Bill said "Don't try to gaslight me, Hicks!" I had to use the ol' Google machine to figure it out. It turns out "gaslighting" is an abusive brainwashing technique wherein the abuser makes the victim think there's something wring with them. As in, they're mentally deficient and imagining their problems. As an episode, "Gaslight" was a fun ride - evoking some of the haunted spacecraft elements of Event Horizon - that gave us a peek further inside Stanton Parish's agenda.

At first, it seemed like this episode wasn't going to be as singularly focused as last week's great "When Push Comes to Shove," but in the end Rosen and Nina's questioning of Senator Burton (Lauren Holly) wound up connecting to the Alpha team's hospital case and leading Rosen to a diabolical piece of Stanton Parish tech possibly at the heart of the hallucinations.

Watching the team's visions and delusions play out was interesting, as most everyone saw something that touched on a vulnerable point in their life, with the intent of leading them to their doom. Gary, however, saw Anna. But was she actually a part of the coma patient's Alpha power? She came through on the same infrasound that was causing all the dementia. But Gary's vision of Anna ("I don't see hallucinations. Are you haunting me?") didn't lead him down a deadly path. She acted like his friend, which she was in real life. And in the end it caused him to send out an "Anna Lives!" message like the hidden ones you all have been seeing over the course of Season 2. It was a great way to give Gary the catharsis, or whatever the equivalent would be for him, that he simply wasn't able to obtain on his own due to his bluntness and literalness.

Meanwhile, filling in the background here, Bill is still going to the Alpha Fight Club, Rachel resents the fact that Nina is back on the team and Nina herself is working with Rosen to try and help pull memories from those who've regressed and buried them. Again, some of the horror-movie style hospital stuff might have come off as low-rent and a bit predictable given all the horror movies we've seen that have explored similar scenarios, but the character work on Alphas continues to be great. Rosen has not only accepted Nina back into the fold, but he's working with her to try and evolve her abilities. I love these kinds of X-Men baby steps. For all we know, Nina could be a Charles Xavier but just doesn't know how to read minds yet.

And there's always two sides to Rosen's requests, and I love that. Sure, he always comes off as being nothing but compassionate, but you know that there's a side of him that's using his team. Like he used his daughter. In the end, they will always fascinate him and he'll forever want to explore their abilities. No matter how much he says "Stop me if you think this is too much."

Throwing Kat into the mix as Nina's first test subject was a great idea, and it gave us a peek into her past life as well. Right now, she's a plucky addition, but I'm still waiting for them to get a bit deeper with her. And it looks like Nina's "failed" attempt to pull her memories still shook something loose in her brain, causing her to draw her mother. Or someone who acted like a mother to her. And in so proving that the character's individual "baggage" on this show is the best part of the meal.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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Grimm: "The Kiss" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

Hey guys, head's up. We're not going to be doing weekly Grimm reviews here. We gave it a shot last year and the readership just wasn't there. I reviewed the premiere because we try our best to hit on every pilot and premiere that might interest IGNers, but there was really no intention of going beyond that. However, since last week's episode left us with that redundant "To Be Continued..." text (you don't say!), I'll write up a little sumpin' sumpin' about "The Kiss."

So "The Kiss" was a pretty solid episode, acting as the conclusion to what turned out to be a three-part story arc involving Juliette's coma. An arc that started with the Season 1 finale, therefore turning last week's premiere into the strange middle chunk where Monroe and Rosalee made a potion and Nick's mother tried to make him some eggs. "The Kiss" though started off big and strong, with the action sequence that really should have been a part of last week. And as for that "To Be Continued..." ender? Well, Nick wound up getting pounced on and then...just kicked the Mauvais off him and went about with the rest of the fight. It was a bit of an empty cliffhanger.

From there, things actually got a bit Dexter-y, as the FBI began to sniff around the scene of their two dead agents and Nick wound up having to cover up his own dead monster crime scene. But Nick is no Dexter, so the feds wound up handcuffing fairly quickly. Nothing came of it except that it left the door open for Hank to be let in Nick's secret. Because now that Juliette's mind's been wiped, Nick's confession to her has got to count for something. Even if she's not the one who winds up becoming a part of the inner circle of Grimm-ness. Also, Hank has proven to be a solid friend and will probably be more apt to believing Nick since he's already pretty jumpy after having seen two monsters.

