The Avengers 3.13 “Death a la Carte”

Emir Abdulla Akaba is making a trade visit to London. He’s in very poor health, so it isn’t a surprise when he drops dead.

Well, except this is a spy fi episode, so we know he was murdered…

Steed can cook well enough to pass as food service. Cathy, not so much.

Remarkably not offensive in the portrayal of the Emir and his contingent. But a little bit slow and hard to really keep one’s attention on.

I do want to try Steed’s pheasant, though. I never get pheasant anymore…

The Avengers 3.14 “Dressed To Kill”

In a way, this is their riff on Murder on the Orient Express. Steed is invited to a New Year’s party on a special train.

Which turns out to be a way to abduct people who own land near a radar station as part of a truly scenery-chewing Evil Plan <tm>. To start World War III, of course!

The visuals are entertaining here because everyone is in costume. We have a policeman, a cat, etc. Yup, it’s that kind of a party.

Which means we get a bunch of people stranded in the Middle of Nowhere (a ghost town 10 miles from the nearest active settlement). In silly costumes. Yeah, we’re going all goofy here.

I mean. Costume party. Attempt to start World War III. I liked this one.

Avengers 3.14 “White Elephant”

Apparently, they hired a roadside zoo for this episode, although they couldn’t afford an actual white elephant.

(They could, though, afford a very bored parrot).

This time, Steed is investigating ivory smuggling…which apparently is coming in in the special cages for the zoo specimens. (Because this is back when that was considered okay. Mostly).

There’s also a gorgeous leopard and an over-friendly kangaroo. Lots of cute. Is there anything Cathy can’t do?

And does Steed have any shame whatsoever? The answer is nope. Rumor has it that an animal died on set, but I wasn’t able to find out more.

The episode ends with a fight where Cathy finally calls Steed out for all the expectations he has of her. But she’s in the credits for next episode, so…

Wizards of Waverly Place 3.5 "Night at the Lazerama"

Yup. Incompetent monster hunters. Now Justin has to go fight a mummy. This does not end well.

Mummies are pretty dangerous because they can enthrall people. They do have a major weakness, though: Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. That's kind of one of my weaknesses too, although not as much as classic ice cream sandwiches.

Meanwhile, Alex tries to slow down Max's studying by separating him from Conscience for a bit...and Max almost ends up a sociopath. Oops.

What's a monster anyway? And will Justin be able to rescue Juliet, who has now been kidnapped by the mummy?

Wizards of Waverly Place 3.6 "Doll House"

Harper's family is moving to Pittsburgh, but they want her to finish the school year. Which results in Harper moving into the Russo's basement.

Which Alex was trying to turn into an art studio. Never mind that there's really space for both.

Alex also finds her old dollhouse. Miniaturized art studio. Miniaturized dollhouse. Parents who want to throw out all of your old toys without permission.

(A key part of the conflict between my mother and my father's mother was my grandmother throwing out all my dad's old toys when my mother was pregnant with me. Who does that?) So, yeah, on Alex's side here, but she should probably have just told her dad she was using the dollhouse as extra space!