TV Show Review: The Big Bang Theory - Season 10

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Still providing strong laughs

Cons: One or two episodes aren’t as funny as they could be

The Bottom Lines:

Now ten seasons in

This show still provides the laughs

That keep me watching

“I Was Acting Odd Intentionally.”  “Really?  So You Can Control It?”

There are a lot of shows I have set to record on my DVR, but only one I have record reruns – The Big Bang Theory.  The show still makes me laugh each time I watch it, and considering they’ve just finished season 10, that’s saying something.

This season starts with the wedding that we deserved last year as, in front of family and friends, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) renew their vows.  This means that we finally get to meet Penny’s mother (guest star Katey Sagal) and brother (guest star Jack McBrayer).  Like many season premieres of this show, I did feel it was a bit on the weak side, mainly because they had so many guest stars they were trying to give storylines, too.  After all, they had to reveal what happened between Sheldon’s mom (guest star Laurie Metcalf) and Leonard’s dad (guest star Judd Hirsch) as well.  However, the wedding part itself was enough to almost make up for the disaster that the elopement was.

But once the season got going, we had plenty of strong episodes once again.  Living situations switch early in the season as Amy’s (Mayim Bialik) apartment has to have some work done, so she and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) move in together as an experiment, leaving Leonard and Penny free to actually live on their own.  Meanwhile, Howard (Simon Helberg) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) are getting ready for the birth of their daughter, leading Stuart (Kevin Sussman) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) to fight over who is more helpful to the parents to be. Elsewhere, Raj makes the decision to be a self-sufficient man.  Howard, Sheldon, and Leonard spend much of the season working on a guidance system for the military.  Raj tries to figure out why his relationships fail by asking his former girlfriends for advice while Sheldon uses a machine to understand human emotion.  And Leonard pulls out a huge gift for Sheldon.

My hat really is off to the writers.  After 10 seasons, it can’t be easy to come up with new storylines for the characters, especially when you figure there are two or three stories each episode.  Think of all the stories they’ve told.  Yet we get new, creative, fun stuff here.  Likewise, they find new jokes that make us laugh.  Yes, there are still some running gags or variations on a theme, but those moments are laugh out loud funny as well.

Of course, praise goes to the actors as well.  Their chemistry and comedic timing continues to be impeccable.  There is not a bad performance in the bunch, and the laughs are well deserved.

Yes, the focus of the show is as much on the relationships of the characters as pure geek culture.  That’s a complaint that people have been making against the show for years now.  But that is what happens.  Even geeks eventually grow up, and the characters trying to balance their geek side with the bigger responsibilities they face as adults provides some of these creative storylines I was praising earlier.

One of my favorite storylines of the season illustrated this perfectly.  Watching Howard and Bernadette as new parents has been wonderful.  They haven’t reacted to things as I might have predicted based on earlier seasons of the show.  The writers have found ways to mature the characters while still making them funny and not losing who they area.  In other words, it’s still great comedy, but these are not stories that could be told in any earlier season of the show.  That’s why it is still working.

The season consisted of 24 half hour episodes, and they are all included in this set.  The episodes are in wide screen and full surround, although since it is filmed in front of a studio audience, the audio mainly comes from the front speakers.  There are five featurettes including highlights from the 2016 Comic Con Panel, which is appropriate for this show.  There’s also a gag reel, you know in case you haven’t laughed enough at the show already.

There is a reason that The Big Bang Theory is still leading the comedy pack.  Get season 10 today to start laughing at this still strong show.

Season 10 Episodes:

1. The Conjugal Conjecture

2. The Military Miniaturization

3. The Dependence Transcendence

4. The Cohabitation Experimentation

5. The Hot Tub Contamination

6. The Fetal Kick Catalyst

7. The Veracity Elasticity

8. The Brain Bowl Incubation

9. The Geology Elevation

10. The Property Division Collision

11. The Birthday Synchronicity

12. The Holiday Summation

13. The Romance Recalibration

14. The Emotion Detection Automation

15. The Locomotion Reverberation

16. The Allowance Evaporation

17. The Comic-Con Conundrum

18. The Escape Hatch Identification

19. The Collaboration Fluctuation

20. The Recollection Dissipation

21. The Separation Agitation

22. The Cognition Regeneration

23. The Gyroscopic Collapse

24. The Long Distance Dissonance

Book Review: Asking for Truffle by Dorothy St. James (Southern Chocolate Shop Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Interesting main character, good twists in second half

Cons: Set up slows down mystery early on

The Bottom Line:

Mysterious prize

Sets up promising series

Overcomes slow start

Penn Finds More Truffle than She Bargained For

I can’t resist culinary cozies.  Oh, I am trying to expand my reading horizons and start some other types of cozy mystery series, but I keep coming back to these culinary cozies.  It’s why I picked up Asking for Truffle, the first in a new Southern Chocolate Shop series, and it’s a delicious debut.

