SPOILERS Ahead. Obviously.
So these aren’t ‘the best 10 episodes’ or the ‘best shows ever’, more just notable things that happened during the TV season. I've only included Mainstream Marvel and DC properties - sorry Preacher/Lucifer.
Note: Gotham is still running – so it still has chance to be amazing or terrible!
10 Best Wins – What Was Great
In no particular order
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Does 3 Pods - Could have each of these pods as 1 thing. From the surprising addition and well executed Ghost Rider (well done Gabriel Luna), to the tense LMD infiltration, and finally the ‘what if’ world of the Framework. Of Particular note, the role reversal of Ward/Fitz was a brilliant piece of writing.
Mallory Jansen’s Aida – The relatively unknown Australian actress Mallory Jansen started off as a just a shell robot, and slowly but surely became an ever increasing threat to our favourite Agents. Jansen played no less than 4 characters (Aida, Agnes, Madame Hydra, Ophelia). A powerhouse performance.
Alex/Sawyer Relationship & Supergirl Analogies – I’m not into OTPs or Shipping, but I was impressed with how well Supergirl handled the Alex/Sawyer relationship. One of the major criticisms of the first season of Supergirl was its habit of ‘telling’ us about girl power, instead of showing us (think Buffy: The Vampire Slayer). But generally, Supergirl this season decided to SHOW us its analogies – from girl power to migration, the show had something to say, and it said it well.
Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman – I don’t think anyone really expected this, but Tyler Hoechlin and Supergirl NAILED Superman. He was the perfect amount of optimism and old-time charm, which contrasted sharply to Henry Cavill’s Superman. The suit looked great! Well, for TV anyway.
Gotham’s Joker Episodes – Cameron Monaghan channelled Heath Ledger, and came up with a chilling and entertaining performance as Gotham’s version of the Joker (I don’t care what they say, he was the Joker). The battle between the Joker and baby Batman was genuinely compelling, and gave me hope for the series!
Legion’s Visual Storytelling & Aubrey Plaza – Noah Hawley created a visual masterpiece, straight from the pages of comics, and I adored it. The episodes was challenging, confronting, compelling and entertaining. Dan Stevens was fantastic, but the show’s visuals were complimented by the exceptional Aubrey Plaza. Plaza essentially played multiple characters, and was a great representation of the threat they were facing.
Arrow Returns to Form – Before the season started, I was kind of only watching Arrow out of habit. But the strong premiere, new characters and the ‘back to basics’ format really gave Arrow that new breath of life. Amell was strong and the villain Prometheus threatening, I was particularly impressed by ‘Kapiushon’, a very focused episode. And the season finale might have been Arrow's best episode ever.
The Flash Musical – I had trepidations going into this episode, and I like musicals! I wasn’t sure that The Flash could pull it off. And you know what? They made a lot of errors, and a lot of strange choices, but I STILL loved it. And when Barry sung to Iris at the end? That got me. Also, Iris was such an improved character this year.
Mahershala Ali’s Cottonmouth – Cottonmouth was a fantastic character, and Ali’s portrayal of him really on point. Not much more to say, except I was said to see him going so early.
Luke Cage Tackles Issue of Race – Opinions were divided on Luke Cage. I for one, thought it was far more good than bad. I loved the bookend scenes in Episode 2, with Luke having a gun to his head. I loved the music, and the general vibe of the show. I loved the symbolism of the show. And I loved that this show had something to say.
10 Worst Losses – What Missed
In no particular order
DC’s “4-Episode” Crossover – Don’t get me wrong, there were certain parts of this crossover I liked, and some I loved. Arrow’s 100th episode was great, the training scenes were really fun. BUT, ultimately, I was very disappointed. For starters, the Supergirl episode wasn’t really part of it. There wasn’t really any flow between each of the 4 individual episodes. But most crucially, there were no consequences from the special. HUGE world event, and barely mentioned since. Ultimately, feels like a fluff episode.
Bruce Wayne Doppelganger – Ugh. I just roll my eyes everytime the Bruce double is on the screen. I hate it, and its irritating.
Aimless Penguin – Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin is the best part of Gotham for me. But lately, I’ve felt that they are just making stupid dramas for the sake of stupid dramas. I initially thought I’d love the Penguin/Riddler love story, but it turned into another cliché ‘gays turn evil’ storyline, and just caused distraction. The inexplicable double of Riddler's girlfriend Penguin killed? I still don’t understand how that ‘coincidence’ was allowed.
Tearing Down Barry Allen’s Character – From the beginning of the season, The Flash has been determined to make Barry Allen an unlikeable character. “Flashpoint”, despite being a little underwhelming itself, was Barry making the same mistake again and failing to learn from other incidents in the show (something he again ignored when he went back in time to get Captain Cold). But going to the future, and seeing that the Barry had given up on his friends and family? The reveal that the main villain was Barry gone evil cos his friends weren’t nice to him? In my opinion, they’ve turned him into a selfish sociopath. Harsh, and I hope its redeemed, but a hero is defined by his choices, and he keeps choosing poorly. Hell, he usually only does good things after a pep talk from a father figure.
Speedster and Villain Secret Identity Fatigue – As much as I enjoyed Prometheus, the secret identity of the villain was drawn out, and the reveal was underwhelming (it was the new character! Shock!). Combined with Savitar, we had another drawn out villain reveal which became predictable. And what were the writers thinking making a Speedster the villain the 3rd season in a row?
Legends of Tomorrow Final Episodes – I know a lot of people are really enjoying Legends. And I like it also. But I hated the 2 part season finale. It broke so many rules of storytelling, made the heroes impotent, the villains moronic and treated the viewers stupidly. Starting the episode with Arrow/Flash and co dead? That immediately erases all stakes of the episode, as anyone would realise they would never kill off those characters off screen on a different show. The only reason the heroes were alive were because Reverse Flash made the non-sensical decision of keeping them alive because… I don’t know why! You’d think Reverse Flash would want to torture Barry also, but no, these characters he barely knows apparently meant more to him. The heroes only get on top of Reverse Flash because he let them, not because of any individual choice they made. And the weird and convenient way of one of each version of the heroes dying? Gargh.
Erik LaRay Harvey’s Diamondback – Even without following from the shadows of Cottonmouth, Diamonback would have been underwhelming. It was a little bit of stretch to make Luke and Diamondback brothers, and this apparent mastermind came across as irrational cartoon. I still enjoyed Luke Cage, and I think Diamondback could have been done better.
Finn Jones’ “I am the Iron Fist” – I liked Iron Fist, quite a bit at times. I thought it was compelling, and I generally liked the storylines. I had two complaints – I thought the show looked cheap at times, and Finn Jones saying ‘I am the Iron Fist’ every other sentence really put me off side. I don’t think Finn Jones was terrible, but some of the choices made on his portrayal left a lot to be desired. Particularly in later episodes.
Powerless Humourless – I thought Vanessa Hudgens was great in this. I was hopeful that Alan Tudyk and Danny Pudi would be great. But I didn’t like this show. This show had to be at least geeky or funny (preferably both), and they missed on both accounts.
Marvel TV moving away from Marvel Movies – The 4th season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the first season to not have any characters from the movies (other than Coulson). Luke Cage had a little MCU continuity error through references to Barack Obama (who shouldn’t really exist in this world). And the Sokovia accords, while a plot point on S.H.I.E.L.D., don’t seem to be making their way to Netflix. Plus Inhumans now getting a TV show (which I’m excited for), lessens the importance of S.H.I.E.L.D. introducing them in season 2.
So, those are my thoughts. I'm sure people will disagree!