Classic Coverage looks back on the episodes of past shows from a modern perspective.
In Which Pants Are an Illusion, Just Like Death In a random episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer the character Xander recalls many of the misadventures he’s had over the course of the series. The fact that he both accidentally got wrapped … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “The Day of Black Sun”
“Sub Rosa” (Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 7, Episode 14) The Next Generation lasted seven seasons—the first Trek series to do so, and a tradition that would persist with Deep Space Nine and Voyager (until Enterprise was cancelled … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? – “Sub Rosa”
In 2005, Showtime began airing Masters of Horror. This was a weekly anthology horror series where famous and emerging directors were invited to create original one hour horror films with seemingly no restrictions. A surprising act of censorship a the end … Continue reading Masters of Horror: S2E03 “The V Word”
The Puppetmaster Third time’s the charm for this particular format of the show. Once again we have an episode of the third season that focusses on Katara and demonstrates that life in the Fire Nation is more varied and textured … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “The Puppetmaster” & “Nightmares and Daydreams”
This is the last example of a Simpsons episode I found difficult to watch as a kid, and in fact it’s the most extreme example – I could always at least get through “$pringfield”, “Marge Be Not Proud”, and “Scenes … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Nine, Episode Eleven, “Miracle On Evergreen Terrace”
The Avatar and The Firelord There is an undercurrent in Avatar that runs through the narrative with deep implications but never becomes the primary topic of conversation for the show. In the lore of the series, The Avatar is a person who … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “The Avatar and The Firelord” & “The Runaway”
Mais ouis, we have a tale this week of international espionage, kidnapping, blackmail, and murder – and all at the most prestigious girls’ school in England! This is the part where if I were a complete hack I would write … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S11E02 “Cat Among the Pigeons”
Hello! Teacher on the Edge-ish has been generous enough to revive this feature and now that they’ve yielded it, I’ll be making my best, least awkward attempt to continue it. Uh, enjoy! “Family Business” (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? – “Family Business”
Masters of Horror is a 2005 anthology horror series that ran for two seasons on Showtime. Famous and emerging horror directors were invited to create hour long horror films with seemingly no restrictions. Season two saw quite a few directors … Continue reading Masters of Horror: S2E02 “Family”
In Which We Will Be Changed Like Sand in the Sea From a macro perspective “The Beach” seems like a perfectly normal episode of the show. It has an A and B-plot, it’s got a big action scene, it follows … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “The Beach”
You know, I think I prefer the straight-up bad episodes of this season to the blander entries like this. This episode’s concept isn’t even too far out from other Golden Era episodes – it reminds me a lot of “The … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Nine, Episode Ten, “Realty Bites”
The Painted Lady There’s an episode of the sci-fi show Fringe that aired in its second season, but was filmed to fulfill the order for the first season. The network thought it wasn’t worth airing the first time around, but needed an … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “The Painted Lady” & “Sokka’s Master”
Sorry gang, but July has kicked my ass up one side of the calendar and down the other; so not much time or energy for this (admittedly late) installment of Our Belgian’s adventures. Once again, some bullet-point thoughts and we’ll … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S11E01 “Mrs. McGinty’s Dead”
In 2005, Showtime began airing Masters of Horror, a weekly anthology series. Horror directors were given an equal budget to create original one hour horror films with seemingly no other restrictions. The second season, which aired 2006-2007, pushed the series … Continue reading Masters of Horror: S2E01 “The Damned Thing”
The Awakening How do you build back up after tearing everything down? Eventually all great storytellers arrive at this problem, one that’s so difficult to solve that many just tumble through it and let things be. Hell George R. R. … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “The Awakening” & “The Headband”
I always enjoy playing the contrarian, so I’m disappointed to admit that I fall in the general consensus of finding this episode really, really annoying in conception; I was kind of hoping that it would turn out to be more … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Nine, Episode Nine, “Lisa The Skeptic”
In Which The Stars Turn and a Decision Presents Itself Avatar has never been shy about its influences. The creators are open to the fact that they cribbed from most major pieces of genre storytelling at the time. The stew of Star … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “The Guru” & “The Crossroads of Destiny”
Masters of Horror was an anthology horror series released by Showtime in 2005. Famous and rising horror directors from around the world were invited to create hour-long horror films with no restrictions. The show ran for two seasons on Showtime … Continue reading Masters of Horror: S1E13 “Imprint”
Lake Laogai Avatar has always been a show haunted by death. Hell even its title is a gesture to the genocide that serves as the thematic underpinning of the whole fair. A rather grim cornerstone from which to build a program … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “Lake Laogai” & “The Earth King”
From one perspective, this is the most interesting episode we’ve had in ages, because it’s the usual tug-of-war between Apu’s offensive creative foundation colliding with the show’s warmth and intelligence combined with the new tug-of-war between that same warmth and … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Nine, Episode Eight, “The Two Mrs Nahasapeemapetilans”
Tales of Ba Sing Sae It’s always fun when a TV show breaks its format. Throwing expectations to the wind to do something unique or unexpected. However it’s rarer for such a thing to happen with two back-to-back episodes. Avatar isn’t your … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “Tales of Ba Sing Sae” & “Appa’s Lost Days”
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