Charity Penn, Penn to her friends, has learned not to trust anyone.  An unplanned child, she was left with her father, and his family has never forgiven her for, well, existing.  But the Penn family is rich, so she has also learned that other people are only interested in her for her money.  That’s why she is immediately suspicious of a letter she got announcing she’s won a trip to a chocolate shop in Camilla Beach, South Carolina, for cooking classes.  Since she didn’t enter a contest, she knows something is up.  She asks her friend to look into it for her, and he heads to the shop.  After leaving a voicemail that he has exciting news to share that he wants to hear her reaction to, he winds up drowned in a vat of chocolate.

Naturally, Penn holds herself responsible for what happened to her friend, so she packs her bags and heads down to Camilla Beach.  But with everyone in town a suspect, who can she trust?  What is up with the contest?  And what really happened to her friend?

I will admit I was hesitant to pick up this book because I’d read early reviews from people who had trouble with Penn.  She certainly isn’t like normal cozy heroines since she has a very hard shell.  The book makes the reason behind it very clear.  In fact, I found her background quite refreshing just because it is something different.  By the end of the book, we can see her shell is beginning to crack, and there is definitely potential for great character growth in this series.

And the other characters more than make up for Penn.  While she is understandably suspicious of everyone she meets, she meets some truly wonderful people.  They are a bit eccentric, but who isn’t in a cozy mystery, right?  I’m anxious to get to know them better in future books.

My biggest issue with the book was actually the plot.  It was very uneven.  I’m not sure how it really could have been handled better considering everything that had to happen here, but it took a while for the mystery to really take off.  Once it did, however, it contains some nice surprises along the way to the climax, and it pays off the set up of the first half nicely as well.

And I love the setting – an island off the coast of South Carolina.  It’s the kind of location I want to visit on vacation.  A book is the next best thing, right?

Naturally, there are some recipes included at the end of the book.  We get recipes for chili, chocolate shots and hot chocolate, plus a dark chocolate hazelnut truffle.  That’s a good thing considering how the talk of chocolate made my mouth water.

Now that the series has been set up, I can see lots of potential in future books.  Like any good piece of chocolate, Asking for Truffle teases more delicious mysteries to come.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

TV Show Review: This is Us - Season 1

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong writing, acting, characters

Cons: Any cons are minor overall

The Bottom Line:

Compelling drama

Characters that make you feel

Glad I changed my mind

“I Think I Skipped the Montage.”

I had no plans to start watching This is Us last fall despite being fans of several people in the cast.  What I’d heard of the premise didn’t intrigue me at all.  Then I started hearing that the show was going to make you cry each week.  Sorry, but that’s a hard pass.

Then I went home for Thanksgiving and my brother and sister-in-law were raving about it.  They praised it enough that I had to give it a chance.  Before I knew it, I was hooked.  We even got my parents watching it.  That’s how good it is.

We meet our cast of characters on their 36th birthday.  Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore) goes into labor early with their triplets.  In Los Angeles, Kevin (Justin Hartley) quits his job as the star of a successful sitcom after having a mini breakdown.  His twin sister Kate (Chrissy Metz) finally decides to start losing weight and goes to a support group where she meets Toby (Chris Sullivan).  And on the east coast, family man Randall (Sterling K. Brown) finally tracks down William (Ron Cephas Jones), his biological father who is in the final months of a fight against cancer.

I know what you’re thinking, this doesn’t sound like a show Mark would watch.  Exactly why I was going to pass.  And you can already see where the waterworks are going to come in, and you’d be right.  Partially.

And here come the reasons why I fell in love with the show.  While these characters face serious issues, the show itself is very life affirming.  The tears might come from hurt, but they are much more likely to come from the healing these characters are experiencing.  Make no mistake, they are deeply flawed.  But they are growing and trying to improve their lives.  That growth is very moving.

And funny.  While the show isn’t a comedy, there are some very real and very funny moments in the course of this season.  It’s life.

In case you were wondering, yes, all of these characters are connected, a connection that is clear by the end of the pilot episode.  That connection proves to be very powerful.

