When the All-Stars Host Their Own Club Nights, Not Everyone Wants to Party All the Time

RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars, Episode 7: "Queen of Clubs"

It's episode 7 and we still have 7 queens, so that's great. Monique is not pleased that she and Latrice both stayed. I certainly respect a queen that understands this is a reality tv show and Monique clearly knows that. She knows that the producers gave Latrice this "redemption moment" to make for good TV, but she's not super into it. Aside from Manila, I'm not sure the other queens are here for it, either. 

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "House & Garden" & "The Terrible Trio"

Batman The Animated Series

Imagine my surprise when the opening credits rolled for "The Terrible Trio" and they were completely different. I had completely blocked that from my mind. During the second season of B: TAS, Robin began being featured more and more so they changed the name to "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" and started using this new intro. It has footage of episodes featuring Robin spliced in and it's generally a large step down from the original. No thanks.

"Fuck Batman" Titans recap: "Together" & "Jason Todd"

Titans

Are you ready to meet a brutal, take no prisoners, gives zero fucks Robin? A Robin who takes things to the extreme? Who isn't Dick Grayson? That's right. There's another Bat prodigy going apeshit in one of these episodes and this one wasn't a part of the Flying Graysons. That's right, it's time to meet Jason Todd. Jason replaced Dick in the comics when he went off to become Nightwing. Jason was introduced back in 1983, and fans hated him. They hated him to the point that when DC set up a number to vote on whether he should live or die, the response was overwhelmingly to murder him. Yikes. I'm sure that won't happen here though.

When the All-Stars Have to Lip Sync For Their Lives, Not Everyone Is Feeling That Fire

RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars, Episode 6: "LaLaPaRuZa"

Before we get started on this week's episode, let's talk about Naomi Smalls. I've seen a lot of articles, comments, heck, even friends who say that she is being slept on. That she's not getting the credit that she deserves and that she has been robbed a few times this season. I've been thinking about this and my highly scientific conclusion is... nah. I think Naomi is a great queen. If you don't have something to offer, you don't make it on All-Stars and you certainly don't make it as far as she has. I feel like Naomi does just enough and because she's not known for being funny or having the best acting skills, when she does OK, people lose their minds. I totally understand that. It feels more impressive when someone achieves something when it's not necessarily one of their strengths. Sometimes Naomi shines because of the weaknesses of the other queens. Take the Snatch Game of Love. I stand by that her Wendy Williams wasn't that impressive. It just felt more impressive because Monét, Valentina, Gia and Latrice did so poorly. If Monét had performed as well as she did in season 10, no one would be talking about Naomi. Naomi also has this thing where she pulls out one big gag, in Snatch Game of Love, it was the faint. That gets a lot of attention and sort of influences how her performance the rest of the time is viewed.

Now, all that being said, I do think that Naomi should have been top 2 in the girl group challenge. Her verse was fire, she interacted the most with Stacy Layne and her runway look wasn't bad. The show was pushing this Valentina arc where she redeemed herself so Naomi definitely got the shaft. Otherwise, she's been strictly safe and that's what she's deserved. Who knows what will happen from here, but it's clear that Naomi needs to win a challenge.

Comics Corner: Batman - The City of Owls

Batman

The first arc of the New 52 Batman was all set up. It was Scott Snyder showing that he knew this character and he had a fresh take on things. It's ballsy to use brand new villains when you are relaunching a comic for the first time in 70+ years. Luckily, the Court of Owls are badass enough and grand enough to forget about Batman's classic rogues, at least for a little while. This second arc features the Court launching a full out assault on Gotham City and Batman. This was a crossover event that pulled in all the Bat titles at the time. We will just be focusing on the main series, but I'd definitely check out the others if you're so inclined.

"Fuck Batman" Titans Recap: "Origins" & "Doom Patrol"

Titans

The first couple episodes of  "Titans" were shaky for sure. A lot of weird choices and a heavy focus on proving to everyone that this show was GRITTY.  This weird focus on ultraviolence and grittiness was heavy handed and other things like world building and characterization were sacrificed. I'm happy to report that the next two episodes are marked improvements and I'm pretty sure that part of the reason is because Starfire is back, baby!

Doctor Who for Dummies: Series 6

Doctor Who - Series 6 (2011)

Matt Smith begins his second year as the Doctor, coming off a killer first year. It was tight and the through line that connected the series was super strong. I was curious how they could top it, of if they would. Well, all they needed to do to top it was focus on my favorite Doctor Who character: River Song. By weaving a story that finally gives us the origin of the show's most enigmatic character and incorporating the series heart, the Ponds, series 6 is my favorite so far.