Karen’s Pull List: Series 02, Issue 01 – For the WE October 13, 2018

Welcome to another Season of Karen’s Pull List! This year, I’m joined by my Nice Girl co-writer, Cara! She’ll be helping me with some shows that she watches so that I can cover some shows in more detail. I think this will be a GREAT partnership! With that, I say we dig in to last week’s Comics on TV!

Walking Dead 9×01 – A New Beginning

Rating: 

Karen: 8.5 Engagement Rings

• Chekov’s Floor?
  I knew as soon as Rick looked pointedly at that glass floor that it would be coming back later in the episode as a plot point, and what do you know, it sure did. Our main heroes took a trip to the Capitol to grab some artifacts, and nabbed a covered wagon, a plough, and a small canoe – along with some other small stuff. They had to get the items over the glass floor, below which were a horde of walkers. Because Walking Dead. As the glass squeaked and cracked, the tension mounted, and Ezekiel – the last across – finally broke through. He dangled above the walkers until he could be pulled up, with Daryl saving him from a fatal bite.
• He’s a fighter, not a lover.
  Speaking of which, Daryl is now in charge of the ex-saviors at Sanctuary, which cannot be super pleasant for him. There’s dissent there as well, with defiant members and Negan graffitti being written on the walls. Justin is a problem for sure. He finally asks if he can leave and go to Hilltop, which makes Rick a bit upset – he would rather Daryl come “home” to Alexandria. Carol offers to take over at Sanctuary to get some space from Ezekiel, who keeps proposing to her.
• Hangman.
  After a young man from Hilltop dies on the trip back from Washington, Maggie is in a bad place with his parents. They wanted her to be the leader of Hilltop, but make it clear they don’t want her around after blaming her for their son’s death. Gregory, who is smarting after being deposed by Maggie, seizes the opportunity, and turns the father on her – trying to assassinate the new leader of Hilltop. It backfires spectacularly, ending in a public hanging of Gregory. (I admit, I was kinda satisfied – he was BEGGING for comeuppance).

The Gifted 2×03 –  coMplications

Rating: 

Karen: 8 Healing beams of light

• Crash Course in the Truth.
  Reed is getting his powers back even though his father suppressed them when he was young. He’s getting horrible headaches, after which whatever he’s holding is disintegrated. In this episode, he goes on a road trip with Lauren, and has an episode while driving. The steering wheel goes bye-bye, and they crash. He has to face up to his reemerging powers, and he comes clean to Lauren and Kate.
• Daddy Daycare.
  Eclipse is summoned to The Inner Circle headquarters when Dawn’s jaundice can’t be cured through normal remedies. The scene where he heals his daughter with light was ethereal and utterly lovely. It’s these type of scenes that keep me 100% interested in The Gifted. The flashback at the beginning with Marcos/Eclipse and his father was also incredibly compelling. We learn that his mother was forced to hide her powers and he was estranged for his. It plays into his insecurities about being separated from his new daughter. When he’s dragged away from Lorna and Dawn, Reeva turns his powers back on him, burning his arm and knocking him out. Andy witnesses his friend being attacked and it looked to me like he might be rethinking his allegiance.
• Underground Underground. 
  Thunderbird and Blink visit the Morlocks, a group of mutants that can’t blend in with non-mutants, so they’ve taken to living underground. They get some information from them, but in exchange, Blink is asked to be a “spy” for them. She decides to keep this a secret from Thunderbird in a very weird decision. I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal that she had to keep the info to herself, but hey, I’m not Blink. 

The Flash 5×01 – Nora

Rating: 

Karen: 8.5 Many-Verses

• Meet the New Kid.
  Nora finally introduces herself to the Flash team, and tells them that she’s Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future. Her alter-ego is XS (excess), and she’s also a speedster. However, after helping Barry with the satellite, she can’t build up the speed to get back home. OR SO SHE SAYS. This turns out to be false, she’s faking the shortfall in order to spend time with her father. Nora takes Barry into the “Braille” room and brings up the future newspaper. She tells him that when he disappears during the “Crisis,” he never comes back, and she just wanted to get to know her father. In the end, even though it might MESS UP THE TIMELINE, (do you not learn anything Barry?) they decide to let her stay and bond with Barry.
• Gridlock is the worst.
  The “villain of the week” is a static charging dude named Gridlock. Nora interrupts Flash’s attempt to bring him in, which alters the timeline. He was supposed to be captured easily. That’s an issue because he builds up power via kinetic energy with each attack. They need to apprehend him quickly, but with the satellite out of commission, they’re flying blind.
• Icy reception.
  Caitlin still hasn’t has a visit from Killer Frost, and Ralph is THERE FOR HER. (ps. I love Ralph, so don’t look to me for any Elongated Man hate). She’s been having some flashbacks to an incident in her past where she seemed to show some powers, and it related to her father. She thinks he’s dead, but Ralph finds new evidence that his death has been greatly exaggerated.
• Every 17 Years?
  After finally getting Gridlock taken care of, he’s being held securely – THEY THINK. At the end of the episode, the season’s big bad, Cicada shows up to kill Gridlock – letting him know that he’s ready to take out all Metahumans. Thanks bad guy! It’s always nice when they reveal their motivations when they could easily just come in and off the victim quietly. 

