What I Saw 10.19.16: Bob's Burgers &The Flash

It's good to be blogging again! Although I am doing it at the end of a very errand/chore filled day and about 5 hours of sleep, so if it seems shorter or if there are more typos than usual it's due to being exhausted. Also, I'm about to be heading out of town again, so I might not be posting for a few days. If I can find the time next week, I might do a couple of "bonus" posts for some animes I'll watch during the weekend (you are not getting out of watching Planetes this time: you know who you are!).

What I watched:

Bob's Burgers S3.E22 - "Carpe Museum"
The Flash S3.E2&3 - "Paradox" and "Magenta"

What I saw:

In the first little break I got today was Bob's Burgers.

I haven't written about this show yet because I end up watching it in those times where I only have a half-hour and in the mood for a comedy; even though Nurse Jackie is really is more like a half hour drama series than the comedy label it's given. Not to mention that for some reason on my blu-ray player it is literally the only show on Netflix where the sound mysteriously cuts out after about 10 minutes, which get's annoying. The show is funny, but like most things I blog about there is more to the show than the jokes it tells.

In this episode the lesson of the day was about learning who you are and being okay with it. All the kids are taken on a field trip to the museum and are paired with someone at random. The moral of the story was best presented through Tina's story, where she decides to try and help the classmate she was paired with from being so dork, only to discovery she is equally dorky. Bob confirms that he is not a rule follower after breaking ranks with Louise, Gene is okay with not being turned on by mannequin boobs, Linda is very overeager person when helping people (or anything she does really), Louise wants to take over the restaurant and follow her dad's rule breaking footsteps, and her buddy is okay with risking his life in order to live a little.

Pretty funny episode, overall. One thing I'll add attention too is my favorite subject of existentialism. The kid who has asthma and is willing to risk an attack in order to have some fun follows the concept a man named Viktor Frankl discusses in his book Man's Search for Meaning. He wrote about how you discover what is truly meaningful to you when you are put in a position where you have to risk your life to accomplish things. The things you are willing to risk your life for is what really matters, and you learn to prioritize and dismiss the other more mundane things we normally get caught up in. All the excuses we put before ourselves about why we can't do something goes by the wayside; or else we become depressed at never having taken the chance. It's a very powerful book, and not too long either so I highly recommend it if you haven't read it before.

I caught up and watched two episodes of The Flash.

In a way it was good watching these two episodes back to back because there were mostly a continuation of the idea of acceptance that they introduced with Flashpoint. In "Paradox" Barry learns more about the world he has stumbled back to after reseting all the events he changed. Team Flash is fractured, and he keeps pissing everyone off when he tries to ask about what's going on. The best moment I think came when the Flash of Earth-3, Jay Garrick, pulls Barry from the time-stream and tells Barry enough time travel. No matter what he does to change things, it's never going to be exactly the way he left it and he needs to accept what has happened or else risk making things more effed up than they already are. I think that is the more realistic way to look at time travel, because honestly even with just going back one day you're either forgetting something you had done or your knowledge of what you do remember will make you do something different anyways.

The episode "Magenta" was also about coming to terms about who you are, much like Bob's Burgers. Harrison Wells and his daughter Jesse return to Earth-1, interrupting Barry and Iris' disastrous date. Jesse is now a speedster, and Harry doesn't want to accept the new dangers that are about to fall upon his daughter as she considers being a hero. Wally is disheartened that he isn't a speedster, and risks his life to "jump start" his powers by jumping in front a truck, hoping they will kick-in to save him. He has to learn to accept that he does not have powers, (for now anyways). The fact that he was willing to risk his life to try and trigger them, again like I talked about earlier, means becoming a hero is important to him. The metahuman Frankie, has to accept the past abuse that has happened to her in order to regain control of herself from her other more vindictive personality. Her true self does not want to risk the lives of others for her justice.

Then we get to Barry and Iris' date. Barry sums up the moral of the episode by explaining the reason why their date was such a disaster earlier because they were trying to deny their reality. They are part of a crime fighting team, with Barry's powers at the center of it. Trying to ignore that fact will continue to tear at their relationship until they come to terms with that. They have to just be themselves or risk not being a "them." I just hope he doesn't F*** everything up by erasing their progress with time travel again. I thought it was funny that he himself had pointed out that he and Iris have kissed twice but he erased it with time travel both times. Hopefully the third time really is the charm; for all our sakes.


So while I like comic shows/movies, I do not really read any actual comics. Any knowledge I have I gained from watching the animated version of it. If you want to know more comic background where the shows like Arrow, The Flash, The Walking Dea and others draw their material from, check out this YouTube channel called Emergency Awesome. What are some of your favorite animated comic shows? Let me know in the comments below!