Regarding Juliette's memory, they decided to go for the full fire sale. No more Nick. Which could be a great way to let Nick off the hook from this relationship that he's mentally wrestled with for so long. And even write Juliette off the show. But there has to be more to Renard's kiss right? Was Adalind's plan not just to take Juliette away from Nick, but to also give her to someone else? In the fairy tales, it's not just the pure of heart that awakens the coma victim. It's, like, a "true love's kiss" deal. So will Juliette now be enamored with Renard?

Since I won't be doing any more Grimm write ups (and since I wasn't the one doing the reviews back in Season 1) I'll just take this opportunity to write about how odd it was for this series to start Nick off with a girlfriend. That's a hard sell. Because not only did we have to work to accept Nick as the hero of a new creature-filled TV show, but he already came with a "love of his life." And we never knew anything about them as a couple other than he loved her and they were generally nice to one another. How did they meet? What were their first dates like? Juliette represented a normal past that we never even got to experience. So Grimm had to work double-time last year to turn Juliette into a vital character. Because the tradition here is for the hero to meet his true love along his adventures.

So in a world of Ritas (Dexter), Margarets (Boardwalk Empire) and Skylers (Breaking Bad), the girlfriend/wife of the hero is pretty much a thankless role. They become vilified simply because the guy we're rooting for has to work extra hard to keep all the awesome stuff he's doing a secret. And then they get mad at the hero for mundane, everyday life stuff and it just comes off as petty. Of course, each of those characters I just mentioned evolved and changed in their own way throughout those shows, but they all definitely went through (or are still going through) periods of fan-hate. But as far as Juliette's concerned? I never knew enough about her to even resent her. She's just...been there. As something Nick cares about. So she's been a strange element of an already struggling show.

We'll have to see what happens with Renard, who now actually turns out to be the royal brother of James Frain's castle-dwelling character. Also, did the potion-based "purification" do anything to him other than allow him to awaken Juliette? Will he be a changed Hexenbeast? Plus, what will he do now that Adalind's mom, Catherine, is no longer around to hex things up with him? Great mom-fight too, by the way. Not only did we get the mother/son team-up against the saber-toothed beast at the beginning, but we got a big, bad matriarchal brawl-to-the-death in the middle. Like most shows, Grimm works best when it deals with bigger stories, bigger bosses and mysteries that linger. The more it steers clear of "case of the week" stuff, the more it has a chance to shine.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes - "Ultron Unlimited" Review

Warning - full episode spoilers follow.

The problem with Ultron is that, no matter how many times you pound him into scrap metal, he always returns in a new body and with a new plan for wiping out humanity. The Avengers learned that the hard way in this week's episode of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. "Ultron Unlimited" picked up where "Behold... the Vision!" left off a few weeks ago, as the robotic villain sought to replace the Avengers with his own, "perfected" Synthezoid Avengers. Unfortunately, "Ultron Unlimited" turned out to be the first instance where the show's new, largely standalone approach to episodic storytelling took its toll.

The problem is that the idea of the real Avengers battling their evil replacements is a little too familiar coming so close on the heels of the Skrull invasion saga. Hawkeye even seemed to point out that fact when he quipped, "Just so we're clear, I'm the real me." That brief moment of levity didn't do much to spice up the conflict, however. Even Vision's fight scenes felt strangely diminished, as the character was far from the unstoppable powerhouse he was in his first appearance. Chalk it up to his conflicted feelings on his mission, I suppose. The best that could be said for the action in this episode is that, like in "Assault on 42", the fact that the Avengers were fighting inhuman opponents allowed them to be more brutal and decisive in combat than animated superhero shows typically allow. The rampant battling was entertaining enough, just not particularly noteworthy.

The focus on Avenger vs. Avenger brawling meant that Ultron himself was largely relegated to being a backseat player. We were never given a clear idea of what Ultron's larger goal was beyond swapping the Avengers out for Synthezoids.It was cool to see the team eventually unite to battle Ultron in his all new, all adamantium shell, but by that point the episode had too little running time left to take advantage of the scenario. And while Vision's evolution from uncaring soldier to would-be human was engaging, it could have been fleshed out and expanded upon. That's to say nothing of Jocasta, who played so little role in the episode it's enough to wonder why she was introduced at all. I don't know if she's intended to return before the end of the season, but if she does, hopefully the writers will actually do something with her and her relationship to the Pym family.

