DVR Weekly – Week of 9/23-9/29

Welcome to the brand spanking new DVR Weekly! What is DVR Weekly you might ask? Every week I choose three shows that I have managed to watch on my DVR and I’ll do a small recap and review which means spoilers ahoy. I’ll also mention two shows that are worth checking out. And I’ll give you a glimpse of five shows I’m looking forward to for the following week. Keep in mind, I don’t watch everything. We will still have a few other full episode recaps for some shows (usually ones that I don’t watch).

Top Shows of the Week

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – 1.01 & 1.02 “Rise of the Turtles”

In this opening two-parter, we meet our favorite mutated turtles (Donatello, Michelangelo  Raphael, and Leonardo) on their fifteenth birthday. Their father figure, Master Splinter, grants them permission to venture into the above world. They quickly are introduced to pizza for the first time before witnessing a kidnapping. The turtles attempt to stop the crime in progress (mostly due to Donnie’s infatuation with a young April O’Neil) but fail miserably due to their lack of teamwork. Mikey discovers one of the attackers is an alien brain inside a robot body (sound familiar?). Upon returning to the lair, Leo is assigned leadership of the group and the mission to save April and her father. In the process of April’s rescue, a new mutant is created (Snakeweed), the turtles draw the ire of the Kraang, and April’s father is taken to parts unknown. Proof of the turtle’s is also found in the form of a shuriken (aka ninja star) which draws a recognizable rival to New York.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a sucker for animated series (as you can see by my top two picks) so the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was an easy choice. Based solely on the theme song, I could see that this show has a beautiful animation style as well as tugs on my nostalgic heart strings with the remix of the 80s theme song. Acting as a fresh reboot to the franchise, the show stepped out on a great foot. Combining a great animation style with great humor and writing, I’m reminded of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I’ll definitely look forward to catching these week in and week out.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series – 1.14 “The New Guy”

Following a weird season break, Green Lantern is back. The Anti-Monitor tears his way into the universe and arrives on Biot to awaken the Manhunters. Hal Jordan returns to Earth following the war with the Red Lanterns. He quickly visits Carol and discovers that he has lost his job. Before Hal and Carol can patch up their relationship, duty calls, and Hal races off to save helpless civilians. Enter Guy Gardner to inform Hal that he’s also been replaced as Green Lantern of Earth. A brawl ensues until the duo hear news of a missing archaeologist. The pair investigate only to discover a trio of Manhunters active on Earth. Hal and Guy team up to defeat the Manhunters. The pair make nice before Hal receives a call from Carol saying it’s over between them. A requisite “one punch” later, Hal is on his way to face the Guardians. The Guardians inform Hal that he is no longer Green Lantern of 2814, but now, he’s an honor guard allowed to patrol all of Guardian space.

It’s a great start to the second half of the season. This is an amazing re-imagining of Green Lantern lore. This was probably more of a cameo from Guy, but I look forward to him having a larger role similar to Saint Walker’s appearance in the first half of the season. The Anti-Monitor seems like an interesting choice for the second half of the season, and I’m curious how long until we see the rise of the Sinestro Corps and perhaps some Black Lanterns.

Elementary – 1.01 “Pilot”

Here are the basics. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) is hired as an addiction companion to Sherlock Holmes by his father. Her job is to basically babysit Holmes and keep him out of trouble. Holmes has decided to stay off of drugs by restarting his career as a detective consultant with the NYPD. For a more in depth recap of the episode, check out the full one here.

It shows strong potential, but due to the proximity to Moffat’s amazing re-imagining, Sherlock, the show falls a little short. With such a poor reaction from me how does it make its way onto this list? It’s potential beat out the return of a lukewarm sitcom and an amazing animated show with a  substandard return. As the schedule begins to fill up with new premieres, I wonder how well this show will be able to stack up.

Honorable Mentions

Young Justice – 2.08 “Satisfaction” – Artemis is memorialized. The original Roy Harper seeks revenge on Lex Luthor.

New Girl – 2.02 “Katie” – Jess pretends to be a stranger’s blind date, Katie. Nick meets his future self. Schmidt attempts to sleep with Winston’s sister, Alisha.

Next Week’s Most Anticipated

(Episode descriptions from tvguide.com)

Once Upon a Time – 2.01 “Broken” – Season Premiere – In the second-season opener, the fairy-tale characters begin to remember their past lives, yet they remain in the present, and magic enters the town thanks to Mr. Gold. Meanwhile, in the fairy-tale world, Prince Phillip awakens a beauty named Aurora.

Elementary – 1.02 “While You Were Sleeping” – Holmes investigates the murder of a young man who was shot upon entering his apartment. Meanwhile, Watson meets her ex-boyfriend for dinner.

Green Lantern: TAS – 1.15 “Reboot” – Hal tries to reunite the team to fight the Anti-Monitor.

Young Justice – 2.09 “Darkest” – Aqualad’s loyalty is tested with a mission set up by his father.

New Girl – 2.03 “Fluffer” – Jess and Nick examine their friendship. Elsewhere, Schmidt hopes to impress an attractive Republican by pretending to be one of Mitt Romney’s sons.

Well, that wraps it up for DVR Weekly. Leave a comment if you have any suggestions for shows that I should be watching and I’ll see if I can fit it in my watching schedule. I’ll see you next week at our regular DVR Time (Monday), same DVR channel.