The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes - "Yellowjacket" Review

Warning - full episode spoilers follow.

My biggest complaint about the previous episode of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, "Ultron Unlimited," was that it didn't focus enough on the bizarre Pym/Ultron family dynamic. A major part of the problem was that Hank Pym was still in superhero retirement at the time and thus not around to confront his creation. But while that was a bit of wasted potential, at least Hank made his long-awaited return for "Yellowjacket." This episode borrowed from some classic Bronze Age Avengers material as it chronicled Pym's descent into madness and his misguided attempt to reinvent himself as a more proactive hero.

This isn't easy material for a more family-oriented superhero show to tackle, but the writers seemed to handle the challenge well. Speaking of which, the Man of Action team were responsible for this week's installment. They seemed to bring an extra dose of sly humor to the characters, particularly when it came to Hawkeye and his quips. But despite that extra dose of humor, the episode was fairly dark in tone. The writers didn't shy away from Pym's deteriorating mental state. If anything, they pushed him a step further than he went in the comics. Though he didn't get to the point of physically abusing Jan as he did in the infamous Avengers #213 (good luck convincing Disney to air that), Yellowjacket's schizophrenic desire to kill off his Hank Pym personality was arguably more extreme than it was in the source material.

All of this made for a very interesting character study. The characterization in Earth's Mightiest Heroes has always been a bit wooden and straightforward compared to some of the more ambitious superhero cartoons out there, but Hank may be the lone exception on the team. The show is immediately better off for having him back in action. And kudos to Wally Wingert for providing a Yellowjacket voice that was convincingly different from his regular Pym voice. Even for viewers who haven't read an Avengers comic, I'm sure the identity reveal was about as surprising as Senator Palpatine turning out to be Darth Sidious, but the effort was appreciated anyway. That said, hopefully Wingert can find more of a happy vocal medium if Pym really is determined to keep up his Yellowjacket persona going forward.

The one down side to this episode is that it didn't offer the resolution regarding Pym's mental state I was hoping for. Iron Man's brief outburst aside, the Avengers seemed perfectly willing to accept Hank back in the fold despite his recent misdeeds. That's to say nothing of the bizarre public reaction to Yellowjacket's debut. For all anyone was aware, Yellowjacket was caught on video giving the Punisher treatment to the Serpent Society, yet he was being praised on the news as a welcome addition to New York's costumed community. Will there be opportunity to keep exploring Hank's tenuous grip on sanity in the remaining episodes, or is this it? And is it just me, or is anyone getting tired of the Serpent Society being the de facto characters whenever the writers need a group of bad guy punching bags? The Marvel Universe is a crowded place, and surely there are some other C-Listers out there deserving of being punched in the face.

But if not as conclusive as I would have liked, "Yellowjacket" was nonetheless a strong return for Hank Pym.  With more episodes slated for the remainder of September, we'll see if Earth's Mightiest Heroes can keep building on its recent momentum.

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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New Halo 4 Trailer Leaks Story Spoilers

A shot of Halo 4's script in the latest trailer for the game has been deciphered, revealing a number of story spoilers about the upcoming game.

The blurry shot was analysed by NeoGaf, and offers insight into what awaits players of Halo 4, as well as those who were planning on reading the tie-in novel The Thursday War.

As you can probably guess, there's going to be a fair few spoilers below.

Before we start exploring the spoilers, it's worth noting that these are almost completely guaranteed to be accurate. Aside from the shots in the video, Amazon's listing for The Thursday War allows potential purchasers to look inside the book at some of the pages. As well as corroborating what the script suggests, it also offers a whole heap on additional info on Halo 4's plot. Oops.

The game will supposedly start with Master Chief awakening aboard the Forward Unto Dawn as it's being boarded by a bunch of Covenant, who are looking for something other than the Chief. This is apparently an ancient Forerunner weapons cache, as well as details about where they can find an ancient Forerunner called Didact, whom they believe to be a living god.

While Didact will be the game's Big Bad, Halo Reach's Dr. Halsey will also appear to aid Cortana, who is deteriorating and now has the ability to project multiple versions of herself.