"Ultron Unlimited" was at its best when it focused on that family dynamic and Ultron's Oedipal relationship with his "mother," Janet. It's too bad Hank didn't make his long-awaited return here, because there's plenty of good material to mine with these characters. A script that downplayed the Avengers and devoted more time to Ultron's efforts to both please and supplant his father would have worked a lot better. Sadly, as far as I'm aware, this was Ultron's final appearance for the remainder of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The most we can do is hope that Avengers Assemble takes a slightly more dark and psychological approach to the character.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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Wilfred: "Service" Review

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

After last week's incredibly depressing (albeit engaging) episode, it was nice to see "Service" work to get Wilfred and Ryan back to the basics again. Of course, this couldn't happen without the spectacular finish to Ryan's working life. I have to say, of all the ways for Ryan to lose his job, I did not foresee his boss's public suicide pinning the last nail in the coffin. Hats off to Steven Weber, whose inspiring monologue offset his final moment perfectly.

And just like that, Ryan was off the hook once more to smoke pot in his basement full-time, freeing him from all ties both romantic and professional. However, there was still the matter of Kristen and her unborn baby, as well as Ryan and Kristen's mentally unstable mother (reprised by Mary Steenburgen). Following the death of her kitten, it was up to Ryan to raise his mother's spirits.

While it was great to see Steenburgen's return to the show, the whole road trip aspect didn't really ebb with the rest of the episode. There were a handful of funny moments -- the policeman encounter at the forefront -- but it was really Wilfred's own antics before and after the journey that delivered the lion's share of the laughs. His bloody-teethed interactions with Ryan and his passive-aggressive paw-over-hand bit were easily among the story's greatest bits.

I think it was the ending with Kristen going into labor that really elevated the arc to new heights. Some of the best moments between Wilfred and Ryan are when Wilfred lucidly convinces Ryan to achieve his unspoken goals. The final painting scene with Ryan and his mom was also a pleasant way to close out the episode -- a far cry from last week's melancholy conclusion.

In a way, it was kind of nice to see the show hit the reset button on a lot of the events that transpired this season, especially considering Ryan's breakup with Amanda last week. Wilfred's time at the office was also beginning to reach the end of its schtick, anyway. However, it will be interesting to see where this takes Ryan next, if anywhere.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

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Alphas: "When Push Comes to Shove" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

No, the fact that Nina and Rachel had a go-for-broke make out session in this episode isn't the reason the score's higher, although it certainly didn't hurt matters. "When Push Comes to Shove" took a break from the Stanton Parish storyline and had Dr. Rosen and his team focus solely on helping one of their own: Nina. And it did a great job of illustrating one of the most interesting aspects of this series - the fact that each member of the team is broken in their own way. Some more than others. And with Nina, the greater the power, the stronger the spiral.

Nina, who was the one member of the team whose powers didn't quite fully mesh with the case-of-the-week mission format, has always been the most dangerous of Rosen's crew. Her mind-control abilities might not be suited for battle, but this episode showed us just how dangerous they are and exactly why, as Rosen states, the government fears her. Plus, the fact that she was growing more powerful gave the whole story a whole "Dark Phoenix" twinge. By the end of the episode, it looked like she was even pushing her own mind in order to continue along her self-destructive path.

The flashbacks featuring Nina and Tommy growing up in the Bronx were sublimely tragic and did a lot to color in Nina's character, which didn't really exist in Season 1. In fact, last year, the way the writers mostly made her relevant was by putting her in a relationship with Cameron. There were a couple of cool little tricks along the way here too, with Rosen discovering that he had been Nina-pushed and didn't know it, and the reveal that Nina had pushed Tommy, who had wound up rejecting her back when they were still kids. Those elements, the team's basic helplessness when it comes to Nina and Yes' "I've Seen All good People" at the end all made for a mighty strong episode.

Yes, the team can pretty much be dismantled by Nina if she puts her mind to it. Which made Rosen all the more important in this episode. Because the way to take down Nina isn't with tactics or force, it's with reasoning. And Nina will only stop when she determines that it's time to stop. For a little while, at the rate Nina was going, I wondered if this episode was going to be it for her character. And that Kat might take her place on the team. In fact, at the end when it looked like Cameron's hand might slip off the cable hook, I thought Nina might push him and have him let her fall. To save him.

