This season was quite the ride. Now I love me some "Spider-man," but this is the season where things start moving from good to great.

The season starts off with both Peter Parker and Spider-man on the hunt for the missing Mary Jane, who has been sucked into a cult. In a cunning (and realistic move), this cult leader thrives on lonely folks who have lost someone and uses that pain to keep them under control.

Here begins "Sins of the Fathers" arc, the first of 14 episodes all about dear old dad and how he messed up and/or helped his kids during their formative years.

As you already know, I've started rewatching "Spider-man," but in between those reviews, I've also decided to go ahead and write about its sister series "X:Men." I was a huge fan of this cartoon when I was younger, so much so that when I got my first job, a large portion of my paycheck went toward buying comic books just so I could revisit a series I never got to see end.

From what I remember, the show placed a lot of emphasis on the characters and the relationships, not all of them romantic. Here was a kids' show that was willing to stretch the definition of a kids' show and tell some more adult stories without pandering to their young audience.

Last time I was here talking about "Spider-man," I made the claim that while the standalone episodes can be good, the show works better in the season-long arcs.

And now I get the chance to defend my claim as we dive into the second season, "Neogenic Nightmare."

Spider-man has recovered nicely from his season one adventures, but all is not well in Spidey land. On a typical patrol, he loses his spider powers. After a trip to visit his old scientist pal Doctor Connors, Spidey discovers that he's still mutating, and that when the mutations stop, he won't be human any longer.

That would be bad enough, but Spidey also has to deal with Kingpin massing a small army of super-villains, all intent on killing our hero; the return of the Hobgoblin (when will people learn to just pay that guy???); the arrival of the Punisher and Blade, two supposed heroes intent on murdering Spider-man; and probably most importantly, Mary Jane dumps Peter after he blows her off one to many times.

When I was a kid, I could have easily and with no hesitation told you what my favorite cartoon was - "X-Men." I wasn't always as good at catching the episodes (it was a lot harder in the pre-Internet dark ages), but to my 12-year-old self, there was no better TV than "The Phoenix Saga" (although that really does hold up).

I was such an "X-Men" nut that when they were going to appear on "Spider-man," I gleefully made the time to check out that other Marvel kids show. Lucky for me, I kept watching that show about a wall-crawling wisecracker.

After a while, I had to admit that while my heart will always be with the "X-Men," "Spider-man" was the better show. And now that they are both on Instant Watch, it's time to look back at both these kiddie shows that left a lasting impression on this young geek.

Nostalgia is quite the powerful force. It can make you look back on the rough periods of your life with whitewashed longing or convince that you still love something, even if you know now that it's crappy.

We all have them, those things we loved as children that no matter how old we get, or how much smarter are brains grow, we stubbornly refuse to believe is bad.

For me, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is just one of those things. I first saw the film when I was 11; my mom borrowed it from a coworker, and in an unprecedented move, she let me and my sister stay up way past our bedtimes so we could watch it.

Well, my dear readers, it's been quite a while since I posted anything here. Between one awful cold and a big move, I felt a break was needed.

But since I've recovered from both those real life invasions, let's get back to the business of critiquing with this RomCom double feature.

If reviews are to be believed, lately romantic comedies have been quite the suckfests. Unlikeable but beautiful people try and fail to convince us that they are worthy of a 'happily-ever-after' moment. Or we get a story about a deep friendship between two dudes that's clearly only written for men.

It's a bit bleak out there for men AND women, so let's take a look backward at two modern romcoms that both succeed (to a point) but don't necessarily leave us with bad feelings.

As I kept bringing up in the last few BSG writeups, I've recently completed my second DS9 watch, and as promised, here are my thoughts about the underrated "Star Trek" series.

In a word, wow.

But let's back up for a minute.

(Obviously, some spoilers ahead)

The ending still bugs me.

I first saw "Unconditional Love" in 2004; I'd never heard of it, but after discovering just how awesome Peter Sarsgaard is, I decided that I needed to watch every movie of his I could find, and with absolutely no prior knowledge, I found myself watching this quirky, uneven but cute little film about the most self-less kind of love.

And then I had to go and ruin things even more by rewatching it.

At the end of my rewatch, I dive into the last *new* BSG, "The Plan," which covers the first two seasons of the show from the Cylon perspective.

A note to first time BSG watchers; these aren't the reviews for you. I plan to write about the show with the ending in mind. If you haven't seen the show, you will be spoiled on stuff that happens at the end. You've been warned.

The end, again.

A note to first time BSG watchers; these aren't the reviews for you. I plan to write about the show with the ending in mind. If you haven't seen the show, you will be spoiled on stuff that happens at the end. You've been warned.