Rachel Bellwoar reviews the fourth episode of Powerless season 1…
“Emily Dates a Henchman” was Powerless’ best episode yet but is cursed to be a backhanded success. For all its technical improvement, Powerless is still unsatisfying. Writing’s one of the first departments to blame when a show isn’t delivering, but already last week the premise started strong. The episode’s cycling into making characters universally look bad doomed the outing.
This week, “Emily Dates a Henchman” wasn’t inherently damaging to its characters, story wise, but left Powerless with a different problem, and probably a worse one. The show’s progress should be coinciding with a growing level of enjoyment but the lack of characterization, that has been a problem since the beginning, is poisoning the run from hitting on all cylinders.
When Ron and Teddy find a batarang Batman left behind stopping Two Face, Van jumps at the chance to finally confront the hero. Their last encounter ended with Batman swiping his side view mirror, too distracted helping an orphanage to swerve, and Van wants compensation. The batarang contains a tracking device, and Batman always retrieves his stuff, so Ron starts holding a watch for him on Wayne Security’s roof. Leaving milk and cookies out, because it’s a small leap from brooding crime fighter to jolly Santa, fun gags are made around Ron’s excitement to meet a celebrity but there’s nothing personal about them.
Teddy and Ron’s friendship is a simplified version of a dynamic that’s appeared in many sitcoms. Teddy’s the half that plays it cool. Ron’s the half that won’t be embarrassed to geek out. Thin parameters from which to draw full characters, Teddy and Ron could be used in any story. They are what Winston was when New Girl started out, characters that can be dropped into any scenario without having their own identity. In the end New Girl embraced that anything goes and actor, Lamorne Morris, made Winston the show’s MVP, but Winston was surrounded by roommates with much more specific personalities to bounce off of.
Everyone on Powerless is fairly thin. When Emily, stuck in the type A zone, gets an invitation to her ex’s wedding, her coworkers encourage her to hit the dating scene. For the amount of bonding that’s happened on screen, it feels like a lot of effort. Coworkers can absolutely become more than people you work with but they haven’t earned that camaraderie. The twist that Emily’s dating a henchman comes out dryly and is a clever play into what’s normal in their world versus ours (Jackie dated a henchman back in college). Trouble is Dan the henchman has more personality in his quick scenes than any of the team. The regular cast has to catch-up.
Rachel Bellwoar
Originally published February 24, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