Rachel and John's relationship business got solved too, with John revealing that he's a recovering burn victim who's also not too crazy about all the touching. He wasn't much match for Cameron in the "guns drawn" department, but since this mission was off-the-books, we can let it slide. So far this season, the character work has been much stronger than the actual case work. Which is good. Especially for an episode like this that involves an in-house case.

Now get out of here before I take off my towel and show you my fruit.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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Grimm: "Bad Teeth" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

With "Bad Teeth," Grimm kicked Season 2 off in a rather bloody fashion, but ultimately we were left with what felt like half an episode. Things certainly picked up on the show last season with the idea of the "Royal Families" being thrown into the mix - along with the Adelind-hexing-Hank multi-episode arc - but those elements didn't help this premiere episode from feeling, well, toothless.

It also now seems like Juliette, the show's version of Sleeping Beauty, will eventually wake up and conveniently not remember anything from the Season 1 finale involving Nick's confession. Which is a shame because I actually thought that the scene between them in the trailer was done really well. There's nothing worse that watching your show's hero be looked at, and perceived by, the woman he loves as tragically insane. Anyway, I guess, in the midst of her coma, Juliette is "Eternal Sunshining" (second time I've used that movie's title as a verb in a review this week) Nick and the events leading up to her cat scratch fever. The question now remains: How far back will her amnesia go? Will she just forget all the bad stuff about Nick? Or will she forget him entirely, giving Nick an ultimate "out" of the relationship that his Aunt warned him about?

Reoowwrr!

Hank wasn't used much in this opener; still fidgety and shaky after witnessing two beasts that he shouldn't have. The real focus of this one was Nick and his long-thought-dead mother, Kelly (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), reconnecting and Nick having to come to terms with the fact that she, and Marie, lied to him. Heh, if only Nick watched more TV shows that had the "dead parent" premise. They almost always lead to one, or both, of the parents being still alive, don't they?

I have to say, at first it kind of felt like Nick wasn't nearly surprised enough to see his mother. Sure, the situation was awkward, but he just sort of seemed to roll with it. Maybe he's just used to rolling with so much crazy crap in his life that his mom coming back from the dead was no big whoop. The two of them didn't really seem to bond though until they got into Marie's trailer and looked at old weapons and dusty tomes. She basically revealed that she faked her death to protect him, but that seems like something Marie should have told him before she died. You know, make it a package deal. "You're a Grimm AND you're mom's still out there killing Fuchsbaus."

So what brought Kelly to Portland? Those rascally Coins of Zakynthos, of course. That need to be destroyed "One Ring"-style, back on the island they where they were forged. The cliffhanger at the end, which was still weird to see since it basically cut off in the middle of what should have been the third act fight, didn't leave me with much anxiety. Nick's killed two Reapers. And on the off chance that he couldn't handle to the French cat monster (which is supposed to be worse than a Reaper) his mother's still around to save him. Akira's dead now; poisoned in his cell. But it was strange to see him tell Renard that there were two Grimms now and then have Renard...make a mental note of that and then walk away. It was a very TV thing to do even though it would have made more sense for Renard to take a few steps back and say "Say what now about two Grimms?"

"Bad Teeth," like the Season 1 finale, felt like it was dealing with too many things that it wasn't going to be able to solve in the allotted time. I have no problem with a story staying open for a few episodes, but here all of the stories are staying open. And Nick didn't even really get to be a badass in this one other than threatening Adelind's mother. On the bright side, True Blood's James Frain popped up as someone across the sea in a castle, torturing some poor bastard for the Royals. I believe, other than Renard (who's more "shadowy" than evil) Frain's character might be this show's first attempt at a "big bad."

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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True Blood: "Gone, Gone, Gone" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

Vampire attacks are way up, human retaliation's on the rise and Sookie...kills a newly-vampiric Coroner Spencer with a pair of chopsticks. Yes, "Gone, Gone, Gone" was a bit of a mess mess mess, but it was also probably the most ridiculously quotable episode of the season so far. And by quotable, I mean True Blood quotable; the sassy, filthy silly kind that sound like they should be followed by a z-snap. From Tara doing an homage to Butterfly McQueen ("I don't know nothin' about birthin' no baby vampires!") to Hoyt's mama calling Jessica a "cheeto-headed tramp" to Pam using the phrase "d***head dipped in afterbirth," this episode was primarily played for s***s and giggles.