I mentioned that these characters are flawed, but they are trying to be good people.  That makes a refreshing change because there are no heroes or villains on the show.  Instead, there are people who are trying to be there for each other.  Yes, they make mistakes.  But when they make mistakes, the show lets us see why they made those choices.  It doesn’t shield them from the consequences of those choices, but it makes them relatable since we understand the reasoning behind their poor decisions.

So far, I’ve been praising the writers and how they are creating the characters and storylines of the show.  I do have a few niggles with it here and there.  The biggest, to me, is an obvious fixation on Jack and Rebecca.  A couple of episodes focus on them to the exclusion of the rest of the cast.  Don’t get them wrong, I love the characters, but I feel it when the rest of the cast isn’t around.

And the cast!  There is not a weak link in the cast, including the impressive number of kids that show up.  The writers put everyone through their paces each week, and everyone shines.  Even when they have monologues, they hit each note and truly mesmerize.

The result?  The show earns each heartfelt moment in each episode.  I hate it when I feel like I’m being manipulated into feeling something, but I never feel that way here.

Season 1 consisted of eighteen episodes, and all are presented here in wide screen and full surround.  Extras include “The After Show,” a few minute discussion of each episode with various members of the cast.

Yes, you’ll need to grab some Kleenex tissues when you sit down to watch season 1 of This is Us.  But it is worth it.  There’s a reason this show dominated the ratings.  If you haven’t discovered it yet, fix that today.  You’ll thank me later.  And if you’ve already discovered these characters, you’ll want this set to enjoy visiting with them again.

Season 1 Episodes:

1. Pilot

2. The Big Three

3. Kyle

4. The Pool

5. The Game Plan

6. Career Day

7. The Best Washing Machine in the Whole World

8. Pilgrim Rick

9. The Trip

10. Last Christmas

11. The Right Thing to Do

12. The Big Day

13. Three Sentences

14. I Call Marriage

15. Jack Pearson’s Son

16. Memphis

17. What Now?

18. Moonshadow

Ornament Review: The Muppet Christmas Carol - 2017 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Captures a fun moment for anniversary

Cons: Who do you think I am, Scrooge?

The Bottom Line:

Anniversary

Creates reason for this piece

Will delight film’s fans

Marking a Milestone of Christmas Movie Past You Will Enjoy in Christmas Present and Christmas Future

It took me several Christmases to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol, but as soon as I did, I couldn’t figure out why I had waited so long.  It is fantastic!  So getting Hallmark’s The Muppet Christmas Carol ornament this year was a must for me.

The ornament is simple but perfect.  It features Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit and Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim as they are walking home from church on Christmas morning.  Bob has Tiny Tim up on his shoulder and both are looking at us and smiling.  Bob’s hat is raised in his right hand, and Tim has his cane raise with his left hand.

Oh, we could argue about including other Muppet characters in the ornament, but I think simple works best.  Too many would crowd things up.  Thanks to their costumes, we know immediately that this isn’t just another ornament of Kermit but something connected to The Muppet Christmas Carol movie.  And, since it features just two characters, it also fits in with the Muppet unofficial series that Hallmark has been doing for years.

Of course, the base on the ornament also helps us identify it as tying in to The Muppet Christmas Carol.  Kermit is standing on a round base that has The Muppet Christmas Carol written on the front in the same font that has always been used for this movie.  What the notation doesn’t have is that Hallmark release this ornament for the film’s 25th anniversary.  Can you believe it’s really been that long since it came out?  I can’t either.  Naturally, this large base means the ornament can be displayed easily on any flat surface.

That base also holds the workings for the magic part of the ornament.  This is one of the shorter clips in the Muppet unofficial series.  It features Bob and Tiny Tim singing the “Christmas Scat” version of “It Feels Like Christmas”  The song itself is just a few seconds as they are walking home in the movie, so the clip here is only 20 seconds long, and we have all of the song.  It’s not much, but I love the song, and it is a fun addition.  You get the first set of two button batteries you need to operate it when you buy this ornament.

The loop for hanging the ornament is on top of Kermit’s head.  This is one of those ornaments were, technically the ornament is tipped back, but the characters still look straight.  It’s only because of the base that we really notice the tip.

Fans of The Muppet Christmas Carol will be delighted with this ornament.  I suspect it will sell out as we get close to Christmas, so if this is one you want, it would be best to act now.

