Take Three: Reboot

Reboot: Season 1, Episode 3 “Growing Pains” (B+)

I’m glad to see that this show is really diving into all of its characters, giving them many subplots and humorous ways to interact. Gordon showing up to the writers’ meeting and mistaking everyone for diversity hires was a problematic start, and the two teams of writers were not doing a great job at communicating or coexisting. But seeing Hannah trip as she tried to forcefully quit and exit was a good way to bring them together and remind them of what’s funny, and this will surely not be the last disagreement about what to write. Reed getting too excited on set was a productive opportunity for Bree to bond with Timberly and for the two of them to enter into a romance that’s definitely going to cause friction down the road. Zack leaned fully into the idea of his TV dad being with his real mom, and after Clay scrambled to figure a way out of the relationship, he found out the impressive truth: that Zack’s mom had broken that windshield from the inside of the car with her foot and has absolutely no interest in commitment. That’s perfect for Clay, of course, the kind of personality who unfortunately does surely exist in the real world but really should not given his disgusting habits and generally chauvinistic behavior. It’s fun, however, to see his relationship with Zack, who he can’t stand but also seems to gravitate towards, unexpectedly open to getting burgers together even if he was not about to drive together to get them.

What I’m Watching: The Flash

The Flash: Season 7, Episode 7 “Growing Pains” (B)

It’s definitely jarring having the speed force just parade around and show up everywhere in a flash as Nora, and her/its presence was messing with Barry’s ability to control his powers. Fortunately, after Barry got pretty worked up about it, they found a good balance that enabled him to channel his abilities and use the speed force as a positive motivation. Chester was awfully excited about his first solo crime scene tech call, and just like Barry and Cisco have often found themselves, he wasn’t able to do match to help protect the meta suspect that he knew wasn’t actually the culprit in this case. I was pretty sure that Joe had set things up so that Caitlin could be arrested and then proven not to be Killer Frost because Frost was elsewhere doing something at the same time, but it wasn’t anything that elaborate, and Frost was ready to get herself implicated because she wanted to break Caitlin out of custody. I wasn’t sure what was going on when Frost got very distracted by the bartender’s shirtless body, but the attraction became obvious later once it was revealed that he was the ice-touting meta who had framed her. I had forgotten how Allegra came into this show and what she did before she joined Team Flash, and it was interesting to see her allegiance to Frost as a fellow reformed criminal. I didn’t expect Frost to turn herself in at the end since nothing good can come from that, but it is true that she didn’t kill anyone and it’s possible that she’ll be rewarded for a recent shift to heroic behavior.