Avengers Assemble: Depth Charge, Review

Attuma and an army of Atlanteans floods New York City, and The Avengers have to keep their heads...above water.

Any episode that opens with Fin Fang Foom has to be good, right? In fact, it should be EXCELLENT. “Depth Charge,” the latest episode of Avengers Assemble is very good, but never quite crosses the line into excellent, despite some memorable moments. Why? Read on…Let’s start with Fin Fang Foom. Yes, he’s here. No, he’s not wearing trunks. And no, they don’t actually name him…but I’m pretty sure that’s who it was. Regardless, you open with Fin Fang Foom stomping through a conveniently evacuated New York City (“standard giant monster protocol,” Iron Man quips), which should be the stuff of legends. The thing is, it’s easier for me to believe in Fin Fang Foom and the Hulk than it is for me to believe you can evacuate Manhattan.Hulk calls off the Avengers’ assault on Fin Fang Foom because he realizes that he’s actually on the run from something…that something being Attuma, an army of Atlanteans, and a giant tidal wave. That’s all fine…but the giant green monster NOT named Hulk is never mentioned again for the rest of the episode. Does he turn around and help out the Avengers when they start fighting the guys that scared him? Nope. Does he lend a hand when Hulk is holding up the bedrock that supports Manhattan island (it’s a long story). Nope. That’s a thirty-story tall dangling plot thread, guys.Normally, this would be unforgiveable, but the rest of the episode is so action-packed, with a few terrific Hulk moments (it’s nice to see Hulk’s unpredictable, “monster” side played up after watching him basically behave like a gamma-irradiated Woody Allen in Hulk and the Agents of SMASH every week), that this was pretty refreshing, despite the weird Super Saiyan moment that Hulk has at the end.But the whole thing ends up pretty uneven thanks to too many unanswered questions. Is there some moral to be had about what Hulk’s role on the team is? Where’s the giant monster that kicked off the episode? Speaking of which…has anybody seen Black Widow lately? Wasn’t Attuma supposed to be teaming with the Red Skull at some point? How come there’s been no mention of any of this? It’s still entertaining, but the show can afford to be a little more thorough.Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!

Rating:

3 out of 5