Bill was on FaceTime, Russell and Steve danced to "Teenage Dream," and some glyph expert claimed to have an ex-wife who named her toes. Yes, it was a happening. Unfortunately, this episode was also all over the map; as demonstrated by Eric and Nora seeing visions of both Lilith and Godric and Russell maniacally revealing that he doesn't give a crap about Lilith and the council. Yes, I understand that Lilith killing Godric represented her blood presence overtaking his, but it was still loopy. And while Russell may have seemed completely anti-religion back when he killed Roman, he'd since fallen in with the flock. And if he was merely faking it the whole time well, that wasn't clearly established. It really just seemed like he had a tantrum. One where his accent changed. His accent did change, right? To something Eastern Euro. I'm not the only one who heard it, right?

On the upside, Russell directly addressed the fact that he'd been wrongfully sidelined when he's clearly stronger than any of the other vampires. Also, he's circled back to his unfinished fairy blood business from Season 3. Which, when you combine with his wolf pack, might mean that we could get some payoff/closure regarding stuff from two years back. True Blood has the strangest ways of leaving things off in an episode, doesn't it? Russell running off and all the other vampires looking confused. Sam and Luna in mid-Emma heist. It always feels weird. Like when we left Sam and that one "Obama" in mid-hospital fight a few episodes back.

And I like that Sam and Luna going after Emma, as well as Luna being so mad that she wants to tell the world about shifters and wolves, but didn't it seem weird to have their panicky, planning-to-get-close-to-Steve scene after the scene where Sam stopped the dude at the diner from shooting Jess? Was he just there working a shift while Emma was off and kidnapped? Did he just tell Luna to hang tight by the computer while he went to work the bar? Despite having a business to run, wouldn't Emma being taken by a vampire be priority number one? Sam basically sacrificed his life for Luna and Emma in the season premiere.

The star of this clumsy episode, however, was Jess. Man, Deborah Ann Woll is so good and I find myself wanting to follow her story, and follow her as the protagonist, more than any other character on the show. And as much as I'm over Hoyt and his moping, the scene (which still felt a bit odd in the midst of all the kookiness of the episode) where Hoyt tearfully asked Jessica to "Eternal Sunshine" him with her glamour powers was pretty good. I mean, there's nothing that will make you feel more like crap than someone legitimately wanting to forget you forever. That scene, plus Jason pulling over Hoyt to say goodbye (in a way), definitely felt like a goodbye to Hoyt. Which is fine. Hoyt's entire persona was based on his story with Jess. It's time for him to go. And it was a good end. Now I hope that, you know, he doesn't come back. Until next season at least. Let it the finality of the scenes be somewhat final.

I still don't really buy Bill as a villain. Even after he app-staked Molly. But watching him bible-thump in front of Jess (who's no stranger to bible-thumping) did help paint him up as creep. I think Jess now being among the crazy, brainwashed AVLers gets us a few steps closer to this case getting closed. And because of her past relationship with Bill, we'll be able to accept him more as a changed vampire. Again though, I'd much rather see Jess figure all this out and save that day than Sookie, who's still trying to figure out her fairy mystery. At this point, I'm more invested in Jess's relationship with bad Bill than Sookie's. And I guess we can count Eric among the glassy-eyed now too. With his vision of Godric now decimated, I can't figure out how he could be faking any of this. Which is strange when you think of this being the second season now, in a row, that Eric's been under some sort of mind-control.

Pam and Tara still amuse me, especially since they already managed to put an end to Sheriff Douchenozzle. It was fun to see the difference in their ideologies; with Pam wanting to go on the run and Tara wanting to stay and fight. Right now, these two, plus Jess, are the only sort of "front line" the show's got against the religious nuts, and I'd be more than fine if it stayed that way.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

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Wilfred: "Truth" Review

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

In this week's episode of Wilfred, we got to see a side of the show that we only occasionally catch glimpses of every now and then. This series constantly walks a fine line between situational comedy and hard emotional drama, and "Truth" definitely leaned more towards the latter. But it's a testament to the characters that this story was just as riveting -- if not more so -- than last week's goofier, lighthearted fare.

From the moment Amanda asked Ryan, "What's your biggest secret?," you knew the episode was setting itself up for another heady mind trip. Wilfred's doomsday predictions were also a signal of the madness to come. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, Ryan ignored Wilfred's warning and instead decided to ask Amanda to move in with him; and to Wilfred's credit, the very idea of Amanda moving in at this point in Ryan's life did sound a mite preposterous. After all, the dude still has no earthly idea whether or not he actually has a basement -- and by extension, neither do we. I'd say that's the mark of an unstable individual.