Original Price: $19.95

September 9th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Next week is going to be very quiet since some of these summer series are winding down and fall isn't starting yet.  But this week, I had a couple of double episodes as summer finales.

American Ninja Warrior – Another woman hits the buzzer!  And another couple almost make it.  The women are getting strong.  The “roller coaster” obstacles looks like a lot of fun to me.  I’m sure the height thing would make me freeze and I wouldn’t enjoy it if I actually tried to do it, but a guy can dream about having fun on that one, right?

Hollywood Game Night (Tuesday) – Naturally, I was rooting for the guys, so I was very happy with that outcome.  Once again, the song game would have really hard for me.  I had at least heard of most of the songs the guys had to guess.  Plenty of fun and laughs.

Suits – Yep, the prison case is behind us.  They are really putting Louis through the ringer this season.  While it was over the top, I’m glad to see his conscious is messing with him.  And the new cases are interesting.  It really is nice to see the characters in the court more this season instead of just fighting with each other, as much fun as that is.

Hollywood Game Night (Wednesday) – As far as celebs go, the only one I really know is Nancy Grace, and that’s more thanks to the movies based on her character than anything else.  Still, it was fun, and amazing how the one team almost came back.  The backwards song game was very hard, and I don’t think I would have done any better at the movie titles without vowels either.

Battle of the Network Stars – Back to back episodes tonight, at least for me.  Since it was preempted by football here in LA last week, I don’t know if it was on across the country.  Anway….  That first episode was very lopsided.  And I was rooting for the famous families, too.  Not too surprised when I looked at the doctor team.  The second one was much closer than I thought it would be.  Never watched Baywatch, so I was very pleased with the outcome there since I have watched a couple of the people on the other team.

September 8th's Book Beginnings and Friday 56

It hasn't felt like a short week, but we've made it through to Friday.  That means it is time for Book Beginnings and Friday 56.

This week's book is Asking for Truffle by Dorothy St. James.

                                                              


Chocolate and mysteries?  What's not to love?  Am I right?
Here's the beginning:

The strange letter I'd received in the mail earlier today had me popping chocolate squares into my mouth as if they were candy.  Well, to be fair, they were candy.  But they were also chocolate.

And from 56% into the book:

"What do you do if you need to drive somewhere and someone else has driven off with your car?" I asked.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, child, he takes his motorbike."
"You mean to tell me Harley drives a Harley?"
He rubbed the back of his neck.  "Actually it's a Yamaha."
"You should totally trade it in for a Harley," I muttered.

Have a great weekend.  I've got a book signing planned as part of mine.

Book Review: A Christmas Peril by J. A. Hennrikus (Theater Cop #1)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Sully, strong mystery, theater sub-plot

Cons: Foul language could be cut down

The Bottom Line:

A Christmas murder

Sully juggles with a play

Festive, fun debut

New Series Debut Delights

As much as I love movies and TV, I also love live theater.  So when Julie Hennrikus said she was working on a series with a theater theme, I immediately perked up.  After all, I’ve enjoyed the Clock Shop books she’s written as Julianne Holmes.  An author I like with a theme I’m interested in?  You don’t have to sell me further.  I’ve been marking time until A Christmas Peril would debut, and I loved the result.

Edwina “Sully” Sullivan has taken a medical retirement from her job as a Boston cop.  After moving back to her hometown, she found herself becoming the general manager for the local theater company.  It’s mostly a summer theater company, but each December they put on a production of A Christmas Carol.  This year’s production is looking problematic thanks to a star who can’t remember his lines and a cast getting frustrated with his antics.  Time is running out since the play is supposed to open this weekend.

However, the big news in town is taking place outside of the theater.  Peter Whitehall was murdered – shot in his home.  Peter is a distant relative of Sully and the father of her friend Eric, but the reason the entire town is talking is how rich he was.  Peter was definitely the most prominent citizen in the small Massachusetts town.  Because of Peter’s security system, the police know it was someone who was in the house at the time, but that just leaves family.  Reluctantly, Sully finds herself being pulled into the puzzle.  Can she figure out who committed the murder while still doing her part to get the play ready for opening night?

I was a bit surprised when I realized that the murder was not directly connected to the theater.  Oh, there are some connections, but it’s really the friend and family ties that bring Sully into the case.  This wasn’t an issue for very long, however, as I got caught up in the story.  Really, the mystery is a modern-day Agatha Christie type puzzle.  Instead of weather isolating the suspects, its technology that does it.  There are some twists that kept me guessing until we reached the logical solution.

