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Christmas episodes aren't usually the high-points of any Doctor Who series (2012's "The Snowmen" was a rare exception), but that's usually because they're designed to be broader than usual and slightly more accessible to non-fans—because a Christmas Day audience will naturally include lots of people who aren't under the show's spell. In many ways the festive special is the ideal recruitment opportunity. Unfortunately, "The Time of The Doctor" was a festive special only in the sense that writer Steven Moffat named a wintery town 'Christmas' on an alien world (a ridiculous flourish in an hour full of them). This was actually a very narrow-minded seasonal special, preaching to the chorus, so the swansong of the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) probably only pleased the Whovians who re-watch whole box-sets every few months and got a TARDIS tea cosy under their Christmas tree the morning this aired.
The third season of Homeland ends in a largely satisfying way; particularly if you'd grown bored of Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis) and think the show desperately needs to find a new direction. For a show that was once highly respected because it was plausible (allowing for dramatic license, of course), it's a shame this season has been characterised by questionable developments, but thankfully it's always been an entertaining ride.
F.Z.Z.T ★★½ | The Hub ★★½ | The Well ★★★ | Repairs ★★ | The Bridge ★★½So how is Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D faring, halfway through its first season? Well, I've enjoyed the last five episodes more than the first five, as the characters are beginning to develop personalities, and the writers are clearly attempting to improve matters. I'm still unsure we really need two young geeks on the show, but Elizabeth Henstridge at least makes Simmons a delight whenever she's put into unfamiliar circumstances. Iain De Caestecker's Fitz has a nice rapport with her too (more familial than sexual), but he's yet to really carve a place out for himself. He could vanish and I wouldn't notice; and, this being a Joss Whedon co-creation, maybe that's on the cards and explains why two eggheads are along for the ride?
The last ever episode of Misfits wasn't very conclusive; perhaps because creator Howard Overman still has hopes for a feature film to continue the story, which is apparently written and ready to film. Is there an Inbetweeners-sized appetite for it though? It already feels like the Misfits concept is a few years past its prime, and audience passion has dimmed over the course of so many cast changes. Added to that, there's the fact a show like Misfits gets less shocking/radical the longer you're in its company, although even Kick-Ass's language never got close to the epic vulgarities Misfits has delivered over the past five years.
★★½ (out of five)
One criticism of the unfairly disliked SUPERMAN RETURNS is that it was visually underwhelming and Supes didn't hit things enough. Sigh. You can't criticise MAN OF STEEL on that level; but where's the fan outcry over its lack of heart, humour and thoughtfulness, which RETURNS had in spades? I give up.
Zach Snyder (300, WATCHMEN) is the man behind this reboot, and early hopes having Christopher Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT) as the film's "godfather" might have a positive effect on Snyder's film-making falls by the wayside after fifteen-minutes. MAN OF STEEL does have some neat ideas and twists on comic-book expectations, let's be fair: the planet Krypton finally has a rich cultural identity that's the antithesis of Richard Donner's glacial 1978 interpretation; I loved the idea that Kryptonians are genetically-engineered to fulfil particular roles in society, so Kal El's the first "natural born" amongst their kind who can forge his own destiny; and Lois Lane (Amy Adams) discovers Clark Kent's an alien before he's technically even "Superman", which completely upends the comic tradition of her being unaware her bespectacled colleague is the Man of Steel himself. That's a massive change. They've basically SPIDER MAN 2'd the franchise a film early. Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) also dies in an interesting way that's equally devastating to Clark than a heart-attack he couldn't prevent—although Pa Kent's also written as a callous and paranoid man who'd rather let a bus full of children die than have the world know his son's super-strong. Costner somehow survives that writing.
The penultimate hour saw Brody's (Damien Lewis) mission gather momentum, with the inevitable obstacles and problems thrown his way. I actually really love Homeland when it's doing things in this vein, as it does a great job of building suspense by flitting between the CIA control room and what's happening out in the field—especially when the operation involves Brody and Carrie (Claire Danes), who are both characters that remain stubbornly unpredictable. Or predictably unpredictable?
It's the penultimate episode of the last ever Misfits series, and despite this week's story being a quasi-remake of an early classic (where the first generation of misfits encountered problems with their powers after taking drugs at a rave), this one was nevertheless very entertaining and pushed the show's arcs along in big ways ready for next week's finale.
One of the things that most appealed about Homeland when it started, and has stayed largely true ever since, is that it always eschewed the temptation to become a big action thriller. It plays in the same sandpit as predecessors like 24 and The Unit, but rarely indulges high-octane action dramatics—usually saving explosive moments for finales. So, three episodes before the finale, it was fun to see Homeland indulge itself with a whole hour dedicated to Brody's (Damien Lewis) attempt to get from Iraq to Iran and claim asylum—which was all part of the CIA plan, masterminded by Saul (Mandy Patinkin), to have him infiltrate the Iranian government and assassinate a bigwig.