Black Lightning 2×01 – Rise of the Green Light Babies

Rating:

Cara: 9 Lightning Bolts
Karen: 8.5 Harpoons

• Facing Consequences
  Black Lightning returned this week, and Jefferson Pierce is facing the consequences of last seasons chaos. The school is still closed, and the school board is thinking of taking drastic action after the attack there. The young people addicted to green light are spiraling, and the police are responding with unchecked aggression. It’s not just his professional life under fire though. Jennifer’s powers are unpredictable and not under control, and Anissa is going the Robin Hood route towards helping her community find the funds to fight for their children. Henderson has finally connected the dots about Black Lightning, and he’s angry at Jefferson for keeping him in the dark for so long.
• Pod People
  Lynn is also under scrutiny by officials with a lot of questions about the pods. She pulls strings to stay in charge of the project, but it’s a tenuous situation. It can’t help that the government is refusing to return the children from the pods to their families. Lynn’s bound to get caught up in that struggle.

• Where’s Tobias?.
  Kara goes to Gambi for help, revealing that she was a spotter for kids with powers like he once was. She offers the mysterious briefcase that Tobias received in exchange for his help in starting a new life. She takes on Syanide in a parking garage and it turns out the vice principle is a pretty formidable foe. At the end, Tobias has another reason to go full baddie and wreak havoc on Freeland, and it seems like he’s ready to unleash his rage on Freeland. I think we’re in for some serious revenge from Tobias Whale.

Riverdale – Chapter 36: Labor Day

Rating:

Cara: 7 Arrows Nocked

• Last Day of Summer
  Summer is winding down and Archie finally has his day in court. The jury is undecided, but the DA offers a plea and Archie agrees to it, against everyone’s wishes. Now he’s off to juvie while the rest of Riverdale heads back to school. Josie and Sweetpea had a summer fling, but it’s back to the music business for Josie with the new school year. Kevin’s making moves too, and challenges Moose to an 80s teen movie-style contest to find romance. Toni and Cheryl are still going strong after a summer road trip. It looks like love is in the air in Riverdale.

• One of Us

Polly finally convinced Alice to drink the Farm’s Kool-Aid, and now the two are after Betty. However, perhaps they’re not as misguided as they seem because we learn that Betty has been forging Adderall prescriptions from a fake psychiatrist that she’s been pretending to see all summer. When Betty thinks she sees her mom and Polly participating in a cult ritual, it’s hard to say what’s real and what’s Betty’s paranoia. Jughead has his own trouble to deal with as the Ghoulies work to permanently remove the Serpents from the Southside, but Cheryl’s not gonna let anyone mess with her new family.

Archie’s Weird Mysteries

Riverdale looks poised to take a turn towards the supernatural this season with a decidedly paranormal vibe. Betty thinks she’s seeing Satanic rituals, perhaps an allusion to Sabrina’s impending arrival on Netflix. Jughead finds himself in the realm of the spooky as well when he has to track down Dilton and finds him in some kind of trance beneath a very creepy demonic looking figure. Season 1 was Pulp Noir. Season 2 was a journey into the underworld of Riverdale’s organized crime syndicates. It looks like season 3 might be taking us somewhere spooky and supernatural.

Next week:

Sunday:

The Walking Dead 9×02 – The Bridge
The communities join forces to restore a bridge that will facilitate communication and trade; someone is gravely injured at the construction site.

Supergirl 4×01 – American Alien
HOPE VS. FEAR — Diving back into reporting, Kara (Melissa Benoist) welcomes a new cub reporter to CatCo. Meanwhile, James (Mehcad Brooks) and Lena (Katie McGrath) argue about James’ impending indictment for acting as the vigilante Guardian, while Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Brainy (Jesse Rath) struggle to get in sync at the DEO. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) is called into action when remnants of the anti-alien terrorist organization Cadmus try to assassinate pro-alien leaders, but their endgame turns out to be much more sinister than she expected. J’onn (David Harewood) relishes his peaceful new life, but an outing with an old friend causes him concern.

Monday:

Arrow 7×01 – Inmate 4587
Following Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) shocking decision to turn himself over to the FBI and reveal his identity as the Green Arrow to the public, Oliver has spent the past five months in Slabside Maximum Security Prison. Determined to keep a low profile to shorten his sentence for the sake of his family, Oliver is tested when he runs into old foes. Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) have taken on new jobs and left their costumes behind but not everyone is following suit. With her focus on William (guest star Jack Moore), Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) tries to start over but when someone from her past resurfaces, things become complicated.

Tuesday:

The Gifted 2×04 – outMatched
The Struckers, minus Andy, begin to rebuild their broken trust, while Thunderbird, Blink and Eclipse visit Wire, hoping to convince him to help again. But when they get there, they learn that something terrible has happened from Wire’s brother, Graph (guest star Adam David Thompson). The team discovers that the Inner Circle is on the way to raid a mutant detention facility, so they make moves to try to intercept them. Meanwhile, Jace is contacted by a member of the Purifiers.

The Flash 5×02 – Blocked
As Barry (Grant Gustin) helps his daughter, Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy), become a better speedster, he and Team Flash also track down a meta stealing high-tech weapons, only to cross paths with a new foe named Cicada (Chris Klein), who is hunting the very same meta with nefarious intent.

Black Lightning 2×02 – Black Jesus Blues
Jefferson must break the news to his students and faculty that he is stepping down. Struggling with his new life as Painkiller, Kahlil pays a visit to Jennifer in hopes of mending things. Meanwhile, Tobias continues to enact his plan.

Wednesday:

Riverdale 3×01 – Fortune and Men’s Eyes
After a gruesome discovery is made in the forest, Jughead and Betty team up to investigate Riverdale‘s latest mystery. As Archie navigates his new surroundings, Veronica devises a plan to bring a bit of home to him. Elsewhere, when Moose decides to join the RROTC, Kevin worries he may be pulling away from him.