Noel Kirkpatrick

Noel Kirkpatrick
Noel Kirkpatrick's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s): Christian Science Monitor TV.com
Publications: Christian Science Monitor, TV.com

TV Reviews Only

T-Meter Title | Year
100% Arrow: Season 2 - Unthinkable (TV Episode) "Unthinkable" was more than just a season finale. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
90% Arrow: Season 2 - Streets of Fire (TV Episode) I don't know that I've ever felt like Starling City is a place. What we see of it is so often alleyways, warehouses, scaffolding, and plastic tarps.. we don't have a great sense of the city as a whole - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
100% Arrow: Season 2 - City of Blood (TV Episode) While "City of Blood" did that, it also devoted much of its energy to dealing with the fallout from Moira's death at the end of last week's episode. That allowed Arrow to give itself the space to actually deal with Oliver and Thea's pain. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
82% Arrow: Season 2 - The Man Under the Hood (TV Episode) Season 2 is looking decidedly more ambitious, with essentially a six-episode arc to wrap up the season. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
100% Arrow: Season 2 - Deathstroke (TV Episode) "Deathstroke" hopefully set the stage for Arrow to hurtle itself through its final five episodes of Season 2 in an exciting fashion. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
70% Arrow: Season 2 - Birds of Prey (TV Episode) I'm glad Arrow is at least giving Laurel some agency, even if it's sort of at very mixed speeds, and through really dim-witted scenes. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
89% Arrow: Season 2 - Suicide Squad (TV Episode) I rather enjoyed "Suicide Squad." It was a very low-key episode for Arrow, not too busy at all, with only two plots to its name. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
100% Arrow: Season 2 - The Promise (TV Episode) It's with some sense of relief, then, that I can say that "The Promise" was a much better episode than "The Odyssey," on both a character level and on an action level. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
80% Arrow: Season 2 - Time of Death (TV Episode) It feels like it's been much longer than just a few weeks since Arrow went on hiatus for the Olympics, so it was nice that the show returned from that wintry exile with its strongest all-around episode in a while. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
90% Arrow: Season 2 - Heir to the Demon (TV Episode) "Heir to the Demon" paid off a lot of the table-setting Arrow's been doing since it returned from the winter break, particularly with regard to Laurel's fall from her already shaky place in the world. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
80% Arrow: Season 2 - Tremors (TV Episode) I can certainly do without Roy mindlessly punching people in the face again and again. I guess it has to do with bias. I like Roy as a character just fine, but I have more of an attachment to and interest in Diggle. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
100% Arrow: Season 2 - Blind Spot (TV Episode) I want Glen Winter to direct all of Arrow's episodes. He doesn't settle for easy shot composition or blocking (I loved the scene with Sebastian and his mother). - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
60% Arrow: Season 2 - Blast Radius (TV Episode) After the mid-season finale, I think pretty much anything was going to feel like a bit of a letdown, but I wasn't expecting "Blast Radius" to be that much of a letdown. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
100% Arrow: Season 2 - Three Ghosts (TV Episode) "Three Ghosts" was EXACTLY the right way to have your audience chomping at the bit for your series to return. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
85% Arrow: Season 2 - The Scientist (TV Episode) It's little things like these that Arrow should be actively working not to do. It's doubly frustrating that it has, actually, managed to avoid these issues for a nice chunk of the season, until the past few episodes had characters acting just to move. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
82% Arrow: Season 2 - State v. Queen (TV Episode) Do you want to start with how great Seth Gabel was this week? Because he was great, hitting a blend of camp and darkness that managed to feel totally organic to the show's world. I loved it. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
100% Arrow: Season 2 - Keep Your Enemies Closer (TV Episode) I've always appreciated Diggle for being incredibly sensible; he certainly provided a conscience for Oliver at a time when Oliver very desperately needed one. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
91% Arrow: Season 2 - League of Assassins (TV Episode) I was glad that not all the secrets were kept, and that one of the Lances was informed that Sara was still alive. I was gladder still that it was Quentin who learned the truth. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
85% Arrow: Season 2 - Crucible (TV Episode) Despite all the good thematic work, I did find "Crucible" to be a bit of a dull episode, especially after the compelling and exciting three episodes we've had before it. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
100% Arrow: Season 2 - Broken Dolls (TV Episode) I'm intrigued by the way Arrow seems to be positioning her as a defender of women ("She's targeting criminals." "Misogynist criminals"), and the potential gender politics that will open up for the show as a result. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
92% Arrow: Season 2 - Identity (TV Episode) It doesn't matter that "Identity" failed to subvert this particular superhero narrative, because its execution of that narrative, and the rest of the episode as a whole, was very good. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 7, 2019
98% Hannibal: Season 2 (TV, 2013-2015) If Hannibal's first season was about our relationship to serial-killer programming on television... Season 2 may be about our relationship with the TV anti-hero and the question of how various narratives entangle and seduce us with him. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 14, 2019
81% Hannibal: Season 1 (TV, 2013-2015) Hannibal depicts a heightened reality of trauma in a way that few television shows in recent memory have done, or would even think of doing. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 14, 2019
100% The Legend of Korra: Book Four - Balance (TV, 2012-2014) I appreciate Book 4 [for] putting one of its central conflicts front and center from the start, and delineating the two sides very clearly. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 21, 2018