The game is also set to feature a climactic battle between the Chief, Didact and Cortana, details of which are fleshed out in the script:

• Didact: "Compassion for mankind is misplaced."
• Chief: "I'm not doing this for mankind." Chief then charges at Didact.
• Cortana rushes towards Didact and jumps all over him (legs, arms, chest, back).
• Several takes of "Cortana" tackling and climbing on random objects at full speed.
• Didact is attacked by Cortana. He attempts to swat at Cortana as a means of self defence.
• Didact unclenches his fist and drops Chief.

Though that's all we've gleaned so far, more details about Didact and his role can be found in the pages viewable from The Thursday War. These include:

• "Don't you see it? Requiem. That's where the Didact was hidden. That's where they say he waits."
• "He tried to fight the flood. He tried to destroy the humans."
• "Didact sleeps and must never be woken."

There's been no word from 343 Industries on the leak as yet. You can check out the offending screenshot in the trailer below at around the 3.55 mark.

Halo 4 will release on Xbox 360 on November 6.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Doctor Who: "Asylum Of The Daleks" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

With a hero, plots and a series mantra that's all about unstable, unpredictable change, it's remarkable that Doctor Who has always been quite so consistent when it comes to punching above its weight.

So it's somewhat fitting that as we edge ever closer to the show's legendary 50th anniversary, showrunner Steven Moffat has issued the writing staff a mission statement to "slut it up with big, huge, mad ideas", and to "write each episode like a movie poster".

While we may have the return of the Weeping Angels, the 'there's-no-way-this-can't-be-amazing' "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", a Whovian-goes-Western approach to Cowboys vs Aliens, and the ever-impending departure of the Ponds all all awaiting us before Christmas, Moffat himself came up with the idea big, bold and suitably crazy enough to kickstart Series 7 (or 33, depending on your nerdiness) with a bang.

“

still full of vibrancy, surprises and stuffed full of nods towards the Time Lord's future

For an episode focusing on the Doctor's oldest enemy, The Asylum of the Daleks was still full of vibrancy, surprises and stuffed full of nods towards the Time Lord's future. But more on those - or more particularly, her - later.

This season's movie-esque MO lends itself to compressed storytelling, and so it didn't take long before Rory, Amy and The Doctor found themselves individually Dalek-napped, and transported to a parliament almost as terrifying as our own - an amphitheatre chock full of every incarnation of the Dalek the Doctor's ever seen.

The key twist this time? While exterminating was still on the cards, they needed the Doctor and his companions to do them a little favour first - hop down to The Asylum (an intergalactic prison housing their craziest and deadliest), and save their alien bacon.

In modern Who-terms, The Asylum of the Daleks was a triumph. Witty, crazy and with a heartfelt emotional streak throughout, it catered first and foremost to the characters we've come to love. Matt Smith flip-flopped between ice-cool menace (as 'The Predator') and chirpy, charming freneticism (as 'Chinboy') with now expectant ease, but with just five episodes left, Moffat cast the main emotional spotlight on Rory and Amy.

While the initial melodrama-bombshell of their impending divorce was a surprise enough, the revelation of its cause (damn you Demon's Run and your fertility discombobulating ways), and their inevitable reconciliation was pulled off with sincere, and genuinely moving aplomb by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.

The biggest surprise of all though? It wasn't the divorce, the brief adventures of Indiana Rory, the episode's The Thing-esque transforming sleeper Daleks, or the particularly 'scrambled' spin on the Dalek's catchphrase (we predict a few fanboys/girls ordering tomorrow's breakfast in a whole new way).

“

Doctor Who may be a show edging ever-closer to its TV Quinquagenary, but it's still one of the smartest, funniest and freshest sci-fis around.

