I semi-reviewed M.A.N.T.I.S. here. But it bugged me that it has a 5-star rating on Amazon. It didn’t seem that good. Since Lumbly was television’s first black superhero lead actor, is there some kind of affirmative action going on? It truly did bug me, a little.

But then I finished watching it.

The stories got goofier and goofier. They passed the ridiculous and went so far ’round the bend they became sublime. And the final episode was such a masterpiece of insanity I’m LMAO’ing as I type.

(TOTAL SPOILER ALERT. SERIOUSLY.  DON’T READ ON UNLESS YOU ONLY PLAN TO WATCH M.A.N.T.I.S. IRONICALLY.)

If you have a T.V. show, and you know it’s coming to an end, it’s totally legitimate to consider killing the lead character.  Why not, if it gives you a great final story?  You can even kill off his love interest at the same moment.  And holy cow, what a dramatic discharge!  Romeo & Juliettesque!  The possibilities are endless!

After 21 episodes we have major investiments in these characters.  So what better way to cash that in than by having M.A.N.T.I.S., and his beloved, blow themselves up in a vain attempt to kill an invisible dinosaur?

Perfection.  Of a sort.

UPDATE–I had to rewatch that climax just to make sure I hadn’t taken crazy pills.  Gave it the full Zapruder frame-by-frame treatment. That smoke-wreathed invisible dinosaur was definitely still standing at the end of the scene.

Moral of the story? You can fight back from tragedy and adversity, become a great man, an inspiring figure, and a champion of good…and still be Invisible Dinosaur’s bitch.