Freed from the massive expectations of the majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (at least the Earth-bound one with the Avengers group poised to dominate the box office next summer), Guardians of the Galaxy becomes its own odd entity. That freedom gives it license to be whatever it wants. Thus, somehow, improbably, it proves that weirder does also mean fun.

Ever since Changes, the novel that fundamentally shifted the focus of The Dresden Files and added untold complications to the larger story, each successive novel has dealt with major revelations and advancements in the saga. Even before that, the novels leading up to Changes were on a clear path of escalation. In other words, it’s been a while since there has been a novel of The Dresden Files that has been relatively stand-alone and low-key.

The first season of Arrow was marked by a steady sense of improvement. By the end of the first season, Arrow was seemingly at the top of its game, but there were doubts as to whether or not the second season could maintain that level of quality. Despite a few minor stumbles along the way, Arrow not only met the challenge, but might have exceeded it.

The announcement of this film left the devoted fandom of the X-Men comics and franchise filled with both anticipation and dread. Anticipation that there would be a crossover between the cast members of the original trilogy and that of X-Men: First Class, and dread that the adaptation would be a disaster on the level of X-Men: The Last Stand’s version of the Dark Phoenix saga. Which direction would the franchise take this time?

I was a bit leery when I first heard about a spinoff to The Vampire Diaries, considering that there was a growing sense that the parent series was already beginning to show its age. My concerns were only increased after the backdoor pilot episode aired. Setting up “the original vampire family” in New Orleans with supporting characters with problematic personalities was bad enough, but introducing the time bomb of a “baby plot” was cringe-inducing. Would the spinoff be more of the same, or strike out in new directions?

To say that the first season of Agents of SHIELD was a bit divisive is putting it mildly. With the The Avengers knocking it out of the park, the anticipation of “Phase II” for the Marvel Cinematic Universe was only heightened by the prospect of a television series devoted to SHIELD. And it was going to be overseen by Joss Whedon’s cabal/extended family of producers! How could it possibly disappoint?

Josh's lycanthropy curses him to be a wolf all but the night of the full moon, but Sally, who has returned from being trapped between dimensions by Donna, now has magical powers and manages to free Josh from the curse, but the spell does not go as planned and Josh's inner wolf is still present, while Aidan must now deal with his wife Suzanna, who was thought to be long dead, and Kenny, who is now heading the Boston vampires.

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She’s traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.

Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and battles a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier.

Helix was a show that could only be called “much anticipated”. The latest offering by Battlestar Galactica rebooter Ron Moore, this was the latest genre show from Syfy to premiere. Considering that Syfy has had a solid run of new dramatic series in recent years, at least in terms of getting them off the ground, there was a lot of hope that this would be the next Galactica. Even if, by many accounts, the premise of the show sounded like a mixture of The Thing meets The Andromeda Strain.