Nope - in a world full of spoilers, plot-leaks and internet reveals, Moffat and co magnificently kept the arrival of the Doctor's new companion completely under wraps. Jenna-Louise Coleman's Oswin/Souffle Girl debuted with an electrifying bang - smart, sassy, somewhat of a genius, and mildly bi-curious, she nearly stole the show. Not only that, she had a pathos-driven, super-twist of an end to an origin story that leaves us guessing not only when but how she'll reappear. Oh, and as what. While the thought of a 'Doctor/dead Dalek spirit guide' odd couple dynamic fills us with nerdy glee, even Moffat's not that crazy.

We think.

In fact, the only downside to the episode was that - with so much of the above going on - the much-mooted 'every Dalek ever' smorgasbord was underwhelming in its brevity, and while they certainly seemed the scariest they've been in years, it felt less a tale about the Daleks than an adventure that just happened to have them in it. That said, we're intrigued to see where their mindwipe reboot leaves their relationship with the Doctor going forward.

Doctor Who may be a show edging ever-closer to its TV Quinquagenary, but it's still one of the smartest, funniest and freshest sci-fis around.

Case in point? Bring on the Space Dinosaurs.

Matt Risley is IGN's resident Doctor Who expert. Follow him on Twitter.

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Louie: "Late Show: Part 1" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

It was amusing this week to see that Jay Leno and NBC were cool with imagery (and the actual Tonight Show set) being seen on Louie in the manner they were used, but CBS clearly did not sign off on anything – hence, the fake posters for series like Lethal Renegade and The Big House in the “CBS offices.” I’m guessing they didn’t like the idea of a story based around the “David Letterman is retiring” scenario that one day will become real for them – and didn’t want to be part of something so speculative on the subject. (But sure, I bet Seinfeld’s name would be part of the mix!)

This episode was another great mixture of comedy and drama – almost evenly split, in that the first half had some of the funniest material of the season, while the second half (Well, he final scene, really) got really, really intense.

Louie’s opening monologue about putting too much thought into buying a Blu-ray player was hysterical, as he talked about reading an Amazon review from, “An insane person who’s been dead for months because he shot his wife and then himself.”

What’s interesting is we never see anything beyond Louie’s introduction on Leno – so we don’t know what exactly it was that he said/did that “went viral” (love Louie’s, “I’m what?!” response to that). I think that’s a good choice – we all know Louie is a funny guy, and it’s left to our imagination to decide what it was that has given him his moment in the sun. How great was Louie throwing down the coat they tried to put on him as he walked out onstage?

Garry Marshall has been on a role of directing crappy movies lately like New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day, but I’ll always love him as the network exec in Soapdish (“peppy and cheap!”). That being the case, it was great seeing him show up in a similar role here, as the CBS exec who was being brutally honest with Louie.

What a monologue Marshall gave Louie in the closing moments of this show! The fact that he was so straight up with Louie about seeing him as a low-cost backup for Jerry Seinfeld and that if Louie failed, it would kill Louie’s career but not his, was funny, in that oh-so dark way this show can be. But then it got just intense and emotional (complete with stirring music), as Marshall’s character began going deep on where Louie is at in his life, saying he’d probably peaked and “You’re circling failure in a rapidly decaying orbit.” It was uncomfortable and intense and awesome.

And it’s just the beginning of a three-parter, so I’m excited.

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Futurama: "Naturama" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode to follow.

For this year's midseason finale, Futurama went full-on fauna in "Naturama." Depicting three harrowing tales through the lens of a National Geographic-esque documentary series, we watched as the Planet Express crew lived their sexually-driven lives as various forms of wildlife. All of these vignettes were also narrated by Phil LaMarr, who delivered a Morgan Freeman-inspired performance throughout.

Kicking things off was "The Salmon," which presented our heroes as fishy counterparts. Of the three, this was probably the strongest story, structurally, and utilized the most interplay with LaMarr's voiceover. The incorporation of the salmon's habitual life cycle offered some interesting and often times heartwarming obstacles for Fry, who oh so desperately wished he could travel to the other side of the stream to mate with his true love.

From a visual standpoint, "The Pinta Island Tortoise" had the most eye-catching interpretations of the characters, with the Professor as the titular tortoise, Bender as a lackadaisical iguana and the Planet Express crew as zippy little finches. "The Elephant Seal" felt the least inventive, although it arguably had the best cameo from Zoidberg as a friendly squid. ("Hooray! We're three friends at the beach!")

