Masters Of The Universe: Revelation

That's more like it.

It was a mistake to split up the season. The first five episodes would have been better received if we had gotten this one too.

The Sorceress dying was a big moment. Skeletor is more evil here than he's ever been. But him asking what they were laughing at shows that deep down he's still a goofball.

I liked it. 4 stars.

I loved the scene with Adam and Randor at the end. I was not a big fan of the original series, but even I found it rewarding.

Cringer isn't doing that. Funny.

I like that Skeletor is keeping Duncan alive as a sign of respect. Skeletor is crazy, but there is definitely some psychological nuance in this series' portrayal of him.

Speaking of which, I found the ambiguous scene at the end of Beast Man and Evil Lynn utterly fascinating.

I am very glad the series played it safe and didn't have Savage He-Man kill any people. I think if they had done that, the series would have lost me completely.

It was interesting. 3 1/2 stars.

That episode was shaky as hell. There were great things in it and equally awful things in it. It couldn't decide if it wanted to suck or not. My final grade will probably split the difference.

We'll talk about the good first. Some exists.

--I like that Duncan and Beast Man are framing Lynn's relationship to Skeletor as that of an abused woman. He's gonna go nuts and kill her someday. Duncan's disgusted pity doesn't move her, but Beast Man's genuine concern does. Whatever else Lynn does from that point forward, them putting her in that position is real-world relatable.

--Skeletor at the end. Hilarious moment.

--While I'm not crazy about Randor and the Queen imploding, what I did notice is that Randor's gained some wisdom in the intervening years, and probably wouldn't have been as useless as he used to be even if Adam hadn't come back. The things he said struck me as wisdom and experience rather than revelations or realizations.

The bad. A LOT exists.

--Skeletor and Evil Lynn making out. Let me just say that after that, whatever else you want to say about Kevin Smith or his films, popular culture is now worse for him existing. I'm not even saying I hate the show. But that specific moment made me regret the day Kevin Smith was born. We are all worse off for it.

--The Queen's tired speech about being ghosts wandering alone or some equally lame nonsense is SO freaking tired and overdone, that if you did a parody of the trope using those exact words, the comic interpretation would be indistinguishable from the "pathos" here.

--The idea that Evil Lynn escaped her parents eating her. Upon that revelation I very audibly wondered aloud who this series is for and who it could possibly appeal to. That's not an idea you use on a kids show. And it's certainly not one you use in a serious adult production. The series is suffering from an identity crisis if it thinks any of its viewers will think that's a fine origin story. And let me say something about Kevin Smith that I love. I will never tire of giving that jerk negative feedback in everything he does. He's earned it.

That was the hottest of messes. Scratch that. Upon Evil Lynn and Skeletor groping each other, the turtle is definitely back in the shell, if you get my drift. Ick. 2 1/2 stars.

Awww! Skeletor actually loved Panthor! Who knew?

Skeletor definitely works better as the wacky sidekick than the Ultimate Evil. Comes by it more honestly.

I liked Beast Man insightfully telling Lynn she sounded just like "Him". Because she did.

Was I the only one getting serious Fire Marshall Bill vibes from Skeletor saying "Let me show you something!"?

That was good. Curious how they are going to wrap things up in a half hour. 3 1/2 stars.

That was one of the best episode titles I've ever seen. It makes me laugh. It was so clever, the producers of Psyche could have come up with it. And what do you know? It actually fits.

I liked everything but the Horde cliffhanger. If this IS a one and done series I don't like being left hanging. And if there WILL be a season two, I don't appreciate the bait-and-switch.

The animation in the previous episodes were pretty shoddy, and it's clear to me they saved the entire budget for this episode and the battle climax. I think that was probably the right call. It was pretty amazing.

I like Orko returning and getting a Crowning Moment Of Awesome and some funny one-liners ("You're gonna be in trouble!" "I probably should have opened with that!") I like that Lynn is the one who saved him at the end bringing her redemption story full circle. And I am very glad we got back to her redemption story.

Needed some Beast Man closure. I refuse to believe he died. Disappointing.

Earth was mentioned but I seem to recall the only time we visited there on the old show was the Christmas special. Interesting call-back if that's what it was.

Skeletor cannot ever be a hero simply because he's too crazy. If everything he does is irrational (and it is) then making peace for the greater good can never happen. Not merely because he's evil. But because he's nuts.

I'm taking a half-star off for the last scene, but everything else was pretty satisfying to me. Not sure how He-Man fans would respond to it, but speaking as someone who doesn't usually like He-Man, the finale mostly worked. Now if I can just unsee Skeletor and Lynn grinding and Frenching... 4 1/2 stars.