75% The Legend of Korra: Season 2 (TV, 2012-2014) As much as Book 2 eventually managed to right itself, there was still a considerable amount of haphazardness to it, and that ultimately resulted in a frustrating, lackluster viewing experience. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 21, 2018
100% The Legend of Korra: Season 1 (TV, 2012-2014) I found the season to be a delight to watch. The animation from Studio Mir is crisp, clean, and has a wonderful atmosphere. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 20, 2018
77% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Destiny (TV Episode) "Destiny" was probably the series's best episode, and even more than the other times I declared it so, I felt like Legends had finally figured itself out in terms of tone, writing, and style. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
85% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Leviathan (TV Episode) Based on "Leviathan," I feel like the show has a pretty solid idea of how it wants to wrap up its first season, which is a good sign for what we have left. And, hopefully, it's a good sign for Season 2. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
57% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Last Refuge (TV Episode) Well, that was a little rough, and I don't just mean the wig that they stuck on poor Paul Blackthorne. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
75% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - The Magnificent Eight (TV Episode) I can accept a lot of things... But if the show going to outright just get things wrong, like a kid-aged version of H.G. Wells having tuberculosis in the American West, well, I'm drawing my line in the sand. And we all know H.G. was a woman anyway. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
36% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Progeny (TV Episode) Well, I'm not going to rage at the show, but I will offer a polite golf clap and nod of approval. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
85% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Left Behind (TV Episode) Well, hey, that was actually fun! Yeah, I know. I'm as surprised as you are, I bet. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
80% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Night of the Hawk (TV Episode) Obviously the answer is for at least eight more episodes, but, man, I'd like things to really have a stronger sense of direction. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
76% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Star City 2046 (TV Episode) I want Legends to be fun. And "Star City 2046" was mostly pretty fun. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
85% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Marooned (TV Episode) "Marooned" felt incredibly disposable beyond the Heat Wave plot. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
88% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Fail-Safe (TV Episode) This was the best Legends had been since "Pilot" Part 2. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
86% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - White Knights (TV Episode) There were some things to gripe about within "White Knights," but the episode created a bit of subtext text in a way that I really appreciated. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
88% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Blood Ties (TV Episode) I still feel like there's a better show creeping around the edges of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and that it needs time to really allow that show to come forward in a stronger way. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
88% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Pilot, Part 2 (TV Episode) "Part 2" of the pilot leaned in much harder on the time-travel aspects of the show, and the result was a stronger hour than the first. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
67% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 - Pilot, Part 1 (TV Episode) The episode showed glimmers of a series that could be a lot of fun once it gets done explaining itself. The key is that Legends of Tomorrow has a remarkably solid ensemble that's already mostly clicking really well with one another. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
100% The Flash: Season 1 - Fast Enough (TV Episode) "Fast Enough" was one of the most satisfying season finales to a show that I've seen in a while... it really ended up encapsulating a lot of The Flash's best qualities. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
86% The Flash: Season 1 - Rogue Air (TV Episode) First, the entire premise for this episode was ridiculously dumb... Second thing: I really didn't care that the premise for the episode was ridiculously dumb. "Rogue Air" was funnel cake. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
100% The Flash: Season 1 - Grodd Lives (TV Episode) Despite all the much-needed Iris fallout, the Grodd plot didn't feel like an afterthought. That's good considering the incremental build-up the character has received over the course of the season. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
100% The Flash: Season 1 - The Trap (TV Episode) "The Trap" gave Cavanagh a chance to stretch himself further... It was all very good. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
80% The Flash: Season 1 - Who Is Harrison Wells? (TV Episode) The Flash managed to put out an episode that more or less mirrored last week's episode but actually delivered a little fun. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
77% The Flash: Season 1 - All Star Team Up (TV Episode) I mean, a hacking duel to control robotic bees was the kind of kooky fun The Flash enjoys, but it was also really boring. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
95% The Flash: Season 1 - Tricksters (TV Episode) "Tricksters" was a busy episode, but still a pretty fun one... The episode moved at a nice enough clip that I didn't mind the tonal mishmash too much. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
90% The Flash: Season 1 - Out of Time (TV Episode) 15 or 20 years ago, the episode absolutely would've been a finale, what with its wild, show-changing cliffhanger that would've left us dying in anticipation as we sat through a summer full of reruns. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
90% The Flash: Season 1 - Fallout (TV Episode) "Fallout" was just serving one too many functions as a conclusion to one storyline and a bridge to larger future storylines, when the episode might've been better served if it'd focused solely on the former. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018
78% The Flash: Season 1 - The Nuclear Man (TV Episode) As an audience, we've come to understand how an episode of The Flash works, and the result is that we can see and appreciate the variation on the show's typical Freak of the Week A-plot. - TV.com EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2018