Of course, half the fun of this episode was seeing how each character was portrayed as a different animal, some of the best coming from little cameos like Lrrr as "Brrr" the bear or Sal as a slithering python. Just the subtleties of the character designs were enough to draw your attention. Overall, this was definitely a refreshing and creative way to liven up the ensemble cast.

Most notably, though, these stories were almost depressingly true to nature. While "The Salmon" and "The Elephant Seal" had slightly hopeful conclusions, "The Pinta Island Tortoise" was easily the most dismal. This is not so much a complaint as it is a nod to the authenticity and comedy of nature's twisted circle of life. It also felt somewhat in keeping with the series, which has been known to drop the occasional bittersweet ending. All things considered, "Naturama" was certainly an enjoyable and entertaining concept.

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: "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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The Newsroom: "The Greater Fool" Review

Note: Full spoilers for The Newsroom season finale follow.

It's rather wonderful when an entire season comes together, culminating in a powerful finale that not only satisfies on an emotional level, but also on ties up loose ends in an equally satisfying manner. This was "The Greater Fool."

Weaving the complex subplots of nine episodes worth of material into a perfectly potent finale, "The Greater Fool" also left enough room for the show to continue to grow, especially with the small, but significant twist involving Mackenzie's choice for intern.

The romantic elements, while a touch cheesy -- especially the contrived but admittedly hilarious scene with Maggie scolding and shouting at a bus of Sex and the City fans -- also reached an important pivotal point. Many, including Rainn Wilson, have compared the Don-Maggie-Jim love triangle to the Jim-Pam-Roy subplot from the early days of The Office. Hell, even The Newsroom's Jim bares a slight resemblance to John Krasinski's Jim, not to mention the same name.

What seperates the two love triangles is how Sorkin handles the character of Don. On The Office, Roy was a brute. He drank. He played with the boys. He often treated Pam poorly. He had only a thin layer of dimension to his character. He was a foil for the relationship, nothing more. He served his purpose well -- to create romantic tension between Jim and Pam. With The Newsroom, Don is not just a foil. He's not a villain character. In fact, he's quite the opposite. While the audience may not root for him to succeed with Maggie, his dedication to the relationship, foolish or not, makes him a tragic figure (as well all know how it will end) and adds meaning and subtext to the whole dynamic. Don's a person, too. He deserves to find someone he truly values, and who values him as well.

A few seeds for how that love triangle will slowly unfold -- including the not-so-subtle hint that the triangle is actually a square -- will prove fascinating, even engaging in season two. While I've long moaned about the relationship fodder strewn throughout the series, it clicked for me tonight. And while I'd still prefer to see it dialed back just a bit, I find myself oddly looking forward to what will happen in future episodes with the characters.

Same goes for the Will-Mackenzie romantic subplot. The big reveal for Will that Mackenzie was actually in the room the day he had his public meltdown could have played with schmaltz and melodrama, but instead ended on a more, shall I say, Moonlighting note, with the two comically screaming at one another. It added a playful tone to their otherwise heavy-handed romance and teased at a more enjoyable future for the two. As Will admits, true love always wins. It's a silly notion, but if that's the direction the show wants to take, by all means. In many previous episodes, the romance felt shoehorned in -- added for color, flavor, something to keep people, those who otherwise wouldn't watch an overtly political show, watching. With "The Greater Fool," however, while still dominant, the romance felt organic, even delightful.

As for the rest of the episode, well, it was a staggering piece of television. Numerous subplots were expertly tied together. The wiretapping story collided with the Leona (Jane Fonda) subplot from early on, and reached an outstanding, and tear-jerking, conclusion. TMI's Nina (Hope Davis) got to do the right thing (sort of). And Will, who thinks himself foolish after Brian (Paul Schneider) publishes his scathing article, comes to realize that the greater fool is what this country is built upon.