And fans of the theater, like me, have no reason to fear.  The problems the production of A Christmas Carol is facing provide a strong sub-plot that is woven through the book.  I loved how the two were balanced and the glimpse behind the scenes at the theater.  It certainly helps that I love the story and know it well, I watch or listen to several different productions of the classic Christmas tale every year.

Sully is already a strong main character with strengths and flaws that make her relatable.  There are some other strong characters here, a few of whom I’m hoping are going to be series regulars instead of just suspects for this book.  Some of the theater characters could have been stronger, but they work for this book, and I’m sure we’ll get to know them better as the series goes along.

My biggest issue with the book was the foul language.  It mostly falls into the mild category, but it was definitely more excessive than I’m used to in a cozy.  It’s worth noting, but I’m sure for most people it’s worth noting only in passing.

It’s hard to believe that Christmas cozies are already coming out, but that’s indeed the case.  Whether you devour it now or wait to savor it in December, you’ll definitely want to meet Sully in A Christmas Peril.  This new series is off to a strong start.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

I'm reviewing this book as part of a blog tour.  Be sure to check out the other stops on the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ornament Review: Teensy Nutcracker - 2017 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great looking tiny nutcracker

Cons: Mouth hard to move

The Bottom Line:

Shrunken nutcracker

Looks great in his smaller size

Great for mini tree

For the Nutcracker Collector’s Mini Tree

While I don’t have a large collection of nutcrackers or nutcracker ornaments, I always enjoy getting a cleverly done variation on the theme.  So when I saw that Hallmark was releasing a Teensy Nutcracker as part of this year’s miniature ornament line, I knew I had to get it.

This nutcracker is a king.  He’s got a crown on his head and rosy checks.  The dominate colors are blue and gold with just a little bit of black and red.  He’s very traditional looking.

And that’s one thing I love about him.  There’s no doubt that this is a nutcracker.  He’s not quite perfectly traditional, but he’s close enough that you’d know exactly what he is when you look at him.

And yes, his mouth moves when you lift the lever on his back.  Well, sort of.  It’s very hard to get the lever to move, but you can do it.  This is a common feature since I’ve tried several in the stores, and all of them were hard to move as well.  The plus side of this is that he won’t wind up with his mouth gapping open in a few years.  And it’s not like you could really crack a nut in an ornament this size.

I mentioned this is a mini ornament, right?  Because he’s only an inch tall.  Considering his size, he’s got some good detail on him.  And that also makes me very willing to forgive his mouth not moving easily.  I would have been fine if his mouth didn’t move at all.

Considering his size, it’s probably best to hang him.  As with most nutcrackers, he hangs straight.  But if you do want to set him out, like most nutcrackers, he has a nice flat base as well.

Now that I am collecting mini ornaments (darn Hallmark for making so many cute ones), I’m glad to have a nutcracker for my mini tree.  Teensy Nutcracker lives up to his name, but if you want one, you’ll love him.

Original Price: $7.95

Book Review: Beyond a Doubt by Nancy Cole Silverman (Carol Childs #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery, Carol

Cons: Nothing worth dwelling on

The Bottom Line:

Missing young women

Make for compelling myst’ry

Pick this up today

Will You Enjoy this Book?  Beyond a Doubt

In this day of internet news and digital music, I don’t think much about radio any more.  Heck, I have yet to set any radio stations in my new car.  And yet Nancy Cole Silverman set her mystery series in a news and talk radio station.  That was a wise choice as you can tell by reading Beyond a Doubt.

Working news has definite downsides, like a 5 AM wakeup call to go to the site of a body dump.  That’s how Carol Childs has started this particular morning, and she is soon reporting on the scene as the police work to retrieve the body from a canyon on Mulholland Drive.  The police confirm that the body is that of Monica Channing, the daughter of a prominent judge.  Monica had been missing for two weeks, and the search had been big news all over the Los Angeles area.

That same day comes the news that Gabi Garrison has been reported missing.  Gabi worked as a reporter for a local TV station before going into sales, which is how Gabi and Carol’s paths had crossed.  Carol begins to wonder if there is a connection in the timing between Gabi’s disappearance and the discovery of Monica’s body, especially since the two women look so much alike.  As she begins to dig, she finds other, similar disappearances.  What has she stumbled upon?

Quite obviously, this book isn’t a light, fun cozy mystery as it delved into some pretty serious topics.  However, this book firmly fits into the traditional sphere since it never gets graphic.  We know what is happening without being given any of the details.  Honestly, we don’t need them.  What we get here is sobering.

