Powers start dropping from the sky and Walker (Sharlto Copley) suspects an old friend is behind it. Pilgrim (Susan Heyward), however, pursues “Ghost” believing he’s responsible. Calista (Olesya Rulin) confronts SuperShock (Michael Madsen) but the encounter causes her to reconsider being a Power.

Powers confirms what was pretty clear for a while, who’s killing the various Powers out there. It’s not too surprising and it’s a storyline we’ve seen played out numerous times in comics. What is that? I’m not going to spoil it in a review, we’ll save that until next episode’s review most likely.

But, this continues the pattern this season of storylines that are predictable (for example Kutter’s fate last episode) or utterly make no sense at all (Calista’s father deciding to rob a bank). It’s been a drifting season from one setup to the next without any of the scenes really enhancing the narrative at all.

We get some action sequences and learn a lot more about Diamond’s history, but overall it feels hollow like the writers weren’t quite sure to get to the confrontation that’s coming. They had ideas but failed to connect the dots into a cohesive story that gelled. Too many side tracks and easily to spot fake outs distracted from a season that could have been greatly simplified by focus just on origins and the present.

Once again Olesya Rulin’s acting distracts as she attempts to act both scared and broken in a segment that spotlights her. Unfortunately, she can’t act making the entire scene comedic in a sad sort of way. It’s distracting and completely takes me out of the episode. What’s supposed to be serious just fails miserably and becomes comedic and laughable.

Predictable. Bad acting. It’s all here!

The series is building towards a big showdown. Will it be unpredictable? Bets are no.

The series has such potential, but this episode is a perfect example of where the potential gets sidetracked and distractions detracts from the whole. The seasons has been full of ups and downs, and there’s just been too many downs.

Overall Score: 6.0

Walker (Sharlto Copley) learns that something isn’t quite right with SuperShock (Michael Madsen), while Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) and Kutter (Justice Leak) investigate an elusive “Ghost.” Calista’s (Olesya Rulin) estranged father unexpectedly comes to town.

Powers is a mix of good and bad, mostly falling on the bad end of things with this episode that does its best job at making it look like Michael Madsen’s SuperShock is crazy and also dealing with Calista’s father.

The middling part of the episode is Madsen who can act and does a decent job with what he’s given. That’s pretty limited to him mumbling to himself and wandering around as Walker slowly realizes not everything is right. It feels more like a possibly homeless person than anything really menacing and definitely does not give enough for Madsen to really do on the acting end of things.

Then there’s the return of Calista’s father who decides to commit a crime. Why? Mostly to get Calista to do something stupid and put her in danger. The plotline makes so little sense and the decisions made to deal with Calista’s father makes you question the entire competence of the police force. With so many other solutions that can easily be had and result in a positive outcome, you can only wonder why the show even thinks this was a good plot point, let alone good writing. It isn’t helped at all by acting that’s some of the worst of the season.

And the final negative of the episode is the ending with Pilgrim and Kutter which is so predictable it might as well had a billboard spelling things out. The writing is completely by the numbers for these two, and things have been telegraphed as to what would happen for quite some time now. These two and their relationship show off the complete lack of creativity along with a lack of coherence when it comes to the plot of the season.

We had three episodes that were actual quality and this one slides right back into old habits and lazy writing. I guess good things can’t last for long as this episode attests. Absolutely dreadful.

Overall Score: 6.05

The origins of SuperShock’s (Michael Madsen) complicated and mysterious relationship with Retro Girl are revealed, as Calista (Olesya Rulin), Sgt. Martinez (Raul Casso) and Zora (Logan Browning) team up to fill the Powers void left in her absence. The disgraced Senator Brown’s (Enrico Colantoni) body is discovered, catapulting newly reinstated detectives, Walker (Sharlto Copley) and Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) into the investigation.