Probably the most stinging element of this episode was, of course, the absolutely brutal assault on what Will labeled, "The American Taliban." Instead of calling out the entirety of the Tea party or the Republican party, Will outlines how radical thinking has sabotaged a party he firmly believes in. This aspect of "The Greater Fool" is likely to garner a pretty volatile reaction from those who agree with many of the sentiments and statements Will criticizes here, but Sorkin's writing is concise and confident, and "The Greater Fool" leaves you with a lot to think about, regardless of your political affiliation.

Like pretty much any scathing attack, there's bound to be a retort of some kind, not to mention others who simply won't believe Will's final assessment. It's not likely to sway anyone teetering on the edge, either. That said, Will's final news cast of this season does set up the direction his attacks will go in future seasons. While it may leave some Republican viewers bitter (let's be honest, this season has mostly glossed over any credible anti-Obama arguments), it's an interesting direction for the show, and should lead to more than a few compelling episodes.

The Newsroom has been an absolute delight to watch this season. While not every episode is a masterpiece, the whole is what really counts, and Season 1 is terrific. From Will's biting monologue that opened the series, to his equally biting final news cast, The Newsroom has been a daring, emotionally engaging TV series that rarely lets up. The characters are fascinating and the message of the show is one people need to hear. And I'm not talking about the Republican bashing. Rather, I'm speaking of the show's real intention -- to refocus what it means to be a TV news journalist. It's not about being balanced, it's about communicating. Sometimes, for a TV news viewer, that communication is hard to hear. And sometimes, for the journalist, it's hard to say. But regardless, a news reporter needs to do one thing -- always be honest. That's why I love The Newsroom, and I can't wait to see what's next.

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Breaking Bad: "Say My Name" Review

WARNING: FULL SPOILERS AHEAD!!

I know what you were thinking before this episode started: a Destiny’s Child reference? I wouldn’t put it past Gilligan. There may be some hidden meaning in "destiny's child," maybe it refers to Walt being the child of destiny to take over the meth business in the Southwest?

Last week, we wrapped up with a precarious situation--Mike with a gun to Walt’s head and Walt convincing him (via Jesse) that he had a plan to make everyone happy. Whether or not that was true was quasi-unimportant. This goes one way: Mike is out of the picture and Walt becomes more powerful, but because Mike is so sympathetic (Mike is awesome) I think we all wanted to see him leave peacefully.

It is kind of funny to watch three middle-aged men stand around, looking tough in pleated slacks and generic black old-man coats. The scene was awesome for its dialogue and how Bryan Cranston can pull off being tough and cool moreso than a dude being surrounded by tough-looking guys with tough-looking GM trucks.

"Say My Name" was partially about Walt coming into his own and the first half of Season 5 has done its job. Suddenly Mike is out, Gus' whole infrastructure is gone and all that's left is Walt, the guy from the other Southwest state.

Mike left the game. He ditched his guns and got rid of his bugging computer. He made Hank look really bad when Hank got a search warrant and everything to tear apart his house. He really was done. His undoing was, hilariously, that he didn't hire Saul. LOL.

The cover art for Walt's new band, The Heisenberg Trio.

Jesse attempted to take his steps out the door too, but Walt tried to rope him back in. Nice work trying to goad him back in by shaming him about his addiction history. Cranston, again, delivered an ice cold speech.

It's been nice to see the creators let the actors pull out their A-material. This whole season has been about giving the actors some dialogue, putting them in a room together and filming it. It's paid off wonderfully as Season 5 has been excellent.

As soon as they flashed that gun in the bag, though, it was certain that something was going to happen. It was an absolutely unhinged scene and seeing Mike bit into that impulse with gusto--rip into Walt--was satisfying, but horrifically worrying. That gun had to come back into play. And waiting for Walt to use it was excruciating--congrats to everyone who made that scene as tense and nerve-wracking and making us believe that maybe nothing was going to come of it as Mike went to his car and Walter stood their impotently.

I hate to see Mike go out like that. He deserved more. I literally can't give this higher than a 9.0, it was just too sad of an ending.