Nancy Cole Silverman also uses the book to make a great point about the missing people the news media focuses on – young attractive white women – to the exclusion of other people who disappear.

And yet neither of these things get in the way of a great mystery.  The suspense builds right through the climax as we watch Carol work hard to prove what she suspects.  She did act stupidly at one point in her pursuit of the truth, but it made a wonderful plot complication.  I was so wrapped up in the climax I didn’t wind up taking my almost daily lunch time snooze in order to find out how things would turn out, and I just loved the climax.

Carol is a strong main character, even with her lapse of judgment.  Her determination is wonderful.  I like the supporting cast as well, although the focus really is on Carol and the story.  The characters introduced for this book are very strong, which helps keep us engaged.

I can’t recommend Beyond a Doubt highly enough.  This is a completely engrossing and satisfying mystery.  I can hardly wait to pick up Carol’s next adventure.

Check out the rest of the Carol Childs Mysteries.

TV Show Review: The Flash - Season 3

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Still good superhero action and story

Cons: Definitely growing darker

The Bottom Line:

Reality changed

Flash deals with consequences

Series growing dark

“You Are Talking Way too Fast.”

During the first season of The Flash, it was the fun, light superhero show.  I enjoyed it because you could count on the show to provide some laughs as Barry Allen raced to save the world.  However, in season three, I found the show growing darker, and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much.

The season starts out with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) in a happy place.  He’s gone back in time and saved both of his parents from being murdered, and this new world he’s living in is wonderful.  That is until he starts to realize that this alternative reality is having serious side effects.  With an unlikely ally, he sets out to correct the timeline.

Returning to the correct Central City, he finds that there are still some changes he can’t fix.  They range from the sex of Diggle’s child (yes, the effects reached to mother show Arrow) to Barry’s new boss in the crime lab.  Julian Albert (Tom Felton) hates him and won’t put up with any of Barry’s disappearances.  Meanwhile, Cisco (Carlos Valdes) is in mourning because his brother is dead.

But there are more serious forces at work.  A new villain, Savitar, is in town and he is helping people find their abilities.  While Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) is thrilled since it makes him a speedster, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) fights it since it is turning her into Killer Frost.  Meanwhile, Barry has a flash of the future and the loss of someone dear to him.  Can the team prevent it from happening?

I was actually surprised when we only spent the first episode of the season in the Flashpoint alternative reality, but we then spent the rest of the season dealing with the consequences of Barry’s actions so it made sense to me.  As you can see, the consequences are rather severe, which is what helped take the joy out of the show.  This is especially true in the second half of the season when the show begins to really focus on Barry’s vision of the future and trying to stop it.  It’s hard to have much fun when you are counting down to a death.

Not that the show is all darkness.  They introduce a new version of Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) this season, and Tom has a fantastic time playing him.  The character can be a bit over the top for me, but that’s a minor issue.

Then there’s the annual crossover, which involved characters from all of the Arrowverse shows this year.  The story really started on an episode of The Flash, but the payoff for it and for storylines on the show spread across the rest of the episodes in the crossover.

And I can’t leave out the musical episode.  Melissa Benoist from Supergirl comes over and we get characters from that and other shows in this universe popping in to sing.  It’s a lot of fun, although I did find some of the singing to be less than expected, usually only at the start of a song.  However, the final song of the episode, “Running Home to You,” is one of the best things of the entire season of the show.

The actors are all still going strong.  They are obviously comfortable with the characters at this point, and they are making the most of every scene they have.

This set contains the wide screen and full surround versions of all 23 episodes in the season.  The set also contains over two hours of extras, including looks at the crossover, the musical episode, deleted scenes, a gag reel, the 2016 Comic Con panel, and more featurettes.

Fans of the show will definitely continue to enjoy season three.  Believe me, each episode goes much too quickly.  Here’s hoping the writers can bring back some of the fun in the new season.

Season 3 Episodes:

1. Flashpoint

2. Paradox

3. Magenta

4. The New Rogues

5. Monster

6. Shade

7. Killer Frost

8. Invasion!

9. The Present

10. Borrowing Problems from the Future

11. Dead or Alive

12. Untouchable

13. Attack on Gorilla City

14. Attack on Central City

15. The Wrath of Savitar

16. Into the Speed Force

17. Duet

18. Abra Kadabra

19. The Once and Future Flash

20. I Know Who You Are

21. Cause and Effect

22. Infantino Street

23. Finish Line