Guy Ferland

The mid season finale of Gotham kicks off running with Bruce and Cat being pursued by deadly assassins which set in motion a tour through the shadowy spots of Gotham for Bruce with Cat as his guide. It’s always fun to see the kids together and this episode offers them in Cat’s turf which is vital for Bruce to see firsthand if he’s to grow into the hero Gotham needs. The reason they are on the run is because Gordon screwed up by putting his faith in Harvey Dent, who wants what Gordon wants and that is to take down the bad element out of Gotham, but he’s willing to risk anything or anyone to reach that goal.

Sons of Anarchy just broke its own record for erasing any and all good will shortly after amassing it. Episodes two and three of this season are examples of how to properly build up excitement and suspense for the story to come, and here the show ruins all of that hard work in a matter of minutes. Once again, after multiple examples across the history of the show, an entertaining episode filled with well-executed character building and excitement is undermined by the unnecessary and senseless killing of female characters.

Elementary, after all, has done a fine job of loosely adapting Conan Doyle’s work in a contemporary setting, taking certain liberties that have really paid off in the long run. It doesn’t make the decision to use Mycroft in this way disappointing, but I wonder if the character could have remained compelling without having to get the British secret service involved.

On the spectrum of tonal heaviness, Elementary usually leans to the lighter side of things, but it’s rarely as light as “The One Percent Solution” is.

Sons of Anarchy, Season 6: Episode 9 – “John 8:32” Written by Kem Nunn and Kurt Sutter Directed by Guy Ferland Airs Tuesday nights at 10 on FX After finally managing to craft something kind of interesting out of Tara’s fake pregnancy plot last week, Sons of Anarchy is beginning to make the exponential climb to …

Last week on our Walking Dead podcast, I half-heartedly joked around about how I cared more about the pig Violet than I did about Patrick dying. One week later, I find the most heart-wrenching moment coming not when the humans die, but instead when three piglets are sacrificed in order to stop the prison gates from falling down. This isn’t necessarily meant as a full on attack of the show. The ‘three little pigs’ scene is by far the highlight of the episode; as the barriers of the prison come tumbling down, so does Rick’s hope in retaining momentary peace. He and his group are losing in every which way possible to the flesh eating walkers, and if taking lives isn’t enough, now the walkers are feeding on their main food supply.

A couple of seasons ago, Sons of Anarchy closed an episode with Juice jumping from a tree with a chain noose around his neck. As the SoA logo entered the screen, the sound of the tree branch snapping could be heard, removing the cliffhanger of Juice’s fate. When the curtain shuts on “Poenitentia,” we don’t actually see Tig get killed by Pope’s men. “Poenitentia” feels like a major death episode as it plays, echoing Opie’s prison death through Clay’s scenes (Opie’s death was in the third episode from last season).