Of course, the real fun began when the earthquake struck. Here, we saw the return of Bruce (Dwight Yoakam), the mysterious man from Wilfred's past. I have to say, as stark and dreary as this episode was, the montage of ridiculous challenges between Bruce and Ryan were pretty hilarious. Just the utter insanity of the rules were enough to break up the tension.

However, it was the phone call to Ryan's dad that clinched the arc here. Season 2 has continued to hint at a confrontation between the two at some point, and it makes me wonder if that is the disaster Wilfred is talking about. If that's the case, we may be moving towards something huge, especially since we've been given the red flag this much ahead of time.

But the heartbreaker this week was Ryan's final scene with Amanda. Their breakup was thoroughly gut-wrenching. A part of me wished Ryan had just told her the truth about his relationship with Wilfred, if only so he could finally confide in somebody. Alas, I fear we've seen the end of our dear Amanda. True to Wilfred form, we had to wait until Ryan had reached his highest point before we could nosedive to the worst possible outcome.

Again, this was definitely one of the darkest episodes of the season, with only a handful of laughs to latch onto. Nevertheless, it also gave us plenty to chew on in terms of Wilfred's existence and where Ryan is at emotionally. It actually felt appropriate to have the credits over black this week, as Ryan and Wilfred's conversation at the beach really said it all. Something horrible is about to happen, and it sounds like there's no stopping it.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

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The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes - "Assault on 42" Review

Warning: full episode spoilers follow.

We've been seeing Earth's Mightiest Heroes transition towards a slightly more standalone format lately, rather than the episodic approach of the first half of Season 2. But if "Assault on 42" proved anything, it's that this done-in-one storytelling can yield impressive results. "Assault on 42" saw Cap lead a truncated band of Avengers into the Negative Zone to visit Prison 42. S.H.IE.L.D. is convinced that the Negative Zone is an empty realm devoid of any life, but naturally, that isn't the case at all. The showdown between the prison's residents and the savage, almost mindless bugs of the Negative Zone was inevitable.

Last week I noted how "Behold... the Vision!" seemed to be paying homage to Predator during the jungle hunt sequence. The EMH writers must have '80s sci-fi classics on the brains, because this episode gave off a clear Aliens vibe throughout. Early on, our heroes were hounded in dark corridors by an unseen enemy. Later, as the battle intensified, the creeping sense of horror exploded into all-out war between man and bug. For what is largely an all-ages show, this episode did a nice job of maintaining a grim, foreboding tone. The fact that the Avengers and their temporary allies were battling mindless bugs also allowed the episode to be more straightforward in its depiction of violence.

Speaking of temporary allies, the decision to include a number of past Avengers rogues in the battle lent a but of fun to the otherwise dark series of events. Some of these villains, like Leader and Abomination, haven't really been seen since the early episodes. Cap's decision to exclude Baron Zemo from the festivities was a nice touch. We saw Skurge the Executioner take a major step from simple villain to heroic warrior as he silently acknowledged Thor as a comrade and embraced his new mission. I was beginning to think the writers were going to borrow from the classic comic The Mighty Thor #362 and depict Skurge's iconic moment of sacrifice in slightly different surroundings. However, Thor's reference to Enchantress' current plight may suggest that big moment is coming down the pipeline.

On the other side of the battle, Annihilus had a memorable debut as this episode's central villain. The series is 2 for 2 so far when it comes to borrowing major Fantastic Four foes. The writers offered a cool take on Annihilus by rendering him entirely mute and only conveying his rage and motivations through the Leader's psychic probing. It helped emphasize Annihilus' inhuman, otherworldly qualities. I do wish there had been a bit more variety in Annihilus' drones. If anything, the bugs looked more like the Brood aliens from the X-Men franchise than the usual Negative Zone creatures on display in the comics. But given how much the Brood resemble the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies in form and function, that may have been an intentional design choice.

"Assault on 42" was necessarily that important in terms of advancing the currently open conflicts of the series. It was, however, a very well executed chapter that managed to go a little darker and more violent than the series usually strives for. Hopefully this level of quality is a sign of what we can expect as the series moves through the second half of Season 2.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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