Powers is getting good? That’s three episodes in a row that are pretty solid and quality television. It’s no longer hate watching for me, I’m actually enjoying it! Part of that is the series’ more focused episodes moving away from fights and special fx and instead dialing back to what it is, a cop show that just so happens to have superpowers.

The episode jumps between the present where the body of Senator Brown is discovered and the past showing the origin of SuperShock. There’s also some bits about the formation of a new super team.

The flashbacks are interesting in that they fill some gaps into the history of the Powers and especially how this world differs from ours. Up to this point we assumed everything is the same other than the existence of Powers, but this episode shows that there’s some history that’s a bit different. It’s a solid reveal and gives us an origin for a character in a series that has stayed away from origin stories.

The focus on the killer of the Senator is decent, but rather predictable as a suspect is named and we all know they’re not actually the killer. It just feels like something we all see a mile away.

That leaves us with the formation of the new team. This is the weakest part of the episode primarily due to the acting. Olesya Rulin as Calista stands out for her line readings that always feel very fake and rarely connect. Some time she’s good, most of the time that’s not the case. Luckily we don’t get a lot, but that emphasizes what we do get. It stands out.

The episode is actually a good one for a show that has been very uneven and is speeding along with a season that has so many threads going all over the place. If it comes together the season may redeem itself, but we have some time to go for that.

Overall Score: 7.05

As Calista (Olesya Rulin) is about to be crowned the newest shining star of the Powers universe by Conrad Moody III (Wil Wheaton), CEO of the most powerful Powers merchandising company on the planet, a valuable member of the community is murdered. With Walker (Sharlto Copley) and Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) suspended, they are powerless to stop the city from unraveling around them.

Powers has given us two good episodes in a row. By focusing on the crime at hand, the murder of the original Retro Girl, the episode keeps things simple in many ways and makes the cops feel like actual police. They use actual deduction and go over evidence, instead of running around like chickens with their heads cut off. It feels like actual intelligence is being used by the main characters.

Who the killer of the various Powers actually is isn’t that hard to figure out. The series has telegraphed that for quite some time. The reasoning behind it all feels rather idiotic though. I won’t ruin it, but it has to go up there as one of the worst plans by a villain ever. This one makes Cobra Commander look like a genius.

The episode is absolutely an improvement from what’s come before though. Even with the idiotic plan at the center of the season. Generally the acting is good, or at least better than a lot of what we’ve seen in the first season as well as this season’s current episodes.

There’s some good here. There’s a death that does feel like it comes out of nowhere, but it’s a character who was definitely a drag on the series. There’s also an ending that’s a bit surprising (and hopefully it’s not undone next episode). With that and the acting, this is one of the stronger episodes of the season and of the series as a whole.

The premise? Really silly.

The acting? Better than normal.

The special fx? Used at a minimum, so a big improvement.

Some twists? Yup, there’s some good things in there that I didn’t expect.

Overall? Two good episodes in a row and hopefully the series continues along this path.

Overall Score: 7.05

In the aftermath of a catastrophic political scandal, Walker (Sharlto Copley) and Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) investigate a high-priority suspect and uncover shocking government connections. Meanwhile Triphammer (Andrew Sensenig) is determined to create a new Powers team, recruiting Zora (Logan Browning) and a new protégé, Sgt. Tiberio Martinez (Raul Casso).

Powers has a good episode (seems every few are good doesn’t it) with a quieter more focused episode that gives us a few plotlines in smaller doses. Most of the episode is dedicated to Walker and Pilgrim’s investigation into the murder of Power Girl and their zeroing in on the likely culprit Heavy. This spirals into a vast conspiracy of government sponsored Powers and the attempt to rehabilitate and control some of them.

There’s also Triphammer’s attempt to build a new team which devolves mostly into scenes of Zora and Martinez sparring with each other. This actually looks good and it’s clearly where the budget was focused because….

