[7.2/10] I’ve made my distaste for Bucky pretty well-known in these reviews, but at least here he’s mostly annoying Agent Bennet rather than our heroes. I’ll admit though that I’ve come around on his combative, little brother-like relationship with Ro. There’s something amusing about their dynamic here, with some Whedonesque dialogue, that really helps bolster things for me.
That said, this is another episode with a pretty cool premise -- Zeta and Ro needing to rescue Bucky while trapped 40,000 feet in the air -- with middling execution. There’s not a ton of unique challenges here beyond the usual cat and mouse game, and once again, our heroes only escape because Agent West does something stupid, which is becocming pretty tiresome as a trope for this show. What’s more, that damn remote is back, which is a pretty tired plot device anyway.
There’s more than enough to like here though. For one thing, I do enjoy Bucky getting the better of Agent West. The fact that they connect over Sentries of the Cosmos is a fun bit of continuity. I especially like the outside-the-plane action. It makes for a wild set piece that pushes the show past some of its usual chase limits, and has a few real high points, including the banter between Ro and Bucky. There’s even a decent excuse for them getting away, with Bucky zooming into a city where the main NSA ship is too big to go.
The catch is that I’m just not terribly invested in Bucky as a character, so him needing our heroes’ help and becoming a fugitive himself doesn’t do much for me. But at least he fixes Zeta so that (theoretically) no one will be able to control him with a remote again.
Overall, a pretty good episode despite the focus placed on one of the show’s most annoying recurring characters.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-08-01T22:55:42Z
[7.2/10] I’ve made my distaste for Bucky pretty well-known in these reviews, but at least here he’s mostly annoying Agent Bennet rather than our heroes. I’ll admit though that I’ve come around on his combative, little brother-like relationship with Ro. There’s something amusing about their dynamic here, with some Whedonesque dialogue, that really helps bolster things for me.
That said, this is another episode with a pretty cool premise -- Zeta and Ro needing to rescue Bucky while trapped 40,000 feet in the air -- with middling execution. There’s not a ton of unique challenges here beyond the usual cat and mouse game, and once again, our heroes only escape because Agent West does something stupid, which is becocming pretty tiresome as a trope for this show. What’s more, that damn remote is back, which is a pretty tired plot device anyway.
There’s more than enough to like here though. For one thing, I do enjoy Bucky getting the better of Agent West. The fact that they connect over Sentries of the Cosmos is a fun bit of continuity. I especially like the outside-the-plane action. It makes for a wild set piece that pushes the show past some of its usual chase limits, and has a few real high points, including the banter between Ro and Bucky. There’s even a decent excuse for them getting away, with Bucky zooming into a city where the main NSA ship is too big to go.
The catch is that I’m just not terribly invested in Bucky as a character, so him needing our heroes’ help and becoming a fugitive himself doesn’t do much for me. But at least he fixes Zeta so that (theoretically) no one will be able to control him with a remote again.
Overall, a pretty good episode despite the focus placed on one of the show’s most annoying recurring characters.