The transition for Walt from pathetic dude who's trying to provide for his family into scary dude who doesn't give a dang about anybody is complete. If there's anybody still siding with Walt right now, consider that person a psychopath.

One last thing, is Hank putting it together? He missed Mike by just so little, are those wistful stares at images him putting together that someone else is in charge?

Sometimes Breaking Bad takes a bigger leap of faith than it should, putting together pieces that might not be there. There seemed to be some self-awareness in that scene where Hank told Gomez to follow the lawyer. It will get him in trouble. It might get him fired.

That it paid off for Gomez and Hank may be a sign that Hank's intuition will ultimately pay off, but only get him in further trouble.

We got one more episode.

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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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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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Halo 4 Achievement List Revealed

Halo 4's achievement list has been revealed by developer 343 Industries, offering some slim insight into what tasks we'll undertake in the game.

Beware of spoilers below. There's nothing too soul-shatteringly revelatory, but don't say you haven't been warned.

“

Developing and designing these game-specific challenges might seem simple but is quite a bit more complex once you begin digging into the psychology of a gamer.

The achievements on offer were revealed in an update on Halo Waypoint by community manager Jessica Shea, who also explained some of the reasoning that went into the achievements' design.

"Developing and designing these game-specific challenges might seem simple but is quite a bit more complex once you begin digging into the psychology of a gamer," she shared.

"Our primary goal when creating Halo 4’s achievements was to reward milestones and increase replay value while balancing both difficulty and the breadth of game modes.

"Our secondary goal was to live up to Halo tradition with weird ass names for some of them (hello, The Dongblainer!). While you will only be able to speculate on the exact nature of some of these achievements, here’s a peek at their very basic in-game descriptions."

So, without further ado, the achievements you'll be testing your Spartan training to breaking point to achieve are:

• Dawn - Complete Mission 1 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Requiem - Complete Mission 2 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Forerunner - Complete Mission 3 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Infinity - Complete Mission 4 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Reclaimer - Complete Mission 5 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Shutdown - Complete Mission 6 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Composer - Complete Mission 7 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Midnight - Complete Mission 8 on any difficulty - (10 Points)
• Wake up John - Complete the Campaign on Normal or harder - (20 Points)
• I Need a Hero - Complete the Campaign on Heroic or harder - (40 Points)
• The Legend of 117 - Complete the Campaign on Legendary difficulty - (70 Points)
• Lone Wolf Legend - Complete the Campaign solo on Legendary difficulty - (90 Points)
• Skullduggery - Complete any Campaign mission with 3 or more Skulls on Heroic or harder - (15 Points)
• Bropocalypse - Complete any Campaign mission co-operatively on Heroic or harder - (10 Points)
• Bromageddon - Complete the Campaign co-operatively on Heroic or harder - (40 Points)
• Contact the Domain - Find a Terminal in the Campaign - (10 Points)
• Terminus - Find all of the Terminals in the Campaign - (50 Points)
• Digging up the Past - In Mission 1, find and access Chief's record - (20 Points)
• Midnight Launch - In Mission 2, get significant air in the Warthog at midnight - (20 Points)
• This is my Rifle, this is my Gun - In Mission 3, carry a UNSC weapon all the way through on Heroic or harder - (20 Points)
• Bros to the Close - Make it through Mission 4 without one preventable Marine death on Heroic or harder - (20 Points)
• Mortardom - In Mission 5, hijack a Wraith and use it to kill at least four enemy Wraiths on Heroic or harder - (20 Points)
• Explore the Floor - In Mission 6, trick or force a Hunter to fall to his demise - (20 Points)
• Give Him the Stick - In Mission 7 in solo Campaign, take out both Hunters using only the Sticky Detonator - (20 Points)
• Chief, Smash! - In Mission 8, kill 3 Crawlers in one hit with the Gravity Hammer - (20 Points)
• Not Some Recruit Anymore - Rank up your Spartan-IV to SR-5 - (15 Points)
• Movin' on Up - Rank up your Spartan-IV to SR-20 - (30 Points)
• I ♥ Red vs Blue - Win 5 War Games matchmaking matches - (10 Points)
• The Dongblainer - Win 20 War Games matchmaking matches - (30 Points)
• Operation Completion - Complete a Spartan Ops Mission on any difficulty - (15 Points)
• A Legendary Episode - Complete all chapters in Spartan Ops Episode 1 on Legendary difficulty - (40 Points)
• Dedicated to Crimson - Complete all chapters in the first 5 episodes of Spartan Ops on any difficulty - (80 Points)
• Crimson Alone - Complete a Spartan Ops chapter solo on Legendary - (20 Points)
• Roses vs Violets - Find one of the RvB Easter Eggs in Spartan Ops - (20 Points)
• Rescue Ranger - Save at least one Marine in Chapter 3 of Episode 2 of Spartan Ops on Heroic or harder - (20 Points)
• Knight in White Assassination - Assassinate a Knight in any Spartan Ops mission - (20 Points)
• What Power Outage? - Complete Chapter 4, Episode 5 of Spartan Ops without losing a generator on Heroic or harder - (20 Points)
• No Easy Way Out - In Ch 1, Ep 5 of Spartan Ops survive all enemy waves during the defense on Normal or harder - (20 Points)
• The Challenged - Complete a Challenge - (10 Points)
• The Challenger - Complete 25 Challenges - (20 Points)
• Armorer - Change your Spartan's armor in the Spartan Armor card - (5 Points)
• Badge - Change your Emblem in the Spartan ID card - (5 Points)
• PWND - Change your Service Tag in the Spartan ID card - (5 Points)
• What a Poser! - Change your Spartan's pose in the Spartan ID card - (5 Points)
• The Cartographer - Create and save a Custom Map in Forge - (5 Points)
• Game Changer - Create and save a Custom Game type in War Games - (5 Points)
• Snapshot! - Save a Screenshot from the Theater - (5 Points)
• The Director - Save a Film Clip from the Theater - (5 Points)
• Sharing is Caring - Upload a File to your File Share - (5 Points)

