Originally published March 10, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
Rachel Bellwoar reviews the fifth episode of Powerless…
It’s Cold Season in Charm City, that time of year when warm weather requires winter coats because freezing supervillains are in town. Emily arrives at work with the notion that living in the Midwest has prepared her for snowy conditions. Instead she’s unsure what to wear, drinking warm soda Teddy boiled using heat warming gloves. His gloves are the indispensable accessory Cold Season needs, and Emily thinks his invention could win top prize in the Wayne Innovation Contest. She needs that win to prove to corporate that they shouldn’t have taken away their division’s parking spots.
There’s a reason Teddy hasn’t entered the contest and his bad reaction to a previous loss has Jackie using her ominous voice. Somehow low productivity gets covered under self-preservation, as Teddy’s disinterest in putting effort into projects gets explained as protecting himself from impulsively flying to Tampa. Emily’s inability to motivate Teddy is because she hadn’t thought to compare him to The Hobbit movies before (which doesn’t make sense because The Hobbit movies are awesome) but works for a while. Teddy has been shown to have a big ego but his perfectionism comes as somewhat of a surprise. Perfection is frequently tied to ambition and Emily’s more the model type by that thinking.
It’s Emily, after all, who turns in Teddy’s gloves without permission. Teddy loses the contest, and his space doctor brother gains another notch to hold over his less successful head. Emily’s false hope of being a finalist caused Teddy to call his family prematurely, so when she barges in on their visit, she could’ve at least pretended they were dating. News of a girlfriend is what his parents wanted when Teddy called. The tech guy having romance issues is a trite, tired stereotype, but if you’re going to use it at all, why hold back?
Instead the show recreates its own version of the trapped in an enclosed space predicament, when Emily puts her foot in her mouth and gets frozen with Teddy on Wayne Security’s balcony. Teddy’s gloves haven’t malfunctioned, so escape never feels far from reach, but what could’ve been a deep hash out gets rushed for a quick mending of ties. The running gag of Ron building toys for Van’s girlfriend’s daughter is much more staggered, peaking with Ron’s construction of Wonder Woman’s invisible plane. Still, the cast shouldn’t be competing with invisible objects for bringing the night’s most laughs.
Rachel Bellwoar
