By Sonia Aurora – One of the greatest strengths of NOF is the chemistry between Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz. They play a very believable (albeit on the optimistic side) couple, married for some time, exasperated with each other while still very much in love. As it happens, Jim and Steph have now been married for 18 years, and are about to celebrate their anniversary this week.

By Sonia Aurora – One of the perks of the holidays is that you get to see family you haven’t seen in a long time, friends from out of town visit, there are aromas of delicious foods (and cookies) in the air. The non-perk is that it’s hard to carve time out to write your reviews, so this one comes in on the heels of the next.

By Sonia Aurora – This is going to be seem like an unconnected rant, but I promise you it isn’t: I am not a fan of Twilight, the book series, and the film series even less so. I got through the first book and knew halfway I wouldn’t bother, because it was intended for the version of myself at 15 that might have, maybe enjoyed it (and in a lot of ways I’m not so sure about that). The final straw for this phenomenon was when a 30-something friend told me she realized she didn’t love her husband in the way that Bella and Edward love each other. Flabbergasted, I asked her how she expected to love her husband like a sixteen year old loves a vampire. My indifference from then on turned into mild hatred.

By Sonia Aurora – Personally, I have a compassion for vigilantism. In theory, I don’t necessarily see issue with someone taking matters into their own hands when they’ve been personally attacked or wronged. In practice, however, you’re dealing with a heaviness of emotions, and there is great potential that everything will funnel from something that at its onset comes from grief –stricken honor to something dark and uncontrollable. Superheroes do practice a certain vigilantism, but I think what distinguishes them as “super” is that they don’t break from the principle of what they are trying to do, which covers a grander plane than just a personal achievement.

By Sonia Aurora – I love that Jim is as romantic as he is, because it feeds into how he channels his glee and awe with his powers, as well as his (mild) angst in not being able to do more, not yet at least. I like that Steph remains clinical, from her cutting comment in the beginning of the episode, to logically understanding Daphne’s need to confide in someone. This is a real, honest couple, by TV’s standards, that is nice to see develop and unfold.

By Sonia Aurora – This week’s episode starts to bring some more nuance to what this show will bring us, a better rounding out of the characters, what the family’s shortcomings might be in understanding and harnessing their powers. There were a few surprises along the way, which gave me the impression there is more than meets the sitcom dressing to this show.