Halo 4 will release on Xbox 360 on November 6.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Warehouse 13: "No Pain, No Gain" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

I really liked a lot of aspects of this episode, but there were also parts that I thought were incredibly stupid. I'm convinced that the writers on this show have a lot of old jokes they've been dying to use for years but wise producers and directors nixed the ideas. The show runners for Warehouse 13, however, are apparently open to just about anything. Sometimes that willingness to try zany ideas results in some truly unique TV, and other times those gambles just fall flat.

The series went with another 3-part plot this week, and it works better than it did last week. There's a lot going on in this episode, and there's never a dull moment. Each story gets an adequate amount of screentime, and there's enough mystery in each to keep the viewer intrigued all the way to the end. The opening was really fun, with Claudia and Myka posing as geisha to foil a shady artifact deal in Japan. It's a clever way to start things and it set the tone for the high levels of humor in this story.

The main story in this episode is pretty lighthearted and lacking a lot of the high-stakes tension we've seen from previous stories. The mystery of a hockey player who inexplicably heals from injuries just doesn't provide a lot of drama, especially with so many shots of exuberant and overbearing fans. The whole thing felt more like an excuse to do some scenes in a hockey rink rather than a solid story driven by great plot ideas. Of course, Warehouse 13 has its roots as a zany show that always injected its episodes with a healthy dose of comedy, but the jokes just aren't very good here. Everything culminates in a really stupid scene where our star hockey player tries to escape his crazy stalker by...throwing a glass of water in her face (whuuut??). I did, however, like the pregnant Myka gag. That was pure gold, all the way up to the end where Myka's water broke and she's trying to hold everything in.

Meanwhile, Artie and Jinks are off trying to keep The Brotherhood from stealing artifacts from the Warehouse. Although I do like the chemistry between the senior agent and the junior agent, this story is really more like setup for something that should come later so it didn't pack a whole lot of punch. And am I trippin', or did I see a very blatant Bing and Pandora advertisement in there?