The final plot thread is focused on Calista who is being lured into being represented be an agency and her dealing with Conrad Moody played by Wil Wheaton. While the Zora/Martinez fights are good, this section, especially a laughably bad use of a 3D hologram at the end, is the opposite. With bad acting and equally bad special fx, you get the vibe folks weren’t quite sure how to progress with things in this plot aspect.

As usual the episode is mixed, but in this case the majority is really good. By focusing on Walker and Pilgrim’s investigation we get some of the best acting from Copley and Heyward in the entire series. The progression and reaction by some of their shaking things up feels natural and really well paced. For a show based on folks with super powers, it’s this grounded episode that feels like the best this season by far.

Enrico Colantoni as Senator Bailey Brown really is the highlight of the episode giving the best performance of them all when he eventually turns up and sort of spills the beans.

This is easily the best episode this season. It feels like an actual detective show with some solid corruption aspects that pulls it all together. It’s clear there’s a lot of shenanigans to go and that the killer of Retro Girl is still to be revealed, but if the series kept its focus like this, it shows it’d be much stronger for it.

Overall Score: 7.2

Commander Cross (Adam Godley) unofficially reopens the Retro Girl case, ordering Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) and Walker (Sharlto Copley) to lead a covert investigation that may put them in a life-threating situation. Meanwhile, Los Angeles goes in lockdown mode as gang warfare reaches a fever pitch, pulling the revered Power, SuperShock (Michael Madsen) out of retirement.

Powers has things melting down (storywise and show wise) as gangs begin to riot and battle in the streets of Los Angeles. Much like Police Academy, why these gangs and riots all exist on one street and none of the side streets is a mystery. The riot scenes are woefully bad with stereotypical shots that we’ve seen a million times over.

Things aren’t just eye rolling in the streets, but also behind the scenes as Walker gets a team together to figure out who killed Retro Girl. This includes torturing a person to the point his head explodes. Scanners moment aside, the fact the cops have to turn to torture to get anything done is groan inducing.

And that head explosion. There’s been some bad special fx on this show, but this one is beyond bad. I can harp on the bad makeup, but this is laughably bad and feels like it’s been outshined in every way from what we see on SyFys Face Off. Add in the New Retro Girl’s bad green screen flight, a building collapse where I’ve seen model train sets that are more realistic, and it’s just bad in this department, like people don’t know how to budget on the show.

Again, there’s some good, but this episode has a lot of bad, falling into old habits that will hopefully die fast.

Overall Score: 6.95

On the day of Retro Girl’s funeral, Detectives Walker (Sharlto Copley) and Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) prepare to combat violence between rival gangs The Quantums and The Hacks. Hoping to fill her place, Calista (Olesya Rulin) makes her public debut as New Retro Girl. Still reeling from Retro Girl’s death, and with her murder officially closed, Walker doggedly pursues a suspect he believes to be the real murderer.oks to avenge the woman he loved.

Powers continues its improved streak to two episodes as the funeral for Retro Girl takes place and tensions rise all around. It’s a very slow build, but the episode again has some strengths and weaknesses.

The episode does a decent job of continuing to build this world and the new season, though the fake outs of who killed Retro Girl feel obvious and a bit forced in ways. Depicting things as not rosy and there being an impact with the death of a hero feels much more realistic that just having an entire city mourn. There’s a power vacuum and this episode attempts to address that.

The bad as usual is the acting which just feels flat throughout with few showing a range of emotions. Everyone is just dour and angry and I’m a bit surprised the whole world isn’t steeped in grays and browns to match the mood.

The special fx again are mixed with flight being the major issue of the show. Supergirl has shown how to do it right, but this show just falls back on horrible green screen that looks like something I could create on my computer.

The episode again is an improvement on last year, but that’s not saying a whole lot consider last year was a garbage fire. But, that doesn’t mean it’s good. The show is watchable, and fills a void in the summer of comic based television shows, but considering the source material, so much more can be done and so much more could be done that’s interesting.

We’ll see where the season goes but judging off of these first two episodes it’s just very middling television.

Overall Score: 7.0