I'm a dedicated DC fan, from ARROW and The Flash to Legends Of Tomorrow and Supergirl I've honestly felt like prime time television is fertile ground for the DC Extended Universe.
I've even gone on record several times suggesting that Warner Brothers would do well to forgo the DC feature length films and instead focus more on their small screen success. Needless to say when NBC's new series Powerless aired it's first episode last Thursday I was hopeful this track record would continue.
The stories central character Emily Locke (played by Vanessa Hudgens) has recently moved to Charm City in order to assume the role of Director of Research & Development at Wayne Security which is a division of Wayne Enterprises.
On her first day of work, the train Emily is traveling on is knocked off the tracks during a showdown between local Super Hero Crimson Fox and Super Villain Jack O'lantern. Well Emily is in shock over being part of this event the other train passengers are unmoved by the events with one person stating this happens everyday as he calls his workplace to let them know he'll be thirty minutes late.
Once at work Emily is introduced to her new boss Van Wayne (played by Alan Tudyk) the cousin of Bruce Wayne. Van has one goal in mind, to be transferred to the Gotham office of Wayne Enterprises by any means necessary. He has hired Emily with that singular objective in mind, charging her with the task of developing something that will make his cousin take notice of Van's hard work!
Emily is then introduced to her team members, Teddy (played by former Community star Danny Pudi) who spends his days executing work place pranks. Ron the I.T guy (played by comedian Ron Funches) who still holds a childlike fascination with Superhero's, and Jackie (played by Christina Kirk) who Van is utilizing as his personal assistant.
Emily begins by calling a staff meeting with her new team and expresses her desire to "Help People" but is having a difficult time getting her team to buy in, she is made aware that she is not their first new manager, with five people having recently come and gone before her. She confronts Van who's true motives and aspirations are made clear
A short time later Van tells everyone that Bruce Wayne has made the decision to shut down Wayne Security as it has become an obsolete and unnecessary decision. While everyone is in shock and dismay over having lost their jobs Van is thrilled - He's being transferred to Gotham City!
Emily reconnects with her now highly demotivated team and convinces them to revisit an already existing yet under utilized technology to try and save their jobs. The next morning they have developed a wearable device that alerts average citizens to the presence of Super Villains and Emily threatens to take it to Bruce unless Van does. Giving into the pressure Van informs Bruce who has a change of heart on the closure of Wayne Security and Van loses his opportunity to relocated to Gotham - a fact he holds Emily responsible for.
The final seconds of the episode make reference to Batman capturing The Joker with a new gadget that alerted him to The Clown Prince Of Crime's presence.
The premiere episode of Powerless was ripe with multiple references to the DC extended universe, and even featured a voice cameo by Adam West, but in a comic book based universe known for telling dark and gritty stories I can't help but wonder if there is room for this type of comedy?
With IMDB giving the series 6.6/10, Rotten Tomatoes scoring it at 61%, and Metacritic giving it a rating of 57% it will be interesting to see how this new series fairs over the next few weeks.
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