The last mini-story has Mrs. Frederic prepping Claudia for her apparently inevitable promotion as warehouse caretaker. This was probably the best part of the episode. It was mysterious, heartfelt, and funny (Claudia thinking that artifacts only come from “people with WikiPedia pages” was a nice touch). And it ends with Mrs. Frederic's grandson – who is an old man in a retirement home. It's an excellent example of that old writer's adage, “show, don't tell”. The scene says everything we need to know about what Mrs. Frederic is trying to impress upon Claudia, and the kind of life she'd have to expect in a role as caretaker. It's good stuff that provides a lot of development for both characters.

Overall, this was still fun TV, but much of the good material was overshadowed by the show's efforts to squeeze a little too much humor out of the main story (if Pete made one more damn “you go girl” joke I swear I was going to break something). This series has been guilty of this kind of thing before, but part of what made last season so great was that the comedy took a backseat to the action and the artifacts that really drive things. I'm hoping we get back to that formula soon.

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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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The Newsroom: "The Blackout Part I: Tragedy Porn" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

After coming off two rock-solid installments, it was only natural that The Newsroom hit a somewhat muddled, exhausting episode. “The Blackout Part I: Tragedy Porn” is the first of a two-parter, and much like the first few episodes of the series, it crams enough plot for two or three episodes, and rarely slows down enough to breath.

“The Blackout” is a bit repetitive, treading over stories that have already played out in previous episodes, while adding a convenient conspiracy that makes the show feel more fictional that it would otherwise be. And, once again, the relationship dynamic of the show seeps directly into the core story, infecting a subplot about Will hiring a reporter (Parks and Rec alum Paul Schneider) to write a piece about News Night. This reporter also happens to be the man Mackenzie cheated on Will with.

Let's start off with the negative portrayal of woman in this week's episode. Every single female character flew off the handle, or displayed petty behavior. Maggie (Alison Pill) got furious about how her faith was being hijacked by the likes of Michele Bachmann, and was made to feel bad for getting angry about it. When Neal (Dev Patel) approached Sloan (Oliva Munn) about trolling her to gain him access to the trolling community, she threw him against a wall. When Mackenzie was told that News Night would cover the Casey Anthony story, she had to be put in her place. She was also made to feel terrible about her past decisions throughout the episode.

It's almost ironic how the New Night team mocks Nancy Grace's expertly manipulative dissection of the Casey Anthony case, but then follows it up by suggesting the Anthony Weiner sexting controversy was spawned from one woman's desire to make herself famous, and get vengeance on a man she was flirting with (on a side note: that woman was played by Alison Beck, who played a love interest of Paul Schneider on Parks and Rec). Was it meant to be ironic that the show was offering up a similar petty judgement?

The only negative male character here was Will, but his flaws were allowed to be dissected in a more positive manner. And at his weakest point in the episode he sought the advice of his therapist (David Krumholtz).

Aside from the negative portrayal of woman in this episode – which is a common criticism of Sorkin's work – "The Blackout" never quite seemed to find it's footing, dancing around issues and skirting past subplots. The episode felt too fast and too jam-packed. Why not introduce the journalist in last week's episode? Or why not spend one week focusing on the wire-tapping/hacking conspiracy story. If Sorkin wants to go there, he should spend some serious time with it.

Or why not spend the whole episode dissecting how we viewed the Casey Anthony case – mocking how news journalism resorted to tabloid fodder for almost a month. While the episode does spend some time with this issue, it would have been fascinating and fun to see Sorkin mow down the public narrative. The same goes for the Anthony Weiner sexting subplot, which tied in nicely with the Casey Anthony material, but never quite got enough screen time to fully develop.

Naturally, some of these issues will be resolved in the episode's second part, but it seems like next week will focus more on the blackout itself, which abruptly ended this episode.

Regardless, the first half of “The Blackout” was a mixed bag of sorts, and not a very satisfying episode. It repeated the “we're going to get Will fired” story over again, and basically drew much of the same conclusions. Admittedly, this arch was more about how easy it is to fall back on old habits, but traipsing through that mud just isn't nearly as fun or moving as where the show has been progressing these last few weeks.

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